23:23 - 13.12.05
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Yesterday was a blur dear diary. I think it was Monday. I called both school boards and talked with a couple of other landlords about renting their facilities throughout the day - back and forth. The first batch of voter information cards need to be printed this week but they are supposed to contain information with respect to where one is to go to vote. Can't print them unless we have firm commitments from those landlords. The school sites changed almost hourly as did the other landlords. Oi. Add in the need to recruit all the staff necessary to put 100,000 labels on those cards one at a time all personalized. Sort of like doing Christmas Cards I guess. Noticed some of the staff doing theirs as they sat waiting for the phomes to ring. Not much of that going on. I called my one supevisor who was showing a lot of stress the day before into my office as soon as she arrived. Closed door discussion about how she was feeling seemed to ease things a lot. She was much happier today as she was assured whe wouldn't be left to clean up after anyone else. There are two very strong personalities doing the calling to recruit polling day workers. They each have bvvery different ways of organizing themselves to do their work and think the other should fall in line. The way I see it is if they meet the goals I set for them then I don't care exactly how they reach them. Some processes are legislated down to the commas but not for this position. I may have to do some mediation there but hopefully they can work it out. Too much tension from external sources is getting in the way. There is some frustration with the waiting game that we have to play but I can't do anything about that. A lot of the staff will be wishing for any source of quiet once those voter cards go out. Too bad they can't savour and appreciate the open space we have now.
When my tech arrived at the end of the day we were able to print off most of the camera ready art for the voter cards - about 90%. That's not too bad. He is really feeling stressed about a lot of things and a death of a parent a couple of months ago isn't helping matters much either. All I can offer him is the insight I gained when my Mom died and whatever emotional support he is able to accept. I hope that will be enough. When I went in to oath some new staff at the end of their training I was called aside by one of the older gentlemen in the room. Was I from "that" family? He reeled off the address of the home I grew up in for most of my childhood. Yes. He was the man who had lived in it before and had actually built part of it himself. His daughter and I were classmates in elementary school. She disliked me because her family moved out of that house and we moved in but I just felt sorry that she had to lose such a wonderful home too. Some pain one can't take away nor can one ever gain some people's friendship through no fault of their own. I did try but nothing really worked. She is working for a federal poobah in Ottawa now and it was obvious her Dad was very proud of her. I let him know that I had kept a lot of the contact information I had gathered for that high school reunion and I would be happy to pass it on through him to her if she wanted it. He asked about my parents and seemed to know my Mom had died. He asked about my Dad and allowed his wife had died a year ago too. We talked about the price of real estate and the changes to this city over the intervening years. Small world.
One candidate came to file their nomination papers. Always flawlessly done - well up until now anyway. The breach of protocol was around witnessing the signatures of the supporters of the candidate. About 120 names submitted with only 100 affirmed needed. Seemed easy, then we noticed that the witness on several pages was someone who was working for our office. Once a person swears their oath they may not participate in any partisan activity. Signing someone's nomination papers does infer some bias. Witnessing a large number of other people's signature amplifies that substantially. Called the agent and explained the problem. Could he get back to me about when the papers had been circulted and signed in front of the worker in question. Called Ottawa for a ruling on the legal issues. Well that is your call. Sure until the media or one of the other candidates tries to make it out as something dishonest. That happened five years ago in the 2000 election. Deja vu again dear diary.
When I got home I checked my other work email. An announcement that the company had been sold. Wha. That is a real shock although I knew my work wasn't just about cleaning out the old records. It never is about that as much as preparation to acquire or divest or whatever. My tech had told me what happened to the staff who had been at the worksite we shared just before I took this last assignment earlier in the day and so I returned the favour by passing on this news. He was stunned too.
Today was similar although I did stay home in the morning to help my youngest do some clean up a bit. There just isn't time for anything right now and I am feeling very overwhelmed. Went with the one supervisor to physically check two possible voting stations. Neither is ideal but this is an area that is brand new. There just aren't that many community type buildings to choose from. From there popped down to city hall to pick up a set of maps I had ordered the day before. The head office keeps insisting that I approve all the changes they made to the polling boundaries without my knowledge but I'm not doing that until I am comfortable that the changes are acceptable to me. The staff spent a lot of time this afternoon comparing the written descritions of boundaries we have with the actual maps. Some really weird changes made. Don't know what was going on in someone's mind but it wasn't about the geography thats for sure.
Another candidate showed up around 5:30 pm to file his papers. Well he had signatures but none of the other documentation with him. None of the oaths or supporting documents required by law. Oi. Helped them with their forms rather than have them keep bringing back their papers in a mess but what else is in the works? Fiunally finished with them between 7 and 7:30 I think. Frustrating. They wanted all the confirmed candidates materials and would not hear that we had to verify each signature before releasing that material to them. Sorry gentlemen but that is the way the oilpatch waits. Finally the security fellow showed up. Signing off now dear diary - will return.
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