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Reload page in style: light

Going to the air-conditioned office and sending the kids to air-conditioned other place and the pool today for obvious reasons... stay cool out there if you're in this heat wave!

I did a flurry of picture-hanging and putting boxes a bit out of sight here. As we're settling in, my cousin is preparing to move north of Montreal, I brought the kids to a going-away street party by his place. It was fun to see some family, familiar faces and random strangers with the kids. Some knew about my separation and had supportive things to say, and some were just nice people to chat with. Found a union guy (now in LR) and talked shop, watched the younger ones sing their hearts out at the karaoke tent, and had a nice time.

Still feeling a mix of lightness and "what have I done?" on the separation front. Hoping the money actually works and the house I'm renting is good to us. Oscar asked if I was going to own a house again sometime and I didn't have a lot of answer — explained the benefits of renting and that we're living here for a year in any case. I didn't use the words "in this economy?" but they crossed my mind...

Have been booking things for Newfoundland with Ada — looks like we're going Economy on the train, all the berths were booked up. But we benefit from the Canada Strong pass! We'll sleep on soft beds in Halifax. I think it's going to be a blast of a trip.

Union-wise I am recently off 3.5 days of meetings — they were different levels of dense but we were meeting at the same time as basic training for 100 new stewards; we got to spend time with them in the evening and I got added to a few LinkedIns. In the meetings themselves we took a stronger stand on something than I was expecting. It's inside baseball and I should probably wait for the minutes to come out but it's stronger than I was expecting!

Current Mood: hot

Yesterday was Father's Day and also two weeks into me sleeping in the new place. It's shaping up — I keep chipping away at the move; there are still boxes and bags in the front room at the new place but all the rooms feel pretty homey. Father's Day included going to Ada's concert where she sang '22,' which involved more Communauto adventure than anticipated — Elizabeth couldn't unlock her booked car, then I grabbed one that turned out to have a flat, and walked to the replacement. Third time lucky! Also, the concert was running late so Ada got to sing despite our travails. Afterward, we hunted for a brunch place and found a spot at Alpina up in northern Aylmer. They were slammed but nice and the food was copious and tasty.

In the afternoon I found a couple of items from the dregs of garage sales to fill out the kitchen and back deck, and then Andrea and Morgen came over and we went to the nearby city pool all together and had supper. It was lovely to show them around and splash in the pool (I'm not a huge swimmer but it was mostly goofing around in the shallow end).

Things are still mostly cordial with Elizabeth — she got brunch for us, she's offering to help with stuff — but August scheduling is presenting some challenges — trips and plans and kid preferences on what to participate in. More discussion required, I guess.

Union-wise: it's likely real, I plan on handing over the presidency of the subgroup (the local committee) to a young, keen activist (votes permitting) as I've wanted to for a while. That gets me to the state I have wanted to be in for a while.

Lastly: car and ferry booked for adventure with Ada! Lots more to plan, but it's getting real!

Current Mood: optimistic

I ran the marathon on the weekend and finished nearly half an hour faster than last time — the next personal best is going to be considerably harder to achieve! The weather cooperated and I have been working on my speed — my consistency wasn't there all the way to the end but I was pretty solid for the first 36 km or so and the drop-off in the end wasn't nearly as precipitous as last time!

In other endurance events, our kitchen and bathroom are now both done. Waiting for the final invoice and anything else, but we've put most of the stuff back and are living in them. The space and brightness and lack of impending plumbing failure are all very nice.

This week is going to involve a lot of union stuff; I hope my team doesn't miss me too much...

Tomorrow is Ada's actual birthday: nine years old! She wants to go out to supper for her birthday meal, so off to our local bistro for moderately fancy burgers and fries we go.

Current Mood: mellow

My back is sadly hurting quite a bit, but I think it's on the mend. No long run for me this weekend; maybe I'll sneak in a few short/medium ones over the week. Marathon minus six weeks!

I think it got that way because last week was a bit of a doozy. Some hard conversations, plus my union is having a bit of a week, and our living room/dishwashing/cooking setup is not exactly ergonomic during the renovations. With any luck this week will be less bonkers.

