Saturday, November 29, 2008

Totally Screwed After 7 Years

Seven years ago in a year like this I arrived in Calgary International Airport and started my life in Canada. I’ve had good days and bad days but I haven’t got what I wanted yet, overall. I might not have tried hard enough, especially in the 2nd and after that but my goal, when I applied for the permanent visa was just get the hell out of there and my goal when I came, at the beginning, was just to stay.
I succeeded admirably but can’t live like that forever, especially at the moment with this stupid job and crap wage. I again started job hunting a few days ago and so far just found two position and have applied for them but I don’t there’s a big chance in this slow economy and this time of the year. Regardless of all the facts, I keep applying until I get what I want. I don’t give up easily. After all, I’m The Tough Guy! And when the things get tough, the tough gets goin’!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Flashback (16): Hitchhike


I went to Burnaby to get a DHL package sent by Mom today. It was pissing starting the morning. The stupid guy came all the way to my place and just put a not at the main entrance without buzzing or calling me. That's why I had to go to their depot.
What also happened is I went to King George Skytrain and asked one of the Skytrain guys how to get there. I had been there once but I completely forgot especially at night and this shitty weather. So the girl told me to go to Edmonds instead of Holdom. It would be much easier and faster.
Anyways while I was on the bus I was thinking of going' back home and thought there might not be any bus. Obviously I was wrong because most of the routes have late services and it was only 06:30 PM. I thought of hitchhiking and that took me almost 7 years back.
It was my first days in Canada and I went to Cargill for employment. I clearly remember the day, a cold day in Dec. of 01 but I can't recall for what I was there. I finished my thing and walked to the road, stood, extended my arm and showed the hitchhiking sign. It was dark and apparently no one stopped. It was the time that of the downturn after Sep.11 attacks and nobody trusted no one, especially a foreigner like me. I guess I went back in and got a cab to go to Calgary.
(Photo: This map of B. C. Skytrain shows where Holdom and Edmonds are. DHL is only 20 min. walk from Holdom, No doubt that it would be much easier if I went to that station first)

Thursday, November 27, 2008

The Red Thin Line


I bought The Red Thin Line years ago but I just have the chance to watch it completely. The movie, a war movie about Americans fighting Japanese in the Pacific was released the same year as Saving Private Ryan. Although many movie stars play in this movie directed by Terrence Malick, it didn’t win any Academy Awards®. Steven Spielberg’s won a few. I’ve seen and own both movies and I can’t say that Saving Private Ryan is better than The Red Thin Line in any way. In fact I like Malick’s better.
After all I think The Academy which is ran by the politicians like every other business in the US, refused to accept The Red Thin Line simply because it’s an anti-war movie. It’s a war movie just made to show the darkness and evil of all wars while Spielberg shows how brave Americans are.
Sean Penn who’s known as one of the very known and popular anti-wars activists, acts in the movie and it’s said that he never asked for a salary. So it’s the matter of the message you’re sending.
(Photo: Sean Penn in a scene of the movie which is partially taped in Australia)

Monday, November 24, 2008

Shocking Book

I followed up that fucking Syrian Arab, Arar’s story (check this, this, this and this) and was quite unhappy after I found out that he had been paid millions of dollars by the Government as a compensation package.
What I read today in the paper is even more saddening and at the same time shocking. A book has been published recently which the author claims that Arar is an American agent! I don’t know what kind of agent he could be or what he has done for the Americans but it’s also said that Americans paid that million dollar compensation package. It’s just part of a book 544-page book which I’d like to buy and read. May be you should too.
(Photo: Dispersing the Fog by Paul Palango a Globe and Mail national editor, a book about Maher Arar, the Syrian-Canadian who claimed he was sent back to Syria on his way back to Canada by Americans and was prisoned and tortured. Refer to the above links for the story and obviously the book for the ambiguity!)

