25th

25 days into 2013 already!. Time really flies when you're having fun. Birthday on Monday.

I went to Kinsmen twice, got voted in last night. Something to do on Thursday nights! 'Last Resort;' was cancelled by ABC. I had a cold for most of the week, so no poker last night.

Bike update: Monday I called the insurance company, had to bounce around through their system again. Spoke to the adjuster, told her about the towing company. She said she'd do something. I heard nothing till Wednesday night, then I got a call from a tow guy. It was towed Thursday morning. I got a call from the bike shop, they got it.

Had a case this week, can't go into too many details, but the husband appears to have lied about being available to marry. I guess he forgot about a marriage....or two. I think he would need to get some protection for when she finds out. I am not sure, but I don't think women like to be lied to on that front.

All in a day's work:

Me: I will need to see a copy of your lease.
Her: Ok, well actually I don't have a lease (she lives in a million dollar penthouse). I live with my sister.
Me: Is your sister living with you?
Her: Yes
Me: What's her name?
Her: Lisa
Me: Is her last name the same as yours?
Her: I don't know her last name.
Me: How could you not know her last name?
Her: Well actually it's my aunties's daughter.
Me: What's your aunties name?
Her: I don't know.

I am reading a romance novel, I am reading a lot of those. Kindle makes it so easy and let's face it, with bike in the shop, I have a lot of free time. Oh and Winter too.

So the latest one takes place in Tunisia. After messing around in Tunis for awhile they take a road trip. They head South into the Sahara. So I am reading this, I knew that Star Wars was filmed there, but I never thought they'd tie it into this book. They have to travel to where the Taureg live.

Taureg: two definitions. a) It is a Volkswagen SUV and b) it is a tribe of nomads in the Sahara in Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Mali.

The Taureg may have been involved with the kidnapping of a Canadian Ambassador in Niger a couple of years ago. One for which a big ransom was paid. This may be related to the rise to prominence of Al Qaida in the Magreb (AQIM). Those are the allegations anyway. This group may also be involved in the hostage incident at the Algerian oil facility.

Back to the book! The main characters have to get bank account information to the Taureg to finance them. The account has a million in it.

The writer of the book must have been in the region as a traveller. He mentions Ksar Ouled Sultane which is a 500 year old structure which has withstood lots of sandstorms. This place is close to Tataouine......which if you are a Star Wars follower with know was a planet where a lot of the action occurred. The Taureg wear cloaks like the ones worn by Obi Won Kenobi - George Lucas said he borrowed the look.

So we have a book with two gay characters, one of whom is an ex-SEAL running around in an area where I am trying to learn about, for my job. Two birds - one stone.

I think my world is calming down enough for me to start writing again, which I need to do.

Birthday weekend, not much planned, working overtime on Sunday. Need to get some more - have to get some saddle bag rails and a sissy bar installed on bike. May as well, it is in the shop.

The Neverendingstory

Decided to get off my ass an do something about the bike. It you have been reading it was damaged in a deer bike collision on May long weekend last year. This is like the story that keeps on giving.

After the incident, I had to do a police report. I tried at Edmonton Police Service, that was a waste of time. The officer was not going to help me right from the start. I guess he preferred doing nothing all day at the Scona Community Station.

This was resolved when I went to K Division, the RCMP took the report. I made sure everything went to the insurance company. My broker told me it would be covered as it was an animal. I wasn't so sure.

The adjuster came out and reviewed the bike, about a week later.So we are in June now. I have collision on my bike. The broker told me that collision allows you to sit back and let the big boys do all the work.

At the end of July, no one had contacted me about the claim. I was not eligible for a replacement bike - as they don't do that. Disregard the fact that collision and PLPD for a bike is almost the same price as for a car. I went in and cancelled collision on my bike and car. I could use the money for the deductible.

Finally in August, after I chased the broker to find out what was going on, I got the ok to fix the bike.

I went to the bike shop and then tried to get them to order the parts, so I would not be without the bike for the rest of the riding season. The bike shop said they wanted to disassemble the bike and do a thorough check. I called the claims person. They said they'd get back to me.

