Do I Need to Bring a Container?

As I am having as much of a 'day off' as a CHN on second call in a remote arctic community can, I shall update this blog while I wait for the FaceTime date planned with the life partner. It's only been ten days since we we've been 'working short' but it feels like longer, and it doesn't seem as if it's about to change anytime soon. I was asked if I could extend my contract here past the February 24th planned departure and I had to decline due to the Griswalds go to Mexico vacation that is upcoming. At least with the increased workload there is the recognition of additional pay as we will both be paid at the level of a two nurse health centre vs the usual three while we are short. This a new concept for me after almost 38 years of RN employment - I'll take it. The following link is not in any way related to my present employment although I sure can relate in some former positions:
http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/Top_10_ways_to_ensure_your_best_people_will_quit_47779.aspx#

As 2014 is to be the year of travel with multiple trips - two south and two across the pond - planned, I'll be taking my pennies saved to the money exchange. Here is link to a Globe and Mail article about nursing in Nunavut. It is for the most part true although a bit overly dramatic and some bits don't apply here. For example we do NOT suture dogs:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-north/in-nunavuts-remote-corners-nurses-form-the-backbone-of-health-care/article16480170/

Regarding travel plans…..I did have confirmation from Cape Cares that I can transfer over to Los Encinitos (the original trip I planned for) in Honduras so that will mean a quick turn around the first week of May from tropical to arctic adventures. I had forwarded my trip deposit and the administrator sent a message saying the fees for my Canadian cheque were an additional $75, now I just have to figure out how to get them a cheque in US funds or do PayPal or something. Doesn't sound like there are many Canadians volunteering with them, or perhaps they understand the complexities of US/Canadian money exchange or with the changes in the exchange rate this is simply the cost. I shall consult with the shore captain on that one. He and I have been discussing a cruise to include with our Portugal jaunt in September and there are some good sales - the recent norovirus outbreak has led to good prices. And looking ahead to December and the tropical nursing course… a friend who had visited Liverpool, UK mentioned tours of the Beatles former homes and a maritime museum eerily similar to Halifax, NS except the Titanic visit is the before the sailing info. The Beatles museum is of course already on the list. And although I have no intention of going to the lengths described in this article when booking flights - I'll take my chances unless I happen to be up on call at 1 am on Wednesday night - he does makes some good suggestions:
qz.com/169299/how-to-avoid-every-common-mistake-when-booking-a-flight

But in the meantime, this contract (as they all seem to) is moving swiftly along. I am past the midpoint and so it's a slid to the finish with only three weeks left. I'm often asked by my southern nurse friends about the traumas, workload, busiest shifts and general excitement and I can honestly say that it is much more hectic to work in a small rural hospital. Yes, even working short here. There are many similarities (despite the wide cultural gap) in calls/visits to the nurse. For example….a grandmother brought her 17 yr old daughters two year old for an appointment saying that the child had been crossing her eyes at times for several days. My first old nurse / mother of four children instinct was to think that the toddler had discovered how to do this and get a reaction however the grandmother was very concerned and would not have appreciated this diagnosis. So, I patiently questioned how often? (three or four times per day) how long? (few seconds) does she just stop? (she stares really hard - grandmother pantomimes the stink eye or hyperthyroidism) and do you notice any falling, walking into things, dizziness? (no but she says she can't see and asked me for my glasses) I ask if she's had any visual problems? (she had a lazy eye when she was a baby and wore a patch) for how long? (a week) oh really? This while I looked into the very straight and perfectly aligned gaze of the two year old, checked her pupils, six directions of gaze etc. Now I consider myself pretty educated on amblyopia (lazy eye) having some experience with this in our family and am able to pick children out on the street with a bit of an eye turn and wonder why they aren't wearing a patch or glasses. Suddenly the grandmother points out "there she just did it again" and I have to calmly say "I didn't notice any difference". I suggest that if this continues it might warrant a referral to the eye team (they come in twice a year) and she says "you're going to call them and she'll go out today, should we wait in the waiting room?" Um, no, not an eye emergency. As the appointment concludes the grandmother says "do you think she has kidney failure?" which gets my attention. "Why do you ask as I don't make any connection between strabismus an renal failure?" and she says that she's seen a program on TV where some kid had to be on dialysis. Since I don't watch TV I dismissed this as a misunderstanding but my co-worker had apparently seen the program and understood the visit. I later answered the phone and a patient was explaining which staff member she'd seen "the short nurse" she says and on further questioning I realize that it was me she saw. Although I am taller than most of the community, I am shorter than my coworkers.  I have learned to interpret the statement "I try to let her take it sometimes" as the child is being given the medicine sporadically. That this is a question "where YOU'RE going?" which means where are you going? When did you take that "before" which is 'not today'. I had a lady call who has lived here all her life and gotten medications for decades from the health centre. She calls and asks for advil and tylenol - we dispense for free, why would you buy it at the Northern or COOP? When I agree I'll get the pills for her she asks if she should bring her own containers? What? We don't do refills here so I just say "no". And I have learned not to lock the apartment door - who is going to come and get me anyway? There's an outside locked door and what if I locked myself out at 2 am after making the 14 stair commute to work? The wheels turn very slowly up here and I have finally received my immunization certificate (from October 2012) as someone did an audit and discovered that I never received it. Yep, you're right…I gave up asking for it but have lugged the proof I did the work for it across the region for more than a year as I am just paranoid enough to think someone will ask for it. It came by email in the return reply. A lady who had brought a child in last fall came to tell me when she realized I was back that he had told his friends that he'd gotten his medicine from "the grandmother" which I think was meant to be a compliment in a culture which values its elders. We are starting to a bit from the sounds of the following articles but have a ways to go:
www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/22/nana-cafe-embraces-talents-grandmothers

http://life.nationalpost.com/2014/01/22/older-brains-slow-down-because-of-greater-experience-levels-not-necessarily-mental-decline-germany-study/