Sunday, November 23, 2008

The Worst Place on Earth


Moving to Brit"shit" Columbia (B. C.) has probably been the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life. B. C. is for sure the most hatred province of Canada in my view. It’s a nice place to see, for vacation but the most stupid place to live. There’re just not jobs but the filthy surviving ones, mostly: Cashier, security guard, waiter, waitress, labourer, driver and so on. And how much do you really think you make?
It’s said anything less than $16.75 (or so) is considered below line of poverty. The other guys have not better life than that; Looks at the higher-paid jobs: firefighters, cops, nurses and other service sector employees. They work long shifts and have to deal with different kind of mentally and physically sick people and face every different type of hazard every day of their life. Firefighters’ shift is 4 days of 12 hours a week! Nearly all of the nurses I’ve seen here are addicted to nicotine or other substances. I don’t know what percentage but a large number of police officers are alcoholic. It was just less than two weeks ago when a drunk RCMP officer killed someone in a car accident.
Obviously the same problems exist for the same jobs in the other provinces but what makes this province different is its fucking disgusting weather. It’s hot in summer and it’s pissing on you all the fall and winter. So if you really are thinking of goin’ to Canada, just forget the worst place on earth. I’m moving out next year, goin’ back to Alberta. So whatever bad happens in Brit”shit” Columbia, makes me happy ‘cause I hate this place with all my heart and mind. Vancouver Canucks, their only professional hockey team is the one I hate the most in the entire league. Their lost their fucking net minder last night as a result of injury and it’s known when he will be able to come back. That made me happy a lot. Fuck Brit”shit” Columbia, the most stupid place on earth.
(Photo: The asshole, the shithead goalie of Canucks is fucked up so bad and hopefully will miss so many games and the representatives of Brit"shit" Columbia lose all the games during his absence and most of them after that)

Friday, November 21, 2008

Early Bird

One thing that I experienced this morning is, for your information, that the newspapers are in the stands at about 02:00 AM or a bit later. It means they should be ready at midnight and get distributed then. But if you're someone like me who watches The National every night, then the headlines will look familiar. But there's always something worth reading in the paper.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Different Treadmills

I went to the gym today for the second consecutive day in this week and although I went to bed last night around 02:00 AM and woke up at about 09:00 AM and felt tired all day long, I did a 1:41 on my Cooper Test practice.
I was not as tired as I was the day before. I think that's because I used a different treadmill. There might be a difference between machines. I started with 7.0 mile per hour and then increased it to 7.1 after 6 min. and 7.2 and up. The same kind of exercise made me tired the night before that.
Anyways I'm goin' again tomorrow and I'll be trying a newer, bigger machine and we'll see the difference.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

NW Police (2)

I received a letter from NW Police last Fri. and it showed it's over. I passed the two exams, the POPAT which I got 3:51 min. and the Wonderlic Personnel Test which I got 22 and that's the minimum acceptable. But I failed the memory and got 12 which I needed at least 15.
It's stated in the letter that because there were enough qualified candidates, there would be no chance for re-writing the test. But this is not what the recruiting officer said when we finished POPAT. He said he would give a chance to the ones who fail one exam but obviously he prefers Canada-born younger people whom their parents are police officer at the moment in the city!
That's fine by me. This is not the first time that I'm being eliminated as a result of discrimination but I thought I was good and I can make a good cop but may be I was wrong. I think I should go back to my field. I'm going to write CQE of ASQ in the next year. I have already started studying but hasn't been good so far. But I'll get better and better.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Animal Ansari is Found Guilty


