STM Number one?

I saw in the news today, that STM has been awarded this prestigious prize.

Best employee training program? We're missing one important element - the ability for the drivers to tell time. One thing I have noticed is that practically none of the drivers who work for the STM know how to tell time. They arrive anywhere between three minutes early (or more) to five minutes late (or more). They pretty much arrive any time they want. Of course, there are a few that actually do their jobs, but... Other than that, not really.

And of course, it's never the driver's fault. If they are early, it's not their fault. If they are late, it's not their fault. If they don't show up to a bus station, it's not their fault. I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled an STL (a driver getting fed up with passengers, drove them all back to the garage), it wouldn't be their fault either. The driver(s) don't care? It's not their fault.

This system is not all bad and of course, there is improvement to be made. I like the metro system here, and when the buses run on time, it's great too. However, stuff running on time? That's relatively rare here.

Everyone's beating me to the altar

In the past couple of weeks, I would say three or four, I have gotten so many good news about people getting engaged or married that I feel a bit out of the loop.

My former colleague and his fiancee are now husband and wife. They got married over the Thanksgiving weekend.

My childhood friend, who is the same age as my brother, she is engaged to her boyfriend.

Friends of my friends here in Montreal, they just learned that the "Wonder twins" are getting married. The wonder twins are friends of theirs whom they match made but are constantly fighting and arguing. Kind of like the straight version of the dramatic couple I know. And they are probably well on their way to the altar.

My friend's lesbian friends got married over the long weekend as well.

So everyone's getting married, which is great. But I feel like I'm going to be left behind. Like that cheap person who didn't want to do the cruise activities, so I went with the cheapest activity possible - only to have it end late and me missing the boat so I have to catch up with it at the next port.

Everyone's beating me to the altar. I know that life is not about a race, but when all this stuff hits you at the same time, sometimes it's hard to swallow. I am usually not dramatic and try not to be, although sometimes it doesn't work, but running off to a Greek island and opening up a hotel is looking like it's going to be my future!

No shoes, no shirt, bad service

I had a terrible evening on October 22, 2010.

It started with meeting my friends at the Berri-UQAM metro station. The original plan was to go to St. Denis street to go and get something to eat, even though I had suggested to go and get Thai food in St. Henri.

Then, we chose to go to Les Trois Brasseurs.

I have had, including the experience tonight, three experiences with Les Trois Brasseurs. And, all three experiences have been bad. I don't understand how well this piece of shit micro-brewery does, given that everything is horrible.

I will not go into the details of my previous three or four experiences with Les Trois Brasseurs. All I will say is that I actually once sent a customer complaint to the head office maybe three years ago and nobody actually responded to my query.

Tonight, the food was expensive (as usual). The service was bad (as usual) - we had to wait 30 minutes at least for our main courses. For my friend who ordered a poutine - we had to wait 15 minutes after we finished our meal (and he finished his poutine) for the main course to arrive. The food was also bad (as usual)

It was explained to me that the Head Chef wasn't there tonight. What the heck? Your kitchen staff should be trained that even if the Head Chef wasn't there, the kitchen doesn't fall apart and it doesn't take you 30 minutes to get your main courses out. It doesn't take you 15 minutes to get the hamburger out.

I had this Oktoberfest Schnitzel special that came with a salad and potatoes. The Scnitzel was so dry, it was like fried meat that has been put in the oven to keep it warm for way to long... Almost borderline pork chip. Then the ham was so dry, it was like a piece of ham jerky. The salad had very little flavour and the potatoes had absolutely no taste. This food was valued at $14.99 + tax + tip.

When I approached the waiter about where I could write for making a complaint, like is there something I could mail into the head office, he told me that the only way is to do it on the internet. The last time I took the time to write into 3 Brasseurs with a complaint, they never got back to me. He said that next time I come, I could speak with the manager and told him that the waiter said to spaeak to him. Seriously, I need to give this shit hole another try?

