02:22 - 28.09.06
interlude
Even though it has been very warm for this time of year, the mornings are starting to get very nippy. When I woke this morning the cats were all cuddled up on my bed. I'm not certain if they were trying to keep me warm or themselves. Probably both. I had to turn the heaters on for about an hour to take the chill out of the house either way.
I did manage to get the grass cut today. I had waited for my youngest to arrive home and that was a good choice. The electrical cord had been sliced so that it was difficult to see but would have the potential to deliver a shock. Having worked on electrical burn patients I'm rather anal about checking cords and wiring on a regular basis or before using them after a long break. It has been at least a month since the last time I used the lawn mower, so that precaution was automatic. There was gabage from the neighbours dumped in the yard again. The leftover planks from when the fence was built were what I used to cover the gaps along the bottom of the fence, especially where holes had been dug, I thought by pets of the neighbours on each side. Those planks had been pushed away from the fence and the holes widened - that's where some of the garbage was stuck. The rest lay in a pattern scattered around those points. I got the other extension cord out and proceeded with the task while my youngest watched from the deck and the cats lined up inside on the window sill tails flicking back and forth.
The instructions for the next assignment were available today. It doesn't look much different from last event but I did ask if I could create a new position for an outreach worker to groups who work with the disabled community. Given our experiences last election it seems wise to make lemonade by adding a bit of sugar to the lemons. Right dear diary? Talked with a couple of the workers I've already confirmed about different issues. The one has been keeping an eye open for office space for us when she travels about. She had found one site but it turned out to be outside our electoral district boundaries. We aren't allowed to rent anything not located internal to those boundaries. I was telling her stories of some of the adventures I'd had trying to find something suitable that the landlord would consent to lease to us. We can't always get what we want. As we were chatting we got round to personal news as well. I was asking her if she liked the area she lived in. When I got to talking about gutting my home and the reasons why she allowed that she had raised her five children by herself too. Sometimes the loneliest part of my life has been that I don't know many people who have experienced similar challenges around that issue. We decided that we'd have coffee one day and swap survival stories. Something to look forward to - someone who understands why some things were laughable even when they weren't funny. The other worker is one who works with me on recruiting polling day staff. She was just going out the door for her grandson's third birthday party but she had called to ask if I had knowledge about the timing of the election. She wants to get some work for Christmas money, but wanted to know if an election was in the cards between then and now. Can't say but I hope not. I gave her the name of some of the temp agencies in the city. She wants part time and she wants flexible scheduling. Even though employers are saying they can't find workers, the other part of the reason in addition to inadequate wages is that they don't want to be flexible about that. It really isn't hard to understand why they can't keep employees. During an election the only thing that keeps my staff coming back is that as teams they work out their own schedules. As long as essential services are covered it really doesn't matter to me how predictable the mix of personnel is. Sometimes it becomes an opportunity for some very creative solutions.
Spent a lot of time tonight with my oldest and youngest searching for the roots of modern rock and roll. There was Elvis inducted in to the army course, Buffalo Springfield, Howlin' Wolf and the Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton, Eddie Cochran, Bob Dylan and then there was the appearance? of this ghost at 2 minutes into this folk song that suggested that maybe it was time for bed. Good Night, dear diary.
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