1:42 a.m. - 2002-11-07
Penny Wise
I spoke with two of the women I attended high school with today. One wants to get together for a visit tomorrow while the other was trying to co-ordinate her schedule with mine so we could attend the reunion committee's meeting tomorrow night.
D lives just outside one of the bedroom communities south of the city on a farm. Both her children are dancing for the National Ballet. She sounds well grounded and happy with her life - I'm looking forward to catching up.
L lives one community south of mine and we have kept in touch over the years. I have been a volunteer for years in the education system and she is currently a vice-principal at an elementary school nearby. Our phone calls can last a long time just chewing over current conditions and what needs to be done for the students.
The two big news stories about education right now are ones we have been trying to get some resolution on for years. The provincial government is responsible for funding education because they are the ones who collect taxes specifically for it. However, they are also the government that cut out funding for ECS (kindergarten) for about three years saying it was unnecessary, just to realize years later that a lot of the children who missed that year were unable to read at grade level by grade three. The cost of the remediation for those children was about triple what the cost of the original ECS program would have been. When it comes to education that is consistently how this government operates.
The two issues that are at crisis stage now are the disrepair and health problems arising from neglecting the maintenance of the physical plants and classrooms that are so overcrowded that learning is seriously impaired. An audit of school buildings in this city found open wires hanging from ceilings in an automotive shop, exposed asbestos in other schools and on and on. Janitorial services were contracted out to businesses that paid less than minimum wage to some of their workers with the results being a significantly diminished cleanliness in very basic areas. A survey of students found that about 40% of them will not use the washrooms in the schools because they are so dirty; an outbreak of some kind of "bug" in one school last week meant more than half the school population was home sick. Penny wise, pound foolish - our government. Then again, that is the platform that gets the votes. The same baby boomers who had all their education paid for by earlier Albertans aren't willing to pay back their debt to society.
On the home front, number four son received his first paycheck from the sports store he started working for last month. He is much happier now, even though he and his girlfriend haven't reconciled (I don't think that is going to change). The staff at the store are very compatible with him - all being jocks - and he spends most of his free time hanging out with them. They are a very positive, upbeat group of young people and I'm glad he is moving on.
My youngest son was happy as a clam today. I didn't need to encourage him to work at his lessons at all; he had his books out and organized this morning and was working away at reading over the material he has to cover.
As for me, I finally realized how exhausted my body was. Last outing, my Dad had commented that I hadn't taken any breaks in the past five years. That's not entirely true, but the time off I took was because I was too sick to work - it wasn't restful. When one works as a consultant one works whenever there is an assignment available because the job market is so unpredictable and there are no benefits, sick time, or holiday pay. With the boys to support, I wasn't willing to risk a "dry spell" where no work was available. Besides, there were always unexpected expenses that kept the bank account too low to take the risk. You know, a broken appliance, a furnace to fix, teeth that needed attention, or a new pair of glasses. Nothing wasteful and nothing frivolous, just day to day necessities. Last night, I went to sleep to a yoga CD I have - one with music playing over the sound of the ocean. I don't think I've slept that deeply in many, many years. I actually woke up feeling refreshed. The body is healing.
Psychologically, the ocean has the same effect on me as being in the mountains. A sense of timelessness and peace descends whenever I'm near either. I've only been on the west coast of North America from Mexico up through California, Oregon, Washington and of course, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The scenery varies greatly in different areas, but it is all beautiful. I think the beaches in Northern California, Oregon, around Seattle, and Long Beach and Tofino on Vancouver Island are my favorites. I'd love to go on a cruise among the Queen Charlotte Islands and up into Alaska some day.
I'm not certain why the ocean has such a powerful effect on me because I really haven't had the privilege of spending that much time near it. Maybe it has to do with my name. In the language of it's origin my name, on one level, means salmon. On another level, in the culture the name comes from, the salmon represents the archetype of wisdom. An inner knowing represented by the cycles of a salmon's life - partly spent in the depths of the ocean and partly in the fresh water rivers of many coasts. Pisces. In some of the aboriginal cultures of British Columbia, salmon represents the archetype of the mischief maker or the "the fool" in the tarot deck. I can be any or all of those on any given day so I guess it fits.
I think this break is a good thing. I'm slowly getting stronger and the dust bunnies are being driven out of hiding at home. I do wish, though, that the data management firm would indicate one way or another if they are going to be able to place me. Last Christmas my Dad gave each family a week's accommodation in my aunt's chalet at Fairmont Hot Springs, in the mountains of British Columbia. If I knew for certain that I didn't need to be pounding the pavement getting resumes out because an assignment was coming up in the next couple of weeks, then I could see if the chalet was available for me to use. Then I really would fell like I'd had a holiday. In the meantime, I guess I'll just keep watching for job listings that might be something I could do well so I can get a resume in to them.
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