That is complex. It depends on how well the book performs in terms of sales and the book category.
Today, I’ll talk about regular rankings, that is, all-time to date for book performance.
My book is a memoir and history.
Everyone can check a book sales performance (if there are enough sales for Amazon to build statistics). On the page where you can buy the book, scroll down the page, and you may see something like this (Canadian Amazon site): see below. 

The Amazon algorithm considers the number of copies sold, how recently, and the sales amount. I think the rank jumps significantly after some good sales. I remember on “Amazon.ca,” I was #1 one day after just 3 sales on the Canadian Amazon site, one eBook and two prints. It was in the “Romanian History” section. Not many buy books in Canada about someone’s memoirs in Communist Romania. But still, a few days later, with no more sales,  I was #28 in the same category.

​On the American site, I was #71 in Romanian History with 436 sales (419 eBook and 17 print)
Americans seem to be more interested in European history than Canadians, even considering they are 8-9 times more people.

 
I have also attached the book on performance in the UK. It seems they are the most avid readers of the history of Romania, considering how many history books were ahead of mine (I was not on the list for Romanian history), and I had similar sales in the UK to those in Canada.

​Conclusion: if someone said they were #1 on Amazon, you should ask them the category at least. If they said it was #1 in romance (for example), it means a lot, while in a category with fewer readers, high positions could be reached fast.
Another remark: looking at rankings for many books, I observed that readers enjoy more books about sex than philosophy, history, and politics. Uffff.

​I published THESE LIVES in March 2023.
Total sales as of today: 503 copies, out of which 39 are print and 464 are eBooks.
I did not do serious marketing until about 4 months ago. I saw sales increase as a result. The best for me is Amazon ads, and I will explain how this worked for me in a new post. 

​There is another way to look at your book value on Amazon. I am talking about the pages read on Kindle Unlimited since I have my book in that store. In my calculation, Amazon pays around 1 USD for 200 pages read in Kindle Unlimited.
Those paying subscriptions can read any number of books they want from the store. They often read a few pages, dump the book, and go for another. So, how many subscribers read my whole book? I would say around half of them. Considering their habits, as described by other bloggers, I think it is an achievement.
How do I estimate how many went through my whole book? I do not talk about those who bought copies since there are no statistics, but Amazon subscribers to Kindle Unlimited.
It happens occasionally, maybe a few weeks apart, to see 10 to 50 pages read (Amazon calls it KENP). Then, I looked the following days, and if I saw that number increase like somebody was reading, and if in a few days, a week or so, the number of pages matched my book, I concluded the guy read it all. Of course, this could be misleading since another reader jumped in and read only part of it. My conclusion is that about half do read the whole book. The total pages on KENP to the day: 5910. Below is the list of Kindle Unlimited reads. Obviously, the guy from India reading only 20 pages gave up after the first 2 chapters. In Australia, if there was only one reader, he/she went through half of it. But I stick to my estimation; half of them read it all. Well, only Amazon knows the truth.

​Note: The books downloaded by subscribers do not show up in sales, there are separate statistics.
In my next post, I will go through ranking. There are many angles to look at it, and I find it fascinating.
 

  In this post, I will describe the launch of my book THESE LIVES (memoir book).
    My editor was enthusiastic about the book, and I can discern between courtesy enthusiasm and a real one. She even helped me (for free) look for an agent. It didn’t work out, but I had some replies that were very close calls, mostly saying that they do not specialize in the book genre - but had a debate within the team to consider it.
So, I decided to spend some money on launching my book because what I had was encouraging. I also paid three professional reviews (Kirkus, Indie Reader, and Reedsy Discovery), which were very encouraging.
     I remembered some bad times with a previous book when I signed up with Xlibris. I paid an initial sum for which they evaluated the book and suggested a book cover. The evaluation showed that they did not read the content, but they read a few pages here and there, and the cover design was a picture on Shutterstock. By chance, I found it on Shutterstock by looking for some keywords to match the book’s narrative. I canceled the agreement and lost the money.
So, there is no way I would fall into the trap of vanity publishers, better self-publish, and pay for services I need.
After some research, I decided on Reedsy for cover design and marketing. I am not making publicity for Reedsy; I just tell my audience what happened.
    It was expensive, about USD 1000 for marketing and £960 for cover design and formatting. I did not need the formatting, but I wanted to go full steam and not regret it later. I do not regret the payment since I reached #1 (eBook) and #3(Print) for Amazon New Releases for the Romanian History section. 

