To Zen and Back

I dropped my Zen mp3 player today and it don't work no more. *sigh* The shinny surface on the screen is the plastic protective covering. I never took it off. The Zen does have a recovery mode that I will keep trying and if that doesn't work I will try formatting it. But I must face the music and accept the fact I may just have an expensive paper weight. *sigh*

Michele Travelling

Michele left last night to travel to Iqaluit to attend a course. The flight was originally supposed to leave at 4:30 pm but was delayed until 11:30 pm. The plane didn't get unloaded until 12:30 am and the plane didn't get off the ground until 12:45 am. She landed in Iqaluit at 2:00 am then a 1/2 hour wait for a taxi finally arriving at the hotel at almot 3:00 am. Didn't take to long to go from the airport to the hotel but Michele had to battle through all the drunks leaving the bar. But she made it and is safe.

Comments

Hey folks. I've received a couple of emails from people saying they can't leave comments on the blog unless they sign up for Google or Blogger accounts. All you have to do to skip this is to pick on Name/URL and leave your name. The URL is optional and you don't have to enter it. Another option is to pick the Anonymous button and you just leave your name in the body of the message. Just as simple as that. I had to change some of the comment features because of an increase in spam. We do enjoy reading peoples comments and suggestions. One of the suggestions we received was to have our own (M&M) pictures on the site as you see on the right bar. I also have the comments set to pop up in their own window now. Fancy.

Thanks again.

Snow & Temps

We had a blizzard over the weekend and I was going to take a couple of pictures but this is all I could see out the windows. Maybe next time.

It was warm enough today (-8C) that we opened the windows. Nice to get the fresh air in. We were actually sweating today.

Bear Meat

A polar bear was shot recently in town by a 17 year old. The bear had been hanging around town for a couple of days before it was shot. Michele was lucky enough to get there soon after the bear had been brought in and got a bit of video before her batteries went dead. She also got a portion of the hind quarter and cooked it up soon after. I found it tasted a bit like roast beef but was very stringy. Had to get acquainted with the floss. Later Michele was able to get the jaw and hopefully we can purchase the pelt after it has been dried. The bear was shot under licence with the wildlife officer present. A certain amount of polar bears are allowed to be harvested each year. The person who wins the hunting license draw has just two days to get their bear or they can't try again until next year. A bit like moose hunting home.

Hamlet Day

During hamlet day the community will get together for various activities including snow sculpture and igloo building competitions, games, community feast and a parade. I ended up being volunteered to be a judge for the snow sculpture competitions with two of the local RCMP officers. Michele and I enjoyed being out and meeting everyone.

Getting in and out of the igloo was the hard part. They are quite roomy once your inside.

Jen of Nunavut laying down on the job. Her camera lens was bigger than mine.

Wildlife

We had a polar bear and a couple of cubs come through the hamlet a couple of weeks ago. They were after some dog meat. They were eventually scared off and didn't have to be shot. The pictures of the actual bears were taken by someone else. Michele snapped the pictures of the were the bears were sleeping and the paw prints.

Were the bears were laying down waiting until they were hungry again.

The bears are just above center of this picture.

Big paws.

Northern Lights

I have been out to take pictures of the Northern Lights on a couple of occasions and have developed (no pun intended) a passion for it. I can be -40C but when the lights come out you don't notice anything but the lights and where the next picture should be taken. The darker photos below are my first attempt. The funny colors come from the street lights that were behind me. Made for unusual pictures. The lighter colored photos were taken on my second attempt and were taken during the full moon. Almost look like they were taken in daylight. My favorite photo of the lights is posted on the "It's Been How Long?" blog entry. So go back to the entry and enjoy it one more time. The opportunity to take more pictures of the Northern Lights is almost gone because we are getting close to 24 hours of light. Even now it isn't getting dark until after 9:00 PM and the spring weather keeps it overcast most of the time. I will keep trying. Enjoy the photos below.

The Eclipse

I love my new camera. It is an Olympus E-510. Thank goodness for Photoshop so I can fix a lot of my mistakes. Here are a couple of pics from the recent eclipse. It is definitely worth freezing your but off for. Enjoy.

