11:48 - 10.12.08
Bless Me
Temperature's rising.. at least it was toward midnight last night. Chinook blowing in made it warmer in the dead of night than in full light of the previous day. Just the way it is around here. On the Sunday, when we had that record snowfall, temperatures dropped and I think it might have gone below -10 C/40 F on the Monday. Still warmer than in the freezers that I work in, sometimes for hours, during assignments. I shovelled snow on Sunday for quite a while. I was overdressed, so by the end of the process there was sweat trickling down my face and, worse, down my back. You see at sundown when I was working away, the snow that had partially melted was now turning to a layer of ice underneath the newest snow flakes. Might be pretty, but it took considerably longer to clear that ice off the sidewalk. Oh well.
Had my first ever professional performance appraisal on Monday just before taking off for a new type of assignment that evening. It was an interesting process. The first part was simply about my own work - quite satisfactory from the company's point of view, but always the request for even greater productivity for the future. Then a discussion about some of the labour issues that have really bothered me where the counters treatment was concerned. The area manager spent a lot of time discussing those issues with me, asking for my input then filling me in with more accurate information I hadn't been privy to. By the end of the discussion he asked me to send him my own ideas and solutions - did I want to be involved in the actual process of change? Yes of course.
Remember how I had mentioned in my last post that I thought that we had been offered an exceptional amount of information about the senior manager's meeting's contents at my last assignment. Turned out a lot of it was outright deception. Whether intentional or not, when I asked about some of the things that had been said, it elicited a growl from our area manager then his rapid trip to the office door to demand that the perpetrator of the disinformation report to said office immediately to answer for their perfidy. Oi. That manager, fortunately, wasn't on site so I was spared a possibly unpleasant scene. I think the area manager realized that his response was a little intimidating for me given that it was supposed to be my performance assessment. Most of the rest of the meeting was conducted with his office door shut so that I didn't have to worry about that particular manager joining the meeting. Odd that my favourite astrologer's advice for this week was to "cast out demons" or, by my own interpretation, "slay the dragons" while one of the other astrologers I often read counselled not getting sucked into dramas created to divert attention from the real issues that should be addressed. Hmmmm. A+ had gently suggested to me the evening before to "try and not get yourself fired" meaning that my blunt assessments of life at the office when speaking with him were likely not the best way to convey my concerns. I think all those bits of advice played into the way that interview unfolded.
A+ and I whiled away the winter storm by playing on youtube. First searching for all the political satire about the recent parliamentary meltdown and then on to music that we alternated choosing. The first time we danced together in the summer, A+ sang to me. It was magical. We danced together again and sang as well. At least I tried but my throat is still quite infected. More like I self-consciously croaked my way through a couple of verses of songs I know. Part of one of my wisdom teeth fell out at the end of my Monday assignment, so that might explain the length of time it is taking for the infection to go. Can't afford the thousands of dollars I'm told it will take to extract the two teeth that need to go so I guess I'll deal with it the old fashioned way. Let them fall out on their own - piece by piece. Seems to me that happened when I was six or seven with my baby teeth. Don't recall it making me sick though.
Dreams the past two nights have both had an element of seduction woven into them so I have to conclude that it has to do with the parliamentary debate plus the work situation. Besides with the astrologers all seeming to see the same dynamics playing out in the stars I guess I should proceed with caution anyway. The first dream had overtones of the David and Bathsheba story. Roof top garden, sumptuous setting but very much a modern one as well. Down in what appeared to be the valley filled with grapes and olives trees a railroad with trains passing along made for a picturesque scene. The second dream was set in a resort not far from my city. I was doing election work but there was some sort of strange machinations going on in the background that appeared to be set to stop me from doing my job and even compromise my reputation. Given the time of year and what happened almost two years ago with Elections Canada I guess that old tape was reactivated with the performance assessment on Monday. Maybe by having such a good review now it has neutralized the attack that seemed to be deliberately set up then. Don't know and really don't care anymore. The truth about what was being done then can't be hidden forever. Karma will catch up with those perpetrators sooner or later without my help.
Anyway my favorite Pavarotti tape of sacred Christmas music has played out and the secular treat of White Christmas is now playing in the background. I have to go listen to Bing sing about counting my blessings. There are so many things to be grateful for right now it will take some time to count. Bye for now dear diary.
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