With precious little fan-fare, two days ago we quit, yesterday we booked flights out of here, and tomorrow we hit the road. 24 hours from right now, we'll be back in Steinbach. Even that, without a plan. Apparently we're not capable of doing things that are carefully planned. If we don't make up our mind today, and then start doing it tomorrow, it doesn't seem to be up our alley.
Anyway, our time here was short, but it did give a chance to see a few more things that we never would have gotten to do otherwise. We have done and seen lots of things that few others will have seen and done. Thanks for coming with us on the ride. Hopefully some of the stuff that I've told you about, and shown you with photos, was interesting to you.
The End.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Thanks For All Of The Help
Last week we had our computer geek in to change our complete system. The day after he left, the modem between the two systems died, communication to head office died, the unit that sends in our orders gave out, and we can now complete about half of our necessary paper-work.
We also had a team out here that changed the bowsers at the gas bar and changed the pumps inside the reservoir tanks. Two days later, our diesel pump gave up the ghost and we haven't sold diesel since.
Today I made the trip up to the Inuvik airport to pick up the guy that's supposed to be here for ten days. He's here to revamp the entire store, and to teach us how to run the joint. As long as his work is just as effective as the last two efforts, nothing could possibblie go wrong.
Stay tuned.
We also had a team out here that changed the bowsers at the gas bar and changed the pumps inside the reservoir tanks. Two days later, our diesel pump gave up the ghost and we haven't sold diesel since.
Today I made the trip up to the Inuvik airport to pick up the guy that's supposed to be here for ten days. He's here to revamp the entire store, and to teach us how to run the joint. As long as his work is just as effective as the last two efforts, nothing could possibblie go wrong.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Happy Anniversary
I have tried, over the years, to do something romantic for our anniversary. I'm not sure exactly where this one will rank, but I'm sure that it won't be too high. Today I took Fran to Inuvik, where we did some shopping for fresh meat, and had lunch at KFC. The Northmart has a Pizza Hut/KFC in the store, but the selection is limited. You can't actually get any pieces of chicken at the KFC. You heard me, no chicken at KFC. You can get a big crunch or a classic sandwich, popcorn chicken, chicken fingers, and a twister (besides fries, gravy, and coleslaw). The Pizza Hut has only medium pizzas, which is good enough when all of the other topping options go with it. You can also get additional pizzas for eleven bucks, eleven bucks, eleven bucks (doesn't really have the same ring to it). We also stopped at the arctic foods (they have president's choice stuff), the CIBC, and noticed that they have a hair salon, a chinese restaurant, and a bar. We didn't actually accomplish much, didn't exactly have a romantic meal, and didn't buy each other any gifts. That's why I didn't imagine that this day would rank up there that high. The point was to get right out of town and forget about work for a day.
Not overly beneficial for me, since while we were gone the guy showed up to change our entire computer system for the store and the gas bar, and shortly after our arrival the team showed up to change the bowsers at the gas bar and change the pumps inside the fuel tanks. My electricians haven't shown up yet, and the tank changers can't do anything without them, and I haven't been able to track down a backhoe in town either, which will be necessary to level out the fuel tanks. As a result, the next few days will be pretty hectic, trying to get everything accomplished, while having little or no experience with any of it, in a strange town where I don't have a clue who to rely on for good information
Stay tuned.
Not overly beneficial for me, since while we were gone the guy showed up to change our entire computer system for the store and the gas bar, and shortly after our arrival the team showed up to change the bowsers at the gas bar and change the pumps inside the fuel tanks. My electricians haven't shown up yet, and the tank changers can't do anything without them, and I haven't been able to track down a backhoe in town either, which will be necessary to level out the fuel tanks. As a result, the next few days will be pretty hectic, trying to get everything accomplished, while having little or no experience with any of it, in a strange town where I don't have a clue who to rely on for good information
Stay tuned.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
With Night - Comes Rain
It really didn't rain at all for the first three weeks that we were up here. The soil is a very fine silt, that creates a dust that coats everything, and is very difficult to clean. Since the sun finally set, it has rained pretty well non-stop. The resulting mud really sticks together, builds up on your shoes while you walk (and on the dogs during their trips out), and is impossible to keep out of the store and hotel. Everything (including the dogs) is a terrible mess! Apparently the start of night, is the start of rainy season.
Lawrie got his first career double, and a grand slam last night. That kid is tearing it up! He's going to have to come down at some point, but he might as well enjoy the ride while it lasts.
I've got multiple contractors coming in over the next two weeks to do various jobs around the place, so there should be plenty of road-trips to Inuvik, and lots of new things to learn.
Stay tuned.
Lawrie got his first career double, and a grand slam last night. That kid is tearing it up! He's going to have to come down at some point, but he might as well enjoy the ride while it lasts.
I've got multiple contractors coming in over the next two weeks to do various jobs around the place, so there should be plenty of road-trips to Inuvik, and lots of new things to learn.
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Holy Zit - Thanks For The Leftovers
When I was little (I know, it's hard to imagine that someone born 11 lbs, 7 oz could ever have been called little), we weren't allowed to watch reruns of the 60s Batman classics, due to the fact the Robin said "Holy... whatever" too often. That was then. The two parts of the title are unrelated, so I'll get to the first. I'm certainly not complaining about the nice weather that we've been having, but our little window AC unit can't quite keep up, the humidity is surprisingly high for a place that never rains, I've spent two years where it's dry as a bone, and the result is quite a nasty little crop of pimples all over my forehead. It's way worse than when I was a teenager (and for those of you that knew me as a teenager, you know that it must be bad). Luckily for me, unlike when I was a teen, I have Fran (aka pimple popper MD) to help me out. If left to my own devices, I would massacre these things, and I would appear to be even more of a mess than I already do. Almost ready for the dry cold of winter to start kicking in. It does wonders for my complexion.
Point number two. On the days where it is my turn in the kitchen, it's never even close to be being as tasty as Fran's, but it's always a little bit more adventurous. When we moved into this place, there was two packages of wrapped elk in the freezer. One had two blade steaks, and the other was a cross rib roast. We have no idea how long they were there, or where they came from. So of course, it would be up to me to take the steaks out of the freezer to thaw for supper (with mixed results). It was a pretty bad cut, and had lots of gnurple, but the flavour was awesome. Way better than I expected. It gives me hope for the roast, that when properly slow-roasted (which will be up to Fran, of course), it will also be awesome. I have to admit that I enjoyed the elk much more than any of the caribou. Caribou is a pretty good ingredient to a one-dish meal, but not that great as the entree. Anyway, I'm told that this community has lots of generosity when it comes to sharing the local game when it's abundant. I'm looking forward to trying a few things that we may not have come across before, since this countryside seems quite different from anywhere we've been so far.
Stay tuned.
Point number two. On the days where it is my turn in the kitchen, it's never even close to be being as tasty as Fran's, but it's always a little bit more adventurous. When we moved into this place, there was two packages of wrapped elk in the freezer. One had two blade steaks, and the other was a cross rib roast. We have no idea how long they were there, or where they came from. So of course, it would be up to me to take the steaks out of the freezer to thaw for supper (with mixed results). It was a pretty bad cut, and had lots of gnurple, but the flavour was awesome. Way better than I expected. It gives me hope for the roast, that when properly slow-roasted (which will be up to Fran, of course), it will also be awesome. I have to admit that I enjoyed the elk much more than any of the caribou. Caribou is a pretty good ingredient to a one-dish meal, but not that great as the entree. Anyway, I'm told that this community has lots of generosity when it comes to sharing the local game when it's abundant. I'm looking forward to trying a few things that we may not have come across before, since this countryside seems quite different from anywhere we've been so far.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The End of a Loooooooong Day
I had been hearing rumours at the start of the week, that the sun might start to set by the end of the week. While I've yet to experience darkness for myself, I'm told that on Friday it did actually get dark for a few minutes around 1:30pm. Other than for a few days on our way through the south to get back up north, I haven't actually seen darkness since sometime around early to mid May. I look forward to seeing it again in about three weeks. Of course, when Christmas rolls around I'll be crying about how long it's been since I've seen the sun. We've got light blocking blinds and curtains, but not that it stops it from being light enough in the room to clearly see each other's faces at night. Not that I mind seeing Fran's face, but it would be nice to have a restful sleep in the dark.
The Blue Jays won again today, with the new kid Lawrie getting his first big-league homerun. He has hits in all three games that he's played, and most of his major league firsts have already been achieved. Way too early to tell what kind of player he's going to turn out to be, but he's sure off to an outstanding start.
Stay tuned.
The Blue Jays won again today, with the new kid Lawrie getting his first big-league homerun. He has hits in all three games that he's played, and most of his major league firsts have already been achieved. Way too early to tell what kind of player he's going to turn out to be, but he's sure off to an outstanding start.
Stay tuned.
Friday, August 5, 2011
D-Fence! Go-Blue-Go
After a shaky start, where the Eskimos marched down the field and scored easily, Bombers turned it over, Edmonton made it a ten point lead, and Winnipeg missed their first two easy field goals, the whole game turned around. The offense started coming on, and with a Buck Pierce 48 yard run, the Bombers took a short lived lead just before the half. The whole second half was all Bombers. The defense was stifling, the special teams were superb, and the offense did everything that they needed to do (including not turning the ball over). First place in the East, and tied for first overall (with the team that they just dominated). Things are looking good in Swaggerville.
Speaking of go blue go... the Blue Jays were also big winners tonight. The long awaited and highly anticipated debut of Brett Lawrie was a success. His first big league at bat was a RBI single (getting the first hit and the first RBI out of the way in a big hurry) and he got another hit in the eighth to go 2-for-4 with an RBI. He also picked up a defensive error, so pretty much every stat but the homerun got done on day one. Well worth the wait. Of course, that's only day one... but it sure would be nice to have an impact Canadian player, playing on the only Canadian team in the major leagues. With a closer and two starters, we could take a run at this thing next year.
Stay tuned.
Speaking of go blue go... the Blue Jays were also big winners tonight. The long awaited and highly anticipated debut of Brett Lawrie was a success. His first big league at bat was a RBI single (getting the first hit and the first RBI out of the way in a big hurry) and he got another hit in the eighth to go 2-for-4 with an RBI. He also picked up a defensive error, so pretty much every stat but the homerun got done on day one. Well worth the wait. Of course, that's only day one... but it sure would be nice to have an impact Canadian player, playing on the only Canadian team in the major leagues. With a closer and two starters, we could take a run at this thing next year.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
What A Holiday!
Yesterday, with only the gas bar being open, our gas bar girl actually showed up! She has only worked for us three days now, but she's not only been on time... but early all three days. Today was her fourth day, and she was early today too. The only problem is that she's visibly pregnant (not that being pregnant is a problem), it's just that we know that she will only be with us for a short time. Too bad.
Without working at the gas bar, I took the opportunity to do the floors at the store. Sweep, strip, rinse, sealer, and two coats of wax. Eight straight hours of mopping! My hands, neck, shoulders, and back are killing me, but the floor looks great. Today wasn't very busy, but those that did come in all had positive comments on the floor. That's pretty surprising, because most people only notice when something doesn't look good or right, and seem to pass right on by things that look like they should. Example: our bathroom door didn't have a knob when we moved in, we've lived with it like that for three weeks now. While it's not right and you notice every time you go to the bathroom, yesterday when I was mopping, Fran put a knob on the door. You'd think that after three weeks, I would have noticed the new knob right away when I got home and used the bathroom. Nope. You notice things that are off, not things that are normal. That's why I was so surprised that folks noticed the floors.
Not because folks noticed the floors, but completely unrelated... the overall intelligence of the staff and the community seems to be quite a bit higher here than what we're used to from our last two communities. The staff attendance is not much more reliable, but the employees that do show up, are more than capable of fulfilling their duties. They require very little supervising, and are a very pleasant surprise. Of course, that's just the first impression.
Stay tuned.
Without working at the gas bar, I took the opportunity to do the floors at the store. Sweep, strip, rinse, sealer, and two coats of wax. Eight straight hours of mopping! My hands, neck, shoulders, and back are killing me, but the floor looks great. Today wasn't very busy, but those that did come in all had positive comments on the floor. That's pretty surprising, because most people only notice when something doesn't look good or right, and seem to pass right on by things that look like they should. Example: our bathroom door didn't have a knob when we moved in, we've lived with it like that for three weeks now. While it's not right and you notice every time you go to the bathroom, yesterday when I was mopping, Fran put a knob on the door. You'd think that after three weeks, I would have noticed the new knob right away when I got home and used the bathroom. Nope. You notice things that are off, not things that are normal. That's why I was so surprised that folks noticed the floors.
Not because folks noticed the floors, but completely unrelated... the overall intelligence of the staff and the community seems to be quite a bit higher here than what we're used to from our last two communities. The staff attendance is not much more reliable, but the employees that do show up, are more than capable of fulfilling their duties. They require very little supervising, and are a very pleasant surprise. Of course, that's just the first impression.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Want A Job?
I needed one gas bar attendant for this morning, lined up two (speaking to them face-to-face), and got none. Big surprise! I actually did believe that one of them would show up, and got everything set up while wearing sweats and an undershirt. After waiting half an hour (because that's still on time in Gwich'in), calling both of them and getting none, here I am in the gas bar again. Yet, all of the customers are asking my why I'm not trying to be part of the community by showing up at the festival. Of course I have no trouble telling them that they all want me to be open, so they can still buy gas and smokes, but none of them show up for work. Not sure how I can be the only person counted on to open and run the place, and still find time to lounge around at the festival to show that I'm trying to be "part of the community".
I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining... I don't mind working the gas bar, and it's not like I wanted desperately to go to the festival anyway, it's just that it would be nice if there was even one person in town that seemed to have a grasp of what it takes to have some responsibility. And again, I shouldn't complain... I haven't seen one fight, I haven't had a single death threat (yet), the weather has been great, and I have access to fresh meat.
