Sh!ma

What just happened Frank?

Did you not serve us because we didn’t have reservations?
Did you not serve us because we were young?
Did you not serve us because we clashed with your white, rich clientele?
Did you have to go out of your way to bring us some water when we sat down?
Was it so hard to ask us why we got up and left after sitting and waiting for a friendly smile or hello after 15 minutes?

Needless to say, and as much as I love or thought I loved the AGO, I am not impressed with the way we were treated tonight at Frank.

Snow Removal in Toronto

As a citizen you have rights, sometimes we forget that. All last winter I of all people forgot about those rights and just kept slipping and falling on my walk home. Not this year my friend.

After contacting my local councilor’s office this morning I received a very nice phone call and a subsequent email this afternoon to let me know that I can call a by-law enforcer to make sure Value Village clears the sidewalk in front of their property.

If you find your self slipping and sliding and falling due to someone’s lazy ass you can call the by-law enforcers hotline: 416.392.7768 (they have about 12 hours after the snow fall to clear their sidewalks). That’s for sidewalks that are infront of private property. If the area falls under the City’s jurisdiction you can call: 416.338.7669 (option 4 will get you a live person to speak to). But remember the city only starts clearing sidewalks when there has been more than 8 cm of snow.

Go exercise your rights this winter!

Here is a usefull link and map.

Uncle OSAP sucks

So I’m trying to be on the ball with paying back my loan… and fine I haven’t been so on the ball, because I probably should have started repaying my loan the day I graduated.. But we can’t all be perfect. Anyways, the people won’t be able to tell me how much I should be paying a month until my six month grace period is finished! But they don’t tell you that you will start accumulating interest the day you finish school. You can’t just leave me to decide how much my minimum payment should be! God Damn uncle Osap why do you have to be such a bitch all the time.

CN Tower Stair Climb

I did the CN Tower Stair Climb last night for the second time. I’m not sure why I signed up the first time or the second time. I did it in 26 minutes both times. That’s nothing to be proud of.

I’m not sure I would recommend anyone to do it if they have already done it before. The three hour wait and all the security measures are all very ridiculous.

Swimming in the Big City

I’m still trying to find a close and convenient swimming pool in my neighbourhood. I hate it when I’m all pumped up to go swimming at my regular Y only to be stuck in meetings and losing precious swimming time! argh.

I'm tired of living downtown

I’m in North York at least 3 out of 7 days in the evenings and some times I’m up there 5 out of 7 days. It just seems ridiculous that I am living downtown and commuting up to North York as often as I do. fuck…….

Why Shomal (North Restaurant) in North York Sucks.

Against my better judgement I decided to listen to my parents and order some Persian food from Shomal to compliment the Indian food that Ram’s parents were serving at the wedding.

On Wednesday prior to the wedding I went in and spoke to the owner of the restaurant told him what I needed, for how many people I needed it for, what time I needed things delivered and where they should be delivered. He said he would do it for me.

Saturday evening the driver was 1/2 hour late, and when he did finally arrive he was rude and left the food at the door of the backyard and didn’t bother bringing anything inside.

Sunday lunch time the food never arrived because the owner had given the kitchen the wrong time for delivery. (When I called the restaurant to inquire about the food I was passed on to at least three different people and finally was told that they could do nothing for me, and they did not know who I was and that I had gotten the wrong person etc. etc. etc. Mind you I was not yelling or arguing, I was just calling to ask about the food and I even said “please and thank you” a whole bunch of times.) Finally I got a hold of the owner and I asked him for my money back for the food that had not arrived. He agreed.

Monday evening I went into the restaurant to ask for my money back. After asking for the manager in charge, I was sent a server who said he couldn’t help me. I asked him if I could speak to someone in charge, and I was sent the same delivery guy who had come late on Saturday. I explained the situation to him and he told me he couldn’t do anything for me because he was not in charge. I asked him to direct me to the person in charge and was told the owner was not in and I should come another day. I asked him to call the owner which he refused. Good thing I had his cell phone number, so I called him and the owner told his staff to give me the money back.

