Day: December 29, 2016

EconomicsFamilyLife ExperienceTravel

Wrapping Up the Old Year

Posted on by Ray MacDonald

Back in the days when I was still gainfully employed, this time between Christmas and New Year’s Day was one of my favorite periods. I always took the week off, and after the mandatory Christmas hubbub it was nice for the three of us to get away for a few days to a hotel with an indoor pool.

We generally went across the border to Niagara Falls, New York. We could get there easily, it was never all that busy down near the American Falls, we could enjoy the light show just as well on the American side and there were always those outlet malls to visit. When we started, there was one right at the Rainbow Bridge but that mall couldn’t compete with the larger one out on Military Road. The Rainbow Mall closed around 2000.

That week off was great because I never looked forward to the New Year for various reasons:

  • All the taxes for Canada Pension and Employment Insurance returned so my paycheck went down in the New Year.
  • If there were any personnel re-engineering moves (i.e. people got fired) these inevitably happened when we returned after the holidays. Nobody lost a job at Christmas, but in the New Year…watch out!
  • After New Year’s Day was always the time when some newfangled HR initiative would get started. Pardon me if I’m cynical, but all that Performance Management stuff was just another Theory X (command and control) scheme inflicted on the workforce. I never saw anything positive in it or out of it.

No matter. In the brief week between Christmas and New Year’s we had a great family time – even I enjoyed it and you know how much I look forward to outlet malls.

Today we’d likely head down to Syracuse – but that time has passed. Sarah has her own family to entertain and as for Maria and me – well….

After Christmas 2004 this whole vacation week became moot because when I finished work on December 20, 2004 I knew I wasn’t going back in January. It’s nice to wind down after Dec 25 but the HR initiatives, organizational re-engineering and payroll taxes are far in my rear view mirror. And that suits me just fine.

 

 

FamilyLife Experience

In the Bleak Midwinter

Posted on by Ray MacDonald

The cold and snow came early to the Valley in late 2016. We missed the first big storm by hiding out in Florida but the freezing temperatures were waiting when we flew back to Montreal at the end of November.

We’ve had a taste of the Polar Vortex – that bone chilling winter weather that dips down into the minus 20s Celsius. However the PV appears to have gone back to the North Pole recently, and things actually warmed up around Christmas. We were close to freezing or slightly above some days.

Of course an early winter thaw has its own unpleasantries – you can get a moisture laden Colorado low trooping through the area. That might mean snow, or worse a bout of freezing rain. Perhaps you saw or experienced folks skating on the streets near Toronto. We had a bit more in the way of sleet around Ottawa but it was still nasty.

Right now we appear to be in a cooler pattern with a series of Alberta clipper systems visiting Eastern Ontario every few days. Each one brings a moderate snowfall, so it adds up. There hasn’t been a real Snowmageddon storm yet – the 30-40 cm variety. But it’s early days.

Beyond the cold and precip there’s the darkness. The early days of winter at latitude 45 degrees N feature the least amount of daylight. The dawn occurs reluctantly around 7:30 AM and by 4:30 PM (or earlier) it’s pitch black again.

Even on a dazzlingly sunny day like yesterday the sun doesn’t seem far away from setting. It’s always in the south – which means a trip anywhere in that direction is an exercise in snow blindness. Add in the slop and salt on the icy roads and I’m happy I don’t have any sort of regular commute these days.

Oh well. When I’m feeling blue I can always check out Facebook. My niece is working for Princess Cruises right now so I can routinely see pics of her looking tanned, buff and happy – drinking from a coconut on a beach in St. Thomas. That makes me feel so much better – especially when she remarks that the ice in her drink is melting really fast. Poor kid.

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