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4:00 p.m. - 2002-12-12
Birthday
Yesterday was just one of "those" days.

My youngest son and I had spent a lot of time the evening before tidying up and then I worked on some more polling issues for Elections Canada. Why? Well, it was my youngests' birthday yesterday and I wanted to have it free so I could just spend the day making sure he enjoyed the time. Only task left was the birthday cake - if I bake or cook, I like to make certain it is as fresh as possible. Not to be.

The phone rang first thing in the am. Darren from Elections Canada sounding somewhat stressed. Seems the work I sent in the day before alerted his supervisor to the fact that there were major changes in my constituency. I've been trying to explain that since my first assignment this year - the one that started in April. Even talked with the head of the Department about the scope of change. His comment, and I do agree to some extent, was that because all the constituency boundaries, and therefore their polling districts, are likely to be changed in 2004 during the Redistribution of the Boundaries that is required, by law, every ten years to ensure that equal number of voters are contained in each riding - one person, one vote - it did not make sense for me to redraw or even renumber all the polling divisions as a result of all the changes. The whole polling map of Canada will likely be redrawn after the next election. The problem for me is that I had over 50 new polling divisions to add to the 200+ already existing, because of the population growth since 2000. A 25% increase is pretty significant. Anyway, Darren's supervisor looked at my work and ordered him to revamp a lot of the work we had just done together. Truth is nothing can be done without my approval, but it leaves this staffer caught in the middle - if I decided to be ornery after being turned down for the same decision earlier - trying to accommodate two bosses. Of course I won't give him a hard time and I think Elections Canada knows that. The truth is, I suspect, that they are testing this young man to see if he can handle a bigger role when the Redistribution begins. He will have to cope with a lot of this type of back and forth negotiating. Some Returning Officers are quite volatile. If that is so, I don't mind being a mentor for him. I'm hoping that I'll be allowed to work on the Redistribution too. The whole of Canada as a jigsaw puzzle and maps too - what could be more challenging and entertaining at the same time. Might even learn a little bit more about my own country, eh?

Then my sister called and wanted an explanation of the Kyoto Protocol. Why? I'm guessing a Christmas function where knowledge of current events will be useful. Our media is so one sided, it is very difficult to get any other information unless you know how to dig it out yourself. That's my favorite pastime. I suggested to her that it had more to do with expanding and diversifying trade opportunities than it did with environmental issues. The European Community, now united as a trade block, wants to incubate and nurture new trading partners from emerging and developing third world countries. Problem is, they have such a strong taint on them of colonialism - and rightfully so - that their "help" would not likely be well received from their proposed beneficiaries. The structure of the Protocol prevents and protects those emerging economies from exploitation because of their lack of access to the newest technologies, by making it incumbent on the developed countries to provide it for free in exchange for the amount of toxins they have unleashed during the past 100 years of the Industrial Revolution. A bit simplistic, but you get the drift. I also expresssed the concerns I've already written about earlier where environmental and sovereignty issues are concerned. Spread the love, brother.

Next my friend, who owns a farm, arrived with her son and a six month old kitten in tow just as lunch time rolled around. Fed them and had a good visit with D. I got to keep the kitten; one of the barn cats that D said was a gift because she knew she would be going to a good home. It was a birthday surprise for my youngest, who has always had a fascination for cats. When he was a baby he would crawl around purring and playing just like a kitten. Unfortunately, a couple of his brothers turn blue and stop breathing in the presence of felines, so a real pet was out of the question while they were still living at home. As a substitute, every special day was an occasion to add another stuffed cat figure to his collection. Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My! Well, you get my drift. Now that the brothers are all making their own homes, this little charmer - black with four white boots and a flash of white on the chest and belly - is expanding our family. I know - not really responsible until my work situation is a little more stable, but emotionally it makes a lot of sense. I call her Miss Kitty (Gunsmoke) right now since my son hasn't named her yet. Ms. Lollipop (our rabbit) was not amused. When they were introduced for the first time, her back feet were thumping. Then she ran and hid. Then Miss Kitty ran and hid too. Lots of cuddling and special treats for both babies has made them comfortable enough to at least sit in the same room together now. It will work out.