After 1/2 an hour of getting passed on from one person to another person and being told that they couldn’t do anything for me I was asked to sign a paper and finally got my money back. The delivery guy had the nerve to say that I was a bad customer.

I wouldn’t recommend ever ordering any large orders from the restaurant and I promise to never go there again even after being a loyal customer since they first opened. I also refuse to ever deal with Persian caterers other than people I know personally. Seriously, I’ve had some bad experience with so many of the restaurants in North York I don’t know why I even bother going back.

wedding dresses look ugly close up

I went to look at wedding dresses after work today and realised that wedding dresses look absolutely hideous when you get up close and personal. What the hell am I going to do if I can’t find a dress that I like.. argh…

another reason why the hospitals in Toronto suck

So the never ending saga of my dad’s health lead to an MRI at Toronto Western Hospital which was suppose to happen this last Sunday. But because of the storm we had to cancel the appointment (Which was done eventually, with some minor glitches.. read: rude help desk lady and the fact the Imaging Centre never calling me back to confirm they had cancelled the appointment, even though I explicitly asked them to do that in my voice mail).

So Anyhow, I called on Monday to rebook the appointment for this Friday. When I spoke to the booking lady I told her my dad had a valve in his heart and asked if that would create any problems with the MRI. She said that probably not, but to be safe I should have his cardiologist fax over information about his valve over. So my brother had my dad’s cardiologist fax over the information to the hospital. My dad and I met up today at the hospital for his MRI. After he spoke to the attending nurse, they said that they weren’t sure if he could have his MRI because of his valve. I told them that his cardiologist had faxed over the information over a few days back. Turns out all the faxes sent to any Toronto University Health Network goes to one central location and they are suppose to fax anything they get to the appropriate people. Except, as always seems to be the case someone FUCKED up royally. The MRI department never got a fax and so they couldn’t go on with the procedure. (The central location had lost the original fax and couldn’t locate it!)

We got sent home after wasting two hours at the hospital. I feel like even when we try to pick up the hospital’s slack they still know how to mess up. I’m slowly losing my trust in the health care system.

The moral of the story: Get a copy of the patients medical files. You probably can do a better job locating the correct files then the hospital admin people.

Perks of being a student brought to you by Green Sheild of Canada

Health care is free in Canada, but health insurance isn’t.. which isn’t a big deal.. unless you are a student and can only afford to have the insurance you get through school. I had some dental work done on my teeth (cleaning) and I submitted my claim to Green Shield six weeks ago. I got a letter yesterday saying I’m ineligible for any reimbursement. The letter they sent doesn’t have much other than a table with the expenses and what they are covering (which is nothing). There isn’t an explanation either. So I have to call and see what the deal is.

I don’t like dealing with insurances. This is why I haven’t gone to a eye doctor in forever or gotten a prescription drug in years. Half the time nothing is covered and I have to pay out of my own pocket.. which is getting smaller and smaller these days!

The Subway Ride to North York took 1.5 Hours Today.

Signs to forget about going to work and just staying home:

1. tons of people on the south side of Bloor Street at Lansdowne hailing cabs.
2. Large groups of people coming OUT of the Station during morning rush hour.
3. A lineup that stretched from the subway platform up to the ticket booth platform and was beginning to creep up to the street platform.
4. Paramedics rushing passed the crowds to get to the subway platform.

I watched 6 subway cars go by, all packed with people (this was over a 1/2 hour period). After I finally got on the subway, it took 15 minutes to get to Ossington. We stopped for another 5 minutes because the subway car ahead of us at Christie was experiencing mechanical problems. I finally got up to North York 1.5 hours after leaving downtown… late for my meeting!

Remember the Wonder Years?