   
I am a self-published author. Now, because I am retired, I have more time for marketing. I tried companies offering to help at a reasonable price (a few hundred), then ads on Facebook, X, and Amazon. For me, the best results were with Amazon Ads in the Sponsored Products program. It makes sense since they have all the necessary statistics.

   If your book is in Kindle Unlimited, then Amazon knows how many books are downloaded and how many pages are read. Amazon knows if there are many downloads for a book, but the reader only goes a few pages or a few chapters and then jumps to the end to find the conclusion - the book has a good presentation (cover design, an appealing summary or synopsis) but poor content. If there are few downloads for other books, but most readers go through it all, it is the other way around - a poor presentation but good content. I talked about Kindle Unlimited since those paying subscriptions are picky but the best barometer to judge a book’s quality. Besides, the author can find those statistics by watching the KENP frequently on his/her Amazon Author pages, not with Amazon’s precision, but still might have a clue.

    It is similar to eBooks, but those buying it read the book, and their potential reviews might indicate their assessment. Of course, reviews from friends and most paid “readers reviews” should not count for an honest evaluation if an author wants to be truthful to himself.

    What follows are my best guesses about how Amazon works.

    Amazon wants to make money from selling books. And if they advertise good books, the fan base increases. But they want to take advertising money from all authors paying for ads. I think it is different from how Amazon treats excellent and bad authors.

    But how does Amazon evaluate a book? I already explained the statistics they have on eBooks. Reviews always matter; Amazon tries to discern between honest and “friendly” reviews. I am not sure how successful it is with this, but those with tons of reviews stand forward. My take is that a few reviews (and all good) do not matter much.
    
    The beginning is hard for an author, but Amazon gives you a chance until it places your book on the right shelf, from outstanding books down to disastrous ones. The Amazon “New Releases” program might help authors start well. I will not make any recommendations here since many articles about the process exist. I would only mention that I had no clue how to do it, so I paid Reedsy to help me, and it was a good choice. 
​
    Is it fair that Amazon became such a powerhouse that anybody else is dwarfed? Well, they have the chance to regulate a Wild West book market.

    I will explain more about my experience as an author in the next post.

I am the author of “The Village: The sleep of reason produces monsters.” It is a dystopia about religion.
I paid 3 editorial review shops to evaluate my book.
I had very good and bad editorial reviews… what to make of it?
I start with the good one.
 
*********
Below is the review from Reedsy Discovery.
 
Loved it
 
Villagers blind faith in a puritanical religious leader and distrust of the outside world lead to violence and a potential catastrophe.
SYNOPSIS
A small, isolated community with limited access to technology and the outside world had a heavenly life, at least on the surface. This environment could be a fertile ground for a manipulative and puritanical religious figure. Is Father Quinn taking advantage of the community’s vulnerability? Or will his intentions, sooner or later, conflict with elements of progress? Or will his determination to keep the community from dangerous temptation bring happiness?

The arrival of a rebellious teenage girl, Anna, could trigger a fight between secular and religious concepts. Freedom in its recalcitrant form and the desire for redemption will clash, and the result might have no winner since no one will abide by the other side’s perception of right and wrong or how this life should be lived.

What could change a struggle between reasoning versus faith, liberty versus accepting the well-known thousands of years old solid teaching of Christian scriptures?

A danger looming over the community could bring them together or split them further apart.
Teenager Mike lives with his family in Orinsland, a small, farming community with limited access to technology and the outside world. It seems a peaceful and happy place but Mike dreams of more than the simple life, and is devoted to the television, the only window on the outside world he knows. An old teacher, Mr Trent, has always ensured that the technology works but now he is old and tired and Father Quinn, a manipulative and puritanical religious figure, believes that it is a temptation to the villagers and will undermine his authority. When rebellious teenager Anna, to whom Mike is attracted, and her family move into Orinsland it brings things to a head and it becomes a fight between blind faith and the elements of progress. Quinn’s determination to keep the village from temptation becomes dangerous when a natural disaster threatens and he encourages his follower Colt to cut off the community’s link to the outside world. The fight is then no longer hypothetical but real as it brings the village is to the brink of disaster.
  
