Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

ARGH

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

Our photo is currently number 16 out of 464 photos.

You can vote by clicking here

Remember a 10 is good!

Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!

*smile*

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Today was 'one of those days'.

I had a full day planned for work.  . . three meetings from between 10 am and 5 pm. Then I had two festive cocktail receptions to go to . . . I know, that isn't work for many, but have you tried to make small talk and chit chat with folk you don't really enjoy being around? Then I was hosting a group of 12 for a nice dinner out. Luckily I liked this group! *smile*

I left home in the darkness at 6 am and arrived home twenty minutes ago, again under the cover of darkness, at 11 pm. I am drained but true to format, I am blogging. I haven't missed a day in 11 months.

The crisis de jour was that I was unable to dress myself appropriately this morning.

No, I wasn't wearing clashing colours nor was my underwear on the outside, rather I had a full blown shoe crisis on my hands!

ARGH

Yes, ARGH!

I arrived at work. Looked down, and realized to my dismay that I had two different shoes on. They were both black, but the styles quite different. One wasn't even my shoe, you might think I would have noticed it was three sizes larger. To think I drove on the highway being that confused! LOL

I contemplated saying 'to hell with it', but had no desire to spend my day wondering what folk were thinking of my fashion crisis (yes, I am that shallow).

Now, this has happened to me once before. In fact, one of the shoes I was wearing today was one of the pair I bought to deal with that particular crisis.

So no, I clearly do NOT learn from my mistakes.

Luckily when I had my issue a year ago I discovered that there was a shoe store near the office which opens at 8 am. I raced there hoping that no one would notice.

Later, when I got to the office I tallied things up - $ 80 for new shoes, $ 5.50 for the subway, $ 4.50 for the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha (to help cope with the stress) and 800 additional calories from said Peppermint Mocha.

All in all - I need a damn vacation!

Work . . . Dragging Me Down

Shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. We are currently 19 17 out of 321 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

*smile*

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My god, I am tired.

I'm going through a phase at work where I can't really seem to identify which end is up any more.

Today I was at work at 6 am and guess what time I left? 8 pm!

The truly sad piece is that I wasn't even on top of things at that point.

Admittedly, some of this is my own fault. I started a new position recently and it is one of those trick roles in which no one can really know what is involved . . . until you are knee deep in the you-know-what anyway.  I dicovered that a whole lot is involved right now and unfortuntely it is a busy time with other projects.  I know it is a part of the learning curve but I sure hope to have my head above water soon!

Next year I know - don't plan any activities at all for September.

It is unbelievable that this time last year we were 1 week from our first trip to Italy. Lord, how I wish I could switch! *smile*

Catching Up

Shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. We are currently 21 20 19 out of 311 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

*smile*

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I have to catch up on a few things. I see the pic from Wednesday's post has vanished. what is up with that?

This is the salad:

YUM

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I have returned from Ottawa. It sure is nice to be home with loved ones again.

Ruth had some bad news for me today. One of our former students, whom we taught a number of years ago, died while riding his bike at university. What a bloody shame. While I taught Graham years ago - and then only as a rotary teacher - I remember him as a hard working kid who deserved better. Not that anyone deserves this sort of an end. Ruth tells me that she has never known a student to die. Unfortunately for me I have had this experience before and I can tell you it is not a pleasant one!

I've spent some time looking through old yearbooks from my teaching days, fixing Graham in my mind and remembering some of the classroom interactions we had back then. Fun times (even with the odd headache!)

I'm at the risk of becoming maudlin . . .

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. . . moving on to more enjoyable things . . .

One of my favourite things to do In Ottawa is to visit the cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill. Tucked away in the trees that border the rear of Parliament Hill is a small community of stray cats. This area, which has now come to be called the "Cat Sanctuary," has been home to strays since the late 1970s. A volunteer ensures that the shelters used by the cats are maintained and that the animals are fed every day.

Originally the project of Irène Desormeaux, their care passed to René Chartrand in 1987 upon Desormeaux's death. While Chartrand built a small series of structures resembling mock Parliament buildings inside a small enclosure for them, the cats are free to roam the property, easily slipping in and out of the gates. According to Chartrand, the cats were allowed inside the Parliament buildings to help control rodent populations.

