Alcohol was Involved

Time to update on all the news I feel comfortable sharing which means that as a nurse it's information which is non identifying and also because not all readers are healthcare professionals means I won't describe or post photos of the gory bits which nurses revel in. Details to follow. I could at this point make apologies about being sick last week with a really rotten cold - I usually get one on week two of my contract but when I escaped that milestone and thought I was in the clear, I was ambushed in week three, or the fact that we were working with only two nurses (both of us struggling with the virus) instead of three while one of the co-workers attended her daughter's graduation. But no one likes a whiner….

Lots of exciting news to announce this post. The teacher daughter, someone who has wanted to be nothing else but an elementary school teacher, since she came home from school in grade two and announced it, the one who graduated with her BEd in 2010, has begun work on her MEd, has been working a series of assignments of split classes in various schools while awaiting her permanent teaching contract and hoping to stay at the great school she works at this year…..Well, she was not only awarded her permanent contract but went to job fair and scored grade primary at 'her' school. Over the moon is an apt description. This is good for her, but also for her employer as she is an excellent teacher and puts her heart into her work (as do all my children) but mind you, many bright young teachers do and the average length of time from education degree to permanent contract in my home province is 10+ years. So hard work + luck = happy ending. 

I am pleased to share that I have been officially conditionally accepted (meaning send your money) to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene for the Diploma of Tropical Health Nursing. This is an intensive eight week program with two weeks pre-course work, three weeks on site at LSTMH in Liverpool, UK (December 1 - 19) and three weeks post evaluation work. My colleague and I are both accepted so it'll be nice to have a study buddy, especially one with connections across the pond. Sounds like we won't have to evoke the Plan B of Cyprus. And my occasional travel partner (non student) is planning to come along as well to share accommodations which will be good company and fun. So, I must dig out my resources and do some online research into the tropical health world when I'm home for the next 'break' beginning July 4th, but who's counting? 

I have passed the contract milestone of the halfway point and although things move quickly every day, they move at warp speed after the mid-point. Make it so, Mr. Spock. My roommate is going home to get her oldest daughter graduated from high school and pointed in the right direction for UNB in September. She leaves on Thursday for two weeks and I'll be solo except for about four days when the Dr. comes in to do his clinic and brings his second year medical student daughter up with him to "show her that you can practice medicine without a lot of resources" and she'll bunk with me. I might get some reading/writing done if I'm on my own as my roommie (who arrived with the 360+ movies) is a bad influence on me - as if I needed an excuse. Since Wednesday we've watched 12 Years a Slave, Unclaimed Baggage, Promised Land, The Sessions and Thanks for Sharing. They were all worth watching. After reading the book 12 Years a Slave I found the movie had been shortened but mainly followed the story, Unclaimed Baggage is a light comedy, Promised Land was about oil companies buying up land in the midwest but Matt Damon is always easy to watch, The Sessions was about a guy in an iron lung machine and his sex therapist and Thanks for Sharing was about sex addicts - now why did we think those last two would be light watching? I'm going to do more research on the subject matter next time I told the movie holder.  

I had a FaceTime chat with the life partner on my 'day off' and he was sharing the news on the home / seafood industry front. The second daughter and son-in-law had taken him out for supper for his birthday to a local restaurant which has changed hands from our German friends to a young couple who have just moved to the area. The shore captain described it as 'yuppie' and also disclosed that he'd been wholesaling lobsters to them (he keeps crustaceans until end of July in his holding tanks). Mister said he'd delivered lobsters a couple of times to the restaurant but on the last day of the season he'd tasked the boy captain with the delivery - makes sense as the lad lives in the same town as the eatery. When he received a call for another order this week, the owner/chef mentioned that the seafood should be delivered to the side door and the shore captain assured him that he always did. The chef chuckled and said "well the young fellow who delivered them last week came through the front door and dining room and some of the 'up there' ladies didn't care for it". I had visions of our lanky, six ft tall son with a tired, sun/wind burned face with dark scruffy facial hair, ripped pyjama pants, torn and paint stained weathered t-shirt with holes from battery acid or bleach, grubby rubber boots  covered in salt water stains / fish scales, long tanned forearms ending in large likely grimy black hands from fixing something in the engine room, smelling of bait and diesel fuel, carrying a plastic bucket of lobsters. I chuckled to myself and thought….it's okay to see where your food comes from and what the person who catches it looks like in his natural habitat ladies. As my late father-in-law used to say when someone wrinkled their nose at the smell if he stopped at the bank on his way from baiting trawl "smells like money to me". 

Speaking of which….the O/T vs sleep deprivation balance is in the positive monetary balance. When questioning locals on situations/injuries etc. they will often say "alcohol was involved" sort of like the police PR in the media, thus the title of this post. Call on Thursday night resulted in two and a half hours of broken sleep - from 0245 to 0345 and 0600 to 0730 just doesn't cut it. Started out reassessing /fixing up a baby with bronchiolitis about midnight (been a little outbreak in the region this past two weeks) and getting ready to crawl into bed when a phone call came from the front entry from two hysterical females yelling that they were "being chased by drunkers and I should call the police". Nope, but I'll let you in and you can speak to the dispatcher. "Ok". I head down the stairs and hear a commotion in the porch with yelling and thumps and find no one there. I open the locked interior door, keep my foot in the door and open the outside door to look on the steps when a group of males rushes up over the stairs towards me. I manage to retreat back through the door and slam it just as a hand grabs the door. Lots of swearing, yelling, threats to open the door, banging and kicking on the door. Okay, now you got it, I AM going to call the police. I phone the 10 digit emergency number (no 911 here) which forwards to dispatch (two time zones and thousands of km away in Iqaluit) and speak to the dispatcher. He asks if I know who it is "no, and I'm not going to open the door to find out". He agrees and tells me that he'll dispatch the two local officers. I share that this is unusual behaviour for this community in my almost two years experience here. The RCMP were actually out on patrol and drive by shortly after the visitors have absconded. The community is just hopping. I consider attempting bed again and a call for sterile water for a tube feed from someone who "was busy all day". I leave the litre of water in the front entry. I'm in bed reading to wind down at 2 am when the phone call for a sick baby takes me downstairs. My one hour nap is ended by a call from the lobby phone "my friend had a bike accident I think she fractured something". Dressed and downstairs to find a 13 yr old who was riding her bike down the outside steps of the school and holding her elbow "did you tip over or did you mean to ride down the stairs?". She freely shares that she was intending to ride down the steps. Warning - this does NOT endear you to a sleep deprived old nurse. It does get you examined - full motion, circulation, and sensation - motrin, now and to go, an ice pack and return later (which she didn't)  for a reassessment / x-ray if needed and instructions to GO TO BED!!! Another sick baby with respirations of 72/min, temperature and low oxygen sats - fixed and home for recheck later and fall into bed until the alarm. I made it through the busy morning without being too cranky and only started to fade by the 'admin afternoon'. 

My roommate made us shrimp alfredo with noodles for supper and we watched a movie to distract ourselves as I was only second call (backup) with an early bedtime scheduled. Sound asleep by 10:30 pm and when the phone rang in my darkened room I thought 'must be about 4 am and she needs a hand'. My coworker says "I need your help, I've got someone with quite a cut" so I look at the clock and I've been asleep an hour. Downstairs to find a seriously inebriated patient with a below the knee gash measuring 17 cm across, 3 cm wide and deeper than a nurses finger (as in you can see the muscles like an anatomy diagram). Some photos emailed and phone discussion with the on call physician about an hour flight away who reassures that we can do this surgery or he can have the patient sent over to him (meaning he'll send the medevac plane over to pick them up, he'll suture and return) Good thing we didn't opt for that plan as thick as pea soup fog appeared from nowhere about 15 min. after the first phone call. The first call nurse sets up to suture, we flush with 2L of saline, I provide security and assistance to the surgeon and long story short about four hours, three reels of vicryl for interior closing and 32 prolene sutures on the exterior, a couple of photos/phone consults later and two very tired nurses it is all finished. We send the final photo to the Dr. and head to bed. When I open my email in the a.m. there is a message from him reading "great work, you two did a great job". Not often you get that kind of support from physicians. We agree that we'd tackle something like this again if we had to and head to bed. 

