1:38 a.m. - 2003-07-19
Saving Grace
I ended up not really going to sleep last night. By the time I finished exercising and journalling after that battle with Word, it was already 3:00 am. The neighbours were still partying and I knew I wanted to get up with my son who rises at 6 am to go to work. So I think I just putzed around with the Mah Jongg game and housework.
My aboriginal friend called at about 7 am - she always knows what I'm doing before I answer the phone. We talked for a little. Her son was killed a year ago. Neither she nor her daughters have been able to go to the gravesite. The three of them finally found the strength to visit it together yesterday. She seemed quite peaceful - said she and the girls had felt a strong sense of closure. Her son had been quite troubled and I think that their fears for him were laid to rest at the gravesite. He can't be hurt anymore.
About 8:30 am my liaison from the company I'm contracting to called. He said everything had printed out fine. He seemed pleased with the way the documents and preparation for the hearing were evolving too. We tossed around some ideas about how to track the next round of revisions to the responses his team are working on to provide to the intervenors in their hearing. It will be very detailed and fiddly, but that's not a big deal. I'm finding the work fascinating.
Went to bed after he called and slept until 1 pm. Then the phone rang. I found myself talking with the VP for the firm I work for, about renting the extra office space they've acquired by buying out the company I'm doing my current assignment through for the next election. A lot of discussion about details again, but quite encouraging. The space isn't pretty apparently, but they are planning some upgrades soon.
During the last election, the only space available was in a building that used to house a laboratory. The decontamination room was still there and we found that we had to wash down the walls several times before we felt comfortable working our 12 to 16 hour stints every day there. The water in our buckets had turned a gross brownish red colour even after a couple of washes. In addition, the heat and electricity only worked for part of each day and there was a strong smell of gas when the heat did come on. In November it is too cold to try and do without heating in Calgary.
We also had to have to the telephones rewired, since the previous tenant cut out the whole switching system. That tenant said it had been purchased by their company and that their technician would remove it properly. They had used their old keys to enter the building one night after we had taken possession to carry out the work - scared the dickens out my number two person when they snuck in a back entrance. Turned out that they weren't entitled to do what they did, but we had been told by the realtor that they might be coming in and out to pick up the last of their equipment and supplies. When administering elections, one of the most critical resources is your telephone system - people registering to vote or to ask questions and our computers connected into the national LAN. We couldn't afford the loss of contact or time the dispute between the landlord and their last sublessor caused us.
Not only that, but the landlord for that site decided to carry out renovations during the time we were in there - without giving us notice. A couple of days before one of the activities, we were told our power would be shut off for a day or two. They had signed EC's standard lease which forbade disruption of power. The worst of it was that the days they were threatening to disconnect us were two of the most critical in the process - legislated deadlines right down to the hour, no exceptions and it was the first transmission date for the staff payroll. Both critical tasks. The federal lawyer for EC finally had to step in. I don't know what he said to them, but after that there were no more problems.
To my way of thinking I don't care if this new space isn't pretty. As long as I don't have to spend critical time trouble-shooting building and landlord disruptions and my staff are in a safe environment I'm well ahead of the game. Last event I lost several precious days I couldn't afford because of the troubles the landlord allowed or created. Knowing the owners directly should reduce the potential for problems this time. Even better, the initial price quoted is much better than what the other potential landlord is demanding. It isn't often one gets to directly determine government expenses that drive taxation. In the grand scheme of expenditures it probably doesn't sound like much, but if everyone who spends government money did their little bit to save, it might make a big difference at tax time. I've done my bit now.
Around dinnertime I got an e-mail from the other interviewer I met a couple of weeks ago. There's a workshop on new federal legislation specific to records management during a workday, two weeks from now. Would I be interested in attending. Anything that improves one's knowledge base is always a bonus for work issues. Another bonus for telecommuting - I can work that in without causing any disruption to my assignment. It's good of him to include me even if I'm not working for him right now.
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