[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi,
Started answering last night and got interrupted with a Skype call from a friend then an SOS text from another friend. What an evening! Then tonight was a bon voyage social for another one of our guys who’s leaving. We’re running at about 50% staff for the next couple weeks. How fun!

Yes the energy in those waves at Point Pelee was pretty awesome. I usually like the wind. It sings of a wild freedom that echos in my soul. But I’ll have to admit it was a little stronger than I like. But pretty cool to watch those waves.

I’ve been trying to figure out what attracted me to Tim and Austin. I’d have to say its their eyes. Both have very beautiful, expressive eyes. Tim has since cut his hair. I’m watching one of his videos from 5 months ago. Wearing glasses, hair has streaks of grey and its short. Austin has grown a beard, which I’m not really fond of. But I’ll go back to those gorgeous eyes. Two things are like magnets for me…… a genuine smile and beautiful eyes. LOL. (sigh)

And very little time for socializing when I’m working 56/57 hour weeks. Makes things not quite so boring and lonely though. If I’m going to be away from home would rather be working. Did book my flight for Christmas. Project sort of mentioned that they’d prefer people not take off till the 23rd, but Darren said he was ok with me leaving the 21st. I booked my flight for the 21st returning on Jan 2. So not quite 2 weeks but it will be good to be home for more than a couple days!

Past my bed time so gotta go.
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Spyce,
Oh, no. I did call you Heidi, didn’t I? I”m so sorry. I knew it was you. Don’t know what I was thinking!

Yes, things are definitely changing for the better at work – ha ha – except, just like normal, I’m back to my 50+ hour weeks. Darren really wants things streamlined and wants a one-stop-shopping for all our tracking instead of a endless number of spreadsheets. And they’ve asked me to take over some of the things Hugo was doing. And tonight I was just introduced to an upper management person who was asking about the turnover database. Who knows what will happen. Sounds like management is finally figuring out that using a database is hundreds of times more efficient than what we’re doing. Darren’s coming to me for more and more. So we’ll see. He wants a bunch of our forms redone as well. The are pretty bad. I told him I’d work 56 hour weeks till it was cleaned up – except the first 2 weeks in October. 1st weekend I’ve got Friday off to go to Algonquin and the 2nd weekend coming home for Canadian Thanksgiving. Can’t wait!

I did have an interesting weekend. Went down to Point Pelee. Its the most southern point of Canada and is kind of a peninsula sticking down into Lake Erie. Wind was blowing hard. So fascinating. Waves were coming in (not sure how or why) from two different directions off the point and it created a line of raging and wild white water for a couple hundred feet off the tip where the waves crashed into each other. Saw three monarchs. They were resting up for their trip south. They weren’t flying that day as the wind was coming in from the south. Ha Ha It was an adventure. No gps in my car or on my phone so look at googlemaps before I go and write them on my phone. Missed a couple turns on the way down, which wasn’t a big deal, but also ran into several road closures, so had to wander around to find my way. Took an extra hour. So coming back I just headed north and east. Made it back in 2.5 hours. Its supposed to take only 2. It was an ok day – other than driving for 5.5 hours for 4 hours at the park.

Next two weekends will be boring. Be working both Sundays but the first two weekends of October will be full.

LOL. Binge watching Home Free. I like their music and voices and on top of that, there are a couple really good looking men. And don’t ask me why I think that as I don’t really like long hair on guys, but Tim and Austin rock the long hair. LOL. Austin showed up in my dreams the other night. (blush deep red) Usually if a guy shows up in my dreams its a total stranger that I’ve never seen before and have no name for.

Still hoping to have work at home by next spring. Will have things running smoothly here by then. Past my bedtime so have to go.

Have a SUPER day tomorrow!

Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi,
Yes, LOL, you do have me figured out….. mostly. 🙂 And I think that’s one reason I wasn’t interested in Dean or Rod. Neither of them are near as active as I am. It is important to me to find someone who is active. And I really do prefer younger men. Yes, you’re right. I grew up in a very negative environment and both my marriages were negative. I won’t go back to that and really make sure I get friends who are positive and associate with positive people. I shy away from negative, critical, judgmental people. I listen to southern gospel, quite positive, and youtube clips I watch are all positive and uplifting or clips of people succeeding. I try to surround myself with positivity.

So Andrew is gone. Announced this morning. You wouldn’t believe how fast that news traveled and how quickly Darren and Victor moved in and started changes. Both of them have given me the green light to really move ahead and streamline our processes, get them into a database instead of half dozen spread sheets. Darren told Hugo and me this morning we are strong and have skills and he expects us to just get our jobs done and do whatever we need to do it. We don’t have to ask him or anyone else. Just get it done. And Hugo has done a 180 on his attitude. It’s really funny how his attitude has changed. He’s being shifted to being punch list coordinator and I’m taking over more of his administrative tracking responsibilities. So next week I’ll be working a 56 hour week. Darren and Victor would like things streamlined and running smoothly with 4-6 weeks, so the next few weeks will be 50-56 hour weeks. Be a challenge, but think I can come pretty close. So that all came today to revamp all our processes, and so did 30 turnover binders that have to be processed and reviewed. When it rains it pours. I will continue to look for work at home, but will put that off for a few months. Want to get this organized, set up and running smoothly. Big reason I’m single. My work has, by necessity, come before my social life. I had to earn the income of two to support the boys. Getting close to when I can change that. Looked for vacations in Norway. They are quite reasonable. Much more than New Zealand, so think I’ll plan me a 1-2 week trip to Norway when I’m done with this project. Should be fun!!!

I’m tired. Been a big day. Tomorrow is my day to spend with God and rejuvenate then Sunday I’ll put in at least 6 hours of work. Ha Ha. Back to my usual schedule. But will give me money for my lenses, a trip to Norway and maybe put me in a position where I can “retire”. Really don’t want to end on this job. Want to end on a good one where I’m doing what I love and its a good project. We’ll see.

Have a SUPER day tomorrow!
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Spyce,
Thank you for all your compliments. I thrive in a positive environment, so your encouragement helps a lot! Thank you.

So today was very interesting. Tomorrow will be more interesting. Darren, my boss’s boss has called a meeting tomorrow morning with all of our team. Then another meeting with myself and a team member and two NOVA people. Andrew, my boss I saw very briefly today, but he was in and out and quiet and not really there. Nobody else knows, but Darren, told me he has been looking at resumes to replace Andrew. It wouldn’t surprise me if Andrew is out the door. I’m going to guess that’s what the first meeting is about and the second to start re-organizing and restructuring. All our team’s processes are very, very inefficient so I know for sure that starting to restructure our processes is on the agenda for our second meeting. That will hopefully make things a lot better if Andrew is gone. I’ve highly recommended another person to Darren. If he brings Randy in, it will definitely be much, much better. We’ll see.

It would be fun to go out on a date again. Will be hard to get that while I’m here. Maybe over Christmas. I would definitely like to date younger men and would be comfortable up to 10 years younger. So hard to be away from home. I’m starting to feel a little more sociable and loosening up a bit. Hope that continues.

Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Spyce,
Thank you for your thoughts. You’re right. Anyone of us could die tomorrow. That was driven home to me this weekend. While I survived with only a couple bruises and a scratch, the outcome could easily have been totally different. I did reach out to oh, maybe 8 of my contacts on LinkedIn tonight. Bob, a former database manager that I collaborated with, is now a senior project manager over in Belgium. We’ve been talking. He has some projects coming up soon. If they decide to go digital execution, there’s a good chance he’ll bring me on to his project and I’ll be able to work from home. Won’t know about that for probably a couple months and possibly not till after Christmas. But that would be a good job. Bob would be good to work for. Talked also with Jeff, a project manager I did a lot of volunteer time for on his project last year. He says he may have a project coming up and asked what I was doing. His last project was digital, so if the new one is also digital, again, good chance he’ll bring me on his project. But again, it’s a wait and see.