Speaking of cultural differences, one of the local staff was complaining that the school bus driver picked up the little kids who were at the stop but didn't wait for her older son and she'd had to chase the bus up the street. I assured her that the bus 'down south' didn't wait while you ambled out when you felt like it. And while I'm on the subject I continued - if you showed up at work repeatedly at noon time because you were tired from staying up all night playing poker or simply didn't come to work at all because you were 'sleeping' you would be out of a job - especially if you didn't even phone to advise this was going to happen and most certainly if you acted like this was normal when you did finally decide to attend work. "Yeah, I know" she said and shrugged. Last night we had a staff supper (no wine although I do like the wine pairing guide below) with a great menu of lobster chowder, biscuits,

chicken soup and homemade bread, salt fish and ackee (Jamaican national dish - made without the scotch bonnet peppers for Canadians) from the shore captains' salt pollock, rice, salad, scalloped potatoes, and musk ox steak. The local staff chose the date and time but only one of them attended, arriving about half an hour late and leaving early. The remainder when polled for planned attendance were going to be playing bingo, getting ready to go out on the land, shopping or didn't know what to bring, one still maintained she was coming (didn't) and the bingo player asked if I'd save some lobster chowder for her even though she wasn't coming "nope!". The four of us 'outsiders' who whipped up the feast enjoyed ourselves but certainly could've chosen a time more convenient for ourselves. Such is the life of an ex-pat living in another culture. And for those who ask about the cost of northern food and how do locals afford it, well….they don't very well:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-north/why-is-food-so-expensive-in-nunavut-shop-for-yourself-and-find-out/article15915054/

I had made a chocolate birthday cake for the mental health worker on Monday and told her we'd take a little break in the afternoon and share it. I went to her office and we retired to the staff room where we found the cake half eaten so asked who'd devoured the cake as it wasn't their birthday and I was told "Rita and David said it was good". Sigh. The positives are of having my own private hunters market of fresh musk ox tenderloin delivered to the door, fat arctic char or the offer of redfish (which I confirmed had something to do with it being a sexually active char who had beige not pink flesh and none of the local staff cared for it as much as the real char) which I politely declined. Here's a link to a Globe and Mail article with some good pics and yes it is a long (but excellent) read :

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-north/the-magnetic-north/article16364070/?service=mobile

In a repeat of the article outing today the home care nurse arranged to go out on the land with a local hunter and was hopeful of seeing a muskox (they didn't - just signs) but they stopped and fished in the lake through the ice and he brought back a nice lake trout he'd caught. He was pretty pumped! One of the benefits of working Monday to Friday with weekends off, to plan such excursions. He had a great day for it a it's been warmer at about -30c and was sunny from 9 am to 2 pm. Since the sun has returned the days are getting longer very quickly as they start heading towards the 24 hours of sunlight.

I had a nice message from the nurse daughter stating she had been charge nurse on the busy 36 bed

medical unit where she is a newly graduated nurse of only six months. Pretty impressive progress as there are some who are still struggling a few years in. She commented that she had been in charge of the Gong Show and all patients and co-workers were alive when she left. All that you can ask for. And for nurses everywhere I offer the guide on the left to interpreting physician's handwriting, I can use it this week as the Dr is coming in to do his monthly clinic. It took me a minute but it was a laugh out loud moment, maybe it's just nurse humour. Anyway, its no surprise that she is following along in her sisters footsteps of being a responsible employee and grownup. According to the newspaper article I read this morning she (and her siblings) are apparently in a group known as cord-nevers which is described as those under the age of 30 who don't subscribe to cable but use the internet to watch their programs. More easily done where one doesn't pay for bandwidth by the GB.

Off to study a bit of tropical medicine. Joined MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) and ordered a water filter and purification chemicals. Am sure the life partner will be pleased to have to make a trip to town when the card is delivered to pick that up.

Stress Test

As I sit snuggled under the LL Bean down filled throw to counteract the -54c temperature which is trying its best to get in through the 1980 windows of the apartment, with the on call phone at my elbow….I shall update the goings on of my January / February location life. Hard to believe that I'm looking at my through the third week of this two month contract. Fairly steady day of call - about seven hours of routine visits and calls. I spent a couple of extra hours clearing out the 150 emails which accumulated in my work email in my absence. The only call since 7 pm has involved a transaction for a lovely filleted arctic char. 

The big news of the weather locally isn't the frigid temperature as they are expected although, when a local said "it's cold, really cold" today, I was pleased to be on call and not expected to venture outside. Rather, the weather site is predicting a sunny week as the sun rises above the horizon here again. Albeit for a brief appearance, but every day the light will remain for half an hour longer. This I have on authority of one of the CARS operators, who I have until now understood to be a version of local air traffic controllers. I was alarmed to discover their priority is recording the weather. I have apparently had a false sense of security that they were assisting the planes to land on these high arctic air strips. Obviously current weather conditions are extremely important but…..it is simply those pilots peering through the windshields and at the instruments of those turbo prop or jet planes in rapidly environmentally changing remote locations who ensure we take off and land safely. Nice to know. 

This past week I survived what has become my traditional second week of contract viral illness. I am guessing the usual head cold is a combo of airplane travel - recirculated germs, large numbers of people, not enough sleep and the change from the moist maritime air to the arctic desert devoid of free humidity. Add to this the examining of large numbers of ill children bearing a cold virus I haven't been exposed to and it's a perfect storm. The fact of simply have to work again after being a free agent for two months is enough to cause the body to rebel. 

This week through a period of trial and error (and need to do it myself as my junior sidekick who enjoyed doing them and was good at them has abandoned me for another area this contract) I finally wrapped my head around doing manual white blood counts. It's not something we do regularly so you have to follow the 'recipe' but I have finally mastered the concept and when I practiced on myself with a fingerprick (glad I don't have to do that regularly) I got a 9.3 - which is likely pretty accurate for an old nurse with a cold. 

