Partly cloudy, high of +7, light winds. My day off. Wishing I could teleport to parc lafontaine for the afternoon with a 6 pack of PBR, bag full of snacks, a book, a blanket, maybe even some good company.
Although the weather is what I expected it to be, I am craving a a sunny, sticky 30 degree day, stuck under a tree, or rolling around in grass, or even poolside. Oh to dream.
I shall spend tomorrow sleeping in with the cat, cleaning the house, possibly some baking, (while rocking out to austra) and a mid afternoon stroll. I've started a book on real estate investing - I may just reserve that for bedtime reading.
that's about it, just checking in with the few who follow (I know I've been slacking - sorry). I'm making a concious effort to post more often, even if its not so "Pond" related. This gives you more time to check out that austra video I linked to :)
~A
Showing posts with label Pond Inlet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pond Inlet. Show all posts
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
could you go to the store and get me an ice cream sandwich preeze?
like one of those oreo cookie ones, or the resees pb cup variety - oh my.
The Arctic Girl's Shopping Sanctuary
As much as I like to keep my spending dollars local, the selection can be scarce, and getting mail is like Christmas. If I could order kitty litter online and avoid the co-op (basically $40 for gravel in bag) I would. Thank goodness for sealift.
Now Canada Post is completely locked out, holding 3 of my packages hostage; and several of my co-workers paychecks, I shall digress now before I get myself into trouble. In lieu of making my daily trip to check in on the post mistress, I've created a handy, make shift shopping guide for you to enjoy. I'll try to keep it updated as I try new stores along the way, but as you can tell my blog has been getting the shaft lately (not my fault, I'm reading a riveting book on real estate investing). so here we go:
Well.ca - awesome
These guys get alot of my money. I've placed 13 orders with them in the 14 or so weeks we have been here. The selection is pretty decent and expedited shipping is free! This is a huge deal. I get most orders within 5-7 business days (when Canada post is not in strike mode). You get hand written thank you's and smiley faces with your invoice ,and the customer service is always great (says a lot coming from the queen of CS).
Amazon.ca - thumbs way up
I've placed one order with Amazon when we first arrived to Pond. It was for 4 books, and it was placed on a weekend. Amazon had my order out the door on a Sunday and it arrived on Thursday. Free shipping if you $25 or more order from amazon - other suppliers count but the shipping is reasonable.
I placed another order on Amazon but from an independent seller - that one took a bit longer but the price was reasonable (about 6 bucks)
Sears.ca - thumbs down
5 week delivery, poor poor customer service (after several calls, speaking with several people, the manager I spoke with talked over me, raised his voice when I had objections and then hung up on me). unaceptable. I did hear from someone on the executive team so if you have issues with there CS - I have the hook up. He gave me a partial refund, but the experience was too rotten, I won't be ordering from them again.
Horseloverz.com - thumbs up
Don't let the name fool you, Horseloverz.com also sells items for cats, dogs, birds, ferrets and fish. I stumbled upon these guys on ebay while shopping for kitty supplies. The shipping is based by how much your order cost, shipping starts $16 for fedex (who uses first air from dorval, not canada post for deliveries)
They recently had free shipping on orders over $150, so I gave them another try. You won't find this from petonly.ca who wanted to charge me an additional 90 to ship a litterbox and cat fountain (from ontario). Horseloverz only charged me 25 (from Pennsylvania). Customer service was great to work with, they went out of their way to make sure my order got here, even though they did not have a physical address to give to fed ex. It arrived within 2 weeks. Some cons are an order processing fee and they do charge duty up front rather than leaving it up to customs.
Gap - Thumbs Up
You can also shop at sister sites Old Navy and Banana Republic with one check out and free shipping on a $50 order. Returns are free as well! My order came in less than 2 weeks, the invoice came with a prepaid return label. I just packed up the clothes that I wasn't smitten with & within 2 weeks I had a refund.
drugstore.com decent!
