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12:01 AM - 15.04.05
power shift
Yesterday we were watching the snow on the river banks melt, today it was falling from the sky. Just the way it is this time of year. At the weekend, eastern Canada was dealing with a dump of 40 cm/15" of snow - ditto for Colorado. Can't complain. As it was, west Calgarians only saw rain, as did those living east of the city. The drive into downtown from our end of town was an adventure though. Heavy wet snow on the powerlines caused traffic lights to be out and there were fender benders that slowed traffic, as well. Walking the two block from the neighbour's office building to mine, the wind gusts were so severe that I was literally looking for a telephone pole or light standard to hang on to so I didn't become airborne. The gentleman next to me seemed about to offer his arm, just as the wind dropped off completely. At that point in time, I would have gratefully accepted either that or his coffee. As it was I still arrived at work with time to spare.

The co-worker at the desk right next to mine commented she was glad to see me, because no one else on the floor had come in yet. She said the supervisor who offered to help her out yesterday had had to turn around and go back home driving in from the south of the city. The roads in that direction were extremely dangerous. We were chatting about parenting techniques, as I was booting up my computer and getting my paperwork organized for the morning. The other supervisor, who doesn't like Aquarians, came chugging in. The co-worker I had been talking with said "hey nice to see you, you're early". The supervisor snapped "Don't get cheeky with me missy" that she was always in at this time of day. My co-worker started to try and explain the time difference, pointing at the clock, when the supervisor went into a bit of a rant about how she had been working overtime so had been in late just the past couple of weeks. Truth to tell, since I had started working on this assignment I don't recall any morning she wasn't at least 45 minutes later than I was with respect to arrival. I was as stunned by her response as my co-worker was. Decided she had just got out of the wrong side of the bed. My co-worker went on to finish the story about her two step children, when both of our heads kind of snapped around to look at the supervisor. Our three desks are within about 10 feet of each other and the supervisor has a voice that is normally quite loud. She was standing at her desk talking on the phone. She had yelled the word cookies. My co-worker repeated that word as a question. The supervisor snapped that we had better quit eavesdropping on her conversations, if we didn't want to get into a lot of trouble. Well first off, we had been talking with each other and ignoring her activities. Secondly, if one doesn't want to be overheard, talking loudly in a confined space is not a reasonable behaviour, is it? As it was she spent about three hours on the phone this afternoon arranging her social life for the weekend. Even with my headphones on and the volume turned up, I couldn't help but hear.

The other habit the supervisor in our corner has is that she often just yells to the people at the other end of the floor, carrying on extended conversations. No phone or email for her and yet we aren't supposed to hear or even look as though it disturbs us. Right. That's why I wear my headphones, but she shows annoyance with that as well. Can't win. My co-worker had brought in a small radio to help her concentrate, but that was not acceptable to our supervisor either. The other working groups in our department seem to function adequately, even with team members using their radios in close quarters.

This was the second morning in a row that the supervisor in question had scheduled meetings for various staff, me being required to attend both. Some meetings can be productive and I don't mind that, but the two this week weren't. Half the one this morning was about the work I was doing. Everyone on the team was mentioned but me. There was an avoidance in the training session of even explaining how one could use the work I was doing with the records to enhance search capabilities in the database. The supervisor that I report to - who sits at the other corner of the floor - did apologize to me after the session, saying that she didn't realize I was in attendance.

The other effect of this morning's meeting was that it meant that the research I needed to do was interrupted as well. Sometimes if you drop those threads of information for the couple of hours the meeting takes up you almost have to go back to the beginning. At the end of yesterday and this morning, there were several specific terms recorded in the descriptor field in the class of reords that I was assessing for which I could not find definitions, notwithstanding the several technical dictionaries on my desk and the multiple industry e-resources on my desktop. Asking the supervisor in the same corner as me - the reason I was stationed there - elicited no answers, because she acknowledged that she had no knowledge of those disciplines. Could I go talk to some of the other staff who have the expertise, so that I can move forward with the project? Fine. Sent out emails, but still had no responses by the end of the day. Oh well, I guess that is part of the job too and I still get paid. Suck it up Princess. I was probably just cranky because I had a weather migraine and was having difficulty concentrating to begin with - right?

The reason for my push to get things done is manifold. The evolving power struggle, that is so evident now among some of my supervisors/co-workers, is giving me a great deal of concern. The supervisor that offered to help the co-worker next to me and one of the other senior staff have been there for 10 years. They have well established policies and procedures that they follow and they don't suffer fools gladly. My supervisor just took her job last fall. The supervisor in our corner just started in November, as did the one who went out of her way to include me in her group yesterday. Some of the next layer of staff have been there for almost as long as the first two supervisors, but at least half of us came on board since February. I'm just wrestling the words to the page right now trying to follow the dynamics that are emerging among the different parties fighting for power. The supervisor in our corner doesn't seem to care who she uses as a fall guy when she feels inadequate or threatened. My co-worker is getting the brunt of that, but I can see it spilling out on me and a number of the other newer staff as well. Hence the tears in the bathroom. I don't think the supervisor I report to realizes how she is being manipulated, because I don't think she would knowingly participate, although the theme this morning with the two of them seemed to be to "put people in their place". Whatever. Some of us are working to live. We just come in to do our jobs. As far as I'm concerned that is the only place that matters and I'm not willing to play the other games. The other niggling doubt has to do with the sudden appearance of work from the company I just left, arriving at my supervisors desk. Just leaves me edgy. Paranoia doubled.

I needed to get outside the building at lunch, but I only managed a couple of blocks before the wind forced me back in to the plus 15 system of walkways one floor above the city streets. Returned with spicy masala chicken wraps from the east Indian health cafe across the street. Another session of really delicious food that incinerated my tonsils. Opened up my email to find a note from the chair of the play day committee. We are now being asked to also shop for door prizes for participation for each person who attends the events we sponsor. The amount of money we are allowed to spend per person is very generous. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy working in this company? If we could just calm down that power tripping it would be perfect.

The other fly in the ointment though, is the escalation of fighting in parliament and the increased potential for another election to be forced. When I walked into the coffee room yesterday morning, one of the newspapers had a headline that screamed that the collapse of this government was imminent and another election almost a certainty some time this month. Today the position was reversed and the talk was of a May or June event. Whenever the election happens, it means that I am out of the assignment in this company that day. Will I be one of the pawns sacrificed by one of the staff remaining in the worksite. Seems like a strong possibility.

There were two other stories in the papers that caught my eye, with respect to elections, that also sent the blood pressure up a bit. The first was about the woman who had finally stepped down from being a newly elected alderman after the alleged evidence against her and her hubby of cheating using mail in ballots became overwhelming. There was a public hearing underway, but, for the third time since December, they have applied to court to have the proceedings stopped because "everyone is biased against them". Actually, they are called witnesses and it is part of our judicial traditions that they present their evidence under oath. We have a fairly significant penalty for perjury - fines and jail time, brother.

The next article captured and illustrated some of the problems I have administering an election in my multicultural communities. With the diversity of experiences with democracy that New Canadian adults from other countries have had, it is very difficult to try to explain that the laws here are quite different and that braeaking them can result in significant fines and jail time too. Add in language (remember we had 46 languages represented at our polling stations the past election)and cultural barriers and sometimes the public education component can be a bit daunting. Guess I just do the best work I can in both jobs and hope that the power plays don't totally derail what I'm trying to accomplish. We'll see.

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