Yes, I definitely feel very keenly the difference between Sarnia and Calgary. I feel it as soon as the plane sets down in Ontario. First day back and I was about in tears by 10 a.m. Totally frustrating, annoying and irritating. Takes all my strength to keep a half way decent attitude and it drains me physically, mentally, emotionally. Will up my job hunting.

Had an interesting experience flying home yesterday. Young man scooted into the seat next to mine leaving Calgary. We talked for maybe half an hour or so. Lucky him! Lives and works in Banff. He was going home to London, ON to see family for a couple weeks. I’d guess maybe 35-37ish? Dunno. Then we both dozed off for most of the rest of the trip. As we were landing started talking again. Said his name was Jake and told me to look him up when I’m in Banff. Go to the front desk at the Banff Hotel and ask for him. Told me a couple times to stop by. As we were getting our bags I wished him a happy visit and headed off the plane. Going up the ramp from the plane I heard him say something behind me so stopped and waited for him. He walked out with me through the waiting area to the restrooms. Again he said to look him up next time I was in Banff. Kind of surprised me, but felt really good. Maybe I’ll figure out a way to stop in while home in October and say Hi. See if he really remembers me. It was a short interaction, but I felt really comfortable with him and a bit of a connection. Way too young for me, but a really nice man. Wish he were older! 🙂

I do think you’re right. I have no life here at all in Sarnia. I’d have much more of a life at home in Calgary. (playfully) I think I could even manage to get a date or two. 🙂 My biggest problem is my work.

Just got word my new lens is in. I’ll pick it up when I go home in October and spend some time at the dog park. See what kind of reception I get – see if people are interested in buying casual pics of their dogs. Test out to see if maybe a Best Friends Memories pet photography business might be successful.

Thanks again, Spyce,
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi Spyce,
Thanks. Nice to hear from you again.

Yes, things at work are not good. Possibility things may get better. We’ll see in the next few weeks. But that won’t change the fact that I have no life there. Have my resume out, but not looking really hard. Would like to give them 9 months to a year just so I don’t get the reputation of upping and leaving. Will touch bases with some of my contacts on LinkedIn when I get back.

Oh, I’m exhausted! Per the usual, non-stop trip. Didn’t get home till 9 pm mountain time Thursday – and I was up a 3 mountain time. West Jet delayed the flight by 2 hours less than 24 hours before the flight. Had made a curb-side grocery order so stopped to pick that up (too busy in July to even go grocery shopping :)), stopped at Atmosphere to get another foam kayak pad as one had blown out from under my kayak in Sept. They didn’t have one. Friday was chiropractor, hair cut, stop at Aquabatics for the foam pad. They didn’t have one, either so had to run clear in to down-town Calgary to get the foam pad as they were the only ones who had a single. Stopped at Home Depot for project needs. Got a little done on putting my deck back together after staining it in July. Then gathered everything for Saturday’s kayak trip, massage and a meetup group. It was really nice. We had maybe 10-12 people there. A couple new gentlemen that I wouldn’t mind getting to know….. but pretty tough to do when I’m out of town so much. 🙁 Home around 9:15.

Saturday morning I was on the road with my kayak loaded by 6:45. Oh….. Spyce, I had to laugh (back track a bit here). The girl at the car rental was a riot. I told her I wanted an older car and one with a firm roof as I was going kayaking and needed to haul a kayak. LOL. So she gave me an Elantra, said it was a “sexy” car. LOL. It might be sexy, sleek, handles well, good gas mileage, but the roof is very rounded and curved. I managed to haul the kayak, but it was difficult. Too funny. Absolutely clueless about the needs for hauling a kayak.

