I haven't written for a while because I'm either too consumed with writing my novel, too busy at work or its too fucking hot. It has been crazy busy at work with thousands of our clients having been cut off income-tested supplements because they didn't get their income to us on time. It has been taxing. But we were all sent home from work early today because the temperature in the office exceeded 29C (84F) and we West Coast wusses can't handle too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. I'm not complaining though.
I stopped at the Fountainhead Pub on the way home. I ran into RJ, a friend of a friend who always has had something tasteless to say about my muscular dystrophy, like "I want to see you in the Disabled Olympics in a few years...." or "You're not bad for a gimp..." Three years ago he showed me his over-sized cock right in the bar to impress me. I casually dismissed him, saying to his face that I am not into large cocks. That floored him and he has never quite recovered.
Today he bought all my drinks in a vain attempt to seduce me. He was telling me he really wants to be friends, but only if that means he can fuck me. I told him my ass is all withered and saggy (not too far from the truth) but he's like a child who has been denied a toy he didn't initially want. He even promised me that he would read my novel and even find me stained glass clients. I left him the bill and nothing else but a kiss.
I'm still a bit drunk. I wish I could sleep off the alcohol but it's like a sauna in here. Pride Day in coming up this weekend and I hope it's a bit cooler. I am SO looking forward to hanging out with my friend James who is coming up from Tacoma. ;o)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Alice in Government Land, Part 4 - problem resolution
We arrived to work this morning fresh from the weekend with urgent instructions from all sides NOT to sign in. It wasn't a wild cat strike. On the weekend, Management had installed an upgrade to our system - or perhaps a downgrade - and our lines were no longer working properly. Calls rang right through without going through the interactive voice relay (the "Maze"). Only Telus could repair it and they don't work weekends.
So we sat idly for the better part of an hour until a co-worker from Administration came by and casually said, in a resigned manner, "I guess you can sign on now." It turns out Telus let about 50 calls through and we were advised to deal with them until there were no more calls in the queue and then sign off again. But the more calls we took the more calls there were in the queue. This continued until the callers were waiting 20 minutes before being answered.
Finally, after an hour of this, we were advised to just take the callers' phone numbers and we would call them back, just to clear the queue. That didn't make sense since we'd have no time to call them back later as we are short-staffed as it is, but not making sense is par for the course when Ottawa is involved.
It wasn't as simple though. Every caller claimed to have only a simple question and taking their names, Social Insurance Numbers, issues and verifying their phone numbers was like pulling teeth because they didn't want to be called back later; they had waited 20 minutes and they wanted answers now. After an hour of "taking numbers" there were still dozens in the queue. Management threw in the towel and told every agent to get off the lines without taking another call, something that would have made sense to do 2 hours earlier.
An hour later, while I was on lunch, every team but my team was told to get back on the lines. This mistake wasn't noticed for half an hour so you could say I had a rather easy day of it, the part that wasn't frustrating, that is.
I am glad I had emailed a chuck of my novel to work on during my breaks before I left home this morning. I managed to revise more than a page and half when I had doubted I'd even get through a paragraph or two. Tonight I massaged the changes into my existing text. I have revised up to page 328 of the 354 I have written so far. The story, which began in the 1850s, is now up to March of 1882.
So we sat idly for the better part of an hour until a co-worker from Administration came by and casually said, in a resigned manner, "I guess you can sign on now." It turns out Telus let about 50 calls through and we were advised to deal with them until there were no more calls in the queue and then sign off again. But the more calls we took the more calls there were in the queue. This continued until the callers were waiting 20 minutes before being answered.
Finally, after an hour of this, we were advised to just take the callers' phone numbers and we would call them back, just to clear the queue. That didn't make sense since we'd have no time to call them back later as we are short-staffed as it is, but not making sense is par for the course when Ottawa is involved.
It wasn't as simple though. Every caller claimed to have only a simple question and taking their names, Social Insurance Numbers, issues and verifying their phone numbers was like pulling teeth because they didn't want to be called back later; they had waited 20 minutes and they wanted answers now. After an hour of "taking numbers" there were still dozens in the queue. Management threw in the towel and told every agent to get off the lines without taking another call, something that would have made sense to do 2 hours earlier.
