Red Cedar

i get so far away from home at events like this – trapped in a hotel for three days stretched into infinity, free liquor and all the poor male behaviour that goes on with that – you lose perspective at convention, what with all day meetings and a lack of sober sleep so that every small slight becomes a federal case and you can see the meanness in people, the desparation for company, the need to be accepted.

and what of that need to be accepted? i certainly want to be part of the *in* clique in my union – while at the same time wanting nothing to do with the male-dominated power politics that seem to be de rigueur here. just to highlight how gender imbalanced it is – only one of our convention committees (which have between 8-10 members) as more than one woman on it. the room is a virtual sea of white faces, mostly male… and there are men who still laugh (though carefully, privately) when the issue of equal representation is brought up (“women aren’t interested in union politics in my workplace” i keep hearing)….

now of course there are other factors at play – 1) is that women can play the same shitty games as men, though they tend to do it in a different way and alcohol doesn’t play so great a part, and 2) there are of course some really excellent people here two – a couple from my region who i have gotten to know bit by bit and really am enjoying hanging out with (none of us are really involved in the power politicking… so that helps)

so it’s not all miserable – but it is alien to me… and the need to be *on* and upright and smiling and friendly every minute i interact with people (even people i can’t stand, or who are sliming me) – wears me out. being a shop stewart is about a million times better than being a union politician – but if i want to run for my local presidency next year (and i do) then this is what i have to do.

and now for my favourite line from the last couple of days (and why i love working with environmental workers…)
person 1 (pollution control specialist): without adequate legislation, how are you going to protect your groundwater supply from contaminants?
person 2 (hydrographer): simple – with a sniper rifle

🙂

finally getting travel plans for the next 10 days or so worked out at the last minute this morning. i leave for winnipeg tomorrow and return to vancouver tuesday night (where i will be staying at the hotel vancouver because i can’t make it back to the sunshine coast given the time of my flight). i will go home to the coast wednesday, do laundry – pack my car and then thursday after work will head out towards winlaw, bc (just this side of nelson) to play at the wedding of jenny and paul and hopefully visit some friends out there too!

this tightness of schedule has me feeling a little harried, i would like to have a day of rest in there somewhere – but there is no room for slack in the next 10 days (although admittedly, much of the travel will be very social – and firetrap will be coming along to the koots to visit friends so i have a second driver which rocks).

i am right now trying to figure out a couple of things for the fall. one is whether or not to take the bc wildlife federation outdoors woman program in september in the lower mainland or at the end of october in sorrento (yes, i know, their politics leave a lot to be desired). sorrento is a little out of the way, but it would give me breathing space between now and then, and i already have plans booked into mid-september. i’m wondering if any of my gal-friends out there would be interested in the bcwf weekend? it costs $235 which covers everything and they give courses on shooting, fishing, kayaking, first aid and whole bunch of other things. the program for sorrento isn’t up yet, but you can check out the september program at their site. if you are interested in coming to sorrento and taking part in the course at the end of september, let me know because i will have room for a passenger or two and it really is gorgeous in the interior at that time of year (just before the snows come). other than the bcwf course, i know of no other woman-only lessons easily obtainable in bc – particularly shooting workshops. i have wanted to take this weekend of workshops for a couple of years now but it never fits into my schedule and they don’t happen that often. i am planning for this to be the year i finally get organized to get some of this training i have always wanted in a woman-supported environment (and have decided to forego diving lessons this fall to make room for this instead).

i’m not sure how much i will be blogging over the next 10 days, though i will endeavour to as long as i have computer access which will be the case in winnipeg, though not winlaw. my camera is charging up as we speak, and hopefully i will have lots of photos to share….