Wednesday, March 30, 2016

David's Point

In a scene of movie Prometheus which is a prequel to Alien of Ridley Scott, David, the robot, played by the German actor Micheal Fassbender, asks the scientist Charlie, played by the not very well known actor Logan Marshall-Green, what he had hoped to achieve by coming all the way to the outer space. He answers that they wanted to find their makers. Then David asks: Why did you make me? Or a question with the same point. Charlie simply replies: We did because we could! David turns back and says: Can you imagine how disappointing that would, if you heard the same from your maker?! Charlie goes: I guess you cannot be disappointed and it's good! Or something like that because I don't know all of the conversation in the movie by heart. This is what many religious people have answered me when I asked them why their so-called god has created us. They normally say something like that, the same thing that Charlie said or a similar nonsense: He created us because he was able to!!! He created us because he loves to see how people would interact with others!!! He wants to grant and punish his creation based on their acts!!! This last one is really stupid! 
The funny thing is they always refer to their god by HE. I have no idea why their god is not female! Isn't that sexist!? 
David's point is a good one. When you argue with the people who believe in god and then you ask them why it created us and they give you those cliche answers, I don't feel that much disappointed, I feel bad for the brainwashed who believe in something called god! I heard this once and I repeat it here because I like it very much, I guess Cyrus my ex-friend said that once: God did not create us. We created god! 
(Photo: Michael Fassbender as David in a scene of Prometheus. This is before he has that conversation with Charlie, I guess. What happens, in case you haven't watched the movie, is when they got in the chamber, he picks one of the vases and puts it in his sack without others knowing it because Shaw forbade that. He later, in the spaceship, opens it up and get's a drop of the liquid he finds, in Charlie's drink while having the above conversation with him. The result is really ugly. You should see the movie for that!)    

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Wasootch Peak in March

After the easy but beautiful like of Burstall Pass, This past weekend an opportunity presented itself in the from of doing a hike/scramble in Kananaskis area with a group of 8 others and go to Wasootch Peak. We started late but I was part of a group and didn't have a choice. Although it was not very far from the city limits we only were able to start at 09:30. The first part of the trip was from inside the woods and easy. Then we hit the trail on a rocky area and on a ridge. We had to use our micro spikes because of the ice. The weather was good and although cloudy, there was not much wind. That's what made the trip easy. It required route finding which I always like as long as I don't waste too much time and get lost. Finally we reached the summit at about 12:00. A few of the people wanted to walk on the nearby ridge and reach the next summit which is known by a number and I don't remember it. I found it useless. The route was very exposed, the snow just was started and there was actually nothing to gain by going to that summit. 
While on the peak we saw a small heard of Mountain Sheep in the adjacent ridge, the very one that a few of the group members took to go to the nearby peak. Not having a strong lens, I was not able to get a good shot but in this one you can see them almost on the center of the photo when they were leaving the ridge. If you look carefully, you can see one of the team members on the right, on the ridge, going up!
While a number in the group headed down and on the ridge to reach that summit the rest headed back to the parking lot. One problem was the number of time people stopped for break and the amount of time they wasted on the peak but once again I was part of the group and had to follow. Going down was harder than we had thought. We had to be sure that we were taking the right route and for that we had to alter our ways a few time. Or maybe I should say we I had to alter my way because I was the first one going down just the way I was going up. Not to mention that just close to the peak one member with all gray hair caught up with me and reached sooner. Generally there were a few people with good speed. Anyways going down I found myself ahead of everyone and at a moment I was not able to hear or see them. I thought I would be fine and I had just follow the trail but as usual I lost the route and wasted a few minutes going up and down or left and right! In one of these rushes I hit my left knee harshly to a rock which to this moment is in sever pain but I had to continue because I didn't want them to go ahead of me and wait for me. That would not have been a good impression for the first time. I finally fond the trail which was going down beside a creek. It's amazing sometimes how similar some of the trails are. The trail which goes to the top for Wasooth Peak is very similar to the one which takes you up The Wedge in many ways particularly on the creek side. 
I finally reached the cars around 14:15 and realized that nobody was there! I sighed and waited for them to come. Overall the hike/scramble to Wasootch Peak in March is a very good work-out. A combination of hike, scramble, route finding, nice views, dealing with ice and snow and finally exposure. It is highly recommended. 
(Photo, top: Wasootch Peak with its cairn. At the left side you can see Ribbon Peak)

