Ok...one last post.

I was out last night helping a friend build a snow wall at one end of their house to help keep the cold wind from blowing up under the house. I forget what I said that prompted the response but and I quote "You are learning useful skills. You are being taught how to make a modern igloo by an Eskimo." I laughed my you know what off. And you know, my skills of constructing snow forts as a child (ok...adult too) came in handy.

It is less than 24 hours before take off and it is hard to belive that this time next week I will be at the Taj Mahal. After 6 months of preparation, (the longest time frame for any trip I have taken), I am down to one more sleep.

I'm in the office running through my mental list of things that need to be done before I go...and all I see are check marks. Ok, the filing didn't get done...yes, I spent DAYS trying to catch up on it, but there are still at least 8 inches of paper left to be sorted, punched, and stored. Other than that I completed everything I wanted to before I leave and can relax. And I can enjoy the major shopping spree I get to go on Saturday before I leave the country. You know the end of the year is coming, additional funding has arrived and it must be spent...so upgrade folks and flip through the catalogue. The one purchase I am looking forward to is a new shredder. It may sound like an odd thing to want to purchase, but we have a history of issues with them here in the office. In fact in the 15 months that I have been here we have killed 3. The last one was suppossed to be heavy duty...but I don't really think it lived up to the name. True, it lasted longer than the others at least 8 months, but it to has sadly decided to go on strike.

I have received LOTS of advice on my trip. Mostly from people who have never been to India on what medications, vitamins, etc to take with me. What to eat, what not to eat, etc. I have taken it all with a grain of salt and made my own decision. I appreciate the advice, but lets face it, I'm a stubborn person. I followed the Habitat list almost to the letter and that should be ample. They've done this a ton of times so no worries there.

Did I ever tell you that I was asked to be the alternate leader for the group? IF something should happen to Tim I take over...LOL....I assured him I was up for the task. You know me, always ready, willing and able to take on a challenge.

Here's my basic schedule of travel:
Friday leave Iqaluit
Saturday, Denny's for breakfast, hair cut, Wendy's,shopping,Wendy's
Sunday fly to TO and pack and re-pack my bags until it is time for bed
Monday afternoon leave Canada
EARLY Wednesday am arrive in Delhi
Tour Golden Triangle until Saturday
Fly to Chennai
Meet the rest of the team on Sunday and head to Pondicherry
Work like dogs and have the most amazing experience ever for the next 17 days
Head back to Chennai
Fly to Canada arriving back the same day I leave India...unlike the two day journey there.
Head to PEI for a couple of days to visit with family and friends, do a bit of Southern shopping...at this point my list reads: wine, wine, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, wine.
And then on the 25th of February I head back up North. Sigh.

So folks, North of Nain is signing off for a few days. I will be in Ontario until Monday and can't imagine that Ottawa or Toronto warrant a posting. I hope to do the odd update from India. Namaste.

First picture I took after arriving in Nunavut--January 2006.

It's Saturday...so I think I can finally call the week over and am looking at the start of a new one. This part week has been one of the toughest I've had in a very long, long time.

At work I was having major issues with our largest provider. One of our courses had to be pushed back a week which meant twice the work for my staff and worry for me because now I won't be there for the beginning of the course and am concerned they will pull a similar stunt when I am not around next month and we start a contract worth about $500,000. I need to get all our year end work finished before I leave next Friday and the pressure is on.

The position that I had been happily doing before moving up to Nunavut was posted this week. I don't want it back, but it hurt to see a position that had been eliminated (and I had been down-sized from) back on the boards. I don't want to go back to it, but it was a very tough year when the down sizing happened and a lot of memories were again stirred up...broken relationships, broken dreams and the loss of friends.

And then the middle of the week I received word that I had not been selected for a position that I had been drooling over since I first heard it might be coming open in September. This was a make or break event for me and there may be some big changes in my life over the next 6-8 months because of it.

Yes, I still had my trip to look forward to, but it took a back seat this week. A big thanks to my friends who were there for me early in the week when the first bad news started and then continued to hold my hand as the week got worse and worse. But...it is finally over. I banish this week from my life and am officially calling this a new week...in fact, it is the last week before I leave on a month vacation. I haven't had this much time off at once since the month before I moved to Nunavut and went touring around Europe.

My webpage countdown says that is is 6 days, 4 hours and 28 minutes before my flight leaves Nunavut. Ahhh...vacation. And as seems to be only proper I will celebrate year two of Nunavut...out of Nunavut. Last year I was in Vancouver for work, this year I will actually be in Ottawa on my anniversary date.

Yes, I admit it. I deleted a comment from my blog. I've deleted others in the past, mostly spam type ones...but this one came from someone that I would have called a friend. No, not a good friend, but the kind of person who I have enjoyed spending time with and thought was a nice person.

