More Blizzard

Hi there!  Welcome to my Winter Wonderland!

We have had a 3-day blizzard and lazypants here hasn't written a thing. I posted some Facebook tidbits, but no real writing. It's almost time for bed, so of course this is when I decide to get serious. Oh well, maybe I will prove my laziness and just copy the stuff I put on FB. Sorry for those of you who read this and are FB friends.


I had a great weekend cheering for the Under 18 Boy's basketball team.  Go Blizzard!  More prophetic than anyone wanted.  Teams arrived on Friday from all over Nunavut along with 2 refs from Yellowknife and 2 from Winnipeg.  It was a great weekend of entertaining basketball and a gold medal game that went into overtime with a 61-61 tie.  Our local boys won making it an even more festive atmosphere.  Even before lunch on Sunday, though, people were talking about the approaching blizzard that had not been predicted on the Friday.  I should jump ahead - spoiler alert -- they are all still in town.  The 6 other teams (Pond Inlet got stuck somewhere else and never did make it to the tournament) and their coaches are holed up in the arena.  Pity those teachers!  The 4 refs have it better as they were booked into a lodge.  As usual for kids' teams travelling in the North, the kids and coaches slept on gym mats on the floor in classrooms.  However, they were moved out on Sunday night.  School was actually opened on Monday morning but within the hour the blizzard got worse AND the school had run out of water so the few kids who had even bothered to come were sent home.  I was really sorry for the ref who happens to be a school teacher in Winnipeg.  He has to pay for his own sub when he is away.  Ouch.  They may get out tomorrow (Thursday).



 This picture is actually from the blizzard LAST weekend.  You can see the reflection of my camera near the top middle.  That building is the old Co-op and it is being renovated.

This is what it looked like trying to get out the entrance to the 12-plex (the name of my building).  Those two sticks leaning from the far left of the photo are part of the fencing that goes around the whole building.  I have been told we have a family of arctic hare living under us.  Folks complained about catching their pants, etc. and it has finally been fixed.  I was more worried about keeping in(or out) the fox or wolf kits that I have also been told live under us.  Do they really co-exist?  Hmmmm.





Want to complain about your job?

This is the new community hall being built next to the arena. I took this from my living room window. I was cozy. This guy? Not so much.

If it ever loads (it has been 12 minutes) -- this is the far entrance to the 12-plex (we have one entrance at each end of the building).  I fianlly went out to check on the strange screaming sound.  Enjoy.

So we got sent home on Monday and now it is Wednesday night.  The building ran out of water this morning.  Jeneth (teacher friend and lives across the hall) said it is more likely our sewage is full than that we have no water.  The water truck made three deliveries to us on early Monday morning but the sewage truck only took away one load.  It is a safety system to cut the water so you don't overflow the sewage tank.  People were heading out around noon to collect snow to melt for water - but Jeneth reminded them not to put it down the drain or toilet.  I had kept enough water that I was fine - plus I had pop and juice.  Up until this morning I had only flushed my toilet 3 times and of course had not touched the shower, dishes, or laundry.  I did my part.

I may give up on this video -- it is STILL attempting to upload.  Did I mention in the past that I have lousy internet service?  If you send me cute things and I don't respond then I may not have seen them.  I am not that patient.


I call this last photo:
"Here comes the sun .... and the plow (and someone desperate to get wherever the plow is going)."




This is actually the first bit of sun we have seen since Saturday. It doesn't show in the photo, but it was a strange yellow colour.



I heard that tonight was the last Bingo of the year.  They stop it for the holiday season -- the hope being that people will not gamble and use the money to buy food and gifts for their family.  I went out to buy cards and actually enjoyed the fresh air.  It was a bit nuts getting down the front steps but after that I was fine.  The wind has died down from the crazy 100 kph it got up to.  I got within two numbers but didn't win anything.  Better luck in 2012!

And on that note - Good Night!!


