02:36 - 14.02.07
In-tuit
The upcoming solar eclipse on March 18 is in Pisces - has a lot to do with trusting one's intuition while using one's critical thinking faculties to supply context. This morning I got a taste of that as I was dressing for the commute. My intuition kept insisting that I wear the warmest of my clothing - maybe even a couple of layers. I had listened, as always, to the current weather conditions on the radio just before I started that exercise. No mention of anything out of the ordinary - no change from yesterday - so I ignored my intuition, not wanting to be sweating in the cold air. Turned out my intuition was right. The ambient air temperature was -30 something C because of the wind chill, not the -19 C that I thought I had heard on the news cast. My fingernails didn't return from blue to pink until lunch, thank you very much. And yes I did wear gloves.
I was first at the bus stop this morning not wanting a repeat of yesterday. The new male passenger arrived not long after. His first question was why I hadn't been at the stop the day before, followed by "the really ignorant driver is back on the route". It was as though he thought I needed some preparation to deal with that. I asked him if he meant the bald guy. He said yes - "he is so arrogant and nasty with passengers". He told me that the driver had made a big scene to embarass a woman the day before by stopping the bus midway between bus stops and demanding that she show her paid fare, while turning on the lights so everyone else could see exactly who she was. He did something similar to me the second week in January. He does the same thing on a regular basis, but only targets women for his harassment. I found it interesting that even a new passenger - especially one who won't likely ever have to cope with the abuse - noticed and felt indignant on behalf of a fellow traveller. It did help to know because this morning that same driver drove past the two of us who had been standing at the stop for some time and picked up the two people who had just walked up to the stop as he arrived. Yes, it included the one really rude female. Whatever. Obviously he feels powerless in a relationship with some female in his life, but doesn't have the cojones to face the real issue/person. Instead he takes it out on his female passengers, where he feels he is in a position of power. Psychology 101.
The other part of my conversation with the new passenger was about his two "just entering adolescence" chidren. I just remarked that he shouldn't take anything they do personally. Their growth and behaviour are about them differentiating themselves to become part of adult society. Acting out is the norm when confusion over their identity plus hormones churn away in their brains - or wherever. It's about them, not anyone else. Not easy for anyone. In some ways it reflects global conditions where each identifiable cluster of people trying to gain their own sense of self-determination feels that others are blocking or denying them that privilege. The truth is more likely that each group sees itself as under attack by those who hold different values or goals for themselves. The more seasoned or stable groups feel it less, but as a result of their inner self awareness, become the target for projection of the less stable groups' fears and angst. Sometimes that is taken to the extreme where the stable group is attacked, when the internal elements in the fearful group see their advantage to gain power by deflecting attention from their own abuse of power in the community on to the "others". Xenophobia long-hand, if one wishes.
The trip downtown wasn't bad, but then bad roads and some sort of incident around the train platform slowed traffic considerably. You see, there were police cars bracketing the whole of the two blocks between where I get off the train and where I catch the connector bus. It appeared that on one street police vehicles were blocking any traffic flow in a southerly direction. I don't wear my contact lenses when I'm travelling on transit, so I couldn't really see enough to determine what was wrong. A guess would be a death where foul play might be suspected - especially since the focus of the police attention seemed to be on the alleyway between the two blocks. It was difficult, even as a pedestrian, to get through that blockade. Traffic was slowed to a grinding line up in front of my next stop. That's when I really regretted not listening to my morning's intuition. Uh huh. The wind was really bitter. The bus was late of course, so the body temperature started to plummet rapidly. Finally arrived at my son's home about 15 minutes later than usual, even though I caught that regular connector. Snow plows had thrown up so much detritus from the freeway that I had to wade through knee deep snow banks to cross the street toward the walkway to my son's home once I got off the bus.
I had been offering for several days to shovel my son's sidewalk while he prepares for work. Today, because he was running late, he finally consented to let me do it. Because they are in a condo group, the work is supposed to be shared equally by the other owner on his side of the complex. In the time I've been looking after my grandaughter I have only seen the other person shovel two or three times. Maybe one tenth of their responsibility. The problem is that icy sidewalks are too dangerous to leave, both for physical safety as well as for liability if anyone slips on one's property. It isn't a task for which one can set up a shared timetable, because snowfall is so unpredictable. My son's snow shovel is less accomodating than mine and his walkway is much longer and wider with nowhere to deposit the snow, so it took a bit more time to clear than I had expected. As I reached the front walk the woman from the other side of the complex was out shovelling her half of the snow. I commented that she was stealing my job when she also started to shovel the main street in front of my son's half of the complex. She was very pleasant to talk with, but I had obviously triggered some strong feelings she was harbouring at that point. She commented that her neighbours, who were supposed to share shovelling duties with her, were much like my son's neighbours. Lazy. She commented that she had to keep her walks clear for her piano students and that the other neighbours took advantage of that to force her to shovel, simply by waiting for the snow to pile up to unacceptable levels. She commented that in both cases the miscreants were young adults who perceived and promoted themselves as jocks. I think the real term might be closer to jerks. Whatever, times two.
Finally got inside after hearing out the neighbour's rant, feeling a bit better. Everyone seems to have at least one set of troublesome neighbours, I guess. My grand-daughter was raring to play today, so the rest of the day was pleasant and predictable. A nice change. My youngest called mid-afternoon to say that he still couldn't get any response from the bank holding the compromised credit card. Could I help him out money-wise with the travel expenses being demanded up front until his payday. I really don't have much of a reserve left, because I only asked for an honorarium from my son for the babysitting - enough to cover expenses mostly. It's something I chose to do, but it does come with a financial penalty attached. The exchange is fair in my eyes because it gives me the time with my grand-daughter when she is in the most critical part of her formative days. It also was the best choice, given all the time consuming things I had to deal with - for free - where Elections Canada was concerned. You know getting my staff and service providers paid and dealing with the posting of the electoral district. A lot more paperwork with respect to updated information on security issues too. Anyway I called the bank that holds both of our regular accounts and our credit cards that aren't compromised. The woman who took my call was very helpful and supportive. I think she noticed my son's age and was feeling sorry for his dilemma around the travel issues, since I felt I had to explain why I wanted the funds transferred from my credit card to his. She said she hoped it didn't affect his flight or other arrangements and asked if there was any other way they could help him and/or me. Not unless the bank can hold back that big storm blowing in across most of Eastern North America. Great customer service has always been a hallmark of this bank. I'm really grateful for that.
Anyway time for bed. Have to have full use of my faculties these days it seems and that means enough sleep to be getting on with. Good night dear diary.
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