This post has nothing to do with that show, but I was just thinking about it. Anyhow, I have decided that instead of stressing over what has become of my life in the last four months, I’m going to concentrate on coming up with a drama series based on the true story of Shima Mirkarimi with special appearances by Ali and Mohammad, and a cameo by Tahera and Ram.

At every turn there is another twist. As soon as you think I’ve got my head above water, there is a huge wave rushing towards me. It’ll be so good. I think I have solid material for at least six episodes.. at least...

What should I call it? How about “The ****ed-up Years”?

This is what I learnt at the councilor's office today

Chinese people speak Vietnamese and Thai

Muslim people don’t do drugs because they’re Muslim.

Queen Victoria was not boogie-ing with Sri Lankan music and M.I.A. when the houses were named after her.

WHAT THE FUCK!

why are all the icky people brave on the TTC?

Ew Ew Ew. I don’t think I’ve ever been talked to by a random Persian person in all my time in Toronto until tonight…. Ewwwwwwwwww…..!

A man named Wood, fit to be tied to a tree

Hah, I knew it! They are going to be cutting down trees! It makes no sense. If the city is worried about having a more friendlier pedestrian atmosphere on Lansdown then why cut 20-year-old trees and replace them with saplings? Sounds like a little bit ….. on behalf of the City.

TTC 4, Shima 2

I tried to go to North York again today. Only to hear from the lovely speaker that there was regular track maintenance occurring at Lawrence Station and to expect delays. Here is my question to you, Mr. TTC-man, why are you doing regular track maintenance at rush hour?! Unless rush hour has been pushed back or pulled forward a few hours I don’t think that is the case. I missed testing my karate kids thanks to the TTC. boo.

TTC 3, Shima 2

In the last week I’ve taken the subway five times to get to North York. Out of the five times, three of those times there has been some sort of delay. It should never ever take me an hour and a half to get from downtown to North York… Ever! I’m so disappointed Adam Giambarone. In fact so disappointed I may have to call off my not so secret crush on him!

I'm not a tree hugger

but I just can’t understand why you would begin punching a sapling for no reason! argh. Too bad I don’t have any balls. I would have so told the guy to stop!

Transporting a bicycle from uptown to downtown

It takes just:
1 miscommunication +
1 strong wind that blows everything I had in my basket (read: lots of paper that I wasn’t able to retrieve in the end) down on the ground plus the bicycle which ruins
1 bicycle stand that won’t go up any more which causes:
3 bloody large scratches on my right foot and
1 bloody bruise on top of my foot +
1 gas station air pump that only takes quarters which makes things VERY difficult when you have no money on you + going up
3 escalators because the TTC doesn’t have elevators at all their stations YET which all together makes
1 aggravated shima

I will never ever do that again. Never. My bicycle can rot in the basement before I ever decide to take it on another subway trip.

On that note, how do I fix the bicycle stand? I can’t ride/walk my bicycle b/c it keeps on hitting my poor right foot and I can’t deal with a mangled, bruised, bloody foot any more!

And I’m so scared my bicycle wont last a day in the basement locker room. I hope no one steals it. The last time I put a bicycle in a basement bike locker, everything was taken off my bicycle.. I think the bell was the only thing that was left behind.

No more free Friday nigths at the ROM

No one probably cares about the ROM no longer being free from 4:30-9:30 on Friday nights. But I do. The first time I went to the ROM with my parents was during one of those Free Fridays. I think they’re increasing the admission ($5 dollars on Fridays) since they can’t pay for the massive [ugly] structure they’re building.

Thankfully, for all of you on a budget, the admission prices don’t increase until March 10th. I have a date with the ROM this Friday, how about you?

Forgot my cellphone, Forgot my ring

I suck at being a good ring carrying fiance.

It’s the second day of reading week and guess who is in the studio!! me! me! me! :D

National Student Loans Service Centre Tax Receipt

Six months ago, The NSLSC sent me a letter telling me to pay up my loan from Uncle Osap. I called them and told them I didn’t want to and technically I shouldn’t have to because I was going back to school. They told me that I had been out of school for six months and would have to pay up. I asked them if they would make me pay for a month before I became a student again. They said yes. Moral of the story don’t mess with OSAP. And start paying them back as soon as you’re done school, don’t wait for the 6 months grace period. Just pay them back. Your loan is no longer interest free as soon as you are done being a student.

