Corner of Bourbon & Division

The Overtime Fairy got me. Litigious!Coworker and Big!Bear (not mentioned here before) are both on long-term sick leave until October. Litigious!Coworker is "sick" because someone dared to criticize how she was working: she threw a fit, stormed out, and lo and behold the next day she had a note from her doctor. Big!Bear, who is one of my favourite people, has been feeling increasingly poorly over the summer. His asthma has been really bad, and last week he was having major coughing fits all day. Finally his doctor gave him time off, after Super!Boss told him he should ask.

I'll be working several double shifts next week, and several more twelve-hour shifts over the next few weeks. I've had two extra weekends added to my workload as well, and then I'll be going to Québec city for seven-ish days, where I'll be working twelve-hour shifts all week for the Sommet de la Francophonie.

I'm not going to Moncton after all, because of the aforementioned overtime: if I leave, they'll be three people short (actually, four people short, since I'll be covering for two people during that time), and it'll be a nightmare.

Work this week has been absolutely insane. Everyone's back from vacation, and the phones are ringing off the hook starting at about 07:00 and ending at 20:00. Between 20:00 and 07:00 it goes back down to a manageable level.

The "contract provinces" tend to scoff at our measly call rate. It's true that they get about 6 million calls a year (I'm not exaggerating the number), and we only get about 3 to 400,000. I agree that we get far fewer calls. However, we're also only about 14 full-time operators, compared to their 75 to 150 per province. We have *one* call centre, whereas they have between two and six. At the end of the day, three or four operators to field over 100 calls per day is not that much. If all those calls were actual emergencies, we'd be sunk: as it is, most of them are quick, information-only calls, for which we are grateful. Unlike the other OCCs, we also have a ton of administrative work to do too: we handle arrest warrants, keep track of all the secure communications for the province (the other provinces have a dedicated staff for that for the most part, except for P.E.I., but they're so tiny that they get fewer than 25 calls a day), and a crapload of whatever else people think we ought to be doing in our copious amounts of spare time.

Okay, that sort of turned into a rant. Sorry. :)

My chocolate mousse looks like it's turning out really well. It tasted great, anyway. I'm waiting for it to set, now, which will be the ultimate test. I keep having to resist the urge to open the fridge and poke at it. ;)

I'm making Jan's scallop and mushroom linguini, too, although I was disappointed not to find the Catelli Bistro Lemon & Pepper linguini she recommended. I ended up going with plain linguini for now, and I may add a squeeze of lemon juice and some black pepper to the pasta to try and mimic the taste, depending on how much time I have left over.

On the plus side, I have fresh basil from the garden to use in my entrée of tomatoes and feta cheese. Win!

I have a great deal of tidying to do, and I don't feel like doing any of it. After ten days of not being at work, I forgot how much it takes out of me. I'm going to "cheat" for the next little while and hire a nice lady to come and help me with the cleaning. Working 40 to 80 hour weeks leaves me very little time to do anything other than sleep and work, and if I can afford the help, then I may as well cut myself some slack. Shithead keeps telling me that I should be able to do it on my own, but at this point I'm willing to concede defeat if it means my home will stay clean.

Okay, this place isn't going to clean itself, and BorderCrossing is going to be here in three hours. To work!

Damn. We're already 1/3 into September.

I feel like I'm running full-out trying to catch up with my life, and failing miserably. Not that it isn't a fun race, and I'm enjoying the scenery as it flashes by, but it constantly seems as though there's not enough time in which to do all the nifty things I want to do.

I finally, FINALLY had enough time to cook today. I very nearly ran out of time, as I had the Home Depot guys come in to measure the floor (I have to replace it, upon further inspection, sanding just won't do it), and had a billion other things to do.

BUT! I got to cook! I made a tuna casserole, which is currently cooling on the counter. I am very excited about this. Soon I will have food to fill the freezer and to occupy the shelves in my new pantry. I tried to find Scotch Broth locally (having had some at fearsclave's a while back), but was astounded to find that my Friendly Local Giant Supermarkets don't carry any. Yet another reason to go on a shopping trip next time I'm in Ontario: I need to hit an LCBO (booze!) and pick up several cans of Scotch Broth.

BorderCrossing (That's my girlfriend's online handle, though she has no LJ. Eee! Girlfriend!) is coming on Saturday, and I have to figure out something to make for dinner. She's a vegetarian, although she does eat fish. The reason for her vegetarianism is an ethical objection to the treatment of workers in meat-packing plants, which I can totally understand. So, no meat. She's not especially fond of beans and the like, though, so I may have to find something pasta-related to feed her, but I'd like it to be at least a little exciting.

I have continued to unpack in whatever spare time I have left over. I appear to have "lost" most of my winter clothes. I am perplexed, but since I still have lots of boxes left over, I figure they'll turn up sooner rather than later. I'm just not sure which box they ended up in. At least I found enough of my linens that I was able to make my bed rather than have a makeshift set-up involving a sleeping bag. Yeesh.

I have paint swatches, too! I'm probably going to paint sometime in October. I am very excited about this. Then there will be the acquisition of furniture, so that I can have guests. Ideally, I'd like that to happen around November, and definitely before Christmas. With any luck, I'll run into some pre-Christmas sales.

Now, if only I could find the time and mental energy to get some actual writing done these days. At least so far I'm doing pretty well on my minimum-one-post-a-day resolution. I haven't missed a day since June 1st, in spite of computer crises and lots of overtime and work. Go me!

Okay. I have to go put the tuna casserole into tupperware, and get to work. The bus leaves in 30 minutes, so I need to get myself in gear.

Yesterday was one of the best days I've had in a while.

I brought the car to the Parental Units', as is my wont on Saturdays, and then scooted down the hill to meet M, whom I met online for those of you who were wondering. This was the first time we were to meet face-to-face. It went quite well. We had a coffee, chatted for over an hour, and on the spur of the moment she invited me on a tour of her hometown, St. Jérome.

So we spent the better part of the afternoon walking around. She gave me a small tour of the town, and we saw an exhibit celebrating the 125th anniversary (or was it 150th? I don't remember) of the local paper plant. There was also a small expo on about alternative energy transportation, which it seems St. Jérome is known for. I got to try out a Segway which was a lot of fun, but isn't something I can see myself doing on a long-term basis. I mean, I may as well walk and get the exercise.

We bought corn from a local farm where M used to work summer jobs, and then to La Fromagerie du Marché, which had absolutely sinful cheeses, including an Ile aux Grues Riopelle (a triple-crème, for those of you who want to know) which was just à point. We bought baguette and grapes, and she invited me back to her place where I met her doggie, Picotine, who is a charming if hyper Beagle.

We sat and talked and had a wonderful supper with a good bottle of Merlot, talked some more, listened to a bit of music, talked even more, and capped the whole evening off with a slice of cheesecake and coffee.

She has a charming house in Mille Iles which she just bought, and she works as a social worker in St. Jérome in children's welfare. For those who don't know, it's called la Direction pour la Protection de la Jeunesse, or DPJ.

She drove me home when we realized it was past eleven o'clock, and the plan is to get together again next weekend.

I am cautiously optimistic. :)