It's Not That Hot Anymore!!!

They are currently renovating Library and Archives Canada, and for some reason they’re switching the archival space on the third floor with the library on the second. While the point of these renovations escapes me entirely, I am reaping some substantial benefits from the consultation room’s reduced hours of operation. It’s okay for you to be gushing with joy right now, for I too was excited upon being informed of this development. Instead of sacrificing an hour of work every day and leaving the archives with a lot of guilt around 9:30/10pm, I now get kicked out at 8pm EVERYDAY for the rest of my research. Despite the insane amount of noise that the work crews make, and the barren bookshelves which surround me, I’m definitely happy with the new arrangements.

Now, if I could just figure out how to get there before 10am every morning…I’d be set.

News to report. You, Me and Dupree is by far the worst movie I’ve ever seen. It’s even worse than Army of Darkness (sorry Matt, Ann Marie, and Holly…). I’m usually committed enough to a movie – no matter how appalling – to stick it out until the end. This was not one of those movies. But I saw it with Chris about a week ago, and didn’t want to haul him out of the theatre, so I watched in silent pain. As it happens, so did Chris. In an effort to avoid feeling like I’d wasted my time completely, I thought about my grocery list, whether I should buy a bike or roller blades to navigate the paths and streets of Ottawa if I move here, and the meaning of life. While I’m sure that my answers to both the first and last subjects will only bore you, I think I’ve settled on the roller blades. I’m a little worried that I may die in the event I need to brake (suddenly or otherwise), but let’s face it…they’re cheaper, and I’m cheap *cough* unemployed.

Other news. I exchanged very stern words with a very senior member of the Environmental Health department for the Ottawa Region [whose name/position shall remain anonymous for fear of a lawsuit] yesterday. He refused to release the rabies vaccine to me because Kingston Public Health didn’t have a record of my initial vaccination, and I refused [Seriously, I’ve never been this firm with anyone in my entire life…] to leave his office until he did something about this that would result in me getting a needle in my arm. You see, yesterday was day 3 in my 28-day series, and I needed another hit of HDCV. My brief and tumultuous courtship with Ottawa Public Health started on Thursday morning, when I started leaving messages for people in various departments at the instruction of the Public Health Nurse. I figured it would take a couple of hours to get everything straightened out. I called back, and kept getting the same answering machines that I had left my information on earlier in the day. I let it slide. I called back yesterday morning, and kept getting connected to answering machines. I spoke to the receptionist and got directions to Ottawa Public Health. I stayed calm until the Director’s assistant said there was nothing they could do for me. At this point, I waved my immunization record in his face and told him he didn’t have a choice. They had been calling Kingston Public Health, even though Kingston Public Health doesn’t store or administer the rabies vaccine. Unlike Ottawa, it is stored in Emergency Rooms. As I said in MY VOICE MESSAGES, I was a patient at Kingston General Hospital, and THEY gave me the number for Kingston Public Health so that I could get the contact info for Ottawa Public Health. Clearly, my records are going to be at KGH. By the time I actually got to meet with the director and laid out the different administrative policies of the two regions for him before telling him to listen to his voicemail a little closer and call the emergency department at THE HOSPITAL, it was 11:30. By the time I finally found myself a family doctor to whom the director could release the vaccine, it was closer to 1:30. By the time I picked up the vials, transported them to the office, made appointments for my next series and got my needle for day 3, it was 3pm. So…all in all…it took me 7 hours to get this straightened out. But the staff at KGH assured me it would only take about 30 minutes. The point of this story is that Ottawa’s bureaucracy is not limited to the Hill.

However, I do want to give a shout-out to [unnamed woman who works part-time for Ottawa Public Health] who actually restored my faith in humanity yesterday. She gave up her lunch hour to take me to her family doctor when she found me frantically trying to track down a doctor who could accommodate my situation. When she stumbled upon me, I was on my eleventh quarter. And she was adamant that I not mention the help she gave me to anyone, as she was worried she would lose her job for associating with a client outside of the office. I hesitate to think about how much longer things would’ve taken had this 64 year old woman – who clearly had special needs – not helped me out. And the BEST part is she said she was only helping me because she could tell I was a “gentle person” from the way I stayed completely calm when speaking with the staff. Admittedly, while I did let them know I understood that they couldn’t just release 3 vials of vaccine to me and that we needed to figure out a solution to the problem no matter how long it took, I was definitely NOT calm. I actually thought that I was being a tad too aggressive, but I seriously needed this vaccine yesterday. The fact that the man who was in line behind me COMPLETELY lost his cool definitely helped make me look “gentle.” I also think that I stayed calm only because I’ve worked in customer service before, and I know that I’m much more willing to help someone when they treat me like a person instead of a some administrative assistant. While I’m sure that this remark has angered the Association for Administrative Professionals, they’ll just have to deal with it.

Sigh. Rant’s over. If you made it this far, I commend you. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

In case you haven’t been able to tell, my postings have been less-than-regular because I don’t usually have access to the internet. As I’m in Ottawa until 22 August, expect to hear from me sporadically. You will hear from me when word arrives from the Kiwis. If that posting doesn’t come soon, just assume that I’m frothing at the mouth across the desk from another Ottawa bureaucrat. And this one hasn’t answered my e-mails or taken my phone calls for over a week.

I’m heading to the hills….of Gatineau…to go hiking with Chris now. Woot! It’s a mental health day!