1:31 p.m. - 2002-12-20
Power suits
Had a note from one of my friends in the Middle East. She and her hubby just returned home from an 8 day tour of the archaeological sites in Egypt. She is a great writer so her descriptions were full of detail and colour. The Museum of Antiquities, Cairo, Luxor, Karnak, Edfu, Philae, Kom Ombo, Kitchener's Island, Aswan, the Valley of Kings, the Pyramids, and the Sphinx. A trip on a felucca. I've always been fascinated by certain segments of Egyptian history and would love to visit there one day. We have a writer in Alberta - Pauline Gedge - who has done several period novels in both Egyptian and English history that are very well researched and yet are great reads at the same time. "The Scroll of Saqqara" and "Child of the Morning" are my favorites. Some of her other stories are very good too, but they are quite dark, exploring the shadow side of human behavior - have to be in the right frame of mind to cope with some of those. Another great novel on the subject is "Hippopotamus Marsh" which is one of a series of novels following the development of an Egyptian dynasty over several generations .
Interesting comments by my favorite astrologer, www.astrofish.net. Prognostications are often derived by looking at the mathematical relationships (aspects) between various planets and their placement in one's own chart. He made reference to an aspect that had occurred once already on August 21 as being activated again, so I checked my daybook to see what was happening on that date. Ouch! That was the day a lot of issues had come to a head at work. Before she left, the "Queen of Mean" had, unbeknownst to any one else, contacted the IS department and ordered them to not only replace the computer we were using, but also to purge it completely. As a contractor to another company, the IS department shouldn't have even been talking to her - odd relationship there. When in doubt, look at what someone is doing instead of what they say - the truth is there. The end result was the loss of all the records of the project she chose not to transfer to the new PC. After she left, (I hadn't been allowed access to the computer by her - she sat by it like a guard dog and even protests to our supervisor and liaison hadn't registered that this was a problem to them) I went into the database to retrieve some info that was requested and of course it wasn't there. On the 21st, that issue came to a head with the IS department and the liaison both stating that the retrieval of that data was a major financial drain on their company and unwarranted - fine. The campaign of trying to discredit my new co-worker and I with reference to that action started at that point, yet neither of us had been involved in it in any way - we just reported the results. In addition, that was the day I was able to recover physical evidence that demonstrated that someone was going into our spreadsheets and altering records so that some properties belonging to the company were effectively hidden from knowledge of all those who weren't in on the masking. It was corroborated by an independent body that was located in another business. If that aspect now means that that issue is brought to full light with some action being taken, great, but what it meant in August was that working conditions for me became very tenuous as the people who had been doing the altering realized that they were detected. We'll have to wait on that one.
A series of discussions with different friends on perceptions of ourselves. (singing along with Unchained Melody - preparing to watch Ghost later, love Whoopi Goldberg's performance as a psychic - so if this disjointed you know why - lucky there's no sound recording with this diary). In particular, my Metis friend was yanking my chain the other day. She said she saw me in a new job wearing a power suit and a frilly pink blouse acting in a hosting or social position. When h*ll freezes over. During my volunteer time, I held and had access to a great deal of power - I don't enjoy it or crave it. I was always very careful to never use that access for my own benefit -I think that is why I was given more as time went by. When I found myself on my own, I made a point of avoiding using those connections so that I would be certain that I was hired for myself and my skills - not for who I knew or who "owed me" favours. Power suits just aren't my thing - I know my strengths and weaknesses and I don't need to prove anything to anyone else.
As for frilly anything - not a chance. First of all, I don't want to draw attention to those physical features - which is what frills do. Look at my face - ok? Oh, and you won't find makeup there either - if you see me coming with a masque/mask painted on my face I suggest you hide until I've done what I came for. As I noted before, I spent most of my school career in accelerated learning classes. My thought processes are what I want to be valued for - decorative - nuh uh. Nor do I have any desire to be.
As for social functions, well after having had to deal with an alcoholic in the home, I can't stand to be around anyone with the smell of it on their breath. My logical mind tells me that it's ok and the person is probably fine, but it doesn't stop the flashbacks or bad memories from flooding in. Besides, again we're going back to chit chat and "social grease" per se - I don't usually say something unless I feel it is important in someway. Just not the right setting for me. Maybe a workshop where a healthy debate is going on, but no power suits ok?
When I'm at work I wear long skirts and loose sweaters, my hair pulled back in a ponytail (my hair is just below my shoulder blades in length). Why? Because I can be rummaging around in dirty old boxes part of the day or working with messy documents needing repair. The other part of the day might find me in a meeting with a big kahuna or teaching staff about a new system we have developed. My clothes have to be flexible enough to be suitable in all those situations and they also have to be non-distracting so that people are focussed on what I have to say, not what I look like. Maybe I should just sing hmmmmm?
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