Remy's job - days 7, 8, 9 and 10

Wednesday July 21, 2010

Well yesterday was horrible. I felt like a Mac truck’s worth of dino duky hit me right in the face. No idea why that should be, but my lack of productivity yesterday was staggering.

But enough of that. Today was much better. The Take5 magazine feature which has been hounding my mind for the past week is pretty much all done. I’ll likely need to work on it a bit tomorrow, but I’m actually pretty darn happy with the finished product. No doubt the director will change a few things, but that’s just the way things go I suppose. At any rate, it’s done! Finished! It was interesting to do journalistic writing – something I haven’t done in years, and have never done professionally

One more development. I’m now a glorified receptionist. Whenever that phone rings (and it rings a lot) I’m the one responsible for answering it, no matter if anyone else is in the office.

Update – Thursday

Had my first staff meeting today. Boy was that a blast! Lots of ideas, lots of confusion (mostly from me since I’m new). It seems like as soon as I figure something out, they go and change it. At least they listened to my comments and suggestions, which is honestly more than I expected (only due to past experience). I get the impression everyone’s trying to do too much too quickly, but due to the confidentiality agreement I signed, I can’t go into too much detail. Suffice it to say there are more than two perspectives. I have confidence everything will get worked out.

Which brings me to my new assignments. I’m to write another feature for a magazine called Synergy, which deals with healthy living and social justice among other things. I also need to write up a general interest brochure to get people interested in what we do. Of course they want me to put a spin on it I hadn’t foreseen, but I’ll work with what I’m given.

I did get the Take5 article sent off to the magazine editor, and everyone who read it was really happy with it. There were only a couple minor edits made, which made me feel good.

I had a bit of an altercation with one of the staff members today about my confusion regarding one of the programs. It seems things are changing as I said, and I just couldn’t go on without knowing what was what. Luckily it was a civil discussion. I hadn’t wanted it to turn into a negative experience for anyone, and I don’t think it did. I tried really hard to be respectful and polite.

Update – Friday

Today the volatile paint fumes and renovation clutter outside the office mean I’m working from home. I honestly don’t like it. I prefer to be in the midst of everyone. Being here I’m left alone without any input or direction. I’ve managed to write up the brochure, but I can’t do much else with it until I know how Guy feels about it. Email helps, but he’s a busy man.

Remy's job - Day 6 - productivity and good results are AWESOME!

As I suspected, the weekend wasn’t long enough. Now it’s Monday, and I’m back to work to an increasing work load. On top of everything else, I’ve got yet another assignment, and this one seems somewhat urgent. Thankfully some of its information is already written, and all I need to do is edit it … at least I really hope that’s what I have to do. This material is necessary for the website. So, today, I must complete the following:

 *Complete* Edit/re-write a Bio of Guy and anyone else
 *Complete* Edit the existing Membership document and make sure it’s up to date.
 *Complete* Do the same for the volunteering doccumentation
 *CompleteEdit or write up information about the board members.

Update!
Well as can be seen, I actually got everything done! I’m sure I’ll have to make some changes, but for now it’s all been sent off for scrutiny. I’m so excited I got it all done! This is the first day where I actually felt like I made a really large dent in the work load. I even managed to write up quite a bit for the information to be sent for the Schizophrenia Society. Again, I’m sure I’ll have to do some editing, but for now it’s all close to completion, if not already done. Good times!

Final update:
There’s something quite satisfying about knowing you’re actually doing a good job. I got two of the pieces I sent to the Director back with very minor corrections (only a couple name issues). I’m amazed to be honest. It’s good to know all that work I put in today was well-received.