Oh, and I also had a bit of a stress test last week. I had examined a two year old and his mother who then followed me out to sit in the waiting room while I dispensed the medicine I was treating them with. As I walked back from the pharmacy I handed the mother (who was chatting with a friend) the bag of medication, repeated my instructions for yet another time and returned to my desk. I sat down and started the process of lengthy documentation - for any nurses reading this we use the SOAP charting method and record a complete head to toe exam including vital signs - so it takes a few minutes of steady concentration. I was a few words into my note when the little imp (who had apparently hidden himself next to the bookcase) jumped out at me and yelled "RAHR". Those who know how easily I'm startled will not be surprised to learn that I screamed loudly, jumped up out of my chair, then fell back into it with a loud thump hyperventilating while grabbing my chest as I tried to catch my breath. The little fellow was very pleased with himself and doubled over at the waist giggling. By then I had a good chuckle myself. I took him out to his mother and told her that he was lucky a woman of my age with four children hadn't wet herself in the office chair. "Oh he's learning to scare people like that" she said smiling. I am sure he'll repeat this as it worked so well and he was very entertained. And, true to form in healthcare, the screaming did not lead anyone to investigate if there was a problem. Takes more than that to get attention. 

Speaking of getting attention….I can tell you that if you are a CHN on first call and you hear loud yelling outside your window as you're settling for the night - you pay attention. The health centre with apartments is next door to the arena which is a busy spot for many months of the year. As I looked out the window I saw the zamboni which had been driven out through the back door surrounded by a group of at least eight people, lots of yelling, running around, jumping on and off the machine and arms waving. First thought 'oh no, someone has been run over by the machine or a body part is stuck in it' but a few seconds of voyeurism caused me to realize that the zamboni had been too vigorously driven out to dump the ice shavings was embedded in a snow pile and quickly frozen there. It was the equivalent of a crowd of teenagers lifting up a volkswagen. A large cheer arose when the machine was freed and steered back through the doors. Whew. 

If I was tempted to use the descriptor 'very' there are always lots of occasions up here. However the chart on the right outlines lots of options for the writers amongst us. Which is the reverse of the Mark Twain quote "never use a five dollar word when a fifty cent one will do". Less syllables are better when dealing with a population using English as their second language and basic concepts are easier for the clerk interpreters too. As I listened to the clerk relaying my instructions to a patient I asked "what does the word that sounds like pee mean?" and she thought for a moment then said "it means umm, like I'm thinking of what to say next" and we both smiled. We had an interesting appointment this week where an elder (who is usually quite chatty and smiley) was extremely angry about a situation and the eyes were just snapping. You don't have to understand the words to grasp the emotion. We went through the "tell me what the problem is to I understand your frustration, this is how it has to be just for now, I would be frustrated too if it was me, is there anything I can do for you?" scenario. All this through an interpreter, who was clearly NOT interpreting the entire blast and was quite flustered at how I was being talked to. As we concluded I instructed her to tell the patient that I did not take this personally, that I understood it wasn't about me and that this situation would be dealt with. The final translated statement from the patient was "you took this very well and I appreciate it" and I instructed the clerk to say "I'm a nurse, this isn't the first time I've been in the line of fire, I've had lots of practice" and I added "I know you were just worked up and I'm not writing down your blood pressure because if I do you'll find yourself in here for weekly B/P checks"! That was something we could both agree on.  

I was pleased to receive a conditional acceptance to my query about the diploma in tropical nursing program I'd applied to for December 1 - 19, 2014 in Liverpool, England. Will have to save my pennies from these contracts for airfare. A little bump in the road with the plans to do a mission in Honduras as the dates for the Oparato trip had to be moved to later in May (I'll be back to work) but I am hoping to transfer over to the Los Encinitos trip which is April 26 - May 3rd. This is the original date I looked at and scheduled my northern contract return for but….it'll be a bit tighter than Oparato. I leave a lot of things here now and the commute is getting more routine so… I really must study Spanish more diligently. 

Hopefully I will get some shut eye tonight although on the weekend there isn't a full workday awaiting. And should the sun return about noon I may even manage to sneak out for a photo as I'll only be second call. No good to make plans in a small health centre as there are only three nurses to manage whatever comes through the door and even on an evening 'off' there can be one of those "all hands on deck" calls - have been involved in a few of those. I had an online chat with a former high school classmate who has gone on to be a paramedic and is now heading in to northern Alberta to do camp work. I asked about the number of employees and he responded that it was about the same size as this community. When I enquired about how many medics he advised there were two ACPs (advance care) and four EMTs (emergency medicine techs) so….exactly double the number of nurses we have here to handle a different culture north of the arctic circle with limited resources, prenatals, babies and children, chronic diseases, trauma, communicable diseases, immunizations, lab work, x-rays, casts, dental issues, suturing etc all without ground transport, first responders or medics and medevacs weather and logistically dependent. So, I assured him that he was extremely well staffed for a working population of essentially well employees. 

FaceTime date with the life partner is the highlight of the week tomorrow. One of the staff who had gone out on vacation for six weeks had lost some plants in her absence due to house sitter neglect and I told her that I make the shore captain show me the animals and plants on video chat. Not that I don't trust him but ….the cleaning lady is still making a good post op recovery and thus isn't doing the weekly checks on him. Hasta. 

Traffic jams and lobster sandwiches

An update just because I can and….because it's too early to call it a night when I'm first on call. Never good to settle down too soon, then get called out all disorientated and try to get back to sleep.  There has to be a balance however as I had one of those 'went to bed too late and then got called at 5:30 am nights' my first night on call, resulting in only four hours of sleep.  An hour is not quite enough time to get back to dreamland before the alarm rings and the total of four hours is not enough for even this night owl. 

Part of the reason for staying up too late on a weeknight was the excitement of hearing from the team leader at Cape Cares and finding out hat I was in for the April 12 - 19th volunteer mission in Honduras with the added carrot of a second (optional) week at an orphanage with some vacationing tossed in. Yes, please sign me up. So, you can logically see there was good reason to be up until 1 am downloading Spanish medical dictionaries and texts to my Kindle. Truthfully - I was just too pumped to get to sleep! Only three more months, but who's counting?

It is of course, the usual for this time of year in Nunavut weather here, which means -40c and 24 hours of darkness. So you can imagine that there is a lot of smiling and shaking of heads about 'down south' where folks are caught in a 'polar freeze' this past few weeks. One of the locals shared that he'd seen a story where the Chicago Zoo was taking the polar bear inside as it was too cold - this was funny to him on a number of levels. I cautioned him not to be so quick stating "I flew through Chicago in December and it felt colder than here" and he left chuckling. The weather in western Canada has been colder many days than north of the arctic circle, there was the nasty blizzard in the Maritimes which I narrowly missed and then this week a snafu in Toronto which is still working its way out of the system. A nurse from NS flying into a neighbouring community here left Halifax early Monday morning and only made it out of Pearson today, is overnighting in Edmonton as I type and will make her way north of 60 tomorrow. Just a five day commute! And usually it's the northern travel which gets a bum rap. 

