Sweet, glorious sunshine....

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

Get yer melt on!

Normally when I walk out the front door at work, I bask in the little warm nook formed by the side of the building and the outside door.

I discovered it a couple months ago, when the sun was back in full-force, but the wind was still bitter cold.

It's a great little hidey-hole, sheltered from the wind and cold, where the entrance-way... by some freak chance... heats a little corner of Rankin Inlet... no matter the outside temperature.

Well today, for the first time, I left the warm shelter of that little alcove... to discover the rest of the world was just as warm.

Don't believe me?

It's amazing. It's useless to try and walk around town these days. I need to buy myself a kayak just to navigate my way to work.

In one short week, I think it's safe to say we lost a good 75% of fallen, plowed, piled snow. And in its wake, rivers that weave across our dear gravel roads, leaving deep cuts in their wake. In some places, the water is easily a foot deep. Kids (and my puppy, for that fact) happily romping in the water...

To the dismay of mothers (and pet owners) looking out the window.

Yes, dear blog readers... spring has sprung.

Sprung a giant leak, it seems :P

Ho-hum, it's a blizzard

Well, it's a blizzard day again.

Sometimes it's a little disgusting how many blizzards we get whizzing through Rankin.

Since I got back from vacation I don't think a week has gone by where there wasn't at least ONE day that I had to stay home because of the blizzard.

And it's not like I'm being a wimp, and don't want to go out into the cold. It just isn't SAFE to leave the house. I'm not exaggerating at this point (lord knows I've developed a reputation for doing so, eh Mom?) but the houses across the street (and we are talking a small street, maybe 50 feet away) are barely visible. The wind is blowing at 65km/h and the gusts are over 85.

I never really thought about the wind before I moved up here. It was never the "selling point" of a storm day down south. Back home it was always how much snow was on the ground, and if we could clear it away fast enough.

I also happen to live in "Area 6"... which is at the far end of town, and on the other side of "the bay" (note to self, upload map of Rankin at some point...). Visibility always tends to be worst out here. And, as I am sure y'all are tired of hearing... it is also a good 20 minute walk to work from my house. Pleanty of time to get turned around and end up in Yellowknife.

Early morning ring-y ding-ys

I was woken up by a phone call at 6 am this morning.

Newsworld chick: "Did I wake you up?"

Exhausted, sleep-deprived reporter: *mumble* "yes"

Newsworld chick: "Can you do a hit in 15 minutes"

Jackie: "uhhh, no? I am asleep?"

NWC: "How about at 7:30"

Jackie: "Um, yah, I can do that"

NWC: "Okay, i'll call you in half an hour"

I would LOOOVE to be able to sleep past 6 some day this week. It would rock.
But if not, I'll settled for a coma this weekend.

Adrenaline haze

Okay, so I've stopped shaking. This is a good thing.

I just did my first live news hit. Ever. It was a 2 (maybe 3?) minute "drive" (CBC-talk for quick 'n' dirty) on CBC Newsworld with Heather Hiscox.

As I was waiting on the phone, listening to Colleen Jones itemize the weather conditions ... I was concentrating on my breathing, and thinking to myself "I have to remember what this is like, I have to blog about this."

So if you are tired of hearing about my newfound CBC popularity, you might as well skip this entry, and go do the morning crossword... or whatever it is you people do :P I won't be insulted. I'm pretty sure even my parents are tired of hearing about it!

I think the key to doing this kind of reporting is not to over think it (lol, a challenge for anyone who knows me). I remember doing a similar thing in journalism school, and our prof telling us not to write out exactly what we were going to say, just to make notes of the points you want to hit. So of course, I wrote out exactly what I was going to say, and tried my darnedest to sound as "non-rehearsed" as possible.

This time, I actually... without really thinking about my j-school training ... did exactly what I was supposed to. But I maintain a lot of that comes from being the "national expert" (at least in CBC's eyes, it seems) on this curse-ed blizzard. I've explained the situation, and its many angles, so many times to so many people over the past couple days.

I have answered more phones, talked to more new people, and done more interviews in the past 48 hours than I have in any other point in my life. And I was just PUMPING with adrenaline the whole time. It's kind of funny to look back on yesterday. I wish I could have seen myself through my colleagues eyes.

Was I flustered? Was I excited? Was I focussed? Was I driven? Overwhelmed? Giddy?

I was trying to explain the complexity of my day to my supervisor yesterday evening, all the shows I was doing work for, how that compared to my normal duties... and I couldn't even get the words out. I couldn't even give a coherent account of the day. It's like I went through the day in an adrenaline haze.