Got to our meeting spot for kayaking 50 min early. When the others got there they asked where my wet suit was. Where was my helmet. I was NOT prepared for that. But Spyce, this group was SOOOOOOO AWESOME. Mike, the one who organized the event, lent me an extra wet suit he had. No one had an extra helmet, so he allowed me to go without. He was awesome. I offered not to go if he felt I wasn’t prepared. He said, No, this is a good chance for you to be introduced to white water. We’ll make it work. The rest of the group were also super supportive. (We had 6, including me). We got started and weren’t 20 min to the run when I “went swimming” meaning the kayak flipped on me. I have NEVER been in water rough enough to flip me. That was a first. Here I was upside down in my kayak being swept down a fast river – and I couldn’t get out as my skirt was fastened to the kayak (A skirt is what fits around your waist and hooks over the lip of the cockpit to keep the water out of the kayak.) Then I remembered being told to grab the strap at the front of the skirt and pull it off, so I did. Came right off. I popped above water and was able to swim to shore. There was a nice, flat shore there. Everyone else was there immediately collecting my kayak and paddle and seeing if I was ok. Lost my sun glasses and a glove. I sat on the shore for a few minutes to warm up and catch my breath. They all encouraged me and told me all of them had gone swimming and if you don’t go swimming you aren’t trying. So I collected my breath and we headed out again. John, one of the meetup’s leads, was kind enough to pull me aside and teach me how to get in and out of an eddie and learn that skill (An eddie is where the water goes around something and goes back up stream along the shore.) So we practiced that several times in different places. And I’m glad we did as I needed it later! He would tell me to get in a length or two behind him and follow him and do what he did. It was pretty cool. Got to go over some small “edges” – where the river drops a foot or so over a ledge. But we came to a double edge. Both edges were maybe 3 feet and only 30-40 feet apart. One of the other girls and I didn’t run it. Mike and John got us out and took our kayaks around the double edge for us. Then we got to watch the other four run it. Pretty cool. Loved being on the river. It was gorgeous. Saw bald eagles and osprey. Sun was out most of the time. Everything went well till about 700-800 feet from where we were to get out. Hit another set of rapids where the water was really fast and waves were maybe 1-2 feet. I was feeling comfortable and good and next thing I knew I was rolling over again. I don’t think I was all the way over when I reached for the strap and popped out. Tried to ride the kayak through the rapids. Two seconds of that and I knew that wasn’t going to work. Was swept up against some rocks on the shore and tried to grab on to get out, but they were steep and large and I couldn’t grab on. At that point I remembered being told when in that situation just to ride it out. Keep feet up and head up, bum down and ride it out. So that’s what I did. Went into the best float position I could, tried to watch when the next wave was coming and just rode it out. And PRAYED!!! God, Don’t let me die! I think I went maybe 200-300 feet?? Quite a ways to be in a rapids!! Both John and Mike were waiting for me in the middle of the river when I got out. John told me to grab the back of his boat and towed me to shore. Got there and a couple campers came running over and helped me out and to a rock in the sun. One brought me blueberries. The two experienced girls had caught my kayak and my paddle and brought it in. Fortunately we were at a campground only 400 feet or so to where we were parked. Wendy stayed with me while the other 4 went on down the river to get the cars. Wendy got me out of the cold, wet, wet suit and gave me one of her dry jackets. I just sat in the sun and warmed up. Then she and I hauled our kayaks up to the road. One of the other girls drove her vehicle up and got me and took me back for my car while Wendy guarded gear. Then I guarded gear while Wendy went for her truck. Loaded up while waiting. Meetup said 10-2. We didn’t get of the river till after 5. It was a long stretch of river to run. It was almost 6 by the time we got loaded up. LOL. Everyone was supportive of my swim. Mike said I provided entertainment watching me float down. I just laughed and dryly said I was glad to provide entertainment. He also said when he got back with his truck that he was actually glad it happened as where they got out was more difficult than he remembered and just past there was another edge that was more tricky than the double edge. Where I ended up getting out was much easier and safer. It was amazing. All I can say is my guardian angel was definitely in action. I never hit my head. Got out with only one small scratch. NO water went up my nose. Only swallowed one gulp of water, that’s it. I’ll credit my guardian angel and that I learned to swim when 5 and grew up swimming so quite comfortable in the water and quite comfortable under water. So I didn’t totally panic and also it was instinctive when to breath and also know how to seal off my nose. Never did swim with nose plugs. Wendy, who also took a couple swims, said I won the swim contest, though. LOL And one of the other girls also took a swim. So I wasn’t the only one. Didn’t get home till after 8. Exhausted! Still, an awesome day. Met some wonderful people. Couldn’t ask for a more wonderful group of people to learn from and paddle with. Will be going with them again when I can. Wouldn’t mind getting to know Mike better. He was a gentleman.