Tomorrow the store is closed and the gas bar is only open for five hours. I've lined up to different girls to work the shift together, I guess we'll have to see if at least one of them shows up.
Stay tuned.
I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining... I don't mind working the gas bar, and it's not like I wanted desperately to go to the festival anyway, it's just that it would be nice if there was even one person in town that seemed to have a grasp of what it takes to have some responsibility. And again, I shouldn't complain... I haven't seen one fight, I haven't had a single death threat (yet), the weather has been great, and I have access to fresh meat.
Tomorrow the store is closed and the gas bar is only open for five hours. I've lined up to different girls to work the shift together, I guess we'll have to see if at least one of them shows up.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
I've Got Gas
As expected, me, Fran, and Matt (my assistant manager) are the only ones that showed up for work today. Seeing as how so far I am the one that has learned the least in the store, I got relegated to the gas bar. I also knew that this is the place that would make us the most money today. Most people have all of their supplies for the big festival going on, but they still need gas to get back and forth. You can just imagine how much it takes to fill up a Chevy 3/4 ton and five jerry cans at $1.67/litre!
I should be fair though, we did get one cashier at the store, it's just that we're missing an office girl, another cashier, both stock-boys, and a gas bar attendant. On the upside, during the down-time between customers there is internet and cable TV in the gas bar. As a result, I have a chance to catch up on some emails, write this blog, and keep track of our Canadians in the Greenbrier Classic golf tournament. Although, I may have to put up our temporarily closed sign to go and take the dogs out at some point. They are actually right upstairs from where I'm currently sitting, so I can probably get that done in just a few minutes.
I'm just not that excited about the fact that the gas bar is open for 10 hours today, and I don't really expect the second shift girl to show up either. It could be a pretty long day stuck in this little shack! Some of my customers have already cut me off with my chatter, because they actually have places to go and people to see, while I'm just glad to have someone to talk to for a minute. Maybe I'll shut the gas bar down a couple of hours early.
Stay tuned.
I should be fair though, we did get one cashier at the store, it's just that we're missing an office girl, another cashier, both stock-boys, and a gas bar attendant. On the upside, during the down-time between customers there is internet and cable TV in the gas bar. As a result, I have a chance to catch up on some emails, write this blog, and keep track of our Canadians in the Greenbrier Classic golf tournament. Although, I may have to put up our temporarily closed sign to go and take the dogs out at some point. They are actually right upstairs from where I'm currently sitting, so I can probably get that done in just a few minutes.
I'm just not that excited about the fact that the gas bar is open for 10 hours today, and I don't really expect the second shift girl to show up either. It could be a pretty long day stuck in this little shack! Some of my customers have already cut me off with my chatter, because they actually have places to go and people to see, while I'm just glad to have someone to talk to for a minute. Maybe I'll shut the gas bar down a couple of hours early.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Time To Watch TV
It took several days to get it done, but we finally have some satellite TV to watch. It's in my contract that it's a conflict of interest to be selling cable TV, and putting a satellite dish on the hotel. I can see how it might look bad, but unless I was actually selling dishes in my free time, I don't see how it could be conflict of interest. Anyway, I asked the board here if they cared about me getting a dish, and they didn't care at all. We finally got all set up, so now I can finally watch a Blue Jay game.
After making a pretty big three team swap, we saw the debut of the key player of the deal tonight (it's hard to get used to the fact that their home games start at 5:00 up here). Rasmus didn't get anything done, going 0-5 with two strike-outs, but the Jays did go one game over .500 again.
In tribute to Richard Harris, the Bombers also managed to pull out a late win against BC to improve their record to 4-1. It only took five games to get as many wins as they did in an eighteen game season last year.
Tomorrow the big Midway festival kicks off. Let's see how many staff show up, and if the sales come anywhere close to all of the hype that we've heard so far.
Stay tuned.
After making a pretty big three team swap, we saw the debut of the key player of the deal tonight (it's hard to get used to the fact that their home games start at 5:00 up here). Rasmus didn't get anything done, going 0-5 with two strike-outs, but the Jays did go one game over .500 again.
In tribute to Richard Harris, the Bombers also managed to pull out a late win against BC to improve their record to 4-1. It only took five games to get as many wins as they did in an eighteen game season last year.
Tomorrow the big Midway festival kicks off. Let's see how many staff show up, and if the sales come anywhere close to all of the hype that we've heard so far.
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Off To The Pole
My Chinese tourists happened to show up at 12:30am. Then they weren't happy with the rooms, and two of them wanted to stay at the house across town with my assistant manager. Then they thought that they would threaten me with not coming back on Friday on their way back down. To their surprise, I was very glad to quickly grab the clip-board and erase their names for Friday. This is our biggest weekend of the year. I can easily put two strangers in the same room, charge them each full price for the room, and still have them be very happy to have a place to stay. The last thing that I need on this weekend is a bunch of snooty tourists on their way to the north pole, thinking that I need to cater to them.
Their vehicles had a bunch of Chinese writing on the door, and I would assume that the English that was below it, was a direct translation. Otherwise, that slogan needed some work. It read: "From driving car, culture observes Canada and the North Pole". They left a bunch of clothes and other items in their rooms, but I sure hope that they don't expect to come back. I put all of their stuff into garbage bags, and cancelled their reservations. Friday night - first come, first serve. Hope their cars are comfy for sleeping.
Not that you asked, but hilariously... I was getting more hits over the last six weeks when I wasn't writing, than I have for the last few days that I'm back.
Stay tuned.
Their vehicles had a bunch of Chinese writing on the door, and I would assume that the English that was below it, was a direct translation. Otherwise, that slogan needed some work. It read: "From driving car, culture observes Canada and the North Pole". They left a bunch of clothes and other items in their rooms, but I sure hope that they don't expect to come back. I put all of their stuff into garbage bags, and cancelled their reservations. Friday night - first come, first serve. Hope their cars are comfy for sleeping.
Not that you asked, but hilariously... I was getting more hits over the last six weeks when I wasn't writing, than I have for the last few days that I'm back.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Half-way To Midway
There's a small lake on the Dempster Highway, about half way between here and the Yukon border. Hence the name, Midway Lake.
Here's a shot of our spacious living/dining room. The door in the back, leads to a tiny balcony (just barely big enough to stand on and turn around), but it is nice to be able to step outside and check the weather out prior to going out. It's actually our fire exit, and has a fold-up ladder that we would have to hang off the balcony and climb down, in the event of a fire that's blocking our one real door.
All we've been hearing about since we got here was the big Midway event taking place on the August long weekend. We've increased orders, placed sales items, and rearranged our days off, knowing that none of our staff will show up for the weekend (since they'll all be at the event). Sales have already been picking up, but I'm just going to be glad when it's over.
There's supposed to be a big tour showing up here tonight, with eleven guests for the hotel. I already got some existing guests to share rooms, and one other guy to try to find other lodgings for the night, in order to make room. It's already nine thirty, and nobody has shown up yet. At least the ferry closes at eleven thirty, so that nobody can show up after midnight.
Stay tuned.
All we've been hearing about since we got here was the big Midway event taking place on the August long weekend. We've increased orders, placed sales items, and rearranged our days off, knowing that none of our staff will show up for the weekend (since they'll all be at the event). Sales have already been picking up, but I'm just going to be glad when it's over.
There's supposed to be a big tour showing up here tonight, with eleven guests for the hotel. I already got some existing guests to share rooms, and one other guy to try to find other lodgings for the night, in order to make room. It's already nine thirty, and nobody has shown up yet. At least the ferry closes at eleven thirty, so that nobody can show up after midnight.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Rock The Gas Bar
Are the Bombers for real? The 3-1 start looks pretty good on them, especially after only winning four games all of last season.
This is where we live. Just to the right off the picture would be the gas bar if we had wide angled it, and the open door in the front is the access to pay for the gas. The octagonal building was set up as a heritage centre, with the attached hotel sticking out of the back. The heritage centre was upstairs, with a restaurant and the gas bar downstairs. The heritage centre was only open for about three years, and with nobody coming, they closed it down. The restaurant has since closed down as well. Then we converted that upstairs into a spacious one bedroom apartment, that is fairly new, and most of the facilities modern. There's even a chair lift to get up the stairs. It doesn't work, and there are nineteen steps, so there are times that I look at the lift longingly, and wondering why I'm using my own legs like a sucker.
Anyway, I had been telling myself that I needed to get some experience in the gas bar one of these days, and sure enough, today nobody showed up to work. I knew that the Bomber game was going to be on TV in the afternoon, the gas bar isn't that busy, and there's a TV in there. I bought a satellite dish in Inuvik yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to set it up yet. As the cable supplier, I get my cable for free, but it's not very good channel selection. We do, however, get TSN. So, I got some much needed experience, while following the game. I was a little worried in the first half, but they really turned it around in the second half, and then found a way to close it out. That, of course, is the major difference from last year to this. Last year they played well enough to be close but behind, this year it's close but in front. Good teams find a way to win the close games.
Stay tuned.
Anyway, I had been telling myself that I needed to get some experience in the gas bar one of these days, and sure enough, today nobody showed up to work. I knew that the Bomber game was going to be on TV in the afternoon, the gas bar isn't that busy, and there's a TV in there. I bought a satellite dish in Inuvik yesterday, but I haven't had a chance to set it up yet. As the cable supplier, I get my cable for free, but it's not very good channel selection. We do, however, get TSN. So, I got some much needed experience, while following the game. I was a little worried in the first half, but they really turned it around in the second half, and then found a way to close it out. That, of course, is the major difference from last year to this. Last year they played well enough to be close but behind, this year it's close but in front. Good teams find a way to win the close games.
Stay tuned.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Fresh Meat
Today, I had a few things to get done, so I took my first trip to Inuvik along the Dempster Highway. Wikipedia states that the distance from Fort McPherson to Inuvik is 122Kms. Well, that must be by air, because the road signs and my odometer told me that it was more like 185Kms. And, it's not like you're going 100Km/hr and you're there in less than two hours. While some sections are OK, there is lots of washboard, traffic, and SO MUCH DUST!. Oh... and did I forget to mention the ferry?
The sides of the road are littered with these purple flowers. I'm not sure what they are, but they have a fairly strong scent, and grow everywhere.
The ferry can take as little as 10 minutes (if your timing is perfect), but if you got there just as the ferry is leaving, it will be at least 20 minutes. Guess what happened when I got there? Yes, the ferry was just pulling out. There's nothing you can do about it, since there really is no schedule. There is a small town a few hundred yards up the river that has no access to the highway, so the ferry goes from the highway to the town, over to the other side of the river, and then back. So, the ferry just keeps making it's three cornered stops all day long, and leaves as soon as it's loaded.
Inuvik was way bigger than I expected, and had a main street that was lined with stores. The Northmart was huge, and was very much like a Wallmart. Best of all... FRESH MEAT! I'm definitely going to be making some regular stops there, if for no other reason than to keep the freezer full of stuff that's actually edible. As if I wasn't having enough trouble keeping my weight down up here as it is, so now if I actually start enjoying my food, I could be in for a battle.
Stay tuned.
The ferry can take as little as 10 minutes (if your timing is perfect), but if you got there just as the ferry is leaving, it will be at least 20 minutes. Guess what happened when I got there? Yes, the ferry was just pulling out. There's nothing you can do about it, since there really is no schedule. There is a small town a few hundred yards up the river that has no access to the highway, so the ferry goes from the highway to the town, over to the other side of the river, and then back. So, the ferry just keeps making it's three cornered stops all day long, and leaves as soon as it's loaded.
Inuvik was way bigger than I expected, and had a main street that was lined with stores. The Northmart was huge, and was very much like a Wallmart. Best of all... FRESH MEAT! I'm definitely going to be making some regular stops there, if for no other reason than to keep the freezer full of stuff that's actually edible. As if I wasn't having enough trouble keeping my weight down up here as it is, so now if I actually start enjoying my food, I could be in for a battle.
Stay tuned.
Welcome Back
So, what's new? Ya, not much new here either. Since the last blog, we quit, got new jobs, and moved 4,000 Kms across the country. You know... same old same old.
We moved to Fort McPherson, North West Territories. It's well above the arctic circle, pretty far north, and right close to the Yukon. This mountain is actually in the Yukon. We went for a short drive south along the Dempster Highway, where we're just 85 Kms from the border. There's a ferry across the mighty Mackenzie River if you're coming down from Inuvik, and another ferry across the Peel River if you're heading towards Dawson City. And if you're catching that... yes, you can drive here. You take the Yukon Highway north west from Edmonton until you get to Dawson City, then turn back north east on the Dempster Highway towards Inuvik. 122 Kms before you get to the end of the highway, there's Fort McPherson. There are about 800 people, with forests all the way around, and the Richardson Mountains (sort of the northern extension of the Rockies) to the west.
As an aside - did you know that by volume, the Mackenzie River is the third largest river in the world? It's true - Amazon, Nile, Mackenzie. It's also the longest river in Canada, and the second longest river in North America. Pretty good for our little northern creek that nobody ever goes to check out.
Now I can proudly say that we've been to Nunavik, Nunavut, North West Territories, and Yukon (one of those isn't even an official territory yet, but it will be). We're only missing Newfoundland and Labrador to complete the set of every province and territory.
There's more...
Stay tuned.
As an aside - did you know that by volume, the Mackenzie River is the third largest river in the world? It's true - Amazon, Nile, Mackenzie. It's also the longest river in Canada, and the second longest river in North America. Pretty good for our little northern creek that nobody ever goes to check out.
Now I can proudly say that we've been to Nunavik, Nunavut, North West Territories, and Yukon (one of those isn't even an official territory yet, but it will be). We're only missing Newfoundland and Labrador to complete the set of every province and territory.
There's more...
