i'm glad the weekend is here. hmm ... and october is also here. time to think about how best to scare the neighbourhood kids when they come looking for candy. heh heh ... i don't think anyone on our street gets into halloween quite like we do. 

bleh. then there's christmas. whatever. 

*yawn* this quiet office is making me sleepy.

if you couldn't tell, i'm very pleased with myself ... and british girl. she's shown how to do something once and just does it ... and she gets it ... and sees how it applies to other things she's learned ... i'm not used to this ... *joy* i don't know of any other new -ee who could do all of our invoicing and remember to pull information from so many different places. i'm just so happy. 

oh yes: she's cute too. it just makes training that much more fun.

then there's the situation at the other office. the other new -ee seems to be suffering under the indifferent rule of a certain nemesis of mine. *sigh* you know, when you get a new assistant, it's a good idea to show up for more than 2 hours each day. i can only imagine how lost and bored she is. gods. if only i had the time to help train her.

speaking of the new person at the other office, did you know that it's entirely possible to not be familiar with windows or ms office *at all*? it's true! holy smokes. i'm sending her off for training. i can't imagine what that's like. it would be like being illiterate.

i'm finally feeling less god-awful. my lungs are still coated with mucus, but it's not completely intolerable. i didn't go to my reunion on saturday. i didn't see the suicide girls on monday. it was a very inconvenient time to get sick.

i had a blast from the past the other day. one of my old, old friends suddenly reappeared. last week i went to see a woman who had a condo to rent out and, much to my surprise, she turned out to be this friend's mother. so, last night, i went to said friend's home and goddamn if you can't see her place from my living room. it was incredible. this friend, whom i thought was kidnapped by mexican ruffians six years ago, has been (practically) my neighbour this entire time.

*sigh*

i suppose it's about time for me to go home. the kat is making spaghetti with textured vegetable protein sauce (meat sauce) and i'm famished.

my tickets to see pretty suicide girls are sitting in my wallet and i am sitting on my couch. it's so sad.

i like page four.

... i spent the morning training my first new hire. we poked around the office and then i filled her with apprehension about the crazies that call in every so often. heh heh. i think she'll be fine. if she survived her last employer (i'll refrain from naming names) for 8 years, she'll do ok with us. 

i went to the gym today. i had no idea that i'd like it so much. *is pleased* i think i'll go with some frequency, especially since i have yet to see any of those tight, little, feel-the-burn fitness-nazis. (pituitary retards - thank you, mr. hicks.)

and now i'm sleepy. i have to wake up before i meet the vegetarians tonight. i can raid the freezers at Oriental Veggie House. mmm ... veggie ham. 

oh yeah ... turkey day, the day we masticate and digest tortured turkeys, is approaching. i figured i'd provide you with some Butterball visuals. 

it *is* possible to get through thanksgiving without the turkey. i know... i'm tedious. 

it's ok, mate. i hate them too. 

i've had an interesting day at work. 

i see that i've neglected you for a week. 

let's see ... i've hired two new people for the office, i have a *growing* pile of resumes in for positions that i've clearly marked as 'filled' on our website, i have high cholesterol and i'm thinking about (eek, don't laugh) joining a gym.

1. i sincerely hope my new -ees work out well. i have yet another two to hire before the end of the year. i'm really, thoroughly, completely tired of interviews. and strangers. i'm also tired of having what can only be described as pot-brain, minus the fun part. stupid stress. 

2. one of the resumes in my stack was sent in application for the position of 'travel agent.' i'm sure i didn't list that one. 

