Merry Christmahannukwanzaayule!

I don't know who thought that one up.  I'd love to claim it...but no.  Not much happenin' in my lifes y'all...

Well...almost.

Done with Xmas, but now I am pondering a road trip to Sunny Southern Alberta to visit kith and kin for a few days.  Could also finally get that entertainment wall unit out of the garage and back to the folks' place in Cardston.  The highways seem (mostly) clear and the weather is (mostly) amenable.  Only trouble is I would probably have to do the trip all in one go.  There is a highway closure in Revelstoke scheduled for tomorrow morning (avalanche control) that I might need to work around.  I would like to time my arrival for early AM in Cardston...but that means leaving 13 hours earlier and minimal stops for food and etc.  Most of day one at the folks place will likely be spent in recovery sleep.  It's do-able...but I'm really not as young as I used to be.

I've re-divided the space in my humble hovel: I now have a super twin waterbed which is super-comfortable to sleep on.  It sits on the south wall next to the front window of my living room.  The living room boundary is now re-defined by a three-section wall unit that I traded to Tony H for my Loft Bed.  There is a new captain's bed living in my bedroom now.  It's where Colin sleeps when he visits me.  With a bedroom of his own...I can now think about having the boy stay with me full time.  He would be able to make such a petition to the BC Family Courts once he is sixteen.  That will be in 13 months.  We'll see what transpires in the next year or so.  Speaking of Family Court and such.  Coral will be 19 years old this January.  As such, L will be eligible for support payments from me for Colin only.  That would of course change if Colin's residence changes.  Hope she's ready...

I might need to have a word with the Family Law Resource Center downtown.

Brother Roy Crabb is in my thoughts and prayers as he may be facing (yet another) surgery to keep his much used and abused body going a while longer.  The good doctors he has seen over the past week or so are surprised indeed at the amount of discomfort and pain he has endured with this latest development.  If only they knew...The ER nurses who counted the various scars and bits of metal in his body - and therefore decided on an ultrasound scan rather than an MRI - seemed surprised that he was still walking around under his own steam.  He's a tough old Hawk, our man Roy.

Paul may be passing by in the next while and I may not be here...gasp!  I would so like to meet his new missus...but family comes first; I'm sure he'll understand.

Well, here we are again;

I simply must travel by air more often.  Sorry gang, haven't been hitting the 'ol 'blog very hard lately.  I think I may be spending too much time on FaceBook.  Then again, FaceBook is more fun...

So what's been going on lately?  I have been learning.

One of the things I have learned is about helping others: you don't have to be perfect.

Isn't that great?  Helping other people is a come-as-you-are, start-any-time, bring-your-friends-and-family-along kind of proposition.  You don't need to wait!  You just need to be willing.

Mind you, there is no helping some people...but that's a post for another time.

And yes, putting yourself out for the benefit of others can be a pain in the @$$ once in awhile...but it's often well worth it.  Why?  Because you get to see people win.  Seeing someone else win, and knowing that you helped bring that win about, is almost as satisfying as "winning" yourself. (apologies to Charlie Sheen)

In other words...there's a little bit of "fun" involved.  When vice and self-indulgence stop being fun...maybe you should check out clean living and generosity -- just sayin'.

Hmm.  Sorry, getting a bit preachy there.

So what's up next?

Back to work tomorrow, or Tuesday.  I have to check back with the office about how much accrued vacation time I don't have.  Labor day was in the middle of my 10 days off...but I think our HR people already figured that in.  I'll check.

I was off for a week prior to my vacation...oh the shame.  A pinched nerve in my neck I suffered a few years back recurred with a vengeance!  Was not expecting that.  Is OK now...despite the fact I spend the past week on the hardest innerspring mattress I've ever encountered.  Extra extra firm is NOT for me!  Will be good to get back to the Treadmill-and-Yoga routine now that my "temporary roommates" have departed for greener pastures.

Can I mention the rental car?  Economy rental is an Ontario based outfit that has recently opened outlets near Calgary and Edmonton airports.  Good Rates!  They hadn't finished licensing on two new Kias that came in...so they upgraded me to a Nissan Altima sedan.  Awesome.