Nothing until November. They said they did not agree with the bike shop taking the bike apart. They were only going to pay what was on the estimate. If the bike had to be taken apart, I would be paying for it. It would be a cost on top of the deducible. I told bike shop, they spoke to insurance company. It was up to me, if I wanted to get the bike fixed at that shop, I was going to have to pay $1000 to have the checkup done. The insurance company was wondering when I was taking the bike in to get it fixed. The lady was in Calgary in November, I said it is kind of cold. I said I would do it in the Spring, when I could ride the bike home after it was fixed. I did not want to pay for storage.

As there was an impasse with the bike shop, I decided to find another one. i went in and explained the whole situation. They told me they would do it the normal way, start fixing the bike and if other stuff had to be fixed they would contact the insurance company to adjust the quote.

So this is the latest. After attending the bike show last weekend, I decided it was time to get my ass in gear and get the bike fixed. You only have a year after the incident.

I didn't have the quote, the other bike store had it. I thought I'd just call up the broker and have them fax it to the bike shop. The broker said it would be better if I did it.

I call the number that the broker gave me and asked for the claims person who was handling my case. The number didn't work in Alberta....I was calling Calgary. So I went on the insurance company's site. I called the number on there, it was an office in Toronto.

Background time, about the time of the incident, my insurance company was bought out by another insurance company. It was the new provider I was calling, as there was no way to call the other company directly.

They could not find anyone by the claims adjuster's name, as an employee of any of their companies. Then gave me the phone number of the old company in Calgary. Apparently they had not got around to completely merging. Toronto told me who the new adjuster was, I had them spell name....this will become apparent in a minute.

I called the Calgary number, after the 'please listen closely as our menu options have changed' announcement, I was given an option to key in the extension number the lady in Toronto gave me. The number was invalid. I then had the option of saying the person's name. I did, the voice recognition software could not find her. I then used the keypad, it could not find her.

I pressed 0. That option was not available. I called Toronto back. They gave me more numbers. Rather than try them, when I called the Calgary number I used the Receptionist option.
This receptionist was a complete violation of Canada's privacy Act. She was asking for information they already had. She could not find my policy, so she was asking all kinds of stuff. Under the guise of helping me. The only problem was, she was the receptionist and she was not going to pass me along to any of the people authorized to work on my file.

After 10 minutes I asked to speak to her supervisor. She delayed this for a long time, she said she finally found my adjuster and would I rather speak to her than supervisor. I told her that Toronto could find my file, my adjuster and all kinds of other stuff and they did not have my file. She tried to tell me she worked with 'intact' not JEVCO. I happen to know that Toronto gave me the JEVCO numbers. I spoke to the Supervisor and told her how I had wasted 45 minutes just trying to get a quote faxed to a bike shop. She told me the agent was out to lunch, she gave me her number, Direct Line and I could call her at 13:05.

I called back at 13:05 and related the information. she was going to send an email with the quote right away (I have not gone to the bike store yet to see if they got it). She also asked where the bike was, she said she'd contact their towing company to have it towed. No one had mentioned this before, I was going to put it on the back of a pickup. I was psyched!

The towers called me later, they made arrangements to tow the bike. I told them to call me and I would run over and open the garage up when they were in town. I live 3 minutes from work, 5 in a traffic jam. Every thing was set.

I was going to head into Edmonton right after work, but I decided to have a nap first. I am glad I was not on the side of the road for this.

The towers called back. They were not going to send a truck out on Monday unless they had 100% assurance that the bike was accessible. I told them about the arrangements. They said that was not good enough. They wanted the bike outside with the key in it for pickup. It did not matter that I could be home before they even got to my place upon entering town, that was their policy.

I said how long would the bike be out there and when were they coming. She could not guarantee Monday or Tuesday. I asked her if she wanted me to leave my bike out there for three days, she said, no, no that's not what she meant. When I asked what she did mean, she stopped talking.

I don't think they are coming to tow bike. I called adjuster back to inform her of this, but she was gone home. I am going to see if I can deduct the cost of the towing off the price of the deductible. As there are certified towers in town that could do it.

At the bike show I got a quote from a different insurance company, it was 3/4 of the price I was paying per year at the other company - collision was included.

i am sure glad I collected deer hairs off my bike and clothes in the days after the incident.

Zero Dark Blog

I have been following the Killing of Osama bin Laden since it occurred in May 2011. The first article I read was Getting Bin Laden in the New Yorker. That was in August 2011, a lot more has come out since then.

