Hello Everyone,
This has been a very hot week for us, our temp have been floating above and around 30 and its taken it toll on everyone as well as the store. On Wednesday the main freezer give up the ghost and we spend the rest of the day having a 50% off sale that while boosting sales has certainly increased the pressure on the rest of the year to make up for all the loses we suffered. That coupled with the fact its going to cost A LOT to fix the darn thing will leave the challenges at the highest of levels. Other than that we are just counting down the days till our visitors arrive. Nothing like visiting the Arctic and sweating your butt off, that is when your not knocking the mosquito's off it.
Take Care
CG

A Sad Day in Tsiigehtchic

Hello Everyone,
Just a brief post as a aside from the regular scheduled program. On Saturday morning around 4:00 am a man was stabbed and killed in town. This is the town first "official"murder in around 50 years. It seems that A young man came in from Fort MacPherson to party with some friends in town, There was some drinking that ended with a very nice young man from town making some very poor choices and the death of the visitor. The police arrived shortly and the suspect had already fled the scene. It seems he spent the day hidden in town talking to his mother in Inuvik and saying goodbye before he surrendered to police late in the afternoon. Its a very sad day for both of our communities.
Take Care
CG

Our guide for the following trip up the MacKenzie River was my friend George, Also know as "old George". He's a great old man with a love of life and a wonderful sense of humor.



The famous Tom Thompson tree, I didn't think these things even existed till I came North.


Near the middle of this photo is a bright purple plant clinging to a dangerous existance, Don't believe me, click on it yourself.



The round object in this picture is actually still a large iceberg that ran ashore during break-up.






"When good cabins go Bad.



This is how we missed it the first time.

This water fall we completely missed on the way up the river, Its hidden in its own canyon of it own making.




The ferry from a different angle.


A new perspective on the church on the hill.


Just a bird.


Christopher and Divinia throwing stuff off the cliff.

I'm thinking that maybe the town is trying out a new bus system?

Call Center's

Hello Everyone,
Over the last month I've been doing my best to keep the TV running in this house, the bane of this experience has been the infamous call center. I just got finished with one of these calls so I'm writing this under the influence of frustration.
Today's call was pretty much the same as all the others, 25 minutes of someone telling me how valuable a customer I am followed by some of the most insipid Muzak anyone has ever had the displeasure of creating. Today's exciting feature I'm sure was one of the Brandenburg Concerto's, hummed by the chipmunks and played at half speed. A truly overwhelming experience. Next came Lin, my personal representative for today, who wanted to ensure my experience was a very happy one. Everyone knows these poor saps who have this unfortunate job are all stuck in some horrid sweat box in India, cause Ma Bell doesn't feel that customer service is worth minimum wage in Canada, however I digress. Lin's English is better than my Punjabi, however that being said it wasn't much better, actually it was the annunciation that made for problems. I really was just trusting in the force when it came to figuring out what she wanted me to do, luckily I had been through this several times in the last month and I knew what I wanted and what she was going to ask before she gave it to me. However I was amused when during the check switch test, she started trying to up sell me. I had no idea what she was saying and I was just hoping for the test to speed up, eventually I heard "would you like to order this?".... Ha, that I understood, my immediate response was "well, what exactly is it?". She paused, this wasn't scripted... she didn't know how to describe this service to me, she fumbled, she paused, she hesitated "it a channel you watch with your wife showing all sorts of positions you can try" she stumbled. I almost choked on my laughter... anyways, I'm just waiting for the system reset to come down but I will leave you with this thought. When the banks set up call centers in Bangladesh, manned by lawyers and politicians, you better duck, cause I'm coming out shooting.
Take Care
CG

Weekend Fun

Graduation (or how a mortorboard can make you cross-eyed)

"Man, this hat is really cool, but how can anyone concentrate with this eye catcher hanging around in front of you all day."

"And I'd like to thank you, and you and you for coming out tonight, Your a beautiful audience, no really."


They say the great one's can read the phone book and make it interesting.


"Holy Smokes, you mean this piece of paper that means nothing to me is mine.... Wow, this is really cool, I think"

"and what is Vanna wheeling down the aisle?", apparently at this point Melissa feels I should tell you its a bike... and yes, its a Huffy.


"Now this is what I'm Talking about... sweeet ride."



Hello everyone,
Tonight Christopher Graduated from kindergarten. Since the school here doesn't go all the way to grade twelve it seems a large part of the graduation ceremony is dedicated to the kindergarten class. We did try to celebrate the grade twelves who graduated from Inuvik but since none of them showed up it was kinda a waste of time.
Christopher on the other hand was on top of his game, trying and succeeding more than not of upstaging anyone who dared to detract from his moment in the sun. It was actually really funny watching him work his magic in the "Big Room".
Take Care
CG

Photo's of the Past month

The ice floe on burn day, I kinda liked the contrasting images here.


This is the night the ice broke free, the ice is actually moving quite fast, fast enough to create 20 foot piles of ice on the outside of the corners.


This is my great waterfall that I discovered on a walk about, Melissa thinks its stupid but I think in a thousand years it'll be magnificent.


Three in the morning on May 25th.

Christopher on the Captains bridge of the ferry this weekend.



Playing with Dad on the slide.




Hello everyone,
Well. Its been awhile but work is keeping me very busy lately, My worker who went to Inuvik for break-up never returned (which I didn't expect). and that has left me scrambling to clean up, restock, do spring cleaning and do a food inventory alone. The hunt for a new employee isn't going well either.
Christopher has 2 days left of school and he's finally started to sleep in a bit, after 3 years of being up here he hopefully is going to start to embrace the slower lifestyle and sleep in till 8 o'clock. Here's hoping anyways.
Break-up is finally over and it was a long season, the river is free and clear of ice and the banks only have a little build-up left on them. The daily temps are ranging from 2-24 so we are still flexing quite a bit but for the most part the weather is lovely. The ferry is running daily and today we ventured upon it for a circular trip of the triangle between Inuvik, Fort MacPherson and Tsiigehtchic.
I'll have to finish this post tommorrow, sorry.