I took advantage of a flat rate shipping promo of $12.99. I was able to get a few items that are hard to find on Canadian sites and are unavailable in the north like Buf-Puf Body Sponges, Dryel and StayPut Elastics. DHL ships to Ottawa and passes the package on to Canadian North.
sephora.com -
Free shipping over $120, items ship through the borderfree service from the US. Tracking is available and the customer service has always been good. My order arrived in less than 10 days. If your reading this from the north or plan on moving here, you have to check this out. PLUS they always give you a choice of at least 3 free samples (guys and girls) and there are tones of promos and codes for extra goodies!
Tiger Direct.ca - meah
M placed and order and had a hard time with getting info from customer service, the order kept getting held for "address verification discrepancies". I think it took a week to get the order out the door but it got here.
Futureshop.ca
Ordered a PSP for M and it got here in about a week - free shipping too!
There are a few other sites I have read or heard about that I will add below, but am not sure how dated the info is so if you have any input please leave a comment :)
Now Canada Post is completely locked out, holding 3 of my packages hostage; and several of my co-workers paychecks, I shall digress now before I get myself into trouble. In lieu of making my daily trip to check in on the post mistress, I've created a handy, make shift shopping guide for you to enjoy. I'll try to keep it updated as I try new stores along the way, but as you can tell my blog has been getting the shaft lately (not my fault, I'm reading a riveting book on real estate investing). so here we go:
Well.ca - awesome
These guys get alot of my money. I've placed 13 orders with them in the 14 or so weeks we have been here. The selection is pretty decent and expedited shipping is free! This is a huge deal. I get most orders within 5-7 business days (when Canada post is not in strike mode). You get hand written thank you's and smiley faces with your invoice ,and the customer service is always great (says a lot coming from the queen of CS).
Amazon.ca - thumbs way up
I've placed one order with Amazon when we first arrived to Pond. It was for 4 books, and it was placed on a weekend. Amazon had my order out the door on a Sunday and it arrived on Thursday. Free shipping if you $25 or more order from amazon - other suppliers count but the shipping is reasonable.
I placed another order on Amazon but from an independent seller - that one took a bit longer but the price was reasonable (about 6 bucks)
Sears.ca - thumbs down
5 week delivery, poor poor customer service (after several calls, speaking with several people, the manager I spoke with talked over me, raised his voice when I had objections and then hung up on me). unaceptable. I did hear from someone on the executive team so if you have issues with there CS - I have the hook up. He gave me a partial refund, but the experience was too rotten, I won't be ordering from them again.
Horseloverz.com - thumbs up
Don't let the name fool you, Horseloverz.com also sells items for cats, dogs, birds, ferrets and fish. I stumbled upon these guys on ebay while shopping for kitty supplies. The shipping is based by how much your order cost, shipping starts $16 for fedex (who uses first air from dorval, not canada post for deliveries)
They recently had free shipping on orders over $150, so I gave them another try. You won't find this from petonly.ca who wanted to charge me an additional 90 to ship a litterbox and cat fountain (from ontario). Horseloverz only charged me 25 (from Pennsylvania). Customer service was great to work with, they went out of their way to make sure my order got here, even though they did not have a physical address to give to fed ex. It arrived within 2 weeks. Some cons are an order processing fee and they do charge duty up front rather than leaving it up to customs.
Gap - Thumbs Up
You can also shop at sister sites Old Navy and Banana Republic with one check out and free shipping on a $50 order. Returns are free as well! My order came in less than 2 weeks, the invoice came with a prepaid return label. I just packed up the clothes that I wasn't smitten with & within 2 weeks I had a refund.
drugstore.com decent!
I took advantage of a flat rate shipping promo of $12.99. I was able to get a few items that are hard to find on Canadian sites and are unavailable in the north like Buf-Puf Body Sponges, Dryel and StayPut Elastics. DHL ships to Ottawa and passes the package on to Canadian North.
sephora.com -
Free shipping over $120, items ship through the borderfree service from the US. Tracking is available and the customer service has always been good. My order arrived in less than 10 days. If your reading this from the north or plan on moving here, you have to check this out. PLUS they always give you a choice of at least 3 free samples (guys and girls) and there are tones of promos and codes for extra goodies!
Tiger Direct.ca - meah
M placed and order and had a hard time with getting info from customer service, the order kept getting held for "address verification discrepancies". I think it took a week to get the order out the door but it got here.