Monday, March 28, 2016

RoboBike

I got this old bike when I was in B. C. from a municipality. When they find a bike, if no one claims it for a certain number of days, I guess maybe 90 days, the bike is either donated or goes to auction. So I got that after that time period. When I used to work a job in the evening shift, I'd put it on the bus, the rack in front, to work and on the way back, because there was no bike, I would ride it, most of the time all the way back home. It was some 30 Km! Then the bike got a problem, I was thrown out of that job but I kept the bicycle and never used it. Moving back to Alberta, The bike was outside in the balcony for some 4 years and that is in addition to one year in British Columbia! Last week I decided to bring it back to life because this mountain bike I have and that has a separate story, is heavy and not very good for pathways and roads. This Steve Bauer is a very light bicycle with very narrow tires but the poor thing has so many problems. The fact is when I got it, it was not in a very good shape and I had to change both of the tires. Then a problem with the rear shifting lever started. The gear would go back to the original when you changed it to a higher! I took it to a disgusting poser who claimed to be a bicycle mechanic in south Surrey, near White Rock border, the numb-nuts fix it temporarily the first time I took it there (I realized it was temporary when it started acting the same way after just a few days!) The second time I took it there, the bastard refused repairing, stated that it could not have been repaired!
Last week I took it to MEC and there was a guy who seemed to be knowledgeable and experienced in repairing bicycles. He also seemed nice and polite as well. He took me to the shop and told me that a bicycle quite similar to mine could cost some $1300. So I decided to go with the repair which would cost some $200! So much money for a bike which I have not paid a dime. It might sound excessive but I want to get on it and exercise a little bit more, particularly because it's much cheaper than buying a brand new moderate-quality bicycle for $1300. The guy showed me many parts that should be changed including the chain, the main gear in the back (which he used a different term for) and a few others. That reminded me of the famous movie, Robocop that the doctors had to change or replace many main parts of his body after he was found almost dead in an old warehouse! The gangsters shot him probably more than 10 times and they all thought that he was dead when they left him.
Anyways the guy told me that it would take more than 4 days, maybe, to have to bicycle completely fixed because he said there was at least one part that they had to order. Fine! I haven't been on that bike for more than 5 years. I can wait a few more days. I will probably have another post after I try it just to see how it performs. But who is Steve Bauer. I asked the MEC bike mechanics and they even didn't know that he is Canadian! He actually is the first Canadian who won a medal in cycling in an Olympics and that was 1984 Los Angeles. I don't want to degrade anybody's performance and achievement but we all know that 1984 was a bogus Olympics because many countries boycotted that. In addition to that being on Canadian road cycling team should not be very hard. How many people practice cycling in Canada overall. With harsh winters and people's passion for hockey, other winter sports, football and many other sports, I don't think there are many who are interested in cycling. I don't know who bicycle manufacturing like is doing now but I like that bicycle and that's why I wanted to keep it by spending more than $250!
(Photo: My bike on the repair rack. The rusted chain is easily seen and will be replaced)

Sunday, March 27, 2016

The Very Messed-up Europe

I sent an e-mail to my cousin who lives in Denmark, a few days ago and his response came back shortly from an airport in Italy where he was with his family for a short Easter Holiday. I wrote him that these recent terrorist acts in Europe, more specifically in France and Belgium, is the result of not having an actual border in between the countries. People can freely travel in between different countries, most of the time, as long as they enter one! How ridicules is that? I really don't know what was the idea behind that? Encouraging people to freely travel to Europe for business and tourism? Lowering the costs by removing the required inspections at borders? Anything else? Neither one and not any other reason justifies what they have done. I'm sure having no border is not the only reason why terrorists transported explosives from France to Belgium or traveled freely from Turkey to Syria, to ISIS territories and back to Belgium. The main problem is European countries, particularly France, Belgium and Germany let hundreds of thousands of people from poor Muslim countries in and then isolated them in neighbourhoods and city skirts with minimum-paid jobs or no job at all and forgot about them. These people later had the kids of their own and those kids felt the same: Forgotten, looked down on, isolated and ignored and then they got an opportunity given to them by Barbarians of ISIS: The opportunity to revenge! And they started killing innocent people. The reports indicates that some of the alleged terrorists were bright kids in European schools doing great with lots of potential and talent. And what happened to them? They became criminals who blew themselves up in airports, underground stations and other public places.
European cities are no longer safe in a way that people can sit, sip onto a glass of wine, laugh and have a good time. The threat of terrorism is serious and it can happen at any moment because these are the people who are from the same society, although not blended in.
Planet of the Apes or what?! I'm not being rude or racist. I have been a victim of racism but this guy at left tried to kill CAF members in a recruiting center in Ottawa and the other one on right a chief of police is explaining the incident
Is this too late to fix this problem? It sure is. Unlike what the authorities say that there are as many as 400 terrorist ready to attack European targets, I believe the number is more than that. People of the same background easily sympathize with the terrorists and act the same way. An example of this would be the so-called Palestinian-American officer who opened fire on his colleague and killed a few, if I'm not wrong in numbers. Or the African guy who invaded a CAF recruiting center and stabbed to members.
When the Europeans let all those Muslims from Morocco, Algeria and other North African countries, they should have taken all precautionary and preventive actions but they didn't and now it's a bit late for corrective actions because the only effective corrective action in this case is removing the corpse, cleaning the mess, all the smashed glasses and derbies, allocating more security forces to the public places and lunching searches in certain neghbourhoods. The other question is who created ISIS and who's been feeding them since? That would be the subject of another post.
(Photo, top: This map shows the dispersion of Shia and Sunni the main two sects of Islam throughout the globe. The majority of Sunni Muslims don't recognize Shia as a Muslim sect! Shia in fact was created by Iranians in protest to Utoman Empire. Whoever Shia is seen outside the borders of Iran has either an Iranian root or is supported by Iranians although there are many Sunnis who as well receive the support of Iran. This Shia-Sunni conflict has been the result of ISIS being created by Sunni extremists afters the US led invasion of Iraq and at the end of Nuri Al-Maliki's period as the Prime Minister of Iraq. It was later was supported by the US, Saudi Arabia and other extremists as well as Turkey)

