A little late, but ill add to it..

Yesterday:

Today was the official end of my probation period at the new job and everything went very well I must say. I didn’t really expect it to go horribly wrong, but hey you never really know. Personally I hate the employee evaluations but what can you do?

So as I drove back to work from lunch playing ‘avoid the snowdrifts’, I started to wonder what the hold up is on the whole street cleaning or rather lack thereof. I mean this city (approx 26k people) is fuelled by the oil patch and the bucks that come with it. There is tons of cash flowing and taxes and such keep rising, however certain items one would expect to be done never seem to be. The streets are garbage, full of potholes, ruts, and broken pavement. The majority of this is taken care of by the winter since the packed snow will cover this up.

In the winter there is minimal street cleaning, salting, sanding etc. This results in a city wide skating rink where the streets shine, polished, glassy, and offering areas of zero traction. Any hopes of stopping safely go along with you as you slide into the intersection, speed isn’t always a factor if you are driving on a street with a surface like Teflon.

Oh and did I mention that the 2 major streets are actually highways that intersect in the middle of city, usually the traffic contains several semis and large equipment rolling through town that are well aware they cant stop. So they will blow through a red light doing 60 hoping that nobody pulls in front. One would think that the expense of basic maintenance would be appreciated by the insurance companies. Claims must go up during this time of year, I don’t have the actual numbers however if the number of collisions I encounter on my day to day travels increase I’m sure the numbers are on the rise.

The ultimate irony to me being that if your sidewalk isn’t clear in 48 hours you can be fined and expected to pay, I would like to know what the fine for not clearing the city’s main roads within 3 months would be. Not that it matters, well unless the fines paid by the city go out to the citizens that have to endure the dangerous conditions they encounter taking their kids to school, going to work, or trying to make it home for lunch. By paid by the city I mean the city council who get paid to make these decisions, I want them to pay. Maybe something would get done that much faster when they are dishing out the cash rather than collecting the sidewalk clearing fines.

Today:

So today was the bonus announcement at work and without giving away exact details it is definately the best gift from any company I have ever worked for. I only wish I was on the payroll longer so I could get even more cash, I had to leave early though as I am going around to do more christmas related things and will need all the time I can get. I am actually typing this addition while my girlfriend runs around gathering everything she needs for the trip. I usually send her ahead to get ready, all I need to do is put on my coat, gloves, and shoes. I dont know what she does for all that time shes running around. Women. hehe j/k ladies..