Futureshop.ca
Ordered a PSP for M and it got here in about a week - free shipping too!
There are a few other sites I have read or heard about that I will add below, but am not sure how dated the info is so if you have any input please leave a comment :)
costco.ca
londondrugs.com
thebodyshop.ca
yvesrocher.ca
lush.ca
bathandbodyworks.com
victoriassecret.com
lasenza.ca
Friday, April 29, 2011
about Pond
Now that we are getting settled, it's time to tell you a little about our pretty little hamlet:
The Inuktitut name for Pond Inlet is Mittimatalik - translating to the place where Mitima is buried.
The community is designated as a Hamlet - the largest of 4 in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut on Baffin Island, just above the 72nd parallel, (Santa stops by for tea sometimes)
As of the 2006 census the population was over 1,300, I would guess it is closer to 1,500 now.
There are 2 main stores, Northern and Co-Op, a small convenience store, 2 hotels, an elementary and a junior/senior high school, some government offices.
It's very pretty, and the community is very welcoming. You can admire the mountains and late nite sunsets, and watch the planes land and take off. You can see dog teams playing and waiting for their supper, and huge ice burgs stuck in the frozen ocean. You can even take a Skidoo ride to the flow edge or visit the ice caves.
If your lucky you may see some of the local wildlife: Caribou, Ringed Seal, Narwhals or Polar Bears.
The ravens are enormous and eye the cat through the window as a snack regularly.
The main mode of transportation is skidoo or Honda's (ATV's). The only way in or out is by plane. Most of our general merchandise and food is flown in from Montreal, about 3 times a week.
The Inuktitut name for Pond Inlet is Mittimatalik - translating to the place where Mitima is buried.
The community is designated as a Hamlet - the largest of 4 in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut on Baffin Island, just above the 72nd parallel, (Santa stops by for tea sometimes)
As of the 2006 census the population was over 1,300, I would guess it is closer to 1,500 now.
There are 2 main stores, Northern and Co-Op, a small convenience store, 2 hotels, an elementary and a junior/senior high school, some government offices.
It's very pretty, and the community is very welcoming. You can admire the mountains and late nite sunsets, and watch the planes land and take off. You can see dog teams playing and waiting for their supper, and huge ice burgs stuck in the frozen ocean. You can even take a Skidoo ride to the flow edge or visit the ice caves.
If your lucky you may see some of the local wildlife: Caribou, Ringed Seal, Narwhals or Polar Bears.
The ravens are enormous and eye the cat through the window as a snack regularly.
The main mode of transportation is skidoo or Honda's (ATV's). The only way in or out is by plane. Most of our general merchandise and food is flown in from Montreal, about 3 times a week.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Day 45 - patiently waiting
For spring weather, none to be found in Pond yet. It's a sunny, calm -28, and surprisingly quite tolerable. One gust of wind and I would be eating those words. I don't expect to see anything above 0 until June. By then I should be able to bust out the fishing rod (and maybe a tan??).
Life has been calm and uneventful these past weeks, and even though we are only 6 weeks in to life in the north, I am hoping to have more to offer for people looking to relocate to the north. It took me so long to even begin to find any info on what it would be like to live in the arctic, and blogs were the only means to find decent information. I spent months reading and following and making lists, with out them I would have been ill prepared.
I guess we really haven't come across much excitement as of yet. I eagerly await mail, most recently a pilates mat and some dvd's, phone calls from home, or taking a walk (usually ended by loss of feeling in one or more appendages). In our short time here I am starting to appreciate the slower pace of life more & more, what it has done for my health and my sanity :) My daily frustrations are at a minimum and 'waiting' for stuff is common place. working a 12 hour day sitting behind a desk was exhausting, and although the days can be tiring, I have never been so free of stress and anxiety in as long as I can remember. It's refreshing. speaking of ... Tuesday provided mild excitement and stress relief, office space styles:
Someone returned a defective tv. There was a dent in the box so we figure the screen was damaged in shipping. We plugged it in and no go, so we had to write the sucker off. The manager said we would need to destroy it and take it to the dump so people wouldn't try to take it home. We gladly obliged and pounded the piss out of it. I wish I could do that more often.
