enfinblue's Bluey (credit to Fifi for the nickname!) Diaryland Diary

"I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart." -Vinc3nt V@n Gogh

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Quite boring, as usual.

So I stayed at work until 11 p.m. last night. Kind of creepy. I mean, I know that there is security and everything, but it's weird to be in a giant office tower almost all by yourself. Won't be doing that again in the near future!

I got home walking through the ice - everything is icy right now, as it was -18 yesterday (yuck!) - and then of course stayed up WAAAAYYYYYY too late. I slept in and missed most of my favourite Sunday morning radio news program. :(

I spent way too much money this month and am feeling very guilty about it. I bought new winter boots. I spent a fortune on taxis to the hospital. I went to plays, ballets and bought snowshoes. Bad girl!

I've been quite good on my no new clothes thing. Apart from the boots purchase in Italy at Christmas (now that sounds bad, doesn't it?), I have not bought any clothes since September. I decided to treat myself after my promotion, however, to something girly. I thought I was being smart and bought two spring dresses that were on a great sale in the U.S. I got the notice that they were delivered by Canada Post yesterday and I have to go and pick them up at the postal outlet...with a COD payment required of 100 bucks!

ACK!

I knew that I would have to pay tax (GST) on them, but clearly they were dinged by customs. Honestly, with NAFTA, even if these damn dresses were imported from China to the U.S. in the first instance and are considered a reimport, or whatever, why the fuck is duty still more than 30 per cent??

That's a question that I'm reserving for the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency; I'm just trying it out on you.

You don't really want to look at free trade agreements and tariff schedules. When I worked in trade financing, yadda yadda at Foreign Affairs I used to look at the tariff schedules. Canada has always had high tariffs on textiles, particularly silks. I still find these levels to be outrageous. I thought they had gradually been partially phased out. I mean, Canada is not a particularly protectionist country, largely because unlike the U.S. it cannot afford to be. Its economy SURVIVES on trade, though mostly of raw materials. Originally, the textile duties existed because we actually HAD a textile industry in Quebec and with the wages and benefits paid here there is just no way that we can compete with producers...anywhere else.

But still, that textile industry has been pretty much LONG DEAD, and is certainly not producing silk dresses.

So buggar that. I'm going to have to go and pay 100 bucks to get my dresses out of postal prison.

I'm very cheap. I hate things like this. It's my own damn fault though. I think that these dresses will be very good for both work and evening - they're kind of transition dresses - and one of them is daffodil yellow which we all know is my FAVOURITE spring colour. It even has a daffodil yellow flower belt! The second one is grey silk with pretty yellow accents!

Anyhow. I have learned my lesson. No more purchases this spring.

I'm really rambling today. I have two wishes today: that I had a garden and that I had a golden retriever. Then my golden and I could frolic in the garden and I could spend my time shooing him out of my flower beds.

So many things to think about. I really need to make some decisions. PhD next year and where? Travel to Italy later this year or wait and go somewhere else next year? No travel and look at buying a wee house with a garden in a couple of years?

None of it is clear yet. I do think that I will do the History Ph.D. I just don't know when.

My friend Joan, having not heard any of this, sent me an email last week re. the Foreign Affairs interview. In it she suggested that I just start by doing something that I love - e.g. drawing - and forget about planning a path. Start by doing something you love and then you'll figure things out. It sounds simple and doable. This makes me think that I WILL go and do that studio course in Florence in May, if I can get the time. April is our reporting month to Harleyment so hopefully there will be a window in May. But of course, if the lovernment falls...

Who knows. Oh! I have a picture of my new hair cut. There are a lot of layers growing out so it is not the fault of the hairdresser that it is not perfectly even. I think he did a good job.

I'm no doubt boring you...

12:17 p.m. - 2009-03-01

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