The plot is simple and character driven, based on the war between secular and religious concepts, Anna, her family and Mr Trent on the side of progress and Quinn and those who follow him blindly on the other. Many of the characters seem to be mere ciphers for one side of the argument or the other but the main characters stand out well. Mike is conflicted, as he is in love with Anna but wants to stay true to his family’s beliefs. Trent is admirable but old and tired and no match for Quinn who by the end is totally delusional, although he, also, has his doubts and has suffered in the past. I was not convinced that simple god-fearing folk like Colt, Quinn’s acolyte, would be prepared to go to the lengths they do - such as trashing the television station and worse - although sadly the power exerted by leaders of some religious cults has indeed proved deadly.  The book’s climax is all it should be with the believers hoping for divine deliverance from the storm but not taking the action required.
 
Although the various characters fall too easily into one camp or the other this nevertheless provides a thought-provoking and intriguing read, as well as providing much excitement along the way.
REVIEWED BY
Jennifer Hill
 
Note: Congratulations! Your book The Village has been reviewed by Jennifer Hill! It will go live on May 30, 2024 and will be available from https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/the-village-eliade-moldovan.
 
**************
 
I also paid Blueink for a review. They offer some discount if you pay both Blueink and Clarion. I think the reviewer at Blueink was slightly uncomfortable with the standing in the book, but he/she tried her best to look at the story with a reviewer’s eye but blasted one way or another the characters clashing with Christian teachings.
 
Blueink Review
 
 The Village
Eliade Moldovan
Eliade Moldovan, 267 pages, 978-1-7383242-0-0
(Reviewed: March 2024)
The Village is a modern-day drama focusing on a geographically isolated agrarian religious community called Orinsland, where a morally questionable priest has assumed the role of town leader.
The story centers on Father Quinn’s relationship with his Christian congregation, some of whom support his dogmatic approach to faith and some who are unconvinced by his unbending religious values.
At the novel’s commencement, newcomers the Mulroneys arrive in Orinsland so that Peter Mulroney can work as a technician maintaining the village’s TV reception station. Peter’s 16-year-old daughter, Anna, struggles to adapt to the community. Having difficulty cultivating relationships due to her non-conformist attitude, Anna is befriended by smitten teenager Mike, delinquent youth Valery, and former town-leader-turned-teacher, Professor Trent, whose liberalism clashes with prevailing Orinsland outlooks.
Following a tragedy in the community resulting from the growing rift between Father Quinn’s acolytes and more open-minded parishioners, Anna starts to question Quinn’s autocratic teachings. Tensions quickly escalate between the two groups, culminating in a murderous vendetta and an apocalyptic final act.
Author Eliade Moldovan has crafted a philosophically challenging meditation on the perils of fundamentalism, presenting a cautionary tale of a society governed by religious intolerance, where compassion and inclusivity have been subdued by fearmongering. To ensure that the different psycho-social circumstances of community members—such as humourless zealot Colt, and vengeful father, Liam—are thoughtfully explored, Moldovan employs a balanced structure, focusing each chapter on a specific character. This avoids the potential for bias inherent in a single-character perspective.
That said, the story predominantly belongs to relatable fish-out-of-water Anna; Mike, whose romantic interest in Anna leads him into conflict with his own religious values, and Father Quinn.
Although some readers might wish for more periodic relief from the novel’s bleak tone and oppressive subject, overall, The Village is a brave novel that successfully presents its case for a more liberal society.
https://www.blueinkreview.com/book-reviews/the-village/
 
***********
 
Clarion (Forward Reviews)
I think the reviewer was a hard-core believer. She had some nice words about the story but blasted it with out-of-context remarks, giving me 2 stars. How can a reviewer blame an author for describing what is in one of the character’s mind?
I complained, and the agent told me she forwarded my email to the editor-in-chief. I offered to forward them links to other editorial reviews about my book, where I received a 4-star rating and very nice words. They ignored all this, and I had never heard about their chief editor’s reaction. They also turned off the opportunity to complain on their site. I do not mind if they are fighting to protect Christian values, but at least it should be a warning on their site that if you are on the wrong side of the fence, you’ll pay for it.
 
Clarion Review
​SCIENCE FICTION
The Village
Eliade Moldovan
Amazon KDP
(267pp)
978-1-73832-420-0
A parable about the perils of blind trust, The Village follows two teenagers through their difficulties toward possible
love.
In Eliade Moldovan’s speculative novel The Village, religious power dynamics reveal the dangers of blind faith.
Seventeen-year-old Mike experiences upheaval and turmoil when a new family arrives in Orinsland, his secluded
hometown. Murders are committed, and a hurricane threatens the entire village. His point of view is interspersed with those of other villagers, with the book lingering on Anna, a teenager from the city who takes up residence in the village with her father, its newest resident technician. And Father Quinn, the town’s priest, presides over a flock of ordinary, God-fearing individuals, among whom are farmers using equipment that is at least a century out of date. Further, there are hints of a romance between Mike and Anna, even as they work to avert a potential tragedy.
The village and its people are described in enthusiastic but limiting terms: “The landscape was breathtaking, like a
real-life painting,” Anna observes, and a scene near sunset is set in terms of the “few red-brownish clouds seen over the western mountains [that] outlined the valley’s beauty where Orinsland sat.” Anna, who’s comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, notes that her new classmates “behaved differently; they were too docile.” Here and elsewhere, people’s feelings and village sights are prioritized, but at the expense of depth; tensions are “palpable,” hearts stop to indicate surprise or danger, and stale motifs and metaphors (as with references to the full moon) appear too often. The view of Orinsland that develops is a simple one—a mere distraction from the book’s otherwise fascinating premise.
The book’s characterizations are also flat. People’s motivations seem singular, and they often act in ways that
controvert expectations—including in the midst of dire situations, where their reactions strain credulity. The effect is jarring. And there’s a limited sense of people’s lives outside of the central narrative, which is vague when it comes to backstories and personal histories. Those whose backgrounds are revealed through flashbacks are more complex; still, they too are quite single-minded. Further, while the story includes several substantial plot turns, they are foreshadowed with a heavy hand, robbing the book of surprise. And even in the book’s striking ending, the fates of many are left unresolved, preventing a final sense of satisfaction.
In the allegorical novel The Village, corruption is shown to be innate among the powerful.
CAITLIN CACCIATORE (April 4, 2024)
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to
have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a
positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
 

I am the author of “The Village: The sleep of reason produces monsters.” It is a dystopia about religion.
I paid 3 editorial review shops to evaluate my book.
I had very good and bad editorial reviews… what to make of it?
I start with the bad one. I am not sure this is smart, but that’s life.

 
Clarion (Forward Reviews)
I think the reviewer was a hard-core believer. He/she had some nice words about the story but blasted it with out-of-context remarks, giving me 2 stars. How can a reviewer blame an author for describing what is in one of the character’s mind?
I complained, and the agent told me she forwarded my email to the editor-in-chief. I offered to forward them links to other editorial reviews about my book, where I received a 4-star rating and very nice words. They ignored all this, and I had never heard about their chief editor’s reaction. They also turned off the opportunity to complain on their site. I do not mind if they are fighting to protect Christian values, but at least it should be a warning on their site that if you are on the wrong side of the fence, you’ll pay for it.
 
