The games following the games

The ParaPan games were not as popular as the PanAm games, but it was certainly more impressive. People with disabilities work harder and better at their other abilities. Yet, they give no excuse, and their determination is amazing.

Once the PanAm games were over, my shifts for the ParaPan games started the following week.
Here's an account of my shifts.

Saturday, August 1:
6 o'clock shift in a 'blue' car C212 and sent to the airport. There is however, no staging and I was deployed to Terminal 3 where I sat for a bit and then chatted with the Venue Manager there.


I was moved to Terminal 1 around 10am.
There, I had a nap, and then chatted with the Venue people there. That day, I met M, who welcomed the guests inside of the secured area and escorted them out to the cars. I was 5th in line and they were expecting 4 guests in the morning. The next guests were coming after 3:30pm. M gave me a tour of their area and told me about his job. I had nice chats with the people there, but at 2:15pm, I requested to leave early and the controller granted me permission. I heard the other blue cars being released 30 minutes later when I was on the DVP. M became a friend.

Thursday, August 6:

6 o'clock shift, but got there 5 minutes later than usual. Charlie 964 in Red group. I met Lynn from my last shift of the PanAm at the depot and hung out with her till I was deployed to the Sheraton at 7:00am. I had a blast at the depot, chatting up with another M (say M2), part of the team at the depot.
At SHR, I was part of a long line up of cars there and Anthony, the supervisor of the venue transport team, was quite entertaining. I had a trip to the village and a trip to Corus Quay. I ended the day at around 2:30pm from the Sheraton. Anthony had gone to the torch relay at David Pecaut and brought us pins back. All in all, a very good day, even though I was stationed at SHR for 3 hours at the head of the line.







Friday, August 7:
After a morning of work, I got to the depot at 1:45pm for my 14:00 shift. Charlie 332 in the blue group. M, from the airport had another shift today, so I looked for an opportunity to go there. But it was not meant to be. I was going to go to the airport as an RFT driver, but another girl, Willa went and my trip was cancelled. I was asked to stay behind at the depot. I was kept at the depot all afternoon with Chun, Laura and Cherryl. I hung out with the schedulers Gary and KB and they needed to schedule drivers for special T1/T2 assignments the following week. Gary had already scheduled me for a special assignment for the Monday, so I was assigned to IPC on the Tuesday. I told Gary to call Merle to get him for IPC on the Thursday. Later, I witnessed and posed as jury in a 'trial' in the control room. Abdi, a controller, was given a yellow card for sending a driver back to the airport when the driver was to stay downtown. It was all fun. I played ping pong with Willa later and then watched the opening ceremonies for the ParaPan games on the big screen. At around 9:30pm, Cheryl wanted to go to Nathan Philips Square to look for something at the store and Laura decided to bring her. I decided to tag along and so all 3 of us went into Laura's car. We dropped off Cheryl on the way back. We came back to the depot just after 10pm and took some pics with the car I never drove.


Monday, August 10:
10:30 shift for the 'Culture' at the SHR.
I went there for 9:30 to say hi to the Transport crew there and then went to the 4th floor to report for duty. My first fare was not to be before 13:30, so I hung around until 12 noon and then went for lunch at NPS. I then picked up the car from the underground garage before parking myself, in the rain on Richmond street for half an hour. My 13:30 never showed up. I was deployed to Billy Bishop airport where I picked up half of a band, 'Les Chercheurs d'Or' from Montreal. It was nice chatting to them in French. I dropped them off at the hotel and was then free to go after parking the car back at the same spot.

Tuesday, August 11:
This was my T1/T2 assignment day for the IPC. My shift time was changed from 10:00, to 7;00 am.
Ulpia was one of the other drivers, along with 2 Bryan's and a Ben. Laura was supposed to be on this shift but she walked in at 7:50 and was asked to stay behind.
I picked up 4 ladies from Montreal at the SHR and drove them to MIS, the Hershey Centre. We watched goalball while the IPC members visited the venue. We then had lunch before driving them to Whitby. We dropped them off at a mall across from the ABL.We drove back to MCDC where my car was taken and given to Chun. I met Chun later at PAC when I went to watch sitting volleyball and swimming with the folks. M was now working at PAC, so we met and chatted for a bit.


