Happy Hallowe'en

Take Care
CG

Melissa's new color

Hello everyone,
Well, Here's Melissa's new color, didn't come out as purple as I hoped but nice anyway.
Take Care
CG

4 months of sunsets

Hello Everyone,
I was just looking through my photo file and thought I should post some of the other sunsets and dusk scene's we've captured since arriving here. So enjoy. Maybe, Just maybe, the tree's do just get in the way.
Take Care
CG

Fishing Derby and Beluga's

Hello everyone,
Fun filled day here in Repulse Bay. We had a fishing derby on one of the inland lakes at 1:00 and by the looks of thing everyone in town plus a few showed up for the fun. The prizes were pretty good, a big screen LCD, a dual core processer desktop computer and a gas generator, so that attacted just about everyone in town. But while the Inuk were at play the Beluga's came into the Bay for some unseen fun (actually there was a Orca waiting outside the islands). But its the first time I was able to take some shots of the Beluga's without all the local boats, I actually got a couple of shots that don't look like waves, so thats good. Tonight I'm going out to play some poker so its been a pretty good day.
Take Care
CG

Lottery ripoffs?

Hello Everyone,
Well lets see whats big in the news today,.... hrmm, Lottery ripoofs. Ok, Statisticly Retailers win 200 times to 2 billion times more ofter than normal citizens in Ontario. OK. The Ombudsen of Ontario is investigating, OK. Everyone's out to get you, OK.
I'm not impartial, I'm a retailer. I've also bought lottery tickets and never won 1 cent, I guess I was ripped off and someone owes me millions of dollars. But wait, i've had tickets scanned by retailers, when I was too lazy to check, but I had a idea if the ticket won or not. I'm sure I wouldn't miss that little song that plays telling me I'm a winner (or in my case, the guy in front of me). So I lose and the clerk gives me my ticket back and I throw it out. I've never enjoyed playing the lottery, however I've worked in a store that did sell lotto tickets, and I'd say over 99% of customers who get thier tickets scanned already know the results. I know I certainly wouldn't hand over a $50,000 dollar ticket (in my mind) and let a minimium wage clerk tell me it was worthless and then keep the ticket. Would you let the clerk ring your purchases through and never let you see the register or give you a reciept, just pay and go? No of course you wouldn't. Now I'm sure there are instances where people have been ripped off by dishonest lottery retailers, there are dishonest people in every industry so how could we be exempt?
The sheer media delight at this story is silly (I imagine if you google class action lawsuits against the lottery corp today you'd have alot of greasy friends willing to help you). Lets all take a deep breath, "buyer beware" is a life motto taught from birth in the first world, understand your risks and rights and make your decsion. Ultimately you might have to actually look at the ticket yourself and quit being so damn lazy that someone would be able to do this to you.
Finally, If I roll a die and it comes up 6, 5 times in a row, am I more or less likely to roll another 6. The answer is... not a damn thing has changed no matter what the statistical odds are, the odds are actually 1 in 6 (or for you math freaks 1 in 5.984673, due to the lighter wieght of the 6 side if its a dimpled die). Fate has no memory. If I won 12 million yesterday in lotto, I just as likely to win 12 million today, and tommorrow I'm just as likely to win 12 million, and on and on, FATE HAS NO MEMORY. Statistic's lie, thats why the media loves them, Did you know only half of the people who have ever lived have died, ergo, statisticly I have a 50% chance of never dieing. Does that make sense? Numbers can identify trends, but don't bet on it.

Take Care
CG
PS. If the ombudsmen is interested in keeping busy maybe he should look at the fact that if gas goes up on Wall Street at 10:00 somehow that same gas is in my retailers tank a hour later, but if the price falls it take three weeks to get to his tanks.

Ok, I put the advertisments back up.

Hello Everyone,
Well I finally put the advertisments back up. I know no-one missed them however they amuse me. I love seeing what ads will pop us based on the words in my blog. I enjoy writing to trigger certain ads. I know its petty and small, but I still find it amusing. Besides in the last 10 months I've made $3.56 from these ads, so soon I will retire from these vast resources.
Take Care
CG

PS. OK, does anyone know how these ads work, becuase mine are different from my wife's, are these triggered by cookies, does anyone know? My ads all came up with domestic violence, bullies, etc. whereas Melissa's all came up with mediation, yoga etc (niether of which we have ever searched for or investigated). What did yours come up with?