The dot to the left is the planet Saturn and the dot above the moon is the star Spica.

Vacation '07

I won't bore anyone with too much to say from the holidays. We went back to the big city of Anagance, New Brunswick to visit with family and friends. It was a nice month off. I helped my Mom renovate the house and spend some of her money. LOL. I did get out and snapped a few pictures of the swamp. It was November and we didn't have to put a jacket on. Use to the cold weather now. Michele went to Boston to visit with her sister Jackie and they went to New York.

We are going on a cruise around the Gulf of Mexico this year and will have much more interesting pictures and stories from there. I will be caught up to recent events soon.

I did run into a bit of the maritime attitude when I went shopping for groceries. I remarked at the counter about the price of the groceries. We bought enough groceries for three people to last a month and it came to $98 and change. That is what we spend on snacks here for the weekend. The girl at the counter looked at Michele and I and said "I don't know why anyone would leave here (NB) to go work out there (I assumed she meant the west) when they could be doing just as good working here for $7 an hour." I didn't respond to the comment just nodded. I will have to go get groceries there again when I'm retired in 10 years and ask how she's doing.

Our Little Family (The Pets)

This is the other sad part. Our dog Pippie died in March of this year. We have had problems with Pippie over the last year and even sent her south for emergency surgery. She never really recovered from this stressful time. We had a lot of problems trying to feed her without her getting sick. She had been home for five months when her stomache turned and up here there is nothing that we could do. This happened late on a Sunday evening and she was gone by Monday morning. She didn't suffer for long. We lost a friend and companion and she will be missed.






On the other hand our cats have been doing great and are a constant source of wonder and entertainment. I leave this post on a happier note.

AlfieBandit

Sweet PeaBrother & Sister

Northern Travel

I have had the opportunity to do some travelling over the last year and got out to these communities: Iqaluit, Kimmirut, Rankin Inlet, Yellowknife and Cambridge Bay.

Kimmirut

I have been to Kimmirut before but this time I was there in the summer. I was there helping out with a community evaluation and got to see a lot of the community. Got some nice pictures of the heel (Kimmirut). Enjoy the pictures below.

Rankin Inlet

I don't have many pictures of Rankin Inlet because it was too damn cold to wonder around. It was cold enough that my DSLR camera would stop working. It never got above -50C with the wind and for two days in a row it was -59C. Now that is a blizzard. You can actually walk onto the roofs of many buildings because of the drifting. Enjoy the Pictures below.

Yellowknife

Got to see Rachelle when I was in Yellowknife. Rachelle and another girl are renting a very nice home not to far from the main drag. I got to do some shopping at a real Canadian Tire (not a metal dump), Walmart and a book store. I have forgotten how nice it is to browse around a book store. Rachelle's boyfriend Wade chauffeured me around Yellowknife to look at the sites. It was to dark to take pictures. Yes Rachelle is dating a fellow and yes I don't mind him. He was on his best behaviour and I took advantage of him by getting him to drive me around. I have to get something out of the relationship too I am the old man. LOL. I did take them out to dinner as a thank you. Rachelle does need to keep her head up and watch were she is going.

Cambridge Bay

No pictures 0f the community. I was only there over night and didn't have much time to play. I will say that it is one of the nicest communities that I have been in so far. The people there were very friendly and accommodating. Hope I get a chance to go again soon when I have more time to explore.

Michele will be the next to go travelling when she attends a course in Iqaluit in a couple of weeks.

Family

The family is good. Michele has a new job at the Cape Dorset hamlet office as the director of social services. A very demanding job but one she can do. I am still working for the Government of Nunavut and still loving it. Our daughter Rachelle has moved out, :( or :), depends how you look at it. She is in Yellowknife woking as a legal secretary at a law office. I got a chance to visit her in Yellowknife on a recent working trip I was on (more on that later). We do miss her a lot.





We did have some bad news over the last year. Michele's aunt Emma past away when we were in New Brunswick on holidays. She had sat on a students chair which broke under her then struck her head. She past on the way to the hospital from bleeding in her brain. She will be greatly missed by the family and community.