Clarion Review SCIENCE FICTION
The Village
Eliade Moldovan
Amazon KDP
(267pp)
978-1-73832-420-0
A parable about the perils of blind trust, The Village follows two teenagers through their difficulties toward possible
love.
In Eliade Moldovan’s speculative novel The Village, religious power dynamics reveal the dangers of blind faith.
Seventeen-year-old Mike experiences upheaval and turmoil when a new family arrives in Orinsland, his secluded
hometown. Murders are committed, and a hurricane threatens the entire village. His point of view is interspersed with those of other villagers, with the book lingering on Anna, a teenager from the city who takes up residence in the village with her father, its newest resident technician. And Father Quinn, the town’s priest, presides over a flock of ordinary, God-fearing individuals, among whom are farmers using equipment that is at least a century out of date. Further, there are hints of a romance between Mike and Anna, even as they work to avert a potential tragedy.
The village and its people are described in enthusiastic but limiting terms: “The landscape was breathtaking, like a
real-life painting,” Anna observes, and a scene near sunset is set in terms of the “few red-brownish clouds seen over the western mountains [that] outlined the valley’s beauty where Orinsland sat.” Anna, who’s comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, notes that her new classmates “behaved differently; they were too docile.” Here and elsewhere, people’s feelings and village sights are prioritized, but at the expense of depth; tensions are “palpable,” hearts stop to indicate surprise or danger, and stale motifs and metaphors (as with references to the full moon) appear too often. The view of Orinsland that develops is a simple one—a mere distraction from the book’s otherwise fascinating premise.
The book’s characterizations are also flat. People’s motivations seem singular, and they often act in ways that
controvert expectations—including in the midst of dire situations, where their reactions strain credulity. The effect is jarring. And there’s a limited sense of people’s lives outside of the central narrative, which is vague when it comes to backstories and personal histories. Those whose backgrounds are revealed through flashbacks are more complex; still, they too are quite single-minded. Further, while the story includes several substantial plot turns, they are foreshadowed with a heavy hand, robbing the book of surprise. And even in the book’s striking ending, the fates of many are left unresolved, preventing a final sense of satisfaction.
In the allegorical novel The Village, corruption is shown to be innate among the powerful.
CAITLIN CACCIATORE (April 4, 2024)
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to
have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a
positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
 
Below is the review from Reedsy Discovery.
 
Loved it! 😍
Villagers blind faith in a puritanical religious leader and distrust of the outside world lead to violence and a potential catastrophe
SYNOPSIS
A small, isolated community with limited access to technology and the outside world had a heavenly life, at least on the surface. This environment could be a fertile ground for a manipulative and puritanical religious figure. Is Father Quinn taking advantage of the community’s vulnerability? Or will his intentions, sooner or later, conflict with elements of progress? Or will his determination to keep the community from dangerous temptation bring happiness?

The arrival of a rebellious teenage girl, Anna, could trigger a fight between secular and religious concepts. Freedom in its recalcitrant form and the desire for redemption will clash, and the result might have no winner since no one will abide by the other side’s perception of right and wrong or how this life should be lived.

What could change a struggle between reasoning versus faith, liberty versus accepting the well-known thousands of years old solid teaching of Christian scriptures?

A danger looming over the community could bring them together or split them further apart.
Teenager Mike lives with his family in Orinsland, a small, farming community with limited access to technology and the outside world. It seems a peaceful and happy place but Mike dreams of more than the simple life, and is devoted to the television, the only window on the outside world he knows. An old teacher, Mr Trent, has always ensured that the technology works but now he is old and tired and Father Quinn, a manipulative and puritanical religious figure, believes that it is a temptation to the villagers and will undermine his authority. When rebellious teenager Anna, to whom Mike is attracted, and her family move into Orinsland it brings things to a head and it becomes a fight between blind faith and the elements of progress. Quinn’s determination to keep the village from temptation becomes dangerous when a natural disaster threatens and he encourages his follower Colt to cut off the community’s link to the outside world. The fight is then no longer hypothetical but real as it brings the village is to the brink of disaster.
  
The plot is simple and character driven, based on the war between secular and religious concepts, Anna, her family and Mr Trent on the side of progress and Quinn and those who follow him blindly on the other. Many of the characters seem to be mere ciphers for one side of the argument or the other but the main characters stand out well. Mike is conflicted, as he is in love with Anna but wants to stay true to his family’s beliefs. Trent is admirable but old and tired and no match for Quinn who by the end is totally delusional, although he, also, has his doubts and has suffered in the past. I was not convinced that simple god-fearing folk like Colt, Quinn’s acolyte, would be prepared to go to the lengths they do - such as trashing the television station and worse - although sadly the power exerted by leaders of some religious cults has indeed proved deadly.  The book’s climax is all it should be with the believers hoping for divine deliverance from the storm but not taking the action required.
 