Remy's job - day 3 - accidents and progress

There’s a clear somber atmosphere on the farm today. There was a car accident last night in front of the farm. It’s a classic story – a teen couple out for a joy ride, going too fast after too much to drink on a road which was already dangerous enough. They rapped their car around a telephone pole. It’s believed the girl went through the windshield. Her face was all cut up. The boy though … Mike (one of the main staff members here) did what he could for the kid, but based on the gruesome scene he encountered in the car, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if the guy doesn’t make it. Apparently the two were both drunk. Everyone seems a bit shook up. Guy injured his leg, and I’m not really sure how Mike’s doing. He started talking about it in the car on the way here from South Gate. He was so nonchalant I wasn’t entirely sure I believed him. It was only when we arrived did I realize it was all quite serious. I feel bad for him. That couldn’t have been easy.

On a work-related note, Guy’s given me another task, and also cleared up some questions. Apparently the Take5 article is an expository feature about the farm as a whole, while a new article he wants me to write for the B.C. Schizophrenia Society deals more in-depth with the programs and their aims. I suppose it’ll be nice to be able to split the two. The email he sent me regarding the issue contained a forward from the Schizo society asking for information rather than an actual article though, so I’m not entirely sure if I need to write a whole article.

Some good news: I should finally get that interview with Guy, which would be really useful. If I don’t get it by lunch I might just have to write the articles without him. Maybe I’ll start on that anyway, just to have something constructive to do.

Update:

It’s the end of the day. I’ve begun writing the article, but there isn’t much to it so far. I finally got the interview finished. I’ll need to compile the information and make it cohesive. There’s never a shortage of stuff to do here, that’s for sure.

It sounds like Guy wants me to start interviewing the students next week for the documentary. In addition he might ask me to transcribe the audio of video footage they’ve taken of the farm so far (writing down what is said, and when it’s said and who is saying it). That is, of course on top of everything else. I also need to start writing web content next week, starting with a brief history of the farm. That, at least I have a fair bit of information about. They’ve had quite the past. I’m sure they’ll get me to start answering phones, too…

It’s hard to believe I’ve been here a week already. Over 36 hours, and I barely feel like I’m making a dent. I feel like that ox stuck in a whole who got dirt poured on it so it could climb up. I’m trying really hard to climb. Luckily a lot of this will just be writing up what I’ve already researched. My biggest concern is figuring out the format for each type of piece I’m writing. I don’t have a whole lot of experience in any of this. I’m really lucky to have this job. I only pray I’ll be worth the decent amount of money they’re paying me.

That reminds me, I got paid today! I’m so excited! Haven’t had a cheque of this amount in my hand ….probably ever. Too bad most of it will have to go towards saving up for the move.

I’m off now. Off to enjoy my weekend which suddenly doesn’t seem nearly long enough.

Remy-s job - Day 4

Today is the first day the students haven’t been here, and things are no less chaotic. So far I haven’t done a lot, despite having a number of goals I’d like to complete.

It occurs to me I haven’t really talked about the farm at all. The farm at Cedar woods grows organic fruits and vegetables, as well as medicinal, aromatic and culinary herbs. They also keep goats, sheep and chickens, all of which have ample space to move about. The goats are a rare species, and there are only 400 of them in the world. Cedar wood has over 30 of these.

The farm at Cedar woods is involved in three separate programs: The Farm Workers Program, the Kitchen Workers Program, and the Herbal Healing program.

The Farm Workers Program instructs persons with developmental and physical disabilities in the techniques of horticulture (gardening) and other farming activities in a low-stress and malleable environment. The goal is to provide self-esteem, employability and food-growing skills. There are currently four students enrolled in the program.

It’s quiet at the office today. There are no students, so it’ll be interesting to see the staff in their own world. They might be painting today, which would be very unpleasant for all of us in the office. The idea almost makes me want to go out to the greenhouse and plant more of those little soilie cubes.

So far today I’ve managed to gain access to the main server and database here at the office. I’m still not entirely sure how I pulled that off, but it led me to a wealth of information which will certainly do in a pinch – always assuming I can sift through and find the relevant information.) I put my own folder on the server and am updating it regularly so those who wish to can monitor my progress, but it seems nobody can see it. I can, and I can view everything on the server, but my folder’s nowhere to be found.