Sundown at the No-Snow Corral

Hello Everyone,
Well another warm day in a stream of seemingly unending warm days. For about the 5th day in a row we've had temps around zero. Today we had fog for crying out loud. Tonight the low will be -2 (seasonal norms should be around -16). There's no sign of freeze up and our snow is rapidly dissapearing under this strange weather.
I have someone coming in Novemeber to help out (till Christmas I hope). We're busy planning the christmas events, as well as celebrating Northern Days right now. Sales are growing daily so at least I'm not having any hassels from HO, the amazing southern addage holds true up here, take care of sales and all your problems will go away.
Anyways, the real reason for this post was tonight's sunset. This is what greeted me at 4:15 through the front doors of my store. Find me a sunset like that, with fresh air, good people, a complete lack of traffic jams and a strong sense of community and I'll be back south in a minute. I mean, come on look at that sunset, its enough to make a painter cry.
Take Care
CG

Finally, ANSWERS

Hello Everyone,
I took this image on June 3rd when Tina arrived and posted it in hopes of finding out what the cloud formation was. Well, yesterday while surfing the Way Way Up blog from Arctic Bay I found he had witnessed some interesting cloud formations as well. Except he had recieved answers. Darcy sent me some information regarding the kind gentleman who was able to assist him in identifing what he witnessed. I contacted this person, Andrew was able to send me the detail of the cloud as well as enviromental conditions that lead to its formation. Thank You Andrew. The cloud is known as a "Kelvin-Helmholtz" wave cloud and forms when two divergent winds meet in a cloud formation. The formation doesn't last long and this one only lasted about ten minutes. I love answers so thank you again Darcy and Andrew for helping me.
Speaking of the enviroment, lately there has been alot of talk about what is happening in the arctic enviromentally and how more research is nessassary to understand the changing conditions. I know of one story from Repulse that is about the sealift in 1978 which occured on Oct 14. During this sealift a icebreaker was needed to come in to allow the barge to get near shore, the cargo was then placed on the ice and brought to the store over the ice. This was not a strange or exceptionally early freeze over for the time. Its now a week past that date, the temp is -1 and there is no sign of ice in the bay, a fishing tournament on a inland lake had to be cancelled this weekend as the ice was too thin to support a person. Its going to be at least 3 weeks before the ice in the Bay is thick enough to put 1000lb weight on, which will leave the ice one month further behind where it was 30 years ago. We don't need research, the Elders can tell you things are changing. But rest assured, in 2050 the government is going to do something about our changing enviroment, of course by then I may be in the Miami Beach of the Arctic circle.
Take Care
CG
PS I guess the government only needs a few more years in order to collect all those billions of dollars in shipping revenues as the northwest passage continues to open up, the way their going we won't need ice-breakers and parka's, just sunscreen.

Friday night in Repulse.

Hello everyone,
Its just after 8:00 on a Friday night just north of the Arctic circle and with seven hundred souls in town, no one is outside. Its not bad weather, that doesn't stop anything but planes and government workers up here. Its not a curfew, this is serious, its... its.... Well actually its BINGO. Down south (especially in Tillsonburg) I knew a few bingo nuts. Well their devotion to the game pales in comparison to the norths love of the game (second only to Hockey). There is a $5,000 dollar jackpot tonight, compared to the usual $1,000. I'm perfectly comfortable with the statement that there is not a local person tonight who does not have their radio on at this very moment, dabber in hand waiting for the blessed BIG game. I had at least a dozen people ask me today how many cards I had, All the employee's I asked this evening had a minimum of $100.00 in cards. I was looked upon as a leper for choosing not to play bingo tonight, and oddly enough everyone I spoke with today had a feeling tonight was their night, and tomorrow morning they would be in for that new couch or TV.
Which leads me to a topic I don't think I've covered in the past year. Northern Radio. It shares many of the characteristics of southern Radio, Its broadcast over free public airwaves, you need a radio to listen to it, music is played and people talk on it. Did I mention its advertisement free? Just like Satellite radio, well maybe not quite, actually not at all. Radio in Northern communities is used to exchange information. There is a DJ however their job most resembles a phone operator. People call the radio to talk to the community, to talk to their neighbors, to talk about relatives, to read bible passages, to find something they've lost, they just call radio. Its only on for a few hours a day (apparently at random however everyone local knows exactly when its coming on), They put on some music, usually Johnny Cash or gospel and you get to hear a couple of bars when you hear the phone ring, the DJ answers the phone and someone spends 10 minutes asking if anyone has seen their son and to tell him to call home, another couple of bars of music and the phone rings again, this time someone wants to sell their TV. Another couple of bars and the phone, bible reading, music, phone, want to borrow money for smokes. Oh yeah, you don't need a phone to be on the radio, you can use your CB if you don't have a phone and it'll go on air as well. And on it goes 5 seconds of music then that damn ringing phone, and someone discussing the weather, their relatives in whale Cove, can anyone loan them ammo or gas. Its a phenomenon I never would have envisioned in the south. The bottom line is Radio is a public telephone for the community to speak to each other, and no matter how frustrating I find it, I also switch it on as soon as I get to work and listen intently for the occasional word (that I understand) to see if their talking about me.
Does that make me paranoid?
Take Care
CG