Sandy Point

I slept until the noon siren (no church bells here) wakes me. Out for a nice walk to find sik siks, snow

and Canada geese, song birds, ducks, gulls, ravens and the snow retreating quickly. Was nice to not wear my winter jacket thinking 'spring has arrived' until it snowed again last night and this morning. It's -1c which is prime snow weather today.

It's been a stressful week for my roommate who is from Moncton where there was a shooting rampage which resulted in the death of three RCMP officer and injury of two more. Brought back memories of 35 years ago when the shore captain was RCMP for three years and I worried every shift he worked. Haven't worried about him on the water over the years as it seems safer to be dealing with mother nature than cop haters. Sad story. 

Nevada tickets

I am first call again today but it's been a more manageable so far with just a sick baby to deal with. It's 4 pm here now and the community for the most part has been sleeping until just now. Not just drinking but lots of gambling not sure if those are goes on so the comment "I've been sleeping late" pertains to not just the 24 hours of darkness when you might as well sleep but to the 24 hours of sunlight when your schedule is not constrained by hours of daylight - as in you can just as easily ride your bike at 4 am as 4 pm if it looks the same. The nevada tickets here on the left are an indicator of the clash of two cultures. 

Time to wrap up and think of some supper and I'll leave you with two links to explore:

marcandangel.com/2013/11/17/10-harsh-realities-that-help-you-grow

marcandangel.com/2013/11/07/50-happiness-quotes-to-change-the-way-you-think

Small word encounters

All settled in to the routine now and although my roommie says that the two out of three days on call is "too much on call" for her, you do get used to it. And….this is the only work I'm doing now. There are nurses who work in between contracts here, with a contract in another region or territory or 'down south'. For me it's….you're working and it's a steady pace and then….you're not and it's relaxation central. Already almost three weeks into this jaunt. Mind you, we are just starting out on an eight day stretch with only two of us, as one of the nurses is heading out for a week to see her oldest daughter graduate. Hey, that was me just last year this time! Anyway it will mean sleeping with one or the other phones until we have a third CHN again. 

The clinic has been a very busy thoroughfare this past few weeks as we have had the dental team (doing repairs, extractions etc) for ten days and the dental screening team (exams, fluoride for a week, teaching) - they had a list of a possible 220 children from ages 0 - 7 years in this community of 900, the gyne/ob locum (they fly in with the chartered plane which waits at the airport for the morning and off to the next community) and now the GP is in doing his four day clinic. These additional clinics put people in the waiting room who you have to check out as to their destination, add to the bustle and noise level and increase the workload. As in, 'oh, if I have to sit here for 15 minutes while I wait for my appointment I should ask the nurse……insert request here ex. tylenol or advil, to be examined, to have their child examined, to pick up their meds which have come over on the plane from the pharmacy, to ask for test results, etc. etc'. These are usually the same people you are chasing for immunizations, pap smears, chronic disease check ups, bloodwork or generally any morning appointment. A great deal of the not wanting to get up, is that many people have only been asleep a couple of hours by 10 am. When I asked one of the clerks if she was a nite owl she said "no I am not, I go to bed by 1 am always" so it is a matter of degrees I guess. 

The 24 hr. of sunlight, where the sky is as bright at 3 am as 3 pm is in full swing now. We

Canada geese

have resorted to double layers of garbage bags taped/pinned to the bedroom windows behind the curtains. As my roommate calls it 'the first year university look' of either a blanket (most likely with wolves or horses on it) or possibly a towel or a flag. It feels as if one is working perpetual night shifts. I looked out the window at 3:30 am this morning and there were more people making their way around the community than during the day. The geese have returned to their summer home and these two were some of those hanging out at the golf course. 

I've done a bit of baking….scones (as promised for the roommate - it was the bribe to get her to join me here) cookies for ice cream sandwiches (most of which we took to the supper we were invited out to last weekend) cupcakes, and homemade butterscotch sauce.  I had thoughts of baking this evening but instead we watched a romantic comedy (we've also watched Despicable Me - both 1 and 2 and The Book Thief) on the 47" LG flatscreen TV that the Acting Nurse in Charge bought for us - how's that for a Nurses Week gift eh? Well, not actually….the TV in the other apartment was small and so they convinced me (the non TV watcher) to switch. When the roommate arrived, she was not impressed and made it known, as she'd brought an external hard drive with 362 movies downloaded to watch and the ancient rejected TV didn't have the ability to hookup the laptop. When the TVs went on sale for $800 (which I'm told is a good price) at The Northern Store….we hit the jackpot. Good thing my husband aka roommate is handy and could assemble the stand and hook up all the wires. We've decided she's my husband because she doesn't listen well a lot of the time, has good ideas that someone else can do and doesn't walk anywhere. She has been heard to state "I don't walk anywhere, I wasn't hired to walk". In fact one of the home care workers asked her if the headache she had might have come from walking to the clients house (home care truck was begin repaired) as she is widely known to only walk as far as the truck. More on her later. I have downloaded e-books, paid bills, uploaded my photos and downloaded some that others shared from the Honduras trip and have made a valiant attempt at saving myself some income tax. More on that later too. 

My call shifts have been fairly steady - my touch of having entertaining work hours has followed me north of 60. I worked the Friday afternoon of the long weekend which was called as a local holiday and received a call from the Post Office saying there was a parcel there for a person ℅ the health centre. I stated that we'd have someone pick up the parcel on Tuesday and the clerk said "what if it's an emergency?" I assured her that if it was an emergency, it wouldn't have been shipped through the mail. My curiosity got the better of me and I asked the NIC what the parcel was on Tuesday and she said "shoe lifts". My nerves. I've had a 3 year old with a laceration to a thumb at 10 pm (yes because that is when he should be using a knife) and the child was very badly behaved. My first clue was when the mother made several calls for assistance to hold him down for thumb repair and no one accepted. He was yelling before he got to the door, slapping his mother, throwing pieces of the paper off the exam table and she said "he's like this when he has to come see the nurse". That earned him glue on his cut which sealed it and a wave goodbye. The lab called with a 'critical value' of a K+ of 2.8 (low but not critical in my assessment) at 3 am. Since the patient in question was asleep in bed I thanked them and went back to sleep. When I checked in the morning, and found the result had been steadily dropping each of the pat four months, and the patient was being followed by specialists, I phoned the Dr on call and then the patient and advised eating bananas and orange juice over the weekend. When I later asked if there had been bananas and OJ consumed, I was informed "I don't like bananas, I eat country food". A 1 am call from a young mother with a 10 mo. old with D&V. When I questioned on number of poops the reply was "I don't even know". Then who does? A call at 4 am to examine a newborn "crying for hours" who was asleep and had to be awakened for assessment. Another call about an hour later with a ℅ abd. pain. I get up and dressed and then another call to advise "I'm not coming, my boyfriend took the honda to work". I saw an elder who was quite ill in the am and when she came back for reassessment told me "I ate caribou for supper that fixed me" well….A 2:30 am call to say "my knee is bleeding, I'm in the porch" from someone chasing a younger sister past the health centre might mean a laceration to suture but it was just one of those 'scrub the gravel out, debride the dead skin and put antibiotic ointment and a bandage on it' scrapes that mothers handle. The good thing about having a video intercom at the new health centre will be you can say "hold your knee up to the camera, no a little to the left - oh that looks okay, go home and clean it up and come back in the morning" without having to get dressed and go downstairs. 

The health centre construction continues at rapid sped and there is the promise of a December 2014 occupancy date. It is large structure which can be seen from all directions. 

Green siding going on

I met a young fellow working on the site as an electrician who lives about 35 minutes from me at home. He said his coworkers had told him to come over and meet the nurse who talked like him and came from where he lives. One of those small world experiences. Very focused, not creating any troubles in the community group of tradespeople here this year.

