11:47 p.m. - 2004-04-04
Profits
My number two son and his partner came by today. Their gift for the brothers was a box of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. The first outlet in Western Canada opened up in a mall about a mile from here last week. The visiting son did some of the work necessary for the company to open. The boys seemed to enjoy them, but I think I still like Tim Hortons best - especially their coffee, ambrosia.
After the doughnuts were settled, my son, his partner and I went shopping. The Farmers'Market first. I'd never been, since it is across town and not easily accessible by bus. The idea of carrying home bags of produce and making three or four transfers between busses just doesn't appeal. I know - no sense of adventure. The upstairs in the market has been given over to local artists and I think I enjoyed that part the most. There were some really interesting pieces in all sorts of media. The main floor was more like a fair,with booths carrying everything from antiques to leather goods, toys to collectibles, clothes to music, and books to crafts. The food court offered choices from all over the world. Me, I went to the Baklava booth, while my son wanted Bratwurst and his partner wanted a Taste of Quebec. Everything was great. Our last stop was the produce section. I came away with a lot of fresh fruit and veggies.
Next up was a trip to the Asian market. First stop was the herbalists'. My Dad really finds the analgesic patches that are available help his arthritis a lot. He'd run out, so I gave him the last of my supply and then stocked up again today. White flower oil for me - it help with the allergy/asthma thing that spring weather always triggers. It usually means I don't have to use my inhaler at all, when I use the topical oil instead. My daughter-in-law picked up a preparation for coughs and colds that looked pretty potent too.
Next stop was the Chinese grocery market. Ginger tea, tamarind seeds, sesame oil, vietnamese rolls, fresh fish and sauces to replenish the diminishing supplies I had at home. Some of the ingredients I bought were in response to the recipes my son found, while browsing one of the free magazines in the farmers market. Morrocan cuisine. Voluptuous, satisfying meals, but relatively low cal because of the unique mix of spices and fruits that are used for flavouring. North African cooking is quite different from either Mediterranean or Middle Eastern dishes but there are some techniques that cross over all three. I'll have to see what I can do with what I found. Great way to spend an afternoon and I really enjoy visiting with my son and his wife too.
Back at home two calls with two different Returning Officers, just touching base and co-ordinating some tasks. One of them runs their own business and was asking about the way we are treated when it comes to payment. Do we always get short-changed when it comes to the amount of hours we are allowed and are the labour laws always ingnored like this? Yes to both. How do they get away with it? Well there's this one statute in the Canada Elections Act that basically gives the Chief Electoral Officer carte blanche to decide anything they want without respect to the laws of the land. It is only supposed to be invoked in the execution of critical duties that are required to ensure elections are carried out properly - that is what the act was written to protect. For example, one election most of the southern part of the Province of Manitoba was flooded (as it appears it will soon be again) and special extraordinary effort was required to get voters and ballot boxes in the same place at the same time. It isn't just governments that ignore the legislation either this is about practices in the US but they are carried out here too. timethief Anyway, both Returning Officers I spoke with today have each written long missives about the labour issue, so I guess I'm not the only one who feels there is a problem. Hope they have better responses to their letters than I've gotten with mine. However, at least I have a home and am working - even if I'm not getting paid . I came across this presentation on poverty and homelessness in our city later when I was doing some research on the tasks I had taken on. homeless. Most of the people in trouble are working - they are just too poor to be able to rent a room. Shaving paycheques to fatten the bottom line for investors. Maybe both company management and their shareholders should be required to walk a mile in those employees shoes for a year or two - share their lives, before they are allowed to reap their profits - reap what you sow.
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