11:21 p.m. - 2004-03-10
Finances
I had a dream that my family and I - sons, partners and grandbabies - had agreed to meet at the park. We were going to play baseball. We had to drop off a donation of clothing on the way and got lost for a bit. The park we arrived at was beautiful. Lush green lawns surrounded by velvety coniferous trees with flower beds discreetly placed to add colour without being intrusive. The whole edged a reservoir with sailboats skimming across the surface. A beautiful bright day. The only negative part was that there were four huge dogs - one of which looked part wolf - bounding over the lawns, playing with each other. They were ignoring all the humans, but we didn't feel safe with them loose with no owners in sight. There was a very pretty cedarwood lodge on the edge of the lake where we took refuge. We called the animal control line and waited for them to arrive before we risked going outside. We had lunch while we waited and visited. At the end of the dream, it was nearing sunset and the dogs were playing underneath the deck that ran on piers out into the lake. We still were waiting for the by-law people when I woke up.
I spent most of the day tying up all the loose ends on my Elections assignment. I'll be able to send all the paperwork tomorrow. The enumeration assignment was e-mailed off tonight. I got a call from one of the new Returning Officers in the afternoon. He had received his credit card yesterday and a call from head office at Ottawa almost at the same moment. Not only did they tell him he could not activate it on his own, they also told him he would not be able to use it unless he got permission each time he wanted to make a purchase. So let us get this straight. Here is someone who is appointed to a position that requires an extensive security and background check and yet, even with the resulting clearance, he isn't trusted enough to purchase supplies and services on his own. Does Ottawa really think he or his staff should call while standing in line at a till in a store from their cell phone - long distance - in order to get approval for everything in their cart? In the middle of an election one often has to pick up small items just to address new procedures or instructions from said head office. What are they supposed to do if Ottawa's minions don't like the sound of one of the items. Leave their place in line to return it to the shelf and then call back again? He says he hopes he has just been dealing with someone who is misinformed - I do too. I gave him the name of one of the more senior people there who has always been reasonable. I hope she can figure out what is going on in finance. As it is now, they won't even answer their phones when we call in as I did yesterday and today trying to check if my assistant's paperwork was processed so he would be paid. We are instructed to leave a voicemail, so that they can call us back later. Well I haven't had a return call yet.
I also received my credit card statement today for my election account. The company who I had cancelled the order with when they didn't deliver the purchases as promised and who told me it would be at least two more days of waiting, processed the charges anyway. They had said they would cancel it and yet there was no attempt made, as far as I could see, to follow through. I called the credit card company to ask them to rescind it. They said that the offending company had 30 days from the time of the initial transaction to do that. After that the charge can't be challenged. I pointed out that my next statement would not be sent to me until the beginning of April, so I wouldn't know in time if the company had followed through in time. My guess is that they won't. The credit card company agreed to send an affidavit I could sign rejecting the charges and I've kept the e-mail I sent thieir head office explaining why I was taking my business elsewhere, so the two together should be enough to protect abuse of the account. Uranus (bolts from the blue) in the second house (finances) of my natal astrology chart is really not that much fun. Couldn't I win a lottery instead?
�
�
