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00:41 - 02.11.05
Trick or Treat
My computer was fried again yesterday - another Hallowe'en manifestation, but isn't November 1 supposed to be the best day for communicating with dead loved ones? Does that include computers? Maybe only if they are of Celtic workmanship. Some interesting costumes out on the streets yesterday. The most fascinating one was someone dressed up as an African Shaman, standing at the bus stop at the train station on the way home. Normally during rush hour, one feels as though one is caught in a cattle drive. A mass of humans moving from one staging area to the next. Cheek by cheek, it is. Remember that the area I live in is very diverse culturally, so there is a very high proportion of travellers whose family of origin would have been Africa or Asia. When that one "Shaman" stood at the prime spot - the most coveted position to catch the bus yesterday, a very strange thing happened. Normally the crowd is so thick there that one can't see or move if standing in it. Yesterday, that shaman was standing there, not moving, but with a presence that was palpable. All the rest of the travellers were moving away from that prime spot and there was an empty space in the shape of a circle around him that likely measured 10 feet in diameter. In fact, it appeared that most people were so spooked by that quiet figure that they dispersed and moved to catch other busses. I think if I hadn't had such a lot scheduled to do when I got home - number three son had offered to help try to tweak the computers among other things - I would have stopped and watched that vignette for as long as it existed. Fascinating lesson in that one person's choice of costume.

I recall one Hallowe'en when number two son was in grade 2. He decided, out of the blue, that he was going to be a ghost dancer. "A what?" I asked. You know how the Indians used to do it? Well vaguely. We pulled out the encyclopaedias and reference books we had on western North American culture to find some photos of the event. He wanted to be a white buffalo dancer to boot. We did the face painting and found enough fringe, leather and fur to make it work. He looked very otherworldly by the time we were done. At the time, I recall receiving a phone call next day from his teacher asking about the origin of the decision and the uniqueness of the idea. I still can't account for where my son came up with the idea, but it spooked the school staff a bit too. I guess even centuries later, some things still evoke hidden collective unconscious memories. Kind of like the Dementors that were portrayed in the last Harry Potter movie - they scared me.

Today there was another spooky incident at the warehouse, but no one involved thought it was funny. I noticed a couple of "Barbie type" dolls in the waste basket by my work area when I threw empty sweetener packets in after getting coffee first thing. Thought that the Hallowe'en party yesterday for the warehouse staff must have been a little out of hand, if there was material in my garbage. A closer look at the two dolls revealed that the first doll was "naked". Her legs had been pulled off and deposited in the waste basket as well. The second doll also had female characteristics which had been altered to imply a male. A styrofoam ball had been used to create a masculine face and it had a workman's cap on the top. It had been slid over the head of the original second doll. The torso had been altered by painting out the breasts of the doll, then creating a painted representation of what might have been a gladiator type garment. Arms had been attached that were of wood and painted black like the "vest". The second doll had been placed so that it appeared that intercourse was occurring. I did not touch or move the two dolls to examine them further, because I had realized by then that their presence might not have been random or accidental. Upon arriving, I had also noticed that the lid of the box under the work table had been left open.

At 10 am I felt I was calm enough, so I approached the receptionist in the front office and asked that either of our two liaisons come to see me. The receptionist called the one over and he accompanied me to the back to look at the waste basket. I also told him about the box and the possible missing CDs - either missing from this site or from the downtown one but missing all the same. He said he would initiate the security procedures required by his company. Other staff I don't normally deal with, came to ask for further information and then the liaison returned to ask more questions and tell me what he had done. I called and left a voicemail for the security leader in the company I work for at about 11:15. He called back within about half an hour asked more questions, then requested an email outlining the incident and also an incident report to their safetyu department. Because of the slowness of the computer at the warehouse, it took the whole of my lunch hour to get it done because he wanted me to provide information on some of the earlier incidents I had mentioned in our discussion that seemed to be related. It was all documented to one degree or another in my daybook - enough so at least to trigger my memory.

As the first round of reaction and questions were occurring, I had calls from Texas and Ottawa to try to deal with too. The Texas one was actually very helpful. I had emailed our inhouse counsel with questions about some legalities with corporate structures. They eventually referred me to one of the people in the head office. She asked that I send the data I had collected from the beginning of the project to her, which I did, with an explanation that it was an issue where assigning destruction dates for some of the boxes was concerned. After she reviewed what I had sent, she wanted to ask for clarification about who was making what decisions and why? She also asked for more information on Canadian and provincial statutes and regulations surrounding those documents. We had a really good discussion and I was actually quite surprised that she gave me so much time and attention.

The calls from Elections Canada were, of course about the computer crash and the data on it that they need from me. With the first call I explained - again - that I am not home during the day, so I can't troubleshoot with them during their work hours. I explained to the tech specialist that called about the incident that was just unfolding at the warehouse and stated that I would attend to his needs as soon as I could, but I didn't know how long the security reports and action were going to take or what would be required of me as a result. He made note of that and asked me to update him when I could. Later in the afternoon, I received a second call from one of the electios staff who look after the data. At first he asked if I could sit with them, before I went to work, to extract and send the data. I explained about the hard drive not being operable, so it not being likely. I suspect he knew that, because his next question was about my well being - was I ok. He said he had read the notes from the morning call and thought I might be scared or upset. He was correct about that. The fact that he took the time and trouble to call and follow up made me feel a lot better. Still doesn't help me with the fried hard drive, that sense of pressure is stil quite strong, but right now I'll take all the comfort I can find.

Anyway I still have some email to get out both about the incident today and to follow up with the election assignment so I'd better go see how much more I can get done. Good night dear diary. Put those ghosts to bed, won't you?

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