A Journey Northwards

A friendly reminder

2009-07-14T14:55:00.002-05:00

Hey folks,

Your friendly neighborhood blogger here.

As you've noticed, I've been posting truncated versions of my entries here on A Journey Northwards, with links to the new blog, Serendipity Now. I might do that a little longer still, but as far as I'm concerned business is closed over here.

So if it's not too much trouble, I ask you update your bookmarks/RSS readers or whatever gizmos you use to bring your fine selves to this here part of the interweb.

The new blog address, once again, is serendipitynow.wordpress.com
See you on the flipside!

Fanfare and such...

2009-07-13T16:46:00.001-05:00

I had my last Rankin Inlet hamlet council meeting this afternoon. And it was a strange experience.

I had to check my "story radar" at the door a bit. It seems I've conditioned myself to keep an updated mental list of "upcoming" stories. Now that I know I only have a week and a bit left... I no longer need that. It was weird to almost feel myself THINK the story idea, and then ~~put a big line through it.~~

But probably what will stick in my mind forever was the very end, just before they adjourned - when I told everyone it was my last meeting.

Making the most of my last month

2009-07-13T16:41:00.002-05:00

It's funny. When I tell people up here that I'm leaving, and they ask me when, and I say July 23rd, their response is always "Wow, that soon?"

When I tell people down south that I'm leaving, and they ask me when, and I say July 23rd, their response is always "Wow, that's a while away still eh?"

It's like northern Canada and southern Canada are on different planets. It's like the north revolves around the sun more rapidly than the south. Time passes much faster "up here" than "down there."

Anywhere but here

2009-07-08T16:28:00.001-05:00

Actually, that should read ~~Anywhere but here~~ but that function doesn't work in titles.

Reader says...
Regardless of what your little note says, you'll miss this place more than you think.

Let's just step back here a little bit. I don't hate Rankin Inlet. I don't hate living here. I don't hate the people here. I don't hate my job.

In fact, I like Rankin. I like the people here. I like my job.

But I'm not happy here.

Read more...

Nowhere but here

2009-07-07T16:48:00.001-05:00

I was reading my latest obsession today, webcomic Questionable Content, and in the run of a couple strips, a character gets laid off, and part of the conversation runs they discuss what to do with a severance check.

In this case, the character in question was going to blow it all on a European vacation of some sort.

I stopped reading and immediately typed in aircanada.com. What a great idea! I could take my hard-earned severance and go somewhere beautiful.

Serendipity is... Kivalliq Air

2009-07-06T12:20:00.001-05:00

I came home just before lunch today to pick up my wallet. As I walked through the door, I heard the end of a message being left on my answering machine.

It was the health centre.

Insert groan here. I just about walked away from the machine, to let it drone on in my absence when I heard the words...

What you've missed...

2009-07-02T09:58:00.003-05:00

So yah, if you aren't keeping up with what's going on at Serendipity Now, you're missing out on a lot!

It may look like I've not been posting lately, but I have. In fact just this morning I wrote a little ditty about walnuts.

Don't you wish you could read about the walnuts? Well you can, but you have to head over to the other blog.

So scoot!

The icing on the cake

2009-06-24T17:06:00.000-05:00

Extra! Extra! Read all about it:

Rankin Inlet reporter gets facts wrong, leads to demise of local businesses. Young woman gets chased out of town by angry villagers weilding ATV bike pumps.

Issac and Ishmael

2009-06-24T14:38:00.000-05:00

I’ve got goosebumps.

I sat down with my laptop this evening, switched on the first episode of the third season of the West Wing, and prepared to write a photo-heavy entry about my last couple of weekends, out on the land.

But that’s not going to happen.

Read more...

Music, geekiness and veganicity tidbits

2009-06-19T12:50:00.001-05:00

Instead of inundating you with a million posts today, all of about 100 words each, I thought I’d be kind and save Google Reader a massive headache by doing what I am now calling a “tidbit” post. Because categories on WordPress are fun. And I’m trying to be better at classifying things on this blog than I did on the past one.

The lure of the south is really getting to me right now. It’s so close, but yet so far, which is frustrating because ever since I decided (or semi-decided) that I’ll be making my way home to PEI for the summer (and maybe beyond… that’s to be figured out) I’ve been thinking up all these rad things I want to do…

Moving and general confusion

2009-06-19T09:28:00.000-05:00

So I’m moving.

You all know that. Of course you do. When your job gets cut in a town like Rankin, you move. Or at least I do.

Last week I was all hunky dory, beginning the whole process. I was told I had six weeks. And CBC insisted they would have someone pack me up. And my last day of work was the 23rd of July. “But don’t worry. There’s some flexibility there.”

Lies! ALL LIES!

Me as a Mormon, Part 2

2009-06-18T11:52:00.000-05:00

Reader asks….

Why does your polygamy have to include multiple wives? Would it work if you had multiple husbands?

Back when I was living in Quebec City (the immediate pre-Nunavut days) I tried dating more than one person at the same time. I wasn’t being a floozy, I just was VERY casually going out for drinks with two different people. And I didn’t like it.

Why I'll never be a Mormon

2009-06-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

I could never be a Mormon.

Or rather, I could never be a polygamist. Because as I’ve learned (HBO is soooo educational) while most polygamists are Mormon, not all Mormons are polyamists.

But either way. I couldn’t do it. Maybe it’s deeply rooted in serious jealousy issues… because I really can not imagine sharing my husband with anyone else for the rest of my life.

Read more...

Make no mistake

2009-06-17T14:05:00.004-05:00

I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my life. I’ll admit it. Most of them harmless. Hopefully all of them forgivable.

But of all the seemingly silly, possibly dumb things I’ve done in my life… one thing I absolutely DON’T regret …

A fresh start

2009-06-17T14:00:00.009-05:00

It’s strange, I’ve been at this blogging thing for years now. It started off with an online diary. Then a couple travel blogs. And then A Journey Northwards took hold. And now I’m hooked. I’m a blogger.

Read more...

Swine flu cases in Canada: breakdown

2009-06-16T12:13:00.000-05:00

Number of cases of swine flu in Canada (by province/territory)
Data as of June 15th, 2009
Sources: Health Canada and Wikipedia

British Columbia = 172 = (0.0038%)
Alberta = 264 = (0.0072%)
Saskatchewan = 327 = (0.031%)
Manitoba = 154 = (0.0126%)
Ontario = 1907 = (0.014%)
Quebec = 971 = (0.0124%)
New Brunswick = 3 = (0.0004%)
Nova Scotia = 81= (0.0086%)
Prince Edward Island = 3 = (0.0021%)
Newfoundland and Labrador = 1= (0.00019)
Nunavut = 164 = (0.519%)
Northwest Territories = 2 = (0.0046%)
Yukon = 1 = (0.0029%)

Best places in Canada to catch H1N1 (swine flu)

Nunavut @ 0.0519% of population positive with H1N1
Saskatchewan @ 0.031% of population positive with H1N1
Ontario @ 0.014% of population positive with H1N1

Now you know.
Aren't you glad I didn't take my lunch today?

Canada Post: Epic Fail

2009-06-16T10:50:00.001-05:00

Dear Canada Post.

My name is Jackie S. Quire and I live in a remote community in the Eastern Arctic.

Mailing things from the north can be difficult, not to mention expensive. And I understand you have to charge for your services. You are a crown corporation, after all... and crown corporations have to stand on their own and not expect handouts from the federal government, even when peoples' livelihoods are at stake...

Oops. Sorry. Got off on a tangent there.

Where was I? Oh yah. Charge for your services.

So I understand you have to make people pay to send letters and packages across our fair country and around the great wide world. And I've come to terms with the fact that you are going to raise the price of stamps even if it's not necessary. Even if gas prices aren't at their peak (I just buy your PERMANENT STAMPS IN BULK mwa hahah).

But what I DON'T understand is why you've gone and changed your fraking Expresspost envelopes. Understand, just for a moment, how bloody expensive it is to ship any kind of package from the north. Or TO the north. Family members don't even send me birthday presents anymore because it's too pricy to send them by mail. The ONLY saving grace has been Expresspost envelopes. Where for a nominal fee (your choice of either 10 or 20 dollars) you can stuff a padded envelope with whatever nicknacks and do-dads your heart desires.

But now, NOW you've gone and messed everything up. And REPLACED the padded envelopes with PAPER BAGS.

Yes.

Paper. Bags.

This is ridiculous. You can't fit anything into a paper bag without it ripping. They don't come with the patent-pending Glad-flex stretchiness. THEY. ARE. PAPER.

And if I WANTED to mail a package in a PAPER envelope, I would... you know... BUY THE BLOODY EXPRESSPOST LETTER ENVELOPES.

NOT the Expresspost package envelopes.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Sincerely,

Jackie S. Quire.

Reader says: WTF CBC??

2009-06-16T09:42:00.001-05:00

It's horrible that the MotherCorp would cut the only reporter position in a region as ginormous as yours. We are all worse off for this.

There are two ways to look at my layoff.
No. Make that three.

Yes. There are at least three ways to look at the way I lost my job. Wait. Maybe there are more. Hm.

I'm getting confused. Why don't we just look at the "facts:"

Poor Jackie: she doesn't have a job anymore. And now has to leave the place she's called home for the past two years. Moving is hard. Moving from the north is harder. Leaving people and places behind you may never see again is difficult. Leaving without a job on the other end is even harder. Poor Jackie.
Poor Rankin: there are a handful of reporter positions for the territory. One in Rankin Inlet. One in Cambridge Bay. About 5 or 6 in Iqaluit (giving half-points to the news reader and senior reporter etc.) The position in Rankin will soon be gone, leaving a huge gap in news coverage for the territory.
Poor Regions: while there is *supposed* to be a reporter position in Cambridge Bay, this isn't the case, really. The reporter assigned to the Kitikmeot is actually currently based in Iqaluit. The plan *was* to move him to Cambridge Bay, but there are some logistical issues that have been tricky to work out. That means there are only reporters in the Baffin region now. All reporting outside Iqaluit will now have to be done by phone.

BUT there are a couple good things going on here.

Locals doing local news: For the past couple months (and especially since I left for vacation) my coworkers here in Rankin Inlet have been doing more and more news clips. Instead of me taking clips from the interviews they've done and writing them into a story, they're doing it themselves. This means more chances for bilingual stories. And more stories grounded in the culture of the regions. This is a good thing.
Jackie gets what she wanted: to head out of Rankin sooner rather than later. And she doesn't have to pay her own way to do it.

So reader, while I agree with you on principle... that cutting the only reporter position in a geographic area as stupidly huge as the Kivalliq is a real shame...

Having the local people here in Rankin do that job is probably the direction we should have gone in in the first place. Have them trained to do the reporting, or at least job-shadowing the reporter for a couple months so they know how things go.

The PROBLEM here isn't in eliminating a job (because in reality, though not in name, they are going to have others fill that void). The problem is that yet again we're going to have people in the Rankin station thrown into doing a job they've not been really trained to do. Sure, more often than not, you learn by doing. But there's journalistic theory involved in reporting. Guidelines and rules that need to be followed... and until you get someone up here to hold a session on Journalistic ethics and practices... the station's going to be at a bit of a loss.

New Blog: Serendipity Now

2009-06-15T19:29:00.008-05:00

So I've started my new blog up and running.
After hearing Megan rave about Wordpress and how it's god's gift to bloggers, I thought I'd give it a try.
I'm still going to be posting here for a bit, but eventually that will stop and I'll be fully moved over to the new site.
I like the look better. It's cleaner, I think.
Let me know what you think...

serendipitynow.wordpress.com

Inuk music and altered states

2009-06-15T16:11:00.001-05:00

Well I already wrote an entry for the day.

So this is just a bonus one. And not a real one. So there.

My sandbox. My rules.

Neener neener neener :P

I was helping out an amigo of mine figure out where there's money to be had for budding recording artists (incidentally, the same talented woman who drew my Sedna picture) and I came across a "new" blog - one that exclusively features arctic musicians. Pretty neat photos and articles. Check it out here! (Clare, is this on the database?)
I have become dangerously intrigued by The United States of Tara. It's a Showtime series exec. produced and created by Diablo Coady of Juno screenwriting fame. Though from what I've seen of it so far, it's NOTHING like Juno. The series is typical Showtime fare: take something somewhate out there and place it in a typical suburban setting. The show follows Tara, a woman dealing with DID (dissociative identity disorder) and her various "alters." I'm now hooked on reading the blog that belongs to a woman who worked as a consultant (holy qualifiers batman) on the show. She has DID, and it's just facinating to read about "integration" and "splits" from someone I can only describe as the most stable instable person ever. Check that blog out here.
A friend of mine now has a shop on Etsy. (Please tell me I've told y'all about Etsy). If you are into earrings and do-dads I'm sure she'd appreciate your support. She's a pharmacy student who just happens to be the most creative and crafty person I know (besides my babysitter from when I was like, 4 - but then who can ever really hold a candle to Shelia?). Her site is here.

Okay, that's all. Buh-byyyye!

Non-reader asks: Did you go out?

2009-06-15T11:34:00.003-05:00

As I was walking to the story meeting room this morning...

Co-worker: *mumble-out*?
Jackie S. Quire: wha?
CW: *you-mumble-went-mumble-out*?
JSQ: *giggle* whaaaat?
CW: You. Look. Like. You. Went. Out. Your. Face. Out!
JSQ: ohhhhhhhhh yah, I went out *squinch face*

So I went on a 2.5-week long vacation "down south." And came back nice and brown.

I went for a weekend at a friend's cabin. And came back with my skin feeling a bit tight, but not looking all that different.

And my co-worker can tell I've been out on the land.... and I don't even have the tell-tale hat/goggles tan line.

Go figure.

** I should mention said co-worker speaks perfect English, I just was feeling geriatric and he was mumbling a bit too haha

Reader & non-readers ask: Oink Oink?

2009-06-12T15:54:00.002-05:00

No.

I. Do. Not. Have. Swine. Flu.

So what the hell happened when I was gone? Seriously, I leave town, the GG snacks on a seal, creates a international ruckus and the entire territory comes down with H1N1.

Looks like we're not getting along very well with animals lately :P

According to yesterday's report by the GN Department of Health, the count's now at 140-something, split 60-40 between the Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions. For some unknown reason no one's tested positive in the Baffin yet. But frankly, I'd say that's just a matter of time.

Seriously though, we're okay. Yes people have H1N1 (in fact, my skidoo buddy/inuk boyfriend was sent down to Winnipeg because of it) but it's still pretty much "business as usual". With a little bit of Purell thrown in for good measure.

Serendipity

2009-06-12T11:29:00.001-05:00

I don’t believe in fate. I never have, and probably never will. As some of you know, I’m just too much of a control freak to even consider the possibility that I don’t have the power to choose my own destiny. I believe the choices I make affect the future. But I also acknowledge I can only control my own future, not that of others. Autonomy, you know?

But even though I reject fate, and I reject destiny, and I reject other notions of pre-ordained paths….

I do believe in Serendipity. I believe it, because I’ve seen it. I believe it, because I’ve lived it. I believe it because it basically describes everything my life has been and continues to be.