Friday, March 25, 2016

Ghomeshi: Not Guilty

Jian Ghomeshi was a Canadian radio host who is from Iranian descent. He was born in London, England and then was brought up in Canada. Of being an Iranian the only thing he had is his name and surname. Everything else of him is Westerner. He has a warm voice and good features and used to be invited to many occasions and for these two reasons, and for that I'm sure, he got many girls. Girls in West and even in East look for fame and wealth and he had both at the time although it's less appealing in East. In West as long as a woman is in need of sex, they don't care who their partner is, where they are and what situation they are in. They have to have it. Man, woman, under-age, old, young, Black, in the office, in the car, on the beach, on a park bench, you name it. There's no shame, there's no red line, there's nothing but a strong sexual desire that they have to satisfy that under any circumstance. I'm hundred percent sure that these women who complained about Jian Ghomeshi have all been in the same situation.
This woman, a former West Jet flight attendant got in to a hotel room with a pilot and drank wine with him then accused him of sexual harassment or something similar.
As they claimed they mostly met him on a stage or in an event such as a party. He's good-looking and they felt an itch in their genital area and gave him a green light. Whether he is a maniac or sexual predator is irrelevant here because they all pursued their relationship with him after the alleged assault or attack or whatever term they want to use, actions such as hitting or pulling the hair back while kissing or engaging in sexual act or foreplay. These behaviour, being submissive is very common within Western women. They like to be beaten, their hairs to be pulled back, spanked or similar. That's why they all sent him e-mails and their half-naked photos and even one engaged in sexual intercourse one day after she claimed he allegedly hit her! If she didn't like that, or if she had not wanted to tolerate torture in exchange for sex, would she have invited him to her place for sex after that?! I'm no fan of Ghomeshi and those stupid acts during sex which is common within both men and women here in West but I'm saying that's what they wanted. Things I've seen women do during sex here in West and experienced some of them personally by Western woman are quite similar to what these women claim that Ghomeshi did to them which is not, in my opinion, normal and is not common within women in East. Women ask to be spanked, have sperm in their mouth, on their breasts or stomach, they swallow sperm, they ask the partner to engage in anal sex with them because they like the pain, they ask the partner to beat them or choke them and many more. One of the audiences when the judge's verdict came out and it was being discussed on CBC Radio said; What kind of sexual assault and rape that is that the so-called victim contacts the alleged criminal the next day, invites him to her place and engages in sexual activity with him!? Ghomeshi still have to attend another court in June.
Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champion of the world is seen here after he was convicted. He was found guilty of raping a Black beauty contender. To this date he insists on his innocence and many believe he is. 
For all the women who were upset that he has not been found guilty, here will come another opportunity to cheer on, if he is found guilty this time. Stories of similar kind are told several times. One that I'm familiar with and the alleged person stresses he was innocent even today is the accusation of rape of Mike Tyson the former Heavyweight Champion of the World. He attended a Black beauty contest or something similar and then a girl flirted with him there. They went to Tyson's hotel room and engaged in kissing and foundling and similar. While Tyson indicates that the sex was consentual, the girl complaint that she was forced to and accused him of rape. He was taken to the court and was found guilty. That cost him three years. The punishment was 6 years but I guess with good behaviour he did half of the time. Many indicated that the court made a mistake and to this day he insists on his innocence. The interesting thing is if he had pleaded guilty, his sentence would have been less harsher but he was so sure about his behavior that he preferred to go to a longer jail term and insist on his innocence. 
The last one which is really funny is this flight attendant of West Jet who accused a pilot of sexual harassment or something similar. First of all you should have seen her when she was being interviewed! Short skirt, full make up, high heels, you name it. It looked like that she was going to a party not an interview on national TV to indicate how she was mistreated by West Jet and so on! She gets in to a hotel room, I guess with a pilot. They are drinking wine and probably one thing leads to another and he does something that she doesn't like. There you go: Sexual harassment! I even saw that once in a workplace. There was this superintendent who always joked with girls, pulled their legs and taped them on the shoulder or maybe on the wait or even butts. I never saw the last one. One day I didn't see him and I heard that he had been fired! A superintendent! I think one of those girls got tired of his jokes and maybe fondling and complained about him. Maybe two of them or more. he was out shortly after that! So did he do something really bad to those girls? I believe his behaviour was unacceptable but why didn't they complain earlier? That's a good question. Maybe they didn't like it as much as Ghomeshi partners did! They continued seeing him and even one went to bed with him the day after the alleged assault! You gotta be careful with women or you're in trouble!
(Photo, top: Lucy Decoutere, a Canadian actress from Edmonton was one of the complainants of Ghomeshi here is seen in a photo with some information on the top part of it)