I’ve also compiled my interview questions into a better-constructed list. It should make the flow of the director’s interview more natural.

Update:

I’m still waiting to interview Guy. He hasn’t been seen all morning. My biggest problem right now is trying to figure out what kind of article Guy wants me to write. The magazine is lying right in front of me, but after someone helped me quickly go through it and explain its layout, I’m not altogether sure whether I’m writing a little blurb, or a full feature-length article. It would really be helpful to know this. If I knew, I could at least start outlining the bloody thing and maybe even write the lead. I did a little research about how to write features, which has been rather helpful. It’s nearly lunch time, and I feel I’ve barely gotten anything done today. When you have to wait for other people, you have to wait.

Update:

It’s nearly the end of my shift, and I still haven’t gotten the interview. I’m waiting, but he’s a busy man. I did find out that it’s a feature I’ll be writing, which means the research I did about how to write a feature wasn’t a waste of time. I’ve also tweaked the interview questions for the students. We’ve now got about fifteen of them. I think it’ll probably take a good few hours to interview everyone. It’ll depend on the amount of cooperation and rapore I get.

Paul, my case worker from Supporting Employment Transitions stopped by today. He was the one that’s been trying to get me a job for the past year or so. It was nice to meet with him on the job for once. Even if this is only temporary, it’s nice to have steady work for a while. I still have quite a bit of free time, all things considered. I just have to settle on something fun to do with it.

I contacted TD Canada Trust to see if I could make it possible to have Chelsea cash my cheque at her bank, since, now that I’m working I have no chance to get to the bank. They said we need to set up a joint account. I’m hoping I can just add my name to hers. We’ve got an appointment on Saturday to get that set up. I’ll be getting paid tomorrow after all, which is nice. My first pay cheque in over two years.

First three days of work

Hi everyone, Remy here again. Below is my account for the first few days of my new job.

Various times throughout the day – Cedarwood Farms

Today is my third day of work. I’d expected to write extensively over the past few days, but due to not having a computer the first day and being out in the field, then being constrained by battery power and work, I’ve been unable. Now I’ve got some time, despite having yet more work piled on me. It’s like being thrown off a cliff into a raging river without knowing the finer points of swimming, but I definitely won’t be board here.

The first day I was out in the field most of the day with the students. My task basically involved taking little cubes holding little seedlings, and placing them into little cube-shaped holes in soil. Transplanting, and potting on, they call it. A lot harder than it looks, especially when the cubes you’re trying to move suddenly decide to disintegrate on you. We also mixed big vats of soil made up of pearlite (a white powdery substance formed from volcanic rock) sand, and a few other ingredients I can’t recall. It was essentially like mixing a huge bowl of inedible, sloppy meat loaf, only without the wonderful smell.

I really enjoy the environment around here. Everyone’s really laid back, but still dedicated.

On my second day a bomb was dropped in my lap. I’m still waiting for it to explode. I was asked by the Cedarwood director to begin writing the script for the documentary the farm is doing. The purpose is to showcase the farm, with special focus on the Farm Workers program, which guides students with developmental and physical disabilities who have a hard time finding employment. Here they learn to farm in an environment which is easy-going and maluable with regards to their individual needs.

Given that I’m so new, it’s a little intimidating to say the least, and yet I find myself quite open to the challenge. I’ll need full cooperation from the staff and students in order to gain a fully functional understanding of the farm.

The third day on the job sees me continuing the work I began yesterday. I’ve got a brief outline started. Today I’m going to work on some interview questions for the students. I want to gather as much information as possible, keeping in mind that I might not get all I need by writing up a bunch of questions. I’ll need to email Guy (the director) to see if I’m on the right track with the outline thus far.

Just now, Guy came into the office and told me that by the end of the day he’ll want me to interview him, then begin writing an article about the farm to be published in a magazine called Take5.

So now I’ll be getting experience in writing articles, AND documentaries. Wow.

