Thanks For Coming Out

10-1.  Pretty close prediction.  I can't say I didn't tell you so.  That's all I've got to say about that.
As I've been corrected by Hockey Canada for one of my earlier comments... a retraction.  The pools are decided by last tournament's standings, and the home team only sets the schedule for the games.
And now, for something completely different.
Never... and I mean never, take your running water for granted!  I mentioned several days ago, that we were having trouble with our water pump.  Well, now we're completely out of running water.  I've got several jugs going (which I'm carrying in from the store), and we're filling the toilet tank so that we can still flush the toilet.  We've got a great big pot on the stove, so that we have warm water for washing hands.  Showers, are obviously out of the question.
The other southern thing to appreciate when you have it... service people that actually care, and sometimes put effort into helping you out.  I spoke to the town manager on Monday morning, faxed in a work order (because talking to him directly is apparently not protocol), and still nothing.  I phoned him again this morning, to remind him about the work order that I had sent in, and he said that he'll call the guys right away.  Of course, still nothing.  In the mean time, I've got water all over the basement, a house full of stinky people, and no confidence that I'll have water tomorrow either.
I still don't have my Monday milk, bread, or produce at the store either.  Will it all come together tomorrow...

Stay tuned.

Czech That Out!

When they announced the starting goalies, I was a little surprised to see that it was Roy.  I didn't think that he played very well against the Russians, and then when he let one in only 49 seconds into the game, I was thinking "Oh boy, this could be ugly".  But just like game one, the Canadians buckled down, got to work, and got it done.
Schenn was looking like he is starting to settle into the role of points leader, while Ellis just kept on playing as awesome as he has since the first exhibition game.  Roy had a huge save during the 5 minute major, which was followed instantly by a nice short-handed goal.  The powerplay seems to have given up on the backdoor play which I was harping on, just getting some shots on net, and the success speaks for itself.  I don't like the wording of the blow to the head penalty in international hockey, and hated the call, but by the letter of the law, I guess they made the right call.
The funeral for Uncle Francis was held today, and apparently it was a very pleasant ceremony.  The weather was nice, and many of my cousins had something nice to say during the faspa afterwards.  I wish that I could have been there, but of course, circumstances (and cost) were just too prohibitive.
I went over 600 hits today.  That's over 100 just since I got back from Kuujjuaq!
Tomorrow's game should be a laugher.  9-1.  A good chance for a few guys to pad their stats.  Maybe not too much to talk about.

Stay tuned.

It's Good To Be Wrong (Sometimes)

After a terrible, sloppy first period, it looks like the Canadians learned in one period what I thought that it would take them all game to learn.  They really tightened  it up, and kept taking more control as the game wore on.  They got some obviously lucky breaks, but don't let that take away from the fact that they dominated the second half of the game, and fully deserved the win.  Twelve different players on the score sheet, once demonstrating their balanced attack.
Johansen and Foligno (both my early exhibition picks) scored goals, Ashton did some hard work on the third goal, and even more hard work to draw a penalty that lead to a power play goal.  Schenn (I'll give him his dues) scored a huge goal to give us a two goal lead.  Kassian, Leblanc, and Ellis all had very strong games as well.
The one thing that I didn't really enjoy (and that's three tournaments in a row now) is the junior player's insane need to try the backdoor play.  Sure, it looks good when it works, but so often there is someone wide open in the slot, but the passer throws it into a crowd trying to hit the guy standing beside the far side of the net.  This must be a junior league thing.  If the defense is worth their salt at all, they're always going to pick that off and send it down the ice.  Just get it on net!  That being said, the PP did get better each time they had the man advantage.
Next up... the Czechs.

Stay tuned.

Home Ice Advantage

Obviously we can't complain too much, since we have home ice for the tournament every other year, and we always take full advantage of the opportunity.  Generally, we have a fairly balanced bracket, and we always start off with our easiest opponent, have a day off, take on our second toughest foe followed by an easier game on the back-to-back nights, and then have another day off before playing the otherwise top team.  Awesome formula.  Such is not the case, with the Americans playing host!
Our bracket has: Canada, Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Norway.  Other than Norway, arguably four of the top five teams in the tournament.  All that, together with the fact that we have to play Russia in the tourney opener (no easing our way into game shape there).
The American bracket has: US, Finland, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Germany.  The US should have no trouble coasting to the elimination rounds with that lineup!
Unrelated.  Our water pump is crapping out on us, and it's not like you can just go down to the Home Depot and pick up another one.  I've got one ordered (most likely to take close to a month to arrive), and I've taken apart, adjusted, and replaced our current one three times now.  I don't have it quite right (a second person needs to control the switch in the basement keeping the gauge in the optimum range, while you take a shower upstairs), but at least we're not totally out of water.
We watched The Other Guys last night.  We were all laughing out loud several times.  It's not exactly a psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but it has some pretty hilarious moments if you're just looking for some light entertainment.
My pre-game prediction: 3-2 Russia.  The upside, I think that it might just be an invaluable lesson to learn very early on, that you can't take a shift off or stray from the game plan for a moment, and still expect to win.  Will I be right...

Stay tuned.  Eh, Oh, Canada Go (was that Pepsi's WORST idea ever, or what?)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Frannie's in the kitchen (wearing her Christmas PJs), Rory's in the living room playing DJ for us off of the 2007 Crossroads DVD, and I'm pecking away at the computer (obviously!).
Considering our locale, it's feeling a little more like a regular Christmas up here (minus the much missed families, of course), than it was last year.  We went to the neighbour's for a fairly traditional Christmas supper last night (turkey, stuffing, spuds, turnips, veggies, and of course Frannie's famous trifle).  We exchanged some gifts, and then went home to open up the various gifts that you guys sent up.
In typical "so, what did you get for Christmas?" style, I'll give you the rundown:
The love of my life was thoughtful enough to pay attention to SOME of my ramblings (although she tunes me out a lot), and remembered my many comments about how much I enjoy Michael Buble's voice, and she ordered two double disks (one of which is a live DVD where he does nothing but old standards).
I got a folding fruit knife (I'd never heard of it either).  But, it's narrow like a cigarette only longer (so that it actually reaches all the way across an apple), and it has a little fork like thing which is useful for removing pits/cores.  Of course I went straight to the store to get some various fruit to try it out (I know the manager, and can get in after hours), it worked great.
I got a deck of playing cards... with a twist.  The picture is of several Calgary Flames (including Iginla and Conroy) celebrating after a goal.  The Flames that are facing the camera, are also facing another guy (who has his back to the camera), who's jersey nameplate very clearly has a "THIESSEN" on it.  Very nice.
Somebody that obviously payed enough attention to realize that I love coffee, and that since turning 40 my evening coffee needs to be decaffeinated.  I got two packages of fair trade coffee (being conscientious and all), one with a holiday blend that I already made this morning, and was awesome.  The other with a medium decaffeinated blend, that I'll try out this evening.
I also got some scratch cards (one of which was a winner), and possibly some other gifts which may still be in the mail.  Quite obviously, everyone that I know is much more generous than myself.
Thanks to everyone that's thinking of us during this Christmas season, and know that we're thinking of you too!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Uncle Francis - R.I.P.

Now there was a man, who when at the age of 40 was asked how come he had never gotten married, and his answer was that he didn't think that he had anything to offer.  Nothing to offer?  Here's a guy that was sent out on a train to Sioux Lookout at the age of 15, and given strict instructions to send money, and not return until spring.  That of course was just the start of a long life of giving, caring for, and supporting others, while giving almost no thought to what his own needs were.  Strong as an ox, starting work before sunrise, and not quitting until well after sunset.  Keeping only the bare necessities for himself, while giving to others in a manner that makes the word "generous", just seem inadequate.  Nothing to offer?
Francis Thiessen was a God fearing man, loving husband, and favourite uncle to many.  He will be missed!

Uncle Francis - say hi to my Mom!

Perry Gets Engaged!

Congratulations go out to Perry and Kristeen.  I'll give you more details when I get them.  Apparently he was waiting on one knee when Kristeen came home from work.
Back to the game.  Sweden came up with a much better effort than Switzerland.  That gave us a much better look at what Canada is bringing to the table.  Their high pressure penalty kill made it all too apparent that our power play is far from ready for the big games.  We had way too many turnovers in general.  Schenn's line got all of the first unit power play time, and was ineffective, but nobody else's line did any better with the second units.  All 12 goals so far have been scored by 12 different players.  While it's nice to have balanced scoring, at some point somebody's going to have to step up and be the guy that the team can rely on to score when they need it.  That being said, somebody's going to have to earn and deserve the top ice time too.  I hope that I'm wrong, but so far I'm getting the impression that Schenn is going to be one of these guys that looks fantastic against the weaker sisters, and just disappear when the game is on the line.  Did you even hear his name once in the third period?
Roy looked very good, and it looks like there's still going to be quite a decision in regards to who's going to be the number one.  From what I've seen so far, I'm looking for the big guys (Foligno, Ashton, and Johansen) to be the ones who come up big in the big games.  No game tomorrow, so for those of you that don't want to see anything about hockey... too bad.  It's probably still going to be about hockey.