One problem this country has is because the Federal Government wants to make money out of the income tax, they let every kind of different people in and they don’t care about their background. Animal Ansari is one of them: a careless, lazy, bully, spoiled boy from a rich Iranian family in West Vancouver where the supporters of ex-Shah of Iran live.
Another reason that CIC issues permanent residence visas daily, no matter who the applicant would be, is jobs. Look at, just in case of Ansari, the number of people who get busy when he stabs his friend to death and drags his body to leave at a corner: Police officers, paramedics, judges and jury, newspaper reporters and publishing staff and many more. So what would these people do, if there was never somebody like Ansari?
The Animal will be sentenced next Fri. I'm hoping the harshest sentence for him, a possible 15 to 20 years in prison with no parole at all. After all the prison guards and correctional facility staff should be busy too. Should't they be? But who's paying them? Me and you, the taxpayers. So instead of having more buses, cleaner cities, better services, newer bridges and so, your money will be spent on animals like Ansari in prisons.
(Photo: The handsome Ansari and his killer smile. Thank you Government for harbouring this creature!)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

NW Police


I went to S. J.’s place to get a pile of letters I had, as a result of not having my address changed. NW Police invitation to exams was among them. The letter was obviously dated way back but wanted me in JI of BC last Sat. to do two written exams and the POPAT.
So I went to New Westminster to take the exams. The first one was a 12 min. exam which I had to answer 50 questions and I don’t think I passed 33 or 34! The second one was looking at three different photos for three minutes and answer 3 or 4 pages of questions in again 3 minutes. The officers were very friendly and helpful. It was much better than the stupid CBSA which I had to sit shoulder by shoulder to people and there was no room to even move my hand.
After that we went for POPAT, a run, jump, pull, push and throw test. We were a group of may be 15 people including 4 girls and I was the oldest, I think. I remember I only had seen POPAT once on TV in Calgary when Calgary Police Service was trying to recruit officers from England but I never practiced that. So I waited and watched. It was hard for most of people especially if they were too skinny, too heavy or not in shape but mostly did it in the desired time, 04:15.
I decided to go just a few before the last one and I did have a very good start, I went the wrong direction 2 times but eventually finished in less than 03:55 but don’t recall the exact time. The recruiting officer said we would receive our results in a letter and the qualified persons would be invited for an interview.
(Photo: A diagram of POPAT. More detail can be easily found everywhere on the net. There are even place that train you for that, I didn't need any, not even at this age!)

Friday, November 07, 2008

Silliness of the Optimists

I really didn’t want to write anything about this recent election of the US because I’m not actually so fucking cheerful for his win but decided to write this because after all I use this blog to express myself and write down about the things that I will read later and will be amusing to me.
All of these stupid assholes who cheer for the first Black president of the US don’t know that a ruined country is now goin’ to be handed to him and if he doesn’t do anything to rebuild the fucked up economy and reputation of the country everybody will say: See? What did you expect from a Black guy?
The other thing which is even more important is Obama or McCain none of them run the country. The US is being ran by the big companies, trusts, CIA and billionaires. It’s not Obama who decides what to do. He will be only an executive officer. If he doesn’t navigate the way the companies want, they get rid of him easily, just as easy as they did JFK. Remember Al Gore? He almost won the election in 2001 but they knew that he would be a pain in the ass, so they did a proactive action and failed him. Obama might be a good man, a strong leader and a face for a new America but that doesn’t bring the economy back to where it was a little more than a year ago, that doesn’t fix the long overdue problem with the health care and that doesn’t create jobs. I listen to his winning speech and I liked it though!
Obama is going to take over Bush in Jan. of 09 and here is what we all should thank George W. Bush for: Attacking Iraq. That was a good decision and then a good job and I hope the Americans stay there as long as they can and kill as many Iraqis as needed. Iraqis should have been punished for what they did to Iran, Kuwait and Kurds and they received their punishment and they are still getting it and I hope it won’t end soon. You all burn to death, you motherfucker Iraqis.
(Photo: This cartoon of Obama and his wife on the cover of the New Yorker a little while ago brought controversy but didn't ruin his reputation and didn't help his opponent to win. Of course it was not as catchy as the movie Michael More made, Fahrenheit 9/11 to defeat George W. Bush and obviously none of them worked)