12:16 AM - 23.11.04
Duties
Hmmmmm. There were several very close votes in the provincial election today. It appears that the ruling party lost some key seats. Have to wait until tomorrow to be certain how much change there is likely to be.
I voted this morning - the polling station was pretty much empty except for staff and one lone scrutineer. I declined my ballot for senator as I had said I would and that caused some consternation. Most polling day workers aren't that cognizant of all the intricacies of the election act under which an event is held. That's no surprise given that they only work one day every 3 three to five years on average. In addition all three election acts - municipal, provincial, and federal - vary significantly in various aspects of taking the vote and they all change, sometimes substantially, between one event and the next. On the federal level I would get at least one package of amendments per month and there were still areas of ambiguity even coming in the weeks of the election itself. I explained what the act said and the DRO verified that while I went to mark my ballot for our local representative to the legislature. According to news reports tonight there were a lot of people who did the same all stating that since it wasn't legal or binding on the federal government it made no sense to do so.
In some ways the provincial government is taking their cue from the separatists in Quebec and I really object to a duly elected body sinking to that level. When I talked with my Dad later he said if he had known that he could decline a ballot he would have also. One would think that that option would have been more widely advertised since many voters aren't aware that they can protest that way.
The wind was strong and really bitter while I was out. I guess it's a good thing I put on pantyhose for the first time since spring. I opened the package I had been carrying in my office-in-a-bag and found that they were too tight. I thought that was odd because I'm still losing weight. I grabbed an "identical" pair that were in my clean laundry pile and found that they fit well with a lot fo room to spare. The packaged ones had been bought on sale, so I'm guessing that maybe the reason was that they had been packed without attention to what size was going in each run. Don't know.
After I finished my duties of citizenship I headed off to the post office. Another package of financial documents to send to Ottawa - they want the originals so faxing wasn't an option. As far as I'm concerned that means it should be my last post to them until our next assignment. Given that our Prime Minister offered our election services to the Palestinians I don't see any local work coming our way until spring at the earliest. At the post office it was obvious that the early birds were getting their Christmas gifts off. A bit of a line up and everyone had something that took some time. That was fine by me since it gave me time to recover my breath. The air was clear and fresh though, so it wasn't so much allergies as a touch of asthma that was the issue. Last stop was the drugstore for sundries. The cashier saw I was waiting and stated "I can help you here Miss" That was a bit of a surprise given that she isn't the type to pander to anyone's ego. I asked her how much that was going to cost me and she laughed.
At home, first up was shovelling the snow covering the walk. We only had a dusting compared to Colorado where they got up to 30 cm/12", but ours is the really dangerous type. You see there is a type of snow that will melt slightly from the heat of one's boot the quickly freeze into an icy patch. The footsteps of th newspapr carrier had done just that so it was very difficult to remove. However, insurance claims because of someone slipping and hurting themsleves aren't something I want to deal with. Thinking of the newspaper carrier the call to the newspaper delivery service to let them know of my error yesterday came next - thinking I hadn't recieved my copy when I had. No problem, but they were pleased that I cleared the air for their carrier I think.
Next up called the plumbing service that has messed up twice now. The receptionist was very helpful and sympathetic when I said I didn't want the same service person back given the problems that keep cropping up. She called back about half an hour later and stated that only he would be sent out because he knew the history of the repairs. Maybe so but I don't want someone who doesn't seem to know their job to begin with and who was surly and ignored my requests to be consulted in my home again. Apparently the owner of the company will come out himself instead. I don't want a long term relationship - just the repairs please. Emailed the tracking number for the package I mailed to the appropriate people and that's about all folks.
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