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.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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.
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