Still here.

Still here.  Miss me Yet?   :oP

Plan to have some more videos up over the next couple of weeks.

Rankin Inlet Travel

I have been away this week travelling to Rankin Inlet for work and have just returned.  Regular post to commence soon!

I didn't take any photos while in Rankin Inlet (gasp) so here are a couple of photos of the famous large Inukshuk located in town.  I can easily get my 6'2" frame between the legs with room to spare all around.  I think both photos have appeared on the blog in previous years.

Cape Dorset

Back to home and work in Cape Dorset.

Flag outside the Government of Nunavut Regional Office.

Got home just in time for snow.

Sugary Goodness

At the Baffin Mayors Forum I overheard a Mayor saying "The surgars good; it keeps you alert to ask more questions."

I try to avoid topics that are close to or about work because bloggers in the North get in trouble for that kind of stuff. So if any of my government readers think this should be taken off because it references the Baffin Mayors Forum and a quote from one unnamed Mayor, let me know and I will remove the post. Personally I don't think this crosses the line.

IQ Day Continued...

Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Day (IQ) turned out to be a cold, windy experience. Went to a different lake than I usually go to. This one had very little snow on the ice and you could see to the bottom. First time I ever got to see fish swimming by the hole. We were able to reuse holes already drilled making things much easier. Photos below.

More than fishing was happening and Mike got a goose.

Me holding the big fish. It was the largest until about an hour to go and Mike got one that was 1" bigger.

Close up of the behemoth. It tasted great. After laying on my belly for two hours looking down the hole I said "Screw this I brought a chair". The blue pad helped block the wind and let me be nice and cozy. They stopped making fun of me once I caught the above Arctic Char. I stayed at that hole all day while everyone else kept moving from hole to hole.

Shot of the some of the group and equipment at the lake.

Thanks goes out to Ken for the above photos.

A Mixed Bag of News

Not much has been going on so this is a mixed bag of odds and ends over the last few days.

Yesterday a polar bear was rumored to be in town. I got to see lots of people running all over the place to see the bear but never actually got to see the bear myself. I sometimes question if there actually was a bear because I can’t find anyone who seen it with their own eyes or a photo of said bear. I usually get “I didn’t see it myself but a friend of my second cousin twice removed has a brother in law who has a friend of a friend who saw it”. Briefly it was rumored the bear was on the ridge running along the road. This was a bit nerve wracking because I was walking home on the road. Turns out it was just a white sled dog.

I noticed there was a Coast Guard ship in town while I was at the new lagoon. I later found out it had been in town for a couple of days. Guess I need to get out more. If it is still around tonight I will get some photos. My being at the lagoon is work related. Not something I usually go out of my way to do for fun.

There is a large group of people in from a group teaching digital photography and video to the community’s youth. It looks like we are a vibrant tourist town instead of the art capital of Canada. I hope the kids take full advantage of the program over the course of the next couple of days. Photography is a very fun hobby that can be fairly inexpensive to get into. If the passion continues then a person can move up to some nicer equipment. A lot of the photos on this blog were taken with a cheap $80 digital camera. Although I did move up the gear quality scale last year and will never go back.

I am still planning on doing a blog post regarding the adventure we had in purchasing a house here in the north. I think it will be done in three post covering finding, offering and purchase of the house. As a sneak preview the entire process has dragged on for most of this year with the purchase step now in its third month. That’s right we actually still don’t own the house we are currently living in but we finally have a stack of paperwork to review and sign.

We are now 31 days from our holidays not including today.

Talk with you folks later. :o)

Michele's Beast

This is the social services van that Michele uses on a daily basis. As rough as it looks it gets everyone around the community. I can't find a single panel on the van that hasn't been damaged at some time or another. But it works.

Canadian Tire

The fog finally left for a couple of days earlier this week but it is back with rain, snow and wind. With the warm weather the ice and snow is starting to melt leaving a large gap in Tellik Inlet. In another month it will probably all be gone.

I had to go out to take pictures of the Canadian Tire (metal dump) for work. I have a project on the go there involving sorting all the waste into separate piles. There is federal money in the project so regular updates have to be sent and they like pictures. Unfortunately there is still 12ft snow over every thing and not much to take pictures of. I did snap this picture on the right of Kingait mountain looking up through a snow bank. It looks like the picture was taken in the clouds. The pictures that went to the feds were more mundane than this one.

We haven't been doing much in the last week but IQ day is coming and plans are to go out fishing and it should be coming up in the next couple of weeks. A friend of mine has offered the use of is snowmobile for me to use on the trip. That may change once he realizes I have never drove one. :)