The comment offended me. I reserve the right to feel offended by comments left on my blog or said to my face. It is my right as a human to feel offended and it is my blog, so I deleted the comment. I spent a couple of hours trying to word an email to this person telling them how much their message hurt me, but couldn't do it without sounding offensive or rude. I eventually wrote a message back to them and posted it last night. Then this morning I took my comment and theirs off my blog. I didn't want to seem petty, but leaving the comment there was giving me pains in my stomach...so it had to go.

My message was not offensive to anyone. I was expressing my opinion and while this person obviously disagreed with me I don't think they needed to make it personal. The commenter wrote on their own blog that I had deleted the message and I got the feeling that they felt I shouldn't have..free speech and all that. What do you expect from a reporter? (And yes, that is a personal bi$%&y comment that I wouldn't have made if I wasn't so upset about this) Yes, I understand that anyone in the world can read my blog and I am well aware that a number of people here in the North read it...and normally that doesn't bother me. I didn't ask to be put on the Northern blogger list and this person likely would not have found my blog if it wasn't for that site...so...thanks to the commenter I am asking to have my name removed from the site. Extreme? Maybe, but you have no idea how deeply offended and upset I am by the comments made about me. I am not blind. I know what is going on around me here in Iqaluit, Nunavut and Canada. I am also surprisingly up to date on world issues. I made a comment that most people got...including other Northern bloggers--if you don't like it here go home and if you don't know what you are talking about...keep you mouth shut.

So anyone who reads my blog on a semi-regular basis is aware that I am going to India later this month and that preparations have been underway for MONTHS. My latest 'thing' to get ready...hitting the tanning beds.

I'm not looking for a debate on the safety of them...I use them..I have my reasons and at this point no one or no piece of information is going to talk me out of it. But...for those of you who have never had the experience I want to share mine.

Being new to the tanning bed thing I had a ton of questions and I'm sure I drove my friends nuts with the lists I had for them. Do I wear clothes? What do I do when I'm on the bed, etc, etc. I went just over two weeks ago for the first time. I had done my prep work and was ready to get brown!

I went in and closed the door behind me, striped down to my birthday suit and then slathered on the tanning cream my friends had given me, layed on the bed, positioned the goggles, closed the lid and pressed the "GO" button. It was as I was laying there waiting for the lights to come on that I realized I had not locked the door. I was uneasy the entire time I was there because I was worried that someone was going to walk in. Who that was I couldn't say...certainly not the person who works there and seeing as there was only two of us in the building...it was a moot point.

The fans come on...the lights come on and I am surprised by how bright it seems even with the goggles on. I tried to relax and take deep breaths and just enjoy. I couldn't. I was nervous and anxious about the whole process...but 10 minutes later when the lights went out I was feeling the same anxiety. I did a quick check in the mirror...nope, no tan so I got dressed and left.

I've been back about 4 or 5 times since and am now quite comfortable with the entire process. I lay there and relax. In fact, the stress of the past couple of weeks seems to lessen during my time in the booth. I am a nice light brown, a vast improvement over my now normal pasty white colour.

Had a Habitat meeting tonight and offered to pimp myself out before and after my trip to help educate the town about Habitat and the good work taking place all over the globe. Those of you who remember me from my recruitment days may recall that I love an audience...so whatever group takes me up on the offer may regret it when they can't shut me up. I hope to do up a power point presentation that I can use for the one or two groups that may be interested...but you faithful readers will get photos to view on the blog along with my whitty comments...and luckily you can fake a bad connection with the internet and just shut me down. In person it is harder to silence me.

India countdown 8 days till I leave Nunavut.

I wrote a tirade the other night about people living and yet not living in the North...and then it disappeared...so I thought I’d try again...it won’t have the same passion as the other night, but I feel I need to lay it on the line.

I live in Nunavut. This is my home. I was not born here, but I have happily made it my home for the past two years. When I say I am going home...I mean to my apartment here in Nunavut. Wherever my shoe collection and my favorite stuffed chicken are is home.

If you have moved to Nunavut but are not able/willing to call it home. Get the !*@# out. I am so sick of people who live here say that this is not and never will be home, they are here to pay off their debts or get some work experience and then leave. These are the people who are willing to tell you everything they hate about life in the North. They are not willing to accept the limitations of life up North, nor are they willing to really appreciate the fantastic things that come with life North of 60.

For those people who have never worked for a government before, stop whining and complaining about how poorly this government is working. I have worked in government prior to moving to Nunavut and believe me...it’s no different. Teachers, let me tell you if this is your first stint teaching...again shut up, stop complaining. If you don’t know what it is like to work for a school board down South then you can’t say that the school system here sucks.

I’m not saying that the territory doesn’t have issues, it does. It has baggage. We all have baggage. Did you do enough research before you moved up here? If not, don’t blame the territory, blame yourself. The few things I haven’t been able to purchase here in town (or when I was living in Pangnirtung) I have had shipped up. Either direct from the store or through my family. I take advantage of when I am in the South. It’s quite simple really.

Live it. Love it. Or go to the place you call home and let me live in peace.