Thursday, March 24, 2016

10 Cloverfield Lane: A Strong Movie

I watched the first movie in probably 6 month this week finally. After ignoring two major movies, I watched 10 Cloverfiled Lane with my brother. I have to say that I'm really impressed. Such a strong movie: Great plays, great story and good direction. I have not seen Cloverfield although I own it on disk but it is said that this new movie has some connection with that.
The movie does not have a slow start. That's what's good about it. It doesn't throw you out of the chair. There are movies that you need to wait for minutes for them to actually start. This one pulls you with you right from the beginning. The other thing about that and I'm writing all these without revealing the story for the ones who haven't seen it yet, is that it's very scary. I'm not a fan of scary movies, particularly the ones with lots of blood and gore scene, but this one is a good one without those ugly scenes, in a sense quite similar to The Shining which scares you with the music and scenes without blood or stupid savagery! 
The movie is not very long either but I looked at my cellphone's clock at least 3 times after 1 hour because it was being really suspicious and somehow irritating to me! Now they say that there might be sequels to that and I can see how. Many movies are made in a way that they always leave a question in the mind of the viewer. Prometheus did that very clearly. This movie at the end, when the actress stops for a second in the middle of the road to listen to the radio's message clearly, also brings this question to mind that what she would face when she goes to Houston. I would rate this movie at least 4 out of 5. It is highly recommended but not for fainted heart!
(Photo: The three and only characters of the movie in a bunker type shelter. Shocks occur during the movie occasionally and they all look up to see what it is, just like this scene. John Goodman has a very strong performance in the movie, just like everything else that I've watched with him in it)

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Tim Horton's Pulled Pork: Not Good At All

I don't usually eat out and that's not because of the higher cost. The health problem is another issue but I've made myself busy with these coupons which are pouring in, recently! One of them which is very rare actually is the Tim Horton's. This cafe, turned to fast-food franchise do not provide many discount coupons unless they're introducing a new product. One I and The Lady tried their Steak Sandwich with a buy one get one free coupon which was not bad. This time they had a coupon for Pulled Pork Sandwich with the same deal. This one was quite disappointing compering to the last time. First of all they use a sweat sauce which makes the sandwich awful! The shredded meat is obviously cooked weeks, maybe months ago, got frozen and brought to the location, thawed and heated up in a microwave. All that's part of Tim Horton's food business and understandable but the whole process was apparently bad because the meat was bland and you could easily tell that was very old. There is no other item on the sandwich! No Lettuce, Tomato, Pickle or Onion! That's outrages! Not a thing! At least McDonald's Junior Chicken Sandwich has a few pieces of Lettuce. These guys just embarrassed themselves with making such a ridiculous and bland sandwich. I don't really know who would pay more than $6 for such a crappy food. Not to mention that if you added a beverage and side item, the cost would go up to some $10! You can get better than that in Subway! My rating for this sandwich would be 0.5 out of 5!

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Extremely Slow Canada.ca Website

I finally reached the date that I was allowed to file my first report to receive E. I. So I got on the computer and logged in. The system did not let me file the report stating that I was not allowed to do that before 08:00 AM Central Standard Time! So I waited a few more minutes and logged back in again. I started answering the questions and the system was so damn slow. Al of a sudden the system showed a message similar to This is not responding or This website is not responding! I was pissed! Tried that a few more times and although the report was going through step by step, I feared that everything is lost at the end and I would have to file again or won't go through and don't get paid at all! I was right but not because the system didn't accept my input. What happened was that I got tired after almost 45 min. and decided to call. I waited for about 10 min. and a representative answered. She said that the report would eventually go through, although slow. I experienced that and went a few more steps ahead but eventually got kicked out and a Session Timed Out message appeared on the screen! She helped me to file the report and I was told I wouldn't get paid for this period for some nonsense reason! 
I've been waiting for about 5.5 month and I still won't get paid! She said the soonest that I get paid would most likely be Apr.03 to 5th! That would be 6 freaking months after I lost my damn job! But what can I do! Job searching has not led me to anything! There are not many jobs at the moment. In fact the last interview I had was about a month ago. I wonder what will happen.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Took a Good Care of the Trout

This past weekend I was at The Chef again. We chatted a bit and then we headed for a little grocery shopping so we can make something for dinner. He was skeptical about our dinner. First he simply wanted to get a rotisserie chicken and then changed to Salmon. Considering that we had that the week before I suggested to have Trout. Being from the south of the old country, near Persian Gulf, The Chef is not much familiar with river fish such as Trout but he accepted. I wanted him to make something similar to what he had made almost 10 years ago but he didn't any recollection of that! Trout is actually a very different fish compare to Salmon. It requires less time to prepare because it is lighter and thinner. He wanted to put it in the damn oven but I asked him to fry pan the fish and he did. When it finally was ready it was very good but I realized that I don't enjoy food that much anymore! My exercise level has been reduced significantly and he fools around during cooking so much that I get hungry and eat other things before the main meal is ready. When the meal is ready, I'm not that hungry person but the food was good. He was being called constantly by a motherfucker Punjabi and they didn't let him alone! Apparently they were trying to convince him to marry a 40 something divorced woman! He's a naive guy. So I gave him as much advice as I could. By the end of the dinner he was drunk because he was sipping Red Wine out of a big glass! I brought up a few topic and then made him to tell the story of his temporary roommate, The Loyal and his trouble with a pimp and tapes part of it! This was probably the third time I was listening to that story but he tells it so amazingly that you don't want to stop him. I finally left at I guess it was 22:30 or so.
(Photo: Piece of Trout are being fried. The Chef used flour and some herbs, mixed them together and then fried them the way you see before adding the mixture tomato and other herbs)

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Went Berserk in a McDonald's!