The large weather system which wrecked havoc in central Canada moved up through Nunavik (northern Quebec) and then Baffin / Kivalliq causing a major blizzard which had winds of over 120 km/hr with low temperatures, blowing snow and lots of folks without power - not a good thing at those temps! This of course made the news and I had some thoughtful inquiries about my safety from southern friends. I reassured that Nunavut is huge - 2 million sq. km and three time zones - so here on the NW Passage (see red arrow) we were well and truly away from all the action. I shared this route map from one of the airlines to illustrate my point. And you really should enjoy Rick Mercer's weather rant on Youtube (just Google) it - it will cause a smile. 

I am not suggesting that I am finding the temperatures balmy here as I go through my second annual readjustment to Nunavut in January. It is eyeball freezing cold as that is the only part of my anatomy exposed to the environment! As i shuffled (only way to describe walking in that many layers) up the hill to the health centre/apt back from the COOP I muttered to myself about my choice of work areas etc etc. But I had been on a mission to buy bread (and yes I asked someone if there was bread at the COOP before I ventured out - the second option would have been to call the store) as I had promised lobster sandwiches to the local staff. None of them had ever eaten lobster (no surprise) but after today they are all eager lobster sandwich fans. 

Today as I made the sandwiches and grabbed a quick lunch, I looked out the window to see

Traffic jam

the school bus at the intersection near the health centre as it prepared to make its way to Netsilik School for the afternoon. There are very few vehicles here so snapping a photo with the bus and a truck together - constituting rush hour - is quite a coup. And as someone who used to work in the community commented " wow a traffic jam and with Disneyland in the background too" as that is what the area of coloured houses are known. And yes, it is as cold as it looks. 

My first week back after resting my brain for two months has been a busy one. Perhaps folks are getting back into the routine with the kids in school again after 'fixing their sleep' which some loyal blog readers might remember as discontinuing staying up all night and sleeping all day as they did over the Christmas break. There was the combined frantic schedule of having both the physician and dental team in a small health centre at the same time. The dental team arrived on Monday unbeknownst to the Nurse in Charge after there had been a lot of effort employed in readying the space for the Dr. clinic. Not good. There are just so many available spaces to be used and it was a game of musical offices for the nurses until late this afternoon. And of course extra blood draws, procedures, requests for information by the Dr. because as any nurse knows…. that is what physicians do best. Now we go back to just doing our thing and using the phone. The H1N1 influenza outbreak is moving across Alberta and it will be only a matter of time before we find ourselves dealing with it. Some of those who chose not to, or couldn't be enticed to have influenza immunization have now changed their minds and are asking for it. Too late as all the vaccine has been given. 

Now that I've finished my pistachio dreams tea perhaps it's safe to take the phone to bed and read a few screens of The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window - it is a wonderful read!

And It's back to work I go

Settled in safe and sound in my northern home and time to update. I have been doing my Spanish studies and playing with the magnetic words en Espanol on my fridge and the phrase of the day is:
soy la reina de mi casa. 

The commute is getting to be regular if not routine and this time it went very smoothly. I started out at midnight, drove to my classmate's place in Middle Sackville (where I left my car for them to store in the garage) met the cab I'd arranged for and was deposited at the airport, check-in was painless with one bag weighing 23 kg and the other 22.8 kg (max 23 kg) and then on with only the knapsack. A Tim Hortons breakfast and short wait in the departure lounge. Off to Toronto while I napped and due to some delays just walked off one plane and boarded the next. Spent the Toronto to Edmonton flight between two tradesmen going back to camps in Alberta, watched The Big Wedding (very simple story line but Robert DeNiro, Robin WIlliams, Diane Keaton and Susan Saradon so very watchable), read my book The Rosie Project (highly recommend it) and napped some more. Shuttle to the hotel, dropped the bags, arranged for a cab (lengthy wait which is apparently common in the winter in Edmonton) and then to WalMart for perishables and the liquor mart for butterscotch ripple schnapps and when I questioned the clerk as to what whipped cream vodka tasted like she suggested that putting it in orange juice made it taste like a creamsicle (sold) and that cake was like white cake  (duh) worth trying the sample sizes at least. Back to the hotel to meet up with the holder of my action packer and catch up on the news before the electrician daughter arrived after work. Roads were messy so we had a late supper in the restaurant (one of the benefits of staying in a place with a dining room) and sleepover. 

Good to spend some time together although I felt guilty in the morning when there were traffic advisories for her return trip. Her solution to the problem was to head across country and visit her sister in Saskatchewan for the weekend as they had planned to get together anyway. Had the hotel store both my action packers  in the walk in cooler so in the morning they just wheel them out on a cart - no messing with elevators/carts etc for this chickie - and over to the airport, with the daughter dropping me off, so no shuttle. Check in / security, stop at the ATM for cash, quick shop at the bookstore and wait for the flight. Bit of a delay but we're finally walking out across the snow covered tarmac and up the steps to the plane. As I move to take my window seat I notice that the Regional Nurse Manager is my seat mate. What a surprise! Quite an interesting journey from Edmonton to Yellowknife. In to the terminal, time to put on the snow pants and transfer to the Dash 8 and we're off. Not able to land in Cambridge Bay due to weather so head over to Taloyoak and arrive early. Have to have Chuck from Canadian North call the health centre and announce my arrival and I am thrilled to find that all three pieces of my baggage have arrived. The caretaker deposits me and my stuff at the health centre, I retrieve a key to the apartment (oh good I have the one with the decent oven) and begin the shuttling and storing of provisions. Well, actually I store the perishables, find my internet modem and sit surrounded by containers while I chat online. A surprise phone call from my buddy at home who is describing the huge blizzard that I so narrowly missed which is now making air travel impossible. Make the bed and crawl into it, the non perishables can wait. 

