23:45 - 04.08.05
Wieghing In
Well, the cat came back. The one that went missing. Four in the am or thereabouts, but it doesn't really matter. He showed no signs of damage and being male we know he isn't pregnant. Phew. Work today was a replay of the rest of the week. Straight coding. The only frustration is that the people who packed the boxes put so little information on the descriptor that there is no way to know what might be in them except to physically examine the contents. Several thousand boxes and their contents. I could be busy for a long time I think.
Went to see my chiropractor at lunch. After the headstands yesterday my body struck back. The top of my skull nd the left shoulder were particularly offended by the uses I put them to. Poor things. Everything went back in to place fairly easily so that was alright. My doctor and his family went to Alberta's playground - the province of British Columbia for few days holiday. He said the weather was great but really hot. Don't think he tried the golf courses as a result. I expect half of our city chose the same destination from his decription of the drive home.
On the way back to the office, I bumped into the first co-worker I wrote about when I first started posting to you dear diary. She was the one I had replaced for a time because she had dislocated her shoulder hile lifting the boxes and needed surgery to repair the damage. I got stuck with the Queen of Mean as a partner as a result. That was the first of three assignments to that company. It is the company that I walked away from this past October during the third assignment - there by special request of the supervisor we had both reported to during that first assignment. The one who accused us of wasting their company's funds when someone tampered with our spreadsheets. Her in house staff.
This old coworker asked about the supervisor from the data management company too. When I looked back in my notes, I realized that he had been really unkind during that early sequence of events prior to this co-worker returning to the job when the Queen of Mean left. He was fine while the coworker I met today was present, but it was apparent that she had heard from some of the other field workers in the company about the rapid decline of working conditions after the takeover a couple of years ago. It seemed as though she was very pleased I had finally chosen to leave under my own steam. I explained about the males and the harassment from them in the last two assignments and the fact that my supervisor would not intervene on my behalf. Sometimes it even seemed as though he was encouraging it although that makes no sense at all to me - unless he really was trying to get rid of me. I suppose that could have been the case although again it makes no sense. I know my work was good and sought after and that I provided a lot of value adds to what ever I did. He said so himself. I can't figure out what I did that ould offend him so much that he would stoop so low but whatever. I'm "free at last".
It was obvious the co-worker was really upset that I had been left without help. She kept saying I should have gone higher up the ladder until I found someone who would take action. True enough, but this is an industry that still does not address those issues other than to find way to remove you if you should complain about it. Lawyers are about the only option and I still think about that occasionally, although I've never seen revenge as a useful exercise. She had one really awful experience that way and you could see the crusader starting to take over her being. We talked a bit about the present too. Where each of us is working and our personal lives. Her birthday is due in a week and she will be 50. She decided the ideal place for her to spend it would be at Dineyland with a couple of friends. Since the Magic Kingdom reaches the half century mark at the beginning of September it makes perfect sense. I love Disneyland. She obviously does too. Made me think about travelling, but I have to deal with home issues first. The neighbour and his dog were standing at the edge of his driveway right by my front door when I arrived home tonight. I like the dog a lot - maybe a welsh sheep dog or collie. We made friends the first day or two after they moved in. He always comes to greet me through the fence when I am outside and we always have a nice person to pet chat. That notwithstanding I wasn't certain I wanted to deal with the owner. He did seem calm and even a bit tentative. The rest of the family are still sequestered in the house. There was an old tent at the side of the house that I had wanted to throw out anyway so I grabbed it and headed for the garbage bin first to gain a little thinking time. By the time I got back to the front of my home he had gone back inside. No acting out or threatening anyway. That's progress. Right. The only odd thing was the flag that had been hung on the chain link fence that divides his side f the duplex from his neighbour to the west. It was a reasonably sized American flag. Hung upside down and wrong way round to boot. I decided that I would wait until we had exchanged some civil words before taking it up on it. Could be he never got to be in boy scouts and doesn't know proper etiquetts. Don' want to inflame the issue or him either by assuming it was intentional, but it is really rude to do that to something that one knows other people really value. Doesn't reflect on them of course just shows how ignorant the miscreant is and how much they are spoiling to pick a fight.
Maybe I should have pursued detente tonight when it seemed possible but I don't think I could have handled a flare up with him right then. The discussion with the coworker had stirred up some really painful memories of something that had happened to one of my sons just after their Dad left because she is helping one of her friends deal with the same issue with one of her children right now. I have always been sceptical of the suppressed memory syndrome but I do understand how it can happen. At that point in time there wasn't anyone I could ask for help for really basic things like looking after the boys - feeding them and covering their expenses for school things for example. Asking for help or support for something really traumatic in to the mix wasn't even a thought. The physical survival of the family had to take precedence and that son wasn't ready to deal with the issue either. I buried the knowledge and the pain depply in the subconscious so I could deal with what was in front of us at that time. That was taking everything I had at that point. I was struggling just to sane and to strong for my guys sake. All that emerged over the course of the afternoon as I was coding so dealing with a ne round of violence just wasn't something I could face. Try talking ith that new neighbour tomorrow though I think.
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