Thanks

To all of you near and far -- Thanks for your words of encouragement and support.

Remember my motto: Stolen from Ted Kennedy, who had the same words written for him by a now forgotten genius: "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." Etcetera, etcetera...

Make Me Famous

I got an e-mail today from the compiler of a book yet to be published. The author is seeking my permission to consider printing or printing two of my blog entries. My first thought is: What fiendish plot from West Africa is this? Secondly: Yah! Sure. And thirdly: What's in it for me?

Can't we all just get along?

The website advertising this compilation of personal blogs is called Blogging Nekkid. More books in this same vein are planned in the future.

It Is Done..

Finally spoke to the Executive Director regarding the position I applied for (see previous posts) and the answer was: although I did really well in the interview, someone else had more managerial experience than me and that is what the agency was looking for.

I am, of course, disappointed. But, I also know that I would not want to be in this position if I did not have my manager's full confidence.

Back to the drawing board I go.

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 23 September 2007

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact zparyani@rogers.com.


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Do Something!

I am still waiting to hear from HR regarding the position I interviewed for. They still have to do another interview (scheduled for next week)and will let me know sometime next week if I passed the audition.

It reminds me of a scene from a movie...the name of which I have forgotten, where a bunch of guys are waiting around for the conditions to be just right so they can pull off a heist. Finally, frustrated with waiting around, one of the guys says, 'why don't we do something?' To which De Niro replies, 'We are doing something, we're waiting!'

I have always thought that this was good advice. Sometimes there is nothing to be done but to wait and getting yourself all worked up about the waiting doesn't usually help things move faster. Whenever I am forced to be in wait mode, I accept the waiting and think about what I could be doing in the meantime. Sometimes something as simple as focusing on the present moment. Look at the trees, people watch, make a list of things that have been on your brain, think of something in your life that gives you happiness, read, eat, close your eyes and rest. Time will pass soon enough and when it does, you won't have unnecessarily stressed yourself out about it.

That Metallic Smell

Does anyone know why some of my towels and my kids washcloths come out of the wash smelling metallic?

Marsh (my wife) thinks its mold...shouldn't all my laundry come out smelling metallic...why just some of the towels and not all? What gives? I wonder if it has to do with the quality of our water or Marsh's reluctance to use fabric softener sheets? Marsh read somewhere that softener sheets will eventually "gum up" the dryer.

Which makes me wonder...do my clothes smell metallic as I go through my day?

Zap (who is a little paranoid at this point)

Smoke-O-Meter

Please disregard Smoke-O-Meter for the time being...I know how many of you continually return to this blog just for this special reason.

PayPerPost

Hey kids! Here's my latest get rich scheme…wait! Before you go running off…please know that this scheme does not involve any day surgery, nor do you have to donate any specimen or bodily fluids in a transparent container. Nope. All you have to do is blog. That’s right, just blog.

I came across blog marketing at Ladybug’s blog and decided to look into it. Since I blog anyways, I decided to prostitute my keyboarding skills once in while by posting on a topic which I choose and write about.

So far, I have written, as you may have noticed, a review on a travel site. In exchange for seeing this posted on my blog, the company running the travel site pays a small sum into my paypal account. That’s it. You open an account with PayPerPost, choose among a number of topics/marketers who want you to spread the word about their product and you get paid!

Now it does take 30 days for the big fat cheque to come through, but eventually, it does come through as long as you abide by the requirements of the offer. For example, this post is part of this scheme and requires that I wax poetic about PayPerPost for 200 words or more. I have to post certain links within my blog and the tone of my post can be neutral. In fact, because I am not a total shill, I am writing way over 200 words just because I am (thus far) enthusiastic about this scheme. So waddaya waiting for? Write and write copious amounts!

Water Water Everywhere

Water is an essential resource for life on this planet. Unfortunately, half the world has not enough of it and things are about to get worse.

To begin, you can go to the New Yorker's archive to read an article by Michael Specter which focuses on the lack of water in India and other third world countries.

The Christian Science Monitor also has a great article on the impending and present day water crisis in Darfur and what this could mean for continuing conflicts in the region.

Lastly, World Water Week, which ran from August 13 - 17th, has any number of good articles on this important issue. World Water Week was organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute.


Photo Source: Damon Hart-Davis

Travel Site Review

Just visited the Hotel Reservations site in order to see how it compares to other sites like Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline.

The layout of this site is comparable to other sites. The best point is that the home page is compact and there is not a lot of scrolling or linking needed to start searching for a rental car or a hotel. This site will also let you see prices in your home currency. Other sites usually will quote prices in U.S. dollars which then means you have to go to a currency exchange site to convert to your home currency.