The rest of my evening consists of housewifery, supper, laundry, and a long hot soak. The life.
Til next time,
A
Life has been calm and uneventful these past weeks, and even though we are only 6 weeks in to life in the north, I am hoping to have more to offer for people looking to relocate to the north. It took me so long to even begin to find any info on what it would be like to live in the arctic, and blogs were the only means to find decent information. I spent months reading and following and making lists, with out them I would have been ill prepared.
I guess we really haven't come across much excitement as of yet. I eagerly await mail, most recently a pilates mat and some dvd's, phone calls from home, or taking a walk (usually ended by loss of feeling in one or more appendages). In our short time here I am starting to appreciate the slower pace of life more & more, what it has done for my health and my sanity :) My daily frustrations are at a minimum and 'waiting' for stuff is common place. working a 12 hour day sitting behind a desk was exhausting, and although the days can be tiring, I have never been so free of stress and anxiety in as long as I can remember. It's refreshing. speaking of ... Tuesday provided mild excitement and stress relief, office space styles:
 |
| welcome to the Pond dump |
 |
| Matt did the most damage |
 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| but we were not leaving until I had a few goes at it. |
Someone returned a defective tv. There was a dent in the box so we figure the screen was damaged in shipping. We plugged it in and no go, so we had to write the sucker off. The manager said we would need to destroy it and take it to the dump so people wouldn't try to take it home. We gladly obliged and pounded the piss out of it. I wish I could do that more often.
The rest of my evening consists of housewifery, supper, laundry, and a long hot soak. The life.
Til next time,
A
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Whats new pussycat?
I told myself that I wouldn't get behind on blogging, but its not my fault I swear :P
After passing our cap last month we were booted to dial up. This is when A goes on internet hiatus.
This may or may not have trickled over to the last 13 days or so, 4-6 of which our little hamlet has had intermittent internet access because they decided to move the dish without warning - I don't even want to get into the bad timing and havoc, maybe in another post
The Nutrition North Canada program launched on April 1st (replacing the food mail program). There has been some mixed feelings to say the least or the actual savings vs the food mail program. I haven't been hear long enough to see the rise and fall of prices since the program was first announced last spring but, I'm not sure that the commentors are taking into consideration the mother of 4 on assistance who doesn't have the luxury of extra food in the cupboard to wait around for food mail or extra cash to stock up on sea lift. You also have to factor not only the cost of flying all of your groceries into your community, but the cost of staff and shrinkage from damaged goods, bad produce and theft. And please don't complain that bacon and ice cream did not get cheaper, these do not fall under the category of nutritious. I digress.
Lots of new faces in the store as a few people left. Head office decided create an 'office supervisor' position, it would be nice to see someone from Pond get the job. I did mention the position to one of our office staff as I thought she would be a good fit. She spoke with our manager and Winnipeg is making the final call, so she will need to dust off her resume. My fingers are crossed for her.
M finally found a hairdresser - thank goodness because his split ends could poke your eye out.
We both found some pretty sweet bikes, I was expecting to open a box of something archaic looking for $300, but I jumped on an took a little ride around the warehouse and fell in love. Sadly, it's been a long while since I have found excitement in a new purchase. And with all the online ordering I've been doing rarely does the opportunity arise. I can't wait to take that baby out for a spin though the hills of pond, camera bag in tow, snapping pictures of the sites. Fishing and camping trips, drunk nights on the patio. le sigh, hurry up summer!
An 11 year old and her friend stopped to talk to me as I was socking some baby stuff. As one of the girls showed me her new glasses with excitement, the next, buts in with just as must excitement, announcing that she was pregnant. She very clear that she was 11 years old, and she was pregnant. Now I've had people tell me that girls usually start having babies here at 14, and my gut tells me that she was just trying to get a reaction, by for a moment I thought, my god, this poor child is excited.
Your heart breaks a little. How do you respond to something like that? I responded by ignoring it and talking to the other young girl about her glasses. In the south, reactions would be quite different. When I see and hear things that shock and amaze, I always stop and remind myself that I am far, far away from home, and much farther from knowing about the culture and ways of the people here.
