the kids

Yay! My old JS friend helped me figure out how to post using IE9. Here's a pic of my oldest daughter Jamie (L) another friend, and Emily, on the right, at a wedding a few weeks ago.

long time, no see

flowers by the front porch
The flowers in the pic are Malva, which I started from seed in May. To be honest, I had no idea how tall they'd be! I have tried keeping up with heights, widths, sun exposure needs and watering needs, but there is a LOT to remember!

These sprung from three or four seedlings that were about an inch tall when I planted them June 25th. Currently they stand about 27" or 28" and are covered with thousands of little pinkish blooms that draw bees by the dozens. Thankfuly no problems with the bees, lol.

test

I couldn't post anything yesterday, so I thought I'd try with a pic today. The publish button just didn't work!
This is my hubby, Bill, in his work truck. I hate the sunglasses, but they're a necessary evil for a driver on Alberta roads.
Anyway, he's a handsome guy in his uniform. Next week, on August 9th, we celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary! Hard to believe how time flies.
Happy Thursday!

burning bridges

photographer unknown

Generally, I don't like to do it, and it always blows me away when a company like Vitalaire does it. It's been two weeks since I lost my job, and while I'm okay for the most part, it's taken it's toll on my confidence.

You see, the Regional Director had spent over thirty minutes going over the "upcoming meeting" with me, which was to include the CPAP specialist, Bill and the respiratory therapist and mostly deal with safety and how I was to spend the last three months of my contract so that they could re-organize the Red Deer office.

The same day, the Regional told the others that there would NOT be a meeting. When Bill called him about it, he was told to stay away. The following Monday, the respiratory therapist was told to stay away, presumably to keep me from talking to her. I spent the day alone.

On Tuesday Morning, I was trying to get some points together for the meeting and also trying to finish up some paperwork when TWO managers showed up from Edmonton. At this time, I STILL thought the whole branch could meet to discuss some of the problems - but they brought chairs into my office, left the others out front, and shut the doors behind them.

All they really had to do was let my current contract expire, but I think they had to make an example of me. Anyway, what a shitty way to handle things.

Today I have an interview with the competition, and I hope that I get it. Even if I don't get a company car, I'd be okay with that. I just hope that their hourly wage is close to what I was making before! Bill and I want to buy a decent car this year.

Wish me luck! I really need it.

july 30

photo by Crystal Graham
We've had hail three times this week - my plants are shredded.

I've spent the last week and a half doing housework, writing resumes, and watching a Six Feet Under marathon. The SFU is something that always pulls me out of whatever problems I'm having at the moment, thank god.

I've applied at several places but can't call because the listing states "only those selected for the interview process will be contacted", although I did call the oxygen supply company. The manager was harried and barely wanted to speak to me.

"Where'd you send it? The resume?"

"HR."

"They haven't communicated to me in a week."

"Would you like me to send it on to you?" I asked. "Do you have a few moments now?"

"No, I'm too busy. Send it to me though."

I also applied at a farm dealer, as a warehouse manager. For that, I may need to take a forklift course, but I'm totally willing to do something like that. Sounds like fun.

Today we're going out to see my mum, since I haven't had the chance since losing my job (and company car) and I have some new sheets for their beds. I want to wash the floors, too.

Have a nice Saturday!

vitalaire healthcare lost a good employee today

Last week I lodged a complaint against the area manager for Vitalaire in Southern Alberta.

The big kahuna came down from Edmonton today, to let me know that ALL my claims were unsubstantiated and he believes it comes down to a personality conflict. He gave me two weeks notice, which I declined. They'll pay me out.

He had a cab waiting for me, as he was taking my company van and cellphone.

I'm not sure how I feel - certainly, I'm disappointed that it came to this. I'm really going to miss my customers! But I will NOT miss Karim, the one I've been writing about under the pseudonym Omar.

One of the very first things he ever said to me was "What is your status and why are you driving one of those new vans?"

The next was to tell me that I was a "dominant woman" and had to back off.

He yelled at me every time I called to let him know I was working overtime.

I hope my next position is easier than the last few I've had. I know that I can have problems with bad managers but otherwise I am an awesome catch!

summer

The last few weeks have been brutal at work.

Omar was never friendly, warm or helpful toward me before, but once I kept having to work overtime, things deteriorated fast.