LOL. Up today by 6 and a girl friend picked me up at 7. We went out to the mountains and got some really good pica shots, did a little hiking at the Upper Kananaskis Lake, but the wind was blowing well over 50k / hour. It was really strong. We were going to bring the kayaks, take pica pics in the morning and kayak in the afternoon. Glad we didn’t way too windy. Drove back to Canmore over Spray Lakes trail (80 k of dirt road and gorgeous scenery). Ate lunch by a beautiful lake. It was WAYYYYY crowded in the mountains. Never seen it so crowded. Got into Canmore and got some ice cream. Yum. It was also very crowded as highland games were going on (Scottish festival). Got home around 3:30. Did wash and now time to pack and be on the road to the airport by 6:30 tomorrow morning. 🙁 Do NOT want to go back!

Ha Ha So now you have a detailed pic of my weekend at home. Non-stop go. I’ll be back to Sarnia before 5 tomorrow so go to bed early to rest from my trip. (big grin).

Hope you had an awesome long weekend! You, too, Heidi, hope you had some fun as well.
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

P.S. I’m so excited! Canoe and Kayak meetup just posted an event for Saturday the 4th (when I’ll be home) on the Upper Red Deer River. Means leaving the house by 6:30 a.m. so up by 5, but I’m stoked! It will be a white water run, so I’m really excited! Yippee!!!! Looks like I’ll finally be able to meet John Gapp, the leader, that I’ve been wanting to meet for a couple years. Don’t know if he’s single or not, but guess we’ll find out. And another gentleman who planned the trip. So should be great.

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi,
Thank you. First have to say I am exhausted and stressed to the max. I have NEVER worked on a project where I feel so totally paralyzed and incompetent I have NEVER worked on a project that is this inefficient. Never worked on a project that EVERY DAY I come home ready to break down in tears. Usually reach that point about 2 hours into the day and then stay at that stress level till an hour or two after work. Didn’t get lunch today. I’m eating lunch now after I got home. Will head out for a walk here after getting something to eat. I’ll put in a 9-10 hour day and feel like I got 2 hours worth of work done. I’ve had projects where its been that way for a day here and a day there, but never one that is consistently every day like this project. The project in Ohio was really, really bad, but I actually think this one is worse. Really taking its tole on me physically, mentally and emotionally.

I do hope I’m putting out positive vibes and raising the positive energy around here, but it really feels like I’m not.

Yes, in spite of all the chaos preceding the reunion, it did go well. Very thankful to the courtesy and service of the people at the brewery. I did make a point of thanking the hostess in charge on my way out. Everyone thanked me for putting it together and said they enjoyed it. It was a good evening.

I believe my observation skills were developed wandering the woods and hills (mostly alone) while growing up. They were honed when I worked with horses. I would focus in on the horse and be able to read its behavior. Since 2002 I’ve been working 50+ hours a week, not getting the time in nature and pretty stressed and focused on raising the boys. With the amount of work and stress, those skills have rusted. Oh,…… did I tell you the ex drug me back into court twice to take the boys away from me? He would stalk me and follow me around and interfere with my life as much as he possibly could the whole time the boys were growing up (about 15 years). Thank God those days are over!!!!! Ha Ha Ha. He tried to pull a manipulative, controlling move and I laughed in his face and told him what a fool he was making of himself and that’s the last time he spoke to me. Should have done that a lot sooner. Anyway…….. Skill just crowded out by work and stress and not using them. No, haven’t lost my curiosity about people. But its been buried with trying to survive.