The end of the Blizzard

Hello Everyone,
Just a couple of Photo's from today (and for contrast one from July). This morning we saw about 20 Beluga's in the bay about 100 yards from our house. This was nice for a change as we had no doubts what we were seeing as they stayed in the area for about 20 minutes, Then I went to the store to get a camera and the whales left, I got a single bad shot of them leaving then I saw some locals in a boat head out for them, apparently they heard the boat long before I saw it as by the time it arrived they were long gone.
Take Care
CG
PS I really don't want to know what clawed th sign to the dump, but I wouldn't mind knowing why? But since the sign is about 8 feet off the ground, there's not alot of doubt about what did it.

Now I see Says the Blind man.

Hello everyone,
Well today I was having a discussion with my hunting buddy and I had to ask a few questions to explain some things I was having trouble mentally recitifing. While we were hunting , when we saw the Caribou he was very relunctant to shoot at them and only took a shot after I asked him to. The shot wasn't a easy one but it was only about 250 yards, with no real wind and seemed very straighforward, At least I would have taken the shot. This confused me why a experienced substance hunter would be so relunctant to take a fairly clean shot. This was the topic of our conversation today. After much fumbling with translation we came to a couple of conclusions, Kabloona's shoot from too far away, Americans doubly so. Inuit shoot close, and only when they can get a good kill. The Inuit will shoot from far but only if they will definitly lose their prey by getting close. The shot isn't as importantant as the animal, a good shot means nothing on a bad animal. Also the Tundra is very windy with many valleys and ravines creating wind tunnel effects that are difficult to account for in your shot, Therefore you miss more from far away. Also ammo is very expensive Most rifle's capable of making a accurate shot from and good distance means at least a buck a bullet, some of the rifles used for whale's cost $10 a bullet, therefor return on investiment means you have to get a kill fairly often also gas is cheaper thn ammo, so drive closer.
This is why they want to hunt with a Kabloona, first Kabloona will take the risky shot and usually have very good equiptment and might get a lucky kill, Kabloona can afford to waste ammo. Second, Kabloona usually don't want furs. Third, Kabloona don't usually take alot of meat. This means While their way of hunting is more conservative, it also pays to hunt with Kabloona, it becomes win-win.
Take Care.
CG
PS There may be a lack of photo's for a couple of weeks, I'm keeping my camera at the store for the rest of the month. Last year they had to close the store a couple of times cause there were Polar Bears in the parking lot and this is what I'm hoping to get some photo's of.

Nothing to see here, Move Along.

Hello Everyone,
Well I'd like to show you all pictures of todays blizzard however, frankly its a waste of bandwitdh. Its a blizzard, All you can see is white, So imagine looking out the window at nothing and BOOM you have your picture. Other than that, not much going on the daycare closed around noon, school same for grades K-6 (the grades lead by local teachers). The store had a slow day but for the first time since I arrived (actually I think for the year) we made budget last week, so thats good news.
On other fronts, I'm starting to get offers to go out hunting with other locals, so either they want to go hunting with a Kabloona or Gabby is talking about my shooting with his friends. Regardless it looks like my next day off is Christmas so it doesn't matter one way or the other.
No other news, So I hope everyone is doing well
Take Care
CG

