Wrapping up 2007

Pardon me if I nod off while I write this.  The absence of any personal mail in my “In Box” tells me that the few people who would normally write are busy doing Christmassy activities.  Having lived a solitary life for over 40 years I am accustomed to keeping my own company; but this is the first Christmas I have spent entirely by myself.  Today’s the last day of 2007 and as the last few hours count down I find myself in a fey mood.  Tomorrow marks the last year of my working life.  Two Hundred and Thirty-Nine Days to go and counting.  If I’m in the write mood I’ll do my letter of resignation tomorrow.  I’ve always made it a habit to apply for my annual leave at least a month in advance so applying for retirement in the next couple weeks seems about right.  Let the writer’s cramp begin. 

 

Started this tome over the weekend but sort of ran out of steam along the way.  I’ve been neglecting my personal journal as well.  As my Book Blog attests I’ve finally finished reading the Collected works of Derek Walcott and launched into Robert W. Service.  When I picked up his Collected Poetry a few years back I thought 700 pages was a lot of doggerel about the Arctic until I realized that there are two additional volumes one of nearly a thousand pages and another of nearly 500.  At least his verse is infinitely more accessible than some I’ve read of late. 

 

Years in which Christmas occurs mid-week make the holiday period strange.  Many businesses shut down between Christmas and New Years but the one I work for does its biggest business at this time of year.  By this point I’m really not sure what day of the week it is.  Dropped into East Side Mario’s for supper and made it in the door just before they closed it to prepare for their New Year’s Eve festivities.  It’s homey to get hugged by your waitress and feel like family.  We all need our support networks. 

 

There was a light snowfall overnight Sunday; and the promise of five to ten inches for New Years Day.  Today’s deposit was just sufficient to make walking miserable.  As usual we here in Southern Ontario panic over the kind of snow that in the Maritimes is taken in stride.  Mind you even Florida is fussing over a wind-chill forecast. 

 

I’ve made the rounds taking down my calendars and to date have only picked up one store-bought calendar for 2008.  Since I don’t plan to be around for at least half of 2008 I may just put pictures on the wall where I once had calendars.  These days I keep track of the day of the week by checking my medication minder.  Since I’m allowed to come and go as I please I don’t even set my alarm lately.  After over 35 years my internal clock gets me up and I’m lucky to be a morning person. 

 

My partying neighbours make me feel like Malvolio in Twelfth Night appearing in his night shirt in the middle of their revels.  They were probably out on the balcony smoking; at least the walls keep the racket from seeping into my apartment otherwise.  I’m for bed and it’s doubtful I’ll be awake to see the New Year in. 

 

PEACE AND JOY TO ALL IN 2008

You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch

Perhaps it’s because I have no family nearby and in particular I’m not around any children.  Or perhaps it’s because Christmas has become so commercialized and divorced from the event it celebrates.  It may be the fact that in my profession Christmas is the busiest time of year.  Even the soggy weather we’re having outside may have something to do with it.  In any case I’m feeling in a distinctly Grinchly mood this morning.  Even MS Word is in a disagreeable mood, it claims that Grinchly isn’t a word. 

 

Since my Mother died I’ve given up on flying back East for Christmas.  It seems a dreadful expense particularly when I have only two days off and I’m too played out to enjoy it.  To fly these days is to be treated like a criminal and flying at Christmas time has its own pitfalls.  I’ve had my share of landing on icy runways and wind-shear.  Given our mobile society most of the friends I would visit with this time of year are also far away and when one reaches nearly sixty one shares with Dickens’s Scrooge the ghosts of so many one formerly knew who are no longer with us. 

 

It is with interest that I read that sales are actually down this year because people are truly becoming tired of the sales hype associated with the season and switching to charitable donations and handmade gifts in lieu of lavish giving. 

 

After nearly 40 years at Canada Post I’m looking forward to the opportunity to enjoy next year without hearing about all those parcels that didn’t make it in time and looking at the addresses people use when they spend up to $50.00 to mail something—if they spent even a fraction of the time it took to earn that money to get it right our job would be so much easier.  Who taught those people to write anyway?

 

Outside this morning daylight has barely scratched the nimbus of night as we are deluged with steady rain and the promise of gale-force winds.  Never fear, today’s warm temperatures will give way to frigid, wind-driven flurries tomorrow.  There is a chance that we’ll get sunny weather by Boxing Day. 

 

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The blizzard I wrote about last weekend blew in from the South-East and therefore from my vantage-point looking North-West the south side of our building took the brunt of the gale-force gusts that blew the snow into huge drifts.  By the time I left for work Monday morning the main roads had all been ploughed even if they were still sloppy; those unlucky enough to live on non-priority streets got to take another day off as even four-wheel drive vehicles found them impossible to navigate.  Unfortunately when people are held captive by the weather they find time to complain and our phones rang off the hook all day. 