I'm writing from a new-to-me desk in my basement lair. The old one was a converted sewing table with duct tape over the sharp edges; the new one is from my meta-metamour who was moving house and wanted a home for some stuff that wasn't coming with him (or anyone else in his soon to be reconfigured household). Vivien got a new bedside table, there's an improved bed coming to some kid (possibly Vivien as well) and we may turn around and rehome the wardrobe that was part of the package deal. The desk is from the era of tower desktop computers but I the setup feels pretty good. Elizabeth was kind of appalled by all the (quality) chipboard coming into the house but I feel it was an improvement over the stuff it's replacing and none of it will wind up where she has to look at it. I think the initial shock has blown over. Over a year ago I did a Year Compass and wrote that I wanted to make myself cozy with a new desk. I'm late but here it is. Maybe I'll take another look at what I was promising myself as 2022 was turning into 2023 and see what still resonates and whether there are some low-hanging fruit there.

Renovation: walls sanded, and this week should be a flurry of activities: painting, cabinet delivery, probably not a restored bathroom just yet but close. We did get to see my parents in law, all use their shower, and then go out to a very springtime sugar shack lunch and hike. Lunch was delicious and the hike was very muddy — I didn't quite keep up with my household with my back hurting, but in trying to keep up with them my parents in law were going at their own pace behind me. So kind of a short solo hike.

Current Mood: moody
Current Location: basement lair

We have emptied out the kitchen and bathroom downstairs in anticipation of the renovation crew arriving early tomorrow to demolish anything left in there. It's going to be a bit like camping at home for several weeks, but when it's all done we'll have normal-height counters, a built-in dishwasher, better plumbing and a kitchen arrangement that gives us a bit more room to swing a cat (put the cat down, kids). Meantime, our place is feeling pretty small, and a bit like we're moving.

I was at three days of national union meetings Thursday through Saturday, and we're trying to tighten up a lot of things internally while processing the latest budget and rumblings from Parliament Hill. With Liberals like this, who needs Conservatives? I really like enough people in the union to make it still fun, but this is going to be a hard stretch.

I also replaced my beaten-up road running shoes with this year's version of the old model, and have been putting them through their paces. Almost 24km at a run in and out of Aylmer. Wanted to do more, but I was kind of flagging on the way back and walked the last three.

My whole reading page is full of people with respiratory stuff, including catching up on years of cold all at once. I hope you all get better soon and also don't breathe on me.

September is on us; the peer camping was a bit smaller than anticipated. One of our number got eaten by family stuff, another is a humanitarian worker and got dispatched to Edmonton to catch people evacuated from Yellowknife and area. Canoeing to the campsite was easier than I was expecting, and canoes can carry a lot of stuff. We three of us who made it spent all of Saturday doing nothing pretty hard, talking, tending the fire (it was chilly) and basically disconnecting. It makes me want to do it again!

Labour Day weekend we went to visit my parents Saturday and Sunday; it was short as recent visits tend to be and we didn't manage to do much visiting elsewhere in the area but we did get to explore the town garage sale and do our usual sitting around and catching up. Labour Day proper I took the kids to the parade in Ottawa. It was very hot which I think kept some of the people I usually catch up with home, but it was still a fun activity — the little ones got balloon animals, everyone got the barbecue lunch and we did loose bikes with one grownup supervising pretty well there and back.

I've got a bunch of teaching (technical and Positive Space) and writing (same) coming up, and I'm also trying to wrangle work for my team. It's busy! Union meetings the next couple of Fridays and this Saturday. Trying to decide what else I can take on or punt, and a bit down on the level of interest for Positive Space, but if I push some offerings back I can widen the net a bit. I feel like a few of my union people are a bit worn and I might lose some volunteers soon, might have to start reducing expectations or trying to develop some new people...

Current Mood: frazzled
Current Location: basement lair
Current Music: Ologies Cosmology Part I

The wildfire smoke is back as the kids finish school; it means things are feeling a bit cooped up here. We had some board games from the library to keep us amused but I was looking forward to getting outside more.