So that's are my catch up rambles for now. Provided the internet behaves, I'll post new photos and update you soon!
A
After passing our cap last month we were booted to dial up. This is when A goes on internet hiatus.
This may or may not have trickled over to the last 13 days or so, 4-6 of which our little hamlet has had intermittent internet access because they decided to move the dish without warning - I don't even want to get into the bad timing and havoc, maybe in another post
The Nutrition North Canada program launched on April 1st (replacing the food mail program). There has been some mixed feelings to say the least or the actual savings vs the food mail program. I haven't been hear long enough to see the rise and fall of prices since the program was first announced last spring but, I'm not sure that the commentors are taking into consideration the mother of 4 on assistance who doesn't have the luxury of extra food in the cupboard to wait around for food mail or extra cash to stock up on sea lift. You also have to factor not only the cost of flying all of your groceries into your community, but the cost of staff and shrinkage from damaged goods, bad produce and theft. And please don't complain that bacon and ice cream did not get cheaper, these do not fall under the category of nutritious. I digress.
Lots of new faces in the store as a few people left. Head office decided create an 'office supervisor' position, it would be nice to see someone from Pond get the job. I did mention the position to one of our office staff as I thought she would be a good fit. She spoke with our manager and Winnipeg is making the final call, so she will need to dust off her resume. My fingers are crossed for her.
M finally found a hairdresser - thank goodness because his split ends could poke your eye out.
We both found some pretty sweet bikes, I was expecting to open a box of something archaic looking for $300, but I jumped on an took a little ride around the warehouse and fell in love. Sadly, it's been a long while since I have found excitement in a new purchase. And with all the online ordering I've been doing rarely does the opportunity arise. I can't wait to take that baby out for a spin though the hills of pond, camera bag in tow, snapping pictures of the sites. Fishing and camping trips, drunk nights on the patio. le sigh, hurry up summer!
An 11 year old and her friend stopped to talk to me as I was socking some baby stuff. As one of the girls showed me her new glasses with excitement, the next, buts in with just as must excitement, announcing that she was pregnant. She very clear that she was 11 years old, and she was pregnant. Now I've had people tell me that girls usually start having babies here at 14, and my gut tells me that she was just trying to get a reaction, by for a moment I thought, my god, this poor child is excited.
Your heart breaks a little. How do you respond to something like that? I responded by ignoring it and talking to the other young girl about her glasses. In the south, reactions would be quite different. When I see and hear things that shock and amaze, I always stop and remind myself that I am far, far away from home, and much farther from knowing about the culture and ways of the people here.
So that's are my catch up rambles for now. Provided the internet behaves, I'll post new photos and update you soon!
A
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Day 24 - whole lotta nuthin
Nothing terribly exciting to report. Sorry.
We are just getting settled into our new home and new jobs, so we haven't had much time or means for any big adventures yet.
I've been a bit bored at work lately, stuck working in the office filling in for someone on vacation. It's mundane as hell and I hate it, but I keep reminding myself I have it made here and to suck it up. I think it's cause I've been sitting behind a desk for so long that the thought of a new job where I could move about.
Well I got the chance to move about last night. We had a cargo plane come in with ~400 pieces of freight around 9pm. There was no one left at the store, so I volunteered to help my better half and the manager grab the stuff from the plane. Well, hilarity ensued when 'a lady' hit the tarmac, one guy looked right at me and said "oh no" in the most worrisome voice. There was much laughing and warning me that boxes of KD were "heavy". Mild jerkiness from the co-op guy when he would try to make me miss a projectile box. All in all I held my own and about 90 minutes later we filled 2 vans to and headed back to unload. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the plane, and the laughing/concerned faces.
Tomorrow is my day off and I have just been booted down to dial up, so you may not see/hear from me til next week, but I thought a little follow up was due.
TTFN,
A
We are just getting settled into our new home and new jobs, so we haven't had much time or means for any big adventures yet.
I've been a bit bored at work lately, stuck working in the office filling in for someone on vacation. It's mundane as hell and I hate it, but I keep reminding myself I have it made here and to suck it up. I think it's cause I've been sitting behind a desk for so long that the thought of a new job where I could move about.