I also had a wonderful gift this week as a childhood friend from 50+ years ago shared that she had attended a church conference and met our elementary school teacher from the 1960s. It seems she must've married a military guy (there were two local bases in our area in those days) and moved to Germany and Australia and is now living a few hours away in NS. I dropped her a quick email saying I was working in Nunavut and she sent a lovely reply today saying she reminisced about those days and a bit on what she'd done. I was astounded to read that she had come to Taloyoak in 2011 to visit a teacher friend. Nunavut maybe, but specifically this small remote community? I wrote a quick note to say "I'm in Taloyoak and will write later" what a large country/small world experience eh?

This past week I've seen a few novel things such as some kids flying a kite in the middle of snowflakes and yes it has snowed here last week (I was pelted with freezing rain on my walk on Sunday too) but mostly it is becoming mud season. I watched a pickup hockey game at 5:30 am and no those young fellows did not get up early to play, they were on their way home from an allnighter but the ice is getting weak in the large pond they were playing on so the games have moved to another location apparently. Saw an arctic hare (okalik) in the front parking lot  - but that wasn't the first time I'd seen that. 

I'm slowly working my way through a stack of Inuit history/cultural books lent to me by the Mental Health worker. At present I'm reading 'In Order to Live Untroubled' which is very good. There is a course through Athabasca University which counts as an elective of the BN program, called The Inuit Way. It's a total cost of $777 for registration and tuition, which is a bit steep for just interests sake - auditing and challenge for credit cost the same, before you ask. The plan is to share the materials with the roommate when she takes it as an elective. No, I don't feel guilty, if the cost was more reasonable I would pay the institution for them. Here are a couple of links to videos, for those Inuit scholars amongst my loyal readers:

nfb.ca/subjects/inuit/netsilik

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/1960s-taloyoak-footage-comes-to-light-1.2554156

Speaking of freebies….all of us GN employees here have registered for Aurora Rewards which allows those of us frequent northern flyers to collect points (additional to Aeroplan) with silver beginning at nine segments/year. You know you're in the north when…..the security question on the sign up page uses "what was the name of your first car or snow machine?". Love it!

Speaking of travel….I had an online chat with my nursing colleague who is going to Liverpool, UK with me in December for the tropical nursing course. We've both gotten conditional acceptances (likely the only condition is sending them a significant amount of money) and she was telling me that a RAF friend of hers had won a $650.000 settlement for a sexual harassment claim and had purchased a condo in Cyprus so that is plan B for December. In discussion of how to get to Ireland to visit (flight or ferry? - matters not) another colleague she mentioned the hostess was in Singapore. Okay, hold the bus…the wallet and free time do not allow for Asia. Cyprus yes. 

As promised the update on the roommate who ate dill pickle chips and the Cadbury cookie dough chocolate bar (dry as dust but not as bad as the astronaut food she said)  before having a nap. Got herself wrapped in a blanket and thought she was in a sweat lodge, came out with her eyes all puffy from crying she thought. She was in high school, her brother was a baby, there were mean girls, she wanted to make out with the jock, there were muslims with serious guns (like the ones in the Hansel & Gretel movie she says - not a version I've seen) but the chauffeur picked them up. We both have weird dreams up here - strange beds, isolation, overeating? Not sure. I asked her if she had any more dreams and she said "I have but I didn't share them with you" apparently because they involved her being a pole dance and stripper. Now there's an image I can't get out of my mind. 

Also as promised, I have been attempting to get my taxes reduced at source from payroll and sent to an RRSP so as not to have to pay so much income tax. It is an admirable idea and a saga that is likely to run as long as Bonanza. sigh. It involves the downloading of Revenue Canada forms, calling toll free numbers, mailing the form (can't be faxed or scanned) to my province of residence, not the one where I earn the money and the tax is deducted then waiting 4 - 6 weeks for the CRA ruling. Should happen before I retire, but not sure when. 

The offspring are all doing well. The oldest daughter is talking about a trip to Seattle this fall. I am officially jealous!! just sayin. The teacher daughter has had full marks on both of her MEd assignments in the first course she's taking. They have met the yellow lab puppy (Pete) they wil be parents to in a few weeks and he is a very cute baby - their cranky cat Hank will not be impressed I am sure. The boy is looking forward to finishing up the spring lobster season and moving on to the next seafood harvesting gig. The nurse daughter is making her way through the final weeks of her first year as an RN - hard to believe!

So, it's off to bed with my friend the phone. 

Welcome back

Well, I am settled in and living my spring life north of 60. It's pretty close to 24 hours of daylight but….there are supposedly about three hours of dusk in the middle of the night. However, last night while on call as I looked out the window at 1:30 am in good light and saw a pick up hockey game in progress on the ice near the COOP, a toddler walking down the road with his grandmother following, skidoos zipping around across the lot in front of the new health centre, a group of preteens playing on the steps of an empty building next door and the street in front of the craft store filled with a crowd of kids…I thought - oh yes, that's right you're north now. It goes without saying that the nurse on call had a quiet morning as the community slept in. Although I was second call I managed to have a relatively quiet day including a nice walk down to the sewage lagoon with the coworker and mental health worker. The only task was a house call. The home care nurse will be here Wednesday so will handle the in-house visits. It's a former roommate who's coming back so I'm pretty excited - she has put her order in for scones already. 

My commute to work is getting routine and the travel Gods smiled on me yet again. As I was waiting in the departure lounge in Halifax, I was paged to the gate and the agent said "are you travelling alone?" when I replied "yes" she said "I'm going to change your seat" so I agreed "as long as I get a window seat" and she smiled and said "oh, I'm giving you a better seat, we've got to get those Aeroplan points working for you" and indicated I was being moved to Executive Class. It's been over 20 years since I sat up there. Not only was I upgraded but I had a window seat in the front row so leg room for a 6 ft. passenger. For those less fortunate in their travels I can share that some of the amenities include warm washcloths before a lovely breakfast is served with cloth napkins and real silverware. Too bad it was on the shorter segment of my journey but I certainly did not look any gift horses in the mouth. Had a very comfortable nap and awoke on the descent to Toronto. A very brief wait at Pearson and on to Edmonton. A window seat but none of the accoutrements of the morning - I did however, watch the movie The Monuments Men and it was excellent. I don't usually watch war movies but George Clooney et al convinced me that it would be worth it and it was! Had a wonderful afternoon with my two girlies in Edmonton where we had a snack then shopped at the mall - Davids Teas and The Body Shop (essentials for northern contracts) before heading to Walmart for the spring provisions. With three of us sourcing groceries the shopping went fairly quickly. A stop at the hotel to tear off the excess packaging, load up the action packers and send them to the hotel cooler for retrieval in the a.m (have developed this scheme so they'll be brought to me on a cart as I catch the shuttle vs me wrestling them out of the room and down the corridor) and to print my boarding passes. Off to have supper at Canadian Brewmaster - good meal and visit for the three of us before the electrician daughter headed back to Bowden for work in the am. 

