11:44 PM - 03.09.04
Valuables
It's strange how one can hear the same things at different times, in different contexts and come away with a different response or understanding, isn't it dear diary. I had my headphones on while I was working on the e-publishing today. It isn't very stimulating work, but it demands a lot of attention to detail. The headphones and the music are what keep me from running screaming from the building some days. Anyway, later in the afternoon I put on Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Ummm hmmmm. I've always loved their sound and I was off summers ago in my mind, playing in the sand on the beach with my sisters, watching all the teenagers on the boardwalk, admiring this one girl's daring bathing suit. One piece, navy blue fit like a glove. String ties for the top that was cut really low in the back, dusted with teeny white polka dots and strategically placed red piping in the body of the outfit. The daring part? The way the frill of fabric wrapped around her hips and gave her such a saucy walk. That's what I wanted to look like when I grew up. Different times I guess.
Anyway on came the song called Cruisin' sung solo by Smokey - now I understand how he came by that name - and I had one of those temporal shift things going on. Now, either that piece was never played on Canadian airwaves, or there was a second version with the lyrics changed, or I just didn't get it. Any of the above might have been true, but I don't recall anything that explicit ever being played in my hearing although I do recall the melody. My middle name and most endearing quality for the past dozen years or so has been Chastity, but all of a sudden the atmosphere in the library became awfully steamy. No one else seemed to notice the change, but that one piece got played many times as I listened to the lyrics. Whoa. Om mane padme hummmmmm. I remember thinking how boring that tune was when I was small - right.
Going on with the hearing theme, the brother and I had a brief discussion about his CD a day or two ago. I allowed how I liked the lyrics much better than the instrumentation. I added that when some of his pieces were playing I could hear a whole nother line of music/melody that was more soulful or rock in nature playing in my head over the cut he had made. He gave me a quizzical look and said that more often than not his vocals when he sang professionally were that or pop. That's what I had thought I was hearing to begin with. He said one of the things the record producer was balking on was that the instrumental work wasn't "country" enough. The reason I found that part of the CD tolerable is that it bore a strong resemblance to the way Steve Earle plays and I really love his music. Turns out the brother does too. If Mr Earle's music can be classed as country - well at least it is in our stores - then I'm not certain what the producer's problem is.
Work today was steady. Started off with publishing, but the brother was behind with his preparation of a shipment of work to go out to the one consultant. To speed things up a bit, around noon and his deadline, I printed the labels and catalogued some of the transactions then helped box things up. We got talking about politics again and I've decided I'm going to have to make certain I don't get caught up in that again. He was praising the present provincial government after hearing there was some sort of demonstration going on by the unofficial legislature building downtown - the official being in our sister city to the North. He was ragging me because he thought it appeared that I would like to join in the protest. Darn right, I said, the Premier's destructive actions around health care were a major part of the cause of my Mother's death. The events of the weekend must have retriggered the outrage I felt when she died - because the main source of the problem is again the way the provincial government deals with people who are very vulnerable - because at that point in the discussion I almost had to go home. My emotions were almost beyond control and I hate anyone seeing me cry. I think the brother realized how upset I was at that point and disappeared for a while. Smart move.
Went back to publishing, after grabbing something to munch on while I worked from the downstairs food fair. Was working away with all sorts of people milling around, headphones firmly in place and the volume turned up as it always is when I'm upset. The furniture movers were in to set up the new work stations, staff were ambling past chewing over different work/ethics issues with each other and the VP wandered past several times on the way to any number of one on one meetings with different teams and individuals. See, I still pay attention to the workplace dear diary. I'm not totally zoned out - well ok partly. The brother came by to discuss some things with me, then the co-ordinator came over to join us. She had been instructing him - before I arrived back on the scene this assignment - to just leave or throw away certain files for properties the company has purchased the right of access to. Uh huh. There are losses of value, potential and increased liability attached to that. There are also some properties in our library where it appears that they have been sent over in a shipment in error. She has also counselled him to do the same thing with respect to them. He has asked me several times about that direction. I have pointed out that I have no authority to over-ride her but that personally, I would refuse to follow those directions. In the case where the company receives data in error it is the law that the property be returned to it's rightful owner. In my way of thinking anything else is theft. What I don't understand is why he would ask me those questions when it is his sister who is supposed to make those determinations as a manager in the company. It appears he has taken my direction and it also appears that has really made the co-ordinator angry although she really can't force the issue either. She came up as we were talking this morning and later this afternoon trying her hardest to do what she could to ensure certain property files were either "discarded" or at the very least, not recorded. In the cases in point today, they are ones that have been labelled as unprofitable when, in fact, they have the potential for very high gain for very little capital investment. There is a short and long term potential profit in all of the files she wants to make "disappear". I challenged her directly this morning on regulatory points and on legal ones this afternoon. I don't understand the interaction and why what I say seems to be a focal point for the discussion. Odd.
As the three of us were discussing the issue this afternoon the brother suddenly went tense and noted there was a helicopter buzzing our floor. End of the internal discussion in a hurry. There are regulations about how high and how close aircraft can be to buildings in our downtown. Going by our windows nearly 50 floors up isn't one of the acceptable flight paths. As we watched, the helicopter made several turns and passes to a number of the downtown skyscrapers. It was neither the hospital nor the police emergency vehicles, so that couldn't explain it either. There are a couple of helipads located in the downtown, but the protocols for using them are very stringent. The only comfort that I could take from what I was seeing was that they weren't military ones. Because I've lived near the airport for about 25 years, I know the flight patterns intimately and I get really antsy when those particular armaments are active. Always means bad news in the next day or two. Funny how some small thing like that can refocus you with respect to your priorities and values though, isn't it. Went home just being glad that I could do so in relative safety and the certainty that I would arrive there in one piece. Amen and blessed be.
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