1:01 AM - 22.11.04
Sunday Service
I couldn't find my newspaper this morning, so I called the delivery number to ask for another. Turns out number four son took it to work with him so I guess I call back tomorrow and apologize. My carrier is pretty reliable and I don't want an undeserved black mark on their record.
The news of most concern today was that the norovirus flu is spreading fairly quickly in institutional settings like hospitals and senoirs residences in the city. Aggressive personal hygiene - aka handwashing - is seen as the solution. On the train, wearing gloves is probably the best solution.
This link from Australia was curious and wouldn't have been my guess at how things are going Weighty. It says a study demonstrates that Australians are heavier on average than Americans. Doesn't fit the Crocodile Dundee image at all does it?
The election for the Provincial government tomorrow was the major focus of the news of course. One of the things that smaller parties can do is propose very different ways of meeting citizens' needs. Because they are so small that the powers that be aren't threatened, they can also raise issues that would be squelched if they came from the more mainstream parties. For example, one has said they would force oil companies to stop using fresh water to inject in their wells for drilling and production. Residents in some of the areas where that is done have reported that when they do something simple, like turn on the shower all that comes out is a green slimy sludge. All that is left of the groundwater. Another party has raised the issue of reregulating the power distribution industry. Even if all they can do is generate some serious discussion of those issues without winning a seat at the legislature they have already provided great public service by their willingness to speak out. I admire candidates from those groups because they understand the fundamental reason for electoral events - the participation of the community in determining their future direction through public debate. That is public service in its most untainted form.
On the home scene, not much accomplished today. My youngest and I are still pretty wiped out by the antibiotics that were prescribed a week ago. It is odd because when I was really ill a couple of years ago I was on them a good deal of the time and still went into work. Come think of it though, as I was reading my earliest posts this morning I recalled that I was away for nearly half of June 2002 and then started losing ground again by September when things started getting disturbing in the first assignment for the client who I just left because of the harassment that was occurring. Maybe being off work right now what with that viral thing and the effects of our meds might be a good thing. Maybe the reason I couldn't recuperate fully two years ago was because my body never really had a chance to rest and heal. However the need to make a living and only being paid for thehours one is on site didn't really leave me with any other choice. Might as well make the best use of this down time as I can, I guess.
I am still sending out resumes and actively searching different company websites for work though. One company has sent me two postings that would be possible if I had already finished the courses I want to take. I could probably do the work anyway, but getting ones foot in the door without the paperwork is very difficult. I think I'll send in a resume for one and see what happens. Not much else I can do at this point.
The only negative right now, other than having no money, is that our new neighbours in the other half of our duplex are really heavy chain smokers. Last night it was actually so bad that it was billowing through the shared wall into our living room. Have to find out where the damage to the wall is and see if it can be caulked. Right now it isn't too bad, because the weather has been warm enough - 10 C/50 F - to open the doors and windows for a while to air the house out - after locking the cats in their room of course. However when it reaches those -30 C days some time in the next month or two that won't be an option. Even now when we wake in the morning we're finding that the accumulated smoke means we have to resort to the asthma meds as well as the other stuff we're on. Not good. I feel sorry for the two little girls that live there though - they look to be about five and seven maybe. Their lungs won't have a chance to develop normally. Anyway, time to air out the house now and take that next round of pills. Only three more days to go. Yeah!
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