The baby daughter slept over and I snuck out in the early a.m. to catch the airport shuttle. I've learned to insert myself firmly at the first of the queue for the van and stare down any oil workers who attempt to butt in line. In to Canadian North - my action packers weighed 48 and 49 lbs each (the new limits are 50 lbs per bag) and my duffle bag passed - on to the oversize conveyor belt and scanner and I am free with only a knapsack. Ahh. I console a chocolate lab who waits patiently with only a sigh beside the scanner in his kennel. Through security, time to check the online world and then zip up the jacket for the boarding - no jetports from Edmonton onwards. A beautiful day to fly, warm breakfast and a nap then we're landing in Yellowknife. Oh, definitely much cooler here - I so want to pull out my hat and mitts but the Inuit on the plane with me stroll with open jackets to the terminal, so I resist. As I come through the door I meet an elder from this community who is attempting to get home but apparently someone in medical travel used her Inuit name which doesn't match her health card so her escort is attempting to sort the situation out in the hour remaining before boarding. I find a mother/daughter from Taloyoak in the departure lounge and as I'm waiting the dentist recognizes me and comes to have a chat. He is going in for a ten day clinic which is part of a five week tour of the region. The elder and her escort have joined us, so apparently the name snafu was sorted out, but now the escort hasn't been checked in - they are having their troubles. We head out to the Dash 8 and climb the steps. The flight attendant firmly instructs us to take our assigned seats and I smile and say to her "how is that working out for you?" as it's been traditional for years that Inuit climb on the plane and sit wherever they choose, if you were to try to approach them with your boarding pass in hand and insist on your assigned seat, you'd likely be met with a blank stare and the indication that the passenger doesn't understand English. "I'm sure it's not going to work at all" the flight attendant replies with a smile. She makes the announcement repeatedly and finally says "you just have to keep these seats for take off and landing due to weight distribution, you can move around after the seat belt sign comes off". A routine flight to Cambridge Bay and we are down for a refuelling service stop. We meet a passenger from the previous

High Arctic view

day because the flight yesterday went mechanical here and instead of making her ultrasound and mammography appointment in Yellowknife, she has overnighted in Cambridge Bay and is returning with us and will be rescheduled. A lovely day for flying, clear blue skies, lots of clean snow, blue stretches of sea ice and brilliant sunshine. Not sure what you saw on your commute today but I just have a feeling of coming home when I look out the plane window. 

We are down on time in Taloyoak and I explain to the flight crew that I'll see them in July when they take me home. I head in to the terminal and see more familiar faces, including the health centre caretaker who has come to pick me up. He tells me that they expected me yesterday (boy HR sure was determined to have

Awaiting the luggage

me here a day early) and wondered why I hadn't shown up. I am greeted with "welcome back" by a number of community members and we're off to claim luggage. I am ecstatic to discover both my action packers and duffle bag have arrived and are being ejected from the back of the pick up truck aka luggage carousel. We drop the dentist at the hotel and continue on to the health centre. I am amazed at the progress of the new health centre construction. I introduce myself to my coworker and the acting nurse in charge (both from Ontario and experienced northern nurses) and am welcomed by the support staff. Up the stairs with the perishables, 

 unearth the gifts of coffee for the staff, over to the COOP for milk and eggs (no hamburger) and suddenly it's suppertime. After retrieving my stored goods and settling myself into the apartment it was an early bedtime. 

I headed down to count narcotics at 9 am and discovered that I can't read a calendar properly as I'd thought I was on call Sunday. Nope - today! Good thing I had breakfast first. A relatively quiet on call day - quite a few people out on the ice seal hunting for ringed seals  - just some sore ears, teething, rashes and bladder infections. My last visit at 10 pm is the final one for the night. I am amazed that I have been allowed to sleep when the alarm went off this am. 

I looked out the window this morning and realized that a polar bear hide was stretched out on a frame leaning against a house in front of the health centre. Ah, what would the Coca Cola advertising machine think of that? Mind you, they sell enough of their teeth destroying elixir to northern people, so shouldn't worry about those marketing symbols being traditionally killed. 

Well, time to wrap this up and hit the sack. Getting back into being employed again always takes some work. Had a bit of a warm up with the mission but nothing like being an independent practitioner again. Ahhh, back to the routine. 

The spring migration begins

The wanderer has returned (details on the mission to follow) again….in time to leave two days later. This sneaking out in the middle of the night with only a few hours sleep is getting to be a habit lately. My flight is at 8 am which means counting backwards so that I awoke at 2 am alarm, left at 2:30am, drove to my classmates house in Middle Sackville  to meet the prearranged taxi (we were both early), arrived at the airport for checkin in / security screening before 6 am. Was expedited by a great Air Canada agent who was looking for info as his wife and daughter are both nurses who want to work in Nunavut and now awaiting boarding by 7:30am for the first flight to Toronto. I will be in Edmonton by mid day and the youngest daughter has promised to meet me at the airport. Provisioning and packing will be the order of the afternoon and then supper with both the oldest and youngest and a sleepover with the one on days off. Best part of my commute!

The two days after my return from Honduras saw me reducing the car insurance, emailing my classmate about car storage, booking the airport taxi, starting my internet in Nunavut, and cancelling the daily newspaper - this last task with some difficulty, as they had somehow removed the number to contact them - not particularly convenient as the only way to cancel is by phone! The lists have been checked and rechecked - what is stored north of 60, what needed to be packed, what needs to be purchased out west and….what needed to be transported (seafood) to the western girlies. The duffel bag weighed

49.8 lbs (take that Air Canada and your 50 lb luggage limit) and the action packers are in the car of the daughter who stored them for me in February.  The weather is rather mild in Taloyoak with a 1c temperature today although the wind chill was listed at -20c. The forecast here on the right looks pretty good. One of the coworkers advised to bring sneakers for walking so there is obviously a retreat of the white stuff in process. A couple of seasons between May - July on the NW Passage. 

Speaking of my other home, I saw an ad for one of those swishy cruises in the Arctic and emailed a tour guide friend to see if she had any contacts. My latest scheme involves pitching for some speaking gigs as I do live half the year on the NW Passage and have some cultural knowledge of the Inuit. She asked if I could drive a zodiac? Ummm, no but I could learn. I commented that this would be a job skill for a marine biologist not a nurse. She noted that with larger ships and 20+ zodiacs, it was always helpful to have a couple of spare drivers on hand. I suggested that it would be very helpful to have an advanced practice nurse familiar with the area on board. We left it at that. I emailed for information on itinerary and pricing - not a good financial sign if those details aren't posted. I expect the cruises would be August/September as that is when the shipping lanes open in the passage. A girl can dream. 

So as promised, details of the mission:
I drove to the airport - rainy, windy drive but at least not freezing ice pellets and snow as it was in the central area of the province. Quick commute to Toronto then security, customs (where they use an automated system - at a kiosk you scan your passport, answer questions, the machine takes your photo, compares it and prints out a boarding pass like piece of paper which you take to a (human) customs officer for an interview. It felt like a combo of George Orwell's 1984 and Space Odyssey 2001. Uneventful commute to Miami and out to wait for the hotel shuttle in the steamy, warm air. The Baymont Inn (Best Western brand) was comfortable, friendly and convenient. I had a swim in the pool, supper at Firehouse Subs (highly recommend it) a wonderful sleep, hot breakfast and shuttle back to the airport. Miami airport is HUGE and you walk for miles. I found the American Airlines ticket counters but with 50 + passengers in each line my hopes sagged. I was thrilled to be sent directly to screening as I'd checked in online,  printed my boarding pass and didn't have a checked bag.  I even won the lottery and didn't have to take my shoes off at security - I HATE that - I am sure it is more of a public health hazard than any security threat! Met some brigade members in the departure lounge - those Bwaston accents gave them away - and finalized some details ex. get drinking water here as we'll go directly to Los Encinitos when we get off the plane in Honduras. A smooth flight which was almost entirely made up of American missions going to do volunteer work in Honduras. A steep touchdown in Tegucigalpa (short runway set in the middle of the houses) which is a large, smoggy third world city. I was amazed to find that anyone (even those replacing toilet paper in the plane lavatories) was thoroughly searched 

Put your hands up

and scanned before being allowed to approach the plane. We were quickly through customs and baggage and out to the waiting 4x4 trucks. Heavily armed military escorts accompanied us on the two hour drive which

Dental students and soldier

wound up through the mountains on very rudimentary tracks. We settled into the dorms after kicking out the bats, had a meal in the dining room which the Sister had prepared for us and unpacked the supplies we'd brought for the clinic. The 

Female dorm

we'd brought for the clinic.  next four days followed in a routine of sleep, meals and clinic until all the people were seen. It was overwhelmingly hot and humid (30+c) except for the day of the fierce thunderstorm and torrential downpour which flooded the dental clinic and knocked out a transformer. We had power for one day of the week and the 

