Hello again! It's been awhile since my last update. I have the weather (always able to blame the weather!), and a very slow internet connection for my tardiness!
The weather played havoc with my planned trip to Iqaluit last week. My initial flight on Thursday was cancelled due to weather, then the make-up flight on Monday was cancelled due to mechanical failure, or "gone mechanical" as they say here. Makes you wonder when they have a term for something like that, that it probably happens quite frequently! My last attempt on Tuesday was cancelled again because of weather. Blowing snow, visibility less than .2K, wind gusts to 70 klics, all contributed to me staying grounded in Baker for the week.
The slow internet connection at my home is creating havoc with my blog updates. Unfortunately, my local internet service converts you to "dial-up" speed after you reach 3G of downloads per month. My nightly video Skype calls to my family eat that up within days! It really makes you appreciate unlimited high speed internet. As I type this, my internet is downloading at 1.5 K/per second. Now that's quite fast (not really, but at least I can get on my blog page)!!
Tomorrow I am heading to Edmonton for a week. I am keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that the plane will make it in tonight, so it will be parked and ready for my early morning flight. I'll fly over to Rankin, then down to Winnipeg and across to Edmonton. I'll return to Yellowknife and then across to Baker. Nothing like seeing the world, or a large part of it! I'm so excited to be going home for a visit... I just hope the weather and mechanical plane parts all cooperate!
My blog picture this week is of one of our stop signs in town. There are very few stop signs in town even though there are many intersections! The reason for so few is because when they first started installing stop signs a few years ago (trucks are relatively new here), the kids would take them home for souvenirs. It happened so much that the hamlet just stopped replacing them. So now, when you come to any intersection you have to stop, look 4 ways, and if something is coming, try to figure out who has the right of way. In my short time here, I've come to believe that ski-doos, ATVs, big trucks, dogs and pedestrians all have the right of way. So far, my theory is working because our company vehicle is still in one piece!
And what about those nails, what's that about? Well, when the temperature gets really low (-50s or so), the nails in northern buildings "pop" really loudly. The nails are getting heat from the interior of the building, then the extreme cold affects them and they start continuously expanding then contracting. The locals told me when I first arrived not to be worried about loud bangs or pops that I might hear during the night. However, I still wake up after hearing a loud bang and think, "What was that?". Then, groggily, I'd realize what it was and try to go back to sleep until the next pop. Last night was one of continous pops and bangs! Sure doesn't make for a restful sleep. I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to that one. Oh well, as they say, never a dull moment! Until next time!
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