Although the various characters fall too easily into one camp or the other this nevertheless provides a thought-provoking and intriguing read, as well as providing much excitement along the way.
REVIEWED BY
Jennifer Hill
 
Note: Congratulations! Your book The Village has been reviewed by Jennifer Hill! It will go live on May 30, 2024 and will be available from https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/the-village-eliade-moldovan.
 
 
I also paid Blueink for a review. They offer some discount if you pay both Blueink and Clarion. I think the reviewer was slightly uncomfortable with the standing in the book, but he/she tried her best to look at the story with a reviewer’s eye.
 

 
 The Village
Eliade Moldovan
Eliade Moldovan, 267 pages, 978-1-7383242-0-0
(Reviewed: March 2024)
The Village is a modern-day drama focusing on a geographically isolated agrarian religious community called Orinsland, where a morally questionable priest has assumed the role of town leader.
The story centers on Father Quinn’s relationship with his Christian congregation, some of whom support his dogmatic approach to faith and some who are unconvinced by his unbending religious values.
At the novel’s commencement, newcomers the Mulroneys arrive in Orinsland so that Peter Mulroney can work as a technician maintaining the village’s TV reception station. Peter’s 16-year-old daughter, Anna, struggles to adapt to the community. Having difficulty cultivating relationships due to her non-conformist attitude, Anna is befriended by smitten teenager Mike, delinquent youth Valery, and former town-leader-turned-teacher, Professor Trent, whose liberalism clashes with prevailing Orinsland outlooks.
Following a tragedy in the community resulting from the growing rift between Father Quinn’s acolytes and more open-minded parishioners, Anna starts to question Quinn’s autocratic teachings. Tensions quickly escalate between the two groups, culminating in a murderous vendetta and an apocalyptic final act.
Author Eliade Moldovan has crafted a philosophically challenging meditation on the perils of fundamentalism, presenting a cautionary tale of a society governed by religious intolerance, where compassion and inclusivity have been subdued by fearmongering. To ensure that the different psycho-social circumstances of community members—such as humourless zealot Colt, and vengeful father, Liam—are thoughtfully explored, Moldovan employs a balanced structure, focusing each chapter on a specific character. This avoids the potential for bias inherent in a single-character perspective.
That said, the story predominantly belongs to relatable fish-out-of-water Anna; Mike, whose romantic interest in Anna leads him into conflict with his own religious values, and Father Quinn.
Although some readers might wish for more periodic relief from the novel’s bleak tone and oppressive subject, overall, The Village is a brave novel that successfully presents its case for a more liberal society.
 
https://www.blueinkreview.com/book-reviews/the-village/
 
 
 
 
 

I wondered the difference between a cheap cruise and an expensive one.
Let’s start with the good news. When it comes to how good the boat looks, the entertainment, and the islands visited, there is no difference.
This time, we took a cheap 11-day cruise from New York to the Caribbean Islands (St Thomas, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Grand Turk, Bahamas).
First, why should a cruise line be cheaper? Because they want the boat to be full. The last cabins were sold only the previous few days before departure. The inside cabins (no balcony or window) sold for less than $700 per person! I am not sure it covered the food (included in the price). But, since the tips are now mandatory ($176 per person), at least they helped to pay the crew members who got their pay from tips, like the room attendance guys.
Now, here the problem starts. Most of those coming for the cheap cruise come for free food. I do not mind anyone’s pleasure, but I cannot stand the waste. And food waste is number one on my hate list.

My grandma used to say, “Better guts cracked than food thrown away.” She used absolutely everything. Whatever was left from preparing the food or after a meal was served to the pig. One day, my father told her that growing a pig cost more than buying it right before Christmas (to be sacrificed). But my grandma preferred to lose some money rather than wasting leftovers. So the food is holy (don’t take it religiously). When I have more than I want on my plate, I eat it all, have less of the next meal, or skip it. Maybe I am too far on this, but what I see on the cruises gives me a sour taste.
Some tourists had seafood, burgers, and Chinese on their tables. They bite from everything, then eat only the dish they like - and leave. Others put on their plate much more than their stomach could ingest, and leaving half of it on the table gave them the impression that they were on the right track to eat less. 
​

​More than half go to the garbage. I saw cases much worse than in these pictures, but I did not have my cell with me.
It is useless to say that most tourists are way overweight.

