Cutting the Corners

I was driving home today when I heard that the pay stubs will be smaller and the deductions bigger in 2011! Good news to start the new year! I'm already trouble, drowning in debt with this pay stub and what I did just a few days ago was canceling my caller ID! I know it sounds stupid but helps $7 a month! I mean the only reasons I didn't cancel the mobile phone itself are two:

1-I don't want to be listed in phone books.

2- I'm stilling waiting for telephone calls from the employers.

Rather than those ones there's nothing else to stop me from cancelling my mobile phone. It's so stupid to have something in the palm 24 hours a day. Just look at the idiots and losers who text or talk while driving and cause fatal accidents or the morons who live in a fake, imaginary world called Facebook! Why the hell should I pay to a company to put a photo of me posing somewhere just because I want the others know what I'm up to!? I know people who barely eat good food but never take that phone off them! Stupid!

Misled by Trailer

I wanted to see this new movie which there were a lot of talk about: True Grit. The trailers were very tempting, persuasive and attractive. We watched it last night: Not as good as it looks.

First of all the movie is in Southern accent which is hard to understand most of the time. Second of all the story was not long enough to be filmed and there were not so many conflict scenes that you expect to see in a Western. I mean this is a movie from Coen brothers with No Country for Old Men in their profile. What was the point of using these big stars with their all nominations and achievements? Josh Brolin has a role not for more than 15 min.! Anybody else could be used!

Nevertheless I will either buy(!) or rent the DVD just to get the more of the movie. It'll a little practice for me to have my ears more familiar with the accent too.

(Photo: The end of the movie where the girl grown up and is looking for the Marshal is pictured here in this behind the scene photo)

Noto: The movie doesn't even have a website. Isn't that stupid for a movie with bunch of stars!?

The Bunkers

I was in this online chess playing website early this morning or better to say after the midnight, not to mention how many times I lost ridiculously and I met a guy from Denmark who actually had a little chat with me for about 15 min. before we start a game.

He told me that his sister lived in Ottawa and how he was there to pay her a visit. I told him about my travel to Denmark as well and also told him about the German bunkers that I made aware of last year. I told him that I wanted to see them.

Long story short is that last year a number of German bunkers were discovered in north western cost of Denmark. Those ones had been built by Germans after they occupied Denmark in order to push Allies Forces back. I don't know if they were ever been used or what the story about them is and I forgot to ask the guy who's his screen name is Snooser (I have no idea what that means) but he gave me his e-mail address. I also can ask my cousin. I checked the map and Ringkobing Fjord (in Danish of course) is the opposite side of Copenhagen and Greve, where my cousin lives. So if I'm flying to Copenhagen, I will rent a car and the drive is about three hours and a half unless he has another idea.

I don't know when I'm goin' but I will and I combine that with Malmo trip that we have planned as well.

(Photo: This blur map doesn't show the territories under Danish Kingdom but shows how far Greve, beside the capital, Copenhagen in east is from Ringkobing Fjord in west)

Columbia House

I was going through the news last week and one thing caught my eyes: Columbia House went bankrupt. I felt bad for the company and it's guys of course but didn't get anything else from the news.

Then this morning when I woke up and was still in the bed for no reason it came to my mind again and remembered something: I bought a few movies from this Columbia House. It goes back to either 2002 or 2003. I used to receive their flyer amongst the other ones. CDs and DVDs as low as I don't know how much but very cheap. I still might have a few of those movies left in my archive of more than 250. They are gone and that so disturbing because it's a bad sign for the economy in general. That's it. I just wanted to bring this up.

The Penny

It has been lately decided by the Canadian financial authorities possibly in Bank of Canada not to make any Penny anymore. It is said that the authorities have studied a Penny-free monitory system in other English-speaking countries (Australia, perhaps) and found it possible to perform. Every Penny costs 2.5 cents to make these days and since nobody bothers picking up a Penny from the floor it's not useful any more.

What surprises me in this whole process of omitting the Penny from the system is the reaction of Canadians to the Queen on the Penny. Many Canadians respect her and the Royal Family but no one even cares about the Queen on the floor. It has not even been discussed once! They have never said even once that well you don't need that Penny, it's worthless but how about the Queen? The Queen that you admire. The Queen that you line up to see her. The Queen that you waves your little flags for her! Isn't that disrespectful?
(Photo: A Canadian Penny from year 2000)

A 42:18 Phone Interview

I had a telephone interview this morning with that company and spent more than 40 min. with them. It seemed alright at the end and there's hope. The company is involved in Oil Sands projects in Northern Alberta and I would be acting as a QA Coordinator if I was hired. I'm supposed to go there and talk to someone, this time a face to face interview. My answers were mostly sounded convincing to them and I think I have a good chance unless someone who's more qualified shows up. The project is defined for a period of 2 to 3 years. I'll be waiting for another call to go to Calgary.

(Photo: An aerial photo of an Oil Sands project field. I will post about what really oil sand mean after I study and understand it myself!)