PS: I gave up on the video after 1 1/2 hours.......                                                                              

Questions

Hi there
A blog reader had a question and I thought I would answer it here for everyone.  Just like we always say in class, "There are no silly questions - and chances are someone else is wondering the very same thing".

The question had to do with my post where I talked about conserving water during a blizzard.  You other Northerners (present and former) reading this can stop now and go back to whatever.

The short answer has to do with the water truck.  If you know a blizzard is looming you fill all your containers, do your laundry and dishes, and have a bath.  If the blizzard hits without warning then you just go without clean dishes and hair.  It is important to conserve water because the water truck may not be able to make deliveries.  The same for the sewage truck - hence the not flushing and other water wasting habits we have.


Thanks for the question.  If you have any thoughts you want to share send them to me via this site or my email (teachingismyreasonforliving@yahoo.ca).  I know that other folks will appreciate your bravery.  It is a my fault that I make assumptions and leave out tiny details that help make the big picture much clearer.  I need all the help I can get -- so question away!

Bacon

Mama brought home the bacon tonight.  There was a square dance at the hall in honour of Harold Goobie who is retiring as our superintendent.  Lots of folks attended and there was the usual singing, live music, dancing, and games.  I think I described this game before - but it is the one where there are prizes in the middle of the floor and the people playing make a circle and then roll a die to try and get the given number.  Tonight the number was six.  If you rolled a six you got to grab a prize from the pile and place it in front of you.  Once all the prizes were gone from the middle you then got to "steal" from someone else.  There was a HUGE box of chocolates that was very popular.  So was a rice cooker and surprisingly a bottle of dish soap and a box of dryer sheets.  I had my eye on some light bulbs and an electric heating pad.  There were 5 dice going around and for the life of me I could not throw a six.  However, it only counts at the end -- or if you pick an unpopular prize at the start you just might get to keep it.  I finally got lucky about 10 minutes in and someone had just taken the heating pad.  I could have taken it out of her hands on the fly, but I went for the light bulbs.  Two more throws and then I hit a six in the last minute.  I went for the pad and was able to hold onto it.  From zero to hero; I ended the game with ot one, but two prizes.  Like I said, mama brought home the bacon tonight, kids.

PS I also danced

Blizzard Pic

You can't see how fast the wind is whipping the snow around and you can't hear the howl, but this is the best I can offer in a still photo out my living room window. 

Enjoy.

I'm not going anywhere.

Cindy (who is sorry about the ghost camera upper centre)

Blizzard #1

It is a little after 6 AM and I just got the call that today is an official "Blizzard Day".  I am not going to count that day when the kids left an hour early.  Heck, that day I stayed at school until 7 PM and I had no trouble walking home.  Today looks nasty out the window.  I am wishing I had remembered to bring home the novel study book for my Grade 12 class because I am not going to leave the apartment.  In fact, the Environment Canada website predicts a 2-day blizzard.  It says that the temperature is a balmy -19 but the wind chill is the kicker at -33.

Now to remember the unwritten rules of the North and blizzards:
1. No doing laundry
2. No showers.
3. No doing dishes.
4. If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down.

Now to turn off the computer and go make sure I have spare jugs of water, blankets, flashlights, candles and matches.

Cheers.

Cindy (who is kicking herself that she didn't borrow someone's hard drive with a bunch of movies)

Runway Model

I wish I had paid more attention to shows like Project Runway or Fashion TV.  It would have come in handy up here to have been more of a girly-girl.  Oh, I'm not talking about clothes or anything like that.  I'm talking about knowing how to walk the catwalk -- the ability to walk in a straight line by placing one foot directly in front of the other and not falling over.  I've seen it done, but if I had actually done it in heels I might now be able to do it in boots.  People coming North should have lessons in walking a straight line in a pair of big boots.  Take note any potential future Northerners.