Stay tuned.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Good To Be Back
After a week in Winnipeg, and sitting through countless hours of regional planning meetings, it's good to be back home. When you're used to spending 24/7 with your best friend, spending a week with virtual strangers isn't my version of a good time.
There's a three hour store tour coming in on Wednesday, and I've got a ton of things to get into shape before they arrive. There's always stuff that head office tells me to do, that I just filter out and only complete what I see as a benefit to my store. It's easy enough to do when they're thousands of miles away, but now that they're coming out for only the second time in two years, I've got to quickly bust my butt to complete as much as possible. I need to at least make it "look" like I'm following orders.
Same old same old. It's Sunday morning, we didn't get any freight yesterday, and there's three twin otters scheduled to bring us various freight from around the countryside. Of course they spread them out perfectly to kill at least six hours (if they're actually on time). I guess that I should be happy that the dead time between he cargo flights will force me to be at the store on my day off and get a head start on all of the crap that needs to be completed prior to the early Wednesday tour.
That's it for today. Big Sharks game tonight.
Stay tuned.
There's a three hour store tour coming in on Wednesday, and I've got a ton of things to get into shape before they arrive. There's always stuff that head office tells me to do, that I just filter out and only complete what I see as a benefit to my store. It's easy enough to do when they're thousands of miles away, but now that they're coming out for only the second time in two years, I've got to quickly bust my butt to complete as much as possible. I need to at least make it "look" like I'm following orders.
Same old same old. It's Sunday morning, we didn't get any freight yesterday, and there's three twin otters scheduled to bring us various freight from around the countryside. Of course they spread them out perfectly to kill at least six hours (if they're actually on time). I guess that I should be happy that the dead time between he cargo flights will force me to be at the store on my day off and get a head start on all of the crap that needs to be completed prior to the early Wednesday tour.
That's it for today. Big Sharks game tonight.
Stay tuned.
Friday, May 6, 2011
NDP Rookie MPs
I fully realize that all MPs were rookies as some point. But a cabinet chock full of rookies all at once? I also know that there are some veterans sprinkled in there, but can they really be up to the challenge of being the official opposition? A 19 year old, a cocktail waitress that spent a week's worth of the campaign in Las Vegas because she believed that she had no hope of winning, and a couple of students. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the only party capable of stopping the Conservatives from running roughshod through any bills or budgets that they feel like. I sure hope that Jack Layton knows that he's playing way over his head, rather than thinking that this is just a building block to something much bigger and better.
I've been invited back to Winnipeg for some planning sessions next week, so it's not likely that there will be any blogs from the "Peg". This is actually a meeting for some of the folks in much higher positions, so it is at least slightly humbling that I am one of only three store managers out of 140 that have been invited to take part. Of course the down-side is having to leave Fran behind to deal with the northern insanity by herself. Buddy will cry.
That should be the last of the political rants for the next short term, but there are two more series that could be done in the playoffs tonight, and I haven't really spoken about hockey for a while. That should change tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
I've been invited back to Winnipeg for some planning sessions next week, so it's not likely that there will be any blogs from the "Peg". This is actually a meeting for some of the folks in much higher positions, so it is at least slightly humbling that I am one of only three store managers out of 140 that have been invited to take part. Of course the down-side is having to leave Fran behind to deal with the northern insanity by herself. Buddy will cry.
That should be the last of the political rants for the next short term, but there are two more series that could be done in the playoffs tonight, and I haven't really spoken about hockey for a while. That should change tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Conrad Black Has An Opinion?
Not that's it great to be back in Salluit, but it is good to be back to a regular routine. The wind is currently gusting well over 100Km/hour (I'm surprised that we still have power), the windchill is less than -20, the house is shaking, and the dogs refuse to go outside (I don't blame them). Environment Canada states that our sunrise is at 4:30am and the sunset is at 9:30pm, but that's taking into consideration the fact that we're between mountains and those times are for when we can't actually see the sun. In reality, when I take the dogs out before bed at 11pm there is still light in the sky behind the mountains, and I don't care to know when the sky starts getting light in the morning.
Long before the polls closed on Monday, Conrad Black (no relation... I get asked all the time) made a few comments that I found very interesting. His first comment was that it was a good thing that we might now be down to a two party system again (the way it's supposed to be). That's of course assuming that the Liberals and the NDP will merge, or one of them become non-existent. As an aside - when I was taking political science in university, my professor always mentioned the pointlessness of the Liberal party and that he couldn't understand how they ever come into power. Our political system is basically founded on the idea of having a left-wing and a right-wing party, and generally the balance of power would swing back and forth creating some middle ground. The Liberals really are just middle ground, so it seems kind of odd.
The other comment he made was that since the NDP (left-wing side of the pendulum) party has been traditionally Anglo, and the majority of their seats are now Franco, this could drastically change the dynamics of the whole foundation of the party. My question becomes - if the foundation is built on catering to Anglos, but they'll be forced to cater Francos (the majority of their voters), will that make them more left-wing (and therefore less likely to merge with the Liberals), or closer to centre (which would make a merger seem more attractive)? Very interesting.
Stay tuned.
Long before the polls closed on Monday, Conrad Black (no relation... I get asked all the time) made a few comments that I found very interesting. His first comment was that it was a good thing that we might now be down to a two party system again (the way it's supposed to be). That's of course assuming that the Liberals and the NDP will merge, or one of them become non-existent. As an aside - when I was taking political science in university, my professor always mentioned the pointlessness of the Liberal party and that he couldn't understand how they ever come into power. Our political system is basically founded on the idea of having a left-wing and a right-wing party, and generally the balance of power would swing back and forth creating some middle ground. The Liberals really are just middle ground, so it seems kind of odd.
The other comment he made was that since the NDP (left-wing side of the pendulum) party has been traditionally Anglo, and the majority of their seats are now Franco, this could drastically change the dynamics of the whole foundation of the party. My question becomes - if the foundation is built on catering to Anglos, but they'll be forced to cater Francos (the majority of their voters), will that make them more left-wing (and therefore less likely to merge with the Liberals), or closer to centre (which would make a merger seem more attractive)? Very interesting.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Majority Government!
Boy... did I ever blow the call on that one? Talk about your all-time backfires on the idiots that decided to have a non-confidence vote! Hopefully we get to coast through the next four and a half years without any more election talk.
I noticed that on the Business News Network yesterday, the statement was made that internationally it is considered that there really is no difference between any of the Canadian parties, and therefore the world markets were not affected by the election in Canada. Doesn't that sound eerily familiar to what I had just said the other day?
Off the topic, but not really. Did you pay attention to the last NDP commercial over the last few days, (the one where he said I will not stop until the job is done)? He's saying each syllable separately and pointing his finger at the end of each one. Am I the only one that thought it looked suspiciously familiar, like another short politician with a little mustache? Not that I'm making any comparison. I have also been to a leadership communication course in University where the professor freely admitted that most leadership speaking styles are intended to imitate Hitler, since he was one of the most convincing public speakers of all time.
There's plenty more wild political accusations to come.
Stay tuned.
I noticed that on the Business News Network yesterday, the statement was made that internationally it is considered that there really is no difference between any of the Canadian parties, and therefore the world markets were not affected by the election in Canada. Doesn't that sound eerily familiar to what I had just said the other day?
Off the topic, but not really. Did you pay attention to the last NDP commercial over the last few days, (the one where he said I will not stop until the job is done)? He's saying each syllable separately and pointing his finger at the end of each one. Am I the only one that thought it looked suspiciously familiar, like another short politician with a little mustache? Not that I'm making any comparison. I have also been to a leadership communication course in University where the professor freely admitted that most leadership speaking styles are intended to imitate Hitler, since he was one of the most convincing public speakers of all time.
There's plenty more wild political accusations to come.
Stay tuned.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Osama Down - Obama To Go
I was obviously going to talk about the election tonight, but nobody even gets to start talking about results until 10pm our time, and I'll be long asleep before things get finalized. Especially since last night's wind storm kept us up most of the night. The house was shaking, our locked bedroom window popped open anyway, and the power went out several times. I've got a flat of plywood beside my house, but there's only a strap on one end of the load. The wind actually lifted up the first two sheets, ripped them off at the metal strapping, and blew the 6x4 foot sheets several blocks down the street!
So that brings me to Osama. Does everyone actually believe the stories to be true? Somehow, this sounds suspiciously like the "one giant leap for mankind" hoax that so many fell for in the sixties. For ten years, there's no sightings, or even half-decent intelligence to say that they're anywhere close to tracking him down. Suddenly, one day they just find him, kill him, and dump his body in the ocean. Nice and tidy. Seems to me like some desperate "straw grasping" by a President who's only noteworthy event so far is a multi-billion dollar bailout that went mostly to the back pockets of fatcat executives who undeservedly got to keep their highly paying jobs, while those that needed the bailout lined up at the soup kitchens. I guess Obama's got to do something to prevent getting labeled as a "democratic single-termed Jimmy Carter".
Election results tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
So that brings me to Osama. Does everyone actually believe the stories to be true? Somehow, this sounds suspiciously like the "one giant leap for mankind" hoax that so many fell for in the sixties. For ten years, there's no sightings, or even half-decent intelligence to say that they're anywhere close to tracking him down. Suddenly, one day they just find him, kill him, and dump his body in the ocean. Nice and tidy. Seems to me like some desperate "straw grasping" by a President who's only noteworthy event so far is a multi-billion dollar bailout that went mostly to the back pockets of fatcat executives who undeservedly got to keep their highly paying jobs, while those that needed the bailout lined up at the soup kitchens. I guess Obama's got to do something to prevent getting labeled as a "democratic single-termed Jimmy Carter".
Election results tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Election Eve
Not surprisingly, on the last day before a pretty large federal election... I'm really not that concerned.
The second round of the NHL playoffs are underway, and Steinbach product Ian White is looking like a well seasoned playoff veteran (despite this being his first ever taste of the post-season). Among defensemen, he's second in assists, second in points, second in +/-, 5th in power-play goals, 10th in goals, and 10th in shots. That's together with the fact that several of the guys ahead of him have already been eliminated from the playoffs. Way to go Ian!
MLB is now into their second month of the season, and the Blue Jays are about normal where they usually are (13-15). Jose Bautista is leading the league in several categories, including: batting average, homeruns, runs scored, walks, OBP, slugging percentage, and slugging plus OBP (a stat that has been gaining in popularity in the last few seasons).
April and October are the best two months in sports, which seems to take priority in my mind over this election. So the polls are suggesting that the NDP might take a significant amount a seats away from the Bloc in Quebec, and could end up as the official opposition for the first time in history. This doesn't take away from the fact that the Conservatives will win another minority government. My biggest problem with the whole thing, is that none of the parties are sticking to their traditional platforms. With everyone just trying to be popular (instead of actually standing for something), all the platforms start to look the same. The next problem, is that ever since the Reform party broke onto the scene and were quickly followed by the Bloc, it's virtually impossible to win a majority. Constant minority governments just result in continued crappy bickering, totally unwarranted non-confidence votes, and millions being spent on an election that will possibly change the official opposition, but obviously very little else.
Not that I'll let that stop me from watching the election results tomorrow (during hockey commercials).
Stay tuned.
The second round of the NHL playoffs are underway, and Steinbach product Ian White is looking like a well seasoned playoff veteran (despite this being his first ever taste of the post-season). Among defensemen, he's second in assists, second in points, second in +/-, 5th in power-play goals, 10th in goals, and 10th in shots. That's together with the fact that several of the guys ahead of him have already been eliminated from the playoffs. Way to go Ian!
MLB is now into their second month of the season, and the Blue Jays are about normal where they usually are (13-15). Jose Bautista is leading the league in several categories, including: batting average, homeruns, runs scored, walks, OBP, slugging percentage, and slugging plus OBP (a stat that has been gaining in popularity in the last few seasons).
April and October are the best two months in sports, which seems to take priority in my mind over this election. So the polls are suggesting that the NDP might take a significant amount a seats away from the Bloc in Quebec, and could end up as the official opposition for the first time in history. This doesn't take away from the fact that the Conservatives will win another minority government. My biggest problem with the whole thing, is that none of the parties are sticking to their traditional platforms. With everyone just trying to be popular (instead of actually standing for something), all the platforms start to look the same. The next problem, is that ever since the Reform party broke onto the scene and were quickly followed by the Bloc, it's virtually impossible to win a majority. Constant minority governments just result in continued crappy bickering, totally unwarranted non-confidence votes, and millions being spent on an election that will possibly change the official opposition, but obviously very little else.
Not that I'll let that stop me from watching the election results tomorrow (during hockey commercials).
Stay tuned.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Good To Be Home
After 30 days, 16 flights, and sleeps in several different beds... we're finally home. It seems a little odd to be calling Salluit, Quebec home... but for now it's as close as it gets. I'm only going to be here for a week before heading back to Winnipeg for some planning meetings, and there's no telling what the future has in store for us after that. That being said... I'm pretty sure that there should be some changes coming soon. I haven't really had a chance to sit down and consider what I want to say about our vacation or our future, so for now I'll just make everyone aware that we made it back safe and sound.
Stay tuned.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
One Last Mexican Blog
Today's our departure. We made one last trip to the beach, took some pictures, and had our last meal here at the resort. Now we're finishing the last of the packing, and preparing for a long day of airports and jets. You hate to leave, but while not wanting to admit it, it already feels like it's time to head home. As nice as a vacation is, and you always say that you wish it never ended, the truth is that you need to go home eventually and return to some sort of structure. I believe that us humans need that sort of thing.
Hopefully all goes well.
Stay tuned.
Hopefully all goes well.
Stay tuned.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Not As Planned
Our last day in Mexico didn't go completely as planned. The tour guide and the tour operator obviously got their wires crossed, because we waited patiently at the lobby shown on our ticket while the tour guide went to another lobby, got tired of waiting for us, and took off. On the upside, we got our money back, and got to spend most of our last day on the beach.