Oscar has finished elementary school and is diving into their supplies list for high school: USB key! Lots of looseleaf! They got a grad shirt and certificate and photo book and some nice words from their teacher — best tech support in the class :)

I am now a Group President in my union — the liaison and point of contact for 2700 or so core public servants in research occupations. The hand-over is going to take a little while, but I'm scheduling the first meeting of the new term and going over the files to transfer. The previous president will stay on as Treasurer so I will have plenty of opportunities for perspective over time! I feel like it's a big transition but also I have some extra energy to move forward.

Speaking of moving forward, I ran the marathon! The day before, I ran a fast and fun 10k, and then the first half of the marathon was very good -- I followed a 4:20 pacer and ran my fastest half. I ran out of juice at around 20k and slowed down, with hamstring cramps at 36k, and finished in just over five hours. It was hot, I made some rookie pacing mistakes... and I still made it :)

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: basement lair

I went to my parents' place for a visit on the weekend with the household. Saw some cute critters, walked, talked, ate, and took a side trip to visit a couple of high school friends who stayed in the region — this much was planned! I also caught my brother and his kid leaving (late) for Up North, and then it turned out that some beef (a share of one of my dad's steers) was in my sister's freezer, so we took a bonus side trip to her place and saw her, her partner and both her kids. That probably makes the first 24-hour period where I've seen my whole set of parents, siblings and niephlings since 2019. Some of it was a bit rushed, but I hope we'll be inspired to get together at slower speed soon.

Monday I got together with some people I knew from Peer Support in university. Maybe unsurprisingly we were two therapists and two not-therapists. We had affogatos and talked life, real and potential kids, chicken husbandry, therapy, absent Peers… three afternoon went by really fast; I hope we'll manage to get together again.

Elizabeth had her thyroid surgery today; Doug got get there and back while I was in bargaining and she went to bed early tonight. No complications so far; the kids seem to want her to wear a scarf until the surgical site heals and her stitches are out. We have a "care and feeding" sheet, a full fridge and a few calm days (at least for her) — Oscar is on a school trip to Toronto so there's one less kid to feed and get where they need to be for a couple more days.

Bargaining is going — we got a comprehensive offer from the employer this time, which we'll have to fix but we're optimistic we can get something that will be good for members and justify the trust put in the Central Table team by the bargaining units. It'll be strange — "done" for us just means handing language off to other tables. Last time I was on my group table and Central took until we were almost ready to sign but this time our group is way back from the front runners so a tentative agreement might be months away.

The Ottawa Marathon is on Sunday. Tapering is weird, but I trust that my body will be able to do the thing! I might be finding comrades out there on the day of; Anne had doubts about whether she was going to do the marathon after all. It's going to start comfortably cool but get pretty hot by the end. My 42km in my 42nd year is likely going to happen, though!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: Couch
Current Music: Daft Punk

1. What is your work/school commute like?: Summer: by bike in my work clothes — Strava on, maybe do an errand on the way.

Winter: by express bus after dropping the kids at school. Sometimes with an ambition to read a book but often just noodling around on phone news, Wordle and e-mail.
2. What did you want to be when you grew up? Has it changed?: I had astronaut, engineer, architect, web designer, propagandist and science journalist in my sights over my career. Now I design algorithms and explain statistical processes and methods to people (including statistical laypeople). So different, but not shockingly so, aside from how far it is from astronaut.
3. What is your weirdest work/school/project related story?: Might be the time I flew up to the Lower North Shore to teach Web basics? Or went to a transgenic goat farm to take pictures for a website? I had to wear clinic booties over my shoes, touch nothing and wash my hands obsessively on the way in and out.
4. What is something you're closely familiar with that media always gets wrong?: The media's understanding of contract expiry dates and real pay has been perhaps deliberately wrong in many cases, but really, even friendly sources often flub details.
5. Describe the stuff on your desk/workspace.: Foreground: cables, coffee cup, phone, two laptops, bullet journal, pen. Background: union stuff storage, binders, basement laundry hanging area.

