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Our Arctic AdventureArctic Bound |
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Thanks for visiting our trip to the edge of the earth!
August 07 On the other sideI guess patience is a virtue. Time to catch up on the blog - but not tonight February 06 Marge is off!!!!!!!!!!!Marge is if off in four hours. We did fit all the gear, she is taking, in the car. I will greatly miss her. I guess this is leg3 in the journey. I am trying to keep oppotomistic but this is a very big life change. Maybe one we really need. Time will tell. Humor..... I encouarge you to look at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Abavr67K60&eurl=http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1012431920# Lyrics... Taxi… It was a work day Monday Morning, I called a cab at eight But I was getting nervous, the cab was running late……….. But driver , I said, the cab is full There is no room for me Relax, my man, calm down he said Enjoy the company………….. This cab it may seem full to you but I totally disagree It ain`t a fancy limousine and your not celebrity What were you expecting for a mere five dollar fare Ìs it someone to open doors for you, escort you up the stairs And Round and Round and Round we go, Roads to nowhere, back to White Row… Slipping and sliding in the snow, Dreaming about Mexico……………..
Bouncing down the road, gas peddle to the floor We were dodging potholes like a Spanish matador I said driver, Please slow down, you better take your time, because by-law man is eagerly waiting down the line……….. Now driver there’s a drunk man, sitting on my knees, He is getting out of hand, he`s making eyes at me Drop me off at the corner or get him to settled down It seems like it`s been hours, we have been roaming around this town
And Round and Round and Round we go, Roads to nowhere, back to White Row, Slipping and sliding in the snow, Dreaming about Mexico
Well I got to work in the afternoon There’s a blizzard coming down Then driver take me on back home they are shutting down the town He said I would love to help son, but the storm is close at hand The roads are very slippery And the town won’t spread the sand…… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Abavr67K60# Song by local artist ``Taxi`` by Errol Fletcher (According to you tube post Author) February 02 BlogI am not sure how this is being seen on the internet. Please leave a comment. Check out the photo blog.
Thanks Simon Move Part 2They showed up with a 18 wheeler planning to load out of the kitchen (west side of house) but there is no walk way there. They would be walking through snow and through the hedge. I should have thought of that last night - although their deal. They could load the truck from the driveway but it looks like they have turned back to New Glasgow!
No they returned - they took out some phone lines down the street! That’s not their fault as the phone lines are supposed to be 14ft high. Someone will be upset!
The driveway is full of ice so I had to buy three bags of salt!! More money which probably cannot be recovered.
It’s getting cold in the house. We had to remove the patio door to move things out - it’s getting chilly!! OH NO!!!!!! They packed our winter clothes. Marge doesn’t even have a jacket. I am not sure how that happened. She is gone into Amherst to buy another jacket!!! Luckily my mom has her ski pants to hem and her gloves were in the car. As our stuff won’t arrive in Iqaluit in for about three weeks this is a great, great concern. We spent almost $1,000 on clothes and simply don’t have any further resources.
At the end of the day it all went well. The movers were very professional and knew what they were doing.
Tomorrow I am resting. Marge has her going away party for work. I hope she enjoys herself as she deserves to have some fun.