An hour later, while I was on lunch, every team but my team was told to get back on the lines. This mistake wasn't noticed for half an hour so you could say I had a rather easy day of it, the part that wasn't frustrating, that is.
I am glad I had emailed a chuck of my novel to work on during my breaks before I left home this morning. I managed to revise more than a page and half when I had doubted I'd even get through a paragraph or two. Tonight I massaged the changes into my existing text. I have revised up to page 328 of the 354 I have written so far. The story, which began in the 1850s, is now up to March of 1882.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Lazy day
It was an usual day; sunny and 24C like before, but I was the part that was unusual. I got up early, took photos of the community garden, had breakfast at Joe's alone, did a little grocery shopping, came home and started cleaning.
Perhaps it was because last week my sis tells me that she thinks I am getting too weak to clean my own place thoroughly. What does she know? She thought Mom was getting Alzheimer's ten years ago and was telling everyone that she should be put into a home. Today Mom still has more smarts than she does. But even if it's not true I can't have her going around telling other family members that. I wouldn't let them interfere anyway but I wouldn't want it to come to that.
So, I did the dishes, watered the plants, did 4 loads of laundry (anything I could find), washed ALL the floors and polished the mirrors, toilet, shampooed the bedroom rug, etc etc. I sprayed sealant on the hallway ceiling outside my door to cover watermarks that have been there for months.
But it was a hot and heavy day too. Everywhere I went I was dragging my ass. Just before 2 I met Danzante and Bill for lunch at "The Dish". I was only hungry enough for soup, though. The appetite slows down in this heat. Afterwards, I sauntered (wobbled?) up Davie to buy tickets for the Queer Film Festival. There looks like there might be a few good films there, perhaps four or five. I bought 10, because it's always a lottery of sorts.
Tonight is quiet. I am sitting here in a very very clean apartment with nothing much to do. I have just watched a terrific film called Between Strangers, with three strong separate plots that all converge in the last scene of the movie. It is a bit early to go to bed but I don't want to go out. I might though. It's just the perfect temperature and there a light, delicious breeze.
Perhaps it was because last week my sis tells me that she thinks I am getting too weak to clean my own place thoroughly. What does she know? She thought Mom was getting Alzheimer's ten years ago and was telling everyone that she should be put into a home. Today Mom still has more smarts than she does. But even if it's not true I can't have her going around telling other family members that. I wouldn't let them interfere anyway but I wouldn't want it to come to that.
So, I did the dishes, watered the plants, did 4 loads of laundry (anything I could find), washed ALL the floors and polished the mirrors, toilet, shampooed the bedroom rug, etc etc. I sprayed sealant on the hallway ceiling outside my door to cover watermarks that have been there for months.
But it was a hot and heavy day too. Everywhere I went I was dragging my ass. Just before 2 I met Danzante and Bill for lunch at "The Dish". I was only hungry enough for soup, though. The appetite slows down in this heat. Afterwards, I sauntered (wobbled?) up Davie to buy tickets for the Queer Film Festival. There looks like there might be a few good films there, perhaps four or five. I bought 10, because it's always a lottery of sorts.
Tonight is quiet. I am sitting here in a very very clean apartment with nothing much to do. I have just watched a terrific film called Between Strangers, with three strong separate plots that all converge in the last scene of the movie. It is a bit early to go to bed but I don't want to go out. I might though. It's just the perfect temperature and there a light, delicious breeze.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
an "Intuitive Healer"
Yesterday found me waiting half an hour outside the Surrey Central skytrain station for my sister to pick me up. I usually hate waiting for anything but it was a lovely, sunny day and there was shade to relax in. I had never been there before but I was curious about it because I have been hearing rumours that my office might move to this vicinity when looking for a new lease in 2 years. It would take an hour each way to get there but its doable. There's an office tower there, used partially for the Surrey campus of Simon Fraser University, that is architecturally interesting.
