10:28 PM - 14.09.04
Stressed and desserts
I've been seeing aurae since last Friday courtesy of a mega migraine. That's the reason for the spelling errors and the rambling in my posts, dear diary - really! I went to see my chiropractor at lunch hoping he could reduce the impact with very little success. He pointed out that there was a huge change in weather about to occur since he knows that my migraines are partially weather induced. Sure enough. When the big rain storm broke after supper tonight, things eased considerably for a time. He also knows one of the other triggers is stress and there isn't much he can do about that for me either. Patient man that one. He regaled me with tales of his upcoming mission to Africa. He and 17 other medical personnel will be there for two weeks helping people there. I don't think I have much reason to complain in comparison to what some of the women there deal with. Be grateful for what you have - right?
The stress thing - just layers of things. The call from the other Returning Officer yesterday was to confirm that one of our colleagues has arrived at her posting in the Ukraine. Last night I was surfing the web trying to find maps that would show me the relative distance between where she is and the Chechen Repulbic. One of our other contemporaries is in Indonesia until the New Year. Another dangerous place. And then there is my friend who teaches in the Middle East.
Next up - the plumbing saga. Day long negotiations yesterday, while I was at work, between me and the company that had done the damage to the taps in my bathroom resulted in them commiting to come and fix the darn things at twice the original price. They agreed to count the payment made the first time as part of that - fair game. They called my son around noon stating that they wouldn't be on site today - held up somewhere else. Shortly after, number three son and one of the techs from my Dad's business dropped by with a dishwasher for me - one that my Dad had found at a garage sale on the weekend for next to nothing. I haven't had a dishwasher since the boys' Dad left over a decade ago, but it would be nice to have one so that I have a few more hours freed up to do other things. When thay went to hook it up? The water pipe sheared right off and another flood - this time in the kitchen - was unleashed. The upshot of course, is that the water for the whole of the house is now shut off pending arrival of said plumbers. "You don't know what you've got til it's gone" said the song "Big Yellow Taxi" Joni Mitchell.
Stress three? The extra hours that will be freed up will have to go to trying to finish things off with Elections Canada. Some of my staff still haven't been paid. In speaking with our Member of Parliament's office it has come to light that there are even more people than we were aware of. The Returning Officer who called me yesterday said she was having the same difficulties getting her staff paid and the Returning Officer who is now in the Ukraaine said that some of her people and some of one of the other Returning Officers in Clagary have also encountered the same difficulty. In otherwords it is likely a Canada wide problem for both Returning Office workers and their suppliers - you know like the fellow who rented the office furniture to me. Oh yes, as far as we know none of the Returning Officers in Canada have received that last payment that we were entitled to and the one who called me yesterday reckons it to be closer to $3000 than the 2 I had expected. Doesn't matter I think the plumber's going to end up with anything I get. The Member of Parliament's staff asked if they could reveal that I had asked them to step in on my staff's behalf. Rock and a hard place that. I can't do anything more for my staff Elections Canada isn't listening as usual, but we Returning Officers are told that contact with our elected representatives is grounds for dismissal on "ethical" grounds because it is their contention that we are then using our position as an election official for "undue influence". Right. For me the staff deserve and are entitled to their pay in a timely fashion as prescribed by several layers of law - labour and human rights to begin with - and our elected representative seems to be our last resort to advocate on their behalf. Not a hard choice, but I know I'll be made to pay big time for it too.
Sort of like at the day job - eh dear diary. Stress factor number whatever. No major problems there today. I was able to work on the scanning project for most of the day, because the brother freed it up as much as he could. The hardware company and their support providers now declaring that they already provided the licensing card for the software and that the company therefore must have lost it. Down to one licence/card for us drones to use in the interim. The brother was being very gracious about ensuring I had time on task today but it was at the expense of his project moving forward. After lunch, he had be on his PC for about two hours to produce the data he needed to move forward any further. Corruption of the spreadsheets again had both of us working together trying to determine exactly what had been done, fix it and report it to the appropriate entities as well as get our real time tasks done. Arrghhh.
He seemed to need me as a shield from the co-ordinator's personal advances again today too. A couple of times it was really apparent that he wanted her to think that we were more compatible than just co-workers, but he was also trying to be respectful of the boundaries I usually have for co-worker behaviour. Poor guy. Sexual harrassment regulations are meant to cover both genders but it is even more difficult for a male to prove unwanted attention I think. His wife called his desk a couple of times while I was working at his PC asking me to track him down. Maybe she or one of his children should just accidentally dial the co-ordinator's phone at least once a day for the next while until she finally accepts that he is not available. Don't know. He wasn't feeling very well either after working a good part of the weekend in the office so I think fatigue is an issue for him too although he wasn't letting it affect his professional demeanor. One tough hombre, as they say.
Anyway I need to bed down our feline family. Try to find a way to ensure there's enough water for them and for the morning ablutions too. Hopefully the plumber isn't going to let me down again tomorrow.
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