Late this morning I went on another semi-tour of Cedarwood. I collected a fair bit of audio to use in compiling an outline for the article, though it’s going to take a while to convert the useful sections of audio into text.

My main goal for this afternoon is to compile a list of questions to ask Guy. With this information coupled with what I learned and what I know already, I should have enough to begin writing the article. It’s funny, you even mention an interest in something, and suddenly it’s like you’re an expert. I sure hope I can measure up to what’s expected of me.

Final update: At the end of the day I’ve managed to compile a list of questions for the interview tomorrow. First I spent nearly an hour going over all the audiorecordings I’ve compiled over the last two days, trying to extract valuable information and convert it into text. It was like pulling sharp teeth. It provided me with enough information to write most of the interview questions. I would have gotten more done, but I had to go through a bunch of annoying provincial and federal tax forms and donate my soal to make sure I get paid the correct amount. Bloody wonderful. There was a bit of a hitch when we all realized I wasn’t a full-time student during the last semester, but it would appear that won’t be a problem now.

I’m finished for the day now, and am being given a ride home by Colleen, the volunteer specialist. The bus system out here is more round-about than even Nanaimo’s most annoying transit service, so finding an alternate way home is always a blessing. Tomorrow I need to interview Guy. The information I obtain from him should make it much easier to write the article, AND the website content the director wishes me to write. It’s been one hectic day. This is the disemboweled and headless chicken, Remy Chartier signing off.

P.S. After sending Guy my outline for the script, he said “looking good”. I’ll assume that’s a good sign.

Finally! Employed!

Hi everyone, Remy here. I know it'll be signed Chelsea, but it lies to you. I'll be coming in from time to time along with Chelsea to provide you with a dynamic reading experience.

Sometimes things happen that further prove life is a chain of circumstance. Each link opens up new possibilities. My entire life is a testament to this truth.

The result of the latest series of links is that I now have a job. I can scarcely believe after two years of fruitless searching, one just fell into my lap, just like that. I applied for Big Brothers, Big Sisters to do some fund-raising assistance, only to be told by the employer that the position was full. That was fine – I wasn’t expecting to get it in the first place. I sent the lady a thank-you note, just because she got back to me so fast. Ten minutes later she called and asked me if I’d like her to forward my resume to Cedarwood Farms, a local organic farm near Nanaimo. Sure, I thought, why not? After two years, I was getting extremely desperate.