From

thefridayfive questions of last week :)

Current Mood: displacement
Current Location: Basement lair
Current Music: Home Cooking

Bargaining meetings with the employer start tomorrow — two days of staking out our positions and interests and getting a feel for each other. All us on the bargaining team have been asked to do some brief introductions including what their constituency has been doing for the public in These Exceptional Times. As the Researcher rep... we're a real grab bag; it's been fun crafting a list for maximum entropy.

Heather and I decided to de-escalate out of romantic partnership in December. We're still planning to be in each other's lives in the long term, we enjoy each other's kids and still have a partner in common, but if things are a little weird, we're not in the same place at the same time as much or we're a little glum or emotional, that might be related.

The Ottawa marathon is less than 18 weeks away. I've been running with the work group and did a half in the snow a couple weeks ago, which might've been overdoing it a bit. Feeling better now (and have been doing 3-5km lunch runs in the interim) but next long run might be more like 15-16 km.

Andrea and I celebrated six years together on Sunday — we wandered the Ottawa Art Gallery and took a look at the Rideau Canal (no skating allowed yet) and had a nice supper at The Albion Rooms. Our server seemed to be holding down the whole place alone and had a bit of an anxious vibe, but the food was uniformly delicious. With everything that's happened over the past six years it's hard to say if six years feels accurate, but I know I'm still filled with delight in and admiration of her. We're safe harbours for each other and I hope we'll keep being that and more for each other for many years to come.

Work involves more tinkering with budgets and juggling tasks than I'd like, due to budget tightening, and there are still many rough patches in the return to the office — local management is showing some willingness to fix or roll back things that aren't working, though. I attended a Lean skills seminar last week and one of the things that struck me was the value of actually zeroing your task list from time to time. I'm not sure if I can manage that, but maybe a month where at the very least I don't re-migrate any tasks I migrated the previous month would be attainable.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: Basement lair
Current Music: Panick and the Silent Folk

But the year turned over.

I filled out a YearCompass which prompted me to look over my paper journal. I did and got through a lot; I think the less-obvious things I'm happy about are a pinecone maze while camping, delivering some training last winter to lay the ground for a returning employee post-transition, and inserting a couple of long bike rides into a camping trip.

I signed up for the Ottawa Marathon this year. It'll be a feat, and it also lets me develop a little network of running friends at work. I can use that kind of community and I like who I've found. I've also been going to a masculine-folk peer group all year more or less, which has been really good practice on talking and thinking about feelings. And a little odd being the lone parent in the group while not being the lone polyamorous person (in a group not targeted at queer/polyamorous folks).

After all fall getting ready and trying to get a date, we might see the employer's bargaining team at the end of this month. I'm looking forward to the central table process (and know it's going to be full of solidarity and exasperation)!

Current Mood: pensive
Current Location: basement lair

Fall isn't so bad, so long as you stay warm, says Elizabeth.

I just finished migrating my to-dos from September — I got a lot done, procrastinated on a bunch, and picked up a bunch of new responsibilities. I'd do well to make out > in this month, though! My page was full. I see themes emerging, though, maybe it's time to organized them into collections (or farm some out!).

I celebrated a birthday since last entry, kind of quietly. Oscar did too, and now Elizabeth's is coming up. A friend of mine asked if I was in the best shape of my life (with all the exercise I'm getting) — I figure I definitely was at some point in the pandemic; I'm a bit off my peak but still feeling pretty good. I signed up for the full marathon in May (early bird discount!) so I hope to hit a new peak in the spring!

Last weekend I spent Friday and Saturday with union folks — my first long meeting with that crew in person in a while. Got a few of those to-dos done there, wrapping up treasurer loose ends and picking up some good news to spread at other tables about improved gender-inclusive languages in our contract. Things are getting off the ground with negotiations; I just gave something like six months of availability to our negotiator for him to set up training, planning and bargaining meetings.