A little about me, I was in Pakistan in 2001. I stayed mainly in Islamabad, that's where I was working. I was not working in anything related to what the lead character of the movie 'Zero Dark Thirty' was working in. I was in Islamabad in the Spring, got there at the end of January and left at the end of March.

It was bitterly cold in Ottawa when I left to fly, via London to the Pakistani Capital. Got to Islamabad Airport at night. We flew over Afghanistan and the North West Frontier Province, the scenery when the helicopters were flying it was similar, even from a lot higher up.

Isbad Airport is a gong show. Get off the plane, go through Immigration and then wait for your luggage. That was on the air side. Soon as you got to the ground side....people, hundreds of them everywhere. I sort of knew, but going through the doors and being immediately immersed in hundreds of people who are all trying to touch you, is kind of a shock.

Anyway, we were picked up and whisked off to the Shangri La Guest House, near the Islamabad Marriott. The Marriott was featured in the movie, it was magnificent. We were working in the Embassy area, which was about 5 kilometres away. Every morning we got a ride in a Toyota Land Cruiser, one would rive us back at night.

It was safe to be a Westerner there in those days. Islamabad was an exception in Pakistan, it is almost like any city in the West. Lots of big houses, I mean lots. Each one had a gate and a guard, armed at the gate. It was safe to walk around the city. I didn't have a car, so I did do a lot of walking.

'Zero Dark Thirty' spends a lot of time in Pakistan in three cities: Rawalpindi, they went to the market there. One thing about Pakistani cities, there is no 'the market', there are lots of them, think of them as open air shopping malls - that you can drive through. Although who would want to? The scene in the movie is pretty accurate. The guys questioning them for being white is not. The markets are where you go for food, clothes, and other stuff - I was in Pindi once and it pretty much looked like what they showed in the movie. It is the opposite of Islamabad. The second city they show is Islamabad and the US Embassy. I didn't enter the way she went in, she seemed to get to the consular section immediately. We would go and play ball there on the weekends. The US Embassy compound in Islamabad is one of the largest embassies in the World.

The baseball field has a tarp up to prevent snipers shooting at the players during games. We played in a league, we had to play the USMC once, we got our asses kicked, but it is funny to watch them play. If a guy screws up at first base say...they circle him and chant, then he starts to say how much of a piece of shit he is. We would watch them play just to see these little interventions.

The last city in the movie is Peshawar. This city is about 5-7 million and is in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). We drove up to it on a weekend. The other guys wanted to shop and I just wanted to take pictures. Peshawar is the last town or city before heading into Afghanistan, the Khyber Pass Road starts in the city. I wanted to go to the Pass, but that was not allowed. We would need to arrange for armed guards. The road is safe, the sides of the road are dangerous. Afghanistan's poppy crop has to make it to market (Peshawar) somehow. The Russians had been beaten and the Taliban were establishing themselves at the time. The Taliban had/have a zero tolerance policy for heroin. They were actively burning poppy fields.

Back to Peshawar, I toured while they shopped. We did go to the Fort, which is the most memorable part of the city. They did not show this in the movie. The on September 12, 2011 I was watching CBC News and they had two reporters, one was reporting from the Marghala Hills, which over look Islamabad from the West side. The other reporter was standing in front of the Fort in Peshawar.

We were parked by a police station at Kabuli Gate, this is a market in the Northwest section of the city. I didn't want to park where we did. In Pakistan there were explosions which always occurred at police stations in markets. But that was the only place open. Peshawar is a little saner for traffic than Pindi. When we left Kabuli Gate we went to Afghani Gate, another market. This was a real eye opener. Over one million people living in tents and selling their wares in a tent city. I tried to shop but there were too many people, too many toothbrushes and towels being shoved in my face. I retreated to vehicle and listened to discman - Van Morrison.

Back to Zero Dark Thirty. I saw Ali Soufan interviewed on Jon Stewart last year, he was an FBI agent who became quite the expert on Al Qaeda. Jon was interviewing him about his experiences, Ali was there to give background on his book 'The Black Banners'. This book is more of a history of AQ and ObL's rise to power. The relevance to Zero Dark Thirty, this book goes into water boarding and the various tortures used to get information. Zero Dark Thirty makes the CIA look competent, this book takes that back down to reality. The only real problem with Ali's book is all the redacting. I hope he publishes a revised version soon. We know know from subsequent books that the torturing was done in Poland, even the movie tells us this. Ali's book has it blacked out. This book was like an appetizer for the next book I read.