Our maid is always fairly creative with the folded towels that she leaves, but this one was the best.
We spent the afternoon/evening in Playa del Carmen, doing the local shopping thing. One more thing to put onto our list of things to never do again. Too many people, too much haggling, too pushy, too hot, and too much pure crap for sale!
Tomorrow... maybe a quick stop at the beach, and then the long flight back home (or some semblance thereof).
Stay tuned.
We spent the afternoon/evening in Playa del Carmen, doing the local shopping thing. One more thing to put onto our list of things to never do again. Too many people, too much haggling, too pushy, too hot, and too much pure crap for sale!
Tomorrow... maybe a quick stop at the beach, and then the long flight back home (or some semblance thereof).
Stay tuned.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Day of Rest
Today we didn't accomplish much (except for what you're supposed to do on vacation). Tomorrow is booked with an ATV tour, and some shopping in Playa del Carmen. The day after that we leave, so we knew that this was our last day to do precious little. And we did.
This is a shot of the Coba ruins that we climbed on Tuesday. Going up was not too bad (if you didn't look back), but going down seemed horrifying to someone who hates heights. Below, is a shot down from the top.
I still remember being half way up a small rock hill by Flintabbatey Flonatin (statue in Flin Flon) on a grade five student exchange program, realizing that I'd have to get back down, and peeing my pants. Way too old to be wetting yourself on a small hill with all of your friends around! I was thinking about that the whole time that we were catching our breath on the top of the stairs, contemplating the trip down. But... we slid down step-by-step, on our bums, and made it out alive.
Tomorrow should be full of adventure.
Stay tuned.
Tomorrow should be full of adventure.
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
One Day of Fun
Today we went to an amusement park of sorts. We started off the day with some zip-lining. 2.4 miles with 14 lines! Awesome. The scariest part for Fran was a couple of suspension bridges that were between the towers. Then we drove a slow side-by-side around a trail, and went on several little trips through some caves on rafts, or just swimming. The meal was good, and the day was full.
Today the internet allows me to add a picture, so I thought I'd go straight to the important stuff in case it stops working again tomorrow. What could be more important during a sunny vacation than enjoying a local cigar and a cold beer while relaxing by the ocean?
If it works again tomorrow, I'll throw in a shot of the ruins that we climbed.
Stay tuned.
If it works again tomorrow, I'll throw in a shot of the ruins that we climbed.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Coba Ruins
Today we were at the Mayan Ruins of Coba. I also got an internet cable, so that everything actually works in our room. Sadly, with these hectic days of seeing the sights, relaxing in our room and spending some time on the computer is about as relaxing as we want to get. The night life days are just a little bit behind us.
This crazy Mexican internet still doesn't allow me to add any pictures, but at least when we get back, I'll be able to keep reliving the adventure while going back to the photo archives and show you all the places that we visited. I'll still try to cover some of it in words for now. First we paddled in a canoe, did a small hike, and then zip-lined over the water, and paddled back. I got the impression that this only served the purpose of being able to say that this adventure included a zip-line. Then we got blessed by a Shaman prior to entering a cenote (sink-hole filled with water). Apparently you have to get blessed first because the sinotte is part of the underworld, where the Mayan wouldn't enter. You had to repell in, the water was freezing, there were visible bats on the ceiling, and there were almost 200 skeletons in the water (that you could see) and that we weren't told about until we got in there and he shone his flashlight down.
Then we went to the actual ruins. The ruins at Coba are the oldest, and cover the most square miles. They are only the second highest, but it is the only one left that you can still climb. I didn't think that Fran and I would actually do it (since both of us don't enjoy heights that much), but we scaled it and then slid down on or bums. It was too hot, took too long, but had to be done. You still have to absorb some of the culture, instead of spending the whole time playing.
Tomorrow will be nothing but a fun day.
Stay tuned.
This crazy Mexican internet still doesn't allow me to add any pictures, but at least when we get back, I'll be able to keep reliving the adventure while going back to the photo archives and show you all the places that we visited. I'll still try to cover some of it in words for now. First we paddled in a canoe, did a small hike, and then zip-lined over the water, and paddled back. I got the impression that this only served the purpose of being able to say that this adventure included a zip-line. Then we got blessed by a Shaman prior to entering a cenote (sink-hole filled with water). Apparently you have to get blessed first because the sinotte is part of the underworld, where the Mayan wouldn't enter. You had to repell in, the water was freezing, there were visible bats on the ceiling, and there were almost 200 skeletons in the water (that you could see) and that we weren't told about until we got in there and he shone his flashlight down.
Then we went to the actual ruins. The ruins at Coba are the oldest, and cover the most square miles. They are only the second highest, but it is the only one left that you can still climb. I didn't think that Fran and I would actually do it (since both of us don't enjoy heights that much), but we scaled it and then slid down on or bums. It was too hot, took too long, but had to be done. You still have to absorb some of the culture, instead of spending the whole time playing.
Tomorrow will be nothing but a fun day.
Stay tuned.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Mexico is Awesome!
5 star treatment is even better! I had asked for some bells and whistles, but I never expected this! We have a reserved area at the beach, our own waitress there (so that we never have to run for our own beer), and our own butler at the hotel (so that we don't have to run for our own anything).
They claim that there's internet in our room, but three days of trying has come up with nothing. There happens to be one spot in the lobby where I can connect with the hotel's system, but the connection is still terrible. I've tried to put up a picture, but the system is too weak. I can't get onto my email either, I thought that this would be easier. At least I can do some straight print, to let everyone know that we arrived safely, and are having an awesome time. So far we have just been enjoying the beach, and our lovely secluded cabana, but tomorrow we are going to the ruins of Coba where we will get blessed by a Shaman, before dropping down into an underground river, and zip-lining into a lake. Should be great! In case I can't get on to the web tomorrow, Wednesday should include a whole day of zip-lining through the jungle in a brand new amusement park. I'll take some pictures, and hopefully I can get one of them in.
The food is terrible, but I expected that. Since everything else has been better than expected, I'll try not to complain.
Stay tuned.
They claim that there's internet in our room, but three days of trying has come up with nothing. There happens to be one spot in the lobby where I can connect with the hotel's system, but the connection is still terrible. I've tried to put up a picture, but the system is too weak. I can't get onto my email either, I thought that this would be easier. At least I can do some straight print, to let everyone know that we arrived safely, and are having an awesome time. So far we have just been enjoying the beach, and our lovely secluded cabana, but tomorrow we are going to the ruins of Coba where we will get blessed by a Shaman, before dropping down into an underground river, and zip-lining into a lake. Should be great! In case I can't get on to the web tomorrow, Wednesday should include a whole day of zip-lining through the jungle in a brand new amusement park. I'll take some pictures, and hopefully I can get one of them in.
The food is terrible, but I expected that. Since everything else has been better than expected, I'll try not to complain.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
One Night in the Peg
Our flight to Mexico leaves at 7am, we have to be at the airport at 5:30, which means that we would have to get up around 3:45 and have somebody give us a ride pretty early in the morning, or drive ourselves and pay over $100 to store our car at the airport. As a result, we felt that the best idea was to get a ride to the airport a day early, and stay at the hotel right across the street. That way we can get up at 5am, and walk across the street straight into the airport. Then it's just a few short hours until arriving in Mexico! Fran is pretty excited. Everything should be awesome.
Stay tuned for Mexico.
Stay tuned for Mexico.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Back in Steinbach
We actually did make it back to Steinbach several days ago, but we are staying at a place that doesn't have an internet connection, so communication is limited. I'm at my parent's place right now, and they have just recently signed up for the internet, so I thought I might as well try to catch up on some of the basics before it starts being too long between blogs, and I start forgetting what has already been said, without missing too many of the important details.
All of the flights were good, and Rory picked us up from the airport. It took us a couple of days to touch base with most everyone, but we got it done. This is the first day that hasn't actually been hectically planned. We've been to the dentist, the vet, the doctor, clothes shopping (apparently we don't sell many Mexico appropriate clothes in the arctic), liscensing the car so that we can get around, and liscensing Fran so that she can drive herself around. She's catching up with her sister right now, so that gives me a chance to head on over to my parent's to catch up on emails, baseball's season openers, and the last week of hockey's regular season (Fran's parents don't have a single sports chanel). This lack of sports seems traumatic, but I'll get by.
It's only two more days until we start making our way towards our southern destination, which I'm sure will be fantastic. In the mean time I signed up for a temporary pass at the gym (all these welcoming meals, with precious little excercise are catching up to my waistline very quickly). We've also been spending some time in the tanning beds. My Mom had some extra minutes left over from her last trip to Mexico, and we have been taking full advantage. I realize that one week of tanning beds will not really prepare us for the equatorial sun, but at least our skin won't be virgin white.
Anyway, that's probably it for now, and the next one will probably be from Mexico. I'll try to make sure that I post some pictures.
Stay tuned.
All of the flights were good, and Rory picked us up from the airport. It took us a couple of days to touch base with most everyone, but we got it done. This is the first day that hasn't actually been hectically planned. We've been to the dentist, the vet, the doctor, clothes shopping (apparently we don't sell many Mexico appropriate clothes in the arctic), liscensing the car so that we can get around, and liscensing Fran so that she can drive herself around. She's catching up with her sister right now, so that gives me a chance to head on over to my parent's to catch up on emails, baseball's season openers, and the last week of hockey's regular season (Fran's parents don't have a single sports chanel). This lack of sports seems traumatic, but I'll get by.
It's only two more days until we start making our way towards our southern destination, which I'm sure will be fantastic. In the mean time I signed up for a temporary pass at the gym (all these welcoming meals, with precious little excercise are catching up to my waistline very quickly). We've also been spending some time in the tanning beds. My Mom had some extra minutes left over from her last trip to Mexico, and we have been taking full advantage. I realize that one week of tanning beds will not really prepare us for the equatorial sun, but at least our skin won't be virgin white.
Anyway, that's probably it for now, and the next one will probably be from Mexico. I'll try to make sure that I post some pictures.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Vive la Montreal III
It seems as though I have to write something every time that I'm in Montreal for the night. After seven different flights, and nine hours in an airport or in a plane, we made it to Montreal. It seems to me that the dogs do a little better every time that we fly with them. They're getting to be pretty well travelled. We're staying in the same hotel that I stayed at in February when I was passing through, so at least there seems to be a little bit of familiarity. One more flight out to Winnipeg tomorrow, and it's home sweet home. Of course I say that a little sarcastically, since we don't have a home there, and will have to count on people to put us up in there spare rooms. At least the area will feel like home, we'll know everyone that we visit with, and we won't have to be putting up with customer demands. That last part is really the only vacation that I need, but some time away from the store will be nice. Gorgeous weather really helped us out today, and I'm pretty sure that nobody really worries too much about the weather when travelling between Montreal and Winnipeg.
Stay tuned.
Stay tuned.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Smoking in Nunavut
It was a gorgeous afternoon, the sun was shining, and it was our last day prior to heading down south. There's no way to know how many chances I'll have when we get back, to go out onto the frozen ocean and check out the surroundings.
Interestingly, Quebec only lays claim to the mainland. Any of the islands off of the coast belong to Nunavut. With that being the case, when the ocean is frozen I can get to Nunavut via the quad in about 15 minutes. I had seen the nearest island several times on my adventures with Rory, but it is on the other side of the inlet. Over the ocean, it's no problem at all. I knew that I didn't have a lot of time, so I just cruised up there, had a smoke on the island, took a picture, and headed on back.
The island has a small fishing/hunting village (I say village, but that's just a term I use when there are more than two shacks together in one spot), very much like there are dotting the entire coastline. Behind one of the shacks, and standing perfectly still (so as not to be noticed), was this massive arctic hare. I was told that there had been a caribou sighting only moments before, but I couldn't find it from the view from a nearby high point.
So, an early start tomorrow, and we're off to Montreal (weather permitting). The weather right now is awesome, and the forecast looks pretty good as well. We should be fine.
Stay tuned.
The island has a small fishing/hunting village (I say village, but that's just a term I use when there are more than two shacks together in one spot), very much like there are dotting the entire coastline. Behind one of the shacks, and standing perfectly still (so as not to be noticed), was this massive arctic hare. I was told that there had been a caribou sighting only moments before, but I couldn't find it from the view from a nearby high point.
So, an early start tomorrow, and we're off to Montreal (weather permitting). The weather right now is awesome, and the forecast looks pretty good as well. We should be fine.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Spoke Too Soon
Obviously I spoke too soon, and should have kept my mouth shut. At 1:30 this afternoon we got 250 pieces of freight, which totally split up and killed the afternoon. Not was all lost though, since I still managed to get my packing done, and get as ready in advance as I could for our early Tuesday flight out.
Relax this evening, one last day of work tomorrow, and then head out with the mail in 36 hours. Can't wait!
Stay tuned.
Relax this evening, one last day of work tomorrow, and then head out with the mail in 36 hours. Can't wait!
Stay tuned.
No Scheduled Cargo?
Of course the day is still young, but so far it looks like there isn't any scheduled cargo. I may not have to do anything more than the regularly scheduled cleaning, packing my bags for the upcoming voyage, and finishing off my list of items that will need to be purchased while down south.
Creating the shopping list isn't as easy as it might sound. You have one shopping experience where you need to buy a full years supply of some of the essentials that we can't get up here. Simple things like socks and underwear. It's not that we don't sell them, but the warehouse sends us what they send us. If they only send XL tidy whiteys, that's all you get. If that's not you underwear of choice, you're out of luck. The only real benefit that we have, is that this will be our second go round. Hopefully we will be able to learn from our mistakes. I still have at least a years worth remaining from some of the stuff we bought last year, and some of our last year's purchases lasted 2-3 months. When you don't write is down and do some calculations the usage amounts of some other simple items (like anti-perspirant) go way out the window.