After sleeping 12 hours I awake to complete blackness at 10:30 am and have to reorientate myself "oh yeah, that's right you're up north again" I say to myself. It takes another couple of hours to organize and store the groceries and clothes and I'm good to go for eight weeks. My personal humidifier has died but this is a first world problem. Some online chats and then suiting up for the frigid temps and a quick trip to the COOP for milk, eggs etc. I introduce myself to my co-worker in the next apartment who is pleased with my arrival as they have been working short for almost a month here. At the grocery store I see lots of familiar faces and am wished "happy new year" multiple times. A cold trudge up the hill. Some Spanish studies, finished my book and fall into bed. Glad that no one knew I was coming and so I didn't get put on the call schedule for the weekend - good chance to rest up. 

Today was a quiet Sunday where I decided to head out for some photos when I noticed a slight lightening of the sky at almost 11 am. Put on my heavy pants, snow pants, heatmax socks,kamiks, parka, pang hat, scarf, sealskin mitts and realized about 30 minutes into my trek that I should've worn long johns as well since it was -46c with the wind chill - forgot just how cold that is (still warmer than Saskatoon mind you) and that my face mask doesn't ice up  

Front of the new health centre

Noon time 

as much as a scarf. The camera protested and so I slipped it into my mitten to make it cooperate. It was completely dark by 1 pm so glad I got out when I did. The construction on the health centre next day is on hold until March but they did manage to get the exterior enclosed this fall. Not much moving today except the water trucks, some road hockey and  a few hardy souls on skidoos. In to warm up and a chat with a former boss from the spring who has moved on to an 8 week job share as a nurse in charge in NWT and is enjoying herself thoroughly. The nurse in charge called to see how I was doing as I had been keeping such a low profile "hibernating" I told her. Readying for the physician's clinic this week she was (as usual) busy. I posted some photos to FaceBook and had a former co-worker tell me that she felt sorry for me and was thinking I was cold and homesick. I instructed her not to feel sorry but to feel jealous for me as this is a wonderful community, great people, good job and I am loving it! Had a FaceTime chat with the shore captain as I was wondering if there was any damage from the blizzard, storm surge, ice etc. but apparently they were fine. The dog was sleeping on the sofa which I described as the 'downward dog position' but she ignored us due to her profound deafness. And I must describe the shore captain as profoundly confused because he mentioned that today was January 7th (it's the 5th) and was insistent about this when I held my ground. I firmly advised he consult the calendar, he did and then admitted that all the paperwork he'd submitted to ship lobsters across the border had gone with the Jan 7th date, "That'll be interesting when the shipment reaches the border, when will that be?" I said. "In about an hour" he replied. So, I expect he received a call about his confusion. Made an oatmeal cranberry loaf this pm as I was putting pizzas in the oven anyway so getting into the swing of things. 

With the busy Monday tomorrow of blood draws, Dr. clinic and the usual "been sick all weekend" walk ins perhaps no one will notice that I'm frantically trying to replace all that information I erased from my memory in my eight weeks away. Here's hoping. 

As 2014 Approaches

The end of the year is time for wrapping up the loose ends. Time to take down the tree and put away the Christmas decorations, pack for work and…..update this blog. And since I'm an expert at

Noooo, don't go and leave me

procrastination (as evidenced by the infrequent postings) I am blogging so as to not have to dig out the ornament boxes just yet. Gary will be very depressed when that lovely piece of outside has been returned to it's point of origin. And I must agree that I enjoy sitting in the glow of the lights reading - reminds me of quiet times, especially those years with little ones when I would get up to feed the baby and we'd both enjoy the peace and quiet. The dog isn't too pleased with those duffle bags coming out either. I am 'perhaps' going to be able to manage with only duffle - this being the outcome of storing a LOT of my stuff in Taloyoak. I have plans to do my non perishable grocery shopping here and schlep it across Canada as my action packer is home anyway and might as well travel full. This will cut down the shopping/packing time in Edmonton and allow for more pleasurable pursuits. I will be the courier for things left here and fresh seafood which will only have to be transported to the prairies so room for last minute gear reshuffling. The main problem is the arctic wear which takes up a lot of room and won't be needed until……the arctic. Well, if western temperatures are still frigid - perhaps not. 

I received my e-ticket just before the holidays and the chosen early leave on January 2nd (to allow for more on the ground time in Edmonton) will likely mean an all-nighter the night before, what with the drive to the airport, leaving the car with a nursing school classmate to keep (yes I opted for snow tires even though I'm storing it - still have to get to and fro), a short cab ride to the airport and then the checkin process. The job is great but I'm glad I only do the commute six times per year. I'm pumped as I found a pair of sport earphones on sale which should stay in my ears while I plane sleep - this prevents the ear phone plug falling out and me being awakened by the wails of an unhappy infant. When I received my CSA (contract service agreement) to sign I had forgotten that we'd received a raise in October so was pleasantly surprised with my hourly wage. With the tight profit margins and struggles of moving a luxury product such as lobsters in a shaky economy, the shore captain was impressed too. I've downloaded some e-books and found four best sellers which have been on my 'to read list' for a total of $20, a great buy although one which I'll not likely take advantage of until the Mexican beach in March. I did read And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (author of Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns) in two evenings - found it as good as Kite Runner. It was a loaner from one of my summer neighbours and it felt slightly strange to hold a hardcover book in my hands again.

Red neck tree

Tuxedo and bowtie

We had a wonderful (if quieter than last year) Christmas. The boy and his lady friend were over for Christmas supper and we skyped the western girls then. The lad created a red neck Christmas tree for their place from a wire lobster trap (seen here on the left - isn't he crafty?) which is sturdier than a tree with their rescued American bulldog. He saved a starfish and dried it for the top of his buoy (each has a unique design) which it is mounted on. On Boxing Day we had the daughter and son-in-law from the city in for lunch and another Skype date with the western girlies. Everyone was pleased with the infinity scarves I had created and the bow tie I crocheted for Gary (seen here on the right) was a hit as well. We had lovely gifts (for the most part consumable - great and almost completely consumed already) and very thoughtfully selected/created. I 'may' share my Ironworks raspberry liqueur or…….not. Had a David's Tea cracker which came with a Earl Grey Cream, a teabag to brew it in, a riddle and a crown to wear - cute! The baby daughter made a tree ornament using her university grad photo and it hangs next to the grade primary one she created in PLT Elementary - priceless. The fourth daughter (as I have taken to calling the boy's partner) and her mother made a lovely ribbon wreath for my door which were popular this year. The shore captain received a quart bottle of Wisers Deluxe whiskey (worth $63 when I searched it online through NSLC) from the man he rescued - apparently that was what he felt his life was worth, which was a thoughtful thankful. All in all, very well done. 

The weather has been snowy, cold, windy and icy (good practice for next week) and now mild. I have been attempting to get out with the dog as much as possible before I leave. She will be regularly walked by very competent and loving local ladies but I will be making cold, hunched over dashes to the store, not relaxing walks until the end of February so will miss that. As I had passed a house up the road where there is occasionally an aggressive rottweiller (not for some time as the idiot grandson who owns it has been banned from it being at the house as VON visit his grandfather) I realized the barking was coming from the creature sitting on the edge of the driveway. Ah yes, no VON visiting likely over the holidays. Now, since my bodyguard friend (who chases this dog without a brain and huge jaws back up into the yard) wasn't with me, I stewed about what to do as I had to walk past on my return. Just before I approached the house I shortened the dog's leash and crossed the road - I am an animal lover but I do admit to wishing for a passing vehicle to solve my attack dog problems. Since our senior dog is deaf now she just blithely trots along, oblivious to the aggressive barks and only reacts when rushed or bitten. So, of course as I passed the driveway this creature launches itself at full speed down the drive and across the road at us barking, snarling, growling, teeth snapping and frothing at the mouth. I grabbed my dog and screamed prompting the owner to call out "Josie come back here" which she reluctantly did as I dragged our canine down the highway. "Andy, so help me!" I promised/threatened the petty criminal putting his 4wheeler on the trailer in the yard. Why would you want to keep such a creature I ask myself?

So, enough putting it off, time to climb the ladder and start dismantling the tree. Gary has already begun with a few of the bells which he is quite fond of. If I don't put away the festive decor….it will still be here looking at me the end of February when I return, reminding me of the Christmas decorations in seniors' places in July when I used to visit doing home care. Have been invited to supper this evening at our German chef's place and our buddy has offered to be our designated driver so we will sample some of our Christmas gift wine. 

The next post will most likely be from north of 69 degrees when I'm settled in - fingers crossed for good connections. If there have only been two nurses in over the holidays, I shall be a welcome sight. The northern nurse casuals are heading back in to contracts over the next little while as most of us have been (through good planning) home for Christmas - a luxury not afforded nurses any other way. One of my former co-workers advised she was doing a contract in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT which I was surprised to find was connected by winter aka ice road to Inuvik - only semi-isolated then :) 

What is your 2014 New Years resolution? Mine is to study Spanish every day. With the upcoming schedule it may be only a few minutes but every day is the plan. Gotta get myself together is I'm going to do a short mission in Honduras in April. What is yours?

Rescue Ranger and more

Yes, yes I still post to this blog. And no, I can't say that holiday preparations are keeping me from posting as I have been doing very little of what is traditionally done time of year. I'm actually enjoying it - the not sending Christmas cards, baking, shopping for gifts etc. This stormy afternoon I am sitting in front of the fireplace enjoying a cup of Santa's secret tea (Davids Teas) in a Christmas mug with the dog snoring beside me. The tree is up (braced to the wall as the tree stand is cracked) and it and the house are decorated so at least there is the appearance of keeping up with traditions. 

The schedule has been the usual regular of busy morphing to frantic at times. After returning from the cruise, the shore captain of course hit the ground running and then there was the hurry up and wait situation with the lobster season delayed five days due to windy, rough weather - the longest delay ever enforced. Unfortunately the catches in our area are significantly reduced from recent years - many being  1/2 to 1/3 of last year. Tough start for the boy captain with a new boat to pay for, but as he said "I'm lucky that Dad has halibut quota for me to catch as back up". And the price with the supply/demand situation has stayed higher than last year. He's been involved with the industry long enough to know about the highs and lows and although distracted is handling the situation better than the former generation if you catch my drift. This negative trend will likely only increase the westward out  migration from this area of recent years.

A bit of excitement at the beginning of the season where the shore captain practiced his rescue ranger skills. I heard him in the mud room on Sunday morning and found him wearing his camo bib overalls and jacket (nothing else - sorry for the visual that creates) and when I asked about his clothes, he pointed to a wet mound on the back step. Apparently an older man who was in an outboard fell overboard into the frigid water and was slowly sinking. So the shore captain dives in and tows him to the lobster car (no not something lobsters drive, but a large floating holding dock with cages in the water) and his coworker helps haul him out. The outboard which was going in circles was eventually stopped by being blocked with a larger boat which drove it up over the lobster car. The shore captain having had multiple dunkings was prepared for the icy blast but…as I picked up his insulated coveralls to throw them in the washer the top unzipped pocket (where he carries his cell phone) alerted me to the fact that he had likely killed another one (we think, although he denies this, that he's had over 25 phones in the past 20 years - he's never qualified for an upgrade by keeping one two years since he's been carrying them) and hadn't even gotten his contacts into this one since the last 'it fell in the bilge of the boat' episode after returning from the cruise. He could at least be excused for killing this one in the name of a good cause.

Speaking of all things western, we had a great pre-holiday visit with the oldest daughter as she was home for three weeks - managed to extend her ticket fairly painlessly. She did miss some pretty nasty weather out there, although there's been more since of course. We got to do lots of Frenchy shopping, visiting and took in A Christmas Carol done as a musical at Neptune - great girls night out! So lots of good stuff to carry over the holidays spent away. She is back to the -30c weather and shovelling her way into job sites but the work will slow down for the holiday break so putting in the hours now. And it will be less than three weeks before I am winging my way back to work and visiting along the way. The new situation this year is that her baby sister in Saskatchewan will be near enough for celebrating with - she (as a new grad is of course working Christmas) managed to have a schedule where she does LD on Christmas Eve and LN on Christmas Day so lots of turkey time in there. And of course there's always Banff (sigh of envy) for New Years for them.  I think my New Years Day will be spent putting away Christmas decorations so they're not looking at me the end of February when I return.

Whale shark at the Aquarium

The girls get away to Atlanta was a resounding success (of course) and we explored (CNN, World of Coca Cola, Georgia Aquarium,

Iron lung at the CDC Museum

CDC Museum, Margaret Mitchell House, Atlanta History Centre, Fernbank
Museum of Natural History),

foyer at Swan House

Swan Coach House dessert

ate, watched the movie Philomena (highly recommend it) shopped, laughed and generally avoided the holiday furor. We were booked to fly December 3rd and as we arose at 3 am to begin our trek to the airport I made one last check of the email only to find that…..the flight was cancelled - so I quickly alerted the travel partner before she came to the house. Apparently this cancellation was due to the midwestern winter storm as we were flying through Chicago. It felt a bit like a Curious George book - you remember the little monkey with all the adventures? - where unfortunately George fell out of a plane, fortunately there was a haystack, unfortunately there was a pitch fork, fortunately he missed it etc etc. So, the original 8:30 am flight with United was cancelled and then further emails advised that we were rebooked the following afternoon at 4 pm through LaGuardia. The electrician daughter (who was retrieving the vehicle) advised that we should ask for an earlier rebooking. I phoned United and asked if we could extend our trip on the other end as we were missing over 24 hours of it with the cancellation, this brought the offer of rebooking us earlier on another airline - quick acceptance of that suggestion. The agent found a flight with Delta flying through LaGuardia with a shorter layover and leaving at 9 a.m. so after 40 minutes on the line where the agent was having "some issues" with getting the tickets issued an email ticket arrived and we were off. Very foggy drive (should've been our first clue) to the airport, quick goodbye to the daughter and up to US departures. The Delta and United desks are beside each other so we approached Delta and asked the agent to switch our tickets. Mine went through without much hassle but my travel partner's boarding pass had a technical glitch. This required me calling United and giving the Delta agent my cell phone where she attempted for over an hour to clear up the problem - this because she was told the United agent at the desk about three feet away was not allowed to issue a new boarding pass because I had gotten the new ticket over the phone. Now practically this is the only way to rebook when you are a three hour drive from the airport, but I digress. At first I was concerned that we were going to miss the 9 a.m. flight but then it became unfortunately clear that the flight was delayed until noon time. Gave us time to eat breakfast downstairs, read the paper and whine on FB about the delay. In the end a paper ticket/boarding pass was issued to my buddy - we remembered when those actually existed. Though checkin, security - I really resent having to take my shoes off for US security as I think it is disgusting - cleared customs and in to the departure lounge. Further delay as the plane is late but finally out across the drizzly tarmac (no jetport for those express jets) and on board. All settled in and ready for departure when the flight attendant announces "we have a problem and everyone has to deplane and take all their belongings with them to wait in the entranceway while security searches the plane". We looked at each other thinking this was a joke - nope - and my travel buddy used some colourful language. I had to remind her that was the mouth she kissed her granddaughter with! The search was completed and we reboarded being told to check at LaGuardia about connections. Uneventful flight and landing, shuttle to another terminal and into the departure lounge and on to the next flight arriving in Atlanta only an hour later than originally planned. We conquered the public transit system which is a combination of buses and trains, enjoyed the milder temperatures and friendly people and had a wonderful trip! On our return flight through Chicago (yes it was the cold and windy city) I sat next to a lady from NS who was returning from Palm Springs and got stuck for two days in Chicago. She mentioned a local person who she'd been a good friend of growing up and I knew who she meant so took her business card and made contact with her to reconnect them upon my return - more of that small world stuff.

A flurry of activity after returning from the getaway week as the planning for the plant staff Christmas party ramped up. The menu was seafood chowder / curried squash soup for the non seafood guests / lobster or plain mac n cheese / meatloaf with veggie sauce / cheesecake with blueberry or strawberry sauce. A chef buddy and a friend came to help for the afternoon / evening and we fed twenty with a good time had by all. I had done a couple of photo books for the moose hunt participants and they were well received.

I have been looking into a volunteer mission to Honduras in the spring and am applying for one April 12 - 19th which will fit in nicely with my 'at home' time. Good experience before a tropical nursing course next year. So my New Years resolution is going to be……study Spanish cada dia. Speaking of which…..

It was bound to happen

Well…….two and a half weeks to update the blog isn't my personal best (at least I don't think it is) but it's likely close. Had to be reminded by a visiting daughter yesterday to "post to the blog". She's just into the teacher routine of preparing report cards and lesson plans and has no recollection of how difficult it is to be off work for two months. I've been not so gently reminded by the other visiting daughter who is taking a couple of weeks vacation to "not talk about not working"as it's unpopular with the rest of society. I'll just say that yoga this afternoon with retired folks and walking the dog were my only concrete plans for the day. 

First to recap - the cruise was wonderful. We'd been a bit concerned as the fall can be rainy in the caribbean but we had great weather. Enjoyed the Doubletree Suites at Gallery One (thank you Hotwire) in Fort Lauderdale which was across from a Publix store so we picked up some wine to enjoy on the trip. We did have a wet evening as we headed out to Chima, the Brazilian steak house, which by the way was fantastic! Embarkation day was grey but we made sure to catch the shuttle from the hotel over to cruise port early to enjoy the Westerdam. Five or six ships leaving that day as Fort Lauderdale is the third busiest cruise port in the world, so not unexpected. Stateroom 4130 was large with a generous balcony on the port side and it is worth the extra $100 for the week to have a balcony in the tropics. The staff were great (as usual) with 60% being Indonesian while 35% were Filipino. Great room steward and dining room waiter (who was going home in two weeks to meet his newborn son and was very excited at finding himself a dad) - this was the first time the shore captain and myself had seated dining for the late setting. He apparently must've agreed to this when booking the trip (as it was he who made the arrangements) and was not impressed to find this was the case on the first evening, but was unable to blame anyone else for it. It turned out to be a very compatible table of six with a couple from Ohio - a lawyer and dental hygienist and another from New Jersey - a podiatrist and pharmacist who we spent a fair bit of time with. We enjoyed three wine tastings on board with a very down to

champagne tasting

earth sommelier who said "good wine is what you like" and learned more from his very matter of fact talks than in all previously. We caught two shows, one with wonderful blues singer / band and another of a magician/comedian and visited the jazz lounge one evening. Enjoyed the speciality restaurant (The Pinnacle) with the New Jersey couple and had a great meal at the Italian restaurant (The Canaletto) where the Capt. and his wife ate as well, but since I eat supper with the captain every night, it takes a lot to impress me. In discussion over supper we decided that there were cutbacks, and apparently the same comments from those who had cruised with Princess. Certainly not terrible, but likely a result of trying to keep the prices down. I can't say that I noticed this with Norwegian in the spring though. Sea days are always nice and we had two of those to enjoy our own personal wine on the balcony - could've done without the clouds of marijuana smoke from the balcony above and the deaf 80 yr old nudists on the next balcony over but…..it was a cultural experience. Managed to finish The Virgin Cure (set in 19th century NY and an excellent read) then Five Days at Memorial (which is about the flooding during hurricane Katrina and although excellent, it is very disturbing) and then Kitchen Confidential (which will never allow you to look at a chef the same way again). Turks and Caicos were beautiful and we booked a great snorkel tour off the beach out to several reefs. Capt. Scraper knew NS well - he had two children in the Halifax area and his ex had lived in Grand Turk until the kids were four or five.

angel fish

schools of grunts

Fantastic snorkelling with large schools of fish, crystal clear water and the boat to ourselves. It was warm, friendly and fun - what is not to like? San Juan, Puerto Rico was very historic but quite developed. We took the free hop on and off trolley up to El Morro (the castle) and wandered our way back through the city. Great architecture, Spanish being spoken and lots of photo ops. We made it back to

El Morro, San Juan, PR

the ship and a little rest on the balcony before the only brief shower of the cruise happened. Although we had intended to snorkel in St Maarten, the seas were too high and so we instead went body surfing at Dawn Beach, which turned out to be great fun. Our table mates from supper joined us (surprise) and so we had a great visit,  lunch, caught some rays and shared a taxi back to the ship then shopped at the cruise port on the return. It was a good day to escape Phillipsburg as the Dutch royal couple were in the city and with all the crowds and security it was frantic. Wonderful spot to return to from the looks. The final stop on the eastern caribbean itinerary was Half Moon Cay which is on Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas. Too rough again for snorkelling but we enjoyed a beach morning (shared with passengers from the Ryndam which had just repositioned from Athens on a 36 day cruise ahhh) and then back by tender to the ship. A weekend in Fort Lauderdale where we enjoyed the very swishy boutique hotel, The Pillars, on the inter coastal waterway (thank you again Hotwire) and two wonderful suppers - one at an Italian restaurant on Los Olas called Timpanos http://timpanochophouse.net - VERY highly recommend it, and the always wonderful Greek Islands Taverna of course. Uneventful flight home via Newark, stop at the teacher daughter's to pick up the electrician daughter who had arrived from out west a few days previously and a windy, rainy drive home. 

I spent the first day home working on my powerpoint presentation for the library talk. I did a Midweek Break session on Nunavut. Took my fans with me as two friends and the visiting daughter came along and were joined by about 15 community members. The cable cameraman arrived and so it will be rebroadcast. The talk was well received and everyone should have their fifteen minutes of fame. Afterwards we headed to a new eatery and enjoyed lunch - it's called Bread and Olives http://www.breadandolives.ca where we enjoyed ourselves "four girls having fun" as a senior stated making his way out the door. A Frenchy shop on the way and we headed home. 

Last week the boy captain's new lobster boat (bubba's very first boat of his own) was put in the water just five days ahead of the lobster season opening. The first day has already been delayed five days more so lots of time for the last minute details. He was pretty pumped when I dropped his sister off to take the maiden voyage around to the fish plant. He was being very mature about his decisions and I was proud of him - told his sisters it was his university graduation, as it's all he's ever wanted to do since he was a little boy. When we were discussing his grown up behaviour, the captain who takes the shore captain's boat said "well it was bound to happen sooner or later".  Everything seems to be working well and he is in the final preparation stage now. 

On Friday as we readied to go out the door for a road trip, I climbed out of the shower and put on what I thought was Body Shop lotion on my arms and legs. It was really sticky and hard to rub in and I was thinking 'I usually like Body Shop but this stuff is crap' when I checked the label and found it was……..body wash. sigh. Had to rinse my arms and legs off again. I had a final physio appointment to check my shoulder and am pleased to report I have been kicked out as it is completely unimpinged (if that is even a word) now. We started off with a Frenchy shop and errands in town then off to the appointment. The visiting daughter got to be a tourist in Lunenburg and we followed up with a late lunch at The Knot pub before a final Frenchys instalment and a stop for beverages and ingredients. A long but pleasant day.

Saturday the sisters made their way around town as the second one ran a 5 km race in just over 25 minutes, they had lunch, went to a craft show, ran errands and generally enjoyed themselves. We had company over for a supper of moose meat chill, biscuits and bread with apple crisp and mincemeat pie as dessert choices. Good friends and conversation made for a fun evening, which had been meant to be the last social event before lobstering of course. The only slip up was when the life partner was speaking of a Christmas party and when answering whether I'd be available to go said "she's working" which stopped me in my tracks when I heard that four letter word. I quickly clarified that traveling to Atlanta with my buddy is not anything close to work. Sunday began with eggs benedict for the girls, then a turkey dinner for them, their brother and his girlfriend before the teacher daughter headed back to the city. 

Had a nice email with an attachment from the nurse daughter of her RN license history. Made me think of how tickled her grandmother would be to receive such news. She continues to make her new grad way and except for calling her father late at night asking what her boyfriend's cell phone number was (he being in the same town and time zone mind you - as she wanted him to bring her cell phone which she'd forgotten at home) is doing well. She will of course be working her first Christmas. Plans are for the two western daughters to get together over the holidays and I must confess to being a tad bit jealous when hearing of plans for Banff over New Years. I will see whoever isn't working on January 2nd when I fly back through on my way to work. 

Soon time to pack for Atlanta. I think a southern girls week will set things up just fine for the holidays. So, off to work on a little Santa's elf project now before it gets too late.