01:05 - 29.09.05
Fencing
After work yesterday there was a young woman on the bus carrying on a very loud conversation with her mother on her cell phone. The mother appeared to be babysitting for her and also seemed to be communicating with the transit rider's supervisor from work. The rider's tone became increasingly agitated as the conversation progressed, but there was no way to block it out. Add in to the mix that the woman next to her called up someone on her cell phone shortly after boarding. We had duelling voices competing for air space. English and Punjabi. At least the people on the other end would have known which words and phrases were part of their discussion. The first caller exploded at one point "I'm on the bus and I have no clue where I am, so I can't tell you when I'll be there". It was apparent that she hadn't checked the route or the schedule before boarding. I'm not certain if she was even in the right part of town. She got off at the next stop and started walking, still talking and gesticulating animatedly. The other talker got off two stops later.
Having more than one route in mind when travelling by transit is always a good plan. That way if one misses a connection or there is some barrier to travel on one route - such as trains that don't run in winter due to ice build up - then one at least can get where they are headed anyway. The arrival time might be different, but at least one can prove they tried right? I was thinking of that this morning when I got to the new regular stop I walk to in the next community over. That little bit of snow on Monday had me thinking I'd better explore my transit options. Several busses use that stop so I boarded one of the other routes. The one bus I take now stops closest to my work place, with no transfers too, which is why it is my first choice. The bus I boarded this morning has a shorter travel time, but with a longer walk back to the warehouse. Rode it half way there then transferred back to my first choice bus where the two routes intersect again. Both drivers were very helpful, with the first calling the second to make certain he waited for me at the stop ahead. The regular bus driver also showed some concern for my welfare. "Just wait for the next bus on this route, it is only a few minutes different this time of day, then you will get straight to your work" I explained my reasons and he seemed ok with that. Nice to know he watches out for his regulars.
At work I am not allowed to go into the work area until 7:30, even though I arrive about 15 minutes earlier. I usually just go put my co,tact lenses in while I'm waiting, then read until it's ok. This morning I used the time to make a return call to one of Elections Canada's people in Ottawa. She had left a voicemail the evening before that I was having difficulty deciphering. Turned out it was because the issue was a bit unusual. There had been a request from a support agency for developmentally challenged adults for someone to teach their clients how to register and vote. Would I have the personnel or resources to do that? Yes, my training officer is a special needs teacher in her real life. My one special ballot co-ordinator also had a very good way with people needing extra time and assistance. That's why I asked her to take that position. Sometimes during elections, it is just too busy too make those accomodations when there is a last minute request, but this way it can be scheduled in so it doesn't conflict with our "crazy patches".
The supervisor of the warehouse came to get me while I was still talking with EC and he was trying to carry on a conversation with a couple of his people as we walked too. It got a bit strange when four of us were all nattering at once. Welcome to the cell phone world.
The speed of the computer continues to improve, but it still isn't fast enough to do some of the research necessary. About mid morning I received an email response from the company's senior lawyer responding to some questions I had posed a while ago. Meant I needed to go back in to the records to follow through on the next layer of documents that needed to be flagged. I tried searching on three different parameters, but was still not finding the information I knew I had seen, because I had made extensive notes from it when I searched it before talking with the lawyer. Just not there. I showed the second in command and she said no one had access to alter records except her. I know that isn't so from conversations I've had with our supervisor, but I wasn't about to argue the point. I finally pulled up the weekly reports to show her the difference in the number of records searched by term in April and the number available now. There is about a 75% loss of information. Because of the slowness of the computer, it took almost two hours to verify and illustrate that point instead of a few minutes. Frustrating.
The rest of the day was spent auditing boxes and then I took a cab home, so I could meet with the estimator for the work on my roof, exterior - balcony, doors - and fence. The bad neighbours were standing at their window watching closely and a new young woman was sent out near the end of our meeting to ask what we were doing. I explained and asked if they would keep their dog inside while the work on the fence on our shared side was done. She asked about putting things in our large waste bin again and I explained if there was any space left when the rest of the renovations were done then she could. The minute the estimator left, the male was outside cursing and threatening again. He could hear one of our cats meowing and started in about them again as well. Went on for over an hour, pacing along the side of the property line, calling over one of his buddies and trying to get him fired up too. He is just weird and scary. Can't wait for that fence to go up. The estimator said he would try to fast track that part of the work ,when I explained how I wanted the fence to be and why. That is a good thing.
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