Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Now that was depressing.
I find myself wondering what country I live in this morning with a Conservative majority government elected last night. Is this really a country that doesn’t believe in social programs, health care, womens’ rights, international diplomacy, peace-keeping, higher education, workers’ rights, parliamentary rules, scientific independence or the environment? Because the Conservatives under Stephen Harper have only expressed repeated contempt for all of the above and “we” have just given them the power to do whatever they want. Though admittedly, only 24% of Canadians gave them that power – a broken electoral system and an electorate where only 60% of the people vote – have allowed this anti-Canada party to form government.
For god’s sake people! This is the party who wants to merge Canada and the United States!
*sigh*
I know I should find a silver lining in the NDP surge last night – their historic victory in becoming the official opposition for the first time in their fifty-year history. But really, the devastation of a Conservative majority is just too great to feel much joy about who will be taking them to task. And without strong social movements, it won’t matter anyway (so let’s get building – we’ve got four years of fighting to do to keep Canada ours!)
I expect the first three months will be the worst, followed by a slow-grinding dissolution of Canada over the next decade if they can’t be stopped. I am utterly shocked by this. Shocked, and angered that so many Canadians just couldn’t be bothered to come out and vote at all.
Details, details, details.
One of the tasks at work that’s I’ve been dreading is finally complete – as I’ve just finished the second stage of a screening process for my current hiring competition. Talk about tedious! This was the testing round, where a number of people submitted web pages they had developed according to my instructions (or not). Because there were a number of elements to the test, scoring them took several hours – but in the end I got what I wanted…. which was far less people to interview.
You see, testing in hiring processes has less to do with the skills of applicants and more to do with their ability to follow instructions, and at least half of my test-ees missed at least one component they were asked to complete. That surprised me. Additionally, a number of people couldn’t do basic editing even though the job posting is for someone in communications.What was particularly notable to me though is that those things went hand in hand. That is, if someone failed to follow the basic instructions, they also missed more than half the errors I wanted them to catch in editing. Attention to detail! Very important.
And speaking of competitive processes, my interview with SFU yesterday went well and I should hear shortly about whether or not I’ve been accepted in the the program. I’m never sure how gauge my performance in such situations, but I think I piqued their interest a little bit – not only do I read difficult things, but I’ve got definite opinions on them. And I suppose that’s what makes for a graduate student if I’m lucky.
In the meantime I am crocheting, and trying to finish some quilted placemats before Brian’s birthday dinner next weekend, and hoping to get into the garden if the rain will ever stop. So many things to do and for the first time in ages I’m actually feeling excited about getting them done.
Back at it.
I’m feeling a bit nervous at the moment because in less than two hours I will be sitting in an interview regarding my application to graduate school. So what can I say except that I’m back in Vancouver (from a weekend trip to Fanny Bay ), I’m back at work after being sick a couple days last week on top of the long weekend, and I’ve got a very busy few days (and weeks) coming up.
In other news, I’ve been teaching myself to crochet over the weekend so I have a craft to take places with me – particularly when I’m traveling long distances. So far I’ve made four wash cloths and a soap saver during my weekend travels. I think next on the agenda is a scarf and wrist-warmers, or perhaps a cowl. Summer doesn’t exactly seem like scarf-making weather, so I might look at a lighter-weight summer shawl as a project next. We’ll see what I find to inspire me at the yarn shop on my way home from work today.
With the election looming I’m finding it hard to be motivated at work. Everything here is so touchy at the moment and I can’t stand the idea of a possible majority (though apparently that’s as elusive as ever for the Cons with their current projection at 147 seats). I’ve got lots to do though – because no matter who makes the government after May 2nd, they work of the government continues.
New Garden Plot @ Pandora!
This is my new garden plot at Pandora Park Community Garden which I just took over last night (by handing in my $20 garden registration fee). You would think I have enough gardening space already, but the great exposure on this site gives me a few more options. My plan at the moment is as follows with half of the bed being turned to garlic and overwintering onions in the fall:
I won’t be able to get in the garden this weekend, but I’m hoping to spend half a day there next weekend, add a layer of compost, build the trellis and plant what can be planted now (leeks, turnips, cabbage). Come later May/June I’ll be putting down the flowers, brussels sprouts, collards and squashes. At least that’s what I’m thinking about right now.
Learning self-care.
I’m starting to suspect that my fatigue of the last two days is related to getting a cold rather than returning from holidays. Yuck. Sore throat and still really tired. I’m hoping to make it through today at least since I have two meetings and a dentist appointment. Tomorrow I can be sick (but only until Friday because we’re going to the in-laws for Easter weekend)……Oh, if only we could control such things!
Awhile ago my fitness instructor at the YWCA gave us this quote to think about – “You can not control your life, you can control how you live” – which is obvious right? Apparently not to everyone because several people in my class didn’t really understand what that meant – but it resonated with me. Specifically this question of self-care, motivation, and living a life that is enjoyable as well as responsible – which are all matters that I can control, even if I can’t control all the circumstances thrown at me (like the timing of this cold).
One thing I realized after a week at Breitenbush is that taking real downtime on a regular basis would probably help reduce my overall stress levels. The other thing I’ve started to grok is that digital devices are a real impediment to getting any real downtime – not to mention the computer as a total demotivator to getting other things accomplished in the evenings (we don’t have TV, so the computer has become my time-wasting stand-in).
To that end I’ve decided to incorporate two practices into my routine to encourage downtime and de-stressing even while going about my busy city life:
- Regular massage/cranio sacral appointments, and
- No computer or phone email-checking after 7 pm. If we’re watching a movie I’ll make an exception for having the laptop active, but otherwise I don’t want to deal with the outside world after seven in the evening.
I’m going to try this out for a couple of months and see if it helps boost my overall emotional resilience – particularly as I expect May will be hectic with parties, union conventions and other good times, so it’s super-important that I find time to check-out when I can.
Red Cedar 