The CBC has cut the reporter position in Rankin Inlet.

My job has been eliminated. And my time in Rankin is up.

And that’s where Serendipity comes in.

I’ve been ready to leave Rankin for several months now. That probably comes as little surprise, I don’t hide my unhappiness very well. There have been some good times, I recognize that whole-heartedly. I made some good friends, had a fulfilling relationship (that has since ended, as some may have guessed) and dipped my toes in the waters of news reporting.

But Rankin is not my home. I think maybe I knew that from the beginning. I still remember with painful detail how scared I was, how panicked I felt that first night in town. Looking around at my “cat-lady” apartment and feeling utterly alone. But I adapted, and I got swept up in the “new-ness” of it all… and I think genuinely enjoyed it for awhile. It was hard, but it was new.

But eventually the novelty wore off. And now it’s just hard.

And while the timing is maybe awkward (I found out when on holidays), I’m looking at the whole layoff as a closing-a-door/opening-a-window situation. My union’s got my back. The Mothercorp is paying my way out (and moving all my belongings), and they have to try to find me another position somewhere else before I am COMPLETELY jobless. And I’m on a recall list for the next 15 months.

Basically, what I’ve been trying to do on my own, finding another job somewhere else in the country, has just been accelerated on my behalf.

So don’t cry for me, (Argentina). I’m doing just fine. Maybe the pup and I will find a place we can really call home this time. A place with grass, and trees and some of the many familiarities I’ve missed this past year and a half.

It’s a bit scary, and things could move quite fast in the next month or so. But I’m ready. I’ve got serendipity on my side.

:)

BREAKING NEWS!

2009-06-11T13:45:00.002-05:00

JACKIE S. QUIRE WILL BE THE AFTERNOON NEWS READER FOR NUNAVUT TODAY.
STAY TUNED @ 3:30 MOUNTAIN, 4:30 CENTRAL, 5:30 EASTERN TIME.

:D:D:D:D

I love new challenges.

Standardization, please!

2009-06-10T01:14:00.002-05:00

Some things really should just be standardized already.

Seriously? I’m 24 and starting to get crotchety in my old age.

And if the world could somehow come together on a couple of these things, I would be eternally grateful.

Electronics cords. I cannot for the life of me figure out why there are so many little attachment do-dads out there. You can have two cell phones from the exact same manufacturer, and the jacks will be COMPLETELY different. And even when the bloody things LOOK the same, sometimes the voltages are different. To the naked eye, my two laptops have the same power cord… but unless I’m careful I could blow one of them up, because the voltage is significantly different. Yah, okay. Maybe I shouldn’t own two laptops and avoid that problem from square one, but still. It’s ridiculous.
While I’m on the topic of power cords, let’s talk plugs. Why why WHY do we need to have different types of plugs between North America, Europe, the UK… and beyond? I gather it has something to do with the infrastructure and less with general flighty-ness like the power cord conundrum, but you’d think we could come up with a better solution than converters and adapters, in this day and age.
Security procedures. Okay. So you go through security in Canada and you have to remove your liquids and gels and laptops/camcorders. In the states, it’s your shoes. In Europe, you are allowed to bring in liquids with more than 100 ml as long as it’s been sealed in a duty-free bag. Not the case in North America.
Airline rules. Same deal. If they are going to make such a big deal of what you can and cannot do when on board, couldn’t they see to make it a general code of practise? This one isn’t even standardized by country! West Jet allows you to have pets on board, Air Canada doesn’t. You can use your cell phone as soon as the plane lands on United Airlines, not until you get into the terminal for others. Air Canada lets you use earbud earphones (to enjoy their on-board entertainment system, of course) at all times, but no other airline I’ve been on recently lets you wear them during takeoff/landing.
Debit Cards/Interac: everthing else is so fluid across borders, but the rules about bank account access cards just don’t follow from country to country, it seems. Maybe it’s just that Canada doesn’t have bank cards linked to major credit cards, or the right security chips… but it seems so odd to this debit-card addict that cash or credit seem to be the only option when travelling.

Can you tell I’ve been flying around a lot??

Edmonton Airport: FAIL

2009-06-08T11:49:00.002-05:00

So I'm not too impressed with the Edmonton Airport right now.

First of all, the airport is located waaay the hell outside the town. And you have three options to get from the airport to anywhere else in the city.

rent a car
take the shuttle
take a taxi

Car rentals in Edmonton right night are about $100/day.
The shuttle won't take me to a private residence, actually they will, but I have to rent out the whole van.
Taxis cost $58 dollars each direction.

Talk about unreasonable.

Edmonton, you are now on my black-list.

Error 401

2009-06-08T11:13:00.001-05:00

So believe it or not, I've been posting to the blog over the past couple of days.

You just wouldn't know it, because none of them showed up on the site. And I was sending them via email, so now they are lost somewhere in virtual purgatory. Booo.

So I'm back on the island, for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. Then I hop on a plane tomorrow afternoon, spend the evening with my cousin in Edmonton.... then am back in Rankin on Wednesday.

Pretty whirlwind trip all around, definately one of those scenarios where I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. And that could be in the works as well, it's hard to say.

But for now, the pup and I are enjoying the totally REASONABLE weather (I love how PEI is the perfect happy medium between the silly-hotness and humidity of New Orleans and the depressingly cold-ness of Rankin), and are going to go visit with a friend from Rankin who is now back on the island too.

Wish this could last forever...

Take a tour of the Garden District

2009-06-02T09:50:00.003-05:00

Here!

That's right, new photos from the New Orleans trip are up, this time of the BEAUTIFUL Garden District area.

Enjoy!

Sully's famous twin

2009-05-31T16:25:00.003-05:00

These "blue dog" paintings are EVERYWHERE in NOLA. There are galleries dedicated to him. There are huge paintings on the exterior walls of hotels. There are books in the local bookstores.

Who knew Sully had a blue-hued doppelgänger ?

First set of photos: New Orleans

2009-05-31T07:28:00.002-05:00

They are up! Your first glimpse of New Orleans can be seen here! Enjoy!

Viva la New Orleans

2009-05-30T11:06:00.003-05:00

Takin' it easy in the Big Easy

2009-05-29T19:43:00.001-05:00

So let the grand ole time in Nawleens begin, I say!

Jeff and I arrived in NOLA this afternoon, after minimal drama (considering the terrible luck we've had in the past with lost baggage and such en route to Greece). The worst of which was probably the fact that they changed MY tickets to a later flight, but not his... meaning I'd arrive 5 hours later, which while not a BIG deal, messed with some of our plans.

We're staying in an old OLD hotel at the east end of the French Quarter, called Le Richlieu. Paul McCartney stayed there back in the Wings days, which sold me on the place(I'm ignoring the seal thing, okay? The Beatles were my first fave band). It's dated, but charming, and has a private courtyard and pool.

First thoughts on New Orleans:

Bourbon street scares the crap out of me
You can walk from our hotel to Jackson Square in about 8 minutes - I had no idea it was that close
Muffelattas are freaking gigantic, and totally not something I will have again
The Big Easians like their coffee-flavoured beer
Mixed drinks are expensive, beer super cheap
They are right when they say the French Quarter was largely untouched by the hurricane
It's freakin' hot here
Everyone calls me "baby"
Southern drawls make everyone sound friendly
I think this is a place I'm happy visiting but likely wouldn't want to live in (no offence, NOLA, I just don't think I fit in)
No one visits NOLA for 9 days, it's unheard of. But who cares. It'll be full of relaxing and sunshine, and that's all I need.

Well that's about it. We're off for dinner and some drinks, and hopefully some good music. Frommers is leading the way, of course. I didn't hilight and bookmark the sucker for nothin'

Peace OUT!

I have seen the axis of evil....

2009-05-29T01:06:00.000-05:00

And it takes the form of a fouton at my sister's house in Fredericton.

No joke. While I appreciate the fact that the contraption wants to give me a full-time hug while I sleep... the whole Jackie-taco effect isn't really what I was looking for in a sleeping arrangement.

Three hours and counting till I board the plane for NOLA! (Can you tell I'm pumped, totally wired, and likely not getting any more sleep in the next hour?)

Be it ever so humble

2009-05-28T17:15:00.002-05:00

You know, "they" are so wrong.

"They" say you can never go home again. And while a couple years ago, I would have agreed.... "they" simply just don't have the right place to go home TO.

I miss the island. I really truly do. The reason I've not been online blogging since I got home was because I've been outside enjoying the green life.

Make that lovin' it.

It's been hectic this past week.

80th birthday celebrations. Driving across provinces in mini-vans with extended family. University graduations.

And tomorrow I'll be touching down in the Big Easy for some good eatins. And excellent times.

But really, I kind of wish I were just going back to the island for another week. Because its just been glorious. Walking around on sidewalks. Playing ball with the pup in - IMAGINE - the GRASS. Reading on a spring morning out on the back lawn.

If ever I understood, it's now. Really.

There's no place like home.

Toroonto Pearson: thoughts

2009-05-23T06:42:00.001-05:00

I could reaaally go for one of those expressi-pedis. Me dawgs are ever tired
The Starbucks Grande green tea frappichino looks like mint chocolate chip ice cream, but tastes like an odd combination of milk and ice and grass
When you spill said beverage on the ground, it looks like mint green vomit
Mint green vomit is sticky
The Air Canada back-of-the-seat entertainment system heats up the plane like its going out of style...and the air vents are like a weak trickle of lukewarm air
I really should have just gone for a doube shot of espresso because I am tired and have a big day(week) ahead
Red eyes that only last 3.5 hours so aren't worth it
In my old age, I've become much less tolerant of airport and airline hooey
I hope puppy is still alive

I heart Oakley

2009-05-22T13:26:00.001-05:00

Remember when Oakleys were cool? I do. And I swore I would never buy them, because they were overpriced.
Seriously. Who would spend two hundred bucks on a pair of sunglasses when you could get them at the drug store for 20 bucks?

Well about a year ago I broke down and bought a pair. Actually "broke down" isn't really the word. I wanted a good pair of sunglasses. Once March arrives up here, I really can't handle going outside without a pair plastered to my face. The sun + the snow + 20 hours of daylight is just too much for these little eyeballs. And I was tired of the cheap ones I'd been chronically buying, breaking and losing.

So I went to good friend eBay and found a nice pair for about 100 bucks. Brown frames. Brown lenses. And I wore them so much last summer I actually ended up with a sunglass tan line on the sides of my face. That was a first.

But then something terrible happened. I was wading through my kitchen, strewn with jackets, splash pants and Muck boots... and I heard "crunch." My heart sank.

I had crunched my beloved sunglasses. I was screwed. Luckily it was the dead of winter, and had little need for sunglasses with just a handful of daylight hours each day.

After a bit of web searching, I found a guy in the states who says he repairs sunglasses "as good as new" for about 30 bucks, including shipping. So I sent them off, and a couple of weeks got them back. Hardly good as new... (he basically just put a piece of black putty on the inside of the bridge to support it) you could still see the crack on the front, and wiggle it around. Not good. But I stood by my glasses. And have been wearing their decrepit-ness with pride...

Until today, when just for shits and giggles, I looked up the Oakley customer service line. I didn't have much hope that they'd help me out. It was my fault that they were broken. I didn't buy them from an authorized dealer. And I'd probably voided any warranty they DID have by sending them to Mr. Fix-it.

Imagine my surprise when they offered to replace the frames FOR FREE, and ship them back to me in Nunavut, also, FOR FREE. And they even apologized for not having the exact same frame anymore (discontinued).

Unreal. I heart Oakley. Best. Customer. Service. EVER.

Sweet, glorious sunshine....

2009-05-21T16:22:00.002-05:00

HMMMM.... Where would I like to be right now?

Blogger status update: FREAKING OUT

2009-05-21T10:45:00.002-05:00

********************************************************************************

UPDATE:
Wallet has been found. Co-worker put it in a 'safe' place (aka on the top of a bulletin board). But that was after I already can canceled a credit card and went to the banks in town for new debit cards. Sigh. At least I don't have to arrange for another license, because that would have been tricky.

And to be fair, the co-worker wasn't in this morning, and thought it was a business-card case, not a wallet.

********************************************************************************

I.
CAN'T.
FIND.
MY.
WALLET.

UGRAGHRAGHH!

I have NO idea where the bloody thing is at. I know I had it this week. I bought groceries at the Northern. But it's not in any of the usual places. I ransacked my house and desk. And. I. Can. Not. Find. It.

And my passport is expired.

FAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Bogger status update: Quilt-master

2009-05-20T23:02:00.001-05:00

I just finished my first-ever "real" quilt! And I'm so impressed with myself. This whole quiliting thing just kind of came out of nowhere, it seems. But I really do like it... I like that I'm able to use some of my "fun with colours"/creative side, with a project that is SERIOULSY time consuming (I'm doing most of it by hand, mind you) and even be able to see a finished project I can admire.

I will take a photo of the ACTUAL finished project soon. When I say I finished it, what I meant to say was I finished the really time-consuming part, and the part I can do here in Rankin. I'm going to bring it with me to PEI so I can buy fabric for the trim/back, because there's nothing I really like here.

That is all.

Round-about route

2009-05-20T09:37:00.002-05:00

Yep, that's the route I'm taking from Rankin Inlet to Charlottetown on Friday/Saturday. And I MEAN Friday AND Saturday. I leave Rankin on Friday after work, arrive in Edmonton at 9pm, depart Edmonton at midnight, arrive in Toronto at 6am before taking off 3 hours later and arriving home in the lovely, quaint, Charlottetown airport at noon.

I'm certainly making my aeroplan points work for me on this flight. I just checked it on Expedia, and it came to $3100. Yikes! I really honestly think that the best value-for-dollar Aeroplan tickets are through Canada's north. Shit, for 25,000 points, the farthest you can get is a "long-haul" flight within North America. And you could fly from Newfoundland to Los Angelas for less than $2000 (off-sale).

But when I booked the tickets, First Air didn't have their flight to Winnipeg... and Calm Air wasn't accepting Aeroplan redemptions... so I really had no choice (though I would have preferred to go through Ottawa). It will be hard for the pup, I'm sure (and probably for me too) but I'll just pass out on the plane once I get to Edmonton. It's not like Air Canada feeds us anyway.

So I'm heading home, sweet home. To my dear, fair isle.... and I'm waaay too ready. I'll be home for a week or so, before darting off to New Orleans for about the same amount of time. Then back to the island for another day or two, to pick up the pup and head back up north.

Yet again, zooming across the country. What can I say, I like to travel :)

Blogger status update:

2009-05-19T16:04:00.002-05:00

Jackie finds it amusing when power goes off in all of Rankin Inlet for just 10 minutes... but means the afternoon show broadcast is cancelled, and she gets to spend the rest of the afternoon reading because one of the servers is down.

Forward and back again

2009-05-19T13:57:00.001-05:00

So I was looking through some archival photos this weekend, as part of a bigger project I've taken on (yeesh 800 photos to edit, what did I get myself into?)... and it really hit me how much I've missed in the past 7 years.

Seven years ago I left home, left everything I knew, for university.

Left my baby sister behind to grow up without me.

Left my parents to feel empty-nested.