The only reason why I went today was because my friend wanted to go. I am not the type to be a pooper and if the majority of people want to go, then I will tag along. I just hope that eventually these people will learn one day to not go to 3 Brasseurs.


Then, after "dinner" we were supposed to go to bubble tea. One of the people there, the friend of my friend, didn't want to go to bubble tea... So, we went to someone's house and played video games.

On the way to the house, the same guy who didn't want to go to bubble tea needed to stop at an ATM and get some cash. He was chatting with me and some guy behind him was annoyed that we were chatting and that he wasn't processing his transaction fast enough. I diffused the situation diplomatically, even though when I told the guy behind me that I was having a bad evening, he just responded with "Fuck off." So that was oh so polite when I was just being honest. My friend wanted to deck him.

I should have just did my own thing. It probably might have been more fun.

Inception

On Tuesday, October 12, 2010, I went to see the movie Inception featuring Leonardo Di Caprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy and other big stars.

The story is about a team of people who specializes in extraction. These people go into people's subconscious and they try to extract information out of them. We see the possibilities...

However, this movie is about implanting an idea in someone's head... This concept is called Inception and has never been attempted. According to the main character, Cobb, this is possible since it has been done.

During the movie, we learn about Cobb's demons and how come he knows so much about the idea of Inception. We also learn that he is in exile from his country because of his charges for his wife's (played by Marion Cotillard) murder.

So, how does the movie end? You have to see it to find out. It is a long movie, about 2 hours and 30 minutes. However, when you are into the film, you don't feel the time go by... It is very well done. Just go to the bathroom before you into the cinema. I did that and at the two hour mark, I was doing the pee-pee dance since I wanted to go to the bathroom.

Waiting for Superman

On Saturday, October 9, 2010, I made the unfortunate mistake to see the movie Waiting For Superman.

This "documentary" is about a handful of children who have their difficulties and their experiences with the public school system in the United States.

The movie can be summarized by the following statements:

1) Private school good, public school bad;
2) Teachers are bad and/or evil;
3) Teachers' unions are bad;
4) If parents can't send their children to these special schools, then their childrens' futures are flushed down the toilet.

Don't waste your time and money to see this "documentary". This one-sided, severely biased piece of trash is not worth the money. We don't learn anything new about the problems that are there already. No real solutions are offered either.

Uno! No Uno please!

I had a very interesting experience on Wednesday, October 6, 2010.

My friend and I were having a coffee at Tim Horton's. While we were enjoying our hot chocolates, my friend wanted to play Uno while sipping on his hot chocolate. So we decided to indulge a bit and play Uno.

After maybe about five minutes, a worker there informed us that we cannot play there and had to put it away.

This is hilarious! I can perhaps understand that if they were regular cards that you see at the casino, it could be interpreted as gambling. However, a game made by Mattel geared towards children, suitable for ages 7 - adult. I am still chuckling about it!

Of course, my friend who really wanted to play, he was a bit annoyed. Oh well, such is life. There are certain rules in establishments that I will never understand.

À l'Origine d'un Cri

On Tuesday, October 5, 2010, I went to see the movie À l'Origine d'un Cri. The movie is about three generations, each with their own issues, dealing with each others issues and then having a bonding moment.

We have Patrick Hivon as le fils. He works in a toiletry factory. He is the quality control check person for toilet paper. We find out at the beginning of the movie something that happened to him when he was little. This event has profound effect on his life.

We have Michel Barrette as le Père. He recently lost his second wife. He has trouble letting go. We see him deal with that during the movie.

We have Jean Lapointe as le Grand-père. He is a bit of a grouch and doesn't get along with either his son or his grandson.

The movie is about the father taking off and disappearing and the grandfather and grandson trying to look for the father. During the journey, they learn stuff about each other and have bonding moments.

A film that has serious topics as well as lighter ones, all in one movie. One that will make you think for sure.

It also helps that Patrick Hivon is so hot in it.