Headed out for a walk. Hopefully no more domestic violence cases and no old men! 🙂

How was apple picking? Did you enjoy? Get a lot of good apples?
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Heidi,
I know I’m loading your inbox, but Yikes! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!! I went for a walk along the river. Its a main paved path in a nice city park. An almost naked fat old man sitting on a bench soaking the sun stopped me to talk. I could tell he was lonely so stopped to talk for a bit. He wanted me to sit on the bench next to him. Uh…. no. I leaned against the hand rail on the river wall about 6′ away and talked for maybe 5-10 min then excused myself. I kind of got the feeling he might be a half-recovered alcoholic. That’s the third old man who has stopped me to talk in the last three weeks. ????? A young girl had walked past us in a sun dress and half bared boobs. Didn’t think much of it. But as I walked further up the river, I heard some loud voices. A guy and girl were at a gazebo along the path. He attacked her and pushed her down. I couldn’t tell if they were just playing or if it was a fight. Then she got up crying and asked another guy walking past to call the cops. She was yelling at the guy who had pushed her down who was now in the gazebo oh 10-15 feet away from her. I knew she needed to get away before the situation got worse. I just walked up to her and in a very quiet, low, calm voice said, Girl, come with me. Fortunately she turned and walked away with me. She was obviously in a bad state, drunk or high or something. Just talked on and on about how everyone was out to get her. Her date had just stood her up. It was really a set up. She didn’t know the guy who attacked her. I just listened and walked her away from the gazebo trying to get her to a safer place. We went past a picnic table with a guy sitting at it. She immediately asked him for a cigarette, acted like I didn’t exist any more and started talking with him. He seemed like a decent guy so I just left. I walked on a ways more but it was hot and I was getting thirsty so I circled around and went up to the street (avoiding the mostly naked man). She was still sitting at the picnic table talking with the guy.

This town. Yeow. The longer I’m here, the less I like it. GET ME HOME!!!! And by the way…… Both Barry and Jeff were less than two blocks from where I stay when their bikes were stolen. Jeff’s was stolen from a secured parking garage and Barry’s lock was cut even though he was backed against a transformer with very little room to get in to the bike. Its getting a little scary. I have to walk two blocks to my car and its starting to be a bit dark in the morning. I WANT TO GO HOME!!!!

Hope you had an awesome day!
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Oh, P.S. Couldn’t sleep Thursday night so ended up watching several youtube videos by Jordan Matters. How fun. He’s a wild, crazy photographer. Can’t describe him, so look him up on youtube. I’m trying to watch and learn for photography ideas. He does a lot of action shots. There’s a bike park at Canatara so come this fall it would be fun to go hang out there and get parents’ permission to photograph action shots of the kids on their bikes. A friend in Calgary also sent me a link to some really cool photo hacks so will keep that in the back of my mind to review when the weather cooperates and I get my new lens. Again, while I can do some here, there’s not the resources? here that I’d like. Will be able to do more when I get home to Calgary.

[Rhonda R]

Good morning, Heidi,
Welllll… what can I say? 94% humidity out there….. Its a good day for swimming? But I know all the beaches will be super crowded. Kayaking you’re out in the sun with no shade and in this weather extremely easy to get over heated and dehydrated. Walking is out. I won’t call it hiking around here and not going to happen in 94% humidity. End up feeling like I’m in a swimming pool without the cooling benefit of the water.

So are you apple picking today or tomorrow? Hope you have fun! Do you have someone to go with? And your strength and mobility is coming back?