Left my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my grandparents (only to lose one of them a month later).

And I never really looked back.

I spent so much of my adolescent life trying to escape PEI. Escape it's "close-mindedness," it's lack of variety, its SMALL-ness (ironic that I find myself here, eh?) And once I left I just kept going. Going to France. Going to Quebec. Going to Rankin Inlet.

And life moved on. Of course it did. The lives of those you leave behind always move on. And fast.

I can't believe it's been a YEAR AND A HALF since I've been home. A year and a half since I've seen my own father. A year since I've seen my mother.

Where did the time go? What did I do with the past year? It feels like nothing has changed, the puppy's a bit fatter (maybe I am too, haha). The snow's still here. And the rest of the world seems to have sped along at break-neck speed.

My sister has a new apartment.

My grandmother turned 80 last week.

Friends are graduating from post-grad.

And I'm here. Moving at half-speed. While everyone else is on fast forward.

Bizarre.

You may live in Nunavut if ...

2009-05-14T10:29:00.001-05:00

***Disclaimer: I hate forwards. I really really do. I think for the most part they are dumb dumb dumb and just clutter my inbox. But today I got the following from my coworker (who is much more fond of forwards than I am). And it's hilarious... because it's true. Finally a "You may live in X if..." for Notherners. Enjoy!***

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 96 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you may live in Nunavut

If your snowmobile, truck or ATV is a front yard ornament, you may live in Nunavut

If you walk like a penguin for nine months of the year, you may live in Nunavut

If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time for any damn reason, you may live in Nunavut

If you know Red Top isn't a hair color, you may live in Nunavut (Rankin to be exact)

If you check the expiry date on your pop, chips or kukuk (chocolate), you may live in Nunavut

If you know that Tootoo's aren't 4, you may live in Nunavut

You Know You Are A True Nunavummiut when:
1. Vacation means going out on medical
2. You measure distance in days
3. You know what time radio bingo starts
4. You often switch from a Honda to a snowmobile in the same day and then back again.
5. You walk in a raging blizzard to go pattik (card game)
6. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit (so he can go to the rich people's houses and get lots of goodies)
7. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
8. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and flies
10. "Down south" to you means Yellowknife...
11. You have "on air" on your speed dial (for bingo)
12. You have more miles on your qamutik (sled) than your truck.
13. You find -20 degrees "NOT COLD, just a little cool."
14. You know AGM means free food
15. You go to the health centre because you are out of Tylenol or condoms
16. People walk their dogs & let them poop in your yard, but you don't say anything about it
17. Your kid throws rocks at any wild bird/animal, and you think they're real hunters
18. You have fresh-water ice (FOR TEA) in your porch
19. Your milk costs almost $15 for a 4-litre jug
21. You have to make your family's winter clothing, and they're better than "store-bought".
22. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Eskimo friends from the North.

How to thank an Inuk?

2009-05-12T14:00:00.001-05:00

I pride myself on being one of those people who's "really good" at giving presents. I even keep a year-round rotating list of "gift ideas" for my friends and family. Seriously. It's on my desktop with a passcode and everything. I have had my mother's and father's day presents picked out for months.

Yes, sometimes I slip up and give something lame as a cop out. But I really do try to find things that are useful and relevant and even a little bit luxe.

But I have to admit I'm a bit stumped right now. There's a person - an acquaintence, really - in town who has just been a godsend this winter with my ski-doo. I've jokingly named him my "new boyfriend" because he just caters to my ski-doo woes like it's going out of style.

He'll pull over to the side of the road in his dump truck (yes, he is the garbage man at times too) and asks me how my machine is running. Earlier in the winter, if he saw me walking some where he'd ask if it was okay. He thawed out my skidoo when its innerds were frozen solid. Today, as I was walking to work he stopped by in his work truck and asked what had happened to my skidoo (it's been stuck at the Northern for a couple of days now). And without me asking said he'd pick it up after work. He's never asked for anything in return, and he really goes out of his way to help me with my machine.

And I want to thank him. But I don't know how. Some of it is a general "I never know what to get men for gifts," some is a cultural thing, and some is a sensitivity thing (the old thank you fallback would be a nice bottle of wine or something... but with the rampant alcohol issues in this community, it's hard to say if that would be offensive or not).

So that brings me here.

How do you thank an Inuk? Thoughts?

Confidante by force

2009-05-07T09:12:00.001-05:00

Over the past couple days, I've had something strange happen to me... not once, but TWICE.

TWICE in the past week, I've had OLDER MARRIED MEN talk to me about their relationships with their wives. And the conversations always go like this:

OMM: So we've been married (9/7) years, and I love my wife, I really do...

JSQ: (silent, nodding)

OMM: And she's a great woman, and things between us are great...

JSQ: mmhm

OMM: ... but some times, I swear. Like she's got ISSUES.

JSQ: oh?

OMM: YAH. I mean, she (doesn't like that I travel for work/totally spoils our adopted Chinese daughter), and it DRIVES ME CRAZY.

JSQ: hmm, I see.

OMM: But seriously, things were REALLY ROUGH for a couple of months there. She was just being totally unreasonable, and I couldn't take it anymore. And of course, the fact that she (doesn't like that I travel for work/totally spoils our adopted Chinese daughter) is actually just ONE of the many many things that are getting to her, but of course she's taking it out on ME.

JSQ: yah, that's too bad.

OMM: So eventually, I just snapped. And told her that I couldn't take it anymore. And either we settle it or I'M GONE.

JSQ: oh no

OMM: Yah. But things are better now, she has chilled out a bit. And now things are totally fine.

JSQ: that's nice.

Yah. Okay. Weird, no? In both situations, it started off like the men were being sleezy and bitching about their wives to impress the young gal... but in the end... no... that vibe was gone, and it turns out they just wanted to have someone confirm they weren't totally arseholes.

Well, I'm not sure if I fufilled that role or not... but whatever.

Weird.

World's dumbest criminal

2009-05-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

So I went to Walmart over the weekend.

Kind of.

You see, I was very "colour me flustered" because I'd spent most of the morning stressing out over passport application issues (seriously, I STILL can't believe that in the country's biggest city where 24-hour services reign, there is really genuinely no one available to take my photo after 10 pm.). To avoid future frustration, and hopefully enjoy the rest of my trip... I decided I would begin to tick off some of the items on my "in Toronto to-do list" over lunch.

First order of business: hit up Walmart. I had noticed a sign for a Walmart as I whizzed by en route to the course training centre, it was less than five minutes away, which was good because I only had an hour off. And these people are STRICT about tardiness (something I'm notorious for, of course).

So as I pulled up, I noticed they had adopted a new sign - the new "softer" side of Walmart. And there were tons of people outside enjoying a charity BBQ. But then I noticed the sign had fine print, specifying that this was not just a Walmart store, it was a Walmart Home Office store.

So I was a little disappointed, but no biggie. I decided I would pick up a new notebook for work, and browse. I heart office-supply stores.

I walked in, and immediately noticed the funny layout, saw a Tim Horton's in to the left, and assumed it was the same idea as the "McDonald's in a Walmart" scheme. I head towards the internal bank of doors, and notice one that was designated specifically for VISITORS.

How nice, I think, for them to have a special door for non-Torontoians. Maybe they have nice greeters there or something.

So I head through the door and come up short. Aka do a faceplant into the door. I step back, look up at the visitor sign, and give it a more tentative push. Hm. The doors appear to be locked. So much for welcoming.

So I gradually come out of my Jackie-centric daze to notice I'm standing beside a security desk.

I turn to him, and give him a trademark winning smile:

JS: Um, where am I?
SG: Walmart
JS: Yah, okay, I get that.
SG: Are you a visitor?
JS: Um, yes, I would like to visit.
SG: Are you here to see someone?
JS: Um, no.
SG: Are you a vendor?
JS: NO. I just saw the sign and came in. I want to visit the store.
SG: Oh! You think this is Walmart??
JS: uuuuhmmm YAH, that's what it says on the sign.
SG: Yes. This is head office. The Walmart head office for Canada.
*cricket, cricket*

Yah, so it turns out I tried to break into the Walmart Canadian Headquarters. And wasn't successful.

Embarassing.

But I did learn four things from my misadventures:
Walmart is sneaky
Walmart Home Office does NOT sell "home office" supplies
Walmart is is safe from the World's Dumbest Criminals
The REAL Walmart is in the opposite direction.

Heaven is

2009-04-29T16:31:00.001-05:00

a two hour plane ride direct to Winnipeg from Rankin
Wired magazine's May issue - guest edited by JJ Abrams of Lost fame
Fried calamari and a green apple martini
A new haircut and color that make me feel pretty again

I love travel.

Hammer-time!

2009-04-28T10:38:00.002-05:00

Nothing makes me laugh more than a MC HAMMER slide.

Oh baby. I'm sooooo doing the MC Hammer Slide allll the way around Toronto this week. Did I mention I'm going to Toronto? Yes. Yes. I did.

I'm going for union training (talk about fun timing, downsizing anyone?) but have many excursions planned with one of the condiments including a Jay's game and Medevial Times. It will be a gong show, and I can't wait. And I leave tomorrow.

See y'all on the flipside, suckas!

The placating smile

2009-04-27T10:10:00.001-05:00

So I've gotten really good at an invaluable skill lately; one I call "the placating smile."

You see, sometimes people bug me. Generally, I'm okay. Generally I don't let people get to me. Actually, if we're speaking generally, GENERALLY I'm actually pretty fond of people. I like people-company. But normal people can be hard to come by in Rankin Inlet. There's this theory I have that the people who come here (here, as in the north) are either being pushed or pulled north. Often running away from something else. It's not an iron-clad theory. But it explains some of the whackos we have (probably myself included).

Seeing as "normals" are getting hard to come by, and I'm tired of being crotchety, I've developed "placating smile" to help defend me against the nutsoid masses.

It's a great response to "HOLY CRAP YOU LOOK TIRED" (um, no, I feel fine, but thanks for saying I look like shit) and "Do THIS totally unnecessary busy-work chore."

So next time a dingbat asks you to do something they think is PARAMOUNT, just raise your eyebrows and make your eyes medium-wide (think: a "really?" expression), and give the sweetest little half-smile. Then blink your eyes a couple times, like their request is taking some time to process.

That mix of disdain and innocent sweetness is enough to convince the eejit that you have heard their request/comment, and processed it. But also lets you snarkily but silently tell them you think it's dumb/rude.

Try it out.

Before I trademark it, yo.

Good for a laugh

2009-04-25T11:13:00.001-05:00

So I was doing something disgustingly nerdy Friday morning (reading random articles from Merlin Mann's website - - seriously, how someone with such a TERRIBLE name can become so well known is freaking beyond me) when I discovered a new blog/website: "5ives"

I don't consider it a blog, because for me, blogs feel just much more personal than this (but maybe that's because I primarily read personal blogs). But that doesn't mean it's not incredibly entertaining.

Premise: random lists of five, anything from "Five Web 2.0 ways to break up with your boyfriend" to "Five terrible fake names for villages in England"

And I think my personal favourite?

Five terrible fake astronomical pickup lines
March 13th, 2008

Ever wonder what’s happening under Orion’s belt?
Hop in my van, and I’ll show you something else that’s constantly expanding.
Was Democritus the first one to postulate your mysterious Milky Way?
I’d like to Sagittarius your Pisces, and that’s no Taurus.
How about we go outside and discover Uranus?

Another reason to listen to Q

2009-04-24T10:56:00.001-05:00

As I think I said back when that whole BBT thing was going down (yes, I'm still making references to it, but it will forever be enshrined in my memory, so deal with it :P) I think I made reference to the fact that I'm not really a "Q"/ Jian Ghomeshi fan.

Not normally anyways.

But we only get 2 hours of national programming in Nunavut during working hours: the last hour of The Current and the first hour of Q. So whether I want to or not, I listen to both shows on a regular basis, because it is piped through our phones and other various hot spots in the office. Which is good, because it lets us know when there's something bad going down (like the other day when our host was being cut off by African drumming every 4 seconds).

So as I think I pointed out, the whole BBT incident gave me newfound respect for JG. I still think he can be slimy and pretentious... and I really really don't like the "reflections" sections of his show (where the music goes all weird and JG provides us with some kind of golden nugget of knowledge he's gleaned over the years as a seasoned entertainment broadcaster).

But. BUT BUT BUT. You will NEVER GUESS who is going to be a guest on the show next week.

THE ONE.

THE OOOONLY.

BOB BARKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. Seriously. Bob Barker is going to be on Q. I think I'm dying. Dying a happy death, but dying all the same.

See, like many, I've always had a very very special place in my heart reserved for The Price is Right. I'm one of those people who would go up on stage and promptly tell B-squared that I have loyally watched his show for 23-odd years. That I was even watching it through the glowing red of my mother's womb (okay. I dont' really remember what it looked like, but on TV wombs are glow-y red. Okay, on House all interior body parts are glow-y red. And House is king. okay?).

I would look forward to days off from school NOT because of the day off factor, but because I could then sit down with a bowl of KD and watch The Price Is Right. Always KD and TPIR. And if I could convince my sister, we'd play along with these Price is Right templates I made, that I'd force her to fill out with our bids, and actual retail price... and then I'd do the math and determine a "winner" when the show was over.

And when B-squared left TPIR ... it just wasn't the same. Drew Carey bugs me. He's all creepy and now he's growing out his hair so he's not such a nerdy square-head... but instead he just looks like a used car salesman.

But now he's BACK! With a book! And on Q! And I couldn't be more excited, haha.

It's like my own dream showcase. And not a crappy one that has bedroom furniture (as I kid I remember thinking how people really got the short straw when they won dining/living/bed room sets). A good one, with a convertible, a party boat, a full-sized RV and Bob Barker driving.

Wooohoo!

Warm heart

2009-04-23T11:51:00.001-05:00

I called my old office in Quebec City this morning... looking for a phone number for a throat singer living there.

And that black-cloud that had settled around me was briefly lifted, and the sun just shone through as my former co-workers yelled cheerful hello's across thousands of miles of telephone wire.

One even saying that he wants to fly me in to play softball with them this summer.

I don't know why I'm blinking back tears as I write this, but it was just so nice to feel... I don't know. Missed? Man that's selfish. I know my friends and family miss me, just like I miss them. But feeling so isolated and alone makes you forget that stuff. And it was a wonderful, beautiful reminder of a really good time in my life. Not always an easy one, but a good one... even if it just lasted 5 months.

So thanks to them. Whether they know I'm thanking them or not.

Wanted: Word detective

2009-04-23T10:28:00.001-05:00

So I've not been posting much lately. You all know that. You are the ones who have loyally visited, only to find nothing new.

I don't know what to tell you folks. I can't even really scold myself for being a "bad blogger." It's not that I don't want to write. It's that my words have up and vanished.

Sometimes its just like this blog has grown beyond my comfort zone. Which is a strange phenomenon when you think about it. We spend so much time linking to others, and trying to draw readers to our websites...

But at a certain point it's like this once-pet-project took a life of its own. And now I don't know what to do with it anymore.

It's like I've lost my words and lost my voice. And I don't know where to find them.