I tried finding mini-van quotes in central Toronto and found large number of national and international companies quoted. The prices were very good. Just as a check, I then went to the home sites for two of the rental companies quoted by hotelresevations.com and found the price I was given to be at least as good as or better than the rental company quote! The system also quotes the base price and then estimates how much you will actually pay per day when taxes, insurance and other add-ons are figured into the price.

Also, checked out hotel reservation prices in my local area. A pretty good range of hotels came up with prices about what I would have expected.

One of the best things about this site is that they not only have toll-free numbers for the U.S. but also for Canada and Europe. Usually, travel sites are very U.S. centric and leave people outside the U.S. as second thoughts. Like the egalitarianism of the site. Once you click to let the system know which country you are from, everything, like picking your home province (in my case, Ontario) to major cities, are easier to find and point out to make your booking that much faster.

I would definitely go to this site to comparison shop against the other travel sales sites out there.

The Interview

Hey, Kids! I really think I nailed the interview today. It just remains to be seen what the competition is like on the job posting. Thanks to all of you for your support and handy tid-bits of information regarding the LHINs and general encouragement.

Anyways, I did my best and we'll have to see how it pans out. Should hear by next Wednesday.

And, no, I won't forget all the little people when I make it to the big tent. You know who you are....and you will always be remembered -- but never called or e-mailed.

Local Health Integration Network

Yah, so I apply to this job posting for a coordinator (supervisor) type job. Ostensibly, I would be doing the following: community engagement, capacity and team building, primary health care relationship development, outreach and liaise with community stakeholders.

I got the interview...it's on Wednesday, and in preparation, I have read up on the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), taken notes and am virtually (which means not quite) ready to make a presentation as part of my interview. I was told I would have to present a primary health care development plan. Fine, sure, no problem....Hunh....anyways, in the face of no further details as to the format, I have plodded ahead and come up with some kind of a plan.

It remains to be seen if I am completely out to lunch on this.

International Festival of Authors

Events I would like to attend at Toronto's International Festival of Authors:

1. Reading

Wednesday, October 25, 8:00pm | Premiere Dance Theatre
Charlotte Gray, Cynthia Ozick, Mark Strand, Bruce Whiteman all read from their latest work.
Hosted by Catherine Belyea.

2. Interview

Thursday, October 26, 7:00pm | Lakeside Terrace
Lewis DeSoto interviews Cynthia Ozick, Mark Strand.
Hosted by Adam Sol.

3. Saturday!

Former Harper's Editor Lewis Lapham With The Walrus' Ken Alexander
Saturday, October 28, 3:00pm | Premiere Dance Theatre
Lewis Lapham reads from his latest book and is interviewed immediately following by Ken Alexander.

The International Festival of Authors (IFOA) was inaugurated in 1980 with a mandate to bring together the best writers of contemporary world literature. Like the weekly reading series, the IFOA includes readings, interviews, lectures and round table discussions as well as public book signings and a festival bookstore. The IFOA also presents a number of special events including readings by Scotiabank Giller Prize and Governor General’s Awards finalists, as well as and the highly anticipated awarding of the Harbourfront Festival Prize.

Our Own Little Paris

Smoke-O-Meter

You may notice that I have reset the smoke-o-meter. Two days ago I succumbed to the twin evil spirits of nicotine and tar. Since then I have consumed enough tobacco to convincingly put me back to day zero. So I begin again, Finnegan.

Remember my motto: "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

Image Source: GrandmasGraphics.com, a website featuring turn of the century, public domain clip art and children's book illustrations.

See Ya

I'm letting you go. My palm is open...go. You are neither a bird nor a butterfly. My palm is not facing up, it's facing down. You are a pebble, a thorn, a grain of sand. I'm letting you go....fall...away.

Darfur Genocide Documentary

Ten minute documentary. Source is probably BBC. Worth the ten minutes to get a sense of the confused situation in Darfur.

Remember Darfur?

Last August, when the UN Security Council authorized a peacekeeping mission for Darfur, it looked like the wait for peacekeepers had finally come to an end.

A year later, stalled by Sudanese objections, that peacekeeping force has still not been deployed, making it the first time in the UN's history that it has failed to deploy an authorized peacekeeping mission.

Today the UN Security Council authorized another Darfur peacekeeping force: a hybrid United Nations-African Union force similar to one that the Sudanese government has said it will accept.

The people of Darfur cannot afford another delay in deploying this peacekeeping force. Click this link to go to the SaveDarfur website and send a message to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and urge him to pressure world leaders to stand behind their commitment.