Stay tuned.

Is That All You've Got?

I was actually expecting Switzerland to put up a little more of a fight (as you may have guessed by my 3-2 prediction).  8-0!  The best part to me, was the fact that after mentioning that I thought that they'd have a lot more offense this year, the experts on the panel moaned about how offensively challenged they were, and then they went out and scored eight goals.  Take that "experts"!
Of course this was only against Switzerland, and they clearly just couldn't keep up with the Canadians, who were too big, too fast, and too good.  But, eight different goal scorers, on eight goals... sounds pretty balanced to me.  The goalie sure made a fantastic save in the second too!
The worst part... the commentators couldn't seem to stop going on about the Schenn, Schwartz, Leblanc line, who also seemed to be getting all of the prime offensive situation shifts (including the five on three).  It's almost like they didn't notice the Couturier/Foligno line that seemed to control the play every time they hit the ice.  Couturier had four points!  He's the youngest player, the only undrafted player, and after the first exhibition game, the most talented.  Watch for his linemate Marcus Foligno to come up big in the important games.  Tomorrow's game against Sweden should be a little more of a challenge (5-3 win).  Hopefully you don't mind hockey, because that's all your going to get on game days.

Stay tuned.

Global Warming? Maybe

While living down south, I've never been a believer.  With some of the weather that we saw last year on the Arctic Circle, I still wasn't convinced (even though the locals all said that this was one of the mildest winters that they had ever seen).  Of course, this winter here may just be an anomaly, but it's hard to argue with some of the stuff that we're seeing here.  Even the oldest elders in town are all saying that they have never seen open water at Christmas.  It's not like there is "some" open water, there is hardly any ice at all.  We have had snow, definitely.  But, the dogs are currently doing their "business" in the grass!  The puddles in the street haven't even frozen over night for at least four nights now, with Christmas just days away.  I don't think that anyone know who David Suzuki is around here (or care), but they're all telling stories about how the stuff that we're seeing right now, is totally unheard of.
Speaking of Christmas approaching, we have been receiving a lot of cards, letters, and gifts in the last few days.  Thank-you to everyone that's thinking of us during this celebratory season!
Did you see any football today?  What a bunch of unbelievable finishes!  The short kick that was returned for a touchdown in Indy, four touchdowns in the last 7:28 for Philly, and an OT win for Detroit on the road after 26 straight road losses.  You only play 8 road games per season, and they lost 26 straight before today.
Tomorrow is the first exhibition game for the juniors.  Prediction 3-2 Canada.  Will I be right?

Stay tuned.

Santa!!! I Know Him!

Today was kid's day at the store, complete with a visit from Santa (luckily not me this year).  My grocery manager actually has his own suit (that fits), and as a result, he has no option but to be Santa.  Lucky for him, we didn't have any photo paper that fit our printer, and he didn't have to do the photo shoot like I did last year.  These kids are built like bricks!  There were four year-olds that I could barely drag up onto my lap.
Slovenia is the newest country on the map.  Now that there are more than ten, I see that my stat page only shows the top ten.  Subsequently, from here on out, I may have no idea how many countries there are hitting my page.  You're probably tired of hearing about it anyway.
The store was insane with children this afternoon.  Lots of them I hadn't even seen before.  Did we somehow end up shipping in kids for kid's day?  Overall sales weren't that good, but we're close enough to Christmas, that I don't think that anyone can knock us out of the top three stores in the company (141 stores in total).  It's not that I care that much about being the winner, or in the top three, it's just that you pretty much have to be ahead of everyone else to reduce the amount of phone calls and emails based on what you should be doing to increase your sales.
Fran just pulled a lasagna out of the oven, which clearly takes priority over boring you with this drivel, so...

I'm outta here.