​Another aspect.
Evening, people respect the efforts made by musicians and entertainment hosts and dress more formally, at least wearing long pants and a shirt. On cheap cruises, most tourists still wear shorts, sandals, and T-shirts, eventually under-shirts, in the evenings.
So, avoid cheap cruises if you want a company where people care about their appearance.

​In my next post, I will describe the life on the boat and our stops (no more talking about food).

 
I wrote in an article that I worked for 14 companies, but I didn’t mention them all because I don’t think they can be classified as jobs. I remember them, though, thinking that maybe they are readers interested in what someone plunging into the unknown goes through.
When I did that refresher course “update in computer science techniques” at College Maisonneuve in Montreal, I did “production practice” at 2 companies, where I helped them use applications that they bought but no longer had money to pay for maintenance at the manufacturer. The government was helping the companies stay afloat, and one of the methods was to get some help from college students. Students do “production practice” (unpaid) there; the students add it as practical experience in their RESUME, and the companies get some help.
Still in Montreal, another “almost” job was a small company that didn’t even have their computers out of the box. It was 1995; it would have been my first paying job. The owner told me he wants 2-3 days to test me to see if I can do what he needs. He had a secretary (I think his girlfriend) who was terribly afraid of spiders. When one appeared in a corner near the wall, she started screaming worse than in a horror movie. I wanted to show I was useful, so I picked up the spider without crushing it and threw it out the window. I was on the ground floor, so I think the bug landed without problems. I helped him take the computers out of the boxes. Then he gave me a Microsoft Office CD. I think he was afraid to install the app himself. I note that whatever buttons you press, Office installs anyway, but it’s best to choose nothing - the default settings are best. The next day, I showed the secretary how to use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The secretary conscientiously wrote down everything she did in a notebook. When I finished, the man said he would call me in the next few days. He did not call. I called him, but he said that the potential client hasn’t signed yet, and it could take weeks or months to decide. All he wanted was to take advantage of me for the little things I did for him.
I mention one more from Toronto. I was between jobs, and the following interview was the weirdest I’ve ever had. It was an area with many warehouses, each with one or more offices. Someone was waiting for me in the parking lot. I went through several doors, all with a code on them. It seemed overly cautious.
The interview room was large, with a long oval table in the middle and the two who were going to interview me sat at one end. COVID came much later, so I was wondering why so much caution. I only realized when the two of them started talking in a very low tone so I wouldn’t hear. All I understood was that they were speaking in Russian. They knew I was Romanian and probably thought I could understand. The one who was the “president” did not say a word in English, only the other one, I understood that he was the director and spoke perfect English.
As I have a rich imagination, I thought they had an illegal business, such as stealing cars, disassembling them in warehouses, then sending the parts to Russia (the president spoke only Russian). Maybe drugs. Or maybe a Russian baron was doing business legally but laundering dirty money.
As a side note, I will say that there were articles at the time suggesting that the government should investigate more into the origin of business money in Canada, not just look the other way, satisfied that business is growing.
I got scared, and I told them I will think about it. They were ready to sign a contract. When they saw that I hesitated, they offered me double the salary I requested. I said that I never sign until a night of thinking had passed, saying, “The night is a good counselor.” I tried to say this quote in English, but I think it didn’t come out well; they looked at each other in wonder. It was a lie anyway, but I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Tip: never try to translate super-specific Romanian sayings into another language. In that course at the college, I remember how another Romanian tried to explain the quote to a teacher, “We parted ways like in a train.” In Romanian, this meant that two people who don’t know each other and talk on the train say when parting ways, “We’ll talk again”, but that will never happen. How do you explain this (with poor French) to someone who has no idea about Romanian thinking and traditions? I was so ashamed that I left when the teacher’s eyes widened, and the Romanian guy tried to explain himself, deepening more and more into the mud.
Back to my interview, I didn’t call. Instead, the Russians called a few times, and I found some excuse each time. They gave up after 2-3 weeks.
 
Where my journey with jobs in Canada started,
https://www.eliademoldovan.com/blog/immigration-to-canada-episode-1
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Bell Media
 
The best job in Canada for me was the last one, at Bell Media. I had the chance to use all the accumulated experience they needed at that time. I was well paid, and my superiors, from manager to director to vice president, properly appreciated my effort.
 