'The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden' - Mark Bowden. This guy wrote Black Hawk Down and he was granted access to various major players in the mission, including the President (more later). The book covers some of the same material that Black Banners covered. It goes into detail about the creation of JSOC - Joint Services Operations Command. they were created after the failed mission to rescue the Iranian Hostages under President Carter.

Some may suspect that Mark Bowden is a President Obama fan. After the mission to kill Bin Laden there was a lot of squawking about the President talking claim for the killing and leaving the SEALS to fend for themselves. The third book I read touches on this. I suggest anyone who has that theory read this book, it explains how President Obama made it so. Some people complain about this book as there are no maps etc. Come one do you really need a map of Jalalabad to Abbotabad?

The third book i read was Mark 'Owens' 'No Easy Day' - this is the report by a SEAL that was on the mission. This person was not interviewed by Mark Bowden, but the two accounts do line up nicely. Mark Owen obviously did not have the access to the President and other important characters in his book. But he does let us into his world. The only fault I find with his book is his two opinions, the book could have worked without them. The first one is the President taking all the glory for the killing of OBL. Politely, he is the Commander in Chief and the buck stops at his desk, whether the operation worked or didn't work (Iran-President Carter) he was responsible. The second opinion is more troubling. He didn't respect Osama bin Laden; I didn't think a soldier would have to, but because ObL didn't grab his AK47 or some handguns and fight the SEALS off made him a lesser man. As it turns out it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Now the movie, armed with all this reading I enjoyed it. I knew what was going on. Kathryn Bigelow was mirroring the events and presenting them as factually as she could. My big complaints are: she didn't identify anyone. The President's resolve was reduced to a quiet conversation in a hallway as in BTW.

Th movie spent way too much time on the torturing, especially since it wasn't where the information which subsequently lead to bin Laden came from. In a way it appears to be there for political reasons more than for the story - waterboarding is hard to watch.

When they first go to Pakistan, they would have you believe that it was Islamabad, it wasn't. I question the living arrangements for the main character. I believe someone of that importance would have been staying in the Embassy compound. It was a movie and they had to build up suspense - especially since the ending was a foregone conclusion.

One BIG question I have, was Osama bin Laden bored? Was he sick of being trapped in that compound and only pacing for several hours a day. Was his wife driving him nuts? The reason I ask this, two helicopters landing in your back yard and one of them crashing would alert him to something going on. The explanation in Mark Bowden's book is the residents were used to helicopters due to the Military Academy. But still, a helicopter flying by is one thing, one trying to land on your roof is another (the movie messed this part up - there were only two helicopters until egress). I don't think ObL had a contingency plan for getting the hell out of there if the place was compromised.

A couple of social things, the Doctor part in the movie & Mark Bowden's book, they did send a doctor to try and get DNA so they could be 100% sure it was ObL. Doctor's do go out inoculating, one of the pictures is of a house with chalk marks all over door. That is how they know the place has been surveyed.

You could buy whatever you wanted to in Peshawar, vendors in the markets had AK's rolled up in blankets. You barter for them like you did for a chicken, which they kill in front of you. You can get all kinds of knives, most illegal in Canada.

They had wine in the Marriott? Geez, we would either go to a compound, an Embassy or the United Nations club to drink. Pakistan has no bars. The Marriott was a 10 minute walk from where I was staying. I went there once for a haircut, when in Pakistan, get a haircut, the scalp massage afterwards is great!

Pakistan is a mixture of people Urdu and Pashto - they don't tend to segregate themselves, they go where they want. Peshawar would be Afghani influenced, but it would also have a large Urdu population. I did not go to Southern Pakistan, so I do not know if there is the same mixture there.

Taxila is located outside of Islamabad on the way to Peshawar. It was Alexander the Great's Capital in Asia and it was also a major Buddhist Centre.

Take the 5th

Slept till 13:00 and loved it! Did nothing last night, well I watched Abduction (not too bad), Avatar (got half way through, then got bored) I finished up with A Few Good Men - is that ever a good movie. Not spoiling the ending, but it is a tragedy. Jack's melt down as Col Jessup is classic. Cruise does a pretty good Jack impersonation too.