There are currently around 14 different cats on the premises. The cats are all spayed or neutered, and receive free inoculations and care from the local Alta Vista Animal Hospital.

It was a pleasure to visit with this guys this morning. I made my donation in the locked box to assist with the food and upkeep for these kitties and then sat on the bench and watched. Soon three or four of them had come over to the bench and were making my acquaintance. It was a nice way to start the day, too bad the rest of the day was not as enjoyable.

On the Road . . . (again)

Shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. We are currently 21 out of 311 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

*smile*

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Tonight's post is brought to you from:

where I am facilitating a group building/visioning/goal setting session with a group of Executive members. I flew up yesterday and fly home tomorrow.

I always am happy to accept tasks in Ottawa because I enjoy the city so much. I always stay in the Byward market. This historic area is a colourful mosaic of farmers' market stalls, shops, galleries, cafés and clubs just east of Parliament Hill. It's a popular place during the day for strolling and shopping, or at night for an evening's entertainment. You'll find a bustling centre with restaurants serving food from around the world, shops specializing in arts, crafts and other unique products, fresh farm produce, and nightclubs for those eager to dance the night away.

Not that I am dancing the night away! I am so tired from work and stuff that all I want to do is sleep.

I met some friends for dinner tonight at an amazing restaurant .. . more on that later. Tomorrow if I can wake up on time (I slept through the alarm this morning ARGH) I hope to walk up to Parliament hill and see what is happening there.

Mom gave me her order for tea from her favourite tea shop, Paul his order of baked goods. Yes, they are happy when I have jobs to do here as well!

Back, Crazy at Work, and a Long Weekend

I've been quiet for a few days. I was so busy at the training sessions that there was little time to post. I arrived home late on Wednesday night and by the time we ordered in a pizza and watched the second last episode of LOST for the season (how amazing was it, folks?) that I just crashed.

Yesterday was my first day back in the office in a week. Needless to saw voice mail was full. The in-basket was overflowing, and I had an all-morning meeting. GRRR

I had planned on taking today off of work but there is just too much to do. I still have 13 vacation days to use up by June 30th . . . I know that that won't be happening!

Recently the issue of not using one's vacation was discussed in the Globe and Mail:

Yup, Canadian workers have issues with vacation. We don’t take it when we have it. We bank it away as if the magic of compound interest works on vacation days. Often times, it never gets used and we end up giving it back to the company, or cashing it in. We are, according a long running survey, a nation of “vacation-deprived” souls.

Where I work we can bank vacation days (and I have 63.5 days in the bank).

Why am I saving this vacation time? I don't have a 12 week vacation planned any time soon. Besides, I get an additional 6 weeks of vacation as of July 1!

Why are you not using your vacation days?

expedia.ca has been tracking this for a number of years. This is what they have found on their survey:

“Canada continues to be one of the most vacation-deprived countries globally with employed Canadians reporting an average of 18 days each of vacation in 2007, only the U.S. fares worse with an annual average of 14 vacation days,” according to the survey.

Not surprisingly, European workers, living in countries with a more healthy work/life balance have significantly more vacation days that they use. Now I know why everyone was so more laid back and relaxed in Europe. The moral of this story . . . . let's all be European!

Enjoy some well-deserved vacation folks.

Out of the Office

I am on the road for work again. This time I am on the shores of lovely Lake Huron running the second half of our Union leadership training event. It was wonderful yesterday to not head into the city, instead I was able to relax, enjoy my coffee like a 'normal' person, and then head out in the opposite direction.

After a lovely drive through the countryside just awakening from a winter's sleep I was here. I checked in, dropped off my materials in the conference centre, and checked out my room - it isn't a room but a whole house - very much like a condo at the beach without a full kitchen. It is located about 20 feet from the beach so after I was settled I headed out to check it out. The pic at the right was taken when I first got to the beach . . . it had been raining on and off for awhile and i saw this storm approaching off of the lake.

This is an amazing facility, unlike any corporate training facility I have ever been it. That must be because it is owned and operated by one of Canada's largest unions. They really run it as the epitome of work/life balance. The outdoor (and indoor) activities are second to none. Last night I took some time to wander the beautiful landscaped grounds . . . it is difficult to think about work when you look around and this is what you see. Inside the training rooms are amongst the best I have ever seen - the best AV hook ups and supports you could imagine, huge rooms that are full of natural light and none of those inconvenient pillars you always get in a hotel. I wish I could come here for all of our training events!

