23:51 - 17.10.07
retrofit
It was a classic Mr Mercury retrograde day in that every communication related task or issue seemed destined to go sideways. Nothing got done in the sequence I had planned the night before. What woke me up earlier than I had intended was the sound of my youngest granddaughter crying in the bad dream I was having about life for women in the old west. Her third day back at the daycare. It really upset me and I got up just to keep busy enough so as not to think about it. A lot of phone calls, emails and shifts in priorities arising from that time on had me constantly changing from one task or focus to the next. It wasn't until late afternoon that I even felt as though I had made progress even though I had been working at one thing or another since 7 in the am. No naps either, that I could blame. Part of the problem was an emotional hit that had occurred the night before and that reverberated for the balance of today. Kept distracting me.
Yesterday I walked over to the new train station - the one that is supposed to open in December. I wanted to know how long it would take on foot to get there and what was the shortest route. On the way there I picked up stencilled leaf bags and completed some banking. What I found was that it would be impossible to measure accurately at this point in time because of all the access points blocked off by construction activities around the area. If my guess is correct the best route will pass by a new bakery as one turns a corner toward that station. The smells were already enticing. Thinking about early morning forays for pita and hot chocolate or coffee on cold winter days was a positive thought. The other possible route was across the park I helped raise the funds to build. The problem for both routes is that I was thinking of walking when the busses weren't running. Very early morning or very late at night. Lighting will be a big issue. There isn't any evident at this point in an area that will be completely deserted and screened from regular observation by other residents - an industrial park. Risky to walk through either. When busses are available one won't be able to swing into that bakery or enjoy the park after all. The difference in time spent commuting is radically different. On a bus about a five minute journey while on foot closer to 30 minutes - if those blocked accesses open up. That's not much different than walking to the existing station now. Bleagh. Oh well not really anything over which I can exercise control at the moment.
The emotional hit was triggered by a phone call last night from the one person who had worked for me last election and who was having trouble with the taxman as a result. The problems she appeared to be encountering were very close to what I had to deal with in March of last year where someone from the EC finance department misreported my earnings from a couple of years ago triggering an aggressive response from said tax agency. Happened when I was really sick. Remember. The staff person was asking for my help in getting it resolved since the claim was that she had been paid for work when in fact she was in intensive care in a hospital in another province. Uh huh. The tax agancy had set a very short deadline for her to get all her paperwork submitted to prove otherwise and as usual the response from the Elections Canada finance group was silence. That was familiar too. That call came late in the day and was extended in length. Meant the work I had intended to complete on my own behalf - applying for jobs - got shunted aside to today. It also meant I spent part of today digging through some of those boxes of elections paperwork trying to find the correct documentation so that I could communicate accurately with both government agencies as well as the staff person. I also had to call my finance officer from the last election to ask for additional information. Meant that nothing of substance could proceed until she responded. that didn't happen until the end of her work day today. Chains of events and communications all at odds with each other. Emailed both the staffer and someone in Elections Canada who actually might respond offering what documentation I had both in hard copy and in email form. Archiving data. Treading carefully around legislation to do with privacy and maintenance of specific personnel files too. By the end of the day the ball was back in the staff person's court in that she had to try and find her own financial records from a time when someone else was managing them because she could not - being as ill as she was. In the meantime I was reliving some of the stress and angst I had felt when I found myself in the same position 18 months ago.Bleagh.
On the positive side I did receive a couple of comunications about interviews for jobs that will occur next week and my printer finally decided it was time to actually do its job. Up until now, from the time of purchase, the error message coming up was that it couldn't connect or work compatibly with my poor old pc. Guess it has changed it mind. A flurry of emails from the company that built it were generated as soon as it began spewing paper. Yes - the paperless society. Of course that all arose at times when I had planned to be doing something else. Not that I'm ungrateful but shifting gears from entirely different tasks took up a lot of unexpected time too. Add in a sick son who needed additional tending and it just seemed to be one hurdle after another to get to the place I expected to be at the end of the day. My youngest did finally go into work. Came home very pleased with himself at the end of his shift carrying treats from one of the ice cream stores. UH huh. The lunch I had packed for him was still intact since his employer provided more enticing treats for the second day in a row. I don't mind taking the time to pack his lunch but it is frustrating to see it and the time I invested in it go to waste though.
A lot of interesting announcements and emails - some of which require follow up. Big announcement and great surprise was from Sir Branson of Virgin music fame. Appears our city is going to be gifted with one of his big concerts next year. Leadership by example - what a concept. One can even request which musicians one wants on their website. Where to start. There is finally a new city counsellor designated for our ward from the Monday election. The difference in votes for the first two candidates was 33 ballots. Meant a recount had to occur because there were 67 - double - spoiled/rejected ballots that had to be checked. The final analysis didn't change the numbers but did reveal some unusual quirks in how those original counts were conducted on election night. Throne speech federally now has the country on the edge of another election too. Third in less than four years. another waste of huge sums of money while no substantive governance on critical issues occurs - just a bunch of grandstanding and gerrymandering. Good news was the adoption of Burma's democratically elected but illegally incarcerated Aung San Suu Kyi as an honorary citizen of this country. Technically it means that our country can now call illegal military junta to account with respect to her treatment. In addition the US government finally recognizes and awards the Dalai Lama recognition for his long non-violent peace mission to reinstate Tibetan autonomy after a 60 year occupation by another military junta. Bad news was what the Turkish government awarded itself authority to do - cross into another country's territory - to pursue freedom fighters who are also deemed terrorists for resisting take over of their ancestral land - that massive lake of oil they sit atop being the motive, I think. Second justification for genocide allowed by the larger community because of the strategic location of that country in respect to the Middle East. Hmmmm. Seesaw day all day of up and down news.
Time for exercise and bed now though I think. Still no picture on my VCR so I can't use my yoga tapes but I do have two great bollywood aerobics DVDs that offer some great veil work that might help rehabilitate my elbow and the atrophied muscles of my arms almost as well. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get things done that I need to do - you know like try to get more resumes out. Good night, dear diary.
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