LOL. Oh, Heidi, I had to laugh…. This R3 Reunion…. LOL So last Monday Patti and I met to plan it. We went to Canatara Park where we originally planned to have it. The Big Daddy’s Chip Truck, that was supposed to be open, was closed. We tried 4, yes, 4 other restaurants. They were ALL closed. Sarnia shuts down on Monday nights. Finally found one place open and had a nice dinner. So….. LOL. The one family ended up not being able to come, so since no kids were coming and it was supposed to be hot, we changed the venue on Wednesday to Dockside, a small restaurant with a big outdoor tent eating area out by the marina. We were to meet at 4. I got there around 3:15 to reserve a place. Big sign out in front. Sorry, We are closed till 5 to give our staff a break from the heat. 🙁 So I went over to Paddy’s right across the street. Big sign out front. Sorry, patio and outdoor eating area closed today because of the heat. Went back to Dockside to see if they were open inside and we could order drinks inside and wait outside till they opened. No. He was totally closed and all his staff were off the clock. He suggested Big Family, a micro brewery across the street next door to Paddy’s. LOL. Its now 3:45, 15 min before scheduled time, with no place to meet and I have no way of contacting any one but Patti and wasn’t able to reach her. Sky is looking a stormy. I’m laughing. This could only happen in Sarnia. So I went over to Big Family. Fortunately, they were open and their outdoor area was open. Staff super nice. Since there’s only one street into Dockside where we were originally meeting and the outdoor eating area at Big Family was right next to the street, I stood out by the road hoping to catch people as they drove by. It worked. So John showed up. He was able to reach Patti. Patti had everyone else’s phone number and was able to text them. Barry saw John and me as he drove by, so that worked. Ha Ha Ha. Then it started to rain. The Big Family hostess was awesome. They have an indoor dining area that had big roll up windows on two sides so really opened the area up, like an indoor patio. The space originally wasn’t open, but when it started raining, she opened the area for us. We were the only ones in there till right towards the end when another couple came in. So in spite of all the chaos, it ended up well and we had a really nice time. I learned I’ve lost a lot of my observation skills. 🙁 It seems John is Portugese. Barry was quieter tonight than the other night. More people maybe, and the conversation different subject? Not sure. Learned Ron also is a bit of a cycler. He also has property in Cranbrook or Kelowna, BC. His wife is still there but will be coming back later this fall. Chuck came in late has he had a contractor working on his house. Learned a little about his daughter and family. All the men have positive attitudes, smiles, and quieter voices. I like that, feel more comfortable around men like that. Patti probably has the strongest personality. She’s not at all afraid to tell her boss (or anyone else) Hell, No. Not going to happen. She’s the kind of person who has everyone’s phone number and knows lots about everyone. Jeff didn’t come. He was moving (for the 3rd time in 2 years) LOL. He dresses in old, loose fitting jeans, loose T-shirt. He’s moving cuz he now has 3 cars and his expensive bike was stolen out of the secured apartment complex garage. (Lots of theft and crime in Sarnia. Barry’s nice bike was stolen the 2nd day he was in town.) He found a house with a 2-car garage where both his corvettes will live. (scratch my head) Why would anyone want 2 corvettes? He doesn’t have the arrogant show-of, braggy personality I usually associate with corvette owners. So maybe he likes collecting classic cars? Not sure how old the cars are. Status symbol? Then he has a “grandma” car that I’m told he bought from an older lady. Guess its a much more practical 4-door sedan that he uses for every day commuting. Jeff’s single, and as an electrical engineer, makes lots of money, so can afford those kinds of things. He also is very quiet spoken. Patti thinks he might be dating, but not sure. So I realize those are all facts about these people. I need to be looking more for behaviors and asking WHY do they behave that way. I used to be able to ready people and animals fairly well, but I have lost a lot of that. Need to see if I can get that back.

Anyway, that’s the report from last night. I see through my skylight its clouded over. I’ll get on the treadmill as its too humid to exercise outside, then need to figure out a way to get out of the house before I go totally insane.

