*Nice day yesterday: very lazy. We got up late, made a huge breakfast (oatmeal blueberry pancakes, french toast, bacon, banana bread, poached eggs, fresh fruit), then hung out in the living room until 1pm when we finally started opening presents. Imagine: when I was a kid, I'd get up at 6am, so excited to open them. Now sleeping in and having a slow, lazy morning is much more of a gift! Some stuff we got: new camera, external HD for my computer, optical mouse, a new winter coat. Some things I gave: a nice microwave (Masa's been wanting one for ages), a faux-fur-lined hoodie, a real fur hat (Ken is still getting used to these winters), DVDs, an iPod port/player for Masa (that, unfortunately isn't really designed for iPhones grrrr). And some other stuff.
Happy year this year. Got a comfortable place, people around us, enough money, more than enough stuff. I miss friends and family far away but feel fortunate to be where I am this time of year.
Never heard of it, actually, but Zip sent it to me (I don't even remember zipping it) and I really enjoyed it. Halle Berry is muted and kind of cold and hard throughout much of the film but strong, Benecio del Torro is fantastic as a heroin addict trying to get his life back on track. About loss, redemption, and recovery. The story chronicles a woman who loses her husband (David Duchovny) and tries to help her husband's best friend who she finds in a dumpy drug infested rathole in suburban Seattle.
for Christmas!!
A few weeks ago, I was a friend's house who had made this really good soup. She roughly outlined the recipe and a few days later, I tried it. It was great! Then yesterday, I was at lunch with some colleagues and mentioned the recipe and how easy and delicious it was. Today, when I popped into the office, two different people told me they had gone home and made the soup. Then they had brought some and shared it with the office. Everyone was raving about it.
Busy days! Been wrapping up two semesters, finishing up a big project and Thursday I start working at that new Quebec company. But after Friday, the next two weeks should be smooth sailing. Looking forward to it. All I have to do is work a bit, write a book review, and watch some movies.
This made me smile.
OK. Bad pictures (our digital camera broke a while back so we only have the iPhone camera), but this gives an idea of some progress our kitchen is making.
Union jobs: what a waste!
I have mixed feelings about unions. On the one hand, when workers were/are truly exploited, they save lives and prevent suffering. We wouldn't be where we are as a society (vacation time, five day work weeks, maternity leave options) without unions and all the work they have done in the past.
On the other hand, when one lives in a developed country, they spoil people rotten. They can make people lazy. And selfish. And unproductive. They take the competition out of many fields, I think.
Case in point: this college I work for. I have to come in today, bill for seven hours, though I have less than 40 minutes of actual work today. I mean, I can find SOMETHING to do, but since everyone's job title is very specific and clear, the union I belong to has very clear rules about what can and can't be done in the position I have. God forbid I accidentally do part of someone else's job.
So I surf the internet, read books for fun, write emails, text, make phone calls and annoy people I know (who wants to chat on the phone in the middle of the day on a Monday?). And get paid for it!
Basically, I was told that since they have this position budgeted until the middle of this month, I need to keep coming in, even if there are no students.
I'm not complaining. But it sure is a waste. Somehow doing work for another company (which I could easily do today) feels like crossing a line (and I'm sure it violates the union rules somehow anyway), so I don't dare do that.
So I write a blog post instead.
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