But as I sit here and try to think back... I realize I really owe my co-workers big time. Normally I try not to involve them in my blog, but I really... think they deserve some mega props. If it wasn't for Selma... I never would have chased this story. She's the one that had the interview with the cashier in Whale Cove. She's the one that called her back to get a comment in English about the store stock. And Betty. Betty kept calling people, without me asking and then turning around to say "Jackie, I have X on the phone, you should talk to them." And when I needed additional sources for As it Happens and Sounds like Canada... she had them, a constant slew of names and phone numbers. The two of them, well, Selma and Betty made me look good. I couldn't have done this without them.

And finally Kevin. It is just, so refreshing to have someone just first, believe in you so much... but not just that, push you to believe in yourself so that you can make other people believe in you too. Monday night - back in the days when this was "just" a 5-day storm haha - Kevin says to me "you should pitch this to national news" ... and I am pretty sure I brushed him off. I didn't really think it was a news story, it was just a storm. A persistent storm, but a just a storm. I didn't call national news that night, but I did put a call into Sounds like Canada.

It wasn't until the next morning, when I looked outside, and it was as bad a blizzard as it had been all week (if not worse) that I realized our "little" blizzard was BIG news. So I did call, national news WAS interested. And things spun out from there. My phone calls and hectic day were punctuated by Kevin's enthusiasm and praise... all I could ask for, and more than I should have demanded of a guy who had stuff of his own to deal with (a very recent death in the family).
So thanks Selma, thanks Betty ... I figure you'll not ever really read this, so that falls on deaf ears...(I'll have to write a real thank you letter for them) but Kevin does.

So thank you Kevin. I couldn't have done this without your support. I'll always remember that.

The blizzard that never ends

... and the sleep that never comes....

It seems like every day I look at the detailed weather forecast on cbc.ca, the blizzard is predicted to go on. I remember when it was originally "scheduled" to be over by Friday morning.

And to be fair, it did die down Thursday night. Only to wind itself back up in a frenzy early Friday morning.

And I also remember when the forecast said the blizzard would be winding down Saturday night... with clear skies on Sunday...

And the forecast now reads:

Monday..Blizzard ending in the evening then a few clouds. Wind northwest 40 km/h gusting to 60. Temperature steady near minus 33. Wind chill minus 54.

It is almost surreal. It's like someone on the weather desk has forgotten to change the symbols on the map.

"Today: blowing snow, Tomorrow: blizzard"

I actually went out today. I threatened to go out on Friday, but my mom flipped out (via e-mail haha) saying it wasn't smart. So I listened to mother. And stayed indoors.

Today, I went to the Northern. I had no food. It was getting desperate. I hadn't left the house in 7 days, didn't do any REAL grocery shopping since I got back from vacation... and had made a food order. Yah. It was bad.

I dressed up in my finest:

• two pair of socks
• two pair of thermal pants
• a fleece sweater
• a thermal turtleneck with the neck pulled up over my mouth
• a thin scarf covering my nose and mouth
• neoprene face mask/balaclava
• wind-proof pants
• moon boots
• canada goose jacket
• knit scarf over TOP of the jacket, to secure the hood up over my ears
• lubsta claws (as they are affectionately known... they are mitts that happen to be cooked-lobster orange)

The walk over (it takes about 8-10 minutes) was a piece of cake. I actually remember thinking "seriously? This is why I didn't leave the house for the past 4 days?" .....

The walk back, now that was a different story. I actually felt like I was making one step forward, and half a step back every time I moved. Guess that walking with/against the wind really makes a difference eh?

I'm sure I'll look back on this week as the longest blizzard of all time... and smile ... but for now I will sit... and wait... and hope to eventually be able to look out my window and see a bit beyond the nearest lamp-post.

Warning

Six days stewing in a two-bedroom apartment = recipe for cabin fever/insanity.

Three of those days were spent sick and in a near-coma... (incidentally watching copious episodes of House, so it was like the coma-ee watching the coma-ed)

And the other three were spent pacing the apartment, simultaneously happy that I didn't have to go to work and frustrated that I couldn't go outside.

Still no groceries. I've been eating plain rice for the past couple of days. It was boring the first time I had it, let alone several bland meals later... when not only does it lack flavor but variety as well.

I think even the puppy is annoyed that I've been around so much. He pulled a total diva last night, and wouldn't stop barking until I opened the doors to every room in my house (so that he could explore them at his leisure) ... and shut myself up in my own little cave. On the upside, he now knows how to "sit"... I'm working on "lay down" ... but he's just so darn pleased with his "sitting" ability that I almost feel bad breaking it to him how much more there is to learn.

And the last time I checked, tomorrow was supposed to be blizzard-y too. That's four straight days of weather so awful I can't leave the house. And three days of just being sick.

Please please please let me be able to go to the Northern tomorrow!

Sleep-deprived and bleary-eyed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*stomach grumble*

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

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

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

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

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

Baffled

Okay folks,

Anyone have an explanation for why the MOON is rising and setting after and before the sun?
Seems off.....

Thoughts?