Well I got the chance to move about last night. We had a cargo plane come in with ~400 pieces of freight around 9pm. There was no one left at the store, so I volunteered to help my better half and the manager grab the stuff from the plane. Well, hilarity ensued when 'a lady' hit the tarmac, one guy looked right at me and said "oh no" in the most worrisome voice. There was much laughing and warning me that boxes of KD were "heavy". Mild jerkiness from the co-op guy when he would try to make me miss a projectile box. All in all I held my own and about 90 minutes later we filled 2 vans to and headed back to unload. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the plane, and the laughing/concerned faces.
Tomorrow is my day off and I have just been booted down to dial up, so you may not see/hear from me til next week, but I thought a little follow up was due.
TTFN,
A
Monday, March 21, 2011
photo time
Long awaited photo time. The camera has a hard time capturing the beauty that is the north, this was the best I could do until I figure out how to use this beast.
 |
| The flag pole we see when we walk out the door |
 |
| our house |
 |
| our house is on top of this hill |
 |
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
gorging
This post has nothing to do with the north. I would like to talk a bit about gorging in hopes I will review this later, maybe even next time I decide it would be a good idea to indulge in soda, nacho chips and reese pieces eggies. I feel like a beached narwhal, and could puke rainbows.
Lets review the cost of now nauseating binge session:
1 can soda $2.25
large bag of nacho chips $9.99
large bag of reeses pieces unknown - I'm guessing $7-$9
The end
Lets review the cost of now nauseating binge session:
1 can soda $2.25
large bag of nacho chips $9.99
large bag of reeses pieces unknown - I'm guessing $7-$9
The end
Friday, March 11, 2011
Day 11 - A day off in Pond
What to do when you have a day off in an isolated hamlet
Sleep in
stay in PJ's til at least 1 eating junk food, watching star trek reruns.
Call from online petstore to tell me they need an extra $130 to cover shipping on my order I placed 5 days ago. Politely tell said company to stuff it and boasted the wonders of ebay and amazon's free shipping.
Decide its time to go outside and blow off shipping extortion steam
Go to the co-op and browse around
Make mental note of all things you can not find at Northern that Co-op has
Make another mental note that kitty litter comes in a bigger bag and is $10 cheeper
oh look, they have hazelnut non-dairy coffee whitener - another mental note
buy huge can of starbucks vanilla double shot energy+coffee ( Only 5.99!)
go to hamlet office to find out what you need to bring to get a Nunavut license
back to Northern to replenish junk foods and pick up package from amazon*
Home to drop off groceries, grab stuff for license, grab movie rental
Reorder kitty's stuff, cheaper and no shipping extortion.
Head to Ulaajuk elementary school for bake sale (I'm a sucker for cupcakes)
Back to Hamlet office to get M's license moved over to NU.
Make mental note of gun safety registration:)
Mental note to get fishing license
Share the plethora of cupcakes we bought with ladies at hamlet office
Off to health center to get NU health cards
Back to Northern to drop off movie rental
Share cupcakes with co-workers
Home to nice warm house on the hill
Looks over grocery receipt, shakes head at $20.99 kitty litter, $12.49 bag of fries, $8.65 chips.
Time for some lazing, trolling, online shopping
Cleaned out one of the 4 bedrooms, mysterious coloured doughy substance stuck to bookshelf dresser and walls. Grab mister clean and disinfect area.
Find old TV in storage - disappoint that it does not function
Set up Wii on working TV
update the world on my super stimulating day :)
There you have it, a day off in a northern hamlet above the 72nd parallel.
* free shipping on 4 books, arrived in just 5 days. Amazon is my new shopping buddy, expect your Christmas presents from them.
Sleep in
stay in PJ's til at least 1 eating junk food, watching star trek reruns.
Call from online petstore to tell me they need an extra $130 to cover shipping on my order I placed 5 days ago. Politely tell said company to stuff it and boasted the wonders of ebay and amazon's free shipping.