Anyways; this next week I have to de-contaminate my place and replace my battered and abused Craigslist Couch.  Probably with yet another Craigslist Couch.  I foresee a Dump Run in the near future!  My Brother in Law Grant will be thrilled.

I have also GOT to get started on those six PC systems Peter and I are going to build.  If we can get an average of 200$ each, then Peter should be able to pay the money he owes me for Kim's move and have some ducats for himself. (a young Bohemian Man needs his ducats).

One final story about air travel.

I found my Leatherman multi-tool!

Or rather, the baggage scanner at YYC found it; in my laptop bag where it has apparently been all this time...including on the flight over here from Vancouver.  Oops, YVR dropped the ball there...

Not a huge problem, they made me go thru screening again, and I got to MAIL my multitool back to myself - it should arrive Friday.

Six Months?

SIX #$%^&*!!!??? MONTHS??

Am I kidding me?

To think that I once thought of this 'blog as a Quarterly.  What?  Have my publishing costs gone up so much that I have to switch to semi-annual publication??

Nah.  Just lazy.  Too wrapped up in...myself.

Seems like a good time to write, no?  I really ought to carry a notebook around so all those wacky ideas that come into me head when I'm working nights at HBC can be shared with the World...or whatever part of the World cares to show any interest in what I muse about when I'm working.

You know, I had a whole plan laid out for a new life:  I was going to be let go at HBC after 20 years service.  I was going to go to Cardston and stay with the folks for awhile.  I was going to get a new job, probably in Lethbridge, working in some kind of I.T. capacity.

All of which may still transpire...but not yet.  Step one: losing my job of 20 years with HBC didn't happen.

So, I'm staying put.  For now.

The last time HBC "re-allocated" our Logistics Center Workforce was way back in the beginning of 2003, when our present DC was completed and the staff from the Zeller's DC on Viking way in Richmond, and the Bay DC on Lake City Way in Burnaby, were both merged into our then-new building.  This required some...adjustment of shifts and pay scales and re-assignment of some staff to other departments because; quite frankly, not everyone could have the shift and department assignment they preferred.

The management team decided to have a "competition", based on seniority, to handle the transition.  This involved written requests and a couple of interviews and a WHOLE lot of nail-biting.  It was not unlike attempting to get hired on...for a job you were already being paid for.

Now, thanks to the Global Economic Downturn and the fact that we only service 2 of the 4 retail banners we used to supply from our DC, our present Management team is forced (reluctantly, I am sure) to "right-size" our workforce.  Our banners have been reduced in number because Zellers was sold to Target USA.  Also; Fields was closed as it was deemed too expensive to continue operations.  This is the new reality at HBC: We've retrenched a ways...and are slowly re-building.

It also means we've gone from a roster of 430 full and part time employees at our peak...to 43 full time employees, plus perhaps another 50-100 part time; called in as needed.  The roster is also slowly increasing...but we all know it will be some time before we are called on to work at the kind of capacity and pace we experienced before the Downturn.  I am convinced HBC will recover...but I've no idea how long it will take.

When the new "core" roster was announced, I felt certain that the time had finally come to move on from HBC to...another opportunity.  I was far enough down the Seniority List that there was no possible way of qualifying for one of the core roster positions; or so I believed.  Hence; the aforementioned plan for a new life in Southern Alberta.

I kept in mind the hoops I had to jump through the last time my Employers had to re-arrange their workforce.  I decided that if I wasn't going to make the full-time roster anyway; I wasn't going to bother jumping through the inevitable hoops required to try to make what income I could for what work there was.  If I was going to have to make such a change in my employment, it wasn't going to be all that much more trouble to find a new job.  I even imagined that I was looking forward to picking up and starting over.  The plan did have some...advantages.

Well, at least I was becoming accustomed to the idea.

So imagine my surprise when our Facility Manager came to me one Thursday evening and asked; "we have three more slots on the core roster, do you want one?", "doing what?" I asked in turn.  "Same as you are doing now: MHF Mondays to Fridays on the PM shift".

"Okay."

It was that easy.  Totally unexpected too.  My Father's advice to me in December before all this unfolded was: "Son, don't jump unless you are pushed!".  Sound advice that.

So...not the opportunity I had "braced" myself for...but an opportunity nonetheless.  Better make the most of it, no?