I usually check my e-mail first thing in the morning and have read the essentials no later than nine. It was 3 PM before I'd dealt with the election work and the first uproar among the pets settled down, so I didn't get to them and the cake baking until then. Had a request for a copy of my resume - oh joy! - and the weekly horoscopes from my favorite astrologer. Why is that important? Well, the reason I like his work so much is that there is always something to laugh about - he has a very different take on life, something to think about, and often, a lot of comfort in what he writes. My scope had something about dangling participles or letting it all hang out in it - I'll have to think on that, good advice in the Sagittarius scope - go on a diet (metaphor for "avoid all excesses" I think, eh professor?), and comforting words in the Taurus scope that triggered some pretty good ideas into the bargain. Thanks Bubba, made my day.

Three of the older brothers were able to make it for dinner last night. Dinner music? Rammstein. German rock star; CD - Mutter. Flipping through the translation dictionary helped understand the words used, but not necessarily the meaning. The title song for example - Mutter - means Mother, but were we talking about "mother" as in Al Jolson's "Mammy" or the ebonics term "mutha"? A short discussion ensued among my young men, with the conclusion that door number two was the correct choice. I've encountered that problem with a lot of the popular music from other cultures. Having six teenage sons with buddies born all over the globe means I can recognize "bad words" in about twenty different languages. How do I know they're bad? Said while a young man is losing at a video game, I repeat what I've heard and ask if I can call their Mom to ask for a translation - usually ends with the young person promising all number of impossible things, if only I won't follow through. Anyway, listening to the CD's then looking at the published lyrics, either in the original language or translated, often shows that certain terms or phrases are absent. If you ever need to check a child's music choices in a language you don't understand, go to one of the music sites and check the ratings to get the true story.

The reason that particular CD was here, was that one of my nephews had loaned it to me as a thank you for giving him a blank tarot deck. He's an exceptional artist and he wanted to create his own drawings. I have a lot of texts on the original story of the Fisher King and the Holy Grail that generated the Western version of the Tarot. This mythology was the basis of the mystery plays of the Middle Ages and the basis of a lot of the Western interpretations of the individual cards. I also have a number of psychology texts that interpret those interpretations - think Joseph Campbell. However, I thought that it might be better if I left the art to what came out of his own innate instincts, rather than muddying the waters. Tarot cards were used extensively in European cultures until Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Savonarola, to name a few, decided they were the symbol of all things wrong with the "old faith" system and burned them and their owners. Seems to be a chronic problem with visionaries who have that one life altering revelation. They think everything else must be destroyed. Sort of a symptom or growth stage for all new faiths, I think.

While flipping through the translation dictionary I came across the German word for Sagittarius - Schutze. That is my youngest and oldest sons' astrological sign. I thought about letting them know it had a double meaning - marksman - then thought better of it for a number of reasons. Stream of consciousness set in and my mind slipped over to the big furor that is occurring because the Canadian government is requiring all gun owners to register their weapons and obtain a certificate of proficiency for their use. It has just been revealed that, depending on which accountant one listens to, the cost is somewhere in the range of $2 million or $1 billion. The $2 million accountants take the registration fees into consideration and see it as off-setting most of the other costs. The $1 billion accountants aren't allowing any deductions. Now my solution, as the mother of six males, one time wife of one male, sister, daughter of more males, is much simpler. Make it a rule that any male applying for an acquisition certificate has to have an affidavit from the person who cleans the bathrooms in his home that he actually aimed AND hit the target AND nothing else for a period of six months. No misses. Expand that policy globally and I think we would see an end to war. In the meantime, get over it; vehicles and pets are registered because they both require proof of some responsibility, heck you even have to have a licence to fish; guns are the same.

Choice of entertainment? Well the boys clustered around the computer first, checking the hockey stats. They are all involved in a hockey pool. The women in the group have made the most accurate predictions so far. I don't know why, but I'm guessing that they make their choices for esthetic reasons - you know, nice butt! Who says women can't be chauvinists. Pizza and other nutritious comestibles was the next order of business. Spent the balance of the evening playing nerfball catch in my living room. It was nice to see my guys just hanging out together - it doesn't happen often enough now that they are young adults. I hope that they can keep those bonds strong. They may not need them now, but I know how much it matters as life takes its toll.

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