You see, on days when it has snowed there are often tire tracks to follow.  These tracks are narrow, so to walk without sinking in the deeper snow on the sides you have to walk by crossing your thighs.  You don't look graceful but you save yourself boots full of snow.  The not so great option is to save one boot and pant bottom and do the one-foot-in, one-foot-out, hobble walk.  If the snow gods are on your side, the tracks might be from an ATV instead of a truck.  Then you can do the straddle walk -- one foot in each track.  You look like you have a full diaper but you don't get snow inside your boots.  Sometimes you get really lucky and two vehicles have gone by close to each other and you get to walk with one foot in each tire track and only a small ridge in between your feet.  That is heavenly.  Hey - don't make fun of what goes for pleasure around here.

Cheers,
Cindy (who will practice walking in heels)

New Apartment

I've been here for a few weeks now - but never got around to sending out pictures.  I just reviewed them and think I may wait a few more weeks until the place is tidier.  Why I take photos when the mood strikes me rather than when it would look better is beyond me.  However, I do like the one of my new view.  This is from out of my bedroom window:

Of course, the lake is now frozen so the view is not as interesting.  Also, there is now no view at all out of my bedroom window -- as I was busy last weekend.  I call this picture "Sun Protection".

I know we are almost as far from the nights of sun as we can get - but I might as well get the full benfits of my labour.  Besides, this way I don't have to wear my eyemask.  However, I do have to take the phone off the charger and put a towel over the clock radio (pesky light spillage).  At least I don't have to put a towel under the door and hang my robe down the crack like I had to in Tasiujaq.  In this apartment the closet juts out and creates a barrier between the head of my bed and the door.
I thought I would try a combo of garbage bags and tinfoil.  I brought the garbage bags from off the window in the 8-plex (this new place is referred to by everyone as "the 12-plex") and some of them had fused together from the heat!  Any Northerners reading this can feel free to share their experiences.  I failed to look on the internet to see if there was an essay entitled "Plastic vs Tinfoil: Window Coverings in Canada's Arctic".  Hey - anyone out there in need of a thesis?  Science Fair project?


Cheers,
Cindy  (back to cleaning the stovetop; not like the old days in Montreal when I moved if it was time to clean the oven)

Shocking

Winter is really here.  The true test of winter is when you get little electric shocks all day long - and big ones when you touch the light switch.  I thought Baker Lake was going to be different - maybe something with the inland climate....I don't know; but I was wrong (sadly, very wrong).  I hate those little shocks.  I spend my day touching metal so I won't get a great big one.  I get off my chair and touch my filing cabinet.  I move to the whiteboard and touch the metal railing.  Sometimes I keep my hand on it - but if I don't, then I touch the TV before turning away from the board.  (At this point I know that I look like someone with a bad case of the ritual touching need -- OCD, like Monk on TV).  There is nothing metal along the short wall so I have no choice but to get a wee shock as I touch the door jamb.  If I have to turn the lights off I touch the other door jamb and then the metal plate before I touch the switch -- just an added precaution.  Coming into my class is fun.  The door is always locked so I touch my key to the lock and watch the pretty blue spark (hateful things).  At least that one doesn't travel up my arm.  The other day I kept adding water to a kettle in the staffroom because I wouldn't unplug it.  I hate electricity.  Before I got my automatic shut off kettle, the only one I owned was a stovetop deal.  Getting the picture of Cindy and electricity.....  So, I can't wait for winter to be over - and it has nothing to do with parkas and boots and everything to do with being able to walk around freely and not cringe before touching a metal surface.  Hurry up Spring.

Cindy (who is wondering if wearing only cotton will help.  Hmmmm)

Snow Hare

I just saw a huge snow hare hopping across the road.  I was heading home and so was s/he.  I nearly ran into the hare; it might have come right at me if I hadn't yelled at it.  I pointed it out to two of my students and they told me that earlier in the day they saw wolf tracks out on the ice.

 Two of my building mates were out having a smoke and I mentioned the hare.  They told me there is a family of them living under the school. Not so cute was the news that there is a wolf kit under our building. WHAT??!!! Don't tell mom.  Never mind the tracks out on the ice - they saw them at the corner of our place.  Ohhh yay........