01:54 - 04.02.07
history
Happy Birthday Alice Cooper. A true Aquarian and very entertaining guy.
I didn't write last night because the virus I've been fighting was in overdrive when I finally arrived home. Mea culpa. I went to bed and finally crawled out about 10 in the pm this evening. Called the airline my son will be travelling with to change his itinerary and to find out more of the most recent rules/restrictions, so he doesn't end up on the wrong side of airport security. I still have to wonder if there isn't more intent to isolate and disconnect US citizens from the rest of the world given some of the stories that are being told.
The one great thing about the internet is that no one government can completely hide what is going on in the rest of the world from its citizens, as long as they have access to the web. After that extended conversation with a very helpful customer service rep, I started working on-line with my taxes for this year and then raced to catch up on housework and laundry before sitting down to post to you, dear diary.
A good start on Friday morning when I boarded the local bus. A new driver who was very pleasant. The other driver was often surly and seemed to have a power issue going on. He also seemed to have a personal interest in those two young women who are so rude - well really only the one, the companion simply follows whoever is around her. Meant that their behaviour seemed to be encouraged by his presence. Sometimes I guess a shakeup isn't so bad. A lot of changes to assigned routes means a whole new slate of drivers on most bus routes. Most of the drivers seem happy with the opportunity to try something new too. Driving the same route many times each day, every work day, must become tiring after a while. All the same I'll miss the really nice drivers I've had on most of the routes I've taken.
A lot of people must have chosen to take transit rather than their vehicles on Friday, because there were more people than usual on some of the routes I travel. Heavy snow and icy conditions made driving really dangerous in spots, you see. My daughter-in-law found that three busses that were all for the same route drove past her, because they were too full to take on another passenger. She had taken a later bus mind you, because she was sent on course for the day. Upgrade in Excel spreadsheets. She's promised to share what she learned which is an added bonus for me - that and the cooking lessons in her traditional cuisine. I prefer work where building new skills is part of the process, so I am happy with those two new "courses" offered.
Yesterday my head was so congested that I needed to find additional sources to reduce the misery. That came with a bottle of sweet chilli sauce poured over rice for lunch and then a broth filled with hot peppers added to the traditional vegetable and chicken soup my daughter-in-law likes to make. For a while neither my head nor my ears ached at all. Good medicine. Good food too.
My grand-daughter was a happy little being most of the day. She has objected to my wardrobe though. When it is miserably cold I wear my -30 C gear. That means tights and the kind of heavy woolen sweaters one normally sees at ski hills. She likes my other clothes better, because they are softer to the touch, I think. The sweaters I've worn the past few days are ones that had been at the back of the closet for a while because they were too tight. Given the weather, I decided that warmth was much more important than pride, so had dug them out fearing how badly the tight fit would make me look. Now they fit nearly as well as when I first started working outside the home. Yay! The new-to-me coat that my sister gave me has a large, fleece lined hood that also added a great deal of extra warmth to my travelling gear. No wind whistling down my back now. The added bonus to the hood is that one can "disappear" into its depths on the train to nap or avoid conversation if that is necessary. Even so my grand-daughter was a lot happier when I changed into my nanny outfit - shorts and buttoned shirt. She loves buttons.
We read for a long time, as well as playing with her toys and singing along with her favourite tv characters. I won't get as far as book seven in the Harry Potter series with her before she goes to daycare, but I did pre-order it with the gift certificate her Mom and Dad gave me for Christmas. Something to look forward to again, the book and the next movie both due out in July. What will I do when I've read the last installment? This new collective novel writing initiative might be one place to start.
In the news a lot of commentary about the environment. I was really pleased to see Mr Suzuki commenting on the fad of bottled water here in Canada. It makes me crazy too.
In work issues more information on where management and the regular workers become disconnected. When the workplace becomes nothing more than where one goes to work to live then both sides lose more than just productivity. There are better ways of managing a business. That might be something the new leader of Elections Canada might want to take into account. Apparently the former CEO told the parliamentary newsletter writer that he wanted to get rid of the current Returning Officers who were appointed, because of nepotism and corruption perpetrated by same. The CEO said he knew this because it showed up directly at the polling stations. Yet if one looks in the employee directory for headquarters at Elections Canada one sees a number of family members listed together working in a variety of tasks. In addition one of the CEOs own relatives was working in the very powerful communications team for the Prime Minister's Office liaising with Elections Canada in the 2004 election. That also doesn't seem to have been applied to which electoral districts where the Returning Officer's position was posted as vacant in December. Some of those ROs who were still in place had spouses working supervisory positions for them the past few elections, while in some of those "vacant" positions there had been no family involved or only those who worked on polling day or as a gofer in the office - the lowest on the totem pole positions. As for corruption showing up in the polling places? I'm not certain what the CEO had in mind then, but trying to hide or silence/gag those Returning Officers who found and reported the extensive corruption of the electors lists as he did, as well as denying or diminishing the problem when questioned in parliament and by the media leaves him with little personal integrity or authority with respect such practices. Funny thing that a lot of the Returning Officer positions listed as vacant are the ones once occupied by ROs who pushed to have the problems with the voters lists acknowledged and fixed. Or those who reported corrupt behaviour at the polls by voters and political parties and actually expected those reports to be investigated. Perhaps now that parliamentarians have given so much attention to the one dismissal of the one bureaucrat who spoke out, maybe those of us in the trenches f democracy might find a glimmer of hope where just treatment in the workplace is concerned. Or not.
I think the most interesting information I found was in the national history offered in various media this week. Tonight maybe I'll dream of different cultures building this country together over the centries and the mavericks who kept them honest and on the right track. Good night dear diary.
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