I Never Would Have Guessed

Nickolas Lidstrom has been in the league for 19 years, won six Norris Trophies, played 1,442 games, and at 40 years old, last night he scored his first career hat-trick.  With a career like his, I never would have guessed that he hasn't done that before.
Today was insane!  Eight families got new houses, the QST cheques came out, and the Co-op was out of cash.  None of the cheques were actually addressed to box numbers, so Rory had his hands full with irate customers that couldn't figure out why he might want to check their ID to see if they were actually picking up cheques that belonged to them.  I still haven't been able to figure out how they award the new houses.  Every one of these communities has three and four families living in each of the houses.  Most people have their names in on a waiting list.  Each year they build from 4-8 houses.  And about this time of year, they award those houses to families.  I'm pretty sure that it's not first come first serve, so I'm going to have to do a little more research to figure this out.  In any case, the houses come with a fridge and stove, but nothing else.  As a result, these last two days have been crazy with furniture sales.  I'm totally out of washing machines, fridges, sofas, and beds, while I'm down to 2 dinette sets and 2 dryers.  All this, while Christmas is in full swing.
From what I've seen so far during the inter squad highlights, it looks like offence is way up on the junior team, while defence and goaltending might be a bit of an issue.  As I recall Ovechkin saying about the Russian all offense, no defense olympic team: "The last time I checked the rule-book, the team that scores the most goals wins".  They always say that defense wins championships, but it's hard to argue with the logic.
The weather has once again been barely freezing, but still - no freight.  With huge sales going on, and no replacement cargo to fill the shelves, the store is looking a little bare.  Tomorrow is Men's night, which means another 15 hour day.  Don't expect to hear from me until Saturday.

The End.

Russia Makes It's Move

The blog is now over 500 hits.  Russia has been hitting so many times in the last few weeks, that they have taken over third, and are making their move on the US for second, with Canada so far out front that they can't be caught.  Sounds like a preview of the upcoming World Juniors (expect to be reading lots about that).
We're now up to 7 followers (thanks Uncle Wes!), and yes, Rory is actually doing quite well in the post office.  He's holding his own against the onslaught of requests to break the law, and providing quite a lot of relief for us, along with some added companionship.  I don't imagine that Marty's move has anything to do with the Steeler pick... does it?  Thanks to the newest follower playing a  little catch-up, Monday had a record 26 page reads.
The weather was about zero today (unbelievable!), a bit of drizzle, and a serious setback in the freezing of the ocean.  The Christmas games that are usually on the ice, have already been cancelled.  Games of any kind are huge up here.  It's not strange at all to see a 50 year-old doing somersaults around an obstacle course.  We still haven't quite determined what we're going to do instead, but I'm sure that it'll still be a lot of fun.
As you could probably tell from one of the earlier comments, I'm already getting worked up about the big tourney coming up.  It's strange, when I was of junior age I didn't care that much, but the older I get the more interested I am.  I think that it's something about a bunch of unheard of, unpaid kids, that just want to wear the maple leaf on their jersey, and win for their country.  If I every win the lottery, I'm pretty sure that I'll never miss a game, no matter where they are played.  First exhibition game coming up on Monday.

Stay tuned.

Smart Shoppers

If you've read the blog before, you probably already know that there's no way that this title isn't dripping with sarcasm.
Apparently, on Sunday when I was talking a little football, I failed to mention the New Orleans Saints, who would round out my top five teams.  Just thought that I'd get that out there before I forget again.
We already knew that yesterday was going to be a challenge, with the evening being Ladies' night, making it a fifteen hour day.  What we weren't exactly prepared for, was the fact that Air Inuit was making food vouchers (in the amount of $60 for every adult) available for every adult in town.  The first few hours of the day was insane!  Line-ups down the aisles.  Now, I don't really like mocking my neighbours here in town too frequently, and I know that I just did it two blogs ago, but here we go again.  You would not believe how many customers (and I know first hand, since we weren't prepared for the early morning rush, and I ended up working cash all morning) came to the till with anywhere from $100-$200 worth of stuff in their carts, let you ring items through until they reached their $60, told you to stop, and then just left the remainder of their stuff on the table (expecting you to put it away).  Did they really have no idea that $200 worth of stuff might not be covered with a $60 voucher?  Countless people would be voiding things, trying to get back below $60, be maybe 35 cents over, dig through their pockets, don't have 35 cents, and then have to void another item.  There were also a few customers who needed to void off their fruit to make room for a pack of smokes.
Don't get me wrong, there were some folks that shopped a little more normal.  There were shoppers who came to the till with all of the items that they needed, and only used their vouchers to assist them with the entire bill.
Anyway, that's not actually what I was going to talk about today, but I've already written way too much, and there's another blizzard warning threatening to knock out my internet again.

Stay tuned.

Tom Brady - Invincible?