That same night (Thursday) Cedarwood Farms contacted me and asked me to come for an interview at 9:45 the next morning, as they wanted the position filled by Monday. After scrambling to figure out a bus route that would take me out of Nanaimo - which turned out to be less hassle than I thought – I went to the interview, honestly not expecting much. I’d told them I was visually impaired ahead of time, since I didn’t want to get all the way to Cedar only to find that was a big deal, but they said it was only a problem for them if it was a problem for me. Well that was certainly nice to hear for a change.
I tried not to be excited as I made the trip to Cedar. I was already feeling odd about going to an interview in casual clothing (something which they asked me to do). The night before we’d agreed that I’d be at a certain stop at a certain time and would be given a ride the rest of the way (which is something they do for all their employees and volunteers). When the time came and we were still not at the stop, I called the woman I was to meet, just to let her know I’d be a few minutes.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I just saw you drive past,” she said to my horror.
After profusely apologizing and trying to figure things out, it turned out the bus did a loop around Cedar, and what she’d seen was no big deal. I was let off at the correct stop, and the woman was fine with the mix-up, even though it was about ten minutes later than it should have been. All sorts of special, that. Talk about a great first impression.
The interview was conducted in what appeared to be a storage room converted into a make-shift office, by a group of three people. They asked me a lot of questions about myself, my schooling, my visual impairment and finally what I could provide them. It was a really laid-back and easy interview. I didn’t feel intimidated or uncertain. I learned more about the farm. They grow organic produce and raise goats, chickens and something else I can’t recall. They work together with members of the community who have some form of disability, or who have had trouble finding work to teach them to farm, which provides them with experience and a reference. There’s a lot to it, and to be honest I still don’t know all the details. I’ll post more of the specifics as I learn them.
One of the most profound questions they asked me was this: “If you were working with a student who seemed somewhat resistant to your instruction, how would you go about helping them?”
I told them that everyone is different, and when one method works for one, it might fail with another. It’s important to get to know the individuals, to examine their personalities and discover what manner of learning best suits them. This marks one of the few times where I worded it better verbally than in writing, and they were quite pleased with my answer.
They took me out into the blazing sunlight while they conversed. By then I was growing excited in spite of myself. I had a really good feeling. I sat in silence, enjoying the tranquility in spite of the construction going on a short distance away – they were building a kitchen for September. Insects buzzed languidly around my head, and a few of the more bold creatures came to see what I was. Finally Gui, one of the interviewers came to collect me. We went to his car so he could drive me back to the bus stop. He was rather silent, and I began to grow apprehensive once more. One of the other workers introduced himself before I left. Everyone seemed really friendly there. I told him I hoped I’d see him around soon, just to keep up appearances. I was trying to project an air of confidence I didn’t really feel.
During the ride home, after some light conversation I was offered the job. I honestly wasn’t expecting to be told right then and there in either case. I really appreciated that.
I’m really excited about the job, though I pray I’ll prove valuable. I’m excited to be doing something that truly matters, and I want to do my best at it. I’ll likely be chronicling my progress and experiences in the coming days. It’ll be a lot of learning, and at the very least I’ll be learning some valuable skills.

Project Number One and Number Two Continued

It’s my little sister's birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sage! It’s days like this that remind me why I can’t wait to move. I have missed out on so much in my family’s lives that I really don’t want to miss any more. Sometimes I have to remind myself of this as I look at ALL of our stuff and what we need to do!

Also…REMY GOT THE JOB! We are so excited. It’s for the summer and he will be working on an organic farm. He starts work on Monday! We went for a nice celebratory dinner. Although I am so happy and excited (I can’t stress that enough) it’s also just a little bit sad that Remy will be gone three days a week. We are so blessed that he has gotten this job but I have gotten used to us being together 24/7 for the last year and a bit. Now I just have to hear back from some of the jobs I have applied to so I won’t be so lonely. Although with all of this stuff to do I might not have time to be lonely! Cedar Farms (where he will be working) has said that if I want I can come volunteer so that might be an awesome experience.

Last night I didn’t get to the books like I wanted to but I did today. It was like saying goodbye to good friends and all you readers out there probably know exactly what I mean. We are slowly getting the storage and our front room done but I need to get some boxes to put everything.

Research:
We have been looking at ways to get there and just for fun we were looking at the price difference between flying and doing greyhound. It’s about a $200 price difference but a 3 day and 8 hour ride. I am pretty sure NO ONE would want to be on a bus with me after about day 1 let alone sit next to me. So although it would be an awesome option for the budget we just aren’t that insane.

I also just want to thank everyone for reading my blog. I honestly wasn’t sure if people would even be interested so it’s exciting to know some of you are actually reading. AND if anyone is reading and knows how to make our blog actually look nice I would LOVE your help!

Project Number One and Project Number Two: The Front Room

So this was a bit bigger project than I thought it would be. I mean I knew it would be big but it’s a little bit overwhelming. It was pretty hot today and neither of us felt like doing much beside applying for jobs and doing a bit more research. Remy had his appointment with his employment counselor today and asked if he could help with Ontario employers but no go. Oh well we tried. We did catalog all our movies and games and are in the process of figuring out which to sell and which to keep. I’ll probably do my books as well before the night is through. I was also able to go through my desk. Holy papers! I have seriously almost filled our recycling bag and they don’t even come until next week. *Yikes*

As we were working away, Remy got a phone call for an interview for tomorrow! We are both so excited. They want to hire someone by Monday so here’s hoping. It is kind of funny that he has been actively looking for work for over a year and now that we are planning on moving he gets an interview. It a summer job so we don’t have to worry about it interfering with our moving.