A day (or two of rest) and I have to get BUSY on the painting! January 31 Move part 1Courage! Well the beginning of the move is here! Oh my gosh!! The truck broke down! They won’t be here until noon. It’s going be a very long day….. They brought a 10 tonne straight truck and will pack and load for Iqaluit today. 4 people were supposed to show. 2 to pack and 2 to load but only 2 showed. Apparently another crew is coming from Halifax (2 hours away) but as of this post they haven’t showed. The two guys who showed seem like nice guys but are the drivers and the loaders. Marge is getting quite frustrated as it is Thursday and this has to be done by the end of the week as I am sure they don’t work on the weekend. Tomorrow they are debating bringing a 18 wheeler for the “storage” as I have a long extension ladder, 2 lawn mowers, wheelbarrow etc…. This is going to be a long, long day…… Turts seem to be ok in there new home and haven’t escaped yet! I put them by a window for more natural light. Second crew arrived and there are now five here Time to tackle the basement! One of the new crew arrived and wham! Fell right the stairs! Luckily he was okay - things not going well……. Marge gave him a “special” coffee and two advil and the incident was adverted. Marge the trooper / fixer. The coffee hit the spot.. Next is the storage move. Supposably a 18 wheeler is on its way tomorrow. This should be interesting???? Where are the going to park? This should create some neighbor neck strain! (I do have some great neighbors - really)
Blog thingDid I finally get that right?????? - any comments appreciated
Thanks SW Too much stuffTime to drain the turtle tank! I am not sure how the turts are going live in the rubber maid container for a month. I will have to keep me eye on them in case they “fight” too much. If they can’t get along I will have to do something else. Larry, Curly and Moe definitely compete with each. Yet another shop. We now have about $2000 worth of food to take. Ironically apart from meat (the big one), fresh veggies and bread we shouldn’t have to buy any food for a while. The real estate agent was over today and the papers were signed to sell the house. Oh well - courage! I lived in an apartments for ten years prior to buying my house and find it hard to know I will never live in this house again. I have put so much into it. I thought I would live here all my life! I guess this is how the dice rolls. “Life is like a box of chocolates”. The realtor is a great guy (Peter Swan) and was very reassuring. Pete thinks it should sell quick. I hope so . We will certainly miss our families and work mates but neither really have a lot of friends. This is something we hope this live change will change. Both of us have come to this area over a decade ago and we just keep to ourselves, I guess. I want to do some voluntary work when we get to Iqaluit. We were very touched today when we got a card for from a local store we frequent and a nice, welcomed gift. It was very unexpected and such a nice gesture. There is a great deal of good in this world despite all it’s problems. Thanks! I still cannot believe how much food we bought and still need… We sorted things out tonight just to see what we are missing and went and bought more peanut butter. As I leave after Marge I will be able to bring more. Anyhow time for bed. Tomorrow the movers come………..
January 29 Count down to pack and moveOne day left to get the rest of the supplies and get ready for the movers. I am glad, in a way, as so much cost has been incurred to get supplies it is not funny and we keep remembering things. I still haven’t stocked up on shaving cream yet. An item Marge and I will have to lug on the flight up. More luggage! We are going have to pay for extra luggage. Natasha sent Marge some Bday flowers and a grocery gift certificate today. Both went A LONG, LONG way. The shop today was $700. So it really helped. My mom also contributed. So both really helped us. We can’t really bring any meat so that’s a further expense when we get there. We will really miss our family. In a way this may bring us all closer. I need to get my mom signed up on Facebook (ah! The dreaded Facebook). Again thanks to you both! We will need family support. (My paypal account is!!) Seriously we may need some things by Canada Post but that is a whole other issue. One thing, I am looking forward to (honestly) is NO Walmart. I think society will be more level there and more in a survival mode than acquiring more “bling”. This may be refreshing. We shall see. I did more work in the basement today and I am allowed to bring one large tool box. Unbelievable how much I crammed in there. Marge hasn’t seen it yet. During the quote I hope the estimator used L x W x H and the density of steel to estimate the weight.! We are only allowed 1800 Kg. I bet the tool box is about 100 lbs! Marge is concerned about going over weight because, if we do, we have to pay the difference. Luckily the government is covering part of the move as we just couldn’t have done this on our own. We are using all resources as it is. As I have more work to do on the house, I have to be very careful not to take tools I need over the coming month. One example is I packed the hacksaw but luckily I remembered that I still have to use it. I do have a buddy I can lend some tools from if needed. Maybe I should have stored more tools as opposed to taking them but I wanted to bring whatever I can - I was allowed one tool box. So that’s what I am taking it! For whatever reason I am not sure. As we can’t bring meat, and all the bills will come in, we made need them to barter for Caribou Meat! Nothing on the job front accept another post on a Northern discussion form saying I won’t have a problem. Being out of work is almost, one of the hardest things I have been through. Ah! And the blog……. I have been trying to get a proper form today and it’s not easy. I had to breakdown and reopen a facebook account. I apologise to face book fans but I find there is just so much noise. Maybe I will grow to like it. Marge says they pay if you advertise - all of that is such a distraction. It is very easy to connect to people though. I have really had enough of the toilet paper thing. I AM going to order a Sears catalogue!