After telling me to meet me there, my sister went to the wrong station. Eventually she found me. She was taking me to see an "intuitive healer" who shares her office space, a man named Thomas J Moore who she has been raving about for months. He is an energy worker, who works with chakkras and channels spirit guides for medical advice. I'm not much of a follower of these types of alternative therapies but Western medicine hasn't offered me any insights into the cause of my muscular dystrophy or any treatment options since i was diagnosed over 13 years ago. It was worth a try--for $120.
Thomas was impressive, for his gentle, unpretentious manner. His ego doesn't get in the way of his healing as it does for many doctors who little at times to serve their clientele. The treatment was an hour and a half long and very pleasant. I felt better for it afterwards. When it was over, he felt certain that the cause of my muscle wasting was an imbalanced liver that has been producing too much uric acid over the years, causing my muscle cells to break down. If that is the cause it is encouraging as it would be both correctable and reversible. But now I am wondering why I haven't developed gout instead of muscular dystrophy, which is a common outcome of too much uric acid in one's body. I want to see a naturopath he has referred me to to get more answers. Meanwhile, I will start on milk thistle and dandelion extracts to strengthen my liver. That may be an important start even if it isn't the cure.
It is a motivating development. One could say it is exciting, but I won't let myself go there, at least not until I see solid results. I have gone there too many times, getting excited by treatments, only to be sorely disappointed. It would be nice though, so I'll do my best to walk that thin live between affirmation and expectation. I'll try to keep my emotions out of the process for now.
Thomas also shared other insights. He says my body is otherwise very healthy but advised me to take more magnesium, which I have just recently started doing. He says 2 personal spirit guides were present during my treatment, one being my grandfather on my father's side who I last saw when I was 4, and the other a French infantryman from the Napoleonic Wars. Thomas was able to describe his uniform.
He also said my lower chakkras were all closed. I mentioned that I have often had difficult opening my throat chakkra, and he said he had picked that up too. I asked if my throat had ever been slit in a past life. He said no, you were hung. He meant this in a bad way.
After telling me to meet me there, my sister went to the wrong station. Eventually she found me. She was taking me to see an "intuitive healer" who shares her office space, a man named Thomas J Moore who she has been raving about for months. He is an energy worker, who works with chakkras and channels spirit guides for medical advice. I'm not much of a follower of these types of alternative therapies but Western medicine hasn't offered me any insights into the cause of my muscular dystrophy or any treatment options since i was diagnosed over 13 years ago. It was worth a try--for $120.
Thomas was impressive, for his gentle, unpretentious manner. His ego doesn't get in the way of his healing as it does for many doctors who little at times to serve their clientele. The treatment was an hour and a half long and very pleasant. I felt better for it afterwards. When it was over, he felt certain that the cause of my muscle wasting was an imbalanced liver that has been producing too much uric acid over the years, causing my muscle cells to break down. If that is the cause it is encouraging as it would be both correctable and reversible. But now I am wondering why I haven't developed gout instead of muscular dystrophy, which is a common outcome of too much uric acid in one's body. I want to see a naturopath he has referred me to to get more answers. Meanwhile, I will start on milk thistle and dandelion extracts to strengthen my liver. That may be an important start even if it isn't the cure.
It is a motivating development. One could say it is exciting, but I won't let myself go there, at least not until I see solid results. I have gone there too many times, getting excited by treatments, only to be sorely disappointed. It would be nice though, so I'll do my best to walk that thin live between affirmation and expectation. I'll try to keep my emotions out of the process for now.
Thomas also shared other insights. He says my body is otherwise very healthy but advised me to take more magnesium, which I have just recently started doing. He says 2 personal spirit guides were present during my treatment, one being my grandfather on my father's side who I last saw when I was 4, and the other a French infantryman from the Napoleonic Wars. Thomas was able to describe his uniform.