Not only did I keep the system running properly, but I stabilized it, imposed rules so disasters wouldn’t happen, lectured developers to write performant code, and offered to answer the phone if disasters happened after hours. In 3 and a half years, I was called at home 4 times (actually, they were all in the first year and a half until I stabilized the system).
My boss told me, “come when you want, leave when you want, just tell me when you’re away so I know, and I’ll sign whatever hours you put on the time sheet.”
The company worked for 7 and a half hours, and I agreed with my boss to work from Monday to Thursday, 8 hours, so I had 3 days off every week.
 
I had to learn PostgreSQL on Linux, but as usual, if you got stuck, there was always someone to help with the trouble until I learned it myself. So, I was at retirement age, and I still had to learn something. PostgreSQL only had databases that helped production, not production, but still important.
 
In 2020 I told my bosses at Bell that I wanted to retire. It worked out well for them because they wanted to switch my position from a contractor to a full-time, and they didn’t know how to tell me.
When they notified me in 2021, I told them I’ll until stay until we find a replacement and then a little more if they needed me to hand over the job.
They agreed with a strange proposal. Namely, the new candidate should work for 3 months, then I should come back. I accepted but didn’t know how the other DBA would react.
 
It was me to conduct the interviews. I received 19 Resumes. 10 were colleagues of mine at Scotiabank who found out I was looking for a DBA for Bell, and something was wrong at the bank. First of all, several consultants have already been fired there. I knew that bank experience doesn’t help solve problems at Bell, so I called 4 of the others on the list to interview (not my ex-colleagues), but they weren’t any better either. It was really hard to find the right DBA.
 
I was never biased about my colleagues’ origin; for me, the value of each individual is what counts. And I know well what I am talking about, considering some misconceptions about Romanians.
 
On the list of those who were my colleagues, there was also a Russian, a former university professor at in Russia before immigration to Canada, with a doctorate in mathematics, around 50. I told myself that if I had to choose someone to replace me, at least he should be smart, even if he didn’t fit as well as I would have liked. I formally called him in for the interview, even though I was pretty sure I was going to pick him. I would have turned him down only if he was talking nonsense at the interview. But he didn’t talk nonsense, so I chose the Russian guy. I’ll call him V, because all Russians are Vlad.
He was a consultant at the bank, finished his contract, and would have accepted anything, including a full-time proposal. I think he was desperate.
 
My boss hired him at my recommendation, but I didn’t understand his behavior. He never said “thank you”, didn’t answer my emails, or didn’t comment on the documentation I sent him with advice on different aspects he needed to know. We stayed together for 2 weeks. I solved the problems the first week and sent him emails about how it was done so he could learn. He wasn’t answering. In the second week, I let him solve the issues and only checked his work. The problems to be solved were not complex, the system was very stable. Well, I gave him a good job as a gift.
 
There was another reason I had to leave: consultants could only work for two years, and more than that, you should be a full-timer. And I was already 2 and a half years on the job. The 6-month extension came with special approval from the company’s vice president because Covid started, and they didn’t want any changes.
 
I was shocked 3 months later when I was recalled to work again. They told me about a 3 more months contract. After 3 months, I left again, and V came back for a full-time job.
 
Four months later, my boss called me again. V did not vaccinate against COVID, and the company’s policy was to send home the unvaccinated. I was vaccinated.
 
So I worked for another 6 months until the restriction was lifted, and V returned to work. I guess he didn’t find anything better in the meantime, or it was hard to find work being unvaccinated, or he didn’t find such a stable system with good pay and no hassle.
 
But his attitude was always the same, he didn’t want to communicate with me. I called him a few times, and he answered, he was polite but distant. He never called. What could have been? The feeling of superiority? Every time I left the job, my colleagues flooded my email with thanks, but nothing from the Russian.
Well, that was about my jobs in Canada. I am now retired.

Very short tricky jobs:
https://www.eliademoldovan.com/blog/jobs-in-canada-episode-18-small-tricky-jobs


Where it all started:
https://www.eliademoldovan.com/blog/immigration-to-canada-episode-1
​