tck! tcK! TCK!Almost all the arrangements are made for the Turts to travel. When I say “transporting three turtles” I think people are envisioning huge sea turtles the size of a table. Well they don’t bark, they don’t bite (not to hard), they don’t smell and if they get out - well you can catch them…. I cannot book them on WestJet until the 3-Feb-08 but got the OK from First Air. First Air was very good about it. We are now concerned about the cats and the dog as they have to go into the hold during the flight. I hope they don't freeze! We would be devastated. Apparently the problem is they leave the animals on the tarmac, with the luggage, until unloaded. After 4 hrs in the hold and then exposed at -35C they WILL be cold….. We will all manage. Relief! Finally a positive job response! A gold mining company Doris North, in Nunavut I tried to search it and even Google Earth can't find it! The edge of the earth! Speculation / from what I searched is it may be in the western part of Nunavut. They probably fly people in and out on a rotating basis again speculation. Who knows I may get to fly back and forth from Iqaluit to Doris North once every two weeks. This would mean flying up over the arctic circle and completely over all the islands in between! Cool in good/ clear weather. Though I bet there are some very rough flights in bad weather. Probably an area where an emergency landing would be real tough. We would save on food if I was away for two weeks and then maybe be able to pursue other interests when off for two. Who knows! Things are starting to move in the right direction… I think mining engineering would be a great career move. (whatever mining engineering is but probably big). Mining is exploding and who knows it might be a ticket to get work in somewhere like Australia or South Africa in a couple of years. The toilet paper thing again.. When every we talk to people they say ``bring toilet paper!`` A whooping one roll per day until the re-supply boat arrives in July. Quick calculation is approximately 180 rolls!!! We have only got one third of that! More cash!! Who knows what happens when one runs out! I haven’t got a straight answer from anyone if toilet paper can be bought. We will have to sign up for as much junk mail as we can, the Sears catalogue and save newspapers. You got to do what you got to do. I guess the question of “can we have some extra napkins”? when ordering food takes on a whole other meaning. I guess there is a couple of restaurants but very expensive. My mom has offered us a help today. We can now go get more extras. We have ordered $90 of beef jerky which will help. Also the extra toilet paper and more tea and coffee and more…more.. etc.. Great help - Thanks Mom! So appreciated. Tomorrow I get at the basement again. I managed to save (pack not there yet) all my tools so I feel better about that. Movers coming in 3 days. Time to get some rest. So much to do!
Arctic Adventure
Well, we are Iqaluit bound! Yes the outpost of the North! The Great, Great White North…. Marge and I did a big, big shop today and it really hit home. Our life style will change greatly. A once in a lifetime experience. I thought Australia was far away but this is the edge of the earth. A couple of degrees below the artic circle. Luckily there was a a lot of very good sales on winter clothes today as our credit is almost maxed out. We can do it but for the next months it will be really rough (but probably more positive than the last 6 months) I am selling my house but Marge’s is now rented. A great couple of great tenants! There is something to fall back on, if need be. It will be a very challenging way of life. Marge has a good Gov position but I am still looking for work. I knocked (spammed) on a lot of doors in Inaquit and didn't have much initial success however I just got a response. Everybody, seems to believe, I won't have a problem getting work. At first, I plan to do some volunteer work - hopefully a good way to make contacts and keep busy. One idea was teaching. Something I am very intrigued and excited about. One comment was made it is hard to get a job before going (In my case) as people often get set to relocate but pull out at the last minute. One response was "call me if /(when) you get here" Believe me I was not positive about the idea for a long time (I hate the cold!). Next we pack up. We have the movers coming in a couple of days and the car gets crated at the end of the month due for arrival in Jul. I think a 2 door red Saturn coop will look very cool in Iqaluit! then legal issues (wish me luck) and then Marge flies out first with the cats, leaving me with the dog and the turtles. The dog will really miss Marge and drive me really batty. The turtle tank and gear will be shipped prior so Larry, Curly and Moe (the turts) will have to live in a Rubbermaid box with a substandard filter. Hard on all. Then I have to get the house in the best shape as I can. Time to get painting! I have so many projects half done it is not funny. As every thing is packed I will have very little furniture for the next month. (Everything gets shipped next week). Also until I leave I will have to cook for myself! (There is always my mom). Marge is going to find it tough as she arrives first. She will have to walk everywhere - I am sure the locals will help and she will be ok. We are told the Inuit are very welcoming to strangers. We will have to be careful with the amount of phone calls we make in order not to incur even more costs. Once she get settles at her work we can then email. I plan to keep a diary and keep posting. Please excuse the writing as I have a new notebook and Vista/new MSN etc are a little hard to adjust to. Also it is a long time since I have done any writing and I don’t quite yet how to voice / person this. My thoughts are just to document and post it for now. Wish us the best! SW |
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