3. i have high cholesterol, despite not eating cholesterol for two years. *not happy* i got a call from my doctor's office. my conversation with the nurse:

nurselady: i just have a couple of things from your blood work to go over with you. first, there's the cholesterol. it looks like you're on the high side and since you're a young lady, it's a concern. you might want to reduce the amount of red meat you eat.

emma: ahh - wow. well, that's kind of impossible.

nurselady: pardon?

emma: i'm vegan. i'm a vegan with high cholesterol. 

nurselady: wow is right. you'll want to see the doctorlady because there could be other things going on. 

emma: ook.

nurselady: then the other thing was the hepatitis...

emma: what?! hepatitis?! 

nurselady: oh, you're not immunized against hep a and b.

emma: gods! *pant* no, no i'm not. 

nurselady: you can talk about that with the doctorlady too.

emma: sure ... 

which brings me to:

4. i'm thinking about joining a gym. i'm not happy about it, but i'm less happy about my blood work. i'm meeting with someone today at a women's gym (because men are yucky. sorry.) and i'm pretty sure she's going to try to rope me into a contract of obscene length. we shall see how this goes. my metabolism is pokey enough that 800 - 1200 calories per day is *more* than enough to keep me going. i am, thank you bucky, famine resistant, which is unfortunate for a north american. it must be that hearty, polish stock i come from. 

so that's been the last week. the coming week isn't any less busy. my bi group starts up again tomorrow. i see my fellow vegetarians on thursday. on friday, we're going to see a baroque ensemble at the edmonton art gallery (after i talk to the doctorlady). i *must* take the swede out on saturday, since he's leaving soon and i'll miss him. i plan to be a hermit on sunday. 

on monday: suicide girls. woo hoo! a light at the end of the tunnel.

last week i was fretting that i didn't get many responses to my ads and this week i'm trying to cull the more bizarre applications. 

i've met with enough people to satisfy my need for human contact with strangers for some time. 

i don't do regular interviews. it would absolutely kill me to bring someone into my office, sit them down and read questions out of a human resources textbook. the questions are goofy and only make an applicant feel uncomfortable. 

i've been in interviews where you're seated across the table from three guys with clipboards who each ask you questions in a rotary kind of way. i'm sure it's designed to see how the applicant deals with stress ... but applicants are already stressed, so it doesn't accomplish anything other than demonstrate that that organization sees employees less as humans and more as resources. and, that's not the kind of environment we have here.

i can tell within 30 seconds whether or not someone's going to work out. some people get a little confused about it, but i just talk with them; we get to know each other. it isn't rocket science: when an applicant is *relaxed,* you get a much better idea of their true personality. yes, i talk a lot when i interview - more than is recommended by the human resources textbook - but i get to see how they react to what i say.  

bah. stupid textbooks.

i was reading the edmonton journal the other day and came across an article about a group of residents in north east edmonton who are trying to stop habitat for humanity from building 48 duplexes on 5 acres of land. why?

because, they say, they don't want high density housing and they don't want criminals living in their neighbourhood. 

pardon? is there anything less horrible than fighting a habitat for humanity development? 

regardless, i don't think their protests have much to do with density; 48 duplexes on 5 acres isn't much more dense than a regular condo development. i think they don't like poor people.

obviously, this group of idiot rednecks has no idea what habitat for humanity does or who buys these homes. 

they're, generally, working poor. it's a huge problem and it's how a lot of people end up homeless. they have jobs, but they don't make a lot of money. they can be single parents who can't work two jobs *and* fulfill their responsibilities as parents. they aren't gang members. they aren't *bad* people. they just don't have much money. plus, habitat works with the families to ensure that they are successful and the residents help build their homes and then buy them for a price that makes their mortgage payments equal to about 1/4 of their income. 

one brilliant member of the neighbourhood says, "they go where land is cheap. i say, 'why not build in riverbend?'"

for those of my readers who don't live in edmonton, riverbend's land is expensive and there isn't much left for development. i think, though, he was trying to say that people in riverbend wouldn't want a habitat for humanity development in their neighbourhood. 

if these residents are really worried about it, they ought to volunteer to help build the projects and become involved in their soon-to-be neighbours' lives. the best way to reduce crime and fear is to have a strong community.