Oh well, I'm crossing my fingers that I don't see any planes today, and maybe we won't be interrupted. It's only minus 13 with a wind chill of -21, so maybe if we get everything done in a timely manner we'll be able to go for one last quad ride before we leave. With it now being 47, the countdown has switched from days to hours. Bring on the sun!
Stay tuned.
Creating the shopping list isn't as easy as it might sound. You have one shopping experience where you need to buy a full years supply of some of the essentials that we can't get up here. Simple things like socks and underwear. It's not that we don't sell them, but the warehouse sends us what they send us. If they only send XL tidy whiteys, that's all you get. If that's not you underwear of choice, you're out of luck. The only real benefit that we have, is that this will be our second go round. Hopefully we will be able to learn from our mistakes. I still have at least a years worth remaining from some of the stuff we bought last year, and some of our last year's purchases lasted 2-3 months. When you don't write is down and do some calculations the usage amounts of some other simple items (like anti-perspirant) go way out the window.
Oh well, I'm crossing my fingers that I don't see any planes today, and maybe we won't be interrupted. It's only minus 13 with a wind chill of -21, so maybe if we get everything done in a timely manner we'll be able to go for one last quad ride before we leave. With it now being 47, the countdown has switched from days to hours. Bring on the sun!
Stay tuned.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Current Government Toppled
What are they thinking? I'm not a Conservative, and I have no political affiliation. As such, I consider myself to be more of an innocent bystander, likely to get hit by the shrapnel caused by this silly little battle, that will likely have the opposition parties standing back at the end of the day saying - talk about your all time backfires.
These jokers had already decided in advance that they were going to have a non-confidence vote based on the budget, days before there even was a budget. What a farce! Is there actually a single one of the opposition parties that thinks they are going to have more seats after this election than they had before? I think of the Prime Minister in the same way that you view a hockey ref or an umpire - the best compliment on the way that you did your job is not having anybody talking about you after the game. If nobody noticed you, you did a good job. We finally have a Prime Minister that isn't constantly drawing fire from inside and outside of the country. If nobody's complaining, he can't be that bad. Isn't "not that bad" about the best that we can hope for? We've had some terrible ones in the past, that we've all complained bitterly about. This might just be one of the few times that I will agree with the old "don't fix what ain't broke" theory. My early call on this election is that the Conservatives will win more seats than they had before, and just enough to give them a majority government. I can easily see some folks voting against their normal allegiances, just to see Harper get his majority, and stop this silly pissing contest among the opposition.
And another thing, you may have noticed that I'm not big on Americans, or anything American. But, I can see some definite benefits in the fact that they have a set election day. Like it or not, that's the end of that particular regime, and it's time for an election. Plain and simple. I like it. None of this non-confidence crap, that is dripping of collusion, doesn't have anything to do with the latest budget, and has no purpose other than sending us to the polls when there is no need.
Smarten up, you silly opposition idiots!
These jokers had already decided in advance that they were going to have a non-confidence vote based on the budget, days before there even was a budget. What a farce! Is there actually a single one of the opposition parties that thinks they are going to have more seats after this election than they had before? I think of the Prime Minister in the same way that you view a hockey ref or an umpire - the best compliment on the way that you did your job is not having anybody talking about you after the game. If nobody noticed you, you did a good job. We finally have a Prime Minister that isn't constantly drawing fire from inside and outside of the country. If nobody's complaining, he can't be that bad. Isn't "not that bad" about the best that we can hope for? We've had some terrible ones in the past, that we've all complained bitterly about. This might just be one of the few times that I will agree with the old "don't fix what ain't broke" theory. My early call on this election is that the Conservatives will win more seats than they had before, and just enough to give them a majority government. I can easily see some folks voting against their normal allegiances, just to see Harper get his majority, and stop this silly pissing contest among the opposition.
And another thing, you may have noticed that I'm not big on Americans, or anything American. But, I can see some definite benefits in the fact that they have a set election day. Like it or not, that's the end of that particular regime, and it's time for an election. Plain and simple. I like it. None of this non-confidence crap, that is dripping of collusion, doesn't have anything to do with the latest budget, and has no purpose other than sending us to the polls when there is no need.
Smarten up, you silly opposition idiots!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Can't We All Just Get Along?
You know, I was thinking about it this morning while I was mopping, and I had to ask myself what the point of arguments are. I could only come to one conclusion. Arguments are for the sole purpose of infuriating the person that we are arguing with.
The weather isn't nice very often, but when it is (like the first day of spring), this is also a typical Salluit scene. We could have gotten a little closer to the action for a better shot, but thought that this would do just fine, since it is actually taken from inside the house through our kitchen window. When the tide backs up into the river that runs through our back yard, the river widens out quite a bit giving lots of room for some good old pond hockey.
As I was saying, you might argue with me, and say that the main part of the argument that you were having was just to get your point across. The problem with that, is that if you actually took a moment to break it up and take a breath, you could ask the person that you're arguing with if they know what your point is. 99.9% sure that they could repeat verbatim what your point is. They simply don't agree. With that being the case, you're only lying to yourself by saying that you were "just trying to get your point across". The fact is, you were arguing for the sole purpose of infuriating the other person. The saddest part of my whole little statement, is that we never argue with perfect strangers, we only argue with friends, family, and loved ones. So now the question has to be - now that you think about it, why exactly were you trying so hard to infuriate someone that you actually love?
The next time you're at the beginning stages of a full blown fight, ask them if they understand what your point is (to take away your excuse), and then ask yourself if this is actually the person that you want to make mad today? And if for some strange reason the answer is yes, you should also ask yourself - why? I bet there's no good reason.
Stop it!
As I was saying, you might argue with me, and say that the main part of the argument that you were having was just to get your point across. The problem with that, is that if you actually took a moment to break it up and take a breath, you could ask the person that you're arguing with if they know what your point is. 99.9% sure that they could repeat verbatim what your point is. They simply don't agree. With that being the case, you're only lying to yourself by saying that you were "just trying to get your point across". The fact is, you were arguing for the sole purpose of infuriating the other person. The saddest part of my whole little statement, is that we never argue with perfect strangers, we only argue with friends, family, and loved ones. So now the question has to be - now that you think about it, why exactly were you trying so hard to infuriate someone that you actually love?
The next time you're at the beginning stages of a full blown fight, ask them if they understand what your point is (to take away your excuse), and then ask yourself if this is actually the person that you want to make mad today? And if for some strange reason the answer is yes, you should also ask yourself - why? I bet there's no good reason.
Stop it!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
We Have Heat!
One more joy of the arctic. Our furnace went out around 10 this morning, and we just got it working before 10 tonight. We had a couple of space heaters going, the oven on with the door open, and ran hot water periodically to keep the water pipes from freezing. That's also a trick, because you can only run so much hot water before your septic tank fills up and the water shuts off all together. On the up-side, it probably didn't take that much longer to get a furnace guy up here than it does down south. The only problem is, I realized that it was a little chilly when I came home for lunch, but thought that I just didn't have the heat turned up far enough. It was pretty obvious when we came home from work that clearly the furnace wasn't on. The house is pretty drafty at the best of times, so it doesn't hold the heat that well when the furnace is off.
This is just a little shot of the highway down from the airport. It's steeper than it looks. There are plenty of times on my way up there in the morning with the mail, that even in 4X4 I can't make it up. No mail on those days.
Anyway, it's getting late now. I just thought that I'd sign in and let you in on my little adventure with trying to keep warm. I'm actually quite relieved to not have to cuddle through the night with several blankets and a small space heater.
Stay tuned.
Anyway, it's getting late now. I just thought that I'd sign in and let you in on my little adventure with trying to keep warm. I'm actually quite relieved to not have to cuddle through the night with several blankets and a small space heater.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Vacation Countdown
The countdown is now on. One week from today, we will be out of Salluit and in Montreal (weather permitting). Fran can hardly wait (and I'm looking forward to it as well).
Seeing as how Salluit is at the end of a milk run, the plane overnights here. To accommodate this, Air Inuit has housing set up next to the airport for the airplane crews to spend the night. As you can see, on our first day of spring, they still need to do some digging to get to the house. No, that's not an optical illusion or funny camera angles, the snow that is pushed out of the way to get into the house is as high as the hydro wires. At the top of the mountain that the airport is on, the wind blows and the snow drifts all day long.
There are many things that I don't like about the biggest loser (which you may have noticed from blogs dating back to last season already), and now I'll just quickly touch on two. All of the touchy feely crap is one. Just exercise and lose weight! There's no need to talk about how you feel. You should feel nothing but fat. The other one is the blatant advertising segments. Today was Progresso soups, and last week was the containers that could go in the microwave, oven, and table. Isn't there enough commercials during the show without having to put them into the show as well? Annoying!
The end.
There are many things that I don't like about the biggest loser (which you may have noticed from blogs dating back to last season already), and now I'll just quickly touch on two. All of the touchy feely crap is one. Just exercise and lose weight! There's no need to talk about how you feel. You should feel nothing but fat. The other one is the blatant advertising segments. Today was Progresso soups, and last week was the containers that could go in the microwave, oven, and table. Isn't there enough commercials during the show without having to put them into the show as well? Annoying!
The end.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Impending Storm
I hear that southern Manitoba/Saskatchewan is due for a storm. Hopefully you don't end up looking anything like up here, your flood watch couldn't handle it.
This is not some random shot of a big pile of snow. This is a shot of Fran on the "dead man's curve" section of the highway up to the airport. You can tell from the date stamp, that this is one of the shots that I took yesterday (the first day of spring). It's about a 500 metre stretch around a corner, that is patrolled by a loader, pretty much 24/7 (the high winds keep the snow drifting nonstop) to make sure that emergency vehicles can still have access to the airport. Without emergency vehicle access, the airport wouldn't be allowed to operate.
Unrelated - is it just me, or are they seriously limiting the amount of speaking time that Steven Tyler is getting on American Idol? It's too bad... he's the only person bringing any colour to the table. Without him, it's all vanilla. Boring!
200 hits in the last three weeks! It's so unpredictable. I can go days without any, and then have it all come piling in at once. Sometimes it's on the weekend, the next time it's on Tuesday. No patterns, no rhyme or reason. Anyway, thanks for tuning in!
The end.
Unrelated - is it just me, or are they seriously limiting the amount of speaking time that Steven Tyler is getting on American Idol? It's too bad... he's the only person bringing any colour to the table. Without him, it's all vanilla. Boring!
200 hits in the last three weeks! It's so unpredictable. I can go days without any, and then have it all come piling in at once. Sometimes it's on the weekend, the next time it's on Tuesday. No patterns, no rhyme or reason. Anyway, thanks for tuning in!
The end.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
First Day of Spring
Upon calling the airport and finding out that the charter wasn't going to be in until 2PM, we quickly geared up to cruise around and take a few pics to give people the opportunity to see what the first day of spring looks like up here.
The only thing that is not actually typical about this picture, is that I asked these girls to pose for the shot. Kids skating on the street is very common. They even skate to the store, take their skates off outside, and walk around the store in their socks. It's not like the street is icy, it's just that the snow is packed so hard, and they're so light, that they have no issues skating wherever they want.
After our little ride, the pop came in, the guys showed up, and the freight handling went off without a hitch. So, it's not like it was a huge problem (like I tried to make it sound this morning), it's just that I have to pay OT & we all have to come in on a day when the store is closed. I always work on Sunday anyway, but somehow it's different when you choose to, as opposed to having to.
Anyway, as you can probably tell from the photo, it's not exactly pluses and melting, but our first day of spring was gorgeous! I took a few more shots that I'll share with you over the next few days.
Stay tuned.
After our little ride, the pop came in, the guys showed up, and the freight handling went off without a hitch. So, it's not like it was a huge problem (like I tried to make it sound this morning), it's just that I have to pay OT & we all have to come in on a day when the store is closed. I always work on Sunday anyway, but somehow it's different when you choose to, as opposed to having to.
Anyway, as you can probably tell from the photo, it's not exactly pluses and melting, but our first day of spring was gorgeous! I took a few more shots that I'll share with you over the next few days.
Stay tuned.
Sunday Routine
I know that it was just last Sunday that I was complaining about my "Sunday Off". But, now it seems like Air Inuit is just jerking my chain. Last week we weren't getting any of our cargo based on "weather at location". The weather was actually quite nice, and the mail plane always made it in. This week our cargo was getting delayed for "mechanical issues". In both cases, we were expecting a chartered flight to bring in our pop. Here it is, Sunday, and our delayed cargo is getting thrown onto the pop charter, and it's all coming in on Sunday afternoon again. Sounds suspiciously like a plan to me!
I realize that by comparison to most of you, minus 21 doesn't sound like good weather, but for us minus 21 without a lot of wind is an awesome spring day. Perfect for taking a little quad ride to take some photos and videos to bring back with us on vacation. The problem (of course there's a problem) is that just like last Sunday, we have no idea what time our cargo will arrive, and it's just not possible to go anywhere more than 5 minutes away from the store, on the off chance that the plane comes in and I have to start calling help to get to the store to help with the unload.
On a related note, I was thinking that with the fact that I was going to have to double the price of the pop, I might be able to sell about half as much, and I'd be lucky to break even. I obviously underestimated the popularity of Coke! As one of the four basic food groups (Pop, Chips, Candy, and Smokes), I barely heard any complaints at all, and beverage sales are up 20-25%. Unbelievable!
Stay tuned.
I realize that by comparison to most of you, minus 21 doesn't sound like good weather, but for us minus 21 without a lot of wind is an awesome spring day. Perfect for taking a little quad ride to take some photos and videos to bring back with us on vacation. The problem (of course there's a problem) is that just like last Sunday, we have no idea what time our cargo will arrive, and it's just not possible to go anywhere more than 5 minutes away from the store, on the off chance that the plane comes in and I have to start calling help to get to the store to help with the unload.
