Belugas, bears, wolves and navy dudes

Well, if that was a short week, it sure felt longer than four days. Have been pretending to be the NIC (nurse in charge) and help the casual CHN settle in to the community. You don't realize how much genealogy you know until you have to explain to someone else. I've been lucky in that my coworker is an experienced nurse who is thorough, kind, has a good touch with folks and a great sense of humour. She apologizes for being slow but this is a sedate community so lots of time to get up to speed and you can be faster when you know folks...you can also miss things if you're too familiar so always good to have 'new eyes'. We have been 'busy' as measured by our usual pace and she's gotten to meet a number of people already. Including a little fellow the clerk described as "an old man baby" which is pretty accurate as he's an old soul (who was a fan of my jam cookies).

A highlight of the week was the arrival of a plumber (from NS of course) who had come to install an on demand water heater for us as the water in the shower was just manageable and that at the kitchen sink was tepid meaning we had to heat water to wash dishes. This has been going on for some time now as in about a year! Now I dislike the chore to begin with and to do it on a regular basis as if we are camping makes me pretty huffy! When the tradesman arrived I could've kissed him and said "I am so tired of Little House on the Prairie" so he went right to work. Apparently someone (who clearly has no idea what they're doing and shouldn't be allowed near valves) had turned down the hot water to 90c. No need to install the heaters (good thing as the plug was about 3 ft long and wouldn't reach even the wall) just adjust the temperature. I did a sink full of dishes, just to celebrate.

I attempted to go for a walk on Sunday as my coworker was on call and as I stepped out on the steps in the mist with my walking poles a resident said "where are walking? there was a bear spotted up by the dump" and not sure whether this was accurate or a 'pull the leg' statement I said "sure, sure" but he sounded pretty sincere, looked skeptically at my walking poles and said "they're called man eaters because they eat people" So I said "you don't think I should go walking?" and he said "well....if you had a dog" as the Inuit use their huskies as early warning systems, which clearly I don't have.  I changed my route from airport and down the hill to the shore where freight from the barge order sat on the gravel. I found another resident opening various sea cans (shipping containers) looking for his stove (we're talking kitchen range here) which he thought 'someone from the Hamlet office must've picked it up' Hard to misplace something that size I thought. I asked if there had been a bear sighted and he said "yup, up by the airport" so I sighed, accepted the second opinion and headed down the road about 1/4 km towards the new house being assembled. As I rounded the corner, a community member pulling her housecoat tight came out on her steps and called out greetings then said "where your going?" so I assured her just to take a photo of the house. She reinforced the 'bear seen at the airport' info and I said "how big was it?" She paused with the 'how stupid are ya' look on her face and said "it was... a bear okay? I saw it myself!" as if she was dealing with her preschooler. I took the photo, sighed and headed back down the road to the health centre. Difficult to have a relaxing walk when the entire community is having to watch out for you.

polar bear pic by drone

On Monday I took my coworker out for a drive to show her the various elders houses in case she was called out to see someone and then we (as per northern usual tour) went to see the water treatment plant, sewage lagoon (different lakes, not close) and the dump for those must have photo ops. The road was a bit soft but I chanced a run down to the point and there was a bit of traffic (one of each - truck, side by side and 4wheeler) which was a bit unusual but it was a nice day. The RCMP Cpl posted an online photo taken from his drone with footage of a polar bear in the water a few hours earlier, apparently the bear had been chased from the dump,

black meat / white muktuk

down to the point and in to the water. Accounted for the traffic and our timing was just a bit off. After we returned the clerk was on FB and advised that a whale had been harvested and people

muktuk drying

were down on the beach. Down I go with my phone in pocket and managed to capture some footage of the 16 ft. beluga being cut up. You have to be quick as this process is a group activity, the muktuk (blubber) and meat are shared and distributed very efficiently. The meat is thinly sliced and smoked, the muktuk is hung to dry for a few days before being packed in the freezer. This causes some sleepless nights with flashlight and loaded rifle in the porch as there are a couple of wolves who have been wandering on the edge of town (Grumper one of the local dogs was roughed up by them at 2 am one night) and the bear might decide to come back. Lots of folks enjoying the muktuk now but...it's an acquired taste - one I didn't acquire. Tried it four decades ago in Labrador and have no urge to repeat. It's like chewing silly putty, gets bigger every time you chew. 

HMCS Yellowknife

sovereignty in action

zodiac transfers

On Wednesday we received the anticipated community visit from the HMCS Yellowknife which is a minesweeper with about 44 crew which often does drug enforcement or in this case sovereignty cruises. So clearly Canada's most north westerly community was on their itinerary. My coworker graciously stayed at the health centre and allowed me to go on the ship tour. It was a great adventure involving a PFD, zodiac, rope ladder and sea legs required. I was pleased they carry medics so no health centre visits were required, especially when one of the crew confided they'd had to ask for some permethrin from another health centre on their travels for something they think got picked up in Nome causing a little outbreak. For those non nurses reading this I'll insert the fact that this is used to treat scabies or pediculosis pubis (crabs) and just leave it at that. On the return zodiac trip I was reviewing all the wildlife found locally with one of the crew coming ashore and mentioned the world's largest muskox herd was found here. Two of the local guys began discussing hunting and one says to the other 40 yr old "how many muskox have you skinned in your lifetime?" and he thinks for a bit then answers "about 600 I'd say". Not a conversation you'd have anywhere else in Canada I thought to myself. The lads spent the next day getting provisions from the shore to the ship in a zodiac with rough seas and gusty winds and although they were wearing survival suits, conditions would have made me seriously reconsider my choice of career. 

Have most of my chores I'd set for myself ticked off the list as I created a set of three photobooks (had a voucher which was expiring shortly) from the trip to Portugal, cruise and Venice in 2014. Nice trip down memory lane to choose the photos but then tedious to tweak all the layouts. Like finishing a term paper when you click 'order' and are unable to pick at it anymore. Purchased my travel insurance and was decidedly unimpressed with the preexisting rate which  means I pay as much for one trip as an annual policy - that's what happens when you have a history. Just pleased to feel well enough to travel but annoyed at the arbitrary classifications. I've almost finished my final craft project and I've got one more novel set in Greece to read which I think may be my in flight entertainment.

barge with fuel

I've been managing to pack up my life here and my job share partner was right when she said "just do it and once you start it'll be ok" as I'm settled in my mind with taking all my stuff and if I'm back in the spring it's good - if not, there will be another adventure. Managed to throw out some junk and gift some things that are just not going south with me. Had to consult with the life partner (who had left the fishing rod here) as to how to compress it - I was trying to pull it apart and caught the comforter but apparently you press it in as it's telescoping. The life partner also left a shell case, a foldable chair for ice fishing and two suitcases so I was unimpressed - managed to get it all into an action packer, duffle and fitting suitcases inside each other. I've been dusting, scrubbing, vacuuming, doing laundry, organizing and generally lots of domestic chores which I hate but will be nice for my job share partner coming back in to a clean apartment. Tomorrow I'll bake the farewell scones and clean up the kitchen. The barge is back in the community again, this time with fuel. I told the clerk that large red truck they're still carrying around the NW Passage will be rusty when they get it to where it's going. There was a dusting of snow today and flurries this afternoon so a festive feeling even though we haven't seen Hallowe'en yet....

Today our granddaughter had her first birthday and celebrated in her tutu by eating cake. She's beginning to get around and into things and is lots of fun. Her other grandparents dropped in on their way back from the Eric Clapton concert they attended in NY ahhhh The return to work for her teacher mother with her at the sitter is going well, easier on the baby I'm sure. With those 12 week mat leaves we didn't get used to being home and I guess we didn't miss what we didn't have back in the day.

As my coworker and I were discussing today, the north is a wonderful place that you either love or hate and sometimes we have a love/hate relationship with it anyway. As in, I went to the COOP for milk after the sched came in but...no milk! Did no one order it? Did they not send it? Who would consider milk a non staple item? I managed to buy lemon greek yogurt and avocados mind you....We also decided that on many levels we 'do better' in the north because although living can be more difficult, it's also simpler. Hard to describe, you gotta try it to understand. Last night on call for a while tonight, just two more days to work and I am Cyclades bound! As long as I make it out of this community (please travel gods NO fog) all should be well. I can deal with the remainder of the itinerary and meet the shore captain in Montreal to fly to Athens if I have to! None of the airports I'm traveling through have this feature but it would sure be something I'd avail myself of if they did...

When All Else Fails, De-Stress by Petting an Airport Dog: More than 40 airports in North America now invite therapy dogs to roam the terminals with their trainers. San Francisco International Airport, for example, has its Wag Brigade (which includes LiLou the pig) and Denver International Airport has CATS, the Canine Airport Therapy Squad. New to the herd is Vancouver International Airport’s LASI (Less Airport Stress Initiative), made up of seven specially trained bandana-wearing pooches.

Twas barge week

Very much looking forward to a short work week and enjoying the long weekend gifted by celebrating the Labour Day holiday. And by enjoying I mean....sleeping in, chatting with my coworker then having brunch, crocheting a bit, checking out the online newspaper from home (that has somehow been appearing in my inbox gratis this week after I unsubscribed during the years long labour dispute - clearly trying to win me over, we shall see when the time comes to put my money on the table) mind you I have missed Dilbert, checking out Pinterest travel hacks and now...updating the blog. I did (in a nod to the to-do list) organize my food cupboard to see what I have left as I eat my way out the community, what can be gifted and what stays. Gotta pace myself!

This past week saw a tying up of ends from various programs (preschool assessments for the two students moving up to 'big school' here), baking of farewell scones for my roommate, delegation from the aforementioned NIC heading out for a visit/wedding to myself who is now A/NIC, and arrival of a CHN from the west coast. My coworker has a long ER history so my fears of IV access are put to rest. Although meeting the 2 yrs ER experience threshold as requirement for CHN work, she speaks of issues wrestling the PH programs and general clinic work to the ground. This is something I have understood as a problem for many others for the past five years and have been pleased with my eclectic work experience prep. She's done TB nurse contracts in GN and I can pick her brain on that, so we're a good fit. She's looking for a sedate contract so is a keeper. We spent Friday as an orientation day where she found her way around the health centre. Our fax line is down so that was a hassle but we can still scan / email so work goes on.

It's been a fairly active week with the barge in community and I was pleased to see them leaving without any major trauma to deal with. They use heavy equipment to lift houses, shipping containers,

house being moved

vehicles and more from the barges across two narrow ramps onto a quickly created gravel ramp to shoreside storage. The clerk summed it up as she said "I met a house on the road on my way to

leaving for the next stop

work this morning driving my 4wheeler, it was big, made my heart pound". My coworker speaks of another community where she was sent to the airstrip with an emergency response pack as Buffalo Airways was crashing with four passengers. They made an emergency landing and all walked away but she took a while to get over herself. As she said "walking away or expired you can deal with, it's the in-between stuff that would've done me in".  Only a couple of more minor crew issues dealt with - the big complaint from nurses is dealing with out of territory healthcare paperwork. Lots of new faces as clearly all 100 people here are known. A community member was telling me the previous week that as kids they used to go jump on the shipping boxes hoping to free some cans of pop but as she said "all that workers comp and liability stuff put an end to that". Ah times they have changed I told her. We were dealing with the flurry of activity required by the DPW maintenance dude to package up and export the biohazardous waste of sharps containers, I have elected NOT to explore the garage and find them still sitting on the pallets, I shall rather assume the stars have aligned and they have exited with the barge. We donated four large bags of refundables from the health centre as fundraisers to two community groups,  they were being sorted and sent out on the barge yesterday afternoon.

Earlier this week I had reason to phone the physician on call at the regional hospital. The switchboard operator who has a thick accent (unclear of the region of origin, I asked my coworker who says he is Muslim / speaks Arabic and she would know having worked in the Middle East) answered and asked for the triage number which we are required to give when calling so I say "4." I'm just looking for the physician to agree with me on the antibiotic I'm going to give recommended by Bugs n Drugs as it's a required Dr order in our formulary. When putting me on hold he says "one gracious moment". It was about 4:45pm as the patient arrived then to be seen with a complaint of several days duration, the fact that a previous social visit had been made earlier that a.m. is relevant only to the annoyed nurse apparently. I was patched through to the millennial intern assisting (and lest I sound sexist please remember my gender) one of the princesses with an attitude and the tone to match. As I'm waiting for her to speak to me, she's talking to someone in the background and says "it's a CTAS world". For those non nurses reading this I will clarify that CTAS means Canadian Triage Acuity System which are the numbers 1 - 5 designating the acuity of your presenting complaint 1 is being resuscitated, 5 is you can wait until tomorrow to be seen, in other words the triage number the switchboard operator had requested and paged the Dr for. I chuckle and say "it sure is a CTAS world" meaning to establish rapport and missy (the age of my kids) answers "we're just in an education session here, can this wait?" with a very superior tone. I say "I just need an antibiotic ok, will only take a sec" and she says firmly "I will call you back" and hangs up. I am not impressed! We close the health centre at 5 pm and the time drags on as we wait for the callback. The NIC suggests dispensing the antibiotic in question and ignoring the bureaucracy as in "you made the call" and by 5:20 pm we are both ticked enough with the wait to send along the patient with meds. The physician on call (sweet mature Dr) calls as the patient exits and I review the case where she quickly okays the antibiotic choice asking "is that all you wanted?" and I state "yep, could've done that in a few seconds" to which she sighs. I am pleased she is dealing with Missy Attitude personally and not me!

The news this week is sad. Difficult to watch planes underwater in Houston airport, people losing everything including their lives in the flood, dogs sitting patiently waiting with their dog food for rescue  having been abandoned in boats and the recovery effort underway. The cruise reservation company we deal with in Houston is struggling to collect payments via phone as their offices were affected and I chatted with some very calm managers despite all their problems this week. The most personally disturbing news story to me was of the ER nurse arrested in Utah for refusing to give the police a patient's blood sample:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/nurse-sobs-help-me-while-getting-arrested-for-simply-doing-her-job_us_59a98902e4b0b5e530fe51d2

Apparently the chief of police has apologized and the policeman is 'on leave'. I should hope so! Actually I hope he's fired - there's no way a nurse could screw up that badly and still have their job. 

The weather has been foggy, rainy with gusty winds but the flights managed to arrive/leave pretty

appropriate home decor

much on schedule this week. There was even a charter on Friday to take the five students attending high school in Inuvik over to begin the school year. So, I remain optimistic about my scheduled exit, although snow is predicted for one day next week, this isn't unusual timing. Have been practicing a few words in Greek - clearly not going to master the language in anything less than years of study but would like to be polite and recognize the names of the ferry offices. Some more work on my online course, a craft project to finish up, photo book to do, some research for the cyclades, online shopping for such things as the new throw pillow on the right which I just ordered from BlueGorillaInc (how could you not with a name such as that?) and the 12 remaining days will slip away.