Three days of work, wow, why as short weeks longer than long weeks? Got through them. I was busy renewing things. I had some stuff at work to get ready for a new year. Then I had some home stuff. My Alberta Motor Association card is expiring, you'd think it would be easy to re-new. You'd think, I tried on-line, by phone, went in to do it today physically. As the lady said, why would they make taking money difficult?

Re-evaluating things, the guy that has corresponded for 2 months....well lets just say, stalking me is not going to change things. He was texting me at work, which I told him was a no no. He started to do stuff on sites which caused notifications to beep on my phone. He is about to get the 'Take a hike' email. One thing though, online guys, pick a name and stick to it. This guy now has Jim, Todd and Tyler as a name. Todd is the one he says is his real name, but he signed one of the texts this week with Tyler.

Sent an email to a cop friend who is retired, he is now a psychologist. Outlined some of my issues. He told me to get back to therapy. From what I was saying, he deduced I was suffering from depression. It comes and goes, but it always returns. As long as I get no pills!!!

Got a hair cut today, it still grows pretty fast. I went to the place on Whyte Ave and guess what, the only free chopper was the one from the last time. She must have completely forgot she did me before, cause she did the little speech about gong too short. Somehow telling her I had stubble before didn't register. So she starts with a 3 on top, and a Too Late now look on her face. When I told her 2 on the sides she gave up. I got a better haircut this time. The one that did my hair the first time at that place was smiling at me. I didn't get her name ....damn, you can make appointments.

Not sure about this blog, what the hell am I going to write about????? Well it is a new year.

I was in a discussion group on Facebook on Social and Political issues. That lasted till yesterday at noon. He is what happened.

In Canada there is a lady who is a on a hunger strike, till she meets the Queen's representative in Canada. Her name is Teresa Spence. She is camping in a traditional animal pelt tent on an island in Ottawa. I think it is on the Rideau River close to the Prime Minister's house. In my job I deal with foreign issues. I never have time to read about Canadian issues that don't effect me. This would not be something that would cross my desk.

So I went for lunch on Thursday to Subway. I grabbed the Sun, which is a tabloid type paper. Normally I don't read it. I normally just go on Twitter at lunch. Anyway, I read an editorial on Ms Spence and the writer's issues. In Canada, a newspaper is not allowed to lie. So anyway, I read the part and what I learned was she was drinking broth & tea on her hunger strike.

I commented on this on the Social site. I was immediately jumped upon for reading the Sun. It made whatever else I said suspect. So in order to calm them down, I searched for Ms. Spence and read only the Globe & Mail and National Post articles. They tend to be saner. Guess what??? The same information was there.

So I posted on the social site this information. One of the people with the strongest opinions, insulted me and then blocked me.

Then I asked for a definition of a hunger strike, it appears the definition has changed in the last few years. It is no longer the Bernadette Devlin, Nelson Mandela definition: no force feeding water, as we are Canadian. So on a hunger strike in Canada you are allowed to eat and drink. It is more 'Hunger Strike INO' - or a diet. I said this! Boy did I get beat up. The one that blocked me went ballistic, calling me a teabagger. I knew this as he comments although blocked on Facebook got emailed to me.

At work I tested my opinion, a guy I work with had been on a hunger strike in Burundi. He lost his family in that war. I asked if my definition of hunger strike was 'out there' he said no. Hunger strike means hunger strike.

Apparently I am not the only Canadian to have this opinion, an editorial in the National Post said as much as I did. They called it a diet too. Ms. Spence is not a slim woman. Apparently none of the doctors who are commenting on the effects of a hunger strike of 25 days have examined her.

Oh I also got beat up over the fact she wanted to meet with the Prime Minister for Two Weeks; not a day, not a week; two weeks. This was totally unreasonable in my opinion and it seems she and a few other people are confused as to who is the Queen's representative in Canada. The Governor General may have two weeks to meet with this lady.

I am over this, she is getting a meeting with Harper on the 11th. She will still be around, she has a fairly facilitative hunger strike which provides her with fat, protein and water.

Some more pictures from biking last week. These are from the Nikon, I have to say they are better than the iPhone pics. One of Thelma (Robert) too, I learned how fast the shutter speed is. He was talking as I was shooting.