Obviously the novelty of my blog is wearing off.  I didn't have a single hit, yesterday or today.  Not that I'll let that stop me from prattling on.
Did you see any of the Patriots game?  They seemed to thrive in the snow.  Sure, they have two losses, but they look pretty close to unbeatable (again).  Not that they're the only ones.  Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia all look pretty good as well.
We now have water and sewer restored at the house and the store.  It looks like life has returned to something close to normal, now that the storm is over.  Apparently, the forecast calls for plus five on Wednesday!
The Christmas rush continues on in full swing.  We have a Ladies' night tomorrow, a Men's night on Friday, and a kid's day on Saturday.  Hopefully we can make up for some of the sales that we lost during the snow week.
As Christmas gets closer and closer, I'm sure that we'll all keep becoming more and more aware of how far away from family we actually are up here.
Anyway, that's probably it for today, and tomorrow will be a 15 hour day, so hopefully you'll be hearing from me again on Tuesday.

Stay tuned.

Aren't You From Here?

Almost every day, something else happens up here that makes me question the intelligence of the locals.  I mentioned yesterday, that there was this massive multiple day storm going on.  This morning, just before noon, it finally broke.  The planes that had been stranded here for five days now, just got off the ground around 1pm.  By 2pm there was now one lane cut through the drifts, only on the major streets.  At 3pm, someone came into the store, and was annoyed that I didn't have any milk yet.  Aren't you from here?  After 45 years of life's experience, have you not figured out how things work yet?  Have you seen a plane?  Where was this magical milk supposed to come from?  And, how did this suddenly become my fault?  I just don't understand how there can be so many middle aged folks that just don't have a clue.  There was another guy that phoned me yesterday (he wanted to talk to me because he didn't believe what Rory had told him from the post office), he was irate at the fact that we didn't have any new mail to put in his box.  Once again, where did he imagine that the mail would have come from during a blizzard, when there haven't been any planes landing in town for four days?  I keep wondering, if maybe some of these people were born in Cuba, and just emigrated here recently.  How can they not have figured out a few of the basics yet?  Mail, milk, and bread are all brought in by plane.  No plane = no mail, milk, or bread.  Isn't that pretty simple?  You've never been here before, and yet I'm sure that your wondering why I repeated myself so many times, because obviously you get it already.  And yet, these people have lived here their whole lives, and have no idea why the Northern store won't give them their mail.
Anyway, we did finally get some freight tonight (about 10 minutes prior to close), so there is hope for tomorrow.  The problem is, at this point we need $55,000 in sales over the next two days just to break even.  We got mail, we've got child tax credit cheques, we've got moonlight madness sales tomorrow night, and there's still a Super Saturday sale to go.  I've also got at least one customer that has a possibility of coming in to buy a snowmobile.  Tomorrow's going to be a 14 hour day, and we've got a huge challenge ahead of us.

Stay tuned.

Bring On Winter

We were having bad weather on and off for about 10 days already... and then this.  We have had blizzard conditions for three solid days now, and it looks like there will be a minimum of one more.  We've only received cargo twice in the last two weeks.  We haven't had milk or bread (is there anything more essential?) since last week Thursday.  So, not only is the stormy weather keeping customers away, but there wouldn't be any point in showing up anyway, because we don't have the essentials.  One of the other things that we have on our side to increase traffic, is the fact that we have the post office.  Of course, with the weather being what it is, there hasn't been any mail since last week Thursday either.  As a result, nobody's coming in, nobody's buying anything, and the fact that we are second place in the entire company for an increase over last year's Christmas season, is in serious jeopardy.
All communication here is pretty sketchy with the weather being what it is, work and the storm is pretty much all I've got.  That being the case...

The End

O Canada

A few days back, when I had mentioned that they wanted to take "God keep our land, glorious and free" out of the Canadian anthem, I pulled up the song on Wikipedia to see if there was actually anything to learn.  The fact is, while I thought I knew a few things from grade 3 Canadian History, I obviously missed a few facts.  I was well aware that the song was originally written in French, but somehow I was under the belief that the song that we've been singing regularly for all of my life, was a translation of the French version.  That was my biggest mistake.  As it turns out, our English version isn't nearly as good (although the direct translation probably wouldn't fit the music that well).  For your own education (unless of course, you knew all of this, and I was the only one in the dark), here is the direct translation:

O Canada!
Land of our forefathers,
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious
garland of flowers.
As is thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic
Of the most brilliant exploits.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights


And they want to take the word God out of our English version?  The more times I read this, the more I love it.  Canada's arms are equally prepared to both carry the cross, and wield the sword.  Our history is an epic tale full of brilliant exploits (brilliant exploits, is an awesome term).  Canada's courage (steeped in faith, is also an impressive phrase), will protect our homes and our rights.  There, of course, is the crux of the point.  Canada has a courage, steeped in faith, that will protect our rights.  Shouldn't we be brave enough to protect the right to leave the word God in our English version of the anthem?  Our arm is ready to carry the cross, but we can't mention out loud, the name of the man who might be hanged on it?  The only way that I'm OK with changing our anthem, is if we find a way to start using the original.
I was going to mention our recent weather, but I've been prattling on for too long.