On a related note, I was thinking that with the fact that I was going to have to double the price of the pop, I might be able to sell about half as much, and I'd be lucky to break even. I obviously underestimated the popularity of Coke! As one of the four basic food groups (Pop, Chips, Candy, and Smokes), I barely heard any complaints at all, and beverage sales are up 20-25%. Unbelievable!
Stay tuned.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Faith In Humanity Restored
After yesterday's tirade, that berated some folks' ability (or lack thereof) to take responsibility for themselves, today comes along another story that brings the pendulum back.
I had a customer today with a special needs son that is now 18 years old. She has lined up a job for him at the Co-op where he spends two hours/day doing some janitorial work. Lately he has been purchasing some of his own clothing, and subsequently complaining about not having a proper place to store it. To her, there was only one solution. She brought her son to the store, he now had $300 for a down payment, and would like to start an account. The plan was for him to make a down payment, purchase his own dresser to store his things, and then to come in every payday to make a payment. In this manner, he would learn the value of money, respect the furniture (since he had to pay for it himself), take the responsibility of paying for the loan that he made, and have some pride in having looked after himself.
How refreshing! The down side (of course there still has to be a down side) was that head office thought that he was too young, and didn't make enough money to get an account, but they still didn't let that stop them. They put the $300 on a cashlink card and will make that payments in the same manner until he has enough cash to buy it outright. An equally important (if not more important) lesson to learn.
There still are people out there that teach their children to be responsible for themselves, as opposed to impatiently waiting for yet another hand-out. If only there were more people out there like that. It's one thing to be a leader... but if nobody's following, you're just going for a walk.
Lead on Susie (hopefully someone will follow)!
I had a customer today with a special needs son that is now 18 years old. She has lined up a job for him at the Co-op where he spends two hours/day doing some janitorial work. Lately he has been purchasing some of his own clothing, and subsequently complaining about not having a proper place to store it. To her, there was only one solution. She brought her son to the store, he now had $300 for a down payment, and would like to start an account. The plan was for him to make a down payment, purchase his own dresser to store his things, and then to come in every payday to make a payment. In this manner, he would learn the value of money, respect the furniture (since he had to pay for it himself), take the responsibility of paying for the loan that he made, and have some pride in having looked after himself.
How refreshing! The down side (of course there still has to be a down side) was that head office thought that he was too young, and didn't make enough money to get an account, but they still didn't let that stop them. They put the $300 on a cashlink card and will make that payments in the same manner until he has enough cash to buy it outright. An equally important (if not more important) lesson to learn.
There still are people out there that teach their children to be responsible for themselves, as opposed to impatiently waiting for yet another hand-out. If only there were more people out there like that. It's one thing to be a leader... but if nobody's following, you're just going for a walk.
Lead on Susie (hopefully someone will follow)!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
What To Do If Your House Might Flood
Something!
Year after year, at about this time, the news focuses in on someone that lives down by the river. This particular person is in the back yard, gazing out towards the frozen river, wondering what they're going to do if the water gets too high. Of course, they're also wondering who's going to do all of the work, and who's going to pay for it.
Get real!!! You had no idea that rivers rise in spring when you bought the house? That fact hasn't changed for thousands of years. If you know that your house is prone to flooding, why haven't you built a permanent dike? Why don't you have sandbags ready from last year, on the off chance that the flood goes higher than the 100 year dike that you built? What's going on here?
Once again, like every other year, the person being featured on the news was waiting for the Municipality to let them know how high the waters will rise, and if the flood prediction is bad, that person is waiting for the Municipality to bring them sandbags. Doesn't anybody look after themselves anymore? Like any other relatively intelligent people, when we bought our last house, we went looking at properties while the spring waters were at their highest, and searched out a place where we wouldn't have to worry about flooding. When we found our spot, we looked right away at the fact that the neighbor's house was built up much higher than ours, which would mean that water would run towards our house during heavy rains. We didn't live there for two weeks before digging a ditch along the property line to drain the runoff and keep our basement dry.
I realize that it sounds like I'm trying to say that I'm so much smarter than everyone else, but that's not the point. My point is that it's just so annoying to know that lots of people (like us) try to use some common sense and protect their investment, while the next person knows very well that their property will get damaged, and yet chooses to sit idly by and wait for someone else to come to their aid. Grow up!! Adults should have gained some sort of ability to look after themselves. Don't buy a house, if you can't afford to protect it.
Stay high and dry my friends.
Year after year, at about this time, the news focuses in on someone that lives down by the river. This particular person is in the back yard, gazing out towards the frozen river, wondering what they're going to do if the water gets too high. Of course, they're also wondering who's going to do all of the work, and who's going to pay for it.
Get real!!! You had no idea that rivers rise in spring when you bought the house? That fact hasn't changed for thousands of years. If you know that your house is prone to flooding, why haven't you built a permanent dike? Why don't you have sandbags ready from last year, on the off chance that the flood goes higher than the 100 year dike that you built? What's going on here?
Once again, like every other year, the person being featured on the news was waiting for the Municipality to let them know how high the waters will rise, and if the flood prediction is bad, that person is waiting for the Municipality to bring them sandbags. Doesn't anybody look after themselves anymore? Like any other relatively intelligent people, when we bought our last house, we went looking at properties while the spring waters were at their highest, and searched out a place where we wouldn't have to worry about flooding. When we found our spot, we looked right away at the fact that the neighbor's house was built up much higher than ours, which would mean that water would run towards our house during heavy rains. We didn't live there for two weeks before digging a ditch along the property line to drain the runoff and keep our basement dry.
I realize that it sounds like I'm trying to say that I'm so much smarter than everyone else, but that's not the point. My point is that it's just so annoying to know that lots of people (like us) try to use some common sense and protect their investment, while the next person knows very well that their property will get damaged, and yet chooses to sit idly by and wait for someone else to come to their aid. Grow up!! Adults should have gained some sort of ability to look after themselves. Don't buy a house, if you can't afford to protect it.
Stay high and dry my friends.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sharing The Remote
I know that some couples have constant battles over the remote (unless of course you have multiple TVs in multiple rooms, and don't really enjoy spending time together anyway). I have to admit though, that Fran and I have a pretty good relationship with regards to sharing the remote. As luck would have it, our programming days don't conflict that much anyway. Fran really only has about six shows that take priority over sports. Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives, Bachelor, Biggest Loser, Survivor, and Grey's Anatomy. None of those are on Saturday (big hockey day), or Sunday afternoon (NFL and NASCAR). And, Sunday night, Monday, and Tuesday are not big sports days at all. This happens to work out really well, and it's not like you can't keep track of a hockey game through the multiple extended commercial breaks that are taken during those big shows.
That being said, today was obviously the finale of The Bachelor, which didn't leave a lot of time for the two hockey games going on. So, of course I do my best to follow along so that we can have a conversation about the show being watched. It's only fair, since Fran always does her best to at least semi-follow along with the multiple things that I say about the various sports that we watch. Before anyone starts thinking that I've gone totally soft, and that I might be sitting here shedding a single tear and being overwhelmed by the sheer romance of the finale, let's get one thing straight. I patiently sit through the entire season, waiting for the highlight moment... when the runner-up gets dumped. And I have to say, is it just me - or did that second place girl (or first loser as Ricky Bobby would say), put on about 25 lbs during the filming of the show? I realize that the top is the best part of the muffin, but don't most people wait until after the engagement to let it all go? I know... I'm such a shallow jerk! I certainly am a lot more critical of people on TV than I am of real folks that I actually know or have met.
Oh well, it's all over but the crying. Tomorrow... Big Fat Losers.
Stay tuned.
That being said, today was obviously the finale of The Bachelor, which didn't leave a lot of time for the two hockey games going on. So, of course I do my best to follow along so that we can have a conversation about the show being watched. It's only fair, since Fran always does her best to at least semi-follow along with the multiple things that I say about the various sports that we watch. Before anyone starts thinking that I've gone totally soft, and that I might be sitting here shedding a single tear and being overwhelmed by the sheer romance of the finale, let's get one thing straight. I patiently sit through the entire season, waiting for the highlight moment... when the runner-up gets dumped. And I have to say, is it just me - or did that second place girl (or first loser as Ricky Bobby would say), put on about 25 lbs during the filming of the show? I realize that the top is the best part of the muffin, but don't most people wait until after the engagement to let it all go? I know... I'm such a shallow jerk! I certainly am a lot more critical of people on TV than I am of real folks that I actually know or have met.
Oh well, it's all over but the crying. Tomorrow... Big Fat Losers.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Japanese Disaster
The temperature has dropped, and the wind has picked up, causing the wind chill to drop down to -44 again.
The plane actually arrived at about 12:15 PM, three out of our four stock boys actually showed up on time, and it only took an hour and a half to get all the pop into the warehouse.
With the charter flight going well, and the only thing that I have to worry about is turning up the heat to stay warm, it sure makes me glad that I'm not in Japan right now. This isn't exactly breaking news of course, but we just finished watching a dateline hour on the aftermath. Incredible! A country that is so prepared for disasters (since they are in an earthquake zone, on a country built by volcanos), that is now in such ruin. Never mind the fact that this is the third biggest financial zone in the world. It's just impossible to look at the pictures coming out of there, and imagine how they are ever going to clean it up and rebuild. And then, how is all of this going to effect the world economy? Who can predict? Of course all of the experts give their blah, blah, blah... but none of them know. Where do you begin? It's all so overwhelming! I'm not sure that I've ever been so glad to be a million miles away from anywhere, like I am right now to be a million miles away from Japan.
Stay tuned.
The plane actually arrived at about 12:15 PM, three out of our four stock boys actually showed up on time, and it only took an hour and a half to get all the pop into the warehouse.
With the charter flight going well, and the only thing that I have to worry about is turning up the heat to stay warm, it sure makes me glad that I'm not in Japan right now. This isn't exactly breaking news of course, but we just finished watching a dateline hour on the aftermath. Incredible! A country that is so prepared for disasters (since they are in an earthquake zone, on a country built by volcanos), that is now in such ruin. Never mind the fact that this is the third biggest financial zone in the world. It's just impossible to look at the pictures coming out of there, and imagine how they are ever going to clean it up and rebuild. And then, how is all of this going to effect the world economy? Who can predict? Of course all of the experts give their blah, blah, blah... but none of them know. Where do you begin? It's all so overwhelming! I'm not sure that I've ever been so glad to be a million miles away from anywhere, like I am right now to be a million miles away from Japan.
Stay tuned.
"Sunday Off"
It never fails! The charter flights bringing in the pop are always "scheduled" for Saturdays, and we plan our staffing accordingly. We get just over 1,000 twelve packs of pop, that have to be taken off of the truck and put on pallets. The pallets need to be directed down a ramp, through the warehouse aisles, and over to the location designated for pop. Then they all have to be taken off of the pallets and stacked properly (so that the pile is less likely to topple). All of this is done by hand of course.
Back to the "It never fails!". "Something" always happens to delay the charter, and it never comes until Sunday (when we are closed). So, we know that it will arrive somewhere between 10AM and 6PM, and that some/none of our stock people will be available to help us on short notice when it comes. It would be 1-2 hours of fairly easy work if it came on Saturday like it's supposed to, but will probably be a good four hours of sweating for me and Paul doing it ourselves on our "day off".
At least the wind is still fairly slow, and the temperature is barely -20. One other thing that always sneaks up on me here in the arctic, daylight savings time. When I heard on the radio yesterday that we had to change the clocks, I was thinking - why are we changing time in the middle of winter? I'm supposing that some places are starting to feel like spring already. We're still in the middle of winter. Maybe it will be getting closer to spring by the time we come back from vacation.
Stay tuned.
Back to the "It never fails!". "Something" always happens to delay the charter, and it never comes until Sunday (when we are closed). So, we know that it will arrive somewhere between 10AM and 6PM, and that some/none of our stock people will be available to help us on short notice when it comes. It would be 1-2 hours of fairly easy work if it came on Saturday like it's supposed to, but will probably be a good four hours of sweating for me and Paul doing it ourselves on our "day off".
At least the wind is still fairly slow, and the temperature is barely -20. One other thing that always sneaks up on me here in the arctic, daylight savings time. When I heard on the radio yesterday that we had to change the clocks, I was thinking - why are we changing time in the middle of winter? I'm supposing that some places are starting to feel like spring already. We're still in the middle of winter. Maybe it will be getting closer to spring by the time we come back from vacation.
Stay tuned.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Ad Free!
The wind has finally slowed down! It's been almost four entire weeks of howling winds and extreme wind chills. The wind has actually blown the frost up through the floors in the warehouse and frozen all of my pop. Luckily for me, we were almost out anyway, and I had orders from Coke and Pepsi in place already last week.
It's probably no big deal, but after giving in to the ad pushers, and after a few weeks of trial, I only had one click (my own), and I had earned a whopping 12 cents. Incentive enough to tell them to take a hike. Ad free, and not a "sell-out".
We finally got all of our travel arrangements finalized. I was kinda hoping for something more exotic, but it looks like it's going to be the Mayan Riviera. You might be saying to yourself - oh boo hoo, you only get to go to the Mayan Riviera. I hear you, and I'm not complaining, it's just that everyone goes to Mexico, and I really wanted to go somewhere that not everyone goes. Oh well, we booked a little too late, and I'm sure that we'll have an awesome time. One problem... there's not a lot of tanning beds around here, and we haven't seen too much sun for a while, so we're going to be ripe for a lobster burn.
I can tell already that our days in southern Manitoba are going to be jam packed (trying to get everything done), but I'm sure that we'll have a blast. Optometrists, Dentists, Vets, Doctors, Accountants, and Chiropractors... fun, fun, fun. Even the dogs are going to be going to a little retreat while we head south. I'm sure that Buddy will cry a lot (he tends to do that).
