IQ Day - no not measuring it, enjoying it!

As the final week in this contract rolls around on the calendar, I continue to be awe of the speed of eight weeks away. I have only two more sets of call and I'll be officially 'not working' for about three months as my return flights are September 25 and 26th. Hard to take, but someone has to do it. 

The past almost two weeks (since the previous update) have been busy as usual. The weather is starting to warm up and well it should as summer is officially here, with the following forecast for tonight which is typical of the weather this week :

Sunday
A mix of sun and cloud. Wind northeast 20 km/h becoming light in the morning. High 10. UV index 4 or moderate.
Sunday night Mainly sunny. Low plus 3.

Don't you just love that Sunday night mainly sunny part? So do the locals, as with the 24 hrs of daylight there are kids playing out on the street at 2 am, overnight travel to go fishing at the cabin and just general 'staying up' as it is known. 

In fact the urge to go 'out on the land' is pervasive - as the dentist previously labelled it "spiritual" as in "I can't keep my appointment, I am going fishing". In fact I've been on the fringes of various 'get out of work' schemes this past week. One involved a boss showing up with a neatly written note claiming that a local employee 'went to see the nurse with back pain, was given medicine and told to not go to work'. This was a complete fabrication as the person hadn't been to the health centre for over a month and then not for back pain. The only reason the employer came to inquire was a concern that it was a workers compensation claim which must be reported. "No" I said "you have a problem but it's not related to healthcare" which elicited a big sigh from the foreman. I said to myself 'you had your common law partner write this note and you delivered it with a straight face knowing you had never sought treatment and had no back pain 'did you not consider you might get busted?' The second involved an actual injury where a labourer had a burn from molten metal on to the back of his hand which he worked the rest of the day with and hadn't reported. Slept in the next day and went to work to say he was injured so was brought over personally by the foreman for attention. The 2nd degree burn was fairly small and as I put polysporin and a band aid on it I said "so you're going back to work?". Very furtive look and reply of "not today". "Tomorrow?" Frantic look now and "I can't go back to work, it'll get dirty". Negotiation "do you work the weekend?". "No". Then you get tomorrow off, come here and get your burn checked and back to work Monday. Quick exit. Of course, no visit was made on Friday - how can you see the nurse if you're 'out on the land' getting your hand all dirty? 

The quote of the day is:
Your life is recorded by two dates and a dash - make the best of the dash

No one here has to be told that!

Ice fishing 

In fact, speaking of traditional ways and being out on the land….the staff at the health centre participated in IQ (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangi) day yesterday afternoon. This is where qablunaaq (literal translation - those with bushy eyebrow) or white people are educated in the traditional ways. We took the vehicles outside of the community to German Lake and did ice fishing, collected heather for a fire and boiled water for tea, ate bannock, cheese, pepperoni, biscuits, hotdogs cookies and had a birthday cake (carrot cake) as it was one of the staff's birthday. Traditional games were played and prizes won there and for the fishing

Louise the champ

 derby - Louise caught a lovely big trout and a smaller land locked char. One of the clerk interpreters mother and some other family members were out on the ice fishing and we got some photos of them on the Honda and her ice fishing from her wheelchair. Saw some birds and evidence of other critters - it was fun! There were musings as to whether there were duck eggs in the cliffs surrounding the lake as there were ancient inukshuks all around hills and evidence of birds. I was told that ravens eggs are blue. "Like over sized robins eggs?" I asked. "no sort of speckly". The most excitement of the day was generated by the appearance of a bumble bee. Now granted they are HUGE up here (golf ball size) and make a loud noise (as would be expected by their size) but when I questioned those screaming and running from it I was told that a) no one in the community was allergic to stings b) no one had ever known of anyone to be stung - likely related to the wild shenanigans when a buzz is heard. I would've made an easy target for the bee what with my laying over on the tundra laughing uncontrollably at the antics. We were tired, full and sun/wind burnt when we straggled home. 

