00:15 - 19.05.05
Canoes
Definition of a Canadian: someone who knows how to make love in a canoe. Pierre Berton
I felt a bit hung over this morning. After I posted to you last night, dear diary, I did a little work research. When I had talked with the health and safety specialist yesterday we had gotten in to the issue of "sick building syndrome" and the use of ultra-violet light to address the toxins that can live in the air conditioning/heating systems. I told him about the research out of McGill and he asked if I could forward some information to him. It took a bit to dig out the most comprehensive report, but if it can help eliminate 90% of all the measurable bacteria/fungi growing in a system that's worth an investment of a little bit of time isn't it? Sent that off then sent some links to one of my co-workers for some dance lessons she was interested in trying. Sent a note to the one representative at the agency I work for too just updating them on the health issues. Not difficult but it was late by the time I finished.
As it was I was having a difficult time making myself go to bed anyway. I was really tired from the breathing issues that arose during the day, but every time I tried to lay down the coughing would start and become so violent that my lungs would go into spasm again. I did a couple of logic puzzles until I was so tired I thought I would just pass out by the time I hit the pillow. Good thought, but it didn't work. Spent most of the night just trying to get in to a comfortable position for breathing - there wasn't one. My youngest and the cats stayed up too. I think I must have sounded worse than I felt, but that was small comfort.
I did make it into work today though and I guess that's all that matters. The co-worker one station over came to apologize for wearing a scent as did another woman who works on the other side of the floor. Neither of them was the issue, but it was comforting to know they hadn't taken offense to my supervisors request. The coworker who had been the problem came in at about 10 and was very reserved and subdued. I was hoping she would understand that I wasn't asking out of anything other than self preservation but she was pretty upset with me. Maybe that is why there is now legislation in Ontario with respect to protecting the health of people with asthma and allergies. A lot of people just really don't understand how severe the impact can be. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
At lunch I just spent my break eating the sandwich my youngest had packed for me, while doing some research on some of the federal government's websites. What has really bothered me about all the bluster on the political front the past two months is that I often felt as though I was being subjected to some bizarre form of magic show. You know, the theatrics, the props and the one hand waving in the air distracting you while the other one is under the table pulling the strings or pushing the buttons to achieve the magicians real intent. The only real thing that has occurred is the opposition reducing the woman who defected to the minority government to her sexual functions as an explanation for her choices. Right - the mask slipped a bit there Mr Wizard of Oz. Most women will take note of that when they go to vote I think.
Part of that was that while I was sick I would watch the parliamentary channel so I could follow some of the policy debates that were occurring but that were not being reported on at all because the mainstream newspapers and e-zines were all full of the staged show between the parties. Small outlets reporting on such things are being censored elsewhere and I wonder if that might not have been an issue for news media here too. The legislation that was being quietly discussed and shepherded through the enactment/amendment process all had to do with things like restricting civil liberties or giving the state considerably more power to intrude in an individual citizen's private life. At the time I thought perhaps the illness was clouding my understanding so much that I just wasn't getting it. Thought I'd check the Canada Gazette just to see if what I thought I had heard and witnessed had actually been passed or added to the regulations. I might not have bothered except that it formed part of the discussions I had had with both my chiropractor at lunch the day before as well as my election staff. They all brought up the same discomfort around certain issues independently. I got the sense that my doctor likely knew more than he was saying because he works as part of the emergency response planning team in this city.
As I searched I found one new piece of information that my neighbour had been looking for for her work purposes published just a few days ago. Sent her that link. Found another amendment to the Business corporations act that impacts my job directly and one that impacts the industry I work for in a major way - again giving the provincial regulatory bodies considerably more power to intervene in day to day business. Then I found the information that I actually had been looking for under the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act. Oi. As I was thinking of what the implications were I was recalling a discussion my youngest and I had had a week ago. I've mentioned before that having lived so close to the airport for more than two decades I am very aware when something is going on out of the ordinary. I was hearing the engines of military planes flying over at that one time of the day when the US planes used to go through our airspace when they were mobilizing for different actions. It happened several days in a row and I also had seen considerably more military licence plates when walking downtown the past few days. I might not have noticed the airplanes if I hadn't been home sick for so long but it made me very uncomfortable. My youngest said I was imagining things. Turned out though that there are NATO exercises being carried out not far away and that was what I was seeing. Guess the fever and the drugs weren't to blame this time. As some of our icvil liverties appear to be being curtailed other countries are moving in the opposite direction. This story about the women in a family being given control over their own lives is real boost. The story of their abuse is universal though in most countries among family members.
Two research article scaught my eye. One is about the effect of the warming of the oceans on fishing patterns. The other was on the advances made in astronomy research through Canadian initiatives. So I think it's time the cats and I went and dreamed of stars and heavenly beings too dear diary. It's the Canadian thing to do.
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