I drove The Chef to a hospital for his injury examination a few days ago and we stopped at a McDonald's location for a little breakfast. I ordered a Sausage McMuffin with Egg and I wanted that on Multi-Grain Bagel. These freaks have been trying hard to force their customers to use the newly installed machines in the restaurants. In order to prove it to them the machines are useless, I decided to order the above sandwich. At the end they realized that their high-tech machine does not have a choice of changing the bread! So the woman said that should would ask someone to do that at a till! There's this woman whom I would not reveal her ethnicity in order not to be pointed at a a racists and she looks that she knows what she's doing! 
I go to the table where The Chef has already parked himself and sip on my coffee, wait for the sandwich to arrive. This woman hands me the sandwich and apologizes for the delay. I unwrap it and it's an English Muffin, the usual bread! Mistake No.1 I told the woman and she handed it back to her crew. I sat down again and waited. Then she came back after a minute or two and handed me the sandwich again. The sandwich that those women in the back had made with their bare hands! I unwrap the cover and again it's the wrong order! Instead of The Multi-grain Bagel the had used a White Bagel! Mistake No. 2. The sandwich traveled back to the kitchen again. Came back to me after a few minutes. The result: Mistake No. 3! How? The bread was right but they had forgotten the egg! I looked at the woman in white uniform and she went: That is how the order was accepted! I looked at the receipt: She was right! It said Sausage McMuffin! No egg was mentioned! So ate it. 
Having this in mind, just the next day I was by myself and I thought I should get a breakfast sandwich as it was around 10:30 or so. Same Scenario almost! They realized they were not able to get the bread changed on the machine. They sent me to the till and over there it looked fine at the beginning. When I got that, the piece of shit had made a mistake! White Bagel instead of Multi-grain! I didn't say anything because how many time you say a very simple thing to a person?! 
The next day I just wanted to get a coffee and walked in to the same location. This was hilarious because coffee is the simplest item on the menu but I lost it! I ordered a medium with one cream, my usual and they said they had ran out of medium! Fine! We would give you a large and it is the same charge! OK. I got the coffee. Had a sip! I taste sugar and lost it completely! Started yelling and told them that they were not able to get an order right no matter what is used, a machine or a real person! I was going on and on and there was a man, probably the manager who tried to calm me down but I couldn't stop! Eventually they handed me a coffee and a woman wanted to return the money I had paid! I told him to keep it and walked out! This was very frustrating! Three days in the row I got the wrong order! I promised myself that I would never step in that location again and maybe even switch my coffee or limit the number of travels to McDonald's.
(Photo: The electronic payment machines that McDonald's have been installing in its restaurants. This machine is not flawless and one example is the stupidity that its designers show in a way that you can not selected a different bread for your sandwich. They are also not as advanced as self-payment stations in supermarkets that you can pay in cash. If you have cash then you will pay it to the cashier!)

Thursday, March 17, 2016

How Eventually Wasn't I Rejected in an Application?!

When you're out of work and nothing's happening for a long time but a few interviews which led to nothing, and then all of a sudden something positive comes up, it enlightens you! Here's what happened:
The Lady encouraged me to do some volunteer job, indicating that it would do something positive with my time instead of lazing or wasting on unproductive and unnecessary things. I applied for two different position within two organizations. The first one, a sort of charity indicated that due the overwhelming number of applicants, they would accept volunteers based on short time request, meaning that I notify them that for example I would be available next week and if they had empty space, they would notify me. Fair enough. I haven't send them any message yet. 
The other one, more important to, as it is a professional organization, had a more restricted rule: Fill out this form, prepare this and send it to us to review your request. I worked on it and send it back. It was a little work, maybe as long as 45 minutes or so. A response came back within a few days: The person indicated that he liked my work and was looking forward to work with me! I was surprised and very happy at the same time! I wasn't exactly expecting that. I thought the answer would be: We are receiving lots of requests, we reviewed your work and it is not that great. We might consider you for other undertakings and bullshit similar to those. The answer was very rewarding for my little work, just like result of work will later be, I'm sure. Right now I', waiting for the second response and then I can start right after that. It would be quite a work but I like it.
Volunteer work is big part of Canadian job market. It's part of their culture. Without volunteering, many businesses would't survive and many event would cost thousands of dollars more. These are a few examples that I'm aware of: Calgary Stampede, Calgary Food Bank, The City of Calgary and many more that their list would require a book!

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

How to Ruin a Salmon?

