10:42 p.m. - 2002-12-07
Shopping
My Dad and I went shopping this morning - just groceries - but it turned out to be quite the process. First we went to the far south of the city. I wanted to drop off entries to a contest that is to do with the release of the second Lord of the Rings movie - The Two Towers - and my Dad wanted to check in with one of my cousins' sons; long story. My cousins' son Adam works at one of the big chain bookstores in the mall we went to, so my Dad was a little jumpy. He knows once I get inside any bookery it's nearly impossible to get me back out - used stores are the worst. I was good; I was out in under an hour even though the store was big enough that just browsing could have consumed several hours. There was a Dilbert collection in the non-fiction section - probably the most truthful thing there.
I collect airmiles - one day I might even use them. Anyway, my Dad had a coupon for his Safeway and I had one for mine, each for an extra hundred miles, but they weren't tranferable to another store so he did his shopping at his store first. Crossing the parking lot, we passed two older people loading their groceries into the back of their SUV He: "Have I done ANYTHING right today?" A couple of one liners came to mind but I decided discretion was the better part of valour and just chuckled once safely out of earshot.
We dropped off his stuff then took lunch down to my brother who was working at my Dad's store - lots of customers today. There are about five movie shoots happening in town right now. My Dad has a lot of antique electronics pieces - really old radios, tvs - and he does quite a good business with the different production companies as well as collectors. He owns one of the few places in the area that can get and keep those old machines running.
One of the reasons that is so is one of the technicians - Harvey. He's about 85 now and worked with DeForest at one time. He was at work reminiscing today about where he was when Pearl Harbour happened, since it is Pearl Harbour Day. He was working in Calgary on that day behind the Eatons store, fixing a radio in a car, when the announcement came through. He could recite the message word for word. He said there was a ban on any broadcasting immediately after the news broke of the bombing, because there were Japanese destroyers just off the west coast of Canada, near Vancouver, and there was a fear that the Japanese might use the radio signals to home in on Canadian targets. He was also in the reserves. He was sent overseas shortly after and was in Europe for the next five years. Met his first wife, Florrie, there during the bombing of London. He was a gunner, I think, and was posted in the city. He said no country was prepared militarily when WW II started or when the US joined the fray. It seemed to me he felt readiness for combat then was even worse than what it is at this point in time. One of my brothers' sports/work buddies popped in at the same time, so there was quite a conversation going on for a while what with the two boys holding forth on sports tactics while Harvey was talking things military, ordinance, and strategic planning.
My Dad and I finally tore ourselves away and headed for my grocery store. My Dad has volunteered us jointly for veggies and desserts for Christmas day so that was one of the reasons too to split the shopping - I do the baking and prep work. I was telling him about my adventures with the Federal government's Employment Insurance program. I've never drawn from it before but I did try to get maternity benefits when I was pregnant with my first son. I had worked since I was 15 and my son was born just short of my 21st birthday. Even so, the worker at the time said I was short 1.5 HOURS of insurable earnings even though I had contributed for 5 years to the program already - that meant the employer had messed up in their deductions. There were a lot of people at that time who regularly worked six months a year and drew benefits the other six and bragged about - it was quite a scandal in the papers at the time, but they were allowed to continue doing so. I was allowed to appeal the decision, but the person hearing the appeal was the same woman - I'm certain you can guess the outcome. One of her co-workers tried to intercede during the appeal, but she was even ruder to her than she was to me. That's one of the reasons I've never bothered since - no fairness in the system. I'm not certain from the feedback I've got the past couple of days that anything has changed. I've been given two different sets of instructions in four separate conversations with the programs' personnel on a key part of the application. They have been calling me to change it each day. I'm afraid that no matter what I do, I'm going to get told that because I messed up in the application I can't draw benefits again. I think I'll spend tomorrow reading the legislation to see if I can't figure it out. My Dad was just livid. As a longtime employer, he knows what the rules are, yet so far neither the company I worked for nor the civil servants has done their job correctly, but I'm the one who is paying the price. I don't have very much cash left to live on - just enough to get me through to the end of the month as long as I don't celebrate Christmas or two of my sons' birthdays with gifts for them, their brothers, and my grandbabies. I should be entitled to draw back the money I've paid into the insurance program over the years in a timely fashion - that is the entire reason for its existence. Right now there is a big scandal in the newspapers again about the program, because the Federal government has collected about $40 m/billion (I can't remember -the numbers don't register at this level) more than they should have from workers and employers, but can't account for the extra funds - they don't seem to know where its gone. Oh well, maybe this time it will work out. Anyway, my Dad paid for the stuff I picked up today from the money I had paid back to him to cover what I had to borrow when the boys' Dad left. Guess I'm back in debt again, but hopefully just for a short time this time. Anyway Christmas isn't supposed to be about spending money as much as it is about spending time with your friends and family. I guess I'm being given a reminder.
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