Naughty Kittens, you've lost your mittens...

Well, if that were all, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. For the first time ever, I have in fact lost my wallet! For shame! Not only shall I have no pie, as I cannot buy, but with no ID I'll cannot go downtown; makes one cry ;-)

The trip to Wolfville at the weekend for a Maritime Executive Retreat had very little otherwise to note. UPEI, ourselves, and Acadia were the only groups that braved the winter storm warning to attend, but we made the most of our time there and managed to get our exercise the next day by digging out cars. The snow was impressive for having fallen overnight; metal detectors might have been in order to locate some of the buried vehicles!

Apart from that, things are really quiet around the office now that exam time is coming in. I'm getting very few emails and even fewer visitors, allowing me to master the game of catch-up! As the week progresses, I expect to re-balance my life. Everything in the office should be handled and in order, and a clear plan for January 1 will be worked out.

Cripes! Three weeks 'til the holidays, all! Good luck with the studies, and I'll be back soon!

Amnesia... or something like it...

Well, I've been meaning to blog for quite some time now! As anyone who regularly visits my office can attest, the last few months have been a little bit of a whirlwind! This was capped off by my trying to remember my password for this blog for the last five minutes... but then more fun will be recapping the crazy antics of this term of office!

Anyhoo, last meeting of council tonight! More to follow over the next few days, as I attempt to recount what has happened and provide insight into the next few months!

Living on the Edge...

What a crazy week this has been! I've been attending the Edge Conference being held on Sexton Campus for most of the week, and have been trying to juggle that with keeping on top of my regular work. The conference brings together student executive from institutions across the country, and has been beneficial in providing insight into their challenges and opportunities and how their experience might benefit the DSU.

I'm in the office just now, sending some emails that have to be done, and will head to the conference around 11. Tomorrow I'll return and post some more thoughts on the conference.

Shinerama: Bar Blitz #1

This last Saturday marked the first Shinerama Bar Blitz of the year! Myself and Kris Osmond joined our Shinerama Director Krista Ali and a host of other Dalhousie Shiners on the streets and in the bars of Halifax, selling candy, condoms, and glowsticks to the many patrons of our fine licensed establishments. The funds raised in these secondary summer initiatives give a nice kickstart to Shine Day in September, when first year students will flood the streets to raise money for cystic fibrosis research and care. I remember my first Shine Day, and might post pictures of it later. I was beardless, believe it or not! That was the best day of Orientation Week for me in my first year, and as I've stated in my bio, it is Orientation week that got me as involved as I am today, three years on. The Cause is phenomenal, and it feels good to be raising money and awareness about it, but my involvement to this point has always reflected that special place Shinerama holds to me. There will be plenty more opportunity to get involved with Shinerama projects throughout the summer, and I encourage anyone that is interested to partake!

PACS, Laser Fish, and the Driver's Seat

Due to several appointments and a combination of circumstances both expected and unforeseen, 'tis yet again another end of the week posting of my thoughts rather than a daily reflection. Not that this is a bad thing; I think it makes the material more comprehensive and the title more mysterious and amusing.

First off, Laserfiche! Yes, I know, Laser Fish sounds more exciting, and probably would be if it existed. However, Laserfiche is certainly more practical. It is an electronic database of any important documents the DSU possesses. Trouble is, they didn't have online storage technology in the sixties, so many of our documents are in hard copy form only. The Result: a Sunday spent in the office with Courtney, scanning, naming, and filing these old documents. It took time, but we made a dent in the pile. A little dedication and a few weekends here and there and the entire documented history of the DSU should be electronically stored!

PACS was my big thing for Monday. The acronym stands for the Presidents Advisory Council on Sustainability. This meeting addressed policy and direction for sustainability at Dalhousie (note that this is distinct from the DSU's Sustainability Office), and made some progress in this area. There will likely be a presentation of the University's proposed policy at an upcoming meeting of the DSU Council, so keep an eye out if you are interested in that.

As for the rest of the week, I've been keeping busy with various random tasks that occupy me on a regular basis. I'm really looking forward to next week, when I expect the first draft of the DSU Student Handbook (the agenda that comes out every year). This will be pretty basic, as it will primarily contain the material I've submitted laid out nicely on paper. The ads will come in the second copy, and I expect the process to produce a fantastic final product.

Finally, I ought to explain the Driver's Seat reference. This has two meanings, one DSU related and one personal. Courtney is on vacation until July 7, so I'm in the hot seat here at the DSU while she's away. I'm also learning to drive a manual transmission vehicle this weekend. Hopefully I survive both of these experiences to blog again ;-)

Another weekend already?

Is it just me, or is the summer flying by? I've been in this job almost two months now, but it seems like no time at all.

I must apologize for my lack of posts in the last week; I've fallen off of the tech train a little in favour of more traditional pursuits like meetings, luncheons, retreats, and other face-to-face methods of communication. This is unusual to me, as most of what I've done up until this point has required a telephone and computer close at hand. Sunday affords me the opportunity to return to this tech-dependent zone as I find some time to relax and get a little bit of work done.

Todays big project is Laserfiche'ing old DSU files; creating an electronic database of our records that will hopefully be more user friendly than traditional filing systems. Myself and Courtney will be tackling that shortly, but first, my inbox beckons! I'll sign off with a promise that I'll be back tomorrow, with a summary of the PACS meeting I will be attending in place of our VP (Education), Mr. Mark Coffin. Tune in tomorrow to find out what that acronym means!

Weekend milestone

This weekend marked a milestone for me- two days without entering the office. Up until this point, there's not been a day when I haven't come in, which is perhaps understandable given the fact that I live right round the corner and have no computer.

The workload is settling down now as well; the bulk of the epic handbook campaign has been completed for my part, although our editor now has no small task ahead of him in putting all of the info I've given him into a coherent final product! I am excited to see what we end up with.

As for the rest of today, I expect it to continue just like any other day. I came in with a very thin agenda, and yet things keep popping up to keep me occupied. To put this in perspective, I began writing this post at 8:30 this morning, and it is now 12:30. Once business hours hit, there's never a shortage of things to do!

Emails are my next priority, as I still have a few left that came in over the weekend. After that, perhaps a few updates for the website. Afterwards, I may return to the blog and relate my many adventures from the end of last week... Stay Tuned!