Waiting to be registered

generator ran to keep equipment functioning. The clinic was primary health care (the most emergent case was 

Waiting area in the rain

a burn from a gasoline stove) with exams done and medications dispensed. The brigade leader had brought his son who is a massage therapist and it was entertaining to watch the local people enjoy a massage for the first time. We volunteers made sure to take our turns also. I organized the pharmacy as well as taking turns with the paediatric or adult triage, doing lab tests (urine dips, pregnancy tests, blood 

Pharmacy

sugars and Hgb by finger pricks). Got a lot of practice with my Spanish "qual es tu problema por favor? and working in an American system. On the final morning of the visit at dawn a group of four fitness freaks and….me hiked up San Pedro which is a peak near the mission. I thought I was 

San Pedro at dawn

going to die with the incline, heat and pace but when I noticed a cow patty almost at the top I thought 'if a cow can be up here, I can do this' The others patiently waited for me after realizing I wasn't going to give up - apparently someone half my age had not made it to the top last year - and were pleased with my success. We packed up and drove back to the city, first stopping at a local clinic to share some medicines with them. We stayed at a very upscale hotel and had the afternoon to pamper ourselves (spa) shop (in groups) or just hang out. Three of us opted for a typical Honduran lunch at El Patio which cost us $15 each and was twice as much food as we could eat. We paid the cab driver $15 to drive us half way across Tegucigalpa and wait the hour while we ate lunch as well. Time for a swim, soak in the hot tub and ready for supper. Due to the crime rate in Tegucigalpa we took cabs to the restaurant for supper - even though it was two blocks - and enjoyed a nice meal before crawling in to bed. The morning saw various departure times and destinations and we were off to the airport ourselves for a noontime flight. Pandemonium at the airport, check in, pay exit fee, customs forms and up the stairs to departure. A total of four desks to stop at and have the passport examined and then to the departure lounge. A bit of delay with leaving due to air quality and we were off for the flight to Miami. Shuttle to the Red Roof Inn (not as good as the Baymont) and then online check in via my phone and printing of boarding pass in their business centre as you could NOT check in there - go figure. A swim in the pool with a child screeching "look at me" at top volume while the adults ignored her (wonder why she screeches eh?) and then over to Bennigans (and Irish sports bar) for supper - the restaurant being owned and operated by East Indians and filled with European tourists. I thoroughly enjoyed my mojito, chicken quesadillas and key lime pie. An early start in the am and two uneventful flights from Miami then Philadelphia and at the second daughters by suppertime. 

Lots of happenings for the teacher daughter and son-in-law as they have purchased a canoe and have taken it out paddling, she has begun her Masters in Education studies and they are adopting a golden lab puppy who they have named Pete and will pick up in June. A busy summer ahead of them. An overnight at their place and up in the morning for the drive to the physio clinic. I was 'kicked out' by the physio who says my shoulder/back are just fine now (and I agree) so I'll contact her if I need to. Woohoo!

A colleague forwarded the following link for a weekend simulation in Michigan which looks like it would be a fun way to learn disaster relief. Not this fall (Europe travel takes care of that) but 2015 is the target:

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mmf/news/bulletin/2011/humanitarian-aid-101.html

Next posting from 69.4 degrees north latitude as I begin my 58 day contract "not even two months" as the shore captain said. I'm thinking this contract may be a bit different as apparently Nellie is out on vacation until July so there will be an acting SHP hmmmm details to follow. In a nostalgic look back - I offer this link to Taloyoak (then known as Spence Bay, NWT) - with some footage from the 1960s: 

cbc.ca/news/canada/north/1960s-taloyoak-footage-comes-to-light-1.2554156

24 hours of sunlight here I come!

Large Ziplocs you say?

Los Encinitos, Honduras

You may remember the excitement of readying for summer camp? Well…..my knapsack has been packed (and repacked several times) for the Honduran mission. To make it clear, I located online maps to show you just where I'm headed, seen here right and left. I watched a couple of the 

Topographical view

videos and followed the instructions to 'mark clothes for the laundry to avoid mixups' so initialed my belongings. I also purchased large ziploc baggies in which to store my footwear as instructed - creepy crawlies like to hide in dark places. Instead of the $120 sleeping bag liner which Mountain Equipment Coop had on offer, I bought a twin sheet at Frenchy's for $3.50 and with 10 minutes at the sewing machine created a rather intense floral version of same which is now rolled up in the bottom of the backpack. I did however invest in the MEC travel umbrella as it is extremely lightweight and will come in handy in the UK if not the tropics. To qualify for free shipping on orders over $50 (because of course the offer of free shipping on all shipments only came on AFTER I ordered) I also shopped for freeze dried food (strawberries, ice cream sandwiches and raspberry granola), which I will take north with me to try out as they won't add to my grocery weight or bulk. The greatest difference between arctic and tropics is obviously the climate but other than that, minimalist living is quite similar. The final awaited parcel was a pair of Columbia zip off travel pants/shorts off eBay which arrived yesterday - fit well and look better/newer than expected. And since I discovered that Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, I think it's time to give up on the research. Especially after a former co-worker told me her sister and husband had done an eco-tour in Honduras and found it intense - especially when 'they were delayed after dark and driving into the mountains the Israeli sharpshooter who was security got nervous'. I'm counting that the good will of a well established mission (which haven't had an incident yet in almost two decades) will provide better protection than a sharpshooter with tourists. I did however take note of the security document sent by Cape Cares which indicated they had registered us all with the US Embassy so I registered myself with the Canadian Consulate for Honduras as well. Read through the various listings on the Canadian Embassy website for levels of concern of countries and some of the major tourist destinations (Cuba excluded) were noted as 'exercise a high level of caution' so not getting myself too excited. Start the antimalarials next week and have lots of pepto bismol which is a practical plan. 

As I have online shopped for survival gear…..I got distracted and purchased a dress from Lands End which will be nice for the European vacation. It took two tries (hazards of shopping remotely) though as the first one was extremely frumpy, heavy polyester and reminded me of one my grandmother wore about 50 years ago. It looked so ugly even in the bag before I opened it that I checked the catalogue photo to see if I'd ordered the wrong dress - it didn't even look the same but the # was correct. Yuck. The keeper, pictured here on the right (albeit in a size 2) it is soft, light and flattering. It's an Italian ship on an European destination so the local passengers will be dressed from Milan not Target so I'll need to keep up. 

I've found some time to visit with friends - recruiting one for northern work, cajoling another to begin studies towards her certification, counselling a former coworker to move on with her life, having a group over for a feed of lobsters, greek salad and biscuits then a choice of apple pie or butterscotch brownies with ice cream and homemade butterscotch sauce and watching Netflix movies with the life partner on a fairly regular schedule. Getting used to fairly long periods of unemployment. 

Spring lobster gear

Since Fuji condemned my underwater camera which died in Mexico (don't have parts now) for the total of $100 (which covers labour + taxes) replaced the XP20 with the latest model (worth at least $250 + tax) of XP70 - I am quite pleased with the exchange as I really do require a dust, shock, freeze and waterproof model. There are some nice features with the upgrade (besides speed and size which area always better in a new model) especially the ability to take a photo while filming a movie and view all photos in portrait mode in the viewfinder so you don't have

Gary

 to rotate each one. Will give it the true test on my next little adventure. There was a parcel card in the mailbox so I'm guessing the repaired / replaced / overpriced point and shoot replacement purchased in Mexico which didn't work properly to be picked up. The new XP70 does take nice photos as evidenced on the left by the wide angle shot of Gary on a plastic bag on the floor - he and Stanley fight over this bag as evidenced by loud howls and tufts of fur following - above a telephoto shot of a buoy along the road where I walk.

