The shore captain has headed over to Portland for government/fishing industry meetings having left yesterday morning before I made it home from work. He's expected back tomorrow at some point but it'll be a surprise as he left his cell phone on the counter where I noticed it had 18 missed calls in the history the first day. So now the animals and myself have taken over the house as the boy prodigy is off visiting a female 'friend' after he arrived home from lobstering we shared a supper of leftovers. I'm about to get into my final library book - Here Be Dragons by Peter C. Newman (having finished and returned The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble - highly recommended). Tomorrow is another day off and the cleaning lady will be here. Does life get any easier than this?
A friend and I are taking in a photography workshop on Saturday; it's an encore attendance for us as this material (at least for me) has to be absorbed in layers. I have made some adjustments to my picture taking but still confess I use the auto settings too much. This time it's being held in the instructor's studio. Should be a good day.
Work has been especially frantic of late, in large part because of a looming support staff strike. With Monday being the walkout date it appears the government is attempting to stare down the union regarding wage parity throughout the province and a picket line is likely. Even if a last minute resolution is reached the planning to ramp down and then resume is huge. Essential services will be maintained but....it ain't gonna be pretty! My purely selfish thoughts are that it all be settled within the three weeks remaining before my vacation so it won't be canceled. Yes, you read that correctly - If I'm able to escape four weeks from today I'll be sleeping in Santiago de Cuba. Yeehaw!
Had been kind of worried that the earthquake in Haiti and tsunami watch for the south coast of Cuba might have been a problem but sounds as if all the destruction is centered on Haiti itself. What an awful situation. I spoke to a colleague today and have resolved to get ourselves together for some disaster planning education to add to the tropical health. Yes, I have made a donation to the Red Cross (which is the recommended agency) but I am sure I need to be ready within the next couple of years to respond to a global situation or that is one regret I will have at my 75th birthday. Such are the reasons for Bucket Lists. I am wondering if my niece's husband will be tasked for the relief effort as he's a navy communications tech and at least two ships are being readied but it's not clear how many groups will be sent. The footage is difficult to watch. We are so very fortunate yet think we have such difficult lives in the developed world.
As I was cleaning out my email and browsing online (this high speed turbo stick has improved my quality of life exponentially - you can find out information such as that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear) I found the following project:
http://homemadesimple.com/en_CA/nbrcontent.do?contentType=ed&articleId=ar099
Even if you're not into the 'setting goals thing' you have to admit that using a jewel case in that matter for a stand is pretty darned creative!
That book is calling out to me. Hasta.
