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12:04 a.m. - 2003-12-23
Penultimate Eve
The aroma of fresh baked cookies greeted me when I opened the door to my home tonight. My youngest was just pulling a pan of oatmeal raisin cookies out of the oven. My favorite and there was still dough to eat too. Bonus, and yes I know "it's not good for you". Just consider it a small sacrifice in the spirit of the season.

The busses and trains were half empty today. Most people who can, have taken the week off. Can't blame them. Got to work and found a new mystery on the shelves. Records reappearing that have been "missing" since I started. Don't know why or from who, but I documented what was important, cleaned up the messes inside some of them, and got them back into circulation for the staff that need them.

Everyone who was in to work today seemed to be in a good frame of mind. More of a "well let's get on with it" attitude, rather than the "poor me" thing that often occurs about now. From the sounds of the discussion, the company Christmas party was a lot of fun. I'm glad they enjoyed themselves. In this industry, this is quite a busy time, so we all had our noses to the grindstone all day. Still a lot of tension simmering between my two co-workers, but I'm just being openly pleasant to both as best I can. R seems to have spoken with them about it, as it was starting to disrupt everyone who needed to use the center for their own activities.

I spoke with R at the end of the day about some tasks we need to work on together. We agreed that they would wait until next week. She said that if I didn't want to come in to work the half day on Christmas Eve, she would be fine with that. I told R that I would be fine coming in to help her get her unfinished tasks done, year end finance, rather than working on my project that morning since she is swamped. I can't really afford the loss of paid time (I get paid by the hour) but maybe the extra rest time would be worth it. I e-mailed my supervisor just to see what he's comfortable with me doing. Any of the options are ok with me.

Interesting article in the paper yesterday. One of the big employers in town is being fined $100,000 for not ensuring the safety standards set by legislation were met, after a worker died on the job this summer. That's the first time, I think, the new legislation has been enforced. There was also an article about the seminars being given to senior managers, by labour law specialists, about their own personal liability if they aren't cogent of and attentive to the working conditions their staff are being placed in. Our province has one of the highest workplace death and injury rates in the northern hemisphere. It's a good thing that legislation finally makes the corporations themselves and the decision makers in them accountable. Too much has been sacrificed in the name of profit both by the workers and by the community for that goal.

A curious juxtaposition, was the article in the business section about how greatly large corporations in Canada have benefitted from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Huge profits. The article went on to say that it has come at the expense of staff in those companies. A 14% reduction in jobs, more involutary part-time employment, and wages that, after adjustment for inflation, have much less purchasing power than when the deal was inked about a decade ago. Uh huh.

Anyway, my youngest wants the computer NOW, so I guess I'd better go get ready for tomorrow. Good night, dear diary.

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