I attended my physio appointment last week and yes all the old parts are staying aligned, but you have to keep a check on that. As I sat waiting on the bed for the therapist I could hear the staff discussing a Mexican Riviera vacation as it was the first day back to work aka insert conversation about the trip as frequently as possible day. The ex-pat British receptionist speaks with a strongly accented Queen's English and one of the local staff was excitedly describing a resort she'd stayed at before. When the dialogue ran to "yes, yes but was your room near the boofay or the pool?" I giggled and told the physio that I thought I was listening to a British radio sit-com and she said "oh I just have to tell them" and we both chuckled. 

I washed my (down here) winter jacket and put it away until…..May 8th, then have had to wear it a couple of times when the weather changed again. But I have decided that spring is here as the peepers began singing at top volume last weekend. I took the car to the garage to have the snow tires switched off for regular and the mechanic asked if I had hit any potholes. Ya think? How could I avoid this with the state of the roads? Another sure sign of spring are the craters post frost heaves. He had straightened out the dent in the rim he said. I cleaned the car as well and noticed the new car smell is still there and it is only on it's third servicing. With the price of fuel it is good that it is not moving much - imagine….$75 to fill a Dart! And thinking more positively, we have had two BBQ meals and I've gone gloveless and actually had to remove layers of outerwear on the way home when walking - practicing being too warm in anticipation of the mission, mind you that was a few days ago now - spring please hurry.

I have been puttering and organizing so have a few things ticked off the 'to-do while home list. I printed the receipt for the donation I made for Southern Sudan crisis. I chose:

wadeng.org

as I've followed the story of Jacob Deng, one of the Lost Boys who has settled in Halifax and is raising his family there while contributing to African relief. I am beginning to understand how my father felt when he mailed cheques to Oxfam in the 80s saying "how can I not support them when they send photos of starving children and I look at my beautiful healthy grandchildren and think how lucky they are to be born to so much and how fortunate we are?" I also printed the list of 'what's stored in Nunavut' and developed my shopping list for Edmonton. Will be packing for north before I leave for south as it's a tight turnaround of only two days in between. 

I have been busy purging and sorting - dragged five full garbage bags of my clothes to the donation box. I simply don't require as many clothes now that I'm a) only home for about half of the year b) not doing an 'office job' where different outfits are required c) wearing uniforms when working and scruffy clothes when hanging out. And seriously - how many pairs of grey dress slacks do you need? Trust me, my closet and bureau are far from empty but I am now at least able to close the doors/drawers and find something to put on without frustration. Since I hadn't done the dreaded task for a few years I sorted/purged for the upcoming summer season as well and stored them in the closet awaiting my July return from work. My buddy also assisted in the large task of inventory and organizing of stored donated medical supplies which I need to work on finding a home for. Some can be distributed by travellers simply taking an extra suitcase to a developing nation but….larger items (crutches, raised toilet seats for example) will need to be part of a container shipment so that is a project for 'sometime this year'. 

Last weekend we had the unexpected upset of searching for a deaf senior dog - who was missing overnight and in total for about 20 hours (although she's been known to abscond for years - this was her personal record), I was contemplating what the wanted/missing posters should look like when we received a call from one of the neighbours about her being found. She had been fed cat food (not allowed at home) and looked very pleased with herself. Had gotten the clip from the cat run which she'd parted in her exodus caught in the rocks at a

Keely home

local fish plant and a neighbour had found her. She doesn't look the least bit contrite in the welcome home photo seen here on the left but she isn't known for that. Must've been a lot of sighing when 8:30 pm came and she wasn't able to put herself to bed on her soft dog bed in the mud room. We realized that we're not ready to be dog less just yet as both the shore captain and myself tromped through the woods, walked the shore, drove up and down the road and called the neighbours in the search - it did at least give us more physical exertion and we discovered that the rhubarb planted by our Polish farmer visitor is coming up yet again. As I walked through the woods in back of our 'old house' across the road where we raised the children I smiled when I passed a small plastic chair and roughly constructed wooden table where a playhouse had been. When I asked the life partner if he'd seen it as he searched, he grinned and acknowledged he did too. Ahhh, back in the day. Those were the days that camping was the upscale vacation. So speaking of which I offer the following link:

buzzfeed.com/peggy/camping-hacks-you-must-try-this-summer?bffbdiy

And for those of you who have lots of time on your hands ex. the retired, semi-retired, writers, those avoiding housework etc. here is a neat link to a site where there is telescopic text. Just keep clicking on the highlighted words - fun:

stumbleupon.com/su/6hZUif

Time to wrap up the rambling and head to bed as there will be Easter visitors here soon. I must convince the shore captain to put away those Christmas ornaments from the spare bedroom. 

Coconut bras are optional

Have been settling in to my 'at home' routine rather nicely, if I do say so myself. Sleep in, drink tea and read the newspaper, check out the online world, putter about the house doing minimal amounts of domestic chores, walk the dog, read, make an effort to put together some supper, visit with the life partner and then decide later in the evening to take on a project - scrapbooking, crafts, sewing, downloading movies to take north or something else online and go to bed late. In between I can run errands, have tea with friends, plan trips or….truly not have anything to show for the day. Ahhhh, bliss. It is wonderful to travel but…a rainy afternoon spent on your own sofa with a dog and two cats napping beside you and absolutely nothing you HAVE to do is hard to beat. 

Now today however, I have done a bit of clearing up as the cleaning lady comes tomorrow and she must have surfaces to clean. She opened the oven door last Friday, looked in disapprovingly and suggested I get some oven cleaner for her and I had to admit that….the oven is self cleaning. There is no way to replicate the look she gave me but I'm sure you can visualize it yourself without much difficulty. We've been 'moved over' in this house for almost eight years and I hadn't used that feature yet, so…I had to unearth the manual and attempt it. The instructions basically said to take out the chrome racks and press the button that says self clean. Complicated eh? I was a bit concerned about the part where it spoke of providing good ventilation and mentioned some birds are particularly sensitive to the fumes (likely canaries I thought) so they should be moved to another room. But it was actually not too unpleasant and when I wiped out the ash which was left, the oven sparkled. I hope for a good cleaning lady reception tomorrow. I got the shore captain to bring the step ladder down from the barn and clean the blades of the ceiling fan in the living room as per her instructions as well. None of us (except the pets - she is an animal lover and spoils them) are safe from her plans. I cleaned out the plastic storage container drawer this afternoon in keeping with the 40 bags in 40 days theme and wanting to have something on the 'done' list today. Speaking of houses and life hacks, here are some neat ideas:

http://www.geekfill.com/2014/03/20/here-are-27-relatively-simple-things-that-will-make-your-home-extremely-awesome-i-love-8/

This week I was awake in the night as the life partner had a belly bug which acted suspiciously like norovirus. He certainly didn't count himself lucky but one 45 min. bout is a mild version. When I mentioned about having the bug for hours (about 10 yrs when I worked in long term care) and lying on the bathroom floor thinking I was dying - he could 'vaguely remember'. One of us does nursing care and one of us avoids it - can you guess? He has made an excellent recovery and is back on his workaholic schedule again. And as he didn't give me the bug, he is still allowed to live here.

There has been a great deal of media attention about healthcare this week as the government introduced Bill 37 which effectively means healthcare workers have lost the right to strike. This is because the NSGEU has pushed for nurse/patient ratios for safe care. A wildcat strike with a cease and desist order, then the legal strike today both of which were accompanied by pickets and demonstrations ensued. Presentations by nurses (many gave me goosebumps) to the committees in the legislature and lots of public opinion. It is amazing how many people state that the province cannot afford lower nurse:patient ratios but will be the first to drop Grammie in the ER as they are leaving for a tropical vacation - no worries that  the hospital per diem has to be paid by taxpayers. These same people would not hesitate to  phone the CRNNS (College of Registered Nurses of NS) if they felt an RN had not provided safe care (with or without just cause or even thought to the implications for this professional's license) to the aforementioned Grammie dump. The answer is simply to be found in science - all RNs must grow an additional arm. Those of us too old to do that will have to rely on cloning. It is a sad time to be a nurse in this province. I am glad to not be employed here but annoyed that the tax dollars I submit are paying for this circus. Capital Health the employer of the NSGEU nurses has made it mandatory that they all take a customer service course - big bucks spent - versus providing safe numbers of staff. Pretty clear they weren't interested in settling from the start. 