Maybe I need a break... and it's a good thing one's coming up I guess. I'll be heading to Toronto next Wednesday for a couple days. I'm there for union training... but luckily I'm staying just about 20 minutes from where one of my best friends lives now. So festivities are planned, and it will be nice to finally be around someone who actually "gets" me.

I've been feeling quite lonely lately, it seems. Lonely and stuck and insecure. And it will be hella nice to be un-stuck, un-lonely and with someone who can basically read my mind. I miss feeling like I belong.

It'll be a nice change.

The new template

2009-04-21T14:48:00.004-05:00

Wow.

So things look a little different around here eh?

As I think maybe you remember, I was pretty happy with the old theme. I felt it was just sooooo "me" it was disgusting. Not bad disgusting, mind you. Good disgusting.

Like Wendy's fries with mayo. Yum.

But over the weekend something bizarre happened. I think the Photobucket account that hosted the images for the template expired or something. Or I used up all its bandwidth or something like that. I don't know. All I know is the images were all wonky on Monday. And may or may not have given me a seizure.

So I had to change it. Fast. And I temporarily switched to good ole trusty polka-dot template in the meantime. That is, until I could find a suitable replacement. I spent ALL YESTERDAY AND ALL TODAY* coming up with this one... and customizing it "just so".

And of course, as soon as I had done that, I found another non-corrupted version of my old template.

So because I'm incapable of making a decision on my own... LET THE VOTING BEGIN!

*Yah right. I love my blog, but I have a life and a job. Get real.

Pool party time!

2009-04-20T10:04:00.005-05:00

So, I've been invited to a pool party!
Yes! Me! Pool! Party!
Don't believe me? Here's the e-vite:

Hi Everyone,

Please save the date and join us for the 2009 Hoffman Summer Pool Party

When: Saturday, June 27th at 12:00 noon
Where: 1512129 Manor Lake Drive
Rockville, MD 21853
(301) 555-0836

We hope see you all!

Love,
Eileen & Warren

So Eileen and Warren have invited me to their pool party, and I can't wait! I bet I'll have even more fun than these people are having:

I'd say the goofy-looking guy is Warren. He looks like a Warren to me. Or maybe a Neville. Definitely a Warren or a Neville.

Oh wait.

"MD". Does that stand for Maryland? Shoot. I won't be able to make it guys. Even though you have given me three months notice, to "save the date" I really don't know if I'll be able to swing it.

Sorry guys.

Maybe next year?

But seriously, "Eileen and Warren." This is at least the fifth time I've replied to your emails with the following message:

Hi there,
I believe you have the wrong "Jackie S. Quire." Please update your address books.
Thank you.
Jackie S. Quire
(email address here)

And you keep ignoring me and copying me on all your stupid events. I don't want to be a part of the Full Moon Family Reunion. I don't want to be copied on your latest resume. Please please please stop sending me emails.

I can't take the heartbreak of another pool party I can't attend.

Puppies need "regularity" too

2009-04-15T16:32:00.001-05:00

So, I have a fun story for y'all.

It's a puppy story. And I know how y'all like puppy stories.

Okay, maybe it's just me who loves puppy stories. But whatever. They are fun. And I've not had enough fun posts on the blog as of late :) So here we go:

So I was hanging out with the pup the other nite. When I say "hanging out" I mean the pup was out of "his area" (during the day and at night he's got limited access to the house - he hangs out in the laundry room) and bouncing around all over the place. The little beast has finally figured out how to play "fetch" and now it's all he does. Which is fine. I like to throw things, haha.

So I'm throwing platypus. I'm throwing flamingo. I'm throwing green ball. I'm throwing little white dog. He's throwing platypus up in the air and catching it again in his mouth. I've enrolled him in a travelling circus. We're having a grand old time.

So he comes up on the couch, and drops a toy in my lap and looks at me. I look back. He nudges it closer. "Duh hoomin, throe dah toi!" I notice he's got this funny little reverse-mustache thing going on - aka... he's got this bizarre substance on his bottom lip, like a soul-patch, but it goes all the way across the front of his bottom lip. So a reverse-stache. So I wipe it off.

The substance is like a beige/brown/grey colour. And it's sticky. Not like sugar-sticky... but flour + water sticky.

So pup and I go on a mission to find what the hell he's gotten into. I love the animal, but he's notorious for eating things he shouldn't and chewing random bits of plastic and other not-intended-for-puppy-consumption objects. But we can't find anything. So I figure he's eaten all of whatever it was.

So that's fine. Life goes on.

*smack, lick smack*

Puppy is smacking his lips. Why? Lord knows. I look inside his mouth... and find that THAT SAME CREEPY STICKY STUFF HAS COATED THE ROOF OF HIS MOUTH AND HIS TEETH.

And not like a thin coat. I'm talking a half a centimeter thick coat of sticky-browny-beige gook.

Now I'm freaked out. Some mysterious substance is *everywhere* inside him. Coating his insides with its stickyness. Ew. Ew. EW! So I do the un-thinkable. I reach my finger inside his mouth and scoop out as much as I can. EW.

I examine the substance. Okay, it's definately sticky, but not runny. It's light brown. And probably STRANGEST OF ALL...

It. Has. No. Scent.

That's right, no smell whatsoever. I'm baffled. I have no clue what in the world this is. I am a little worried too because who knows if it's poisonous for puppies or not... and I can't find the source ANYWHERE. There's nothing mysterious on the floor, nothing.

So I cut my losses, get out the little travel-toothbrush, and scrub his little canines like there's no tomorrow. Problem solved.

The night goes on. And what do you know, about an hour later, he comes back smacking again, and I open his mouth... and the crud IS BACK! So the mystery-crud is still around. And the only thing I could think of was this bone he found outside that I'd been letting him chew on. I figured it was harmless, and he seemed to enjoy it, but I don't like the look of this twisted-marrow gunk. And that's the only thing he'd been chewing on that was different from normal.

So I threw them out. Enough was enough. And I got out the toothbrush and scrubbed the inside of his mouth again. And go to leave him in his area for the night... but because I'm paranoid and exhausted and scared he might die... I took him in my bed for a couple hours. And he didn't seem himself. He seemed more reserved than usual. I was very very worried.

Who knew those bones contained poison-marrow?!?

Now of course, the puppy was fine the next day. And I just kind of shrugged off the whole event.

Until Sunday. Easter Sunday. And I've cooked a "cute turkey" (that's what the checkout girl said about my chicken at the Northern haha) and stuffing and spuds and the like for the boy and I. As we sit down to dinner, the pup is milling about, and starts licking the top of the lobster-pot that's been on my kitchen floor for months now. I wonder to myself what he's licking...

Only to remember how a week ago, a long-forgotten bottle of powder-Metameucil fell from my counter and spilled onto the floor. I had cleaned it up... but didn't notice a bunch had fallen on the lobster-pot.

No smell. Brown-y beige in colour. Sticky when wet.

And my dog, best-in-show specimen that he is... decided it was a tasty snack. Poor thing. He probably consumed a human-sized portion of the powder... no wonder he felt a bit green in the gills.

But he sure didn't have to put much effort into the next day's "deposit!"

More BBT fun!

2009-04-14T10:05:00.003-05:00

I have a sneaking suspicion my Billy Bob Thornton obsession will become akin to Megan's Hoff fetish (oh god, I can only imagine the keyword searches I'll attract from THAT sentence).

Except I'm not sure if BBT's dipped into the world of psychedelic music video graphics... but there's still time. I understand he takes his music career very seriously. And every serious musician uses flying scenes in their music videos. Duh.

Stress-fetus

2009-04-14T09:54:00.001-05:00

I've not been writing much lately because I'm a big ole bag of stress-fetus right now.

You'd think I would have calmed down over the long weekend, but nope. Not in the least. Instead I spent most of it trying to fight the little thoughts that were creeping into my mind ... forcing them out of my head until Tuesday.

What's the day again? Oh. Right. Tuesday. Damn.

So all the little things I feel overwhelmed by have swamped me today. So for (one of) the first times since UNIVERSITY I feel like just curling up in a ball on my bed and avoiding it all - - deadlines be damned. It's like all my tension and anxiety has welled itself up in a softball-sized lump in the back of my throat. It keeps me from breathing normally and even swallowing. It's not just a nuisance but kind of painful too.

Not to mention it's a tad tricky to swallow. Please please please let this stress-session end soon....

An almost-complete transcript of Billy Bob Thornton (and The Boxmasters) on CBC's Q

2009-04-08T12:11:00.001-05:00

Okay. I'm still stuck on this whole Boxmasters thing.

I'm listening back to the uncut interview from the beginning. And apparently transcribing it. Enjoy.

INTRO:
"Mod Billy" is the name of the first record by my next guest, The Boxmasters. If the name "Boxmasters" sounds familiar, there might be a couple reasons why. First, "Mod Billy" is the Los Angelas trio's third album in the last year alone (yes this is a band with ambition). Second, the Boxmaster's principle songwriter, singer and drummer is a man by the name of Billy Bob Thornton, whose day job (some of the time) is oscar-winning screenwriter, actor and director. While Billy Bob Thornton's name is most often linked to his cinematic endevours, The Boxmasters is anything but a diversion from the silver screen. He's always intended to make music, he just got sidetracked. These days, music is a major priority in his life and something he's obviously embracing. The Boxmasters are currently on tour with country legend Willie Nelson, and I'm pleased to have all the members in studio here, Hello boys!

(hellos)

JG: Three albums in the past year, that seems ambitious!
(Someone else) That's the ones that have been released. We've got about five.
JG: There's more? Billy-Bob. I mean you guys just formed in the past couple of years, right?
BBT: I don't know what you are talking about.
JG: *chuckle* How so?
BBT: I don't know what you mean by that.
JG: Well.. well.. when did the band form?
BBT: I'm not sure what that means.
JG: Oh. Well when did you guys first start playing together?
(Someone else) We started playing about two years ago, and we haven't stopped since we got the ball rolling.
JG: And you've made three records in that time?
(Someone else) We've actually made about five records. And the first one...
(... talking about the tour with Willie Nelson... general normal interview talk)
JG: What do you learn from Willie Nelson, Billy-Bob?
BB: *silence* I've never met him.
JG *awkward chuckle* Are you being ironic or are you being serious?
BB: I don't really know him.
JG: You've never really met him?
BB: I sat down with him once. He's a nice guy.
JG: But you don't really hang out on tour.
BB: uh.
JG: You don't know what I mean.
BB: no.
*more awkward chuckles from people*
JG: Why do I get the impression that you are going to answer "I don't know what you mean" if I ask you...Did Willie choose you guys to go on tour with him?
BB: shit, I don't know.
JG: Right. Uh. Alright. Well this new record, double record. Tell me about your decision to include a whole record of covers.
(...Other band members answer... about being inspired by different types of music etc.)
JG: And that was true for you too, Billy Bob? Growing up, it was sort of a combo of Stones and Monkeys and Buck Owens?
BB: I just liked baseball as a kid.
JG: And you almost became a professional baseball player, right?
BB: I don't know. Maybe.
JG: Um. But you didn't love music when you were a kid?
BB: Um. Well I subscribed to a magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland. The publisher was a guy named Forest J. Acherman who passed away recently.
(long awkward silence)
JG: Hm. Do you remember what you were listening to as a kid?
BB: They had a contest where you could build your own model. And it could be like a King Kong or anything from something you created yourself to one of the monsters that was actually in the magazine (goes on to talk about model monsters and entering this build your own model monster contest)
JG: And where does the music fit into that?
BB: Uh? Music? No. It was a monster magazine.
JG: Right, but being as you seem to be so passionate about music, I was wondering about your ...
BB: (interrupts) Would you say that to Tom Petty?
JG: Would I say that he's passionate about music?
BB: Yah.
JG: Yah
BB: Really? Would you explain why it's not a hobby?
JG: (repeating... kind of confusedly) Would I explain why it's not a hobby? ... Are you reacting to the fact that I said...
BB: Yah I am. Since you are instructed not to talk about shit like that. Yah I am reacting to that. Yah.
JG: Instructed? I'm not really instructed... you guys are here as a band, and you're preforming but I...
BB: Well your producer was instructed. Somewhere along the way.
JG: Because I mentioned you were an actor and a screenwriter?
BB: Well first of all that wasn't supposed to be mentioned either.
JG: But that's just giving context, right? I mean I'm happy to interview you guys as a band, but for the listeners, we're giving context for who you are. That's part of your trajectory, isn't it?
BB: Not really.
JG: It's not.
BB: No.
JG: You would prefer I only do this interview not mentioning at all - just to clarify - at all that you've ever done any acting, screenwriting, directing ..
BB: That's right.
JG: But you know people are listening across the country and across North America and they might think that's odd that I would not mention anything to do with your past.
BB: Well I think it's odd that you have to smoke inside a white strip outside.
JG: That is also odd. But that's a little different. That's a rule and regulation. I'm just trying to do a show and give people context for who you guys are.
BB: Well there's pleanty of context without all that.
JG: Right. Okay. Well it does occur to me that the producers did say that you didn't want to ... focus on questions around your acting career etc. And I'm cool with that. Because I'm happy to talk to you as musicians. But it does also occur to me that you are a pretty new band and one of the reasons you get attention is because of the career you had.
BB: We're not really new.
JG: You're not? It says...
BB: I made eight albums.
JG: I know *you* have made a lot of albums, but how long have The Boxmasters been around for?
BB: I don't know.
JG: (long silence) couple years? Maybe? So even the greatest bands in the world... part of the great success you've had is because of the career you've had in other ways. What I'm explaining is that I'm not trying to be insulting to your musical...
BB: (interrupts) What I'm explaining is we said to not talk about shit like that and we also said we didn't want to hear anything about how this is my "first love." You wouldn't say THAT to Tom Petty, would ya? "I understand music is your first love" Well my first love was a chick named Lisa Cohen. You know what I mean?
JG: Alright. Well I think the only reason we would do that is as a point of entry. So do you want to continue this if we talk about music?
BB: Tha'd be great.
JG: Ok. Well if we can call a truce, then I can ask you questions about music. Because when I was asking, you didn't seem to want to answer. But I'm cool to talk about that. So can you talk about your musical influences? Because there is an interesting fusion on this record.
BB: Yah it's a mixture of the British Invasion with hillbilly music. Something that I know more about than a band that was 20 years old, that you wouldn't say that to. I grew up as pretty much a music historian, so. Yah. Cosmic cowboy music.
JG: Can you think of other bands who have been doing what you guys have been doing here.
BB: Not lately, not in the last 30 years, no.
JG: You're opening for Willie Nelson. I'm assuming that's an older crowd. Do you find different audiences react to you in different ways? Because this is quite the ecclectic double-record. You run the gamet from songs that sound kind of country to songs that sound like rock n roll.
BB: The good news is that Willie's audience is pretty ecclectic.He has everything from bikers to old people to young people. So somewhere in there you find an audience. Or at least we do in Europe and the US. Canadian audiences tend to be kind of reserved.
JG: Yah, we've heard that before.
BB: We tend to play places where people throw things at each other. Here they just sort of sit there. And it doesn't matter what you say to them.
JG: And you're playing theatres, right?
BB: Some are theatres, some are like stadiums or whatever you want to call it. But it's very um, well... mashed potatoes with no gravy, you know what I'm sayin'?
JG: Aw, well we've got gravy up here as well .
BB: Yes you do. You've got it on a lot of things.
JG: You might even consider it a national dish.
BB: Absolutely, I've seen that in a lot of shops.
JG: Alright so you guys are going to play a tune for us. What were you going to play?
BB: Well the boys are going to play an instrumental version of a song called Turn it Over.
JG: And you're not going to play?
BB: Um. I'm the drummer.
JG: And you don't have your drums here.
BB: No. We don't cart those around at 6 in the morning.
JG: Okay. Alright. Well lets hear the instrumental version from the Boxmasters. You guys up for it?