Last night we were talking about money and moving. We both said how much more comfortable it would be to have a little bit more to move with. We prayed, and boom an interview.

Research:
I’ve looked at a few jobs in Ontario and unfortunately, that planning for the move will have to wait. No one wants to hire someone and have to wait until October for them to get there. It is one of the most important parts of the move and yet… not much can be done at the moment except update the resume and write one killer cover letter. Housing it looks varied (which is normal) so until we get there and SEE where these places are we won’t know if we are getting a good deal or not, another important item that will have to wait.

Finishing up Project number One

I was feeling pretty excited about beginning the project. I grabbed my ipod and opened the door. I started pulling boxes and the large items out. I put them all in our front room and was still feeling pretty good. THEN I started to go through it. I went through boxes and called out each item for Remy to catalog and then we decided which category to put it in. Not only was the task overwhelming but I realized that the stuff we were selling/giving away I would never see again. Some of my old cheerleading stuff, Miss Nanaimo stuff, things from my hope chest that I was holding on to for the future. Remy was supportive but also a voice of reason asking “Will you ever wear this again?” I got to one of my totes and starting going through old cards. I have kept almost every card I have gotten. It was nice to go through and read them. I got rid of about half and I know the half I kept I will have to go through again before the move. We were able to get through most of our storage but after a few hours (5) we called it quits for the day. Our front room is a disaster zone with all our storage stuff so I’ll work on that today.

Research:

The more research I do about the two cities the more confused I am! We have decided to ship most of our stuff and get what we need when we get there second hand and what we can’t get second hand we will buy new. For shipping we have a few options: Postal Service, Greyhound, or UPS. We thankfully won’t be on a deadline so that helps keep the cost down. From what I’ve found Greyhound seems to be the cheapest. I am hoping that we will be able to greyhound it to Windsor and one of my most loving and wonderful family members could pick it up and store it.

Project number one: Storage

Our first item of business for this move is to catalog everything we own. EVERYTHING. We will place it into four categories:

• Keep
• Garage Sale
• Give to friends
• Throw away

So the first place we are going to tackle is our storage area. Remy and I are both a bit of pack rats but for very different reasons. I am sentimental pack rat, Remy is a “we may need this later” pack rat. And while, over the years, I have been able to condense our stuff, we still have quite a bit. Luckily I have a great audio book on my ipod that will help the process along.

Our research to date

Remy was able to look at the colleges and universities in London and Windsor (the two places we are trying to decide between). So far he seems to like the London university better. We will have to live in Ontario for three months in order to become residents. Our BC medical will cover us until we become full fledged Ontario residents. We don’t know where we will live and we don’t have jobs (yet). We might take out student loans and just go to university full time OR we might sling shot each other through school. We still aren’t sure which city we want to live in.

Pros and Cons of Windsor
Pros:
Closer to family
University
Close to the border (more job opportunities for me)
Cheap housing
Could shop in the states (cheaper)

Cons:
Less jobs opportunities for Remy
A university city (enough said!)
Smaller (poorer transit system)
Kind of yucky

Pros and Cons London:
Pros:
University
Bigger (good transit system)
Nice city
More job opportunities
Fun things to do (Shakespeare festival)

Cons:
Further away from family (5 hour drive)
A little bit more expensive housing
Might be too big for us

As it stands we are leaning more towards London but still thinking. We are open to thoughts. Well I’m off to the storage area, wish me luck!

Welcome to our blog

Oh no! Another person with a blog! Yup that’s right, we have started a blog. To start with, this blog is all about our move (we hope to continue it on past the move). The research we are doing, the steps we are taking,our hopes, fears and thoughts about the process. We just want our families and friends to be informed and involved in the process.