Wednesday, August 12:
6 o'clock shift with Merle. We talked about him arriving early to secure us spots at a venue and we decided on RYA to watch wheelchair basketball. M2 was there and directed me to the correct line to be in the same group as Merle. I was assigned Charlie 626 in green and Merle was Charlie 191. Merle and I left at 6:15am after chatting with M2 for a bit. Merle and I asked control whether his name starts with a 'J' or a 'D' because I was convinced it was Dave. But it was not, it was John that time. We were at RYA most of the day. I went to the village twice, once with an athlete and her doctor to get her jersey. They were from Peru. I got the same doctor later and he gave me a pin. Merle and I were separated just before lunch, he was sent to ABL. When he got back, we had lunch and soon after, I was sent to PAC in Scarborough to drop off 2 Japanese delegates. I couldn't get the radio out there so I asked Merle to radio in for me. We met again back at the depot and had cake before leaving for the day.


Friday, August 14:
The weather for my last shift was not looking good, so I took the TTC to the depot.
I arrived at 13:00 for my 14:00 shift and went directly to the trailer for the controllers. I looked for John and Dave. Patrick was there too. Gave them cookies and a thank you card and took pics with them. Then waited for my shift to start.
I was Charlie 199 in Blue. I asked Daniel to send me to PAC, but he almost didn't. M was at PAC, so I wanted to go there. I drove the Secretary General of the Jamaican delegation with her 2 kids to York, just before 5pm. In the meantime, M visited the parking lot, but I wasn't there. I watched sitting volleyball and then went to have dinner. M joined me and the other drivers. We were called back around 20:30 and I drove 4 Colombians to the Intercontinental on Front street. I was then sent to PAF at UofT before being called back at 22:00. I went back to the control trailer to sign off while the control guy looked on and collected a few pins left with Kristina by Laura. I then got a hug from M2 before I took the shuttle to Union.


In retrospective, the ParaPan games made more on an impact on me than the PanAm games did. Maybe because these games were more low key, so fewer drivers and more opportunities for things to happen for me. I made new friends during these games. Some of these friendships may not last, but at least one is on a good track to last. These 7 ParaPan shifts were by far more eventful than my PanAm shifts and maybe because sensing the end approaching, I lived it more intensely. Or maybe just the fact that these shifts were closer together than my PanAm shifts, there was more continuity in my experience.
It was bittersweet when I attended the closing ceremony at Nathan Philips Square the next day, but it certainly provided closure. These games are over, when are the next ones??

What I do for a living...

Over the last month, I've met a lot of strangers during the PanAm games. At every shift, I would undeniably get the ultimate question: What do you do for a living? 
My answer is usually a variation of 'Java Developer', 'programmer', 'software developer' and/or 'IT person', depending on the facial expressions I get when I say those answers.

I do not look like a typical software developer.
According to TV shows, I should look like:

Abby from NCIS

or, like :

Penelope in Criminal Minds

or like :

Stefanie in CSI: Cyber

Why do they all have to look nonconformist?

Why can't a woman who is good in IT and/or computers look like the average Jane? Why can't they wear normal clothes, wear normal make up and act like it is totally normal for women to be in this profession? And why, why do they all have to have funky hair??!?!

I hardly ever think about it, but there are not a lot of women in my profession.

I also never think about how much the outside world regards software developers as a species of its own. People who understand computers versus those who just use them. The look I get when I say what I do for a living is usually either one of awe because I seem to have found success in a field where women are not supposed to be successful, or one of surprise because I do not conform to the idea people have of software developers. 

Women have brains, some even have brains that are more performing than some men. Then why would people be in awe that I can be a developer? If a man can be good at problem solving and can learn how to use a programming language, then why can't a woman do it? The brain, or rather the intellectual field, is probably the only field where men and women may be compared at the same level, unlike sports where men are naturally inclined to have bigger muscles. I do not consider myself a genius, and I do not deserve to be looked at in awe, as if I have a higher IQ than the average Jane who may be an accountant or of any other profession.

