Sunday, January 28, 2007

Dog Days of Winter

Hello Everyone,
We're in the middle of the long stretch of winter when days seem longer and people just seem tired of everything. Not too much is happening around town. This weekend there was a hockey tournament in town as Salluit came to town to play us for four straight days. I'm not sure how serious these teams or tournaments are but all the northern communities seem to participate in these types of events as much as they can. I think it allows people to go on a trip as well as help boost town spirit. There are several more coming up, pretty much monthly from here on in.
A couple of weeks ago we had some wolves stalking the town, they got a couple of sled dogs and injured a dozen more but I haven't heard anything of them recently so I presume they have moved on.
We had a couple of blizzards this week however they failed to really develop into more than nuisances. Lots of wind and blowing snow but only a few inches of real snow.
Do you know what the worst part of living in a small community in Quebec so far is? The French people!!! (Just joking), the whole family has been struggling with colds for the last few weeks and as I just found out.... you can't get cold medication off the shelf, unless your store also has a pharmacy. This means products like Contact C, NyQuil, well, pretty much anything other than basic aspirin and Tylenol are not available anywhere in town. We called the health center to see if they had any, they told us to call someone down south and have them mail it up, not exactly helpful when your coughing up a lung and can't sleep. That 2 week trip up with the mail will probably arrive after the need has receded.
I've been struggling with my instock position since Christmas and couldn't figure out what the problem was, until this weekend when I recieved a nice size cargo, for some stupid reason half of my cargo has been sitting in LaGrande for the last three weeks, so when it doesn't show up, I reordered it, and it once again sat in LaGrand. So this weekend I recieved three weeks of freezer and dry products in one nasty shipment. Now, I'm waiting on a month of chip orders and everything will be honky-dory.
Anyways, good night everyone
Take Care
CG

3 comments:

Curtis Groom said...

Sorry this was accidentally deleted.
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happyowl has left a new comment on your post "Dog Days of Winter":

I'm sorry to hear that you have been "biten by the cold bug" too. Are you able to get any echinachia? If you aren't allergic to ragweed(the daisy family) this could help you a lot. Also you might want to try some "warming" tea's, such as cayenne pepper or ginger(you can just use the spices out of the bottles). I would bet that Christopher won't be too happy with it though. Hope you guys feel better soon Brightest blessings Heather

Anonymous said...

Speaking from the other side of the stethescope, doesn't it drive you crazy that the nursing stations no longer stock cold meds? It sure does me. I hate seeing someone with a cold, knowing what they need for symptom control (and the generic version could be stocked cheaply), but I can't give it to them as some middle bureaucrat has decided to remove it from the stock due to concerns that it will be used to manufacture illegal drugs. Sheesh, it's not like we ever gave it out in cases, but a few tablets can make a big difference between functioning and misery. All I can tell people is to cross their fingers and head to the Northern! And we know that doesn't always work... Get well soon!

Curtis Groom said...

Gee, and I tell them to head to the nursing station and hope for the best :) The way I feel today I'm hoping to get a med evac for my cold, just fly me down to Montreal give me 5 minutes in a pharmacy and fly me back. Feels like I'm 3 minutes from death, problem is I don't know which three minutes. Just seems strange to me, I can carry Asprin, tylenol and advil, but not Midol. I can carry Benyln cough syrup but not tylenol cold. I realize its based on DIN registration but I know of alot more cough syrup abuse than antihystimine abuse, as you say control of quantity is all that is required. I think most northern stores are capable of that level of restriction, If I can ristrict the purchase of Scope, propane, glue and Lysol (the customer can only purchase from me), actual drugs seems simple.
Anyways, Thanks for the help
Take Care
CG