00:55 - 26.08.07
Root Causes
I was right about the elbow that just had surgery. It was really achy and a bit unstable yesterday. Today we had rain. Another weather predicter. Guess that's not too bad considering we don't have a wet climate here.
This morning I called the tech support line for our internet again. We are still having to release the Ip address and ping their server to stay on-line. That said, I didn't see the point in having a repairman dispatched to my home. The support person on Thursday had booked an appointment for today, you see. When I reached the correct automated service I was advised that my call had been selected to participate in a survey after I had talked with a real human. Fine. The human, complete with a French accent, took my call. I tried to explain what my youngest and I had discovered as we fought the good fight with our computers. He didn't want to take my word for it, so I passed the phone over to my youngest who was just contemplating getting out of bed so as to go to work. After an extended discussion, the tech support person told me they would send a replacement router out to us. Good enough. I got what I wanted so of course I rated him highly in the survey.
Two hours later the phone rang. It was the repairman for the service provider. He wanted to confirm that he was on his way over to check out our computers. I explained that I had called and cancelled that trouble ticket early this morning. I apologized profusely for his being inconvenienced by the lack of communication even though I wouldn't have known who to contact even if I did have the home service telephone number. The tech just noted that it was common for them not to be advised when an appointment was cancelled - that's why they called before they arrived at a residence. Forgetfulness on the call center tech's part. Probably it is because their work performance rating is determined by the number of calls processed. I think the problem with that is that the time it takes to complete the paperwork necessary isn't always computed and added into the total time allowed on each call. Therefore the techs can't meet the targets set for them.
Not like the forgetfulness that my youngest and I both demonstrated the day before though. I put that down to the changing weather - our brains shrunk. He couldn't find his keys for love nor money and I couldn't locate my bus tickets. Both were essential for work purposes on Friday. Luckily there were no psychologists nearby or there would have been mutterings about subconscious desires to avoid work issues. I think that what happened is that we weren't paying attention to what we were doing when we put our stuff down, but what do I know. Multi-tasking is the problem, not angst.
My oldest son called today to discuss a variety of family plans. He is taking his two children to the Highland games next weekend. The purpose is to connect them with their heritage on our side of the family. His son wants to see the caber toss and stone throwing - manly pursuits, aye - while my granddaughter will enjoy the dancing and the pipe band competitions. I answered some of the family history questions he had and provided him with some family legends to pass on to his children.
Logged into Facebook later to e-mail my one cousin. She had much more contact with my one Aunt - her grandmother - who told a lot of the family tales. I wanted to verify which tartan was ours so I could find a kilt or two, should the grandchildren show any interest whatsoever. I have a formal kilt, but it wouldn't do for either of them of course. I knew her grandmother - my aunt - was very fond of the Black Watch plaid, but that was the Scottish army regiment's colours. Ian Fleming was one of their members, so I guess that explains where some of the James Bond plots come from. I think my Aunt was enamored of the plaid because they - the Canadian branch of that contingent - were so powerful at Normandy, I guess. I know from my Grandmother's birth certificate that we are related to three other sub-clans through our shared great-grandparents. They lived near Glasgow before coming to Canada, but the original family seems to have originated on the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Lewis - the MacDonald and Morrison clans that is. When I looked that up on the internet there was indication of a long history of intermarriage - or rape - with the Norsemen and also with the French who were Scotland's traditional allies. There is also a reference to Irish heritage which is actually really cool - we can claim kinship with the bards of Ireland. If you have ever seen the movie "Braveheart", dear diary, you may recall the battle scene where the Irish appear to be siding with the English. As they come within reach of their Scottish "opponents" they start greeting each other as cousins and turn their collective wrath on the Brits. Leaves one conflicted when you know that there were likely family members/ancestors on both sides of the battle lines - war is so stupid.
I got back on my feet today after that disasterous interview yesterday and continued on researching job vacancies. One of the articles I read on job hunting suggested googling one's self to ensure nothing really negative was listed on the internet. Given what I've witnessed locally, I don't think a lot of agencies have the time or expertise to check, but I decided not to leave it to fate. There were only three entries. One announced my appointment as a Returning Officer. There was a surprise one in an annual report for a charity that I had donated to a few years back. I thought only really big donations merited mention, but there it was. That charity keeps sending me invitations to their social functions too. Received one in the mail last week. Request to attend a cocktail party at the home of someone who many citizens would give a lot to visit. Don't understand it, but it is nice to be be included. The price of the ticket is way beyond an unemployed person's means, but the idea is what counts, right?
The third entry was a book review I did for an on-line bookstore. That book actually has a lot of bearing on an issue that has been getting a lot of attention in the news the past few weeks. The controversy about putting decals on public vehicles that declare support for Canadian troops is raging all through the country. There is little doubt that Canadians, as a whole, are proud of our peacekeepers. However, there is a fear by a significant number of the same Canadians that the ruling federal political party will try to tie support for the troops to their political platform over the war in Afghanistan - something that the majority of Canadians strongly oppose according to the pollsters. This article today in the Australian media outlined the sophistry used to tie "apples" and "oranges" issues such as this together and how subtle the deception is that appears to lock one into support for something one finds objectionable. The only way to stop a political or special interest group from co-opting one's right to support one without the other is to refuse to allow the two issues to be tied together in any way, whether verbal or symbolic. The book I reviewed did a very thorough analysis of a variety of techniques used, but this article today did a great job of summarizing and illustrating the same issue in a fraction of the space.
Tonight maybe I'll have an epiphany when I go to sleep just like that great Scot, Robert the Bruce or maybe inspiration like Robbbie Burns. One never knows when the muse might come visiting.
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