One singly solitary voice: Sure.

*song*

So the only thing Jian and Billy Bob could talk about amicably was gravy. Interesting. And now I have a new Facebook status.

Holy Boxmasters Batman!

2009-04-08T10:58:00.002-05:00

Seriously? I can't NOT write about this.

I don't know how many of you were listening to CBC Radio this morning... but Jian Ghomeshi had The Boxmasters in studio. Now I've never heard of The Boxmasters. I'm listening to them play a song in-studio right now... and the band sounds good. It's an instrumental tune. Kind of twangy, but not bad.

So The Boxmasters are a sort of country-pop-hillbilly band. And here's the big part. Billy Bob Thornton is their singer (and I think maybe plays the drums for them too? That's what it seemed Ghomeshi was saying anyways).

We all know who Billy Bob Thornton is. Right? Well most of us do, anyways. We know him as the kinda creepy guy whose blood was slung around Angelina Jolie's neck in a vial for a little while. Oh yah. He's also an actor and screenwriter.

So he's in a band now. And the band was on Q. And he couldn't have sounded more ... bored... by the subject matter if he were talking about bland porrige. And then. THEN the shit hit the fan. What seemed as an innocent contextual question by Ghomeshi about the man's past work... turned into this shit-slinging diatribe by Thornton about how Ghomeshi wouldn't dare ask such questions of other artists, and his past work was completely off-limits to talk about... and the producers knew this and on and on and on.

I swear, I was all anxious just listening to the inteview. But somehow, SOMEHOW Ghomeshi managed to turn it around, go to a live song (Thornton notably absent, by the way) and the next guest.

Thornton was smug. He was arrogant. He was rude. He was ignorant. He was self-righteous. He was obnoxious. HE WAS A DICK. And he was wrong.

And me? Well I have, for the LONGEST TIME had this sour taste in my mouth about Ghomeshi. I find him a bit too ... slick alot of the time. And sometimes a bit pretentious. But I have to give the man mad props. He kept his cool. He had a truely volitile guest on live radio and dealt with the pressure beautifully.

And I hate to say it. But I now have a new "idol" when it comes to handling difficult interviews.

And as for BBT? I hope your bandmembers kick you out. Because they sounded just fine without you.

If you are interested in listening to the whole interview, check it out here. The show's not up *yet* but I'm sure it will be shortly.

Curling schmurling

2009-04-07T16:37:00.001-05:00

I think when I signed on to this whole thing I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what a royal pain in the ass it would be.

Actually, I take that back. I KNOW I had no idea. Because when things started, I made it very clear that I would be a contact-point person. That was all. I'd help with things when the other two organizers weren't in town. Because they both travel extensively for their jobs, and I'm always in town.

Of course, I'm talking about curling, here. The bane of my existence.

I swear to god. I now totally understand why things never change in small towns. Or at least in this small town. And not so much change as "start." You really have to love it to put all the work in.

Since the very beginning (as I'm sure some of you remember) this whole thing has caused me nothing but headaches and heartaches. Headaches because of team drama (not showing up ever for games... is shady and sucky). Heartaches because for the longest time it felt like it was US(curlers) vs. the rest of the sporting world.

But finally, with just three weeks left in the season, our second ice is ready.
And we're planning our first bonspeil.
And both of those are great things.

But now one of the members of our executive wants to quit. And I'm just furious.

The problem with starting things in these small, transient communities is that the people who operate them tend to come and go too fast. The member knows that. I know the member knows that because the member is my friend. And they know the importance of their position. And it was THEIR BRAINCHILD. NOT MINE.

And I really feel like I've been doing all the freaking work lately anyways.

So holy hell. Don't abandon us with just three weeks left. Finish out your term, we'll elect someone new in the fall.

I can understand if you are busy, but I've been doing everything lately anyways, and I just need you to call the rec. coordinator from time to time because we're not exactly on speaking terms. So what's the difference?

We are a TEAM. We are supposed to work TOGETHER. But I guess all for one and one for all doesn't apply in curling.

*bitch whine moan*

Sink your teeth into a good book

2009-04-06T12:06:00.000-05:00

Townie wrote a post the other day about some of the insanity surrounding the Twilight series. For those who aren't familiar with the books, it's a super-popular (think Harry Potter) series for young adults. As Wikipedia puts it...

Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy/romance novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. It follows the life of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenager who moves to Forks, Washington, and finds her life turned upside-down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.

The part of Townie's post that caught my attention was the criticism surrounding the series. Stephen King has been quoted as saying that the difference between the Harry Potter series and Twilight (besides the subject matter - we're talking fan obsession here) is that the Harry Potter books are actually well written. And Meyer can't write worth a damn*.

Now... I'm not sure about that. Stephen King himself can be hit or miss. Sure he's got a number of best-sellers... but you don't find any of his books on Time's "Best Books of All Time" list. I like some of his novels (The Green Mile and Hearts of Atlantis to name two) but you'll not catch me reading Cujo any time soon.

But I think critics are missing the point. There will always be waves of "teenage trash" novels. When I was in elementary school it was the R.L. Stine and the Goosebumps** series (yes I am that young, shut up). For my sister, it was Sweet Valley Twins and Gossip Girl (yes it was a book first :P) and countless other books our parents may-or-may-not have "approved" of***.

We were both readers, and I still am. Danielle's in her last year of university these days, so if she's anything like me, I'm sure she hates books right now - - but she'll get back in the groove eventually. The point is that from a very young age both of us (but more noteably, Danielle) would save our money to buy books. Not video games (not that we had a Super Nintendo until I was in the 12th grade), but BOOKS. On trips off-island, there were no two ways about it. We were going to Chapters, and DD was going to spend 2-3 hours there, and she was going to spend all she could. That was just the way it was.

So really... who CARES what they are reading. If kids are devouring books, that's what matters. If they seek books out as a choice, they'll stick with it. Anna Karenina will come, in time (maybe... I still haven't gotten around to that).

And on a totally disjointed note: Go read The Glass Castle. Best modern book I've read to date.

*I should clarify that I have NOT read the books. I don't really intend to read them (no matter how many times amazon.ca recommends them). I'm not really a vampire kinda gal. The only think that appeals to me is the covers. They look pretty neat.

** Which, by the way, I never read. Actually that's a lie. I read the first chapter of one about bees and a roller coaster when I was in grade 3 and thought it was dumb. So I gave it back to my friend and never cracked another. I don't know why I felt the need to defend myself, haha but I did.

*** Their concern, of course, was the two of us were reading below our reading level. Which was true. But they didn't stop us. They let us read/be.

Strange outsourcing

2009-04-04T11:59:00.000-05:00

I made the following observation today while reading back on Darcy's blog about the Nunavut 10-year anniversary.

He linked to two news stories on cbc.ca:

One about education
and
One about mining

Both articles are on the longer side. So I'm not asking you to read them all the way through (but they are pretty interesting, and fairly well written). But here's the thing. Check out the byline.

Done?

It strikes me as odd (yes, sure, that's the word) that the Corp would post stories from a rival news source when it has many many reporters in the territory who live and work here. Seems like a strange use of resources to me.

Am I just out to lunch on this one? Or is this as bizarre as it seems?

I bee sewing

2009-04-03T11:15:00.003-05:00

So. After my reality-tv post... or maybe as I was writing it... I decided I needed a hobby.

Of course, because its me we're talking about, I went about it in the most ass-backwards way possible. Most people don't look at a list of "--- for Dummies" books on Amazon to help decide what they are going to do as a passtime (seriously, who does that?).

I wanted something that would keep me busy, but didn't require ALL my attention - - like reading. Don't get me wrong I LOVE to read, but I can't multitask when I read. I can't even listen to music and read. I've even tried those classical music CD's with titles like "Reading on a Sunday Morning" or "Classical Solitude" and they still distract me.

Also, it had to be something that had a finished product. I can be very goal-oriented... but I want to know there's an end in sight. Stamp collecting? I don't think so.

Finally, the supplies for said hobby had to be easy to find. Model train sets aren't exactly a dime a dozen here.

So after much internal debate, I settled on.....

Quilting!

Yes, I'm officially a very very old lady. But sew what? (yah, I know. I've only just started and I'm breaking out the hobby-puns). But I'm only old in the nature of my hobby, not the product. Nope. I'm going to have the most rockin'-est quilts around. They'll be super modern with cool fabrics... and all the emo kids will want them.

But lofty goals aside, I know how I am. I know I can be ADD. Hell, I taught myself to knit once upon a time... and was terrible at it. The only thing I ever really produced was a scarf for my sister... and even that was an embarassment. I can't believe she wore it. It wasn't that the scarf was lopsided or anything... but was ONLY MADE OF PEARL STITCHES. Because when I taught myself to knit, I followed an online guide. And it only taught me the pearl stitch. Not the actual knit stitch. Oh, and I did it backwards, as in, for left-handed people.

Anyways. So keeping that in mind, I ordered a little "mini quilt" kit. Sixteen patchwork squares, backing, batting and MOST IMPORTANTLY instructions. It arrived yesterday afternoon... and I spent my lunch hour piecing some of the squares together. And I finished the rest last night. (of course, while watching terrible reality TV - gotta combine the hobbies doncha know?) And I'm really really really impressed with the result. The only thing I didn't really get and I think will be a challenge is the "quilting" part. I'm doing the whole thing by hand (I don't have or need a sewing machine) and getting the three layers to "stick" together is tricky. I didn't like how you could see my somewhat sloppy stitches on the backing. Maybe I just need matching thread. Or better technique.

Because I can't make them ALL into pillows haha.

Strike two...

2009-03-31T17:12:00.001-05:00

I know I've said this before, but seriously. I'm going to develop a SERIOUS GRUDGE if certain-unnamed-organizations don't stop sending me press releases with less than an hour left in the day.

I was ahead of the game today, folks. I had my interview done, stories written ready to be edited and recorded BEFORE NOON. I played with it a bit, made it sound extra-nice...

And yet here I am, at work, after 5 all the same.

Grrrrrr.

It's a good thing it's an important story.

Control

2009-03-31T09:19:00.003-05:00

I learned something big about myself in Mexico.

And I'm sure it will come as no big surprise to you... or to my parents... but one of my greatest fears and challenges is not being in control. Of my life. Of the current situation... even of others.

You may remember I went on a bit of an adventure tour. One that took me zip lining, donkey riding and rappelling down waterfalls. It was great. And it challenged me like no other exercise I've ever done. Not due to a fear of heights, or a fear of falling, which I've always said I had. But for the first time in my life, I really had to put my life in someone else's hands.

The three hardest activities for me to do that day were: donkey riding, a short and fast zipline and rappelling down the face of a waterfall. The moment I swung my leg over that burro, I started to panic. My hands got sweaty, my pulse rapid. I understood what I had to do, how to get the brute of an animal to obey me... but I really wasn't in control. If he wanted to, he could barrel off in any direction. One wrong step, and we could careen down the mountain side, ass over teakettle (ha ha). It was all I could do not to jump off and walk my way. So I took a couple deep calming breaths. And I got through it.

But the worst, the absolute worst, was when we were rappelling down that damn waterfall. I have never, ever in my life rappelled anything. And we got – literally – a crash course minutes before going down for the first time. Of course they were trained. Of course they knew what they were doing, but in my silly little brain, it was the most terrifying thing ever. The rock face was slippery, and my sneakers were wet too, and I couldn't get hold. The only thing keeping me from sliding down at breakneck speed was my piddly right hand, that was supposed to gradually inch me down the steep vertical drop... and a guy at the bottom of the descent, holding the other end of the rope. As I slid, he coaxed, and reassured that he had some sort of mechanism that would keep me from dropping too far too fast.

It was terrifying. But it took me out of my comfort zone, which is what I wanted to do. And it taught me something about myself. That the Matrix "control freak" t-shirt I won back when I was playing high school softball was pretty accurate. Maybe a bit too much so.

So that's my biggest, most insurmountable fear. Lack of control. Or at least, feeling out of control. And Clare's comment on my last post was spot on. Not knowing and having no control over what is happening in my professional life is terrifying.

But I guess the only choice I have is to do the same thing as I did rappelling that waterfall ... or teetering on a foot-wide ledge in the Sierra Madre. It seems the only way I'm going to get through it is to take a couple deep breaths, and trust that person on the other end of the rope.

And hope to god they know what they're doing. Wish me luck.

Only here

2009-03-30T15:30:00.001-05:00

My coworker is playing his garbage can like an Inuit drum, in rhythm to a song on the radio.

Sometimes this place really does make me smile.

Not really my style...

2009-03-30T10:16:00.001-05:00

But I'm sure every little bit helps...

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_cbc/97.php?cl_tta_sign=d818ab0265104b41ff3f683733755910

Ode to a laptop

2009-03-28T10:38:00.002-05:00

Dear HP laptop:

I have to admit, I have grown fond of you. I took our relationship for granted all those months when things were good. We got along fine, we had some good times. I know. I remember them.

But then, I began to neglect you. You got dingy. You got dirty. And I wanted to spice up our relationship a bit. Give you a makeover, of sorts. I hear you clean up nice.

So I set to work. I used a q-tip to get between the fine crevices of your keyboard. I polished your screen till it shone like new. But try as I might, I couldn't rid you of that niggly little white hair (are you getting old laptop? I'm so sorry to hear that. I'll still love you when you're grey) underneath your space bar. You know, where the sun don't shine.

I was determined. Perhaps too much so, it seems. And my makeover vigor turned sour when my Extreme Dusting left you maimed. I didn't mean to snap off your space bar. It was an accident. Don't you believe me?

And I tried to make things better between us. I consulted experts who I hoped might take you in for counselling/repair. But they rejected you. I'm sorry for that. I took you to Mexico so you might enjoy the sunshine. But my efforts were in vain. You were broken. We, laptop. We were broken.

I had lost all hope. I really had. I thought our bond was irreparably broken.

Until now.

Because lo and behold, here you are again, safe in my arms. Keys intact. Screen glossy. Mousepad shiny. How glad I am to have you back on my knee. Keeping me warm in the cold northern evenings. Whispering sweet whirrings to me as you lay beside me at night.

How I've missed you, laptop. And I'm forever glad you've come back to me.

And I promise, next time you need a little “freshing up” I'll buy a container of compressed air. I can't bear to be apart again.

Love always,

Jackie

For reals-ies

2009-03-27T15:28:00.000-05:00

I've been making a bit of an effort lately to spend less time online, and more time.... well, being a normal pre-web 2.0 human being.