The warmest mitts on Earth

Hello everyone,
Back to work after too brief of a day off, but thats survivable. Last week the fiance of one of my associates broke the scope for his rifle. He mentioned to me that he needed to work for a few days so he could get another one. I had a scope for my rifle, however I've found I shoot better without it and usually take it off or leave it behind completely. Since he hunts several times a week to feed his extended family and earn money I felt the scope would be better in his hands than mine so I gave him the scope. Tonight Gabby and Jessica brought some mitts that Jessica had made for Christopher in return for the scope. They are incredible as you can see. Now the politics of the Seal hunt behind, sealskin is the absolute best fur you can use to keep warm, most adults accually don't use it that often nowadays as it it too warm for everday use. These mitts are made of "green skins". that means they haven't been tanned as that process removes alot of their heat properties. Instead they are washed and scaped, extensively and repeatedly until all smell and material is gone and your just left with fur and leather, the other advantage is that when you get them, they are soft and supple compared to normal unworked leather. that process usually will take about 10 hours of working the skin before it is ready to be worked. Then the patterns are cut and the mitts are sown and lined, which can take another 3-5 hours of finger breaking work which leaves the product you see above. Sealskin Mitts are expensive usually starting around $80.00 for adults, but you'll never be cold again. After all, how do you stay warm under a ice floe when the temp is -40 above the water.... wear sealskin.

On the Land

Hello Everyone,
After a year of triing I finally made it to the land. Over the past year lots have people have told me they would get me out, apparently all I had to do was quit asking southerners and ask a local. It was -10 this morning with clear skies and Gabby said he'd call to see if I was ready around 10:00, Around 7:30 the phone rings "Can we go now?" I hear as I awake from a deep sleep on my first day off since god knows when. 15 minutes later I'm waiting outside (I'm wearing my winter gear for the first time this year and its too hot to wait inside). We're supposed to be going out for Caribou. When he arrives I found out there's a wolf near town and he wants to get it, too late as we leave town we see the wolf on the way in strapped to a Honda. At this point I'm thinking I should have pulled my Belaclava down before we were doing 50 with me bouncing around on the cargo rack. My cheeks ache from the cold within 10 minutes, luckly I lost feeling in them about ten minutes later and from then on I was never cold again. The back of a ATV's cargo rack may be fine to sit on while touring around town, however on the land it makes for a butt breaking ride. BRING A CUSHION is on my list for next time. We spent a hour and a half crossing the frozen tundra over land I never would have thought a ATV could travel (much to my butts dismay). Thoughtout this time I never saw a single moving thing with the exception of various other ATV's looking for Caribou. We eventually arrived at a Elders tent as he had recently returned home with a fresh Caribou. Yes please take a moment to imagine this, Living in the Tundra year round, no electricty,, no plumbing, very little wood for fire, in a TENT at 70 years of age. He was sitting on his Honda drinking a hot coffee from his Coleman telling my friend what he'd seen lately. Shortly we continued on following caribou tracks. Soon we turned around and hunted our way back over endless hills and following endless random tracks. Eventually Gabby stopped the ATV on top of a cliff and said we should wait here for the caribou. Suddenly he turned around and pointed and said alot of caribou were about to come through a ravine about a quater mile away, and seconds later they came about 40 of them. Unfortunetly they were too far away for my rifle and there were 2 cliffs and a frozen river between us. He announced "Now we run" and he ran towards the cliffs, I fumbled to put my rifle on my back and get my gloves back on as he ran towards the cliff. we both scaled down the cliffs and ran across the river and he started to scale the other side and pointed for me to run down to the lakebed then climb the cliff and there we would wait. Unfortunately the Caribou were moving too fast and were too far away when we reached the summit. So he ran back to the ATV and I made like I was moving fast while I tried to catch my breath before he pointed at something else. we made it back to the ATV but we couldn't find the trail as they crossed onto the rocks. From there we tracked a wolf for a couple of miles with no success until we just sat and watched the world go by on a cliff above a frozen lake (Pictured). From there I admitted my butt was on its last legs and I should go back and cook dinner. The first Photo in the series shows 2 caribou, I was there and it took me a couple of minutes to see them.
Nunavut means our land, and these people love their land, its not hard to imagine how someone could be so in love with a frozen tundra. I can't wait to get back out (however,
my butt can wait at least a week or two). I remember asking a Inuk emloyee in Baker If they liked tree's, Her answer was "they get in the way of the view". I guess you can't see the forest for the tree's.

Take Care and have a good Thanksgiving,
CG

Ok, So I'm a Idiot, what's your point.

