9:54 PM - 26.04.05
Nutshells
My computer crashed just as I arrived home last night, dear diary. It wasn't restored until about 2 in the am, after my youngest fought with it for about five hours. It took me the next hour to write and send a report to the agency I work through. You could say that the past two days have been "eventful".
Yesterday's commute featured arriving at the scene of an accident even before the emergency vehicles. It appeared that one person was trapped in the one mini truck. Sometimes the best help one can provide is to get out of the way and let the experts, who were just behind us, deal with it. Clear the road in otherwords.
Walked onto the floor where I work just a tad late and realized that there was no one else in sight. Usually there are at least half a dozen people at the coffee station when I arrived. Not a good start. I put my contact lenses in when I arrive on site, so that I don't have to risk the dust from our streets blowing in my eyes. Yup that dusty. Dropped my gear off at the desk and arrived back at the coffee station. One other staff member was there and she was as uncomfortable with the lack of staff as I was. Was it really a day off? I started the coffee, then wandered toward the one specialized records section.
Came across the one supervisor in three who is fighting, using the coworker as a pawn. She said that the coworker wouldn't be in and then proceded to tell me that she had had her talk with the coworker about work habits Friday morning. Apparently it didn't sit too well. Went to work with my headphones securely in place, hoping to drown out the obvious tension in the atmosphere. You know what that means don't you dear diary. Bagpipes - loud and proud. Ashley MacIssac's version of "Mull of Kintyre" was especially poignant. It was played at dances, but also was often played at funerals. That song about going home. Given all the memorial services right now for second world war vets, it just amplified that sense of loss and frustration that nothing has really changed despite their sacrifices. War and conflict are still the choice of those who want power. There is one song on the CD that I remember dancing to for the sword dance, so I practiced in my head. Making that fist strong and the face fierce. Good thing I face the window right?
The rest of the staff slowly filtered in, keeping to their work stations as much as possible. It was really obvious that the team was starting to polarize around the power plays. The two other supervisors both gave off that "if you're not for us you're against us" aura, being barely polite when spoken too. Could be that I was reading way more into things than was there, but the rest of the staff acted as though they were all walking on eggs too. Apparently my supervisor had been away because of illness on Friday too so that made me feel a little less guilty about being absent. I filled out my timesheet and left it on her chair. She returned it just before 10, as the whole of the records staff was heading up to the executive boardroom for a presentation by two of the leads in one of the big departments. They emphasized the importance of our work being precise, because of the financial penalties and physical damage that could occur if documents can't be located as needed. It's one of those industries where any emergency means someone's life - or several - is at risk. No time for digging through other files, thank you very much. Close to noon when we returned, so I faxed off my timesheet, then tried to key like a banshee for a concentrated period of time, then went off for a walk. Called the agency I worked for to advise them of the personnel issues, because the meeting seemed to escalate things rather than calm them down. Fear of having my work impacted was the reason I let them know. Hard to operate in a poisoned atmosphere.
Kept my headphones on for the balance of the afternoon with the volume up as loud a possible. I found, when I tried to dial out later in the day, that my telephone at work had been disabled again. Called the IT line and they sounded just a bit irritated. Can't do anything about that. Shortly after though, the main person for office support called and said she would be at my station first thing in the morning to fix the problem. Good enough. The commute home was a relief. That is until I found my computer crashing as I was trying to phrase the email explaining more about the personnel issue to the agency, so that they would understand the dynamics I was finding myself enmeshed in. As it turned out though, number three son and his girlfriend arrived about then. They agreed to help me run errands, while my youngest tried to tame the beast. Gardening stuff, bus passes, fuses for the stove, since none of the burners have been working the past couple of weeks, food and kibble. Two hours of trekking. The two of them are very compatible and we traded histories of the family with each other. I told stories about my son as a young one and that had everyone entertained. Arrived home, did the report and went to bed.
This morning the commute was less eventful, but the morning was worse. We were all called in to a meeting around 9:30. The announcement - one of the more senior staff in the department, in terms of time at the company, had been let go. Not any of the people that I have been discussing. There was stunned silence around the table and it was obvious everyone there felt as though they had been kicked in the gut. Despite reassurances, one could see the question behind everyone's eyes. Am I next? There was no warning on this, it appeared. The person released was very well liked by the front line staff. The explanations for the dismissal did and did not add up. We all left the room trying to puzzle out what had really happened. The person in question had been second in command to one of the supervisors who has been engaged in the infighting and she was best friends with one of the other supervisors engaged in the power struggle. I couldn't even begin to try to fathom it out. Next up was the question of whether she was involved somehow in the infighting and what effect would that have on the dynamics among the records staff. Her husband has been quite ill and I wondered how she would cope with this additional blow to her life. The one supervisor who is a friend left shortly after that and again, everyone crept off to their stations for the morning. The ony positive is that by afternoon the frontline staff were obviously trying to help each other in terms of emotional and psychological support. The attempts to include and comfort were genuine and that was heartening.
My cheque from the time sheet I sent in yesterday arrived and that boosted my spirits too. Another email from the accounting department that the cheque for the dance studio deposit was ready for pickup. Emailed the chairperson to ask for two contracts with her signature, so I could get everything finished off with the owner. Emailed him after the contracts arrived to set a time to get his signatures tomorrow. Just trying to get all those ducks in a row, should an election insert itself in my life. Last email of the day was from my supervisor setting a time tomorrow to discuss the project. I responded with a couple of suggestions about what could be done in my absence, if an election is called based on the preparations I have put in place while doing the coding necessary. Let's hope that meeting works out better than the last couple. Right now I'm just as buffaloed as the rest of the staff. If one person can be let go out of the blue despite years of service, there is nothing to prevent any of the rest of us from suffering the same fate. Paranoia maybe, but this industry is notorious for the mass layoff thing at intervals.
Went home and emailed the agency I work through to thank them for the cheque being processed so quickly and to let them know the latest about the dismissal and the meeting tomorrow. I also had an email from one of the staff at Elections Canada saying my invoice from the lasst assignment was being processed right now. Good news, but I think I'll wait until my money is in the bank before I bank on anything, given past history. There was also an email about the imminent arrival of our next pre-writ assignment. Already been sent, so watch for it in the mail. Deadline, 10 days from now. Polling shows that Canadians are about 60% against an election now. That is heartening, but only if the politicians listen. Guess we just continue on. Emails from staff asking, but not asking, the big question. Then a phone call from the one Returning Officer who resigned. The big kahunas in Ottawa had asked her for advice on naming her replacement. Her assistant doesn't want the job nor do any of her other key people. We make about $1500 more in base salary than our assistants. Some of our other staff can make almost as much, just by getting their hours up. There really isn't any incentive for anyone to take on the job, since there aren't any really significant rewards especially when weighd against the responsibilities. I love the democratic process and that's why I do it. Nothing else would ever induce me to take on a project that exhausting. She wanted to know if there was anyone living in her riding that I would recommend. I called her back with several names of really good past workers that had lived in that area when it was part of my riding. I also suggested she call the city of Calgary's census office for their recommendations. They run an exceptionally tight ship and they have excellent workers in their office. So that, in a nutshell, has been my days. Good night dear diary.
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