Tonight we have a bonfire planned. I bought bags and bags of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate to make s'mores. . . sadly the forecast is for rain so I may be eating chocolate all of the way home!

It was wonderful to wake up this morning, get dressed quickly, and head out to the beach. I had it all to myself (well, truth be told, I shared it with the birds!) The sun was breaking through the clouds and I was able to get some wonderful pictures.

It is funny how I am drawn to the water. My zodiac sign is Cancer and it is one of the water signs, those of you who believe in that sort of stuff will know that the water signs are drawn to water. I'm not sure I truly believe myself but I do know that when I am on the shore of a lake I have this amazing feeling of calmness . . . a sense of belonging - very difficult to explain.

Oh well,  enough deep thought for the day, it is 7:30 and I only have 45 minutes to get breakfast and prepare to lead my first session.

Have a wonderful day all!

A Quick Fix

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been attending an international conference on bullying here in Ottawa for the past two days. The conference wraps up today. Initially I did not want to come to the conference because the timing wasn't perfect (having just returned from another conference in CA and vacation and work is piled high on my desk) but I came anyway and am glad I did so.

Something happened yesterday in one of my sessions that has annoyed me and discouraged me.  It was a session on cyberbullying. There isn't much research on cyberbullying; we're just getting a sense as to who does the bullying, the dynamics of the bullying, and the impact of the bullying. The presenter was sharing this information and the current case law. It was interesting, compelling, and important information.

In the middle of her presentation a participant but up her hand and said: 'I'm not interested in this stuff. Can you just tell me what I need to do to make it stop?'

ARGH

I am discouraged when I hear people looking for a quick fix to such a complex and multifaceted problem. I guess I should understand this dynamic though - in our world we read self-help books and expect our life to change  as we read the words. We watch Dr Phil and expect his words of 'wisdom' to change our situation. We don't bother to look at the problem from all angles before trying to solve it.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud her for wanting to make it stop. Cyberbullying is horrific; we had a recent case of a girl who was given a 'date rape drug' and sexually assaulted while unconscious. The perpetrators took a cell phone video of the assault. They then set it up on a web site. Soon the entire school (if not the world) was viewing the clip. Horrific and devastating stuff. A quick fix won't make this crap go away.

I can see though, that I shall have to be busy so we can better support our teachers in dealing with this stuff.

Carbon Neutral Events

Lately there has been much talk of climate change, the environment, and the footprint made by our activities on the earth. The union that I work for has spent considerably time reflecting on its activities and planning ways to counter the enormous imprint that we have. The first strategy was put into action yesterday and today.

Three times a year we bring in representatives from all of our locals across the province to a meeting in Toronto. Many from the far reaches fly, others drive or take the train. We spent two days in a hotel discussing policy, issues, and advising the Executive as to possible direction.

We have partnered with Tree Canada to offset the carbon emissions created by this event. Tree Canada calculates the total emissions created by the event through travel, the food our delegates would eat, the hotel usage, paper, etc and calculates how many trees would need to be planted in order to counter the impact of the event. This short event was calculated to create more than 3 tonnes of carbon emissions! In order to counter this we need to plant 166 trees - it will take these trees (assuming a 70 % survival rate) 10 years to offset the carbon created by our meeting.

Here is information about Tree Canada:

The Foundation encourages the running of your conference, trade show or annual meeting as "carbon neutral". By this we mean that the amount of carbon generated (through travel, heating, lights etc.) be offset through the planting of trees. The Foundation can assist your group in the calculation of carbon expenditure as well as calculating the amount of trees required to offset this amount of carbon.The Tree Canada Foundation will:

• do the carbon calculation estimate
• provide an estimate of the number of trees to plant to absorb the carbon over 1, 10, 20 or 80 years
• arrange the site selection, landowner contact, seedling transportation, tree seedling purchase, site preparation, planting, maintenance and survival assessments
• guarantee survival to be 70% to Year 5 of the planting by refill planting if necessary
• issue your event our "carbon neutral event" logo until the event has taken place
• place your event on our main homepage until the event and on our carbon neutral events listing page of the website