Stay tuned.
It's probably no big deal, but after giving in to the ad pushers, and after a few weeks of trial, I only had one click (my own), and I had earned a whopping 12 cents. Incentive enough to tell them to take a hike. Ad free, and not a "sell-out".
We finally got all of our travel arrangements finalized. I was kinda hoping for something more exotic, but it looks like it's going to be the Mayan Riviera. You might be saying to yourself - oh boo hoo, you only get to go to the Mayan Riviera. I hear you, and I'm not complaining, it's just that everyone goes to Mexico, and I really wanted to go somewhere that not everyone goes. Oh well, we booked a little too late, and I'm sure that we'll have an awesome time. One problem... there's not a lot of tanning beds around here, and we haven't seen too much sun for a while, so we're going to be ripe for a lobster burn.
I can tell already that our days in southern Manitoba are going to be jam packed (trying to get everything done), but I'm sure that we'll have a blast. Optometrists, Dentists, Vets, Doctors, Accountants, and Chiropractors... fun, fun, fun. Even the dogs are going to be going to a little retreat while we head south. I'm sure that Buddy will cry a lot (he tends to do that).
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Winnipeg/Manitoba Whatevers (Series Finale)
Now that we know all about the Coyotes, Thrashers, and the True North Corporation... how does it all fit?
We have a solid ownership group that wants a team, and two teams that aren't exactly looking to move, but are running out of options. Then the next question becomes... even if everything else fell into place, can Winnipeg support a professional team in the big leagues?
As much as folks from Winnipeg like to believe that they're "big time", the answer is NO! The idea of a NHL team is sexy, but it's just not sustainable. At $65-80 per ticket, and such a tiny pool of corporate sponsors to pull from, they might sell out the first season or two... but within five years they'd be floundering. The excuses would sound like: we might go to the games if we thought they had a chance to win, there's not enough Canadian content on the team, they've got to make the playoffs, they need to win more than one round, etc. The fact is, right now in the NHL there are a lot of excellent teams that either won't make the playoffs, or won't make it out of the first round. If you don't have 18,000 people that are willing to watch a "loser" game after game, season after season (like they do in Toronto), you're not going to survive. There's so many teams in the league, that you can't expect to win year after year (like they do in Detroit).
I love the idea, and if I thought that I'd ever go back to the area I'd like to imagine that I'd go to the games. That being said... it's a pipe dream. I wish that the media would let private business dealings remain private, and stop trying so desperately to get the hopes up of the poor average sap Winnipegger, that as much as he wants to, could never afford to take his family to more than two games per season anyway.
Just say NO - to bad financial decisions.
Stay tuned.
We have a solid ownership group that wants a team, and two teams that aren't exactly looking to move, but are running out of options. Then the next question becomes... even if everything else fell into place, can Winnipeg support a professional team in the big leagues?
As much as folks from Winnipeg like to believe that they're "big time", the answer is NO! The idea of a NHL team is sexy, but it's just not sustainable. At $65-80 per ticket, and such a tiny pool of corporate sponsors to pull from, they might sell out the first season or two... but within five years they'd be floundering. The excuses would sound like: we might go to the games if we thought they had a chance to win, there's not enough Canadian content on the team, they've got to make the playoffs, they need to win more than one round, etc. The fact is, right now in the NHL there are a lot of excellent teams that either won't make the playoffs, or won't make it out of the first round. If you don't have 18,000 people that are willing to watch a "loser" game after game, season after season (like they do in Toronto), you're not going to survive. There's so many teams in the league, that you can't expect to win year after year (like they do in Detroit).
I love the idea, and if I thought that I'd ever go back to the area I'd like to imagine that I'd go to the games. That being said... it's a pipe dream. I wish that the media would let private business dealings remain private, and stop trying so desperately to get the hopes up of the poor average sap Winnipegger, that as much as he wants to, could never afford to take his family to more than two games per season anyway.
Just say NO - to bad financial decisions.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
True North (Part Three of a Series)
You know, it's funny... when it's been a wind chill in the mid to high 40s for three weeks, and then it actually starts getting cold, they don't bother posting the wind chill any more. The wind is currently blowing at 80Ks, for the second time now I have a shovel propped against the door handle, because the latch alone can't keep the door shut against the wind. At this point, you just say that it's cold. Don't worry about the wind chill, it'll only make you feel bad.
The True North Corporation currently owns the Manitoba Moose, the MTS Centre, and the ground that it sits on. The "minority" shareholder is David Thomson. I put minority in quotation marks, because he chooses to be seen in that light, while he has shares under several different entities, and is clearly the vast majority shareholder. He is from, and lives in Toronto, and is currently the 20th richest man in the world. His wealth is estimated at about 13 billion dollars. He is smart enough to appoint a local guy (Mark Chipman), who also owns shares, to be the figurehead of the corporation. That way he doesn't have to appear to be an absentee owner, because he's a "minority" share holder, with a local guy in charge.
As opposed to every previous effort in Winnipeg (including the former Jets) that included some form of community ownership (which never works), there is actually a solid owner who can clearly see his way through some rough waters, while whatever team it might be, tries to get the ship righted. There has never been this kind of solid ownership group involved in Winnipeg before, and it's only because of that, that I have any confidence at all in even the remote possibility of a team coming back to "The Peg".
Stay tuned.
The True North Corporation currently owns the Manitoba Moose, the MTS Centre, and the ground that it sits on. The "minority" shareholder is David Thomson. I put minority in quotation marks, because he chooses to be seen in that light, while he has shares under several different entities, and is clearly the vast majority shareholder. He is from, and lives in Toronto, and is currently the 20th richest man in the world. His wealth is estimated at about 13 billion dollars. He is smart enough to appoint a local guy (Mark Chipman), who also owns shares, to be the figurehead of the corporation. That way he doesn't have to appear to be an absentee owner, because he's a "minority" share holder, with a local guy in charge.
As opposed to every previous effort in Winnipeg (including the former Jets) that included some form of community ownership (which never works), there is actually a solid owner who can clearly see his way through some rough waters, while whatever team it might be, tries to get the ship righted. There has never been this kind of solid ownership group involved in Winnipeg before, and it's only because of that, that I have any confidence at all in even the remote possibility of a team coming back to "The Peg".
Stay tuned.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Atlanta Thrashers (Part Two of a Series)
Well, the wind is howling, the chill is 49, and it's getting pretty hard to convince Rico that he should go outside. The final plans for the southern vacation aren't all ironed out, but we're getting pretty close.
There's plenty of news on the Coyotes today, but surprisingly, none of it is as detailed, and covers all of the bases like my blog did yesterday. I guess all of those professional sports journalists don't have access to the internet. The only thing that was added today was that the City of Glendale is threatening some lawsuits with the Goldwater Institute for interfering with their attempted transaction. Blah, blah, blah.
The Atlanta Thrashers look so much more appealing to me. The Atlanta Spirit owns the Thrashers and the Atlanta Hawks (of the NBA), and is headed up by Michael Gearon. While they aren't technically looking to sell, the hockey team is hemorrhaging money (to the tune of $20M/season), and the Spirit is looking for investors to help spread out the losses. Apparently their aren't that many multi-millionaires that are looking for write-offs right now. They are also in the last of a seven year no-relocation deal with the NHL, which means that they are free to move the club at the end of the season.
While, like I said, they aren't technically looking to sell, any businessman will tell you that everything's for sale (at the right price). With no suitors calling in regards to joining them as investors, and their lack of restrictions in regards to moving, they seem ripe for the picking, have way fewer strings attached, and less excess baggage. The Coyotes are losing $30M, and the Thrashers are only losing $20M (I didn't think that I'd ever use the word "only" when talking about losing $20M). All things included, the Thrashers look much more appealing. The saga continues.
Stay tuned.
There's plenty of news on the Coyotes today, but surprisingly, none of it is as detailed, and covers all of the bases like my blog did yesterday. I guess all of those professional sports journalists don't have access to the internet. The only thing that was added today was that the City of Glendale is threatening some lawsuits with the Goldwater Institute for interfering with their attempted transaction. Blah, blah, blah.
The Atlanta Thrashers look so much more appealing to me. The Atlanta Spirit owns the Thrashers and the Atlanta Hawks (of the NBA), and is headed up by Michael Gearon. While they aren't technically looking to sell, the hockey team is hemorrhaging money (to the tune of $20M/season), and the Spirit is looking for investors to help spread out the losses. Apparently their aren't that many multi-millionaires that are looking for write-offs right now. They are also in the last of a seven year no-relocation deal with the NHL, which means that they are free to move the club at the end of the season.
While, like I said, they aren't technically looking to sell, any businessman will tell you that everything's for sale (at the right price). With no suitors calling in regards to joining them as investors, and their lack of restrictions in regards to moving, they seem ripe for the picking, have way fewer strings attached, and less excess baggage. The Coyotes are losing $30M, and the Thrashers are only losing $20M (I didn't think that I'd ever use the word "only" when talking about losing $20M). All things included, the Thrashers look much more appealing. The saga continues.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Phoenix Coyotes (Part One of a Series)
In order to discuss the possibility of Winnipeg as a NHL city, you must first have a proper understanding of the players involved. By far the most complex of these, are the Phoenix Coyotes (formerly the Winnipeg Jets).
When the Jets first moved to Phoenix, they played in the United Airlines Arena, which was terrible, with restricted view seats that had to be discounted, and very few agreements about who gets revenues from what. The city of Glendale was then involved in building the Jobing.com Arena, which cost $500M. The team's ownership group eventually filed for bankruptcy, and the team has since been owned by the NHL itself. Gary Bettman (NHL commissioner) is adamant that the team stay in Phoenix, for the sole purpose of its positioning in the U.S. TV market.
Matthew Hulsizer (Chicago businessman) is the only person that seems interested in buying the Coyotes and keeping them in Phoenix. The problem is, the price tag is $170M, and he's only willing to put up the first $70M. That's where it gets interesting! With $500M already invested in the arena, the city of Glendale was then going to front the other $100M to make sure that there would be some return on their arena investment. This, is where the Goldwater Institute comes in. Under the guidance of Barry Goldwater, the institute is an independent government watchdog, promoting transparency, and curbing the wild spending habits of the Arizona government. The institute first blew the whistle on the deal citing that: "the deal contravenes the gift clause in Arizona's constitution that prevents the government from funding private business". Then, to revive the whole deal, the City of Glendale came up with a new plan, where they were actually going to give the $100M to Hulsizer in return for the parking rights at the arena. The Goldwater Institute quickly quashed that plan too, since technically, the City of Glendale already owned the rights for the parking.
Barry Goldwater's major beef here, is that the City of Glendale currently has triple the debt of American cities of similar size, and shouldn't be disguising $100M of good taxpayer money, that the city is trying to throw at a franchise that is currently losing $30M/season. Hence, the stand-off. And that, my friends, is the convoluted, confusing, twisted tale of the Phoenix Coyotes, that should make them ripe for the picking, if not for the strange obsession of Gary Bettman that is trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.
The rest gets easier!
Stay tuned.
When the Jets first moved to Phoenix, they played in the United Airlines Arena, which was terrible, with restricted view seats that had to be discounted, and very few agreements about who gets revenues from what. The city of Glendale was then involved in building the Jobing.com Arena, which cost $500M. The team's ownership group eventually filed for bankruptcy, and the team has since been owned by the NHL itself. Gary Bettman (NHL commissioner) is adamant that the team stay in Phoenix, for the sole purpose of its positioning in the U.S. TV market.
Matthew Hulsizer (Chicago businessman) is the only person that seems interested in buying the Coyotes and keeping them in Phoenix. The problem is, the price tag is $170M, and he's only willing to put up the first $70M. That's where it gets interesting! With $500M already invested in the arena, the city of Glendale was then going to front the other $100M to make sure that there would be some return on their arena investment. This, is where the Goldwater Institute comes in. Under the guidance of Barry Goldwater, the institute is an independent government watchdog, promoting transparency, and curbing the wild spending habits of the Arizona government. The institute first blew the whistle on the deal citing that: "the deal contravenes the gift clause in Arizona's constitution that prevents the government from funding private business". Then, to revive the whole deal, the City of Glendale came up with a new plan, where they were actually going to give the $100M to Hulsizer in return for the parking rights at the arena. The Goldwater Institute quickly quashed that plan too, since technically, the City of Glendale already owned the rights for the parking.
Barry Goldwater's major beef here, is that the City of Glendale currently has triple the debt of American cities of similar size, and shouldn't be disguising $100M of good taxpayer money, that the city is trying to throw at a franchise that is currently losing $30M/season. Hence, the stand-off. And that, my friends, is the convoluted, confusing, twisted tale of the Phoenix Coyotes, that should make them ripe for the picking, if not for the strange obsession of Gary Bettman that is trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.
The rest gets easier!
Stay tuned.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Bits And Pieces
It's only minus 42 out this morning. Seems odd to say, but with the sun shining, and compared to the last 10 days, it feels a lot better today. For some reason, when it's cold for an extended period of time like this, I have two toes that get all red, swollen, and itchy. It doesn't make any sense to me, but it happens.
Speaking of not making any sense to me, Rico was giving us a bit of a scare yesterday, with some real struggles breathing. Without a vet in town, we went to petmd to find some answers. Everything always looks like it's just free information, but then at the end they let you know that finding satisfactory information will cost you $18. With Fran in a bit of a panic, of course I have no choice. Thanks a lot petmd (dripping with sarcasm)! In any case, after spending several hours laying perfectly still and breathing hard, he seemed to start coming around. This morning he seems to be doing much better. He probably doesn't appreciate the extreme cold that much either!
In other matters, we were finally approved for our vacation. We'll be taking the whole month of April off. The details haven't been finalized yet, but we're working on going even farther south for a week, while we're "down south" for the month.