When it comes down to it, I sit, staring at a computer for 7 hours a day anyways. What in the world else is there for me to accomplish online at home that I've not done at work all day. Really.

It just hit me a couple weeks ago. I don't really have any passtimes. I don't have hobbies. I have a little web site that a couple people read once in awhile. So there I was. Not really by any choice of my own, laptop-less (or laptop-free?) and without a major distraction.

So I read. I played with puppy. And I watched television. Probably more than my share of reality-tv television. Not because I'm this big reality-tv aficionado... rather because I don't like joining television programs in the middle of a season or a series.

But that's now opened me up to a whole new world of terrible TV.

Survivor installment 8-million? You bet.

America's/Canada's/Neptune's Next Top Model? I know them BY NAME.

Shit, I've even dipped into the world of obscurity here. I watch shows you've not even heard of (and in some cases - - like RuPaul's DRAG RACE - - had serious hallucinogenic delusions about).

The girls of Hedley Hall?
Blush?
Survivorman?
Mantracker?

I've watched all these and many many more.

I'm not really super proud of this grocery-list of bizarre, random television exploits. But I do have to say, the roster I've created here is probably the most bi-polar list of shows ever.

And to think it's all because of an absent laptop, haha.

MotherCorp orphans

2009-03-26T15:23:00.001-05:00

I can imagine many of you are wondering what happened to the blog this week.

In reality, nothing happened to the blog. And really, nothing happened to me. I'm still here, I'm still alive, I'm just a little more... delicate than usual.

The murder has something to do about it, but I'm not sure how much.

The uncertainty with The Employer is definitely a factor.

I've been run off my feet in my personal and professional life...

And at a general at a loss for what to do.

First, the murder, and the post found below. The timing of the blog lockdown and my writing of that post was not coincidental. And I'm not going to delete any of the comments, because they are totally valid. But I will say this. I was very very very careful and very very very timid about writing that post. I spent most of Monday evening crafting it.

Because admittedly, I don't belong here. I don't understand all the dynamics of Northern living. I didn't write it to offend anyone, I wrote it to air some of my confusions ... and some of the theories others have on the topic. I reiterate: I don't know everything about this place. I learn more about it ever day. But there are some fundamental differences here vs. southern Canada, some I struggle with, and others I think people might find interesting.

After I got a couple comments on it, I shut the site down. Why? Because I was run-off-my-ass-busy. Because I was insecure in what I wrote. Because I felt like I had offended my readers-at-large and didn't want anyone to be exposed to my words. Maybe it was an irrational, emotional decision. But so be it. I needed some breathing space.

Second... and maybe more importantly... this is also a very scary time for me, professionally. I have said time and time again that I'm interested in leaving in the next year. I started saying that in the fall. It's now the spring. And now I am faced with a predicament.

While I wanted to move on... I wanted to do it on my own terms. I wasn't going to go an inch without a job on the other side. And I wanted very very very much to stay with the corp. I really did. Or do. But the world has changed, it seems.

It seems now I'll either have to leave on someone else terms... or stay "against my will". And I'm not sure which is worse. I don't want to be orphaned but I don't want to be confined to this one place. Some other day I'll write the "no I don't hate Rankin Inlet" post, but today is not that day.

Yes I have other options. No I have not explored them all yet. Yes there is time to do so. No I don't know what I'm going to do.

We don't even know how many jobs will be eliminated in Nunavut... we only have a vague idea of how many have to go in the North overall. I have no clue what will happen to this station beyond it staying open. That we have been promised.

And so I think most people in my will-we-won't-we situation would be a little... on edge. And I hesitate to infect you all with my poison thoughts, because that's no fun for anyone.

Frankly though, I'm just scared that if I'm here much longer than I planned I'll end up a very very very sour and bitter woman. A woman who DOES hate where she lives, who DOES hate her job, her colleagues, the politics of it all and so on. And I'm not that person right now, but I have met those people. And I don't want to be one of them.

But I do feel helpless and alone right now. And it sucks.

Welcome back.

He's my brother... but really, he's my father

2009-03-24T10:47:00.001-05:00

As I'm sure some of you know by now... we had a bit of a tragedy in town over the weekend. And a first for me as a resident.

There was a murder in Rankin Inlet on Saturday. The woman who was killed was in her sixties. The man they have in custody was a relative of hers.

The police named the man as a son. But this is Nunavut, and family dynamics are far more complex than that.

It's not the first time I've come up against this. Personally and professionally. You really need to be careful how bitchy you are about people in this place. You never know who you are talking with is related to – either directly or indirectly.

I had a conversation with a woman today who has this theory that one cause of the “social problems” in the north is the way kids are adopted in and out with such fluidity.

I don't know if there's any truth to her theory. But I can say that the way kids are conceived and adopted and raised is very different from the way I was brought up.

If you think kids are having kids too early in the south, check out the average age in Nunavut. I think it was something like 24. Yes. Average age. Mid-twenties. And part of why that's the case I'D SAY is because when they have kids, they know they have their family (immediate AND extended) to lean on when things get tough. It's not so scary, having a kid, when your parents are going to raise it for you.

So you end up with all these very very non-nuclear family units. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Because I'm very sure that there are people out there who really and truly benefit from the whole “it takes a village to raise a child” scenario.

But then, there are others ... who end up passed around the extended family, never really knowing who their support is supposed to come from.

Don't get me wrong. I know nothing about the family situation in the situation I mentioned above. I have heard rumours, but I've tried not to give them any mind. But I have to admit, my brain is spinning a bit with the day's events... and it's scary to think a woman was killed just across town. This place isn't very big.

I have to say though, I'm surprised about the local reaction. The people I've been around don't seem all that shook up about the whole event. Shit, if there had of been a homicide in Cornwall... you'd hear people all worried for their personal safety, children would be put on tighter leashes... general over-reactions for all. But then, I guess maybe most homicides down south are random acts of violence. I don't have the stats to back this up, and maybe I'm just making this up for my own benefit, but I feel like family-violence deaths are the rarity, not the norm, back home. And that the reason why people are taking this whole thing in stride is because – god forbid – they are just USED to it.

And that's a scary thought.

IMHO.

2009-03-23T10:53:00.001-05:00

I've been at a bit of a loss for words lately. I know I go through these silent-spells from time to time, but this one seems to be lasting longer than usual.

Maybe some of it is being busy. The wildlife symposium was in town last week. So I was there most of the day, every day, all week.

Of course there's also been work drama going on (this time not involving me, thank god) which has made this place like some sort of parallel-universe station lately. I think we may all be going a bit loony with the talks of job losses etc. But I suppose that's par for the course.

I took the pup out with me to friends' cabin over the weekend. I was trying to remember when was the last time I got out there... and I think it might have been November. It was nice to just get out of town. I think that's something I will have to remember when life gets irritating in my future-life. When you get antsy, just go for a drive. A drive and a relax, somewhere nice and quiet.

Just don't do it when it's -40.

But the pup loved it. It's amazing how much he's grown up/mellowed out in the past 8 months. Granted, he was still running around outside like his life depended on it... but once inside, he just puttered around like the good little dude that he is.

Now of course I'm freaking out though because since we got home his left eye has been bothering him. He blinks it at least 2-3 times as much as he blinks his right eye... and it looks a bit swollen... aka his left eye looks smaller than his right. Now I'm paranoid because maybe he got some sort of arctic-hare disease when he was out rolling around on the tundra. The whole idea of having a sick pet is just really scary up here. We don't have a vet. Ever. We have a guy who has a bunch of dogs who sometimes gives pets rabies shots. But that's it.

I think he's probably okay. He's got some goopy-ness going on, which my expert medical training tells me means he's got some sort of irritant in there and his eye is trying to expell it so he can go back to normal... but seriously, if his eye swells shut any more I'm putting him on the Skidoo and taking him to Page and John. They'll be able to tell me what to do.

You are only a true Nunavummiut if...

2009-03-19T15:50:00.001-05:00

You can say Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit without pausing.

Seriously.

I can pronounce a lot of last names and random Inuktitut words... but that one's just impossible.

Age of Confusion

2009-03-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

I've been finding it increasingly difficult to focus as of late.

Probably because my efforts to be zen about how various economic stability issues right now are being thwarted at every pass.

When the first "getting through tough times" letter came around months ago, I vowed I wouldn't be one of those people who freak out about what COULD happen. I'd focus instead at the task at hand, and take everything in stride.

What else could I do, really.

But then ... well I was thrown off guard yesterday. And I blame Megan. While I was pleased to hear her chipper little voice on the other end of the phone line... I was NOT excited to hear the reason for her call.

A friend had heard the hosts in Victoria, BC joking about dusting off their resumes, because job cuts were on the way.

And, the Winnipeg Sun ran this story

My favourite part:

In a wide-ranging interview with Sun Media, Heritage Minister James Moore also said CBC layoffs were nearly certain and expected 600 to 1,200 people across the country would lose their jobs.

*Gulp.

Now since then, there's been even more coverage on this. No confirmation from the MotherCorp. But a somewhat ominous statement that:

No further details were available about the size of the cutbacks, although the public broadcaster said it would make an announcement to staff by the end of the month.

End of the month.

END OF THE MONTH???

What does that even MEAN? Does that mean decisions will be MADE by then? Does that mean that's when the cuts will be officially announced? Eeek!

I remember a month or so ago, we had a North-wide conference call about the status of things... and one person sounded right panic-ed about not really knowing what's going on, and how really, she said we had the right to know. These are our lives they are talking about.

At the time I remember shaking my head and thinking "dude, rellllaaaaxxx." But now I'm her. Now I'm thinking maybe it would have been a good idea to have dusted off that resume a couple months ago.

So now I can't concentrate. While I had more or less planned to move onwards and upwards in the next year or so... I expected to be able to do it on my own timing. Maybe I should have been less CBC-exclusive in my glances at the southern job market.

But then again. Maybe all this sweaty hands and pent-up-nervous energy is the cup of coffee I just downed. Who knows.

All I know, is that I seem to have entered the Age of Confusion. And it's not a short era.

I can haz cash bonus?

2009-03-16T11:23:00.003-05:00

It's not often these days that I get a chance to touch the velvety fine material of newsprint.

Real newsprint.

Daily paper newsprint.

The exception being when my Dad sends clippings from the dailies down south and sends them my way.

But then it's not fresh. The paper gets brittle with age, you see. The ink dries. And that ink saturation's what makes the paper so smooth, so delicious.

ANYWAYS.

So I been browsing some of the southern dailies since I've arrived. And this caught my eye.

And really. What a sweet deal. I'm going to work that if/when the CBC gets their bridging funding.

I think it's just genius to use bailout money to reward executives for a job well done. It's not every year you have to go to the White House for extra cash. It's not every decade you lose 61 billion in ONE QUARTER. It's obviously time to celebrate! Cash bonuses for all! In fact, now that you have 170 billion in strings-free money... you might as well just start burning it!

Horray! Cash bonfires! You know they burn a lot brighter and warmer than regular bonfires. It's true. Try it if you don't believe me! In fact we'll all start heating our houses with dollar bills in a couple months, because it'll be cheaper than all other home heating alternatives (except, maybe, my parents' new pellet stove).

In other news, I'm really disappointed to read this. The idea of commercials on CBC Radio gives me a really bad taste in my mouth. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's a fear of change, maybe it's because we were always warned about the dangers of advert-contamination and its affect on fair and balanced reporting.

But really, we've had ads on TV, on the CBC.ca website for some time now. The world's not come to an end. Papers have almost ALWAYS run ads. They are still capable of quality reporting.

So when you think about it, CBC radio is actually an anomaly.

But still. I don't really like it.

But maybe that's just me.

Iqaluit is...

2009-03-14T09:44:00.000-05:00

A nice place to walk around (especially when it is only -14)

A city with some pretty decent restaurants... for it's size

Really frustrating when you can hear the woman in the room next to you snore the night away

Fun because you (if you are me) get to meet up with people / friends you've not seen in a year (or more)

Full of endless wireless internet opportunities... even though there's no free wireless at the highrise anymore

Got the best value per dollar taxi cab ride in Canada. Six bucks from Apex? Ok!

A not bad place to spend the weekend... Especially when you get a per diem.

AND I swear to god if this woman snores all night again I'm going to ask for a new room tomorrow. Sweet mother of god ...

Dear Iqalmiuviut

2009-03-11T12:11:00.001-05:00

I will be in town and available for bevvy partaking, food eating (or snowman making) from Friday, March 13th to Monday March 16th.

I have been told I will be available outside of the times below:

March 13 – 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

March 14 – 9:00 AM to 11:45 PM & 1:15 PM to 4:45 PM

March 15 -- 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM

Any takers?

"Hint, Hint" - God

2009-03-11T09:27:00.001-05:00

I came home yesterday evening to find the following message on my machine.

Hello? Hellooooooo?Um Hi. This is Abdulah from Winnipeg. I am calling you in the name of the Bible. Maybe this isn't a good time. I will call you back later in the evening. Bye.

Hmmmmm. I'm not sure. The message was pretty vague. But I think that's what God does before he smotes you. So if you never hear from me again on this blog, assume I've been smoten.

That is all.

Foul moods

2009-03-10T11:09:00.001-05:00

An onslaught of foul moods has kept me from posting lately.

Sure I could write about EAs who set up stupid barriers for no reason... or how annoying yesterday's hamlet council meeting was (I wish I was joking, but seriously, we had one member spend 20 minutes or so debating why we have to have 3 READINGS OF A BYLAW. Because you know, we're the only ones that do it that way. And it's just for fun. Not law or anything).... or that I have to stay at the office for lunch, and I don't have any food... But I won't*.

Really, it's just in your own best interest. You don't REALLY want me to bitch an moan for no apparent reason. Because try as I might, I can't actually dig down to root of why I'm so pissy this past week. Maybe it's time I get out of town... OH WAIT I AM!

That's right, here's a little reminder that I will be in IQALUIT THIS WEEKEND and I'm more-than-excited. Sometimes I just need to get out of my house and just BE somewhere else for a change, and this is my chance.

I am even making a mental grocery-list of things I want to do when I'm there. Topping the list are...

Drinking a Rickards Red
Going to a movie
Eat at a restaurant that doesn't fall into the regular classification scheme of "crap, crappier and crappiest"

Not a long list, to be sure. But it could still go awry. There could be no Rickards left in town. I could have meetings in the evening. The food at the Lodge could be terrible. The projector could break (note I don't care WHAT movie I see, just SOMETHING).

Hopefully, that won't be the case. Because I'm really itching to get out of town. Come oooon Friday!

*Except that I kind of just did. Oops.

Status update 2:

2009-03-06T12:03:00.001-06:00

Mmmm.

I swear, menthol is the best thing since ... well I would say sliced bread, but I'm anti-bread these days, remember? So the greatest thing since... um... Lay's Salt and Vinegar Chips. Yes. That makes sense.

I spent every spare moment I had the past 2 days doing this fun little shoulder-stretchy things, because I was sooooo stiff in my upper back.

