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23:22 - 23.01.09
Patterns in the Snow
There is an annular solar eclipse due on Sunday/Monday, depending where one is in this world. Occurs at the same astrological degree as my sun at the time of my birth. Eclipses mean change - I guess I'm in for some big ones, eh? Change can be good..... January 26 this year marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year too - the Year of the Ox. It is also Australia Day. G'Day Mates! Maybe all of us are in for big shifts in our lives. Since I started at the job I'm in now there has already been one big change after another, hasn't there?

Continuing Scheherezade's tales: I started a new type of task on the Monday. Preparing a work site for an inventory the day before the counters arrive. Tagging, it's called. Working one on one with a store manager to ensure every single piece of product is included in their data capture. Three different stores from the same chain that caters to children/families on three successive days. The stores are each required to carry the same merchandise, the clientele they serve is ostensibly the same, but significant variations in demographics mean each is a unit unique to itself. The biggest difference was the type of parenting styles I observed being used at each site. There were marked differences in behaviour of the parents when presented with the same activity by a child. Choices of toys/merchandise were driven by vastly different value systems too. Size of the parents' income did have some influence too, but only in a superficial sense. I noted my observations with the third manager I worked with and that sparked a fairly intense discussion about better serving the population using their service. The idea of inclusion being the operative word. The manager of the second store seemed more interested in discussing the operation of the company I work for, as well as my own work experience. Felt oddly like a job interview a couple of times. A lot of discussion about management practices and how strongly they impact front line realities. The first manager and I discussed management of staff as we worked away. He had originally delegated the task to one of his assistants with less than stellar results, you see. Just interesting talk all around.

My youngest and I watched the movie "Ghost Town" on the day in between those jobs and my next assignment. It was quite funny - surprisingly so to me. Very thoughtful ending. That theme sort of interwove itself in conversations with friends that week. Mercury astrologically retrograde. Going back over old business or old friends returning into one's life looking for support/closure. One friend calling about her troubles with her spouse. In hiding and waiting for the courts to provide her and her family with some protection from him. She was so deep in the pattern of abuse that she was still trying to rationalize his behaviour as "normal". The external cues dictated otherwise what with police, and several other support/security/health services involved over the past year. Their neighbours realizing the extent of the problem and protesting about the risks to themselves, even though she was still in denial. Three university degrees or so and a highly respected career don't protect women from being sucked into such a situation. She still loves him and keeps trying to find something that will turn him back into the man she thought he was. Sigh. Another friend recounting the death of a parent just after Christmas and the resulting upheaval in the lives of the siblings left behind. All those duties that one is never really prepared for when the surviving parent can't function well enough to make their own choices. Another friend who has been widowed for some years showing the distress of having their only child now leave home. One of my own siblings having to endure the "check to see if it's cancerous" procedures as well. One of my son's buddies possibly being shipped out soon to a war zone. Reminders again that material/work stressors are difficult, but at least one can always hope that changes for the better are possible. All the problems I heard about in that one week were of the sort where there is no turning back. Remembering parts of "Ghost Town" as one story after another was told to me in real time. There are no coincidences, some say, so how do the two relate? Victor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" might be a good place to start looking for those answers, given it was written through his attempts to come to terms with own deep pain.

The Friday morning, a short frustrating assignment. Just couldn't get my hand held computer to work. Productivity for us is measured by how much we count. Can't count anything if our computers aren't working. Bleagh. Made up for the stress by spending time with A+. We watched "Swing Vote" (a very happy belated birthday MR C). It was an excellent comedy despite the sourpuss reviews it received. Very fitting fare with the whole process of the inauguration of President Obama underway. Sometimes the best way to make a point is through humour. There was a great balance between the message and the method. Subtle, well partly, and yet forceful. Great writing and acting both. I had a burnout day on Sunday despite all the movie therapy. Slept a lot in order to prepare for the next week's, this week's, weather and travel demand. Supervising and training crew both at the same time in the works. But I'm tired now and need a nap. Scheherezade will continue the story soon. Good night, dear diary. Sweet dreams.

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