Yesterday I made my way to the bank just before it closed and picked up my Honduran cash (lempiras) which I'd ordered. Not a particularly popular order the clerk told me. No surprise. I also took my rolled coins, (which I save for a tropical nursing course) and after about five years I've managed to amass almost $200 so it's a good thing I have other sources of funding. As the central american mission date approaches I have managed to book myself overnight accommodation in Miami on the way down and back. Taking in to account all the negative reviews of facilities and services in Miami airport hotels + the strong Canadian dollar…I considered myself fortunate to have found room at the inn which includes a free breakfast, shuttle to the airport, and wi-fi with pool for under $115 per night while avoiding the poor reviews. It did take a bit of research. 

Last evening a travel buddy and myself planned our Boston gig for the Jimmy Buffett concert. Who are we kidding? It's all about the pre-concert (tailgate) party! Do you think it's the definition of greed to ask if Aeroplan miles can be earned on a flight booked with Air Miles? I mean, it is an Air Canada flight after all. Well, greedy or not…..don't ask, don't get.  I earned Aeroplan miles anyway on the taxes/fees as I paid with the Amex card which earns Aeroplan miles and will await the answer from Aeroplan. We went out for a late supper at The Lobster Shack and my travel partner treated me so life is good. I spent part of the morning watching videos of the pre-concert parties and now I'm a bit concerned about packing as I am hoping to only take a carry on and those grass skirts take up a bit of room:

Pre-concert party attire

http://maryerichard.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/you-dont-just-attend-a-jimmy-buffett-concert-you-pack-for-it/

I sent a message to my niece's husband, who's a Navy guy, about borrowing his coconut bra (which he had bought as a souvenir for my niece while on exercises a few years ago) if she agreed. He okayed the loan for sure but advised to not let it touch bare flesh so I think I'll pass. Boston in July is warm so I turned down the 'excellent wig' he offered as well. Think that Frenchy's will not disappoint when we go concert outfit shopping. The concert theme is surf boards. Learned today that the female steel drum band Chicks with Sticks will be playing as well. Good time ahead. 

As I work my way through vacation planning, I found a nice link to some photos and since several of them are destinations we'll be visiting in September, I offer the link here:

http://www.worthytoshare.net/seeing-popular-places-almost-surreal-6-seriously-shocked

Tonight the life partner and I watched the Mel Gibson movie Get the Gringo on Netflix which was predictable in both format and brutality but Mel did look good and I got to practice my Spanish. This is what passes as date night in this house and I'll take it. Time to turn the sleep apneaic on his side as the snoring is reaching NIHL levels and crawl into bed as I must be on deck for the cleaning lady or….she finds me housework to do. 

Nunavut to Mexico to Honduras

As I check the date on the previous posting, it is clear that the past month has been busy and….fun, which translates into not having / finding time to update. When I read about freezing temperatures and packing up my northern life I realize I am waaayyyy behind. So as the shredded wheat bread rises in the oven and the chili simmers on the stove I will fill you in. 

Yes (obviously) I made it home the end of February, but the amazing part was that I actually made all my connections as planned.  It was touch and go as I readied to leave Taloyoak on a flight booked for late in the afternoon with Canadian North. There are two airlines which fly into Kitikmeot - First Air and Canadian North with First Air being the more 'reliable' as in larger planes so less cancellations. On Mondays flying out of Taloyoak to Yellowknife there are two flights, First Air then Canadian North. As the caretaker drove me to the airport he said "Canadian North is delayed" to which I replied "you're joking!!" but his lack of response led me to understand he wasn't. A full waiting room at the airport as both flights of passengers congregated and visited. A number of prenatal patients travelling out for confinement sat quietly - imagine leaving your community and family for three to four weeks (perhaps longer) to await the birth of your baby! A prenatal aged 17 going out to deliver her second child stood with silent tears dropping down her cheeks. I approached her, squeezed her shoulder and suggested that she might deliver early and be home more quickly, the tears continued to fall. The waiting room filled as more and more passengers arrived and as far as I could tell all passengers were in some way being funded by the government - medical travel as patient or escort and duty travel for me. I approached the Canadian North desk aka packing crate and questioned Chuck if the delay would affect my connection in Yellowknife to Edmonton? As he checked I suggested that I would switch to the First Air flight if I was not going to overnight in Edmonton as my daughters were meeting me there and I WOULD be seeing them. Upon checking, Chuck reassured me that since the flight wasn't landing in Cambridge Bay on the way to Yellowknife there shouldn't be a problem. As I watched the passengers load and the First Air flight leave I hoped I had bet on the right horse. The Canadian North flight eventually landed and the crew exchanged freight/baggage with the plane as weather conditions deteriorated, even the Inuit passengers were commenting about the lack of visibility. The airline portable phone was in constant use (phones are popular because not all households have one) as the passengers spoke quietly in Inuktituit  with family and friends about their plans for Yellowknife. Since the ground crew was outside wrangling heavy objects from the back of a pickup into the side of a small plane in the whiteout, waiting passengers took turns answering the phone when it rang saying "Canadian North" and advising locals who were awaiting arriving patients / freight that the plane was here now. The pilot radioed in to the desk advising that passengers could begin loading and it was suggested that one of the ladies who had been answering the phone should answer the radio but she declined. We stood silently awaiting the return of Chuck to tell us to board, forming a line, looking out the door at a plane which was barely visible on the tarmac and no one made a sound, not even the children as the Inuit are a patient culture. Ahh how I miss those calm, smiling faces. Finally we were out into the frigid dark and onto the small plane with only two empty seats. As we settled, the flight attendant announced we were on our way to Cambridge Bay and I could easily have screamed - I'm sure if I was kidnapped my reaction wouldn't have been any different - as I again felt my connection in Yellowknife slipping away. When I questioned the flight attendant on the likelihood of making it to Edmonton she assured me that she and both pilots were heading home to Edmonton tonight so I relaxed. We stopped to pick up a tradesman in Cam Bay and then headed in to Yellowknife. Off one flight across the freezing tarmac, through the terminal, security and out to board a second flight to Edmonton. Uneventful (just the way I like my flights) trip to Edmonton and met by the oldest daughter with a cup of tea as the youngest circled the parking lot while I grabbed by luggage. As the carousel began spitting out suitcases and containers a lid of an action packer appeared bearing a plastic grocery bag containing frozen arctic char. The assembled looked at it and one guy said to another "is that what's left of your action packer?" but I stepped forward, picked up the lid / fish and said "whew at least the char made it as I can replace the tote pan" however after a few more pieces of baggage the remainder of the action packer arrived too. 

A visit with the oldest daughter before she travelled to her apartment for an abbreviated sleep and an overnight with the youngest daughter where we settled late after sharing 'war stories' of nursing. Up in the morning to retrieve luggage, have a nice brunch at Cora's and then off to pick up the kennelled canines which the daughter had stored in Stony Plain - turns out to be an hours drive from the airport - and they quickly settled into the back seat of the truck as they likely hadn't slept much last night either. Check in at the airport, through security, a short wait with a VERY badly behaved toddler and it was quickly apparent why as his parents found his behaviour amusing and had lengthy discussions with him about it. Sigh. On to the flight and after a nap I watched the movie Last Vegas which was actually very good. Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro and another old guy I can't remember - recommend it if you need a laugh. A short layover in Pearson where I grabbed a sandwich, cup of David's tea and checked email. And yes, it is true that I did not respond to the overhead page asking if there was "a Dr. in the terminal to come to Gate 42" as I calmly munched my sandwich at Gate 44 because….they didn't ask for a nurse and also because the paramedics were along shortly for the person who had a 'spell'. Delayed out of Pearson with a wait for a flight crew, deicing and then off. I watched Gravity, with Sandra Bullock on the way to distract myself from the turbulence but….although it received more Oscar nominations than Philomena, I wasn't as impressed with it, mind you George Clooney always looks fine but beyond that it was quite a stretch. In to Halifax 45 minutes late and the baggage took forever to come through, but it was reassuring that the prearranged taxi driver was patiently waiting not the shore captain sighing, pacing and whining about being up all night and having to work in the a.m. A quick cab ride to my classmates house to find my little car waiting for me in the driveway and off on the deserted highway home. No traffic and clear roads, only a stop for tea to perk me up and I was 15 minutes from home before I ran into any snow. It's a full two days commute even if the travel Gods smile on you so I was thrilled there were no glitches. Through the door as the shore captain arose for the day, quick greeting and I collapsed into my own bed for the first time in 55 days. Ahhhh. 