Similarly, I do not think people should be surprised that I do not look like a developer. If they come to my office, they would notice that the few women doing the job do not conform to the image that TV shows paint of women in the profession. We dress business casual, usually in mellow and down to earth colors. None of us has pink-colored or blue-colored hair. 

None of us carry more gadgets that we can carry. 

But also none of us sit at home and program for fun. 

Maybe women with pink-colored hair do sit at home and code for fun.

But what I do is what every other software developer knows how to do. 

In a nutshell: collect requirements, design, code, test and deploy. 

Nothing more, nothing less.

Maybe TV shows need to work more on making female programmers part of the mainstream than trying to paint them as unusually smart women who opted to pursue a career in a field where only men are expected to succeed.

PanAmazing journey

The PanAm games came and went.
From July 10 to July 26, I lived and breathed the games.
The whole city, despite some negativity about the HOV lanes, embraced the games.

My PanAm journey started on Sunday, July 5 with my first shift as a T3 driver.
I had a total of 6 shifts for the PanAm games, all of them starting at 6:00am.
It was hard to wake up at 5:00am and ride the bike to the depot on Cherry street.
That first day, I was in the Yellow group, Charlie 747

The first thing I did at the depot, was to lose my radio. Someone took it by mistake, so I had to tell the people in charge and get them to give me another radio. That first day, I was stationed at the Athletes village, then moved to the Westin before being moved to the staging area at the airport. We spent quite a lot of time in the tent at the airport, with no water or coffee. I was finally sent to terminal 3 where I picked up one passenger going to the Westin. He did not talk to me, and I went the wrong way on Queen's Quay. I dropped him off in the T3 line and told him I could not go in the drop off zone. The venue manager told me that I could if they have luggage, immediately after. I was let off early, around 11:30am.

Saturday, July 11: 

My second shift was not much busier than the first. 

I was in the Gold group, Charlie 605. I met Allan that day, old gentleman with lots of stories to tell. They did not allow us in the village this time, but a cop walked us around the village and showed us the buildings. I got one Brazilian reporter going to the media centre at Exhibition Place. The poor guy was friendly and wanted to talk but had very limited English. I went back to the Athletes village before being called back at 11:00.

Monday, July 13:

First vacation day of the year. Charlie 298.

Allan was in line ahead of me and told me to get in line behind him and be 'white' so we end up being stationed together. We were deployed to the Westin this time, and we made it through the second staging to first staging and then back to Cooper street. I drove to the Athletes village twice, once with 2 officials from Argentina and once with a sole female client, origin unknown. She did not look up from her phone. I was let go at 11:45, and I made my way to PAP (Pan Am Park) where I enjoyed some beach volleyball for free.

Sunday, July 19:
Blue team, Charlie 212. Westin, again.
Two cars jumped in line ahead of me, but was relatively short staging at staging 2.
I drove 2 guys to the Intercontinental Hotel on Bloor. They talked to each other mostly, except when we drove through Yorkville. As I pulled up in front of a T1 car, I felt a little rattle, and the official in the back said that I hit the car. They got out of the car and I checked the car but I couldn't see anything. I went to the other car and the driver said that I caught his tire. I returned to the Westin. All blue cars were sent to PAP, where I followed 2 drivers to the workforce dining room and got a hot meal and 3 pins. The driver I followed was a Quebec guy. We were called back shortly after we started watching the gymnastic rhythmic. I went to the car wash before returning the car and saw scrapes on the front right bumper. I reported the scrapes to Abraham, and he was very nice about it all.

Wednesday, July 22:

I got into the Gold team today, I was about 5 minutes later to the depot than usual. Charlie 311. The folder had 'RFT' on it, but later when I asked, I was told I was not RFT. There were 2 other drivers who were RFT and one of them had to pick up someone at a hotel and drive him to the airport. The other one had to pick up someone in Oakville. [I learned today that he picked up Pinball Clemons and drove him all day!!].
I popped into the trailer to say hi to the controllers today and finally got to see what the guy in my ear all day looked like. I was soon deployed to the Westin, on Cooper street, but was asked to go to PAP as soon as we got there. I went in with Janet and her niece Kristi. As soon as we were done using the washroom, we were redeployed to OPW (Ontario Place West) where waterskiing was taking place. We got to watch that for a bit and then Kristi got us meal vouchers at the workforce tent. When we got back to the parking lot, I was asked to drive 2 Canadian athletes to the village. One was a marathon runner and already ran the previous Saturday and the other was running the 10km in a couple of days. I nearly missed the exit on Jarvis and quickly exited the Gardiner, giving them a fright. They were very nice about it when I apologized for it. I drove back to OPW and then was called to PAV (Athletes village). I drove 4 Argentinians to the media centre at the Exhibition before my shift was over. I did watch Janet scrape her car on a big block at the village during this shift. When she reported it at the depot, Abraham told me that I did not scrape the car the other day! It was already reported! 

Saturday, July 25:

Final shift today. I heard stories about fleet workforce not being happy with drivers who got their cards punched at other venues, so I was stressing out about it. I overheard the guy talking to Allan and when I walked up to him, I asked him not to be mad. He was very cool about it and he gave me a pin and a small Pachi as well as my participation letter. 

I was in the Blue team, Charlie 214 and deployed to PAP right away. 

We went to see the marathon start and finish. Today I was with Teresa, Merle, Anna and Lynn. 

We saw a Canadian athlete walk by and Teresa congratulated him. He walked over and showed us his medal and chatted with us for a bit. He won the 20km walk. 

When the marathon was over, we went into the park and got ourselves Coca Cola cans with our names on it. Lynn sent Merle and myself the picture later. We then went to watch some racquetball and handball. Canadians were playing in both sports. As I returned to my car, we were called back shortly after, around 11:30.

When all was said and done, it was a great PanAm experience even if I did not drive as many people as I thought. The other drivers, a lot of them retirees, most of them offering their time in the spirit of the games, are kindred spirits. So long PanAm, looking forward to the Parapan in a week....

LINC: The classes that saved me.

When my parents moved in with me in a 2 bedroom in January, things started to settle down finally.
I enrolled them in the Language Instruction for New Comers, a program intended to help new comers with getting jobs and/or integrating Canadian society.
I did not enrol them for them to get a job, but I did enrol them to give them something to do.
And it has given me even more than expected.

Structure
First, the classes gave their days some structure.
Before they were enrolled, they would wake up whenever they felt like it and the rest of their day would flow accordingly, with them having lunch at 4pm sometimes. By being enrolled in a 9:00 to 2:30pm class, their days were regimented by their commitment to attending the classes. It gave them just enough freedom after school, to go to the library or to Chinatown to pick up some groceries for dinner before they had to return home. They even have homework to fill their afternoons before dinner time.

Exercise
Second, the Ukrainian centre where the classes are held is about 2km from home. My parents found out that it will take them at least 30 minutes one way to get there, 45 minutes if they take their time. That was for me, the best way to ensure that they will get at least 1 hr of walking every day. After seeing how my grandmother's mobility decreased due to inactivity, I loved it when they said they don't mind the walk and even walked in the harsh Canadian weather. With the right boots and jackets, they did not complain much even when the weather was really, really bad.

Something to talk about
Last, but not least, the classes gave them something to talk about at dinner time.
When before they would assault me with questions about my day as soon as I walked through the door, we are now all in the same state of mind when I get home. By the time we sit down for dinner, we are all ready to share how our day went, and instead of not having much to say, now they both cheerily share what their teachers have said, or what they have learned at school that day.

In addition to all the above, the classes gave both of them a small circle of friends to socialize with on a daily basis. My parents were put in different levels and therefore do not spend the whole day together, which definitely has its own benefits.

They were hooked from the very first week. They look forward to learning and spending the day at the Ukrainian centre. Whenever they have to skip classes to go to doctor's appointments, I feel their regret about having to miss school, so now I make sure that, when possible, doctor's appointments are made in the afternoon so that they would only miss a couple of hours of their classes.
Yes, these classes have been good, not only for my parents, but for me as well.
And the best is that they are free to stay in these classes for as long as they wish, until they become Canadian citizens!

New Year, New Place

Last week I moved for the third time in 7 years.

A lot of people asked me if I was excited about the move or stressed out. 

