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12:09 a.m. - 2002-12-20
Odds and Ends
Just bits and pieces tonight I think.

Interesting people at the grocery store the other morning. Mom with several young, active little people with her. Obviously trying to stay on a budget but trying to be certain that what she fed her children was nutritious too; trying to ignore the pleas for "just one" with big blue eyes being batted her way. We had passed each other many times moving up and down the aisles and I had grinned at the antics she was dealing with. I think she knew I was thinking "thank goodness I don't have to deal with that any more". Guess that made her comfortable enough to ask for advice. We chatted for a while about store brand versus name brand - is the quality all that different? With the articles she was looking at the answer was no.

One thing that I was always grateful for when my guys were younger and I had to budget down to the penny to get through the month, was the major break the grocery and drug stores' in house brands and specials gave their customers on pricing. These were often half or even a third of the price, but with basically the same ingredients/materials in them. When I was in high school I had worked in a clothing department in a major national store. We would often unpack boxes of girls and women's clothes and ticket them in the back. Same clothes, but the ones destined for the bargain basement were half the price of the ones going to the "boutique" on the fourth floor - the difference in cost was essentially the name on the bag you had it wrapped in. Retailers won't admit it because it would affect their profits I suppose, but they do have a heart, especially where essentials like food and clothing are concerned.

Out waiting for the cab with my purchases piled in the buggy. Another woman came up and asked if this was the line up for the taxis. We started talking while we were waiting. She was probably a bit older than me, but similar circumstances. Raised her children on her own; now young adults, same kind of parenting issues. We commiserated with each other about how hard it was to bite your tongue when you could see one of your young men being set up to be hurt by some female. Can't figure out why males are so easily fooled by the ones who are so malicious or destructive. I guess part of it is that, as a gender, we are able to identify the bad apples among us. The problem is that when you try to warn a male that you care for or work with about them, the female in question has already prepared them to believe that anyone who speaks up about what they are is just out to get them or is jealous of them. Men listen to the women in your lives. We wouldn't be sticking our necks out if we didn't care about you. After that we also discovered we had some work issues in common. People being dishonest or destructive to the company we are employed by. The difference was that her company has recognized the risks to them and has invested in training her to deal with the issues. It would be nice to be valued and trained for what is being demanded of you like that. It is also heartening to know that there are companies that do see their staff as assets. I'd like to find one like that to work for.

I called Employment Insurance because I still hadn't heard if I was going to get paid by Elections Canada so I still didn't know how to deal with the reporting requirements. I also still haven't received the separation slip I need from them so my file can be processed. I was instructed to call Election Canada's finance department to get some answers on both issues, but they aren't answering their calls - there is only a recording right now. In the interim I was told the status of my claim wouldn't even be decided until after Christmas and then I might get a payment - in a month or so. As I've noted before there isn't a lot of equity in the system. I've paid into EI for a couple of decades so that I would have help if ever I wasn't employed, but the two times I've needed it it hasn't been there. Being that it's a government program, I have no choice either - the fees are deducted automatically from each paycheque. That should be all the proof of eligibility I need. Of course, this is from a department that the auditor general says has collected in excess of $42 billion more than it should. Maybe it is just that it doesn't release the funds to employees who are entitled to it. I was told there was a major backlog of claims right now so I'm guessing also that the department is seriously understaffed. Another way to "save" that $42 billion I suppose (sorry, that number is so big I have to keep repeating it to make it seem real). One thing I can be thankful for this Christmas though is that my guys are old enough to understand what is happening and to understand that I can't do anything about Christmas gifts either. I really feel sorry for the families that have little ones who are caught in this same conundrum - I've been there. Wish I could do something about it. In some ways, it's too little, too late, but maybe I'll start writing letters to the appropriate elected people to see if they can't be encouraged to fulfill their responsibilities to their constituents. Surely that should be as important as a some accounting chicanery around the weapons registry that everyone is howling about.

My supervisor called to ask me for an updated resume. Apparently, the data management company is working on a proposal to do some work on some international data - do I have the skills? Yes. Will they get the contract? Hard to say. For one thing, it is hard for a supervisor to assess the skill level and work required when they aren't familiar with the kind of data it is themselves. Therefore, how are they to determine whether I or anyone else is qualified to take on the project. After some of the problems that occurred last year with unqualified staff and underbid projects I understand the need for caution, but it would make more sense if I was invited to assess the project itself. We'll see.

On the home front, number two son did the walk through on his new home - they move in on Sunday. The builders threw in all the upgrades that he asked for for free. Given that the home is three months late in terms of readiness, that is fair since it meant that there were three months of apartment rental payments made, that should have gone toward their mortgage instead. Number one son called too. He has been ill for a while. Suspected problem? Contaminated game that they were given by a family member. He just wanted to let me know that the herbs I had given him a month ago were really helping and that the doctor I sent him to (my doctor) was working out well too. Is everything fixed? Not yet, but at least he is gaining weight and strength. Small steps forward.

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