It's a vicious cycle; Bill's truck suffers some kind of breakdown (lately it's been the lift at the back. Once that goes, just try getting anything in or out of the back. It's very dangerous as well and must be fixed immediately.) When that happens, he will dispatch me to deliver to the hospitals and depots on his route. Invariably, this adds two to three hours to my route, which means I work through my lunch and at four o'clock, I have to call Omar.

"Hi Omar, Kate here. I'm into overtime."

"Why are you working overtime?"

"I'm delivering to the Prairie Depot."

"Why?"

"Bill delivers to them on Tuesday but that is the day his lift broke and he had to get a rental. He didn't arrive until after 6:00 pm and by then everything was locked up and he couldn't deliver."

"I meant, why are YOU doing it?"

"They called the answering service last night. They're out of oxygen and need it today."

"You didn't answer me. Why are YOU doing it?"

"No one else can do it."

"Why isn't Bill doing it?"

"He won't return from the east until 6:30 tonight. Prairie is another 90 minutes to the south, which would put him over the fourteen hour limit."

"This is unacceptable. I will have to come up there to see where these inefficiencies are coming from."

The thing is, he knows. Bill keeps him apprised and often leaves him messages breaking down all the details of the breakdowns and resulting changes to our routes. He's always friendly and helpful toward Bill, but openly hostile toward me.

At the end of last week, things got even worse, and I had to refuse some unsafe work. I just hope that everything can start to settle down a bit after this!

Some good news I have is that I recently gave up caffeine, as it's been causing reflux since I quit smoking four years ago. I've been trying to figure out what my pain was all these years, and one day Jamie saw the topic discussed on Dr. Oz.

I looked into it, spoke to a pharmicist, and went decaf the next day. What a difference! I had a few days of withdrawal but I feel pretty good now.

Our whole family was able to go camping last weekend - it was fun, even though it rained the first night. We rented a little cabin out by the lake near my parents farm. We had a fire and Jamie made S'mores (which I tried for the first time) and the next day, we all rented paddle boats and cooked ribs on the fire outside.

As I write this, Bill is unloading the dishwasher and Jamie is still asleep. Em is staying with Bill's sister out on the farm, so it's a lot quieter, lol. I think I see some laundry in my immediate future, so happy Saturday!

newfoundlanders!

Here's a grainy pic of Emily, myself and Bill at Christmas this past year, which was held at Cathy's farm out near Rimbey. Christmas was kind of the start of integrating Bill's family into our lives.

Not that we were avoiding them or anything...okay, maybe a little.

With Bill just coming out of two years of isolation when we met (he'd had a helluva time getting custody of Em and trying to find a job that would work around having a six year old. Daycares don't usually accept kids at 4:30 am, which is what time Bill had to leave when he was welding) he decided to lay low.

Lay low from his sister Cathy, who'd witnessed his struggle while she went through her own, working in Alberta while her kids stayed in Newfoundland. When she settled down here, it took another year before we got a call from their mum, Margie, to get together because Cathy's son was in the hospital with appendicitus.

It didn't take long before Bill's mum & dad came out, and as of last week, his cousins out of Labrador. To be honest, the whole family is awesome. I've enjoyed meeting and talking with all of them, and just love the whole culture, from the food to their interesting dialects.

I'm off to work for awhile. Happy Sunday!

peaceful

a pic of Dale's wedding band, taken before I had to sell it

While it's true that life was never the same for my mum after Dale's death - well, for any of us, I have to admit that the quietness that came was healing.

Life went on. My step-dad continued to farm the land and the look after the cows, even if he was down to half a dozen head. My mum toodled around the house, took up crossword puzzles and lottery scratch tickets, and started sending Jim to get the groceries while she sat on the deck checking out her Peonies. For awhile, us kids prodded her to quit smoking and give up beer, but after a few years we realized that you can't change anyone, least of all your mum.

The last few days have helped me calm down too.

Yesterday I called her to follow up on the shower chair I took last weekend. "Mum," I practically yelled. "You have to try the chair before I come on Sunday. Sunday! If it's too big or too wide, I'll bring it back and exchange it."

"Do I have a shower chair?" she asked.

*sigh* Things went better with the bed. "Also, can you throw the sheets in the washer Sunday morning? I'll put them on for you."

This time, I could hear the smile in her voice. "Okay. I'll see you then!"

Now that she's accepting our help, it makes it easier for me to offer. And I'm going to take out some petunias for the front yard, and hang the lanterns I got for Jim for Father's Day. I'm looking forward to going out, once Bill returns from the shop.

Happy Father's Day!