SO I had been looking for this little jar of icycold stuff I have... or my "heavy legs" lotion my nanny gave me (I would take offense, but it's Yves Rocher and just penetrates your skin with tingliness and feels great on stiff or sore muscles). Finding neither, I resorted to the "beached whale on the lysol can" trick... which while embarrassing was moderately successful.

And then today I found the lotion... and now I'm seriously enjoying tinglies all over my upper back.

Man, having the morning off has really gotten to me. Or maybe it's the menthol fumes?

Status update:

2009-03-06T10:03:00.002-06:00

Jackie does not like to be told how to do her job by people who don't understand the dynamics of how these things work. She has good judgment, can be trusted and is a responsible human being. Back off. I don't tell you how to do your job. Grr.

Blizzard conundrums

2009-03-06T08:43:00.001-06:00

Here's the tricky thing about blizzards:

Blizzards are driven by wind.
Wind is not static.

So while conditions may look "bad" one minute, they literally can change to "horrible" ... or even "clearing" the next.

Such is the problem I'm faced with every morning there is a blizzard warning for Rankin Inlet.

You see, the staff apartment I live in is actually on the EXACT OPPOSITE end of town from the CBC station. Why this is the case, I've not the foggiest idea. Also, Area Six generally gets the worst of the weather conditions in town, because we are on the far side of the bay. So while my co-workers (many of whom live just down the street from the station) go in to work, I end up at home for the day.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. But a lot of the time I end up second-guessing my phone call to Iqaluit. I'm really the only one who can make the call as to if I should walk to work or not. Today, for example, I was up at 6 to monitor the weather situation. It didn't look good. I couldn't see very far down the road, and the winds were pretty fierce when I let puppy outside to use the washroom.

So I called and said I'd re-evaluate at lunch.

And now I feel guilty because it sounds like the GN is heading to work, and I don't know if school has been cancelled or not. So I look like this giant slacker. Grr. Really, that's not the case. I have interviews lined up that I'm now going to have to reschedule. What a pain.

Oh wells. Hopefully they trust my judgement.

50's come in threes?

2009-03-03T19:39:00.001-06:00

Within 24 hours I wrote my 500th entry AND had my 50,000th visitor.

Ever weird.

Airline ultimatums

2009-03-03T19:37:00.001-06:00

Dear people charged with issuing news releases.

If it is a GOOD news story, and you are making an ANNOUNCEMENT, it makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE to do it at 3pm or later. I can understand if you are trying to bury a bad-news story. Sure, go ahead and send it out at 4:59pm on a Friday. I don't care. Yes it's shady, but at least it's NORMAL.

But if you are announcing, oh, I don't know, new flights to a community... I'd highly advise doing so in the morning, or at least BEFORE lunch so reporters can have the time to put the story together for next day's news. Otherwise it's going to have to wait another day.

Seriously. This is the last time "name of airline withheld." I have a headache and I blame you.

You have 48 hours (they always finish these things with an ultimatum)

Sincerely, Jackie S. Quire.

PS, for some strange reason my feet smell. My feet never smell. Go figure.

Just Stop.

2009-03-03T00:12:00.000-06:00

Some times, sometimes you have to just stop, you know? Just. Stop.

Yes, it's Nunavut. Yes there's a limited degree of "hustle and bustle" here to begin with. But it's amazing how hard it is to forget everything else and just stop for a bit. Just for a little while. Just stop.

I left work this evening just before 11PM. I was tired. I was droopy-eyed, I was ready for bed. I went outside to start the work truck, visions of sugarplums just moments from dancing above my head ... only to discover the truck wouldn't start. Battery's dead.

I considered my options. 1.) Go to the Red Top, buy some spark plugs, install them in my skidoo and drive home. 2.) Go to the Red Top, get cash back and call a cab (hoping they'd still be running). 3.) Walk the 20 minutes home.

For some reason, maybe just wanting to be done with the day, I decided to take the shortest (though by no means quickest) route. And I walked.

It was a coldish night. Sitting still at -30. And I hit the trail at a good pace, my warm breath making icicles out of my eyelashes and fur-trimmed hood. Without my iPod to distract me I was left with only my own thoughts for company. And before I knew it, I was just steps away from home. As I made the final approach, I unzipped my jacket just past my chin and flipped my hood back, shaking my hair loose.

I made a little turn before I climbed the stairs, and a wisp of smoke caught my eye. I followed it with my eyes, and then my whole head, cranked up towards the night sky. That wisp of smoke joined its friends in the most spectacular show of Northern Lights I've ever seen in Rankin.

It was like the northern lights were their own dynamic constellation. Or maybe a galaxy of sorts. As I watched, the little beams swirled around themselves; some times forming little milky ways, and other, delicate strands of green light. Before my eyes, one of the little green hurricanes of light wound itself so tight, pale shades of pink began to shine through. The pink began to escape from the eye of the storm, marching down, fading out into green, and finally dissapating to dark night sky.

I ran into the house to grab my camera my tripod, my puppy and out we went. I got my first photos of the Aurora, thanks to Mini Spy Cam. We spent the next half hour freezing and photographing. Though puppy doesn't have opposable thumbs, so he mostly did the freezing part.

As always, these photos haven't been altered in any way from how I took them. Just compressed so they'd upload easier to Blogger.

Admittedly, pictures and words do the Aurora no justice. Only when you see them can you really appreciate their beauty. But so often we don't see them, because we're too busy zooming home, the last thought in our minds being the night sky, and the treasures it holds.

Sometimes you have to just remind yourself to stop. Stop and... well if not smell the roses, then stop and appreciate the world for its beauty. Just stop.

Happy 500th blog post "The North is My Snowcone." It's been a slice.

Whiling away a Monday evening.

2009-03-02T21:24:00.001-06:00

Dear Akulliq:

Please please please let this be your final by-election. For the sanity of all those involved, including the media and Elections Nunavut, please just make a decision. Okay? Okay. Thanks.

I'm working a late shift again tonite. Which suits me just fine, as I think I've said before. I kind of enjoy having the office to myself. I've got all the phone-intercoms OFF (I heart CBC but sometimes the 8/5 of the intercom phones just wears thin on me) and I hijacked my co-worker's CD player and am currently working my way through some of the music that's in our library. There's not much there, but I managed to pilfer some "new releases" about six months ago, so at least I'm not stuck with Dance Mix 93 - which while hilarious... isn't really what I'm in the mood for.

So far I've made it through...

Death Cab for Cutie: Narrow Stairs (three times!!!)
The Fugitives: In Streetlight Communion
Ben Sures: Field Guide to Loneliness

I wasn't a big fan of Streetlight Communion. But I've been pleasantly surprised by Field Guide to Loneliness. It's a little more folksie than my usual taste, but I could get into it.

But I'm more than frustrated that I somehow managed to forget my book at home. I've been picking away at Outlander by Diane Gabaldon since I left for Coral Harbour. I actually spent all of Saturday curled up in my basket chair, coffee in hand, puppy in lap, reading. It was glorious. It's been so long since I've done that.

I have to admit, it took me awhile to get into... but I think I'll continue on with the series. I'd heard of the series years ago. One of the condiments, Robyn, was all over them. A friend I lived with in France was also hooked. But it wasn't until I was in the UK with my Nanny and sister last August that I picked it up.

And the really interesting part (I think) is that a good part of what I like about the book is that I've BEEN there. I've driven through the Highlands. I've BEEN to Stonehenge. And it's pretty darn cool to read about a place that is so very far and foreign and have memories of times there. Granted the book largely takes place in the 1700s or something like that... so its not like I've been there in that TIME but still kind of neat to have that reference point.

Oh, and I think I have a crush on the lead male character. But then I think most chicks who read the series end up with a little thing for Jamie. :D

So I'm here without a book to read, my websites are exhausted (dudes, get to blogging more, I've read all your posts already and still need more to do!) and I even filed my taxes. Yes. I'm so bored I filed my taxes just to have something to do.

On that note, I don't know what y'all use to do your taxes, but I used Quicktax... and I was pretty impressed how little time it took, and how straighforward it was. And this is coming from a girl whose mom did her taxes up until last year. Granted there were a couple "ummm what does this mean" phone calls ... but for 15 bucks... totally worth it. And now I should have a nice little cheque making its way to me in the next couple weeks. I take back all the nasty things I've said about the CRA (actually I think the only nasty thing I said was that I thought it was dumb they didn't just take the right amount of taxes off in the first place, instead of all this paperwork). Netfile rocks. And so does Quicktax.

Now where's that endorsement money?

Eating cash

2009-02-28T10:11:00.002-06:00

So sometime yesterday I got lost in the maze of Macleans.ca. I think it started with a funny "how to keep your job" article... and somehow I ended up on this bit about how to cook "good" meals for about 50 dollars a week.

Heh. 50 dollars a week. I remember when I used to live on that. Granted I was living with three other people in Ottawa and we all probably contributed that much a week. We ate like kings. It was great.

Now I live alone, in Nunavut, and probably spend three times what I did back then. I'm cooking for one most of the time, which means more waste and fewer options. And it gets complicated when disaster strikes (like it did this week) and food mail is delayed by 2 or 3 days because the planes have gone mechanical. You end up with dregs in the fridge and no staples (I've been without margarine for days, but I have it coming on food mail... and I know the moment I buy margarine the flight will land in Rankin and I'll have doubles of all the things I spent way too much on at the Northern. Frustrating.

Then I came across this blog. Premise: three friends (Tracey, Jeff, Jennifer) started a challenge called "The Working Poor Diet." If you've heard of this idea before, I'm not surprised. I understand it's been done for fund raising purposes in other places. Basically, each of them had 80 dollars for the entire month of February for groceries/food.

The rules: No free food (that means office snacks and free samples are out). No skipping meals. You must start from scratch - - no cupboard stocks. And the meals should match daily recommendations by Canada's Food Guide.

Holy crow. Not easy.

Honestly, if I lived down south, I really think I could get by on 50 dollars a week no problem. I never really ate out much when I was a kid... and to date prefer to cook my own meals. If it were just me, I'd probably eat out maybe three times a month. And that includes fast food meals.

But 80 bucks for a month... without pantry buffer? I don't know if I could do it! Well, that's a lie, I could do it, but I probably never would because I would prefer to have more variety and I like to dazzle my tastebuds from time to time.

Anyways, while I don't think I'll be giving that one a try in the near future... especially when I live in the north (though it would be interesting to see how long 80 bucks would last up here. I'm thinking a week and half), but it would be interesting to try a food budget. We say that the costs are basically twice what you pay in the south... but that really varies according to item. Some things, like milk and bread (I know, I know, how many times am I going to whine about the price of milk?) are about three times the price of what you'd pay in the rest of Canada. And I tell you, I certainly don't get paid twice what I did in Quebec.

But maybe it's time to figure out exactly how much it costs me to eat up here. I'm thinking it's a pretty gross amount.

Why people need blogs

2009-02-27T14:53:00.000-06:00

Not too long ago, I was lurking around Megan's blog and came across what might be the ABSOLUTE LONGEST COMMENT SECTION OF ALL TIME.

Okay, vast exaggeration, but at the end of it all (I think, I hope we've reached the end) there were FIFTY TWO comments. And not to discredit Megan's post, but I don't think she thought that's where her little photo and 40 words of text would spark such... debate. Yes. Debate.

Now I wasn't really all that interested in the topic. I didn't really want to debate the merits/ethics of various fanatic religious groups. I'm not sure if you noticed, but that's not really my thing. I'll leave that for others who have more experience and more passion to discuss.

But I DID make a snarky comment about one of the OTHER commenters, something along the lines of:

I know you love your readers, but "C" can really suck the life out of a could-be-funny comments section.
Sigh.
Get the man his own blog.

Now maybe it was a lame thing to do, especially the first bit. That was probably kind of petty. But I meant the second part. The commenter had left like 10? 15? posts? He obviously had something to say on the subject.

So, like I said. Get the man his own blog. It sounds like he needs it*.

This is not the first time I've had the "dude, that person NEEDS a blog" thought. It hit me during that whole "25 random things" phase on Facebook (is that STILL going? I keep getting tagged!). I had no desire to write 25 random things about me because I write 25 million random things about me on my blog EVERY DAY.

So I now have this theory that people need blogs. In reality, that theory should probably be altered to say that "people need outlets" and blog is equalifnotgreaterthan an outlet. Because it seems like the more time we spend on our computers or in front of the tv or just squashed in our little homes, the more we DESPERATELY TRY TO FIND WAYS TO EXPRESS OURSELVES.

Harper's new haircut? I HAVE AN OPINION ON THAT!
CBC handouts? OO! OO! LEMME TRY!
The future of the world as we know it? I'M AN EXPERT!

I'm not saying people should stop commenting on mine or anyone else's blog. Especially Megan's. That would be rude, wouldn't it? But I find having my own webspace helps me deliniate between what is "mine" and what is "yours."

I could have written this entry in the comments section of Megan's blog. The she'd have 55 responses to her 40-word post. But the way I see it, if my comments are getting rambly I probably have enough material for a post. And there's no need to outstay one's e-welcome.

But that's just IMHO.

* And I'd argue he needs it more than many... he works in the media industry and I think that people who spend their days writing what other people tell them to write about... or who write what HAS to be/NEEDS to be written (instead of having the liberty to yammer on about whatever topic they like) are inherently creative individuals who can use an outlet. This goes for newspaper people, tv people, radio people, speech writers, communications people... and whoever else out there falls into the "creative but maybe not getting all the release they need" category.

Sun transits

2009-02-27T13:58:00.001-06:00

It's funny sometimes, the things we get used to in the north.

As some of my blogging counterparts/northern readers know... right now is "sun transit" time. That means for the next week or so our internet will be spotty in the early afternoon.

For those not in the know... telesat.ca explains what I'm talking about.

Sun transits occur when the sun crosses the earth's equatorial plane during the spring and fall equinoxes (late February or early March; September or October). At these times, the sun aligns directly behind the satellites for a few minutes each day. When the sun moves directly behind the satellite to your receive antenna, the satellite signal can be overwhelmed by the enormous amount of thermally generated radio frequency (RF) noise radiated by the sun. This can cause reception interference for a few minutes everyday during this occurrence.

The first time this happened (every time it happens... I never learn) I went into trouble-shooting mode. I used different browsers (Firefox is my default, but sometimes sites... especially CBC's internal sites... don't like my alterna-chick-ness), I check the LAN connection I ask co-workers if they are having the same problem...until one of us goes "OH YAH.... it's that time of year again!"

It's never offline for very long, I just started typing up this entry when it started (about 7 minutes ago) and we're back online now... I just repeatedly type "google.ca" into my address bar to see when we're back...

But because we rely on satellites to transmit everything from our television to phone to internet (and lordknows what else... I'm sure if we could transmit food by satellite too if we could... isn't that part of Willy Wonka's factory or something???) we're lucky/happy it's not more of a disruption.

And now that it's over, I simply must head back to work. Tata!

Save the date Jackie-style!

2009-02-27T08:05:00.000-06:00

So I was going to wait until I had plane tickets and/or a hotel room booked, but I let the cat outta the bag when I was talking with TB Thursday morning (no, we don't just call one another to gossip - though there was a LITTLE bit of gossip shared - it was primarily about WORK!) so what's the point of keeping it quiet now?