Stay tuned.

Kuujjuaq - Continued

When we left off, I just finished telling you about the dude with the backwards feet that I saw in Kuujjuaq.
Before we get to the rest of the story, I should give you something else.  I'm now up to six followers!  Thanks David!  Twice as many as I was hoping for in the start.  Also in the last week, two more countries entered the mix, and were up to 10!  Can you believe it?  What a bunch of idiots.

Here's one more honourable mention in the snowman contest.  This little guy is watching the door, and keeping the house safe.  I also like the caribou mounted above the door. As I always say (and you're probably getting tired of hearing about it by now) weather permitting.  I was only supposed to have one hour between my flight in and my flight out, but the weather had different plans.  Of the multiple stops that were supposed to be along the way back, one by one they were being cancelled.  At one point, the airline guy came on the PA to say that the flight to Kangirsuk would be cancelled because the runway was "slippery like a popsicle".  Eventually it came time to cancel my stop too, so it was off to find a hotel.  While there, I thought - what better time to write a few letters.  When I went to the front desk to ask the French lady for some stationery, I was surprised to find out that she didn't have a clue what I was talking about.  Isn't stationery a french word?
The next morning, I was washing my hair in the shower, when the power went out.  It's not like the city, where you still have some water pressure for a while after the power goes out.  As soon as the lights went out, the water stopped running, with all of the lather still in my hair.  I waited and waited, and then I gave up, tried to dry the soap out of my hair, and get ready for my flight.  Right at the last minute, the power came back on, I quickly stripped back down and jumped back in the shower to rinse off.
Once back at the airport, I was also reunited with all of the people that were also waiting for their flights from yesterday.  There was one little girl that was busy playing by herself in the corner, when one of her fellow playmates from yesterday walked into the airport.  Na-na-na-na-na (apparently the universal call for "chase me"), and the chase was on... again.  Apparently, the fact that there was a night in between chases was no reason for the kids to remind themselves of the fact that they were actually strangers to each other just 20 hours ago (oh to be young and innocent again).  That's pretty much it from Kuujjuaq.
We then had to get ready to do an inventory over the next few days, which we completed today.  Got to love all of those "days off" the we get with the Northern Company.  There was a guy that flew in to help us with the inventory, and he's scheduled to fly out in the morning (weather permitting).

Stay tuned.

TREES!

As you know (if you were following along), I was going down to Kuujjuaq to do some banking on Wednesday, and I managed to see a few things of note.  We haven't had any internet for the last three days, so I'm running a little late on sending an update.
First of all, this was called a three hour flight, but only because we stopped four times along the way.  The longest leg of the flight wasn't supposed to be more than 35 minutes.  The problem was, the second last stop (just before the longest leg) was skipped, since we tried from both sides of the runway and just couldn't see well enough to make a landing, which meant that the total of the last leg was more like an hour.  Of course that's way too long for me to sit still without drifting off, so I was kind of in a fog when the pilot came on to say that we were making our final approach.  When we came out below the clouds, my eyes popped open and I shouted out loud... TREES!  I got a few chuckles from the passengers around me.  You'd think that I hadn't seen a tree for years.  I knew where I was headed, from looking on the map, but I guess that I didn't pay attention to the curves in the tree line.  I'll continue the story tomorrow, but there is one more thing that was note worthy enough to mention on day one of the story.  I was only supposed to have about an hour between my flight in and my flight out, so I only had enough time to make a quick stop at the Northern store there for a bite to eat.  At the next over table, there was a dude about my age, maybe a little older, and he sure made me wish that I'd brought my camera.  His torso, and head were totally normal, and his legs looked quite short (almost as if they were cut off just above the knee).  The short legs weren't the point though.  His feet were completely backwards!  I'm not talking about pointing to the side so much that they were almost backwards, but totally backwards.  I mean, his right boot was on his left foot, and vice-versa.  Perfectly in line with each other, only backwards.  Totally weird!
There's more to tell.

Stay tuned.