I got a tax receipt in the mail today for $485.98 which was the interest I paid on my loan for the month and odd days. (Yeah, you thought your loan was large… I bet I got you beat!). I better get a lot of money back in taxes this year.

By the way, I don’t like Uncle Osap.. That is why I refuse to ever borrow money from him again. I rather be a very poor student as oppose to just a poor student off his money. He’s a greedy and mean uncle that doesn’t even think twice before asking for his money back. Even if I have no money to give him! Grr..

Please don't talk to me on the TTC.

I’m on the TTC on a Saturday evening around 7:30 pm. I’m carrying two IKEA bags and wearing what I usually wear and listening to my ipod.

1. Stranger number 1 (high school aged caucasian girl) approaches me as I wait at the DWA on the Sheppard-Yonge Line. I take out my ear buds to hear what she is asking. I answer her many questions about IKEA, how to get there, when it’s open, if the IKEA shuttle bus still runs, how long it would take to walk there. She says thanks and walks away.

2. Stranger number 2 (middle aged caucasian lady.. might have been on some sort of medication) starts talking to me when she notices I have a ring on. I try to answer her many questions about when I got engaged, when the wedding would be, if my fiancee was Canadian (really who ask that?). She goes on to ask me about what is in my IKEA bag and then later tells me that they are tearing down her apartment. She lives in the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood. Incidentally, we are going to be redeveloping this neighbourhood as one of our urban design projects this term so I was pretty interested in what she had to say except she had to get off at Lawrence Station. Before she left, she told me she was divorced.

3. Stranger number 3 and possibly stranger number 4 (middle aged filipino men) approach me as I sit on the Bloor subway line. I’m a bit annoyed because obviously he and his friend are trying to talk to me about randomness and hoping to get lucky! WTF. He asks me all sorts of stupid questions about where Dufferin station is, where Kipling is, what my name is, where I am from, if I was born in Canada, if I’m going home. I think other people on the subway car notice him and him harassing me.. anyways, I decide to get off the subway and wait for the next train.. which on a Saturday evening takes a super long time.

Does something about me or the way I was dressed or the things I was carry scream out Approachable?! Ram says that I’m too nice and I should just ignore people or pretend I’m listening to music, but that is exactly what I was doing, listening to music. I dunno, I was pretty frustrated last night, I mean I’ve never ever gotten off a subway car because of someone harassing me. I’m going to work on my bitchy look. I’ll use it when I’m on the subway from now on! I think you should too..

I'm talking to you, yes, you!

I am so infuriated with the people who play soccer after our Karate class on Thursday evenings. They are a bunch of Persian hoodlums that think they are all hot shit, but need I remind them that they are at the Y! The Y! You can’t be hot shit and come to the Y to play soccer! Specially not at the Bayview Y.. only the spoiled rich kids hang out there. (That doesn’t include me though, 13-14 years ago the Y was the only place that my parents could afford to enroll my brother and I.)

So tonight, once again, the little hoodlums decided to take it upon them selves to announce that our “time [was] up”, it was “time to go home” and being loud and obnoxious while we were bowing out.

It’s one thing having these 18-year olds talking shit, what really gets me mad is when the Y staff responsible for the program doesn’t acknowledging their behavior and makes the whole thing into a big joke.

I may be a little girl, but don’t piss me off! I’ve perfected my dirty looks before you could even talk! And I dare you to touch me! So I’ve decided that next time I’m just going to stand in the middle of the gym and not move until I am ready to move. 8o|

And you all ask me why I hate Persians.. okay fine, wanna-be bad ass Persians!

I hate my computer!

There I’ve said it. I have nothing else to add to that.