Decide its time to go outside and blow off shipping extortion steam
Go to the co-op and browse around
Make mental note of all things you can not find at Northern that Co-op has
Make another mental note that kitty litter comes in a bigger bag and is $10 cheeper
oh look, they have hazelnut non-dairy coffee whitener - another mental note
buy huge can of starbucks vanilla double shot energy+coffee ( Only 5.99!)
go to hamlet office to find out what you need to bring to get a Nunavut license
back to Northern to replenish junk foods and pick up package from amazon*
Home to drop off groceries, grab stuff for license, grab movie rental
Reorder kitty's stuff, cheaper and no shipping extortion.
Head to Ulaajuk elementary school for bake sale (I'm a sucker for cupcakes)
Back to Hamlet office to get M's license moved over to NU.
Make mental note of gun safety registration:)
Mental note to get fishing license
Share the plethora of cupcakes we bought with ladies at hamlet office
Off to health center to get NU health cards
Back to Northern to drop off movie rental
Share cupcakes with co-workers
Home to nice warm house on the hill
Looks over grocery receipt, shakes head at $20.99 kitty litter, $12.49 bag of fries, $8.65 chips.
Time for some lazing, trolling, online shopping
Cleaned out one of the 4 bedrooms, mysterious coloured doughy substance stuck to bookshelf dresser and walls. Grab mister clean and disinfect area.
Find old TV in storage - disappoint that it does not function
Set up Wii on working TV
update the world on my super stimulating day :)
There you have it, a day off in a northern hamlet above the 72nd parallel.
* free shipping on 4 books, arrived in just 5 days. Amazon is my new shopping buddy, expect your Christmas presents from them.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
holly wind batman!
Had the day off today, spent the morning cleaning the kitchen and wandered off after lunch
to do some grocery shopping and attempt to find pants. $250 later, no pants. After putting away the groceries I figured I would go for a stroll, it was pretty nice out, I even got to the leave my hat home. Mother nature had other plans:
Cloudy. Becoming cloudy periods this evening. Blowing snow at times early this evening. Wind northeast 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming light this evening. Low minus 28. Wind chill minus 45 this evening.
to do some grocery shopping and attempt to find pants. $250 later, no pants. After putting away the groceries I figured I would go for a stroll, it was pretty nice out, I even got to the leave my hat home. Mother nature had other plans:
Cloudy. Becoming cloudy periods this evening. Blowing snow at times early this evening. Wind northeast 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming light this evening. Low minus 28. Wind chill minus 45 this evening.
I'd flip her the bird but I can't see 2 feet out my window - mother nature's cloaking device is activated. (and I have been watching to many SNG reruns).
In other news I did get around to taking some shots, the camera just does not do the north justice, but I picked the best few of the bunch - I'll keep practicing I promise. Once the wind dies down and the internet can handle uploading pics, I'll add them :)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Day 6
Ladies and gents,
Today's forecast calls for -24 and sun :)
We've been quite preoccupied with work, unpacking and tracking down packages with canada post ( we have a guitar that seems to have disappeared completely) so with that we haven't had the opportunity to bust out the camera yet, but I have a day off soon - pictures I promise.
We are starting to settle in to our cozy new home, the cat still loves us, and I just spent a small fortune ordering pet supplies, tofu, soy milk, advil etc, and books. Thanks to well.ca and amazon for the free shipping, the will be seeing a lot of me.
Although I can find the most outrageous sizes of coffee mate (no flavored - boo), and did stumble across a $15 tub of Ben&Jerry's, I can not locate any plain yogurt or any decent coffee. Hopefully I can order some in. I packed some beans that I picked up before leaving Montreal, but the magic bullet has vanished. I'll have to be creative and bust out the rolling pin, I will have decent coffee damnit!
These petty culinary grievances are outweighed by the beautiful picture I see out my window every morning, the friendly folk, and the pack of dogs I found under my house yesterday ( that I didn't dare start to play with for fear I would have the urge to take one in).
Off to work, pictures soon, promise!
A
Today's forecast calls for -24 and sun :)
We've been quite preoccupied with work, unpacking and tracking down packages with canada post ( we have a guitar that seems to have disappeared completely) so with that we haven't had the opportunity to bust out the camera yet, but I have a day off soon - pictures I promise.