like it or not, the existing residents and the habitat residents are going to be a part of the same community, so why not have a hand in making it a good one?

but since i'm thinking about it, why don't i do that now. (suckers)

i remember waking up 5 years and 1 morning ago, turning on the news and seeing smoke billowing out of the first tower. wtf?! *finally,* cnn got its shit together and says, "a plane flew into the world trade centre." i woke up the kat and we watched in horror as another plane hit the second tower and then another in the pentagon and then another that crashed into a pennsylvania field. (flight 93... as someone pointed out, the flight bearing the number of thelema is the one where people fought back.) 

it was awful. it was particularly awful to see some of my fellow canadians and, allegedly, fellow humans, saying that the americans 'deserved' it. as that headline in le monde said, "we are all americans now." despite the real sympathy from around the world, all you seemed to hear from american media was, "why do people hate us?" 

who would have thought that within mere months, george bush, blind or immune to the outpouring of love, would effectively destroy the empathy the world felt for his country? 

last night i was at a meeting and someone wanted to address the five-year anniversary. he read a poem. it was bizarre. as emma learned in the past couple of days, sometimes it's better to keep her mouth shut, so i didn't say anything. 

i know people still hurt and feel real pain. it still feels surreal to watch the tributes on television. so, here's my issue: if we really want to know why other countries hate us, we're going to have to actually look for an answer. i suspect part of the answer is to be found in a pair of $8.00 pants, bought at wal-mart.

we aren't liked by the rest of the world because we don't give a shit about the rest of the world. we *act* like we do. we go on humanitarian missions and fuck things up. we send millions of dollars to despots who suit our needs (and sell/give them weapons to help control their more uppity citizens). we weep for 3,000 dead north americans and practically ignore 40,000 dead in iraq. we drive big, stupid cars, we live in big, stupid houses and whine about the performance of our mutual fund portfolio. we elect politicians who think it's better to enhance security, rather than look at solving the root causes of terrorism because it's too bloody complicated for their little brains and, heck, how do you explain to the farmer-constituant that his support of monsanto affects impoverished people around the world and threatens their culture?

rawr! it's enough to make *me* hate us. prima donnas. 

and yet, despite the incredible capacity for navel gazing of the average north american, no, those people on those planes and in those buildings didn't *deserve* to die. 

sure, we're ignorant and afraid and we buy home entertainment systems (for a sum that could buy a school in zambia all of its supplies) and we welcome politicans who dumb us down even further, but we don't deserve to die for it. 

we just need to wake up and realize that despite being less directly useful to us than petrochemicals, people in poor countries don't deserve to die either. 

oh, you can read about the $8 pants at wal-mart here. 

or maybe certain 'swooshed' sneakers...

guess who's creating jobs in china.

yes. september 11 was awful and that kind of awful is a daily occurance elsewhere. 

you'd think we'd understand other people's suffering and say, "we are all iraqis/afghanis/hondurans/whatever now." ha. 

i'm just mad and rambling now. 

want to know what i received this week? (other than the long-awaited raise) a letter from the premier's office in response to my email about king ralph's retarded approach to environmental responsibility and oversight in the oilsands!  

*nonplussed* why now? was this letter different? did i avoid big words?  

of course, it was all pap designed to placate an upset citizen. "We appreciate comments from concerned citizens blah blah blah. We will pass your comments along to Greg Melchin, Minister of Energy."  

do you have any idea how many "comments" i've sent to that idiot's office? The Premier's Responsive Government Punch Card: send in a hundred letters and you'll get one back.  