I went to the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation events last Friday, the mood was a bit odd but Andrea pointed out that not every culture's sense of how serious or sombre you need to be at a memorial event is the same. The Hon. Murray Sinclair compared the day to Remembrance Day but between weather and maybe a lack of shared understanding, it felt more like a typical demonstration. Maybe it will change with time. The sheer physical scale of the banner listing names of the dead in the residential school system was striking, and the event felt well-resourced and organized. There were a couple of convoy-esque people wandering in at the Parliament Hill part wrapped in Canadian flags; it looked to me like they were informed they had missed the memo and then they wandered off. I have a some aspects of my work that interact with Indigenous sovereignty (including data sovereignty), I hope I can do right by Indigenous folks in the scope of my projects.

This week my supervisor and one of my employees are coming back from long leaves, and I've got a couple of days of in-person union meetings with my CLC comrades. I'm going to need to be disciplined and get the right things done in the right contexts.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: Basement lair

This summer's season of tents is wound down —

dagrim's cottage, Taylor Lake, Kaleidoscope. This year it feels like the parenting responsibilities are less total — I was able to read in various outdoor chairs and hammocks at every campsite, and my KG involved going to workshops and rituals daily, for the first time in years (probably since about 2009). It still takes a lot of energy to prepare and camp, but it was pretty satisfying!

After coming home, though, we managed to test positive for COVID, four of five in our household, one by one from Monday to yesterday. Elizabeth must be lucky and/or have lingering immunity from the spring, but the rest of us are getting through it. The little ones seem mostly better, Oscar and I are still in bad cold territory but are on the mend — we'll probably resume normal life this coming week. I'm feeling a bit touch starved and wanderlust-y so that will be good! Also, I got the bed and Elizabeth got the couch mattress this time, I look forward to sharing the bed again.

My switch-over to the new position was a bit bumpy with the usual IT permissions/compatibility issues, some staff turnover and the unexpected drag of a household COVID outbreak, but I still feel like it was a good move. We have a two-week window to piggy-back on another project in a way that tests one of our creations, and I feel like the new colleagues and clients are going to be easy to get along with and fun to work with.

I'm looking at the volume of stuff — work and union — on the horizon and hoping I'll be smart enough to delegate/trim as new stuff comes in and things get inevitably complicated. I keep trying to filter my projects and ambitions through my Bullet Journal and talking with people and I think I'm making progress... but it's a significant project. Maybe one for my next year of life (after I turn 42 on Tuesday) but probably not so time-bounded as that.

Current Mood: On the mend
Current Music: BreadTube I think?

It's National Public Service Week; yesterday they used the voice broadcast system to announce treats after lunch served by management on yummy lawn… I thought for a moment it was a fire drill in the middle of my lunch union meeting.

In other news, Cabinet has decided that unvaccinated people aren't a danger to the workplace working from home (for now). I get it, everyone should get vaccinated but if they're not breathing on other union members or the public as part of their jobs and are helping keep my workload down then they can have their strange religious beliefs (whether or not a panel of managers who mostly aren't experts in evaluating religious beliefs like them) and help mitigate labour shortages a bit.

Off duty I had a nice run last night — my June 10k — but twisted my foot/ankle on the gravel path up by P3 so I'm down to walking gingerly and biking for a few days.

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: Coffee patio

I have tried a Bullet Journal rite of passage — breaking out a topic into a collection (okay, I did one for Christmas prep, but I still want to mention this one): "Wrap up [old team]." I'm technically thinking over my options over the weekend but odds are very high that I'll be moving to a new division in July, under my old supervisor (who has been promoted in the interim). It's stuff I know well and like, and a team that's maybe a bit bigger than what I was hoping for, but by all accounts I'll have good lieutenants. I hope it'll be a good fit and let me develop as a manager while knowing that the technical stuff is familiar enough that I'm not playing catch-up all the time.