love to see those lights coming

King Air - welcome sight

Apparently there are infrequent thunderstorms near the Arctic Ocean, but usually later in the summer. About 10 days ago there were a couple of days of really unsettled weather. The first night we were awaiting a medevac which had to divert to Gjoa Haven and wait out the front. Good thing they didn't try to land as it took two arms and one leg for me to get the door open on the vehicle when I got to the airport. Crazy windy, sheets of rain, crashes of thunder and big cracks of lightening. And the most amazing part of all this electrical activity was that everyone and I mean EVERYONE was either outside, up on their metal roof, looking out the window or generally trying to tempt the weather gods. The next day we had a hailstorm with big hail stones during the thunder storm 

hail storm

again everyone rushed to the window or outside. I was giving a little guy who isn't two years old an aerosol treatment and he stood in his diaper on a chair, with the mask on his face, in front of the window watching the storm. I'd say it's a good thing there aren't too many electrical storms up here or there would lots of defibrillation required!

But some situations are the same regardless of the culture. A mother stopped by the health centre to pick up her travel itinerary for a flight out to a medical appointment and was packing her toddler. This little girl has four older brothers and when I asked the mom if she'd cut her hair as she had an unusual coiffure she said "no, her brother did". When I asked if it was the one who had pulled the TV over on himself a couple of years ago, the one who had a BB in his arm or the one who jumped off the dock and broke his leg she said "no the one who's usually not too much trouble". 

My roommate has gone back east for two weeks to get her children graduated and will be returning this week. In her absence I had an apartment guest in the form of a medical student for four days. The physician who comes in monthly to do a clinic brought his third year medical student daughter with him to give her a clinical experience and she sure got to see lots of unusual patients, experience a new culture, do things she wouldn't have a chance 'down south' and learn to practice medicine without all the technology and resources. She was a great roommie who was well received by the community as she was very approachable and keen. Will make a great Doc. Her Dad I think was proud of her and they had a nice father/daughter trip of it. I am waiting for my roommate to return in a couple of days as I'm rattling around in the apartment with no one to cook for. 

As I get most of my unofficial news from the land of FaceBook (which is sometimes like saying you get serious news from The National Enquirer vs The Globe and Mail) I found the following exchange between two paramedic crews at home a few evenings ago: 

EHS - Halifax Infirmary 

One raccoon later we have arrived!

Go big or go home. Deer is the hunt of choice

Deer are too much paper work!

And speaking of hunting….the moose hunt of last fall which was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime…..has had a deja vu moment. Apparently the shore captain's employee (he who actually shot the moose) won a tag in this years draw. The shore captain being prevented from applying for the next five years. Mancation planning has begun. 

So as I head into the final days of the contract and start my travel plans for heading home I noted that with Air Canada you can now check online to see which movies are being screened on your flight. For those who need time to decide, or who plan excessively, this is a welcome feature. I have already chosen The Grand Budapest Hotel, based on the trailers provided (as I fit into the planner category).  

While on the topic of travel - here is a link to something called smash books - they can be used to document your travels vs the travel scrapbook on return:

http://www.craftsunleashed.com/paper-crafts/smash-books-the-un-scrapbook

$6 for water??

Disneyland from above

Nunavut summer 

So, since I was out tromping around on the hill overlooking the community this afternoon and then visiting both grocery stores looking for cream - going to treat the other Nova Scotian employee here to creamed lobster tomorrow for supper. Now that the 10 pm siren for curfew (which all the kids under age 14 ignore) has sounded…. I am crawling into bed early with my book. 

tundra flowers are small

Sealskin Pulpit and Plastic Flowers

Just finished a brunch of bacon and banana pancakes. Yum. The reward for being only second call today. Paid my dues yesterday with a steady day of calls from sick babies to adults (lots of respiratory viruses on the go this past few weeks) dental abscess, laryngitis, to someone who thought there was a glass splinter in the thumb. If there is anything harder to find/remove I can't think of it. I froze it and probed around unsuccessfully. I suggested a poultice - is that Inuit folklore? Nope, apparently tying a lemming skin on to draw out infection/foreign bodies was though. I was fresh out of those so instructed to soak in epsom salts and it would hopefully work its way out. Couldn't have been too much of a problem with a score of three arctic char fished this weekend. The calls continued throughout the night - not surprising as I had to close the window to the sounds of kids playing at 1:30 a.m. - is benadryl still good from April? "Um, yes but why are you asking?" and "Is this the RCMP?" to the accompaniment of crying children in the background. "No, this is the nurse, you have to call 111 - are you ok?" reply of "Yes, I just need the police" to "my baby is hot and crying" which translated to otitis media and no tylenol when they arrived. Up at 9 am. to unplug the health centre phone as my colleague is now answering. Only five more first calls until I'm homeward bound. I smiled when my co-worker mentioned her countdown, I'm not the only one who does that. Mind you, I've gotten into larger difficulties while being the second call this past week. 