After skipping the previous weekend's dinner or lunch together, I went to The Chef's this past weekend when he called. When got there he said we could cook there instead of going to my place. Fine by me. We went to a nearby Superstore to get some Salmon. His plan was to stuff it with herbs and bake it in the oven. I'm not a fan of oven baked fish because it becomes sloppy. I like it fried with Olive Oil in a pan or breaded or both at the same time but didn't argue that because that's what he was insisting on. We got a bunch or Cilantro  and at home he mixed them with Onion, Garlic and Turmeric and fried them in Olive Oil. Then rubbed more Olive Oil, Turmeric and Sea Salt on the fish, added a few pieces of chopped Ginger (I had not seen anybody doing that. I have always seen it being added grated), made a few cuts on the fish and put it in the oven after stuffing it with the mixture. 
This is how the fish looked like when brought out of the oven. It looks fine but the inside tells a different story. I forget to say in the post that we wrapped the whole try in aluminum foil. 
He was drinking Red Wine at the time and having a good time. It's always good to be around The Chef, maybe not always, but most of the time! I was a bit hungry so I ate a small bowl of salad that we also bought and we waited for 25 minutes. I forgot to say that he spread a whole bunch of Red Pepper, I guess it was, on the fish before putting it in the oven! So you can imagine how it would taste when it comes out of the oven. 
This picture shows how pink the meat is. This is almost under-cooked and honestly I don't know who would eat that although I've heard that many eat raw meat of different kind which I have read that could lead to different diseases. The liquid you see in the tray is a mixture of Olive Oil left from baking and the squeezed Lime after it was taken out and put on the table. 
I ate a few spoons of Balkan Style Yogurt until it was the time to take the fish out. When I put it on the table it looked very good. I tasted the mixture and it burned my throat and I had to take a spoon of that yogurt but that was not very bad. It was a big fish and I guess would have been enough for 4 to 5 people. So The Chef decided to cut it to half and asked me to take one half home for the week. I didn't want to but didn't argue. When I reached the center of the fish with my fork, I realized that it was not completely cooked, it looked like! It was a bit of surprise because unlike Beef, Salmon and generally fish cooks very fast. The Chef said that it was fine. I was already full after that salad and yogurt and seeing the very pink Salmon, killed my appetite! Then he squeezed 1 big Lime on the fish and despite me saying that it was tasty enough added a bit of salt too! So the Salmon which already was ruined, looked really bad and almost disgusting! He then indicated that he was not very hungry either! I don't know it was because of the damn wine or the breakfast he had but it was 17:30! I took a few bites and tried o convince myself that was good but couldn't eat more and told him that I was full. If he had fried the fish a pan, it would have not happened but he doesn't listen. I brought a big piece at home and said to myself that I would fry it before I eat and I only eat when I'm very hungry because juts a little piece of Salmon could be very filling. 
(Photo, top: The fish is stuffed and ready to go to the oven. I don't even remember what temperature e used. I don't think he knew that himself!) 

Monday, March 14, 2016

The Saddest Area in Alberta: Ghost Lake

This past weekend I decided to have a hike in Ghost Lake area but it turned to a waste of time and gasoline, unfortunately. I woke at my usual time 05:30 and headed west. After buying a coffee and gasoline I got into Highway 22 and then 1A and finally 40. There was no problem until I tried to find the trail-head for Devil's Head, my final destination. It was very early so there was nobody on the road but then further up in north on the gravel part of Highway 40 and near a branch road, that I can't remember the name, I saw a guy warming himself beside fire! A small tent was seen near him. I turned back and asked him whether he knew where the trail-head was. He had not heard of Devil's Head but he had a good map book. I realized that I had to get on Wiparous Creek Road which goes parallel to Waiparou Creek and head west as far as I can and then walk or hike south but there was no way to actually find the trail, if it existed!
I did that and it turned out that Wiparous Creek Road is a narrow gravel road where lots of crazy nature-destroyers of hunter type camp! After going up for a little bit I guess I reached the end of the road. There was a circle like area with lots of empty shells on the ground. A guy with a big truck in camouflage suit was walking and his kids was there too. I didn't find the situation very pleasing because there are poachers and armed and there's no one around. They can kill you and leave you in the woods and no one ever would know anything but my guess is if I had parked at the circle-like area or parking lot, I would have been able to walk up a nearby hill and figure out how I can get myself close to Devil's Head but I didn't feel good and also I was not sure whether I would see my car, when I came back! I turned back quickly and down the road where, for the first time I saw Devil's Head for the first time, I parked and walked down a trial-like path with no motorized vehicles sign. The path actually runs parallel to Waiparous Creek and the road itself. After just a few minutes the noises started and I also started to see all sorts of garbage all around the area. The sound I don't know whether it was coming from A. T. V.s or chain saws but it was pretty load. And then I began to saw cut tree and parked pickup trucks and motor-homes with smoke coming up from around them.  The irritating noise continued and there were more and more 4x4s and trucks. That was when I decided to go back after only half an hour walking!
I took the same path and then came to the road and simply walked down. The car was still parked there when I reached at about 09:25 or so. I had not walked for even 1 hour! What a waste! I headed back because I wanted to get away from all those insanity: disturbing noise, broken stuff thrown around as garbage, cut trees and irresponsible and selfish human-like creatures! On my way back to home while I was still on Highway 40 I saw as many as maybe 50 trucks and 4x4s heading to that area. Many of them had snowmobiles and A. T. V.s in the back. Many were being carried by the other trucks! But there was one thing common within all of them: They were all going there to destroy the nature and I wonder why there's no one to stop them. A very bad, disappointing and wasteful trip was ended. I hope I can make a better decision and have nice hikes in near future.
(Photo: To the best of my knowledge Devil's Head should be the one on the left. This is not a very good shot of course)

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Buying a Property: Right or Wrong?