Hello Everyone,
Important life lesson we all have to learn over and over is never assume anything. I ate my Mukta and thought, well the Inuit certainly would do well at Fear Factor. Today discussing my food adventure with a few of my friends from work, I recieved blank stare's when descibing the texture of my experiment until one brave soul asked me "what did you eat, the skin or fat", Obviously I responded the fat. And the universal response from my Inuk audience was "OHHH GROSS", they then fell into a staggering spurt of laughter and Innuktiuk and pointed at me while falling over themselves in glee. Now, all we southerner's know the Inuit eat raw Blubber, at least that was my fatal assumption, they eat raw flesh. Whale Blubber is ok to use as cooking fat but thats about it. When I recieved my cooking instructions, and they said put it in the pot after cutting the fat off, this is where my fatal error - I made my jump in logic that is the reason my name is flying around town at this very moment and the legend of the Dumbass Kabloona has begun...
Take Care
CG

And another use for Axe shower gel

Hello Everyone,
Well, I tired of waiting for the muqtak to jump out of its skin and cook itself so I was forced to do it, and let me tell you life will never be the same again. I started this blog 364 days ago after recently arriving in the North from Tillsonbug On. One year later, I have just performed a strange form of liposuction on the skin of a Beluga whale. While doing this I has a horrible realization, this smells just like sea-world, and in that one foul moment my childhood changed. After performing my manly duties and putting my blubber on the boil, I realized you cannot wash your hands enough to remove the smell of whale blubber on your hands, until you apply a small dab of Axe shower gel, then the smell is gone, and I'm told you have to beat the chicks off with a stick, So I win twice. Yeah for me!!!
Take care,
CG
P.S. and I'm not going to tell you what it tastes like... yet

the Fall Colors

Hello Eveyone,
Well, the tide was right. Winter's here. right now the wind outside is about 70mph and howling around anything left outside. The bears are coming near town, waiting to get onto the ice. I renewed my fur liscence today and reviewed the rules and regulations for purchasing Polar Bear and Wolf skins. We asked a local to make Christopher some sealskin Mitts today (they are warmer than anything you'll ever find, however most complain they are too warm to wear most of the year). I pulled out the extension cord to plug in the truck tonight. I'm almost ready to pull out the Parka, instead of the winbreaker and sweater combo. Its -10 and the forecast is calling for snow, God is in his heaven and all is right with the world. Hope you southern's enjoy that cruddy, wet, cold, dirty, soggy, rain.
Take Care,
(and enjoy traffic, I passed another truck today, but it was going the other way.)
Love Ya ALL
CG

Johna and the Whale.

Hello Everyone,
Today we got to witness a Beluga harvest, in fact I have 5 pounds of fat in my fridge right now, waiting for some brave soul to eat it. For the first time I was also hesitant to post pictures of the harvest. For some reason both Melissa and I are falling into the southern trap again, of "ohhh, It's so cute", Its also the only northern country food available to the Inuit that conatins vitamin C, the comment that God designed the Beluga for the Inuit may be accurate. The whale we have photographed was tagged with tracking system that had to be removed by the wildlife officer. None of those gentle little under the skin tags up here, look at that monster. The whole whale was about 5 feet long and probably about 300 lbs. It was killed with a .375 rifle and apparently whale's are very dense animals as neither of the shots went completely through the animal, and this rifle will go through a foot of solid wood. The scars on the whale are from polar bear, the bite in the tail was Orca. The Elder standing at the head of the whale is Semi the man who caught the whale.
And on a lighter note, today at lunch we had a visitor. For the first time in a year we had Johova's witness at our door triing to submit us to thier religion. Wow, they really will follow you to the ends of the earth. I want to know, has anyone ever opened the door and after a brief conversation said "Wow, your right, I'm all turned around on this religion idea, Take me to your leader."?

Ya know winters comin when...

Hello Everyone,
Today they started to burn the dump to make room for a long winter of garbage accumulation, this means winter is definitely around the corner. This fire was started 6 hours ago with a box of kleenex, I know this because I was there getting rid of some expired merchandise. Now it looks like the 6 level of Dante's inferno sans laywers.
BTW for those aspiring urban planners, I had a sudden realization today. Roads up here are very expensive to build. Also no one wants a dump too close to town So you need a road to the dump. Second water is rarely where you need it, so you need to build a road to a clean water supply. Third, You need a road to a sewage lagoon. Ok, now lets backtrack, Roads are Very Expensive, and a hamlet of 700 people doesn't have a tonne of money to build and maintain three separate roads (ok, I guess the sewage and dump could us the same road, but I digress). the result here in Repulse is the dump is about half a mile from the water supply, which in turn is half a mile from the sewage lagoon, which incidently is half a mile from the swimming hole. I also have a announcement, I have converted to filtered and bottled water exclusively.
Take Care
CG