11:55 PM - 06.02.05
Babies
Not a lot to say tonight dear diary. There was a call from one of the recruitment agencies showing on the call display when I arrived home Friday night. My contract is supposed to end at the end of February, so I guess I'll try contacting them this week. It's a bit of a gamble because my tech had told me, after his analysis on Friday, that he would likely be recommending that I take over a portion of the work my co-worker is doing now to do a conversion of data. I haven't looked at what is there yet, because I have to wait until I get official notice from my supervisor. He may make a different call given the behaviour I've seen from him and my co-worker to date. Whatever. It makes calculating the actual amount of work remaining difficult. In the meeting last week, there was discussion raised about the conversion of the one scientist's in-office data. He insisted that my tech be assigned to look after it rather than my co-worker who is the "default" person to do that per the division of labour stated in the project plan. Hmmmmmm.
The co-worker also made a curious comment on the weekly report he had produced Friday to the effect that the time for completing the project would be about five weeks if there were two people working on the rest of the tasks, rather than the 10 weeks originally projected. That is stating the obvious, since that's the premise on which the numbers were provided by me for the documents that I've been assigned to do and that I had assumed the co-worker had submitted. Those were the numbers - the co-worker's - that were questioned two weekly meetings ago. There is almost always more work required than originally estimated for an assignment, just because there is almost always a hidden pool of data/documents that aren't seen or accounted for until part way through a project. You know, those boxes under two or three people's desks or the ones that no one thought to count in that are sitting in a workroom or offsite. There is never an acceptable excuse to expand the numbers in any other way. One is client generated, but the other is not. Maybe I'm reading the "in between the lines" incorrectly, but it almost sounded as though he thought there would only be one person left working on the data for the balance of the assignment. Odd, but it might explain some of the working conditions I've had to deal with as a result.
Number two son and his partner came by to take me out for a birthday lunch today. The original plan was to go for dim sum. I enjoy that experience, but it is the weekend before the Chinese New Year. Starts on the New Moon on Wednesday - Year of the Rooster, it is. Number three son's birth year if one was using sinological astrology. The result at the Asian market was a scene like the last weekend before Christmas in the balance of the city's mainstream malls. Chaos, huge crowds, and stressed out people doing their last minute shopping/preparations for the big party to come. The restaurant was jammed full, with a line up of waiting patrons snaking along the length of the mall. I do't like being in any situation where it feels like a cattle call, especially when it comes to dining out. A quiet peaceful atmosphere is what I think of as a requisite part of that experience. The result was that we went down the mall to the Pho house. I love Vietnamese cuisine too, as do my son and his partner. The restaurant wasn't as lavishly decorated, but we were greeted warmly and seated immediately with attentive staff hovering in the background waiting to look after us. My daughter in law had the spicy pho(soup)while my son and I had satays. All very tasty and very reasonably price into the bargain.
Talk seemed to center around plans for a baby. Alright! Some discussion about genetics ensued. My daughter in law is concerned that children from a biracial union might be treated badly in the community and that is making her nervous. We pointed out all the people we know who are of mixed heritage - including stars like Keanu Reeves - who seem quite comfortable with their status. My friend in the Middle East is Caucasian while her hubby is Asian. Their three children have never felt their parentage caused them any harm at all. Their attitude is that it actually gave them access to two full cultures instead of just one, which has doubled their opportunities for choice as young adults. I had had this discussion with their mom years ago when we were volunteering together on local education issues. When my daughter in law first raised her concerns a year ago, I wrote t my friend asking if anything had changed her children's perception of their acceptance in Canadian society - even in Red-Necked Alberta. Nope - they're very pleased with the way their lives are unfolding. The genetics discussion was about the advantage health wise that may come from parents of different ethnic backgrounds. Much less chance of recessive genes - almost zero - appearing in any offspring. Recessive genes tend to show up as thing like chronic, wasting and debilitating ilnesses - multiple sclerosis - and certain types of deformities. In his novel "Hawaii" James Michener called children of blended parentage the "golden children" for that reason, based on his observation of the cultural blending that is ubiquitous there. As far as I'm concerned any grandchild of mine will be the most beautiful and smartest child in any group of their peers, so I have no concerns whatsoever.
The myth of a "pure race" is just that anyway. Given that rape is a given in any war and that wars have been sweeping across the face of the planet since the beginning of recorded history, the only groups who might have even a ghost of a chance at that claim are the ones who have been buried deep in the Amazon jungles or the ones on remote islands like those just inundated by the tsunami. Some of those tribespeople were forced out of hiding as a result and allowed that the only thing they wanted to do was find a place to hide from the contamination that the rest of the world would inflict on their small community. Their choice, I guess.
Arrived home and the three of us visited fr just a bit longer. My daughter in law wanted to go to the malls out here since they were in the neighbourhood anyway. We have whole corridors of them snaking along for several miles - just about anything one could think of - and a lot of unthinkable things too - for sale. I gave them the third of the Lord of the Rings movies to take home for their after dinner treat and my daughter in law borrowed one of my belly dance tapes - the other topic discussed during lunch. Was it hard to do, where did one find one of those skanky outfits and that sort of thing. I don't know who was more pleased with that borrowed video - my son or my daughter in law. Sometimes parenting is so easy. They had just pulled away when the phone rang. Number three son and his girlfriend wanted to stop in for a visit. Apparently the kitten she adopted from us is doing fine and is being nicely spoiled. They didn't stay long - her sister's birthday party had already begun. Arrangements begun for introducing her to number two son and his partner as well. Parenting too.
Anyway the kittens want their nursery back for their bedtime. Good night dear diary.
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