Work/Life

The craziness at work continued on Monday though there was some (obstructed) light at the end of the tunnel. I wasn't happy that the hour I had set aside on Saturday to answer pleas from a coworker went to waste. After my reply, they had dashed off an untested solution full of errors. I heard they relied on AI but whether natural or digital, laziness ruled the day. So we were not ahead for the Tuesday deadline.

In the early evening, I caught a few last rays of sunshine and headed to my friend's restaurant. They were entertaining a guest so I exchanged some pleasantries and sat by myself with a veggie platter ($18). They asked about my family and I related that during my usual weekly talk with my mom, she had forgotten that it was Sunday. Getting a day mixed up was alright but not if it happened twice in an hour; my grandma didn't suffer this until her 90s. On their side, they were postponing their painkiller injection for physical therapy. Six sessions in, perhaps there was some improvement, but I saw that they were still limping when serving customers. On my way out, I replayed our brief chat and puzzled over some statement regarding the photos we took at our sushi lunch. I sure hope they weren't hinting at playing matchmaker, because with one foot already in the grave, I don't need any personal drama.

I was in the office on Tuesday because we had HR visitors from our new American owner. After months of research, they presented us with plans for merging our respective packages: primarily benefits and other perks. We were switching over to "unlimited" PTO, though unlike the U.S., there were minimum amounts required by law. Since this guaranteed less days than my old contract, I'm skeptical I will take even the same number of days as before, let alone see an increase. The health benefits and insurance were better than our plans and included reimbursement for gym memberships and internet services. The biggest add-on was RSP matching up to a combined 9%. Since I already had a financial advisor, I didn't love that I would have to contribute to funds managed by another company. But it was additional money on the table.

Breakfast (bagels, croissants) and lunch (salad, deli sandwiches, wraps) were provided though there were lots of leftover. At 4:30, we went to a nearby pub, where we co-workers often had lunch outings before the pandemic. Over beer and bar food, we did a bit of social bonding. Some had visited Quebec for mountain biking and whale watching. Others were in Canada or Toronto for the first time. It was a nice enough get-together though we would likely never see each other again since there were few reasons for HR to visit an office of mostly remote workers.