I had been planning on at least partially financing that trip south with my tax return, so I sent it in for a dry run yesterday. I knew that I was going to take a bit of a hit by moving to Quebec, but there was no way that I could have been prepared for this. The difference between what I would have got as a return in Nunavut, and what I now have to pay in Quebec, is $7,000.00! Can you believe that? Quebec sucks! In Quebec, you have to file Federal and Provincial taxes separately. Because of charitable donations and RRSP contributions, I will get a small Federal return, but we both have to pay huge for the Quebec Provincial taxes. Did I mention that Quebec sucks?
In the new age of "commercialism" on my blog, I've now made a whopping 12 cents. I'm sure that the Government of Quebec will find some way of taking that away from me too. Jerks!
With the fervor surrounding the latest Winnipeg Jets revival campaign, I've been doing some research to make a fairly comprehensive assessment of the actual possibility. There seemed to be way too much to throw together all in one blog, so I've planned a mini-series. Don't worry, I'll only give you the condensed "Readers Digest" version.
Stay tuned.
Speaking of not making any sense to me, Rico was giving us a bit of a scare yesterday, with some real struggles breathing. Without a vet in town, we went to petmd to find some answers. Everything always looks like it's just free information, but then at the end they let you know that finding satisfactory information will cost you $18. With Fran in a bit of a panic, of course I have no choice. Thanks a lot petmd (dripping with sarcasm)! In any case, after spending several hours laying perfectly still and breathing hard, he seemed to start coming around. This morning he seems to be doing much better. He probably doesn't appreciate the extreme cold that much either!
In other matters, we were finally approved for our vacation. We'll be taking the whole month of April off. The details haven't been finalized yet, but we're working on going even farther south for a week, while we're "down south" for the month.
I had been planning on at least partially financing that trip south with my tax return, so I sent it in for a dry run yesterday. I knew that I was going to take a bit of a hit by moving to Quebec, but there was no way that I could have been prepared for this. The difference between what I would have got as a return in Nunavut, and what I now have to pay in Quebec, is $7,000.00! Can you believe that? Quebec sucks! In Quebec, you have to file Federal and Provincial taxes separately. Because of charitable donations and RRSP contributions, I will get a small Federal return, but we both have to pay huge for the Quebec Provincial taxes. Did I mention that Quebec sucks?
In the new age of "commercialism" on my blog, I've now made a whopping 12 cents. I'm sure that the Government of Quebec will find some way of taking that away from me too. Jerks!
With the fervor surrounding the latest Winnipeg Jets revival campaign, I've been doing some research to make a fairly comprehensive assessment of the actual possibility. There seemed to be way too much to throw together all in one blog, so I've planned a mini-series. Don't worry, I'll only give you the condensed "Readers Digest" version.
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wild, Wild West
Are you following hockey at all? I realize that this sounds like a strange question to a Canadian, but I also know that I have a few followers that don't care about hockey. Don't bother reading further.
The west has nine teams, within six points, and only five of them make the playoffs. Every game of the week has playoff implications, even though there's still 19 games left in the season. It's awesome!
There was a time, back when the NHL merged with AHA, and the Jets first joined the league, that I regularly complained about the fact that 16 out of 21 teams made the playoffs. You only had to better than one out of five teams in your division. By comparison to the fact that MLB had bigger divisions, and only one team made the playoffs (at the time), it just really seemed like there was no real point to the regular season. Now, we're at the point where there are going to be some really good teams, well above 500, that are going to fall short of their goal of reaching the second season. The season has some relevance again. It's awesome!
Five more games tonight. I'm sure that everything will change by the time the night is done again.
Stay tuned.
The west has nine teams, within six points, and only five of them make the playoffs. Every game of the week has playoff implications, even though there's still 19 games left in the season. It's awesome!
There was a time, back when the NHL merged with AHA, and the Jets first joined the league, that I regularly complained about the fact that 16 out of 21 teams made the playoffs. You only had to better than one out of five teams in your division. By comparison to the fact that MLB had bigger divisions, and only one team made the playoffs (at the time), it just really seemed like there was no real point to the regular season. Now, we're at the point where there are going to be some really good teams, well above 500, that are going to fall short of their goal of reaching the second season. The season has some relevance again. It's awesome!
Five more games tonight. I'm sure that everything will change by the time the night is done again.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Stay Cool My Friends
I know that last week most of you had some frigid temperatures, but we've had wind chills of mid 40s for about ten days, and the seven day forecast just keeps calling for the same. While some of you will just say - well, you chose to live there, the reality is that all of you "down south" have chosen where you live as well. Not that I'm really saying anything outrageous, it's just that we all really have to consider that in some way we have all chosen our place of residence, and have to take that into consideration before complaining about the weather. That being said, it freaking cold!
My fresh beef came in today. I can't understand how the two packages that were sent here, were brought to the airport at the same time, and yet one came at noon, and the other one came on a completely separate plane several hours later. By the time that it arrived (a full day late), it was already frozen in the package, so I just put everything into the freezer. I'm sure that it'll still be the best thing that we've eaten in several months. Don't ask me why I didn't have at least one meal at The Keg when I was in Winnipeg, I guess that it would just have seemed like I was cheating on Fran by eating awesome steak, while she was up here eating the same old same old.
Anyway, I still feel like crap (I know - boo hoo you big baby), so I'm going to lie back down.
Stay tuned.
My fresh beef came in today. I can't understand how the two packages that were sent here, were brought to the airport at the same time, and yet one came at noon, and the other one came on a completely separate plane several hours later. By the time that it arrived (a full day late), it was already frozen in the package, so I just put everything into the freezer. I'm sure that it'll still be the best thing that we've eaten in several months. Don't ask me why I didn't have at least one meal at The Keg when I was in Winnipeg, I guess that it would just have seemed like I was cheating on Fran by eating awesome steak, while she was up here eating the same old same old.
Anyway, I still feel like crap (I know - boo hoo you big baby), so I'm going to lie back down.
Stay tuned.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Where's The Beef?
No. Really. Where's the beef? I just heard the east coast plane coming in, called the airport, and they told me that there was no package for me. I was assured earlier today that my package was on it's way. So where is it? Maybe nobody knows.
I took yesterday off again, still feeling a little under the weather. I fake it at work, and then revert to being your typical male big baby when he's sick. Luckily, Fran puts up with it, and looks after me pretty good.
Since I had my mind set on meat anyway, I figured that this would be the best time to use this question that I researched a little. I've had fillet mignon at restaurants before, our store sells tenderloin (which is by far the best meat that we sell), and last week I bought a chateau briand from the M&M section at the Co-op. Then, I had to ask the question: "what's the difference?". They all seemed pretty much the same to me. Now, most of you probably know this, but it was new to me.
The tenderloin is a strip of meat along the back of the animal (cow if you're talking about steaks of course). On a T-bone, it is the smaller side of the T. It is the most tender cut, because it isn't weight bearing muscle. It has a narrower end, and a wider end. Fillet Mignon are slices of the more narrow end, and chateau briand are slices of the wider end. The whole thing is called tenderloin, and the slices are also sometimes called medallions. So, fillet mignon, chateau briand, medallions, and tenderloin, are all basically the same thing. No wonder I was so confused about the different names of meat that all felt and tasted the same. The only other thing to add, is that in "America" (why people from the U.S. are called Americans, and the rest of us from North and South America are not, is obviously worth it's own write up) every slice of the tenderloin is called fillet mignon, for the sole purpose of charging people more money (not unlike them having a smaller gallon). Anyway, the important part is that it's awesome. I just realized last week that I am actually allowed to take cash out of my mess account and go to another store to buy something that we don't carry. That, together with the fact that the Co-op has an M&M section with chateau briand, means that even if that other store doesn't come through with the meat delivery, I will never have to eat crappy steaks again. Yay!
Stay tuned.
I took yesterday off again, still feeling a little under the weather. I fake it at work, and then revert to being your typical male big baby when he's sick. Luckily, Fran puts up with it, and looks after me pretty good.
Since I had my mind set on meat anyway, I figured that this would be the best time to use this question that I researched a little. I've had fillet mignon at restaurants before, our store sells tenderloin (which is by far the best meat that we sell), and last week I bought a chateau briand from the M&M section at the Co-op. Then, I had to ask the question: "what's the difference?". They all seemed pretty much the same to me. Now, most of you probably know this, but it was new to me.
The tenderloin is a strip of meat along the back of the animal (cow if you're talking about steaks of course). On a T-bone, it is the smaller side of the T. It is the most tender cut, because it isn't weight bearing muscle. It has a narrower end, and a wider end. Fillet Mignon are slices of the more narrow end, and chateau briand are slices of the wider end. The whole thing is called tenderloin, and the slices are also sometimes called medallions. So, fillet mignon, chateau briand, medallions, and tenderloin, are all basically the same thing. No wonder I was so confused about the different names of meat that all felt and tasted the same. The only other thing to add, is that in "America" (why people from the U.S. are called Americans, and the rest of us from North and South America are not, is obviously worth it's own write up) every slice of the tenderloin is called fillet mignon, for the sole purpose of charging people more money (not unlike them having a smaller gallon). Anyway, the important part is that it's awesome. I just realized last week that I am actually allowed to take cash out of my mess account and go to another store to buy something that we don't carry. That, together with the fact that the Co-op has an M&M section with chateau briand, means that even if that other store doesn't come through with the meat delivery, I will never have to eat crappy steaks again. Yay!
Stay tuned.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Fresh Meat
I may have lead you all to believe that there was really nothing that I learned at my meeting in Winnipeg, but that's really not true. I learned where the closest store to me was, that had fresh meat. As luck would have it, that particular store manager was the guy who got stranded here last weekend while he was trying to get back. After spending the night here, and then enjoying an early morning cup of coffee prior to his AM flight time, I managed to sweet talk him into seeing if he could do a store to store transfer of some fresh meat. He said that normally his meat manager refused to do that sort of thing, because they get no margin on product sent out that way. Yesterday, he emailed me to let me know that as long as my request wasn't going to be extremely massive, he was going to hook me up. So, I ordered 5lbs of ground beef and a dozen steaks of his choosing. Let's see how that goes.
You might be asking yourself what the big deal is, since so many of you will be freezing ground beef and steaks at home, so you're not exactly eating fresh meat all of the time anyway. Well, the problem is this, when you take your meat home and freeze it, you don't do anything to it, you just freeze it. Then, when you thaw it out and cook it, it still tastes pretty good. All of the meat that we get up here is processed specifically for the purpose of freezing. I'm not sure exactly what they do to it, but whatever it is, takes all of the natural tastes out of it that we're all used to. It's not like it's totally gross, but it certainly doesn't taste like it should.
There's always that chance with our "weather permitting" flights that we have up here, that the meat is going to get stranded somewhere, and not be exactly fresh by the time that it gets here. I think that it's worth the risk. Let's hope that it all works out for the best.
Stay tuned.
You might be asking yourself what the big deal is, since so many of you will be freezing ground beef and steaks at home, so you're not exactly eating fresh meat all of the time anyway. Well, the problem is this, when you take your meat home and freeze it, you don't do anything to it, you just freeze it. Then, when you thaw it out and cook it, it still tastes pretty good. All of the meat that we get up here is processed specifically for the purpose of freezing. I'm not sure exactly what they do to it, but whatever it is, takes all of the natural tastes out of it that we're all used to. It's not like it's totally gross, but it certainly doesn't taste like it should.
There's always that chance with our "weather permitting" flights that we have up here, that the meat is going to get stranded somewhere, and not be exactly fresh by the time that it gets here. I think that it's worth the risk. Let's hope that it all works out for the best.
Stay tuned.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Back In Business (literally)
You may have noticed that there are now ads on my blog. For you regular followers, please don't click on any of them unless something actually comes up that you are interested in.
I took a few days off of the blog because I've been really quite ill. I still went in to work everyday, but it took enough out of me that I didn't even feel like sitting up in front of the computer. Three days later, I'm not quite over it yet, so I'll keep it short.
If you've been following for that long, I said a few months ago, that if I got to 1,000 hits, I'd contemplate agreeing to the ads that are being suggested to me. Now, I'm over 1,000 hits, from more than 20 different countries, and February has been my biggest month so far (by a long shot), so I figured that I'd let them put ads on my blog. I'll go out of my way to tell my family and friends not to click on them, but all of those suckers that have no idea who I am, might as well click away. If you use gmail, or quite a number of different things, you have seen how they have an automated system that pulls key words out of your emails or whatever it is, and try to determine which of their current clients' ads are somehow related to something that was mentioned in the writing. I have no idea how much they actually pay per click, but I'm sure that it's not much. One thing that I can guarantee, is that I will donate every penny made to World Vision (my charity of choice). That being said, please forgive me for "selling out" to the corporate ad pushers.
Hopefully tomorrow will be more entertaining.
Stay tuned.
I took a few days off of the blog because I've been really quite ill. I still went in to work everyday, but it took enough out of me that I didn't even feel like sitting up in front of the computer. Three days later, I'm not quite over it yet, so I'll keep it short.
If you've been following for that long, I said a few months ago, that if I got to 1,000 hits, I'd contemplate agreeing to the ads that are being suggested to me. Now, I'm over 1,000 hits, from more than 20 different countries, and February has been my biggest month so far (by a long shot), so I figured that I'd let them put ads on my blog. I'll go out of my way to tell my family and friends not to click on them, but all of those suckers that have no idea who I am, might as well click away. If you use gmail, or quite a number of different things, you have seen how they have an automated system that pulls key words out of your emails or whatever it is, and try to determine which of their current clients' ads are somehow related to something that was mentioned in the writing. I have no idea how much they actually pay per click, but I'm sure that it's not much. One thing that I can guarantee, is that I will donate every penny made to World Vision (my charity of choice). That being said, please forgive me for "selling out" to the corporate ad pushers.
Hopefully tomorrow will be more entertaining.
Stay tuned.
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