12:15 a.m. - 2004-04-03
Steam
Make it stop - April Fools Day(s)that is. Yesterday did not stop at the International Dateline, but continued on it's merry little way. I opened my Elections Canada e-mail this morning and found that the person trying to create havoc had attacked several people all in very different ways. They haven't tried anything directly against me - yet - but I am not willing to stand by and watch them erode the cohesion and support that exists within the group.
Two of the people who did receive broadsides, talked to me about how they felt today. It is starting to have its effect on us all psychologically. A good part of that is because we are all under pressure to get a lot of things done. Otherwise, as a group, we're usually well balanced enough to let points of friction slide off and call them "personality quirks". Now they are being "massaged" by this person to created as much dissonance as possible. The person in question has also turned things up a notch by approaching individuals, such as landlords we have been negotiating with for some time, and trying to interpose themselves as our representative. Odd since we are still the ones who are liable for the contracts we need to have in place. The last thing we need is confusion, or mistrust created with our suppliers and service providers on that level. Worse yet, if I hadn't checked with one of my landlords today, the story would never have come to light or would have only been apparent when this person's actions created a crisis - or ten. You know " but we were told by "troublemaker", that you had changed your mind......." I've seen that tactic used in really dirty political campaigns - that's one of the reasons I decided not to become involved with political parties. I don't want or need it here.
It also raises the question who or what else are they meddling in behind our backs? Found another one out later, when I started getting unexpected and unsolicited phone calls about possible work. I will hire somewhere between 750 to 850 people for different jobs - mostly just for polling day - but nearly 100 office staff too. We were told at our Monday meeting that the phone list circulated by the person in question, containing our home numbers, was protected and would only be used by other Returning Officers. This person has given out my number to several of their buddies. This after trying to push me into hiring their friends to take key supervisory positions in my office. The key people in my office only get there if I have had an opportunity to observe their behaviour in high stress, high demand situations. I can't afford to have a staff meltdown because of one or two "ringers", either by their personality or by their intent. In addition, since we have no idea when the election is going to be called, the last thing I have time for, having just received that assignment yesterday, is to be flooded with calls inquiring about employment issues. I don't have time to describe positions and discuss wages, as well as field all the other, albeit,legitimate questions people have when seeking work. Especially not several hundred calls -which has happened before once the grapevine gets fired up.
The next little jab came when I called Ottawa with a couple of questions. For the second day in a row, the staff on the other end of the line have insisted on addressing me by MRS "married name" even though I have had my name change - MS "maiden name" - in place at Elections Canada for some time now. The family name I was first appointed under in 1996 was used because it was before my divorce was finalized in 1999. I had no choice at the time. I asked who had ordered the return to that name without my knowledge or consent. The response was that I couldn't be given that information, because it was confidential. Repeated requests to staff on the other end of the phone to change it back to my maiden name were ignored, so I finally e-mailed the head of Elections Canada's legal department and the second in command requesting they address the issue, now. It may seem like a small matter to someone else, but one of the best things about getting out of a bad marriage is that one can shed some of those negative memories just by the one act of getting rid of the name of the person who was causing so much grief. I won't allow anyone to re-impose it on me. I got a response back from EC's second in command this evening assuring me it would be taken care of immediately. See April Fools - good and bad.
E-zine information of interest today? These three link on the Canadian Amnesty International site Norms_business explaining the proposed Human Rights requirements that are being advocated become legislation applying to all businesses conducting international trade. Why? Because some large companies have more power and influence in a country than their own government. Think of all the jobs leaving Canada and the US right now, because in other countries labour laws allow a more exploitive use of locals in less developed countries. This was the international report to the UN about Canada's human rights violations or issues for 2003 Canada. The final link was to an activity that a lot of people don't realize that Amnesty International has undertaken for decades. When I was active in the local chapter of AI back in the 1980's and '90's two of our members specialized in tracking illegal arms trades and components of weapons of mass destruction - although that's not what they were called then. The focus at that time was on material disappearing as the old USSR broke up and the economies of the the countries left in it's wake cratered. The highest bidders for all that technology were not sovereign states. Blackmarket_Arms. Now you know why I go on about the subject in some of my posts dear diary, and yes the RCMP does know about it,just as other country's intelligence communities do.
Two interesting pieces out of NASA. The first is about some weird weather - a hurricane - in Brazil Hurricane.That ties in with a story in our local newspaper yesterday about the unseasonally warm weather here right now being a worry for the farmers. They fear the proverbial plague of grasshoppers is imminent if the dry heat continues. The second story was about Venus and her trip through the Pleiades and the constellation of Taurus - all easily visible to the naked eye for the next few days, with no repeat performance for the next decade. Pleiades. There are some really interesting photos and graphics included.
So dear diary, the cats have been extraordinarily affectionate these past few days - sit down and I have three or more felines fighting for space on my lap, lie down and they are all draped over me, walk and they are playing tag around my ankles. When my guys did that when they were small I usually started checking to see what mischief they were trying to hide from me. Wonder if it's the same thing here. "Hey mom come play tag with us". Uh huh. Tonight I think I'll invite them to exercise with me while I belly dance. It's a healthy way to blow off steam -right? At the very least it is entertaining.
�
�
