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00:06 - 10.09.06
Upstart
Not a lot to say tonight. Mostly worked on the election assignment, recruiting the next layer of staff. My biggest concern is wages. Starting wage at convenience stores is now more than what I am allowed to offer some of my staff who carry a lot of responsibility. Granted there are people who just love working in elections and so the pay is secondary, but there is a principle involved here. I don't feel comfortable offering them the work without the commensurate hourly rate. Those are the only positions I have left to fill. One of the other Returning Officers is refusing to hire at those rates. That is reasonable, but it will take an amendment to the Act to allow us to do right by our workers. More worrisome yet is what will happen when we try to hire 500 - 600 polling day staff for even less appealing wages. Guess I write headquarters on Monday, but I doubt that will get much more than a cursory no. Have to try though.

I keep having dreams that bother me. They start out with work on a future election. However, each time I find myself being tricked into managing some candidate's campaign. A lot of the people I see are those who were involved in the voter fraud still under investigation from the last municipal election. I find myself struggling to disentangle myself from the trap so I can get back to my own work. Haven't managed that yet.

Number three son arrived mid-afternoon to work on my computer for a while. In part he was doing some research for himself, but he also started the process so I can install that legal copy of the operating system that arrived last week. I want a backup of my existing data, but there is so much that floppy disks just aren't reasonable. Alternate means were begun but will take a bit more time. Outside, the one set of neighbours were screaming at each other the whole time he was visiting. They had started up just after I finished posting to you last night. Around 3:30 in the am the male - so drunk that the only words he shouted that were coherent were obscenities - was outside our front door roaring abuse at his partner. He took off, but arrived back around noon - I guess after sleeping some of it off. It was apparent that each "side" had called in their own "reinforcements". There are two or three children in that family. What a scary thing to be caught up in. Not only were the parents storming at each other, but both were yelling at the children too. Family violence is such a difficult issue to address. Too bad they don't care enough about their children to at least spare the little ones the humiliation of seeing their parents embarass themselves in front of the entire community. Bleagh. Talked with number four son as well. His partner is due to give birth at the end of this month. It has been a very hot summer, so she is not very comfortable at all. He said something about her feet that worried me, but how does one suggest a quick trip to the doctor without raising the anxiety level too much. I did the best I could, but I did emphasize that it was important to follow through.

My friend from the Middle East and I have been e-mailing back and forth a lot this summer. We are both going through transitions in how we relate to the community, so it is good to have an objective observer comment on the process from time to time. She isn't teaching this year and I am down to one job - the election work. It is difficult to get one's head around all the free time that seems to contract whenever one tries to use it in other ways. Inertia I think. It has been said that it takes 36 days to make or break a habit. Maybe that is what needs to be addressed. One changeup step with one habit of thought or practice, until each of those old tapes/patterns of behaviour is erased and new ones put in place. Could be a long time before that new path is fully in place.

Anyway time for bed and, maybe, a peaceful night with positive dreams. Good night dear diary.

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