It's been a busy spell here at work in what is usually a bit quieter time of the year. We had a fatality last week where an elder out on the sea ice on his snow machine making his way to the cabin, hit a ridge and was thrown off the skidoo, then run over with the qamatik (sled) which was carrying his 10 yr. old grandson. He was killed instantly apparently. Extreme living in its essence. A large grieving gathering arrived at the health centre as the RCMP went out to meet the local men who had wrapped the body in caribou hides and brought him back to the community. The grieving lasted well into the morning hours and there was little to

Water on the ice

do but support the assembled. I have asked myself before (having lived north decades ago) and recently again 'what kind of place is it that 10 year olds witness such shocking deaths? go caribou or seal hunting and 'catch' (local term for shoot) their first one at age 6 yrs? care for younger siblings and keep them safe? yet wander around during a funeral or go play outside?' I attended the funeral on Friday afternoon as I was the nurse not on call. The Roman Catholic church was full and the MH worker and myself leaned against the wall.

Ready for hunting

The white painted wooden casket was placed in front of the sealskin pulpit and during the service which was conducted completely in Inuktitut (except for one English reading) people made trips to place plastic flowers on the top. It was a long service (over an hour and twenty minutes) of readings, prayers, hymns and eulogies (all in Inuktitut) from family and friends - tears as the accident was described and the grandson was given a token from his Grandpa's jacket pocket, for being so brave. There were large numbers of children wandering, talking, playing, yelling and restless during the service - much as at any northern gathering - I have attended rock concerts which weren't as rowdy. 

Interior of King Air

I also had a 2.5 hrs of sleep night while we awaited a medevac one evening. They left from Yellowknife, flight crew timed out, they flew to Cambridge Bay and exchanged for a new crew and I picked them up at 1:30 am. One of the pilots was an ex- RCMP pilot who knew the pilots I

Early am landing

did from our late 70s posting in Labrador. He had asked to come in from the airport to see the health centre and community as he'd visited Spence Bay last in 1979 just before the present health centre was built. Finally got them underway and back to the King Air and off by 4 am and put away the SUV. Took a bit to get settled down from the adrenalin rush. And just to confirm that I have never had any interest in flight nursing but looking inside the workspace of the King Air confirms it. Seen here above on the right and remember this is going to include a stretcher, a flight nurse and flight paramedic and a parent plus equipment and luggage. 

Pete

Just waiting to have a FaceTime chat with the life partner who I am sure has had some calls from his girls on this Fathers Day. The youngest is spending the day at the Toronto Zoo as she is in the city visiting friends and celebrating her quarter of century birthday tomorrow. Can't imagine that it was 25 years ago that we welcomed her to the family. The middle daughter is likely busy with the new addition to her household as I was tickled to see photos of the new yellow lab puppy - Pete - who has come to live with the daughter and son-in-law this weekend. He has grown so much in just a few weeks…..The oldest will have been in touch as she tends to be the one able to read the calendar and make contact on the day of celebration - not that her sisters don't wish happy birthdays etc. but their timing can be a tad off - daughter #1  must have her fathers math skills and her mothers memory. 

So in the spirit of summer planning / projects I offer the following links:

dontpokthebear.com/41-cheap-easy-backyard-diys-must-summer

viralnova.com/upcycled-products

And to close on a positive note, I am posting a cute online link which reminds me of those media stories where someone breaks into a liquor store or grow up and is found there in the morning by the police:

http://themetapicture.com/this-cat-just-found-cat-heaven

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.