Anyways so....

I'm coming to Iqaluit!!! Not for long, just for a weekend, from the 13-15th of March (probably coming back on the 16th... I'm not sure, as I said, the flights aren't booked).

So some kind of social gathering is most likely in order. I haven't been to the I-dot in ... oh wow... like a year and a half. I'm not entirely sure how much time I'll have. I'm going for Nunavut Curling Association meetings, so I'm sure there'll be lots of dry days, and hopefully not-so-dry evenings :)

So Iqaluimmivut (sure, why not?) if you wanna have a little bloggy convention or drinks or eats or ... snowman building... or whatever you crazy kids do in the territory's capital... let me know. I'm game!

Brr, my veins

2009-02-26T18:14:00.001-06:00

Nothing chills my blood like the words "consolidating local stations"

According to Mr. Lacroix, if CBC fails to meet their multi-million dollar shortfall... the options to deal with that include:

Introducing more American programming into television schedules (currently 100 per cent Canadian from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.)
Downgrading or selling parts or the whole of TV or radio services.
Increasing advertising on the air.
Shrinking geographic coverage of the country by consolidating local stations, which would reverse the current investment CBC is making in building regional coverage.

Ugragh. I don't like that ONE BIT. I don't like it on buttered toast, I do not like it with a roast (detect a theme today, folks?)

I wonder if severence packages include moving down south costs? I hear KIA is looking for a communications person, and all they need is a high school diploma. I'd be a shoo-in....

In other, much more humorous news, I am now Scott Feschuk's new biggest fan. He does witty commentary and whatnot for Macleans which at times could possibly go down as the world's DRY-est magazine (I used to subscribe, but stopped reading because I was perpetually bored).

Here's his "Seven habits of highly not fired yet people". If you like kinda snarky, very witty, somewhat pop-culture-y writing WHY ARE YOU LEAVING THIS BLOG! YOU GET ALL THAT HERE! No, I lie :P Check out HIS blog here, and that article above. I definitely got a chuckle or two.

Complain-y bits

2009-02-26T13:20:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Amy's shoutout on her blog... I was so excited to try out last.fm... but like EVERY FREAKING OTHER THING UP HERE IT DOESN'T WORK. Seriously. All I wanted to do was listen to some tunes while I wait for phone calls, or type up scripts. That's all. Not a big deal. But the only thing worse than a skipping CD is a track that won't buffer correctly, stalling every 5 seconds. Graaaah!
I wish I knew if it was my crappy work computer (9.5 gig hard drive 260kb RAM running Windows 2000 and resource-heavy applications necessary for producing news) or our crappy internet that's preventing me from listening to last.fm. I think it's probably both, being as I can't even listen to a CD without skipping-delays from using too much of the thing's resources. Ug.
I'm a little teensy bit concerned about the trouble I've caused about this curling drama. I know I have to hold firm, that I didn't do anything wrong, that we were being pushed around... but I don't actually LIKE to be confrontational. I don't WANT the rec coordinator to get in trouble, I just want our league to be able to play, and maybe just have a bit of respect too
Good ole Hubie is making a speech to the Empire Club this afternoon. Every other media organization in the country has made cuts. I've done a good job of completely ignoring everything that's been going on with the "southern economy" to date... but I'll admit I do get a little nervous when I think about restructuring and whatnot. While I can't go into what he'll be speaking about (he's sent a internal copy of his speaking notes to employees) I do find the comparison about how much Canadians spend annually for the CBC through public funding vs. how much Canadians spend annually for commercial television pretty interesting. If the speech/elements get reproduced on Insidethecbc I will post them, but not before. They are my guide re: publishable internal stuff.
I am wheat-free for the next two weeks. And I'm not exactly looking forward to it... mostly because it leaves little or nothing for me to eat for breakfast. Except... maybe eggs. But eggs taste like eggs. You can't really change them that much. So endless eggs doesn't really sound all that appealing to me. But we'll see. At least I don't have to eliminate potatoes. That is a VERY good thing. :)
None of my stories ideas have been panning out this week. It's very frustrating not just for me, but for my Iqaluit colleagues. Sometimes I just have too much to do, and not enough time (last week, for example... and the week before in Coral Harbour)... and others it's like I am soooo painfully without sources that it's just not funny. Maybe I'll try calling the mayor of Chester for the 78th time this week. At what point does playing persistent journalist just become "eff off and stop calling me"?

Mass emails as a solution to the economic "crisis"

2009-02-26T11:08:00.001-06:00

I got the following email from an unknown-to-me CBC employee today.

(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/)

HI All:
scroll down ride side-will find question: click on yes -

should the CBC get more money from Ottawa

C

pass it on to friends and family

Hmmm. HMMMMMMMM.

Something about this doesn't sound right to me. I really don't like it very much at all.

I do not like it in a box, I do not like it with lox.

Mothercorp, I heart you. I really really do. But frankly, this is pretty darn low.

"Help! Please please save us! Please let's all go to the G&M's website and mass-vote on a totally unofficial poll that people will forget the day after tomorrow! We won't look desperate for handouts then! Surely not!"

I don't know dudes. Maybe I'm just way more sheltered from this whole situation than I thought. Up here, things just don't really look so bad. Yet.

I must be on curling-crazy pills!

2009-02-25T15:10:00.002-06:00

So it turns out Townie's not the only one who has to watch his temper with curling*. Though granted, my problem tends to be OFF the ice, not ON it :P

I may or may not have just "bitched out" our local rec. coordinator.

Because of curling drama.

Oops.

Actually, that's probably the way he'll tell the story. If I were to tell the story, I'd probably say that I stood up for myself, something I'm not really good at in my professional/social life. And something I've said in the past I really need to improve. So really, it's a personal accomplishment. Kinda, haha.

You see, we've been having endless problems with setting up the curling club. Granted it's not been operational for a couple years... so it's like any bit of machinery that's not been running for an extended period of time: rusty.

As you might remember, first it was the rocks. Somehow they grew legs and walked off. Not all of them, but enough that we can't have both sheets of ice going at the same time. Rocks are expensive. They run anywhere from 500-1500 dollars a pop. Not per set. PER ROCK. And that doesn't include shipping. So we think we'll have rocks next week. We think. But we've been pestering our rec coordinator for MONTHS to have the second sheet up and running. It's been half-done since before Christmas.

And frankly, I'm sooo sick of hearing club members question why it's not finished. I have been relaying the information, but nothing is being done on the other end.

And then last weekend, there was the Avaataq Cup. The Avaataq brings in young strapping hockey men from all over the territory for 5 gruesome days of hockey. We were told we couldn't curl Thursday night because they needed the curling club as a change room. We didn't say much, and thought oh well, it's just one week. No biggie.

That is until last night. When we arrived for our 8 o'clock game and saw the ice effed up beyond repair.

They didn't just use our club for a change room. They stored their smelly hockey bags in the rink...

AND SKATED ON THE CURLING ICE.

Yah. Seriously. Skated on the ice. I couldn't believe it. Sure Rankin's a hockey town. But this is insane.

It was SO DAMAGED our strongest player threw a rock as hard as he could, and it didn't even clear the house on the other end.

Now of course, the rec coordinator isn't listed in the phone book, and I called his sister's place to get it, and she wasn't home... so I had to wait until today to raise the issue.

And well... the brat hung up on me! Of course, that was after he said that curling was a thorn in his side and we had no right to complain because we don't even pay rink fees.

UGRAGH! Seriously? SERIOUSLY? We will PAY you rink fees, if that's what you want. But don't even BEGIN to say that WE are a hassle to YOU, YOU are the ones that didn't make our ice on time. YOU are the ones that somehow managed to lose curling rocks when the league wasn't running. YOU are the ones that said you would clean up the ice on Tuesdays and Thursdays before games (and rarely do). YOU are the ones that "borrowed" our club for a change room and YOU are the ones that SKATED ON OUR ICE.

WE are the ones that have done all the work to get this off the ground. WE are the ones who organized everything. WE are the ones that have tracked down rocks. WE are the ones that are going to PAY for those rocks. WE have offered to clean the ice. WE have said we will do anything to make YOUR job easier.

YOU are the one that didn't have any answers for what we could do.

Next time, I think I'll just take the rocks out to the hockey rink and play there. Maybe that would get our point across...

*Really, this isn't the link I was looking for, turns out TB is more of a gentleman than he lets on. Go figure.

Conversations with a health worker

2009-02-24T08:54:00.001-06:00

**beeep**
This is health centre. You have doctor's appointment tomorrow at 10:15. Bye.
**beeep**

*riiiing, riiiing*
HW1:Health Centre

JSQ: Hi, yes I got a message on my answering maching last night saying I have a Dr's appoinment tommorrow. But I have one on Thursday already. I don't really need two.

HW1:What your name

JSQ:Jackie S. Quire

HW1: Quiiiire. Okay Quiiire. (off to coworker) I have Jackie Quiiiiire. (to me) I tranfer (clonk, shuffle, then....)

HW2: Hellow?

JSQ: Yes, I got a message on my answering maching last night saying I have a Dr's appoinment today at 10:15. But I have one on Thursday already.

HW2: No. I switched it.

JSQ: You switched my appointment from Thursday to today?

HW2: Yes.

JSQ: But I have another appointment today at 10:30.

HW2: You see doctor this morning.

JSQ: No, I booked another appointment this morning because I knew I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday.

HW2: But you see doctor TODAY.

JSQ: NO. Can I please have my original apointment back?

HW2: Um... what about tomorrow? Ten o'clock?

JSQ: Fine.

*click*

Oscar-licious

2009-02-23T14:29:00.002-06:00

So I didn't sit down last night INTENDING to watch the Academy Awards. I actually was napping when they started. Then right around 8:30 my little beady eyes sprung open and I thought "Oooh! Self! The Amazing Race is on!"

So I peeled myself out of bed, and turned on the tube... only to see scads of beautiful be-gowned be-tuxedo'd people on every channel... and no disheveled perpetually-lost travellers. Boohoo.

But nothing else was on, and the Amazing Race was a good hour and a half away (of course, this all went to hell because the Oscars went long, of course, and then all the scheduling was messed up...) and I can't figure out how to hook up my DVR to my satellite (frickin' Bell codes givin' me the run-around)... so I settled in ... at least for a little while (I told myself) until I got bored. Like I inevitably do.

I don't actually know if I've ever seen the greater part of an Oscars ceremony. I remember the year that Crash won (maybe 2006?) I was all into it... because I LOVED that movie (still do). But I tend to follow the Oscars with waxing and waning interest. That's only gotten more on the wane-ier side since I've moved up north and access to movies has drastically decreased.

And now every time I go "down south" I make it a habit/tradition to see at least ONE movie IN THEATRES while I'm down*. There's just something to be said for the whole experience, and I heart it.

But back to Oscar night. So I didn't INTEND to watch it. But I did. And I have to say... I was pretty impressed with what I saw. Yes, there were a lot of commercials (and yes, I had to suffer throught the Canadian commercials.... I'm sure there would have been some half-decent ones playing on the US stations). But they were SHORT. Just little breaks. I could handle that. And before I knew it, the "big three" (Best Actor/ess, Director and Film) were up. I couldn't believe it.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were over before 11pm (easily 1am back in PEI). Maybe I was just familiar with some of the movies. Maybe it was the anticipation of the international underdog vs. hollywood high-production for final honours. I don't know.

But I enjoyed the ceremony. I really, actually did. I had tears in my eyes as Heath Ledger got his supporting role award. I shivered as I watched Amanda Seyfried do her little sing-y danc-y thing with Hugh and the gang... I burst with pride when Kate Winslet won her Oscar (she had me at Eternal Sunshine)... and was amazed at how brave Sean Penn was to make the speech he did at the end of HIS award.

I will say one thing though, I like it better when they spread the awards around a bit more. You can look at the breakdown here... but after Slumdog Millionaire won best Director... I wasn't really rooting for it to win Best Picture too. Now, having said that, I didn't see the movie. And I also didn't really think B-squared** deserved best director/picture either*** So maybe I'm just full of it.

But bottom line... even though the Amazing Race was delayed...oh...um...FOUR HOURS... it wasn't exactly a wasted evening.

Oh. Anyone else but me feel like that woman is a victim of spousal abuse? Anyone? (I'm talking the chick and her husband just eliminated this week). I think she is. I hope I'm wrong though. That would be terrible.

*When I was en route to/from Mexico I stayed in Edmonton with my cousin and her boyfriend for a night. And we went to go see Benjamin Button. I had been interested in the movie since I first heard about it. Something just drew me to the film, maybe it was Cate Blanchett (let it be known I HEART Cate Blanchett... I'm not 100% why, but I do), maybe it was because it's based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald ... and the whole "de-aging" bit is a neat idea too... I don't know. Interestingly enough, it was that same weekend I first heard of Slumdog Millionaire. My cousin told me about it, and said it was amazing. She's very wise!

** Benjamin Button, of course!

*** I had two problems with the film.

1.) The premise is a deathbed confessional. An old woman tells of her memories of this man/reads from his journal. Really? A deathbed confessional? Haven't we done that already? Like a bazillion times? There must have been a more original way to set the scene.

2.) (and more importantly, I think) The deathbed confessional was set during Hurricane Katrina. Okay. Yes. Hurricane Katrina was bad. Very bad. Yes this story was set in New Orleans. But beyond that, there was NO CONNECTION between the two. It just seemed like an excuse to "think of all the dying people who had to die sooner because of Katrina." It didn't make sense. I wasn't a fan, and I think that BEST DIRECTOR and BEST FILM belong to movies that don't have that kind of plotline flaws. But that's just me.

Liveblogging a cold: the best use of web 2.0

2009-02-19T09:44:00.000-06:00

Dear Air Canada/Calm Air

2009-02-19T09:22:00.003-06:00

Please arrange it so that my mommy can come to Rankin to take care of me.

I feel le sick, and it would be helpful if she were here to wake me up every 4 hours to hand me my dose of meds. Wouldn't that be nice? I hate taking care of myself when I'm sick.

Probably because I'm the WORST, MOST WHINY SICK PERSON EVER. Seriously, if you just took my complaining at face value, you'd think I'd come down with the hiv or something. But no, it's just the common cold.

Though it doesn't feel all that common... because I actually worked through the first three days of it, which I'm sure didn't help (but we have had some big news things happen - First Air, Leona Aglukkaq, Lorne's prelim, or lact thereof... and there are various deaths/pregnancies/broken legs still affecting the Iqaluit station).

So sick day today. And I was up before 9 so I could hit the Northern first thing, and stock up on NeoCitrin (I'm too lazy to spellcheck) and Cepicils (again, lazy) and hopefully I'll slip into a cold-meds induced coma for the next 20 hours or so.

Please please please can I be better tomorrow morning?

Thanks eversomuch....
JSQ

Tonight on Northbeat...

2009-02-18T15:53:00.001-06:00

Hear me pretend to act like a normal human being, while my brain makes me sound like an idiot because it's full of cotton.

It's a good thing Leona's announcement isn't a barn-burner. Cuz then I'd be screwed.

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH NEWS THIS WEEK, I SHOULD BE AT HOME IN BED.

THAT IS ALL.