Every couple of months the latest and greatest in self help work trend comes out and everyone jumps on board raving about how insightful it is.  Over the years, I've been subjected to everything from moving my cheese to the 7 habits of effective people.  I have coloured my parachute, discovered my colours, dissected difficult conversations, found the power of positive thinking, tuned in, tuned out, found the secret to success, built teams, embraced change and organized my attitude; often, multiple times.  Each time I go to the workshops and smile, laugh, cry, dance, sing, improv, act and build whatever is the flavour of the month.  For the next couple of days, everyone talks about how great it was and then everything goes back to the same as before.  This time it was communication and power.  We tossed balls, we played hallway chicken, we danced, we made fools of ourselves all in the name of communication.  All hail the latest fad.  The afternoon was devoted to body language and power. We did improv, we stood in a giant circle and mirrored each other.  All the time listening to the faciliator tell us how by asking if we can help someone we are saying we are lower in status and only people who associate with those in higher status get promotions; how support staff like me have the lowest status; how to improve communication we should use body language to show lower status to make the other person feel better oh and support staff can never say no.  By the end of it, I felt totally worthless.  So, I learned that I'm the lowest of the low and should demean myself even more on a daily basis to make everyone else feel better, I will never have the authority to say no to anyone and helping people is destroying my career, as is talking to my coworkers.  

I got home last night and half the food in my freezer had thawed.  I sent in a complaint, which was 'completed' sometime today.  There was no notices when I got home, I tried calling them but of course, as usual, they didn't answer.  I phoned in a complaint to the main office.  Turns out they came by today and fixed the fridge, Ice block.I hate complaining and dealing with all the emotional crap from people who get their feelings hurt.  I think I'm pretty laid back.  I don't expect them to run after me, just tell me that they've fixed it. 

I'm a nutcase snob.  That's right I'm insane....everybody join in a chorus of ...they're comiing to take me away he hah he had to the funny farm where life is beautiful all day long....  Ok I'm calm and procrastinating from doing my Stats homework.   I gave up...ok cut back on my cola consumption a week ago and now I'm bouncing off the walls with energy.  It's freezing here and I get really perky when that happens.  As you may not be aware, I went on a work related road trip last week.  We went to a little town two hours from here one day and then to a little city two hours from there the next day.  I'm not thrilled about doing these fair/conference things for work.  They are always so exhausting, up at 7 am, set up by 8 running around until lunch, half an hour break, then back til 2:30, break til 4 then go until 6:30 then on the road driving for two hours, crash at the hotel.  Next day, same thing all over again.   I like getting out and talking with the kids, but the long days are killer. 

We all know that I"m a nut case, but why oh why you may ask am I a snob?  Well, it all started last Monday when after two and a half hours driving through pitch black prairies, we pulled into our motel.  The best the town had to offer, the Bar B motel and bar, smokers welcome.  After wandering through the smoking porch, we went to the bar to check in.   Our shiny metal keys opened the doors to our non-smoking rooms.   The sink was conviently located by the closet and not taking up valuable floor space in the bathroom.  I had an adjoining room with a lock that was a single bolt gate lock held in place by one screw.  After moving the furniture in front of the doors, washing my teeth with water that tasted like a combination of sulfur and metal, I crawled into the blessedly clean sheets and was gentled mooed to sleep by the thousands of cows at the feed lot across the highway.  For all it's faults the Bar B had great water pressure for the shower and the rooms were clean.  After talking with other recruiters who stayed at the other two motels, Franklin Bar and the Starlite Motel Hunters welcome.  I feel a bit better about our choice.  One of the biggest events in town, ok the only event in town, we took over the local curling rink.  We got to sit on concrete slabs over top of frozen ice, from 8 am to 2:30 while they bussed in grades 10-12 to see about their options.  Then we got an hour and half break to check out the town before the next session.  Of course, we had no motel rooms anymore, so it was off to the dollar store, then the five other stores in town.   40 minutes later we were at the bar with the rest of the group to kill then next hour.  Boring.  After another two hours of 5 people coming by, my staring an airplane war with the other recruiters, we finally headed out for a 2 and half hour drive to the nearest city and all their 15,000 residents. 

We drove down the 'highways' among fields of dust gently lit by farmer's combines harvesting their crops in pitch black.  At one point we drove past a deserted farm with a man standing motionless staring straight ahead, no vehicle, no nearby residences.  Just him at the turn off to an old dirt road leading to a falling down barn and house.  Spooky.  At least this place had a decent hotel and a Tim Hortons (coffee and doughnut shop).  But the same thing the next day, an hour and half break between sessions.  We went to the local shopping mall and checked out the designer clothes, tastefully displayed across the aisle from the meat.  I'm not buying $80 (40 pounds) t-shirts across the aisle from the frozen foods.  That's just wrong. 

I like city living.  I like the coffee shops.   I like live music.  I like the bike and walking paths.  I like going to the movies in the afternoon and having more than two choices.  I like art galleries and museums (ok the one here sucks).  I like buildings higher than two stories and made with some character, not an entire of city of cheap wooden boxes with the bank being the only brick one.  I don't want to be out in the country where you can walk for days and you'll still be in the same flat wheat field.  I don't want to walk down the street and smell cow manure all day or compete with tractors and farm trucks for parking. 

Argghh. I just typed a whole post and lost it.  It's the first week of classes and I've been swamped.  I'm feeling old.  All day long the campus is swamped with these fresh faces, young, fit bodies of kids that were born when I was in high school.  I envy them, being able to go to University right out of high school.  They aren't even old enough to drink and they are doing things that I wasn't able to do until my late 20's.  I feel like I'm always playing catch up, always the last to be picked, the one running laps when everyone is done and gone.  Or maybe I'm just out of shape, unless round is considered a shape.   

I've started classes again, I had Micro Economics on Tuesday and Statistics this Saturday.  It's going to be hard but if I don't procrastinate about my readings and assignments, it should be ok.  Yah, like that will happen.  I need help getting motivated. 

The visit to my mom's was ok.  I went out for four days, the drive is long and boring.  I'm always more excited to go there then it warrants, just before I headed out I was thinking how nice it might be to move there.  New city, lots to do, close to my family.  Within a day, I remembered why my family is 666 kms away.  We're just way different people.  My mom and sister always want to go shopping or do crafting.  Me, I want to listen to live bands, go the museum or the zoo, I can wander around for hours and buy nothing.  Just crowd watch and enjoy the sights. 

Got to go...procrastination calls.  How's everyone else been?

i'm back from the parental unit's.  More once I unwind.