02:51 - 21.09.07
Stumbling
I must have picked up the flu bug sometime during my commute yesterday, because by about 3 in the am I was dealing with stomach cramps and well other things as well. Bleagh. I felt really badly calling my son around the time I should have been arriving in the downtwon to let them know I wouldn't be able to look after my grand-daughter, but I wasn't certain I would have made it that far on the commute to begin with. It would also have meant the potential to infect the three of them plus anyone else I came in contact with during the day. However, it meant either my son or his partner had to miss work for the day with little notice to their employers. No good solution anywhere.
There have been a blizzard of media stories the past few months about employers stating that they want their sick employees to stay home, but the person who gave me their illness was likely one of those people who is paid an hourly wage - without sick days paid for or allowed - and who can't afford to lose the income or the job. Something the interviewed employers never acknowledged as part of the consequences they impose on those ailing workers. On the bus I take to get to the train station there were at least a dozen people - mostly males - who were obviously very ill with lung viruses or bacteria the entire span of this week. They are obviously going to work because they have to, not because they want to.
Sorry end of rant. I crawled back into bed until it was time for my youngest to get ready for work. Checked my email until he was out the door then went back to bed for the balance of the regular work day. By dinner time I was well enough to tackle some cleaning chores. About that time my son called to say that he had booked time off work tomorrow to look after his daughter so I could recuperate fully from the sickness before tempting fate on transit again. In some ways that is a good thing for me as well since I have a number of resumes I want to send out. I can also start work on the next research project for the one internet company.
The news today seemed to be dominated by items where something hidden was emerging or being revealed. Sometimes it took juxtapositioning two stories next to each other to draw attention to that fact. The one that stood out for me was the story about the military dictator Musharraf - the de facto head of Pakistan - calling for an election as of October 6th. He has been under great pressure to step down from either the governing position or the position he holds as a general of the Pakistani army. Just coincidentally an announcement that a tape about to be released, purportedly cobbled together of past pronouncements by Osama Bin Laden, seems to threaten war with Pakistan and Musharraf both. Oddly enough it has been known for some time that Bin Laden's group operates and trains it fanatics out of the northern border province of Pakistan and recruits most of it's membership from that area. Given that Musharraf has held power in Pakistan for seven years and has had control and command of that army it is likely that Bin Laden's operation has had permission, if not support, from the Pakistani government to carry out their attacks in Afghanistan. Cynical as it sounds it seems to me that the one way Musharraf can retain control of both the country and the army is if an external threat - oh say the size of Bin Laden's tropps appears to become imminent. Maybe he read Naomi Klein's book too.
As you know, dear diary, I love to read as much as I love to write. A number of good authors are offering new material for me to digest. Naomi Klein's book is one such offering, if only because it verifies a lot that I have encountered and spoken about both in posts to you as well as in conversation with friends and family. Although you are unfailingly polite and consider the facts I offer, the same cannot be said of some of the people in my life. Usually the response is that I'm negative and looking for the worst in our political and corporate "leaders". That they don't really mean the harm they cause. Whatever. Truth is I just refuse to give away my right to think for myself and thinking for myself means that I find a lot of the pronouncements sent down through the media from on high are about as believable as the aforementioned announcements coming out of Pakistan. Sometimes dictators use military force, but they also use finances as a means of assault or force too. Having access to either one does not give them the right to freely bully or abuse those with less temporal resources. Nor does it mean that companies have the right to enter other nations and exploit them, such as those openly violating the laws under which they were incorporated as Canadian companies. Then there are municipal issues as well. Two other new books that will probably lower rather than raise my blood pressure are the new ones released by Richard Wagamese and Pauline Gedge. There is also the DVD release of the latest Harry Potter film "Order of the Phoenix" to look forward to - on my youngest's birthday. Add in JK Rowling making a stop in Canada on her next tour of North America and I guess that helps balance out the negative thoughts with a few positive ones.
I think that flu is still not done with me - it is hard to express what is clear in my mind with clarity externally in these electrons. I need to get to sleep rather than get myself worked up over a lot of things I can't address directly - at least not right now. Small steps later might make some difference and maybe a little bit of faith that one can make a change happen over time. Right now maybe I'll dream good things into being. Good night dear diary.
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