Only three days at home before leaving for vacation so lots of errands / appointments to attend to. Trips to the spa, buying of sunscreen, packing of swimsuits are all fun pursuits. As well as supper for eight of us the night before we departed to catch up on all the news, eat the aforementioned arctic char with assorted other goodies and generally enjoy ourselves. 

Early morning start on the drive to the USA and an uneventful arrival in Portland, Maine ten hours later. Found a room (smoking rooms are always the last ones left) at the Holiday Inn there and after multiple tries for a reservation, found a spot at Yosaku - a sushi restaurant. Tried the plum wine recommended by another guest and sampled the warm sake while enjoying the wonderful service and menu. Off in the morning through New Hampshire then Vermont to visit our summer neighbour. Only took 90 minutes longer than planned after a 'detour' from the scheduled route. Had a wonderful visit, supper, sleep, breakfast and lunch and off again to Boston. Again driving with a dyslexic (I am sure) chauffeur did not help and we spent over an hour in several small towns at rush hour as he 'decided this was the exit' before serendipity caused us to find our way. We left the truck at the seafood wholesaler and Dave drove us to the airport hotel. A quick supper and early bedtime for our 4 am departure. 

Los Ojos de Agua

Shuttle to Logan airport, wait for US Airways flight to Charlotte, NC, delay, uneventful trip, long walk through the terminal, quick boarding of the flight to Cancun, longer uneventful flight. Whoosh into the heat, met by the oldest daughter with a cab (nice to have an in-house interpreter) and off to Puerto Morales for a couple of days. Beautiful beach, great food, wonderful snorkelling, visit to the botanical garden and generally enjoying the good life for the three of us. On the right is the view from our balcony.

Then a cab to Playa del Carmen, ferry to Cozumel and a two day stay there. Wonderful food, shopping, snorkelling and general good times. Back on the ferry to Playa del Carmen, taxi to BlueBay Grand Esmerelda and settle in to await the remainder of the family for the vacation who arrived in waves. By Friday midnight the girls and partners were present and accounted for and the festivities began. 

We had three suites in a row with a common swim up pool - so called our own private cenote by the patriarch (here left and right)  and very much enjoyed visiting as a group. Supper at 7:15 pm nightly at a series of a la carte restaurants, a group excursion to the Mayan ruins of Coba, swimming in a cenote and a great meal. The youngsters also chose to go shopping in Playa del Carmen, an excursion with zip lining, rappelling, cenote swimming and then snorkelling in Akumal as well as parasailing off the beach. Wonderful photos of great memories. Might be a while before we're all in one spot again. 

On Saturday we packed up our bags and headed out in a series of departures with the teacher daughter and son-in-law starting out first, then us at noon time. We made a very efficient trip to the airport and were met with the hugest crowd I have ever seen (without a cancellation backup) in an airport - you could not get through the doors and in to the terminal. "Spring Break Saturday" was given as the cause and realistic concern for making our flight developed. You couldn't see where the lines were even going while pressed into the back in front of you but someone indicated it was the waiting line for the kiosk to check in. A guardian angel in the form of a tour operator appeared to the family in front of us and we attached ourselves (as I noted did the couple in line behind us) and moved to the kiosk. We travelled for the ten days with only carry on luggage (vowing never again to check a bag) so were able to avoid the second line and head up through security. Attempting unsuccessfully to find wi-fi we finally called the resort and left a message for the kids to "start out at least an hour early as the terminal is nuts" and crossed our fingers. A delay of about 30 minutes and we were off. Looking through the plane window we were in a series of 17 flights departing from Cancun. Routine trip to Philadelphia then a long walk through the terminal to change gates. No wi- fi so two glasses of wine and smoked salmon snack at that wine bar gave me the wi-fi password and a $80 bill - who cares? I was trying to find out if the offspring had made it out of Mexico. Checked messages while the travel partner entertained several inebriated Acadian seafood businessmen he knew who had travelled early to see Philadelphia play Pittsburg but were unable to state the score of the game. An uneventful trip to Boston, cab to the truck and fairly painless drive to the downtown hotel. 

A couple of days at the Seafood Expo and Food Show, an industry cocktail party, supper with some of the seafood players and a bit of shopping for me the second afternoon. A nice walk as a tourist after all the inside air at least. Supper with the shore partner - Boston diners are VERY LOUD - but good food. Hoped to meet up with the team leader of the Honduras mission but he ended up working late so a phone chat instead. An early morning start and 13 hr. drive from Boston home with only a couple of pit stops. Lots of snow in the fields in Maine/NB but clear roads. Sure glad to climb out of that vehicle, I would make a poor long haul trucker. 

The big news of the trip occurred as we were all on our way home. The youngest daughter announced her engagement as they'd stopped in Denver and he'd popped the question. Quite an organized young fellow he'd brought the ring with him from Saskatchewan. He's been on the scene for over four years so not entirely a surprise. A summer of 2015 wedding in this area is planned so a bit of time to get things organized. 

The past few days at home have been taken up with the practical tasks of laundry, getting groceries, walking the dog, meals and baking, assembling the paperwork for the tax return, submitting my travel claim for work, mailing back the camera which died on vacation and the replacement I purchased which is also not working, booking airfare from Halifax to Miami to meet up with the Honduras mission and no I didn't chose to fly through Calgary even though it was the cheapest airfare I just couldn't bring myself to fly that route two more times, then airfare from Miami to Tegucigalpa (gonna have to practice pronouncing that capital city) with the team, a Frenchy's shop, booking with Aeroplan points for flights from Halifax to Lisbon return Aug/Sept as we exchanged our vacation share week for a week in the Algarve (Albufiera) and booked a week cruise out of Venice - link here:

http://www.msccruisesusa.com/us_en/Cruise-Departures/Cruise-Itinerary-MSC-Fantasia-Rates.aspx?cruise_id=FA20140907VCEVCE&ship_code=FA

picking up my antimalarial meds and oral typhoid vaccine for the Honduras trip, test packing my 10 days of gear into a knapsack, organizing some Inuit artifacts for a 'presentation' to my daughter's grade one class and making plans for a quick run to the city before the predicted weather bomb of late spring blizzard arrives on Wednesday. Will it never end?

Had a call from western friends who are heading east for a summer visit and was pleasantly surprised to discover that my spring/summer contract is booked for May 8/9 and returning July 3/4 (I had thought it was the following week) so all kinds of time for a visit and to ready for the Jimmy Buffett concert July 19th. To fly on points or take the Yarmouth to Portland ferry which will begin May 15th….decisions, decisions. 

And to close - since I have the best of intentions to simplify my environment - living by the quote "less stuff more life" here is a link to a plan for decluttering which was intended originally for lent I think but regardless:

http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/40-bags-in-40-days-2014/

I am sure that I have more than the aforementioned 40 bags and we've only been 'moved' for seven years. Here is a link to a site that would provide lots of ideas of how to upcycle some of the contents of said bags:

http://www.viralnova.com/upcycled-products

Off to bed as I'm tired of looking after the life partner with a man cold. As I told him tonight "I don't even know who the palliative care nurse is anymore as Jacquie has retired". Lots of moaning and sighing going on - do you think he'll make it? A man cold is serious you know! I'm sure more males die by smothering than any infectious process. sigh