09:19 - 09.10.05
retro
I did post to you last night dear diary, but in addition to the blocking of the ability to save files as mentioned below, the internet crashed by the time I finished writing. Now the company that is my service provider - and always has been - is in the midst of a very bitter strike with it's employees. I know people on both sides of the striking workers - those who are picketing and those who are crossing the line - and both sides have good reasons for their choices based on what they value most. No right or wrong - just different. The sad thing is that they are fighting so much within their ranks, that the divided we fall scenario is likely the outcome. About a decade ago, our main newspaper's employees, as well as our major grocery store staff went on strike in similar conditions. In both cases, the intractibility of their unions and management ended in a lot of very good people losing their jobs, as both unions were busted. In the case of this strike, the company is losing business rapidly. In the past, it was the only provider of telecommunications and still owns most of the land line capacity. Frustration by customers over access and timely service, combined with newer, more portable technologies, means that the company seems to have entered into negotiations to divest itself and cash out. The one thing that is a "barrier" in any corporate sale is fixed labour costs. The takeover companies don't want the commitments. Their stockholders don't care about the human carnage that results from "strategic right sizing";they just want their cash preferably with bonuses. Since they will never have to meet any of the people whose jobs and lives they have destroyed, there is little social, moral or ethical conscience in how management is directed to go about it's plan of attack. That's why there are so many reported jobs losses in the monthly government analysis of such things both in Canada and the US. Or as Bruce Springsteen sings in "My Hometown"
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back
to your hometown
Your hometown
The odd thing is both directors of a company and the stockholders if theyknowingly direct their boards to do so, are liable under Canadian law for any damage they do. The problem is that most workers who lose their jobs don't know and don't have the resources to pursue remedies available under that legislation. Funding for retraining or relocation at the very least and loss of expected income being among them. I think US legislation must be similar because of the settlement that was just handed down to temporary staff who were employed by Microsoft.
My computer has gone wonky again, even with the new security hardware. I've spent the past few hours trying to figure out what is going on. At this point I can't save any documents created on this unit, there is one piece of software that seems to have become activated to take over and use my email, and my sound system has something similar occurring where a line of text appears in the "track"window stating that the software has been taken over. April Fools Day is almost six months from now so I can't ascribe it to a gag. Think about that tomorrow I guess.
On Thursday, as I was signing in to work at the warehouse in the morning, I jokingly asked the security monitor if he had gotten all the firemen who visited the day before to sign in before they went to answer the alarms ringing in the building. He said yes - that it didn't matter what the circumstances - his job was to know who and where every person in the building was. I was rather startled to say the least. I understand why the precaution is in place. No diversionary tactics, but I think next time that alarm goes off I'll just sign out of the building and wait outside until those emergency people have both come and gone. Safer that way. Provided, that is, there isn't a blizzard or a heat wave in progress.
I missed my regular bus on the way home, but it was likely a good thing. I walk from the last stop the bus makes, that is one community south of mine, before turning to go west. As I stepped down at the appropriate stop, I realized that traffic into my community was really backed up, even for rush hour. Got to the freeway I have to cross and saw the reason up close and personal. An ambulance passed me going toward the hospital as I approached that intersection. There were three vehicles with various degrees of damage pulled up off the road. Glass all over the pavement. One vehicle had been left in situ. The entire passenger side was staved in. It appeared it had run up against the telephone pole. Car seat in the back and parts of the bumper sitting right beside it. A number of police cars as well. It looked as though through traffic had just been reopened, shortly before I arrived shanksmare (on foot). If I had been on the earlier bus, I would not have been able to get into the community unless I had wanted to walk a couple of miles to the next set of lights that allow pedestrians to cross the freeway, then doubled back to get to my street. Not. I likely got home sooner than I would have done if I had been on that first bus.
On Friday, I went to the downtown office. The security measures on the computer at the warehouse make it impossible to effectively carry out any but the most rudimentary electronic operations. Any reports,research or data entry have to be completed in office. Much easier beginning to the day all around. At noon I had a bit of a dilemma, because there was a farewell lunch for the one supervisor who is leaving the department and I had also booked an appointment with my chiropractor one block away from where I work because my knee was starting to lock up. Sure sign that my spine was way out of alignment. I spent about half an hour with the team from the records group paying tribute. Left about the midway point to keep that commitment, becuase I knew I couldn't wait another week until the next time I would be downtown during the day to see him. I can't afford to lose any paid work time to sickness/disability right now - too many deadlines and too many bills piling up.
Remember my doctor was away for the past two weeks as part of a humanitarian mission to an African community. We talked about his experiences and observations, as he went about setting me straight again. It was obvious that this journey had initiated change at a deep level for him. He noted that the values and way of life were so different there that he was having some difficulty readjusting to life here. It was also apparent that he was questioning some of the values and measures that are embedded in our society. Sometimes one has to be in a situation where none of what we regularly take for granted has any meaning or context to see the effect it has on how we operate as human beings. Because I've lived in an area where at least 40% of the residents are immigrants or refugees from other countries for over 25 years I have come up against that reality many times. Daily interaction with the children in my sons' classes and their moms as well, has allowed me the privilege of looking at life from a multitude of perspectives.
In the Talmud, there is a statement that says that the almighty has as many faces as the number of people who crossed the desert with Moses. I've always interpreted that to mean that each human sees those qualities of the divine that are visible to them from where their "place" is in their community, and that their experiences in their life journey may also play a role in enhancing or modifying in that initial vision. Where cultural or ethnic divides also play a part, I think rather than a trinity of spiritual manifestations, a multiplicity of aspects of the divine also emerge to test one's understanding of holy or sacred. Western culture thinks mostly in binary code or Euclidean geometry- "either this OR that" - whereas Eastern cultures think more along the lines of the quantum reality of "this AND that" depending on the position and attitude of the observer. When one is pulled completely out of one's native born world view, I think the other perspective sows the seeds of enlightnment, insanity and both at the same time too. Having observed my doctor over many years, I think his feet are on the path to a much deeper spiritual awareness.
Zen comment -Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood carry water. Yes. In deed.
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