After more than a decade living in Canada now I realize how important owing a property is and what big of role it can play in someone's life. At this time which the economy is devastated and people are being laid off on daily basis, it might not seem a very good idea to purchase a dwelling. The people who have done it in the past 2 years or so, some regret that now because they are in the verge of losing it. For me it was possible to buy an apartment or even a small house years ago but I was slacking and was not thinking of future. That's why I'm in such a shit now!
I remember clearly once back in last 2006 I received a call from a lady the bank I have all my accounts with, offering me home loan. I don't know whether I was employed at the time or not because I was unemployed during the last few months of 2006 but I turned down the offer. I have a little saving now and if it's not wasted in the next 10 months of 2016 and if I get a job, I will definitely purchase a house.
Rent of mortgage is the biggest expense of families here in Canada. For someone like me I could have paid as much as $1500, 10 years ago and probably a big chunk of that mortgage have been finished or I might have sold the house and bought another one. But it is in the past. I wasted so much money and I was being stupid. But look at it from this perspective: The ones who were not stupid and were watching what they were doing are in shit now. The time doesn't distinguish between smart and stupid. Everyone's being treated the same. Everyone's now equally worthless unless they can prove in their resume and get a job. But again: It's not being smart that gets you ahead of others. It's also being an ass-kisser and having a good network. The last two are probably more important!

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Disappointing Winter's Ending

I went for a little walk last Sun. on Bow River Pathway. Walking toward west and after Crowchild you could still see some ice and snow on the path but generally this winter was just a joke! I remember last year and the year before you could go to the designated place, to outdoor rinks and skate. This year it was warm and all the outdoor rinks, except for a few times that we went and enjoyed, were a mess! Here is the thing though: When it's too cold, you really don't want to go skating but when it's not cold you wish it was so you could go skating! 
(Photo: This part of Bow River Pathway at the south bank is so frozen that I decided to turn back. This is where you're getting close to Edworthy Park)

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Lack of Morals and Decency in the Society

Two piece of shit got wasted a few weeks ago in C. O. P. because the crooks had broken in to the park to use the facilities for free after hours and people called this tragedy!!!! What kind of disgusting, piece of shit you have to be, to break and enter??!! If they had entered to someone's property for any reason and fallen and broken their fucking necks and died, would that also have been considered a tragedy???! They were burglars and landed on a wrong spot and got killed. They deserved that. Same there. The guys were so disgusting and cheap to pay for the facility and I don't care whether others including the staff had done that, and fucking killed themselves! 
Why don't you accept that there is no moral and decency in this society of Canada within the youth any more!!?? The young people think of nothing but drinking alcohol and getting wasted, smoking weed, having sex with multiple partners and from different genders, playing with their stupid phones and all similar stupid acts and these are all encouraged in this society and all the named deeds are considered value!!

Monday, March 07, 2016

New Help for Aboriginals?

I probably have written this earlier but Aboriginal people of Canada, the majority of them, don't live in a good condition. Apart from a small number of them who have good jobs either in private sector or governments, including their own assembly, the rest live in Third World conditions:
rundown houses on Reserves, wandering around the cities looking for change, bottles and cans, intoxicated, getting in to fights and often getting stabbed and killed, you name it. All bad things that you can imagine happens to these poor people.
Aboriginals have been in fight with the Federal Government over land, for decades. And these fights are over certain areas. Parliament Hill in Ottawa where the House of Commons is located is one of them! Can you imagine? This country has been established or confederated more than 148 years ago and they are still in fight with original settlers over land! And wasn't all the land belong to Aboriginal people? Why then they have claim over some?! Shouldn't they say: Hey! This is all my land. Get the hell out!
One of their claims have been over Castle Mountain area in Banff National Park. I have been in the area. Once I and The Lady did the wonderful hike of Rockbound Lake. The lake is actually located behind the Castle Mountain. The other time I had a walk in Johnston Canyon and then drove by and took a few photos. This claim has apparently settled recently. The Native people of area, the Siksika Nation agreed to receive $123 million to give up the claim they had over the land! So money resolved the problem but what percentage of this money is going to improve the standards of living of these people? And what percentage is going to be invested? There has been several stories of chiefs driving luxury trucks and living in mansions while their own people are deprived of the basics of living. This is in addition to violence towards Aboriginal women which has led to disappearance and murder or several of them. It is not the topic of this discussion though. These people have suffered a lot since the European settlers have stepped their foot on their sole. At one stage their children were separated from then put in special schools to learn the modern European lifestyle and language! 
Anyways money tempts everyone and this $123 million is lot of money. Considering the number of voter, 3444, I assume each person receives a share of over $35000 which is not bad for the families who are considered low-income, mostly. 
(Photo: Castle Mountain in Banff National Park. I took this photo in November of 2014 after my short walk in Johnston Canyon. I never had trouble with any Aboriginal when hiked in the area)