 

On a positive note on Tuesday our boss took the office staff out for a Chinese Buffet and on Wednesday a continental breakfast for which I made coffee was laid in for Santa’s Helpers.  Dropped into East Side Marios on Wednesday after work for Caesar Salad and Chicken Cacciatore managing to find parking at Oakville Place—they owe me a mug as they’d run out.  Wednesday evening, after my late afternoon nap settled in and wrote 4 letters.  Thursday I made a house-call to do first aide on a friend’s computer.  By the time Friday rolls around I’m ready to kick back and relax in front of the TV or this laptop.  I’ve been listening to Pipedreams episodes from November—I need to catch up—and am presently auditing Music and the Spoken Word from Salt Lake City.  I have two sets of comics yet to read and the Austin City Chronicle and I should make something for brunch. 

 

Blue Christmas--Definitely White

The temperature drop has arrived; not quite the deep freeze originally predicted but  cold enough to turn toes into ice cubes nevertheless.  The snowfall predictions, on the other hand, just keep getting deeper and deeper.  Be warned, if you don't find your shovel; your mailman won't be finding you.  Having the worst storm in half a decade coincide with the heaviest mail of the year is going to be devastating; walking through heavy snow tires one quickly and there is always the next day and the day after that to be thought of.  

 

What can I say about the week that was?  I began it feeling fatigued and disaffected.  Dined out at East Side Mario’s on Monday and Swiss Chalet on Wednesday.  Being slow on the uptake I was slow to react when someone from the kitchen at Swiss Chalet came up to shake my hand—I’m also not totally comfortable with being called “Sir.”  Turns out it was one of my fellow workers moonlighting as a chef—too bad this happened to be the day my chicken was overdone and my fries soggy.  Tuesday is new release day for DVD’s and I picked up the latest Harry Potter and Bourne movies.  I figure when I combine a ten mile drive to the nearest movie theatre, a $15.00 ticket, $10.00 pop corn, and the aggravation of sitting through half an hour of advertising that buying the DVD is cheaper in the long run and I can watch it as often as I wish, when I wish, and put it on pause or finish it later as the whim takes me.  Unfortunately I’ll have to watch both movies a second time before I can truly evaluate them as I fear I may have napped through sections of both this week.  What can I say?  This was also Microsoft Patch release day and Redmond obliged by releasing its usual basket of updates—one wonders why they  even bother; at least this week I haven’t noticed any major problems with those updates. 

 

Visited my bank on Tuesday after Future Shop challenged my VISA Card and was nonplussed about being informed that I would get faster service if I placed a call to their call centre.  From there attempted to do some grocery shopping at Longos and was once more reminded how much I detest having the aisles in my favourite store rearranged so often.  So much of what one picks up weekly one grabs because one is familiar with where one has picked it up in the past.  When it isn’t there one tends to arrive home without key shopping needs and this is particularly true when one is dog tired in the first place. 

 

Got to go out and do a couple emergency lock changes this week; on Thursday I had the distinct pleasure of navigating back streets during a snow squall that turned them into skating rinks and coated every street sign with wet snow.  In those circumstances finding one’s way becomes a challenge.  On foot I’ve been known to brush the snow off to be sure I know where I was taking the mail but behind the wheel in traffic it’s another matter.  The joys of winter in Ontario—joys we could all have done without or at least have gladly delayed until after the Christmas rush was over. 

 

As well this week my body has been giving me irrefutable admonitions to inform me that my hours spent behind this keyboard have left me out of shape for tasks such as shovelling snow.  I need to get out and get active again to get back in shape—both in terms of my physical form and general fitness level.  Apparently use it or lose it is reality. 

 

 

 

Waiting for a Train Wreck

Before Modern Communications put the world at our fingertips 24/7 farmers predicted the weather by watching the sky, the birds, and their livestock and by listening to the aches and pains in their joints and sinuses.  Knowing that a blizzard is on the way is equivalent to being on a train headed for a wreck you are powerless to avoid.  Tonight the thermometer is headed for the basement with a clear, calm sky leading us to sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures.  Tomorrow the temperature will rise and so will the winds as a winter storm that began life in Texas roars across the Great Lakes collecting moisture and dumping drifting snow over Southern Ontario—the meteorological equivalent of a train wreck.  Our fore-fathers would have made sure the wood-box was full; the cattle well-fed and watered; their oil lamps trimmed and full; and settled in for the inevitable.  If the drifts were too high to be shoveled they tunneled to the barn to care for their animals or the buildings were inter-connected.  In the days before million-dollar snow ploughs it could be weeks before the outside world became reachable.  Heading into the Christmas Season at the Post Office I have a similar feeling; however modern cities don’t normally shut down because of weather and when Christmas volumes coincide with heavy snow hardship ensues. 

