1:02 a.m. - 2003-01-28
Birthday
Didn't sleep much last night - too edgy about the interviews I guess.
One of the people I really miss is Ted Boyko, one of my childrens'long-time elementary school principals and a friend of my parents, who had graduated from high school with him many years ago. He died of cancer a few years back. I worked with him for about a decade on education issues. He had been sent to our community as a punishment (low disposable income "starter" families, large immigrant population, and a lot of single parent families) for taking a stand on educational issues. He never backed down from anyone, if he felt the children in his care weren't being treated properly. The school board and the provincial government had told our parent council that our children weren't worthy of their efforts or an investment of taxpayer resources, because we weren't wealthy enough. However, that didn't stop them from skimming off the same amount of taxes from us, as they did from those better off. Our parent council and Ted formed an alliance that made many of his bosses and the province regret their decision to discipline him..
One of the things he always used to say, was that he looked forward to the first good cold snap of the season. He said it had to be below freezing temperatures for at least 10 days to kill all the germs that get passed around in a school population in the fall. He was right. I was thinking of that, and of him, on the train this morning. I haven't travelled as much as I usually do this month, so I really noticed the absence of coughing and sneezing that is often the norm among passengers in the run up to that first good freeze. Too bad it took so long to happen this winter.
I arrived downtown for my job interview at about 8 am and was in the offices of the recruiters by 8:15. The interview was an hour long and was quite different in terms of the normal process. One normally doesn't get asked one's likes and dislikes with respect to working conditions and assignments. I'm guessing that there is a placement of some sort for which I'm being assessed, but there was no indication of what or where in this round. I go back for a second interview on Wednesday.
I met one of the women I worked with two assignments ago, in the lobby of the skyscraper as I was leaving. She had been working for another firm and said the company in question had laid off all their contract staff in October too. It seemed to be a universal strategy in the whole industry this year. Partly, I think, to register their protest with respect to the Kyoto Protocol with the Federal government by threatening massive losses of jobs to come if they don't agree with the decisions made and, I'm guessing, an attempt to make the bottom line prettier in the year-end fourth quarter reports; that observation was made by the interviewer I had spent time with earlier too. Competition for investors is fierce and, I suppose, any edge is considered legitimate. Too bad it is always staff and the local community that pay the price for government/industry stand-offs and for stockholder dividends. Merry Christmas Uncle Scrooge.
It was my birthday today. I haven't "celebrated" it for decades. This year my family seemed to have decided that they wanted to, which is a bit unusual, but very nice too. After my interview, I met one of my sisters and my Dad for lunch in Inglewood at one of our heritage houses. It was originally the first private dwelling made of wood built in the city. The head of the Northwest Mounted Police detachment and his family lived there at that time. It now serves several functions, including an interpretive center for school groups learning about Calgary's earliest history - the first NWMP fort just across the bridge is still standing too, a restaurant, dinner theater, and a facility that can be rented for weddings and conferences. It is also deemed to be one of our city's haunted houses. I really like it. The food is always very well prepared and the setting is intimate and scenic, sitting as it does at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers. Today we watched the ducks and geese foraging for lunch in the rivers as we ate, counted the railway cars passing nearby, and watched the lunchtime athletes jog on the pathways that line both sides of each river for their length through our city. My sister and I had chicken wraps (I ended up just eating the innards for the most part because the portions were so generous), her appetizer being a salad and mine being red pepper soup - mmmm good. My Dad had the lemon pepper chicken and broccoli soup - he seemed pretty contented too. My sister's treat - made it extra special. After we ate, we strolled along Atlantic Avenue visiting the Antique, Art, and Curio stores lining the street. My Dad enjoyed the miltary history shop - both Canadian and American up to the Vietnam era. At one of the used book stores we were looking for a publication about our local history that is out of print. The owner of the shop gave us the address of one of the largest internet "used bookstores" www.abebooks.com as a possible resource. I'll have to try it tomorrow. Anyway, it was a nice way to spend a birthday, or any afternoon for that matter.
Some of my guys had already arrived at my home by the time I returned. We spent the evening just visiting and had order-in Chinese buffet to finish off the day. Because it was my birthday and number five son's as well, he being born on the 19th - turned 18 this year, most of the dishes were of the stir fry variety, since we both prefer veggies and light fare. Just finishing off the won ton soup now. Yum.
Well off to bed - two more interviews in the morning. Wish me luck.
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