23:50 - 21.12.05
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Happy Solstice, Dear Diary. Today, progressed Venus conjuncts progressed Chiron and both conjunct my natal Chiron too. I think that's supposed to be a good thang. Love and healing. Does the wounded healer finally receive their own miracle? Don't know.
Yesterday I needed the more earthly healer - my doctor. Around 10 am I realized that I was in quite a bit of trouble physically. I guess I had had enough sleep to realize it wasn't just fatigue. Called his office to see if he would prescribe a refill of the antibiotics he gave me, just before the election was called, exactly one month ago. His receptionist said it was his last day of work before he took holidays, so an appointment wasn't possible. No problem. Just give me drugs. He'd see what he could do. Along about 2 pm my ears were in worse shape. I was starting to have difficulty maintaining my balance. Called the pharmacy to see if the prescription had been faxed. Nope. Called the medical office again. My message hadn't been passed on. This receptionist promised a response within half an hour. That was good, because I knew at that point I likely wouldn't be able to cope at the office past 6 pm - that with a full evening class for training for polling day. I was so fevered I was beginning to become incoherent - at least to my mind. Half an hour passed, so I called the pharmacy again. Yes there was a prescription for me - for something that was totally useless for the condition. Called the doctor's office again. Another receptionist - the most senior of the bunch. She said she would check it out and get back to me. Shotly after she called and apologized for the mix up. Mistakes happen. The demands of patients with the flu that is going around would be enough for any doctor's office to make mistakes. I was still rather upset though, because I was getting much sicker very quickly. My assistant and I went over to the pharmacy to pick it up immediately. I took the first tablet before we were out of the parking lot. That was scary.
At work, more labels had arrived, so we had work crews in getting that task completed. Training session for polling day people - about 25 showed up. Not bad when it is less than a week before Christmas. Office politics still raging, but by now I think most staff had cottoned on that I wasn't happy with their behaviour, so it was toned down. Being sick made me appear more dour than was the reality, but sometimes that is a good thing. Next up we are told by one of the building maintenance people that we have to open up our secure area. Big leak in the pipes over head. He, the plumber, and the plumber's apprentice all stand right beside the server room trying to decide where exactly the water might be coming through. Visions of water flooding on the server made me very nervous. No problem - we'll fix it. That's a fine thing to say, if one can locate the source of the leak that is flooding the upstairs. I went off to complete some work, only to find them about halfway down the shared hall pulling other panels out to see where the other part of the leak was. Could it be that the intruders we had two weeks ago crawled into the ceiling vents from the main hallway shared by all the different offices on the floor and then proceeded to crawl through that part of the ceiling to gain entry in our secure space. Could they have damaged those pipes when they came through the two areas. Don't know.
Today a morning class for data entry and an evening one for polling day workers. Much less fooling around among the workers now focused on their tasks instead of each other. Yeah. I completed a lot of work on the maps which made me very happy, but the issues with the database just keep getting worse. Labels for the voter cards had been the priority up to now, but the updates to the mobile polls were critical because of a major system test tomorrow. They are using the mobile polls as the prototype, so that we will be able to ace the polling night duties. Vey well and nice, but no possibility of achieving much of anything without the materials - the mobile polls actually have to be correct in the database and the software had to be able to accept data entry to that end. Went over and through it with my tech, when he arrived after his regular job ended for the day. We spent a couple of hours trying to make the things his assistant and I had already done with the database roll over to the next sequence of events - no dice. Then I showed my tech all the problems I'd found as I was trying to get that job completed. He understood completely what I had to say and added a few more observations that made me even more concerned. There were misplaced voters to deal with too. Discussions with my trainer and my finance officer after that, trying to iron out some of their concerns and making decisions about some of the issues were mostly quite easy. Those two are anchors for me. I never have to worry about their jobs being done well. They are both perfectionists and they work exceptionally well as a team. I'm very lucky to have them.
Talked with two of the other Returning Officers yesterday and two different ones today. Each had stories to tell that were pretty entertaining. I received the training material for staff working in penal institutions, so that Returning Officer who really has a jail he has to ensure is visited was very pleased with this "discovery". Me too - I have enough trouble getting the hospital done with it's forensic psychiatric ward part of my equation. Don't need any other complications. One of the newer ROs was having staffing trouble and I could commiserate. Also gave her a name or two to try out as possible candidates as staff. Tough to know how well some others will function. Often personality and work style are as much a barrier as a benefit. We'll see. I can barely keep my eyes open so I think I'm just going to crawl into my nice cosy little bed. Good night dear diary.
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