 

 

The Winter of My Discontent?

So much for global warming; we have now had more snow and a longer period of cold than we had all last winter here in Southern Ontario.  Those forced to work out of doors are feeling the effects of this weather.  The dangers inherent in walking on icy, slippery surfaces and exposure to cold and frostbite are obvious but it is the less obvious effects that are more insidious and lasting.  Hands exposed to long periods of drying cold become chapped, crack, and bleed.  It becomes necessary to remember to use gloves when washing dishes to preserve the natural oils in one’s hands and to slather them with moisturizer on a regular basis. 

 

Long exposure to cold is fatiguing and the effects don’t become readily apparent until one returns to normal room temperatures.  Exposure to extreme cold can cause the body’s core temperature to drop and from personal experience I’ve learned to suspect this condition when I find myself making mistakes I would not normally commit and at that point getting inside to warm up becomes imperative.  I’ve been cold enough that the battery-operated watch on my wrist stopped working.  Other effects are no less significant but not normally discussed in polite society.  If you were to be on the work floor just before letter carriers are leaving to spend 3 to 4 hours walking up to 8 miles you would know that before departing the station a trip to the washroom is an essential last step.  Going, even if you don’t feel the need is an essential part of every letter carrier trainee’s education.  It’s something they probably don’t teach in “Posty School”.  What they also don’t teach is that exposure to cold can cause the bladder to spasm and force a search for the nearest rest room—it is at this point that being on good terms with one’s customers is important.  I have personally knocked on a few doors over the years. 

 

So far the Christmas rush is most apparent in the number of parcels we’ve had to process; the gang will work this weekend in an attempt to clear up the backlog.  In the previous week there was an enormous dump of admail—junk mail to those on the receiving end.  Thursday I made coffee for a United Way Sponsored Breakfast held at our station.  We have been most fortunate in that no one has been hurt despite the adverse walking conditions this week. 

 

On a more personal level this was a quiet week for the most part.  On Monday I patronized Swiss Chalet before going to Shoppers Drug to pick up medication.  I dined out at the Coach and Four, a decent local pub/restaurant in Bronte on Friday after work.  The rest of the week I managed to find something to eat at home.

 

Got brave on Tuesday and took my laptop along to take minutes during the Trafalgar Community Policing Committee Meeting.  We had a talk from Jackie Brennan on Identity Theft.  Among her recommendations:

 

1. Carry only one credit card and eliminate all unnecessary documents from you purse or wallet.

 

2. Photocopy the contents of your wallet.

 

3. Reduce your exposure by keeping your credit card limit at the lowest minimum practicable.

 

4. If you plan to travel call your credit card company and advise them to expect unusual purchases from unusual locations or you may have your credit frozen—for your own protection.

 

5. Change PIN Numbers regularly 

 

Most of us find it sufficient challenge just remembering Interact PIN’s and most never change them.  We are also advised to conceal our fingers while we enter that pin at the grocery checkout or at our auto-bank teller. 

 

Being the victim of Identity Theft is an alarming prospect.  Learning that once victimized the process of recovering will take a minimum of 1000 hours and leave one’s credit record forever problematic is nightmarish.  For more advice go here:

 

http://www.phonebusters.com/english/index.html

 

I will say that it was pleasant to leave that meeting with its minutes already complete.

 

On Wednesday I settled in here in front of my computer screen and watched an entire episode of the CBC series, The Tudors:

 

http://www.cbc.ca/tudors/fullEpisodesPlayer.html

 

I must say that seeing old ‘Enery the Eighth as a lustful, handsome, young stud is a novel idea.  This being CBC his bedroom exploits are tastefully handled. 

 

Thus, the week that was in my life.  Today I’m taking a relaxed approach to browsing, catching up on the world, and recuperating. 

 

 

What Happened to November?

Did anyone notice what happened to November?  Seems just yesterday I was wandering around my apartment changing all the calendars and now it’s time to do it again however this time they will be on their last pages.  One way or another it feels like November was lost in a haze of cloud, fog, and gloom.  Sounds like I was as well; doesn’t it?

 

The above was written Saturday Morning and at that time I had thoughts for its continuance that have since scattered to the wind—or got lost in a snow drift—somehow I lost steam.  Did I mention snow drifts?  Overnight the weatherman quit fooling around and decided to give us a full blast of winter.  There were at least 4 inches of drifted snow on the ground when I looked out this morning.  Well, at least it brightens up the joint somewhat.  I did, however, decide there weren’t any groceries I needed so badly that a trip on those unplowed roads was necessary.  Believe I’ll let the demotion derby that is attendant upon the first major snow-fall work itself out before I get on the road.  Hot mulled cider anyone?