Enjoy your day!
Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi
Yes, that was a good article, wasn’t it. I liked Tom Edison’s response when his place burned down….. Thank God all the mistakes are gone and we can start over. What an awesome way to look at a disaster.

I always try to be sensitive to other people’s feelings. I will wait to talk about something till I can figure out a positive approach. Even negative things can be approached in a positive way. Ha Ha. That is unless I reach the end of my rope, pushed to my limit or backed into a corner. Then this little kitten morphs into a tiger. It wasn’t a total lie I told Marcel. It really isn’t fair to him with me being away and drained and stressed. 🙂 I figured that would be softer on his ego than Hey, I don’t think we’re a good match. I have said that a times, so can when necessary.

You’re right. I’m sure these guys on construction sites don’t even think twice about their language and don’t realize how it affects others. Probably pretty expected from male counterparts.

Now that I know I have Darren’s backing and Victor’s (and Doug’s), I’m a little bolder in challenging the inefficient processes we have in place. The commissioning group has opted to wait to take all the civil books till the end of the project when they are all in. So right now, I looked at one set of books. The 12 books were in 4 different places. If I were commissioning, I’d be pretty unhappy to get them in the unorganized state they are. So I can squeeze in a little time now get them organized before the rush. Andrew would have been perfectly happy with turning them over to the plant in that mess. Not going to happen on my watch. Victor wants me to start bring some of these things up in our weekly meeting. I think he and Darren will be attending and I feel safer with them there.

LOL. I will definitely put on my investigator’s hat this evening. Its raining right now. The place we’re going has a big tent outside so I think we’ll be fine. I think 8 of us are coming. Should be fun.

Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

This just came across my feed from who knows where, but thought it was good.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/15-qualities-you-need-to-develop-mental-toughness?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[Rhonda R]

Hi, Heidi,
So cool that you’re getting out. Apple picking sounds like fun. Enjoy!! And yes, I am enjoying the fresh peaches and watermelon and cantaloupe.

I’m guessing Ed grew up in a cussing family. I’m not around him much at work. The F word is pretty common on construction sites. I don’t like it, but its common language on every project I’ve been on. So I ignore it.

Exhausted tonight. Work is totally draining me and stressing me out. I totally missed the meeting where I was supposed to show my Access database and what is in Hexagon. Shoot bang! Cuz Andrew wasn’t there and it would have been a good time to talk with Darren and Victor to show them what I have without Andrew. All of us are stressed. I’m hoping Victor and Darren can help us streamline our processes and put a little pressure on Andrew and Hugo to streamline. This project routinely and almost always takes me 5 hours to do a 1 hour job. And I’m not exaggerating – at least not by much. I went over Andrew’s head to Darren earlier this week and got permission to restructure our binder filing system. Will make things more efficient and cost all of us less time. I told Victor I was so fed up I had the I don’t care – fire me if you want attitude. Victor is a NOVA person. Not sure exactly what his position is. But really good to talk with. Pattie suggested I talk with him. So I have vented (and explained to him I was venting) But it is good to know I have quite a bit of support from the NOVA people. We have our R3 reunion tomorrow. It will be fun… Ha Ha If I don’t forget!!

And I used my drained energy and work stress to tell Marcel I needed to back out. Told him I was drained and stressed and it wasn’t fair to him so I was having to back out. Said he was a good man and I was sure he’d find a good woman soon and I wished him the best. I probably won’t do much looking till maybe Christmas time.

Thank you for sharing with me about the dog park. 🙂 If my permanent residency doesn’t go through I know where I’ll move. 🙂

Smiles,
Rhonda

[Rhonda R]

P.S. I finally found something I like about this place. (big grin) I went out to a couple orchards Sunday and picked up some fresh peaches, a small watermelon and a large cantaloupe. Oh, YUM…. Yum…. Yum! I haven’t had fresh fruit like that since I left Walla Walla in 95. That’s a fruit belt up there. Fruit straight from the orchard is so much better than what you can buy in a store!!!! Plus, I’ll have to admit they do get some pretty sunrises here.

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