I've been back at the office for a few weeks after isolating due to Elizabeth having COVID. Biking in is good for me, I think, and many lunch hours I go for a run in the neighbourhood. It's not a panacea — I can still get thrown by chaotic days or other stuff — but it does help my focus and productivity. There's a reorganization of everything coming, to clear out materials so that the agency can consolidate into fewer buildings, and I'm not quite sure how I'll be affected, being a mostly-onsite person. Also, who knows what a change of position will do or not do to where I sit now...

My shoulder has been acting up again — once from falling over in a broken chair, and yesterday a couple of times, one just wiping cat pee off the floor (boo) and then again just stretching wrong. Often it's more likely to pop out when I'm stressed, so I'll take that as a sign. For now, naproxen, taking it a little easier, trying not to be excessively cranky.

Last weekend I went to in-person union meetings for the first time since 2019. We were in a huge room and people were still being mostly careful. It was good to physically go somewhere (even if it was on the edge of the Convoy 2.0 zone) and be a union person for full days. Learned some useful stuff about family status accommodations and the union's next steps on COVID attestation grievances, too.

Current Mood: mixed
Current Location: basement lair

What have you done lately for improving or maintaining your mental health? What more would you like to do?: I have been getting outside and moving almost every day — running, walking, biking — most days for an hour or more. I'm lucky to have that time to do it, and it feels good to move, get fresh air, and see my local area and how it all fits together. I know where my tofu burgers come from! I know how to get between neighbourhoods! Also, I got my first dose of COVID-19 vaccine (Team BioNTech/Pfizer for the curious, although really Team Get Something In My Arm), which is one thing off my mind and a step toward getting to the After Times.
When did you last eat something specifically because it was good for you?: I think the only thing I "eat" for health reasons is actually making a point of drinking water. I'll remind myself to take it easy on something rich or vapid but I try to eat things that I like eating.
These days, what are you learning about, and what would you like to learn about next?: Management, union-ing, exercise training (taper! cross-train! stretch!), 18xx games (mostly 1846).
What’s positive about your physical appearance lately?: I trimmed my hair and beard yesterday! And I'm a bit sleeker than pre-pandemic thanks to all this running.
What will you do this weekend to bring joy into your life and a smile to someone else?: I'm going to play silly online games with a friend living alone, help make nice food appear for Mother's Day, and DM a D&D session with some of my favourite people. And probably get outside on feet or wheels.

From f.riday5.com

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Basement lair
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/229620.html

It's been a bit of a challenging winter and spring here, as everywhere. We're all still healthy here, employed, eating eggs from the backyard hens, so not as challenging as it could be, but still.

One of my union colleagues died last weekend. Mehran was quick to welcome me aboard when I got elected to the national Research Group executive, and quick to be friendly and to do what needed doing in general. He was also curious and open and talked happily of his love of food, dance and life in between matters of helping members and being good unionists. I'll miss him; there'll be a very empty virtual chair next weekend at the Group meeting.

Work is a bit of a slog... getting traction and coordinating people is hard and tiring sometimes, and there's a lot of staff movement and random requests going around. I might be able to make some good changes in an upcoming Lean process review, which would help me feel like I'm leaving things in good shape when I find an opportunity somewhere that fits me better. The return to virtual school for the kids, extended one week at a time since Easter, has thrown my routine and energy out of wack, even though Elizabeth has been taking the brunt of the daytime parenting. I have a fair amount of extracurricular stuff going on — Positive Space is getting more active again, union work continues with consultation and a stewarding case that might have legs. Those extras are work but they help make work more meaningful. In good pandemic news, our age slices are up for registering for a first shot next week... I'm hoping for Johnson and Johnson just so I'll be done (and apparently there are 300k doses of J&J coming into Canada now, but there are some possible bumps), but any shot in my arm is a good shot.

I've been mixing running and biking for my mental health/exercise time. I'm still shooting to run and now also bike every public street with asphalt and a name — I'm over half done on the bike and nearly two-thirds on feet. I've been varying it partly because if I run long distances too many days in a row my muscles have some concerns. But overall I'm getting pretty good at this, and seeing everywhere in the Hull sector at least twice, sometimes in different seasons, has been pretty cool. I know where our favourite tofu burgers come from because I've run past the factory in an industrial park. I can see new streets and developments go up, moving the goalposts for this whole silly game.

