02:00 - 26.03.07
fiddle faddle
Number four son, his wife and baby arrived for a visit last night. My youngest grandchild is now six months old. He wanted desperately to get down on the floor so he could play with (chase) the cats. His little legs were pumping frantically while the cats played him up by coming close and brushing against his hands so that he could �pet� them. He wanted more. We tried giving him all or any of the stuffed toys that fill one cabinet I have in the living room for any of the grandchildrens' pleasure to no avail. He wanted the real thing and it was obvious he knew the difference. He�s a happy little being all the same and settled for trying to rip grandma�s hair out in between swipes at those felines.
I also talked with number two son about my grand-daughter. She�s still crying when they take her to daycare and that hurts my heart. However, I have to find a way to pay my bills too. Unless a work-at-home job becomes a possibility then I couldn�t continue on looking after her anyway. While I was looking after her, I created her own signature song for her. It was an adaptation of one of the title songs for one of the shows she liked to watch. Basically her name was very similar to the character�s name. I inserted her name over that other name and it became her song. Every time that song was played during the show or in the advertising I would sing it for her. One night when we were sitting in their kitchen having supper that song came on. Her Dad started laughing because my grand-daughter was giving me the �stare� and pointing at me. She wanted her song sung right now, thank you very much, grandma. When I talked with him yesterday I sang that song to her when her Dad put her on the phone. Made me sad, but it maintains a connection with her that will last for a while I think.
Today was really frustrating. As I had guessed, number three son called during the late morning to say that his work was short-staffed and that he would have to go in. I called the new Returning Officer and got a blast from him even though the evening before I had discussed with him such an eventuality happening. At that time he had just said he had all of Sunday open and would just wait for my call. When he mentioned that he really needed the printer I explained that I couldn�t ship him that anyway because I had been instructed in the first call on March 6 to pack that up in the special boxes that were being shipped to me so that it could be returned to Ottawa. It made no sense to me and definitely not to him, but I explained I was not willing to find myself with a bill or a fine six months from now or even an accusation of tampering with their technology. Those things have happened to other Returning Officers and I was not willing to risk finding myself in the same position. I told him that if I could get written permission from Ottawa then I would happily turn that beastie over to him. By that time he was yelling � not bad for a guy that has pneumonia - that he had a lot of work to do and needed that printer immediately. I told him I agreed with him completely, but that this was often the way headquarters dealt with our issues. Withholding resources because of spending restraints or policy manuals that had been written by people who have never had to try and run an election. Even though I sympathized with him completely, his �rescue� was not going come at my expense. I reminded him that Ottawa had already said they weren�t going to pay me for my time and that I wasn�t going to take any additional financial hits � even for him.
You see on Friday I had talked to that one Returning Office whose electoral district was posted and who hadn�t received payment for any work during the past year. That was in the back of my mind as the new RO was yelling. Truth is I am so paranoid now, that I don�t know any more whether I trust that posted RO who keeps calling, but he had never given me any reason to doubt him while he was an RO so why would I doubt him now. But I digress.
That finally got through the new guy's frustration, he calmed down and we signed off. I called Ottawa immediately and eventually received emailed confirmation from the on-site supervisor to do so. I didn�t call the new RO back � to give him time to cool down � until my number three son called at supper time to let me know he had finished work for the day and was willing to take the technology over to the new guy. He arrived and we spent the next two hours loading up his van with all the boxes of office supplies as well. That was what the new RO said he wanted when I finally got hold of him as my son arrived at my door. He was going to meet my son at the storage locker to unload the boxes and then take the technology home with him in his vehicle. Just as we were loading the last of the boxes in my son�s van, the phone rang again. The new RO had just looked at his contract with the storage facility. No access after 8 pm. Well it was less than a half an hour to 8 pm and the drive from my home to that facility was at least 25 minutes. My son said he would just keep the material in his van, something else that the new RO had been fired up to a rant originally, and hopefully would be able to get away from work tomorrow so he could drop the material off then. I gave each the other�s contact information so I wouldn�t get yelled at again. I realize how the other RO is feeling and having pneumonia is probably making him less patient, but remember dear diary, I worked the whole of the last election with a lung infection, read pneumonia. Well in to the event I lost my cool a couple of times, but that was after a break-in, threats and harassment from candidates, electors, voter interest groups, head office, and their local rep too. It was also after a few weeks of non-stop 14 to 16 hour days with no days off. He hasn�t even begun the process yet.
There were two great outcomes in that my home is now considerably emptier. I can start work preparing for the next round of clearing out the old drywall and flooring now that all those boxes are gone. In the course of our conversation the new RO allowed, too, that he hadn�t even started hiring the key staff � other than his assistant and his tech specialist - and would appreciate the contact information for my staff. I explained that by law I couldn�t pass that on to him without written approval from those people because of our privacy laws. I offered to email as many as I had addresses for to see if consent was forthcoming and would forward that information to him when I had received that consent. I realize I am working for free again but this poor fellow has no idea what he is in for the next few months and he sounds very ill. He is also the age of my parents and doesn�t have as much physical reserves to draw on. I don�t want to read about him collapsing in the newspapers during the election which now seems imminent. I am such a mark. Anyway time for bed. Tomorrow is my day to prepare for that job interview. Need to be able to think clearly for that. Good night dear diary.
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