Saturday, March 05, 2016

Used Stuff Market In Canada

Used and second-hand as some might call it, have a huge market in Canada. I never bought anything used before my immigration. Here neither but I sold many. A large population here prefers used items before that saves them plenty. Used cars, used cloths, shoes, furniture, you name it. In fact the only used item I've bought so far have been a few DVD movies and maybe a few books that all and that was mainly because I was not able to find them new. It's very displeasing fro me to wear someone else's shoes or pants or sleep on a mattress which has been used by other for years!
Anyway I said that I've sold many things and I'm going to tell the story of the last one here: I had an IKEA sofa-bed that we bought with the intention of sleeping together in it but we couldn't. Between me turning, tossing and moving a lot during sleep and being a little heavy (some 190 lbs.) and The Lady being very fragile and petite, it was almost impossible to enjoy a good night sleep. So we only used it as a sofa. After more than 2 weeks being advertised, I finally received a call when the price was cut a little bit. When the person came to our apartment, it appeared to an Oriental guy but he spoke well for an Oriental. The guy didn't know his ass from elbow. I helped him to disassemble to item as he was not even able to use an Alan Key properly! Then it was the time to put it in his Audi Coupe!! Can you imagine that! Someone pays for an nice car and even it is used, which he said it was, but hesitate to buy a comfortable bed for his and her girlfriend! Of course being Oriental, you're very light and small, mostly. So you wouldn't have a problem sleeping on a sofa-bed, I assume! He was not small. He in fact was even a little taller than me but much lighter! Anyways we disassembled the item in to two major pieces and took it down. However because of the length, it wouldn't fit in. So we had to disassemble that part to other parts on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance of the building! In fact I did that part too and he was just watching! Then what was left was the mattress, the covers and the cushins. I asked him to give me some money and then I would go and garb the rest. He didn't trust me and said that he would come with me inside! I said OK and we went back in but I told myself that I would give him a good lesson. After helping him this much he refused to give me a portion of that money and he didn't trust me. So although I knew we had 2 pairs of screws, nuts and washers on the floor, I didn't tell him!
I put the cover, cushins and mattress in my car, secured his trunk lid with a rope and followed him to his place. I don't think anyone ever has sold anything like this in Canada. He gave me that portion before we left my apartment and the rest when in his building's underground parking. I stopped in a Safeway to get a few pieces of fruit and that was when the telephone rang! He had realized that a few of the screws were missing. I told him to call me tomorrow and he'd get them because I was on my way to work. He agreed. He called at the specified time but he said he would not be able to make it by the evening. Fine by me. Then he called and said he would be there by 13:00. I said OK. He called me at 13:30 and said either he was there or he would come. I said that I was sorry and I could not see him because he was half an hour late! I told him to call the next day and then he could come to get the damn screws. He agreed after sighing but later that day he sent me a text message saying that he had gone to IKEA and had obtained the screws and didn't need them anymore! You see? The idiot preferred to drive at least half an hour longer to get there, at least another half and hour, pay for the screws and pay for the gasoline simply because he was too shy to admit he was an idiot! Good for me I didn't have to deal with him no longer!

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Camera Out and In

I bought this EOS Rebel T5 in June of 2014 and was working fine for a period of 13 months. Exactly 1 month after the warranty was expired! I took it on every hiking and scrambling trip and took wonderful pictures. In my hike to Floe Lake in Kootenay National Park just shortly before I reach the lake, the camera got disabled! I mean it was totally off and wouldn't work! You imagine how disappointing it is that you walk for hours and when you reach your destination, you don't have a camera to take your favorite photos. 
I checked it back by the lake and on the way back and a silly message appeared on the screen. I don't know if it was the extreme heat or something else that had caused the problem but the camera was useless. I contacted Canon Canada and I was told that I should send the camera to their office in Ontario for repair using their designated courier company. The total charge for sending the camera and repair went up to some $300 or more and when It came back, it was not fixed! 
I was furious and contacted them again. They wanted me to send it back, this time using their account. They promised that if I did nothing, there would be no charge this time. The camera traveled to Ontario for the second time and came back. This time the screen would not turned on!! 
That was the stupidest thing I had seen. I sent it again and for the third time. It came back shortly before Christmas. I tried it and it looked fine and finally I had the chance to try it once after all these long trips, for the first time in my hike to Burstall Pass last week. It seems the problem is gone but I was very disappointed by the way Canon handled this issue. I was not expecting it to be required to be sent to the repair service 3 times. I don't think it is the same reliable camera anymore but what can I do? I have to stick to it until the situation gets better and I get the chance to buy a more advanced model, maybe a different brand.
(Photo: Canon EOS Rebel T5 is among the least expensive cameras of Rebel series in the market)