Publisher's Note

Publisher’s Note
HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY THREE KINGS! As we are now in 2019, new year, new beginnings, new challenges and new opportunities. Everyone is entitled to make their new year’s resolution for as long as they keep it in mind and make sure that they do it to the best of their ability. When I was young [...]
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Page added on February 4, 2014

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The Other Side

With winter half over now, we can at least say we survived. For those who are not familiar with the weather in Calgary, it is NOT predictable! Typically it is not too bad from October to December. However, we got a surprise for the first half of the 2013/2014 season as we got lots of cold and huge piles of snow. Then for January we got a nice break and we enjoyed 21 days of above 0 C, or freezing, and some snow melted. With so much coming down in the first half, there is still a lot more to go.

So, what can we expect from now until the end of May you ask? Your guess is as good as mine but with February starting out in the -20 C range…..it doesn’t look very promising! We can only hope for an early spring and take whatever we get until then. For me, it is a reminder to take advantage of the good days to get out and make the most of them when we can. When it turns really cold – just stay inside and turn up the heat!

Hopefully, when it is cold, the 40 hours per week that you work are indoors or it takes a lot out of you being outside all day. I have lived here for more than 50 years and don’t worry; you will never get to where you LIKE winter, but with some effort you can survive. Dressing properly and moving quickly when outdoors lessens the impact of Mother Nature a little.

As I continually move from job to job, I look for good working conditions first, location second, and then wages third. With a second income (a wife) it means that high pay is not always a priority. My present employer, a security company, has many of the same benefits of a temporary employment service, in that every few days or weeks I move to a new location with different duties. Today, and for the next few days, I have an interesting assignment. Some people may not be able to cope with boredom so I am not sure this would be for you. Myself, boredom is easily overcome with my mind. I do things and bring things to work to help me to pass the time. This latest assignment, interestingly enough, to me anyway, is a joke. Some rich people with a huge mansion in the S.W. are having renovations done and while the work is in progress, their alarm/security system has been turned off. As they are going away for a few days, they are worried about their home and worldly possessions. My job is to watch their property for 12 hours a day and make sure no one breaks in and steals anything. I “work” 12 hours a day and another coworker comes in for the other 12 hours at night. The reason I think it’s a joke is because it is costing the homeowner over P25,000 per day for this service, a huge expense! For people like you and me it is hard to understand. We would have a friend “house sit” for us and they would probably do it as a favor at no cost. We would be willing and able to return the favor sometime later. However, that is how we, the common folks live our lives. As this fancy home that I am guarding is in the millions of dollars range, the owners are in a different social class, and income, than you or I. My guess is that various reasons may account for the owner to hire someone to make them feel secure with their wealth and possessions. Maybe they have no friends they can trust. Perhaps they don’t want to impose on their friends while they are away. The cost of $600 per day seems like a lot to you and me, but maybe it is not an excessive amount to wealthy people.

Whatever the reason we’ll take their money in exchange for keeping an eye on things. They can relax on their vacation knowing they won’t suffer any losses due to crime, fire etc. back here. Should anything occur, the response time for police or fire services is shorter so it has some benefits to the homeowner as well.

For me, it is a great chance to write my Pinoy Times column and an article for the spring edition of Pinoy Living Today. No noise, distractions or interruptions and I get paid well at the same time.

For some, and for me in my younger days, we would prefer something with a little more excitement or interest as a job, but I have found as I get older I prefer a more simple life. As it is only 40 out of the 168 hours we have available in our 7 day week, I try to be productive; although there is only so much one can do away from our homes. I also use the time I have at “work” for both meditation as well as planning my days off with my wife. We are active with a day trip either in town or in the country side, almost every weekend. I bring maps, paper, books, brochures etc. to work and plan our weekends. As we have seen a lot of the common attractions within the city and also within an hour or two outside the city, it takes continuous research to find or do something new all the time. However, as my 60,000 Facebook pictures attest to, there is much you likely have not seen or done. Frequently people ask me questions after they look through my Albums and I gladly share my experience and make suggestions and recommendations to them. I am a firm believer in “good planning = good results” and after many years of this we have been able to get more out of our short time on earth.

You are probably wondering – Do I love my job? I would not go that far as I am sure that we all think it would be nice not to have to work at all. Perhaps winning the lottery or retirement would make that possible, but, for now this is great! Physically, I can save my energy for my own leisure time and if I stay busy it is not boring. On other assignments I read a lot. (fiction, non-fiction, biographies, technical information – not junk like store flyers or Calgary’s daily newspapers)

We are Blessed in Calgary to have so many opportunities available – I’m sure there is a job out there for you!

Steve

The Other Side

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