*sigh* if only my fellow citizens would remove their heads from their behinds: when your government abdicates it's responsibility to protect our environment, we're not being governed, we're being pimped out and, no, there's no happy ending.  

i just read mr. melchin's biography. he's a bishop in the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. *rolls eyes* actually, reading through all of the ministers' bios, i'm surprised to see only 3 of the 24 indicate their religious leanings; one mormon, one catholic, one lutheran.  

it's just weird, given the amount of moralizing these people do. "meh, meh, meh, i don't want my kids learing about homosexuals in public school. they might catch gay! won't anyone think of the children?!"  

and in the same breath: "wanna pump fresh water underground to extract oil and then build another clean *snicker* coal plant? don't worry: our kids will figure a way outta this mess."  

there is one group for women only and another for all bisexuals. as is to be expected, someone's napoleon complex has pushed through her shiny, self-sacrificing veneer.  

i don't get people like her. they seem to think that their group exists for the sake of existing and not for the purpose of serving it's members. i also don't get how one can read an email, draw all kinds of conclusions and write a plethora of self-righteous emails to all the groups members. you'd think she'd want to keep her delusions to herself. maybe not.  

i, of course, emailed my two cents and probably came across as condescending and haughty. *sigh* we'll see what kind of crazy response my email elicits. as a great man once said, "flame on, internet whiners."  

the kat and i went to 'come out and play edmonton' yesterday. it's a bdsm group. i think i'll probably go back. i just wish they'd find a community league hall that didn't smell like an old trailer. yucky.  

it's sunday. the kat is off playing d&d and i think i'm going to go watch some anime.  

my afternoon really *has* improved. 

Money, its a crime.
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise its no surprise that they're
Giving none away.

my day has actually turned out better than i thought it would.

first, i had to go get *ten* vials of blood drawn at the lab. (i had a physical yesterday with the doctor who's going to be replacing my long-time GP.) my poor little wing still hurts. then i rushed to the office and was only an hour late.

once there, i had to call a resident manager (who's a complete nincompoop) to explain how to fill out a form. in a shocked bleat, she accused me of being 'snotty.' i'm considering telling her to pack her bags, but i'll have to figure out how to fire her without being snotty. i wouldn't want to ruffle her feathers. i am, you know, just her boss. 

i hear that (thankfully) she's started asking others her inane questions. if i have to see her plop herself in my office like a snarly toad again and she's not handing in her resignation, i'll scream ... or pound my forehead with my keyboard. whichever idea grabs me at the time.

*then* we got a call from that crazy client with whom we parted ways last year. apparently, he's been sued by his former managers and he's looking to us for help. *rolls eyes* he's a real pussycat when he wants a favour. any other time, he's a dehumanizing bastard. i wonder how helpful i'm feeling right now.

so, yes, that was my morning. this afternoon, however, has given me the will to continue on. i've spoken to *two* lovely people looking for employment; one for edmonton, one for leduc. *so happy* i have interviews lined up. gods, i hope they turn out to be reasonably normal and competent.

one has lots of experience with paperwork - she worked for the british navy doing logistics. maybe the boss will get her wish and we'll have an office full of former military people. 

*sigh* i'd just like to have employees who do their jobs without a whole lot of hand holding. unlike that resident manager, who needs constant reassurance and placating. when was the last time you told your boss that he or she was 'snotty' for correcting you? 

i'd really like to stop thinking about her now.

thank the gods.

sorta.

now i have yet one more position to fill. i have FIVE positions listed on our website. one doesn't start until december, but, damn. if any of you know of someone looking for administrative work, TELL ME. please. i'm feeling a little desperate.

i know i complain about my job, but it's really not so bad for someone who wouldn't be dealing with the public very much. plus, we make an effort to keep employees from feeling overwhelmed. (i'd even promise not to blog about him/her.)

i'm kind of glad she finally got the hint though. i have army guy picking up the slack and he's essentially taken over her office (which seemed to have a paper explosion in the past couple of months).

oh yes - that property we were looking at getting for the new office? it seems that they're going to hold out for a better offer ... even though ours was the best they'd had in months. heh - all over $12G to move a water line. meh. that place needs a lot of work. we may go with a commercial spot after all.

whatever. the realtor doing their end of the sale wasn't very happy that our offer was declined.

i'm going home to my bottle of tylenol.