The goose has landed

Home safely from the short self indulgent six days off and back to reality. An uneventful flight from DR (if you don't count the really tough landing in Pearson) which you would think with three pilots on board could have been a bit smoother. I told the travel partner that the landings on air strips in Nunavut were gentler. One very large positive of the flight was that since there was no inflight satellite signal the pay for view movies were offered free and I watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which I have been wanting to see for some time and it was excellent - a must watch if you get the chance. The short night in Toronto at the Sheraton Gateway was made even shorter by the shore captain not wanting to be late (the missing of the plane in Edmonton two years ago still ever present in his mind) so he was up at 0430 hrs and we were checked out of the hotel and on our way before the wake up call came. A smooth flight and a short visit with the daughter and son-in-law and we were on our way home. The reality began when we were bringing the luggage in and I noticed a mouse carcass on the braided rug in the living room and the carpet and furniture rearranged wildly. This is what happens when two felines and a deer mouse attempt to coexist. 

The life partner had a jolt of reality when he remembered that the thunder and lightening storm / power outage had killed his beloved TV. I heard him punching the on and off button repeatedly in the man cave as soon as we arrived and (excuse the dark humour but remember that I am a nurse blogger) so I told him that it reminded me of someone going to a visitation and repeatedly poking the corpse in the chest with an index finger to see if they would wake up. "What did you think it was going to do - turn on?" I said. He muttered that he "thought it might've reset itself" and wandered aimlessly. The situation was made worse by the fact that he'd stopped to see the son-in-law's new flat screen model on the fireplace. Not one to want to miss an opportunity I gave a grocery list to the man saying "since we both know that you can't live a day without television, you can pick up a few things when you shop for it"

The return to reality for me includes attempting to get my act together from and before a working away jaunt and acclimatize to the 'you are not just on four days off or a two week vacation' you are not working until after New Years mode. Yeehaw! I am feeling a bit lost though as the last time I was without work for 14 weeks I had a newborn and that was 28 years ago. Although I did get a goodly amount of things done today, my to do list runs to two pages and is one of those tasks (like housework) which regenerates itself. And of course my social calendar (because I can) is beginning to fill up. A road trip to scrapbook for three long time friends is pencilled in as well as some more visits/errands/Frenchy shopping - you get the drift. 

And speaking of drifts and the need for appropriate outerwear to handle the 'real winter' in January I am thrilled to be able to announce that I've sourced a Canada Goose jacket which will (supposedly) look like the one on the left  - the colour is called spirit. It was a bit of a struggle as I couldn't locate one in the city or through any of the retailers across Canada approved by Canada Goose but I was successful in tracking down one online in Montreal. It's a real process as there are so many counterfeit jackets now. It was also $117 of tax as I ordered it from Nova Scotia :( I am most relieved now and awaiting its arrival.  I had an online chat with my former northern roomie and we were discussing the MSF (Doctors Without Borders) presentation we are hoping to attend in the city on Dec 13th unless she is "weathered" in Hall Beach. My usual thoughts on weathered refer to faces or boards but she was of course referring to a flight delay caused by weather while attempting to get out of Nunavut. I found a website (a bit dated but things do move slowly in the north) for Taloyoak and so am sharing it here - note they chose not to document the white stuff:

http://www.polarnet.ca/~taloyoak/services/Default.htm

It was a beautiful sunny day today. Not tropical but certainly unseasonably warm for this time of year. I managed to get laundry done and some of my tasks sorted out. I argued with Eastlink as to why I should have to use an incorrect postal code to register for online billing when they are perfectly able to send a paper bill to my correct postal code monthly. At any rate, the e-billing is now set up. But the Amazon.com situation was the real doozie. Speaking of dead technology....I had resigned myself to replacing the deceased Kindle. It took live chats with four different customer service reps at Amazon until the final one (Rahul) conceded that 'although it was not a common occurrence, the Kindle did need to be replaced'. He advises that I can have a new one for $74 (a savings from $89) and he will waive the shipping fee but when I call him on the cost as I've received an email advertising the same model for $69 he tells me that this is not for international customers. So I review that our Canadian dollar is worth more than the US dollar at present yet I am going to pay MORE than an American customer for the same product (which I am replacing after only two years) as there is no option to purchase this in Canada? There is a pause (likely where he says to his cubicle neighbour "psycho caller on the line") and he returns to advise that he has given me a credit of $6 to my account. And there better not be any extra customs brokerage fees either I pursue - he claims this will not be a problem. No, I'm not happy but at least I'm not as annoyed! Wouldn't vouch for how Rahul is feeling.

Chatted with the baby daughter who is heading within a few hours of us on Wednesday for an appointment so have arranged for visit/lunch that afternoon. She's in to the home stretch with her studies and doing very well so it will be good to discuss plans - talk of a western direction for job hunting as the nurse hiring here in the east is stalled. 

So, the luggage is stowed in the closet until March when we head to Cuba to visit friends. The 40" flat screen TV is set up in the 10 ft x 11 ft. man cave. I asked the shore captain if he had eye drops for the eye strain he'll have watching a TV bigger than himself. And it's time to get myself in to bed and adjusted to all this free time.