Sleep-deprived and bleary-eyed

I feel a bit like my life has come full circle.

Here I sit, and have sat ... since 6 am, waiting for the "final word" with growing anticipation. You would have seen a similar Jackie perched in front of her clock radio a good five, ten years ago... tuning in religiously to "Magic 93"... fingers crossed and stomach in knots HOPING HOPING HOPING that they'd call a snow day and I could go back to bed.

Kind of ironic, seeing as I wouldn't be up at that time any OTHER morning.... just the days when a good ol' Nor'-East'r was predicted to worm its way up the coast. And dump a healthy serving of that fluffy white stuff on the island.

I went through serious withdrawal at Carleton. You paid for your education, and so it was your responsibility to take advantage of it. I think I could count on one hand ... make that maybe three fingers ... the number of times a class was canceled in my four years there. And always because of professor illness.

But here I am again. Sleep-deprived and bleary-eyed... waiting for that call. Waiting for my producer to ring me up and say "don't bother risking your life to come into work today" ... because at this point, I'm pretty sure that's what I'd be doing.

January's edition of Jackie vs. Northern winds would definitely have to be ruled against me. Yesterday was a blizzard day... and I thought myself a disgusting optimist for thinking today would be too (especially since things calmed down significantly late last night) but the weather reared its ugly, cold, windy head... and things stirred up again early this morning.

Generally I HATE that I live a twenty minute walk from work, at what feels like the ends of the earth by Rankin Inlet standards (the dreaded, and rarely-visited, "Area 6") but you know what? Blizzard days may very well be my favorite thing about the north. And if I lived (like two of my co-workers do) within 5 minutes of work, I simply wouldn't get the chance to enjoy them.

Now if only I had remembered to get groceries before it hit.

*stomach grumble*

Rankin Region including Whale Cove
3:27 AM CST Thursday 17 January 2008
Blizzard warning for
Rankin Region including Whale Cove continued

Widespread blizzard conditions are expected to continue through Friday in many communities.

This is a warning that blizzard conditions are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.

A major low pressure system northeast of Kivalliq in the Foxe basin will give northwest winds of 50 to 70 km/h with gusts at times up to 100 km/h to many communities in Kivalliq for today through Friday. As a result widespread blowing snow will give visibility less than 1 kilometre and much of the time visibility will be near-zero. Wind chill values will range from minus 45 to minus 50. Conditions are not expected to improve for several days.

Current visibility, at 6:44 AM: 0 km.