We are starting to settle in to our cozy new home, the cat still loves us, and I just spent a small fortune ordering pet supplies, tofu, soy milk, advil etc, and books. Thanks to well.ca and amazon for the free shipping, the will be seeing a lot of me.
Although I can find the most outrageous sizes of coffee mate (no flavored - boo), and did stumble across a $15 tub of Ben&Jerry's, I can not locate any plain yogurt or any decent coffee. Hopefully I can order some in. I packed some beans that I picked up before leaving Montreal, but the magic bullet has vanished. I'll have to be creative and bust out the rolling pin, I will have decent coffee damnit!
These petty culinary grievances are outweighed by the beautiful picture I see out my window every morning, the friendly folk, and the pack of dogs I found under my house yesterday ( that I didn't dare start to play with for fear I would have the urge to take one in).
Off to work, pictures soon, promise!
A
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
we made it!
Me, him and the cat made it in one piece to Pond Inlet! With only 5 stop overs, 1 weather delay (nearly missed our connection in Iqaluit) Laavie was quiet the little lady, just calmly hanging out in her carrier, with the occasional meow for attention. She was promised lavish gifts would be ordered for her on account of outstanding behavior.
Our manager picked us up and helped us lug what luggage had arrived with us to the airport. We got a quick tour around our new 2 level 4 bedroom home, and the cat was more than happy to get out of her carrier and explore her new home. She has already picked out her new bedroom (spoiled) and started meowing at the storage room door.
Matt ran out to get a few items to tie us over for the night, then it was a long hot bath and a good nights sleep. Luckily we had today off to settle in.
When the sun started to show are the "fog" started to lift, I spent a good hour just staring out the window at the mountains and the dogs and sleds on the ice (photos soon I promise!). We took care of the internet (that put a big 'ol dent in my bank account) and picked up a few groceries and a much needed new pair of winter boots for me. I still haven't found a scarf though, so tomorrow I'll be busting out the balaclava. Our manager took us for a tour of the town and then dropped us off with our groceries and mail. The ice and the mountains are just beautiful, the air is clean, crisp and quiet but for the hum of ski-doos and the odd truck. The people have been so friendly and welcoming. The afternoon resulted in a mild cleaning spree and nap fest, interrupted by the delivery of our delayed baggage. Hoorah for warm gloves and xbox! Also my tripod so I can take some sweet shots for you very very soon.
PS, it was about -30 today, but no wind, so all in all a nice sunshiny day in le pond.
ttfn,
A
Our manager picked us up and helped us lug what luggage had arrived with us to the airport. We got a quick tour around our new 2 level 4 bedroom home, and the cat was more than happy to get out of her carrier and explore her new home. She has already picked out her new bedroom (spoiled) and started meowing at the storage room door.
Matt ran out to get a few items to tie us over for the night, then it was a long hot bath and a good nights sleep. Luckily we had today off to settle in.
When the sun started to show are the "fog" started to lift, I spent a good hour just staring out the window at the mountains and the dogs and sleds on the ice (photos soon I promise!). We took care of the internet (that put a big 'ol dent in my bank account) and picked up a few groceries and a much needed new pair of winter boots for me. I still haven't found a scarf though, so tomorrow I'll be busting out the balaclava. Our manager took us for a tour of the town and then dropped us off with our groceries and mail. The ice and the mountains are just beautiful, the air is clean, crisp and quiet but for the hum of ski-doos and the odd truck. The people have been so friendly and welcoming. The afternoon resulted in a mild cleaning spree and nap fest, interrupted by the delivery of our delayed baggage. Hoorah for warm gloves and xbox! Also my tripod so I can take some sweet shots for you very very soon.
PS, it was about -30 today, but no wind, so all in all a nice sunshiny day in le pond.
ttfn,
A
Friday, February 11, 2011
Pond Inlet
Got the call today - we are going to Pond Inlet. The photos that I have found look pretty amazing and we are both terribly excited to be moving so far north. Now to attempt to concentrate on my last big project before I leave.
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Today was unproductive at best.
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Today was unproductive at best.