He also said my lower chakkras were all closed. I mentioned that I have often had difficult opening my throat chakkra, and he said he had picked that up too. I asked if my throat had ever been slit in a past life. He said no, you were hung. He meant this in a bad way.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Alice in Government Land, Part 3 - Canada Day
Local management and employees are no longer allowed to create their own events. Bean counters in Ottawa, who don't really know the specifics of the work we do, decide if we can take our annual leave when we want to and if and when we are allowed to have staff meetings, usually denying us even when we are not busy--we've only been allowed one in the past 6 months.
They also plan our 'fun' events for us. But many of their planned events are incomplete or ill-planned because they haven't made it through all the many layers of approval and feedback and there are too many cautious reconsiderations and compromises along the way.
Of course, promoting Canada Day is a big one for the feds in Ottawa, who mistake it as a form of worship service of Ottawa and what the snivel serpents there are doing, whatever that is. So on Monday morning we all got this email about how to dress on Tuesday for Canada Day to win points for our teams. A combination of red or white gets 5 points, a Canada pin another 5 points and displays of our flag and other red and white consumer junk a further 5 points. Its all part of a contest called TAPS, which is not explained in any more detail.
It is frightfully dead at work at the moment so some of us got into it. I usually detest such silliness, but I was in a silly mood and was planning to wear white pants anyway so I put on my red shirt. I even found a Canada pin, but I wasn't going into the mall to the dollar store to buy useless crap with flags on it.
I was the only one on my team to make such an effort. I saw 3 or 4 others on other teams who had dressed up a little. Some who hadn't made an effort argued that their government-issued lanyards, which are red, and the attached security cards, which are white, which we are required to wear every day, were sufficient. It didn't really matter as no one was tallying points. Management was either absent or not "enrolled" in the game so those who made the effort were never acknowledged.
At one point teams were told to gather so that a team leader could take our group photos that would be sent to Ottawa so that someone there could revel in their accomplishment. I lost half my lunch break waiting for someone to take the friggin' photo. We never learned what the purpose of it was, and no one was ever told what "TAPS" stands for. ("Trick A Public Servant"?)
The real way to celebrate our 142nd birthday is doing what I will be doing today, taking a drive in the countryside with 2 new immigrant friends up the Fraser Valley to enjoy the sunshine and beauty of this land. Ottawa wouldn't understand.
They also plan our 'fun' events for us. But many of their planned events are incomplete or ill-planned because they haven't made it through all the many layers of approval and feedback and there are too many cautious reconsiderations and compromises along the way.
Of course, promoting Canada Day is a big one for the feds in Ottawa, who mistake it as a form of worship service of Ottawa and what the snivel serpents there are doing, whatever that is. So on Monday morning we all got this email about how to dress on Tuesday for Canada Day to win points for our teams. A combination of red or white gets 5 points, a Canada pin another 5 points and displays of our flag and other red and white consumer junk a further 5 points. Its all part of a contest called TAPS, which is not explained in any more detail.
It is frightfully dead at work at the moment so some of us got into it. I usually detest such silliness, but I was in a silly mood and was planning to wear white pants anyway so I put on my red shirt. I even found a Canada pin, but I wasn't going into the mall to the dollar store to buy useless crap with flags on it.
I was the only one on my team to make such an effort. I saw 3 or 4 others on other teams who had dressed up a little. Some who hadn't made an effort argued that their government-issued lanyards, which are red, and the attached security cards, which are white, which we are required to wear every day, were sufficient. It didn't really matter as no one was tallying points. Management was either absent or not "enrolled" in the game so those who made the effort were never acknowledged.
At one point teams were told to gather so that a team leader could take our group photos that would be sent to Ottawa so that someone there could revel in their accomplishment. I lost half my lunch break waiting for someone to take the friggin' photo. We never learned what the purpose of it was, and no one was ever told what "TAPS" stands for. ("Trick A Public Servant"?)
The real way to celebrate our 142nd birthday is doing what I will be doing today, taking a drive in the countryside with 2 new immigrant friends up the Fraser Valley to enjoy the sunshine and beauty of this land. Ottawa wouldn't understand.
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