It's been a chilly weekend here in Iqaluit. A wind chill warning has held since Friday and I'm not yet sure when it will break. Life must go on though. I ventured out today for a short walk...short being the key word. While I was wearing my parka, I did not do the winter boot, snow pants, hat thing...so a short jaunt up the hill at the park was as far as I went. Here are a couple of photos taken during said walk...note the lack of snow covering the landscape.





It has been a very quiet weekend. I have purged, cleaned and generally sorted almost everything in my apartment. I even cleaned out my craft box...which I must admit to being very under used since I moved North. I think laziness is the only thing to be blamed for that. And perhaps a lack of crafting space...but I think the laziness is likely still in the lead.

The tulips I planted after Christmas have peeked above the ground...well, one of them has anyway. I just hope that they don't bloom before I return from my trip South. I had flowers in March the first year I moved up. I had brought the bulbs back from Amsterdam and while they came out in bloom in March I don't know when I planted them...sometime between the end of January and the beginning of March. You'd think I would have blogged about that important day in my life. Oh well.

Ok..I don't normally complain about the weather and being in charge of the organization I work for means I can make the call on my own...but I always wonder what the best thing to do it.

Here's the issue. Today, the winds are gusting (to a very mere 50km/hr), the wind chill is in the -50's, visibility is less than 400m, less than 2m at times and in certain parts of town...yet we are still at work.

I'm reposting some info from November 2006:
Taken from the GN HR Manual....
People living in Arctic conditions can expect to work or come to work in
bad weather conditions....

...Consideration will be given to closing government offices in any
community if a combination of any three of the following occur in a normal
workday:
(1) Visibility is less than 200 meters;
(2) The constant wind speed exceeds 60 miles per hour;
(3) There is a wind chill index of –50 degrees Centigrade or greater;
(4) The municipality has taken its road clearing machinery off the road;
(5) Taxis or other transportation systems have given 1-hour notice of
going off the road.


So far there has been no mention of plows or taxis coming off the roads, so here we will stay..pretending to work while constantly taking peeks outside to see if it is getting worse. Yes, I could just say 'frig it' and close the office, but then we don't get any work done. But at this point in the day I'm not getting anything done anyway cause I am trying to decide if I should close the office at 2pm when the sunsets.

I try to follow the government when it comes to decisions like this...but somedays you just need to wonder where their heads are...and today, knowing how many people are actually not in the office...it would seem most folks are not due back till Monday, so for a lot of departments there is no one around to make the call to close the office.

I am trying something new this month. Tanning beds. Yes, I know they are evil, horrible things and yes, the messages are mixed on if they help with the whole base tan but I think I'm going to do it anyway. I have been living here for two years and frankly the amount of direct sun my body has seen in that time is limited. I think that leaving here and heading for India where the sun will be direct and fierce I need a bit of a base. And you know, the emotional boost of having some colour on my skin won't hurt either. While I will never be milky white, my mediteranian complexion is starting to lighten...must not be enough Greek in my blood...maybe I need to learn to eat olives. Hmmm.

So here ends another post of useless information about nothing in particular. If you have read this far you don't have enough to do. If you have suffered along this far...here's a rare treat...some pics from where I work.







Yep, a lot of the training is safety related....let's face it folks, when you are 200 miles from shore you can't expect the fire department to show up.

I took a few photos of my apartment today and while I am not going to share all of them with you....here's a couple. The first photo is my eclectic (sp) collection of stuff. The print is from Japan, the frame is from Value Village. The doll on the left is my new packing doll from Taloyoak, Nunavut. The sheep is from my mom on PEI...inside joke between us. Chicken of course...cause he is always with me (and yes, he is going to India!). The plate in the back was given to me by the family that stayed in my home in Pangnirtung when I was on vacation. In front is a card sent by a friend in PEI...you can't see because of the glare, but it is a beautiful shot of PEI that makes me homesick everytime I look at it. The plate and card are sitting on top of a large tile of labradorite...from Labrador. And in the back is an Ikea vase filled with bamboo (also from Ikea) and in front is a hand crafted clay vase with Inuit/Northern images/designs on it made in Rankin Inlet and given to me as a birthday/Christmas gift this year from a close friend. And no flat surface in my apartment goes long before there are a couple of pairs of sunglasses on it.



And on this area I have a vase full of sand (no, not PEI sand....Walmart sand...but I would love to have PEI sand at some point), and sea urchin shells on top that I bought in Yellowknife. Next to that are three wooden dishes that my grandfather made. One of them is made out of a piece of wood from my other grandfathers workshop. Next to that is a harpoon that I purchased in Resolute (way up North...see May 2007). The clam shell is from PEI. The bamboo runner underneath it all ties back in to the small oriental touches throughout my apartment. And hanging over the bed is the tile I brought back from Mexico and had framed surrounded by the newspaper it came back to Canada in.



The other side of my apartment is mostly Northern prints, small carvings and other odds and ends.

I keep forgetting to post a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who sent Christmas wishes...esp. Lori, Brenda, Frances and Janice...mail is always a wonderful thing and cards during the holiday season are more than welcome. Thanks.