I'm missing seeing my Vanier loves in person — we've got our stopgaps — virtual D&D, grove rituals (happy Beltaine!), video storytime (Heather has finished the first book of Lord of the Rings with the kids) and various one-on-one chats. I used to do walk-and-talk after the kids were in bed by phone, but the 8 PM curfew has made that harder. Once the restrictions are loosened maybe walking and talking in person will be a thing again.

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Location: Home
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/229298.html

First: today is a good day to change some passwords, and maybe set up a good password manager to keep them hard and unique.

I dreamt about a surprise union meeting last night, where some fairly high-level union types were talking a lot and showing off their branded tablecloths with pictures of their faces on them. I think for the most part the real ones wouldn't do that.

The chicks are growing and spending more time outside. They have names given by the kids: Black Star, Red Stripe, Red Ribbon and… Chippy. I think they're adding cheer and purpose to life around here.

Ada is going to get a 5th birthday party in conformity with public health guidelines: backyard gathering, 10 people, three households, lawn chairs in clusters far apart. We do what we can!

Current Mood: content
Current Location: Basement lair
Current Music: Night Vale
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/226481.html

Waiting in line at the workplace flu vaccine clinic with about 200 people wanting to contribute to herd immunity… apparently we're warmer in Ottawa than in Toronto today!

It's been awhile since I've posted here. I'm starting to feel useful in my new position — taught a bunch last week and got certified to access the big repository of business statistical information today (my unit does sufficiently abstract work that six months in isn't bad). It's still only mostly official, but over the winter I get to hand off my duties to my second in command and do a "micro mission" of record linkage work supporting equitable labour practices in the federal public service — I'm looking forward to it, and to being able to walk to work — the office is maybe 20 minutes from home!

I've been in pretty deep in union stuff lately, the PIPSC AGM was Friday and Saturday, and it's always that mix of solidarity and reminders that we're diverse enough that values vary widely, even among the activist core. We made some decisions, some of which were ambitious and others of which prioritized saving money and keeping pressure off our dues which are collected in nominal dollars and so actually squeeze real resources invested per member by the rate of inflation each year — and we probably can't keep increasing membership to compensate. Maybe next year we can deal with this. Our smaller constituent bodies got an increase in their funding formula, though, so rooms can be rented and volunteers can be fed in contemporary dollars.

I'm also taking point on a couple of steward cases. Managing member expectations is tricky, and in our relatively low-conflict workplace, everyone is leaning on all the guidance they can get and being very careful. Things move slowly that way.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Observation
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/223783.html

Back from Banff, and the collective agreement passed the member vote on Monday — life is pretty good right now!

Banff was a really fun adventure — time with Heather, Andrea, Morgen and Oscar; seeing some glaciers; hiking every day; no major logistical bumps! Oscar had lots of questions and observations about air travel and (surprisingly to me) declared his favourite adventures to be the hot springs. I think he liked the ritual — hot, cold, ramps, taps… and maybe the fact that the Nordik here is 16+ so he got to do an older teenager thing. The hot springs we visited were very different from the Nordik, though: run by Parks Canada, only slightly more expensive than bus fare, and lots of families and middle-class-looking people, and also several languages being spoken around us. Both at Radium Springs and at Banff. Might be a Western thing and it was refreshing.

I'm back at work for another couple of days and then back into the woods to revel with the ecumenical pagans… I've been roped into helping out with a ritual, and we're starting to plan a small communal camp kitchen. I'm looking forward to more down time before a busy fall of continuing to learn my new business line and continuing union stuff. I was thinking of trying to organize a little workshop for organizer types to drink mead, swap tips and share stories, good and bad… but maybe next year, or maybe just informally in the time I might have been ill-advisedly participating in foam sword duels… and if I just relax and ritualize, that will be fine too.

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: STO #33
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/223550.html

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June 2025

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