An Upside Down Week in Review

 ¡uʍop ǝpısdn plɹoʍ ʎɯ pǝuɹnʇ sɐɥ ʞǝǝʍ ɐ uoouɹǝʇɟɐ ǝuo oʇ pǝʇɐƃǝlǝp uoıssǝsqo ƃuılƃuɐ uɐ puɐ suoıʇɐnʇɔnlɟ ɹǝɥʇɐǝʍ plıʍ 'ʇısuɐɹʇ ɔılqnd uo ƃuıʇnɯɯoɔ ǝɔuɐʇsıp ƃuol 'ʇɟıɥs pɹɐʎǝʌɐɹƃ ƃuıʞɹoʍ ;uǝǝq s,ʇı ʞǝǝʍ pɹıǝʍ ɐ ʇɐɥM

 OK... that's better. Sorry to all those who are using Google Translator, is it possible for a program to have a stroke? But that pretty well sums up the weird week I've had in the "real" world. My work week starts Sunday night, and as a responsible shift supervisor, I feel it is my duty to the company to show up in the best working condition possible. This was not to be the case Sunday as I'd already been awake for 16hrs. when I opened up the factory. Thankfully the shift ran smoothly with no problems at all, but the commute home saw me doing my best imitation of a bobble head doll with a broken spring.

 After a much needed rest, I returned to the land of the living Monday evening. Tackle Shop informed me that the long awaited clearance sale was on at Bass Pro, but he was broke and I had no time to spare until Friday. Monday night at the plant was the polar opposite of the previous day, chaotic would be an understatement. Did I just mention polar? Toronto had seen overnight temperatures below 0 degrees F  for several days.

 The commute home Tuesday was uneventful and gave me time to contemplate "the lay of the land". I've secured a comfortable income and could afford to move out on my own immediately, but I think I'll stay put for a few months and dump some much needed extra funds into the family economy. It occurred to me to leave some money out for TS to make a run up to Bass Pro during the day and buy a new reel for both of us. It was just like Christmas when I awoke, rushing downstairs to see what Santa left: a Pflueger Supreme 9030XT spinning reel at half price to go with the 5 piece, 6.5' Pflueger travel rod I received Dec. 25th.

    What a sweet set up. I can't wait to get out and use it, but that will have to wait for the spring.

  Tuesday in general was a day for contemplation. It occurred to me that the time and distance spent commuting to work in a week could get me from home to North Bay, Ottawa, Detroit or even Pittsburgh. Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do. Three hours a day on a bus has given me some quality people watching time. The other night an individual got on the bus wearing a super-hero's cape, while I noticed another, elderly gentleman studying a magazine intensely page by page for half an hour without realizing it was upside down! He was probably looking for secret messages. Funny how in the evenings people are somber and withdrawn while in the mornings hyper and busy with their electronic toys. I found it amusing and a little disturbing to wake up surrounded by 20 clones all thumb typing on their Blackberries.

 The worst part of my third shift of the week was that I had to dismiss another woman for a lackluster performance the night before. "Nothing personal, it's just business" has never sat well with me, but I've been in this line of work for a long time and can usually tell immediately how well an individual will adjust. Unfortunately unskilled workers are sometimes considered to be disposable and are easily replaced.

 The rest of the work week went off without a hitch (sort of). Thursday and Friday saw brisk winds and record high temperatures of 50 degrees F for a 48hr. period. Thus the reason I'm sitting here now on a Saturday afternoon writing another post rather than trying to fish on 8" of slush covering the ice. This is a long weekend in Ontario, Family Day, and more importantly Family Fishing Weekend where anyone can fish without a licence (if only the weather would cooperate). As I'm writing this the temperatures are already starting to plummet and tomorrow the lakes should be solid enough for another day of hard water fishing.

 So... that was my weird week in a nutshell. I just needed to unload some of the crap off my shoulders, thanks for reading.