00:39 - 02.03.06
walking in a winter wonderland
I checked the local weather on my computer before going out for my walking/errands tour today. -16 C/3 F was the read-out with a wind chill factor. Made me think about the essay I wrote that first winter I was posting to you, dear diary. The one that was in response to the "how to" lady whose essay was on "how to deal with scorpions in your house" - really. Given I haven't been out on a regular basis this winter, and given the wind chill factor, I decided to dress on the safe side - in multiple layers. Dragged out my old pair of tights and found they were loose - really loose - even after a couple of washings. Hallelujah. They are my treasured pair that has seen me through winters where there were four months of -30 C/F temperatures at a stretch. As it turned out, it was a lot warmer than the weather forecast had indicated and my biggest challenge was that I started to sweat because of the amount of walking I was doing. Sweating in sub-zero weather being somewhat dangerous since that can quickly freeze inside one's clothing. You see I was also wearing my "trudge in the arctic" snow boots - they're sort of like Wellington boots or hip waders only insulated with felt insoles. The depth and weight of the snow - just above the ankles and the heavy "packed" type of precipitation - was definitely a factor in the amount of effort required to get to where one was going. My youngest and I left the house just before 3 pm and arrived back at about 5:15 PM. Two solid hours of walking in frozen waves per se. That's what it feels like anyway - wading outward in an ocean where the tide is coming in, only the sea is frozen and you are wearing heavy boots. I can feel the effect along the back of my legs and in the gluteii so I guess I got my workout for the day too.
First target was the post office. That is one community away. It is the same walk I had when I was catching the morning bus to the warehouse last autumn. It has a gradual uphill slope most of the way. The pathway is supposed to be kept clear by the merchants whose businesses benefit from it's presence, but they aren't that quick with the snow clearing being of the "the chinooks will come" point of view, as is the city who have responsibility for those long stretches that exist in between retail properties. A little bit of a workout for the quadriceps too, but not enough for a good workout yet. That is the thigh high type snow you see. Mailed out the last of the election paperwork and picked up my last paycheque from the other assignment. It was still waiting for me in my post office box along with Elector reminder cards and all sorts of other interesting bits. I had paid my bills last week, calculating without that amount, in terms of the budget. A panic ensued this morning when I found two irregularly scheduled bills I had forgotten - the ones one pays once a year, don't you know. That last pay cheque just covered those off nicely. Thank goodness. Now if Elections Canada will be kind enough to pay me what it owes me by mid-month, I'll be good to go for a bit longer so I can take the time off I need to finish gutting the inside of my home and also to take a bit of a break from work. I haven't had a real vacation for decades and my body is saying very clearly that either I take one now or else. Fine.
I can deal with that as long as Ms taxman doesn't come down too heavily on me. It was an odd thing though. When I met with my tech last to pick up his keys, he mentioned that he had recently been "audited" by said tax man with a penalty that ended up being in the thousands of dollars because they "rewrote" the rules for some of his claims. He was a stay home Dad for several years when his son was pre-school. His observation was that is was a form of payback by some of the Elections Canada departments for our temerity in showing them documentation that proved their electors list was seriously contaminated. At the time, even as paranoid as I can be sometimes, I just shrugged it off. However, maybe he knew wherefore he spake, eh? When I got my letter this week, my first reaction was that the local rep for Elections Canada was abusing her inside access at headquarters. I always submit all information I have about my income and I follow the instructions given to me to a tee when it comes to taxes, because I am too "financially challenged" to risk the fines and penalties that I know ignoring the laws would entail. Besides that, I think if every wage earner and business paid their fair share then our contributions to building a stable, healthy democracy would be well spent. Guess I should be like everyone else and pay an accountant to help me avoid my civic duty. It just doesn't seem right somehow that I follow the rules and get beaten down by someone who changes them three years after the fact, while other people cheat openly and benefit hugely from their "shelters".
I think one of the reasons that I shrugged off what my tech was saying was the context in which we were having the conversation too. We had been discussing the security problems we had had to deal with and the possible perpetrators. His comment at one point seemed to be that I had to understand their motivations for doing so. Several had already occurred to me and been brought forward as reasons, but he seemed to think that I had gotten my appointment to the position of Returning Officer "because I had done something" similar to get it. You see appointments to such positions usually come because one has a connection fairly high up in the federal government. Someone who will advocate for you with great ferocity to get you into the position, whether you are qualified for it or not. The implication is that either one has done something quite dishonest for that person advocating for you or, being female, you have had "relations" with them at some point in time. I have done neither. Besides, personally, I am not aware of knowing anyone with that kind of access to the structures of government. When I submitted my resume to the female senator from Alberta who was recieving them at the time, I had already had over a decade's experience in working on elections at all levels of government. The only position I had not had was as a Returning Officer. I only really wanted it because I wanted to prove to myself and several other people that I could take on a responsibility like that and do it well. I had had several volunteer positions that required that amount of work and skill, but that was always discounted as - "not really you who did it". Actually it was me, but there were always a lot of politically ambitious people around who would show up at the end of the work, take a position on the volunteer board, and claim all the benefits were their doing. Then they would add it to their list of accomplishments when they ran flyers for running for office. Whatever. At the time, I was just doing it so my children and their friends had resources for education and recreation. That was good enough. There were different lawyers and community leaders of a fairly high stature on some of the committees I did sit on at the time, but I never spent a lot of time currying favour. All I wanted was the park, school or family resource I was aiming for in place. I didn't socialize with them - I would never have fit in - nor did I ask to use their connections for anything other than the project I was working on. I had a fair amount of power handed to me a few times, but I handed it right back. Didn't want it then and don't particularly enjoy it now. It's not "my motivation" you see. Being buddhist in thought I tend to think in decades down the road instead of the next six months. What I am looking for is a flowering of our society by the time my grandchildren are fully fetched up adults. That's not such a bad thing is it? Anyway even though my tech's assumption about how I'd gotten my appointment is very common, it offended me because I thought he had gained a better insight into my character after working with and for me over the past couple of years. I can usually find it in myself to forgive people for making decisions about me in ignorance, but it is hurtful when people one considers friends or family can only think from a Freudian mindset. The lowest common denominator, you know. I strive for much more than that.
Anyway rant ended for today. After the post office jaunt I headed off for the bank while my youngest dropped in to the video rental place. He returned the movies I mentioned last week and picked up I Walk The Line, Sahara, and Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy for our viewing pleasure this week. The fact that the TV has cratered - mercury retrograde - didn't seem to bother him, so I'm hoping that all it needs is the cat hair cleaned out of it's little circuits as usual. To continue - Both those facilities are one community over in another direction from where we first walked, so we trudged through the snow and bright sunshine in the opposite direction. It was actually a truly beautiful day and it was an exercise to be cherished and savoured too. I was thinking of the one co-worker whose family member is in the last stages of cancer and has only a few days to live. Those walks in the sun and nature - such as it is - are finite for each of us. Begruding the time or effort seems really churlish given that we have the opportunity to enjoy so much of the physical in the bodies we are given. Sorry that buddhist thang again. Anyway agreed to meet in the grocery store after our separate errands. Remember the adage to not shop while one is hungry. Well we messed up there - or at least I did. However the fridge was really bare after my youngest had cleaned it out so I was just restocking in case of a blizzard - right? The one other good thing about being out walking in the snow? One sleeps very well after. Good night dear diary.
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