I wasn't much of the former and I only got stressed out the days leading to the move....

There isn't much to it really, 

1. Pick a date

2. Save the date with your friends/movers

3. Book the elevators at the current address and the next address

4. Reserve a truck

5. Get boxes

6. Start packing...(a little every day works great for me!)

7. Disassemble furniture that can be disassembled.

8. Protect corners of furniture that cannot be disassembled

9. Secure loose items

Come the big day, hope that everything goes as planned!

The best part of the day was that I get to drive a big 10 footer! Driving a car right after seemed quite ordinary.The funniest part of the day was when the security guy looked at us and asked who's going to reverse the truck into the loading area and all the guys looked at me! Yes, the only woman around is backing up the truck! Not too bad for an asian female driver!

Then when everybody has left and you have boxes everywhere, make sure you take a big breath and start unpacking, first with the basics and then with the "peripherals".

The faster you get to it, the better it is.

Of course, the first thing that was set up was my computer! 

Then to admire the view:

Granted, that's not the CN tower, but I get an unobstructed view of GO trains!

I liked my old place, but I think with time, I'll get to like this place too.
After all, home is where the heart is, right?

Where did 2014 go?

As I sit here and ponder where the year has gone, I cannot believe that the last 12 months have gone by so fast. It seems only yesterday I was writing the retrospective of 2013. It's almost as if 2014 happened without any big impact on my life. But I know this is not true. 2014 has brought a lot of changes in my life. Maybe it's true what they say....as you grow older, the years just seem like days...

Well, if that's the case, then here's a summary of what I did over the last few days!

In January, Christina and Patrice were in Toronto for a visit. We hung out a lot and went to karaoke.
It was sad when they left. I went to Ripley's Aquarium a couple of times which is more than most people have since the aquarium opened in October.

February was a winterlicious month. I was at Casa Loma for High Tea and visited the castle for the first time. This high tea gave me the idea of organizing my own tea party! Another meaningful event was a trip to Ottawa to skate on Rideau Canal. We skated the whole length of the canal! The next day, we visited Parliament Hill before heading back to Toronto.

In March, I finally was able to host a tea party at my place. With lots of food, which were apparently all of the same shade, I invited a few friends over after going to pick new glasses for them in chinatown. A week later, I built my most impressive fondant cake yet, a LEGO movie cake for Nathaniel's birthday!

In April, I agreed to become a Toastmasters mentor to a club at MaRS Discovery District. For Easter, I went on a road trip to Cleveland. We went to the symphony orchestra, to a Blue Jays game and to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

May and June were fairly quiet before I flew back home at the end of June for Christina and Pat's wedding. It was a bittersweet return to the island. I appreciated it more because I don't anticipate going back soon. Being in the wedding party was relatively easy for Christina's wedding. Everything was planned, so it went fairly smoothly. I stayed one night at Angsana before going back to my own bed. Time outside of the wedding and its related activities were spent with family.

In July, as soon as I got back to Toronto, I went to a Katy Perry concert and another first for me, axe throwing! I wasn't too bad at it, I lost in the semis and was the top female in our group!

August was a big month for me. We went to the East Coast. As per my previous post, it started on a high with meeting a stranger on the plane. The whole trip was a lot of fun, with lots of sights and cities to see on the east coast of our beautiful Canada.

September came and went and in October, my parents arrived. This was the start of a big change for all of us.Between living in a cramped 1 bedroom in downtown Toronto and the trek to Mississauga, the weeks went by fast. Months of preparation culminated in the United Way CN tower climb. where for 3 days, I was in the cross-over room looking at climbers arrive at the finish line.

November has been a blur. It was spent looking at a lot of 2 bedroom condos around the area. Finally, just after mom's birthday, I found a place. So most of the beginning of December was spent making arrangements for the move and going to factory sales and dinners.

Which bring us to today! It's now 3 hrs into the new year and I'm watching The Godfather on Netflix. There's a saying which dictates that whatever you do on New Year's day, that's what you'll be doing the rest of the year. The plan when I wake up is to make dessert for dinner and clean and de-clutter. What's in store for 2015? Hopefully, not more cleaning and de-cluttering!! :)