Mens Night

Hello everyone,
We had mens night on Friday evening from 8-10pm. We had at least 300 guys there for the evening and this should be traditionally the poorest attended event (Ladies night will be the best). The guys slowly wandered in and started shopping. At 8:30 we started the first game which was a shopping game. We picked 5 men at random and they ech were given a shopping list. The list had to stay at the till and they had to remember as much as they could and run and select the items. Actually one of our stocker was selected to be one of the shoppers, so it looked like the game was going to be depressingly fast. Apparently we gave him too much credit for taking a interest in his job as he was the second last to finish. The winner was the school principal who spent the first 2 minutes studying the list then ran around the store and collected 8 of the items in his first trip. he won on his second trip, it was fun to watch. He won $200.00.
The other game we played was Lets make a deal where people had to guess the cost of a product then the winner could select a box and win the prize. Prizes ranged from power tools,to tampons to a toilet from the 50's I found in my basement.
it was a interesting night but lacked the energy of the women's events. Also guys don't know how to shop for a deal. We had about quarter of the store at 25% off and in total the guys saving were about $700 for over $10,000 in purchases (these numbers are made up but the ratio is correct). I guess thats why we hate malls, we will always lose.
Take care,
CG

Sunday Musings-Christmas Cheer

Hello Everyone,
Well, Its been a very long week which started me to thinking about a glass of christmas cheer when I got home. You do not run down to the LCBO to pick up a bottle of your chosen poison in the great white north. The first step is to go to the Hamlet Office (City Hall) and get a permit to possess alcohol (cost $2.00). After filling in this form you return to the Hamlet office between 1-3 pm. and review the alcohol avalability listing from the Rankin Inlet Liquor store (which is terrible). You review the list and make your selections. You are allowed limited quantities of alcohol per purchase (2-64 oz bottles or 4 flats of beer, or 3-40 oz, or 4 bottles of wine per 2 week period). You fill in your permit based on availability by Monday at 3:00 for that weeks order (cost $15.00). On Monday evening the Alcohol Commission (a group of elders) reviews all orders and approve or deny the permits based on your quantities and if you have caused any trouble in the past while drinking. Then you wait till Tuesday and go to the Northern to see if your permit was approved. If your permit is approved you must send a money transfere to the Rankin liquor store (cost $30.00) by Wednesday at the lastest. The cost of alcohol is about double that found in Southern Ontario and aound 7 times the American price (for our south of the border friends). Now we're almost done, we wait. If the weather is good you can start calling the local airline to see if your order has arrived on Thursday. When your order arrives you can go out to the airport and pick up your order as well as pay the frieght charges to ship it to Baker (range from $35.00- $70.00 based on what you ordered). the Average order will cost between $200.00 and $300.00 to get 2 64 oz of booze. Important tips: only order 64oz's in plastic bottles (these are lighter and less breakable), Order the highest quality product available (the cost difference between the worst whisky and the best is only a couple of dollars) which is a very small % of what your paying anyways and costs the same to ship so splurge and put that 2% of your costs to a better product, Don't drink wine (cost prohibitive) there are no high quality products available, all are is glass and will run you about $65.00 for a $7.00 bottle of wine.
The idea of this process is to allow the local government to self regulate thier population and avoid the pitfalls of alcoholism that is so prevelent in the north, however as with most good idea's it fails miserably. The process does affect how much the non residents drink (white folk), but the locals seem to have no problems at all aquiring alcohol whenever they want it. The bootleg market is huge as well as the home-brew market. Most orders by Locals are for 3-40 oz's 2 to drink and one to sell. A 40 oz bottle sells for $150.00 locally except at this time of year. The home brew stuff is, well I don't know, but lets just say your vision would be in serious jeapordy consuming this product.
Now, lets deal with Christmas cheer, due to problems at this time of year the purchase of alcohol is banned from Dec 9 to January 13. This means that currently blackmarket prices have doubled and will soon triple and beyond, apparently by New years eve a 40 oz will be selling for $1000.00. This is why since I got here I have only imbibed of this nectar (legal only) once in the last 4 months. Keep this in mind as you pour yourself another glass of christmas cheer and think of those how have drank enough fruit juices in the last 4 months to ensure the fruit growers of the world enjoy a wonderful Christmas. BTW pop prices 2 liters of Coke $14.99 12 pack of Coke $19.99, even if you get booze odds are against you still being able to afford mix. Orange juice concentrate $3.25, I think I'll have apple juice today.
Finally, this question was asked last night, there is no where in town to go to have a drink, No bars, cafe's restuarants, hotels and any similiar places, there are no public service permits allowed in the area.
Enjoy you holiday festivities and don't drink and drive.

Take care
CG

Sunday Musings

Hello Everyone,
Another week has come and gone but the Christmas celebrations have begun in the store. On Friday we had our Moonlight Madness sale. Most general merchandise in the store was 25% off regular and sale prices. We closed the store at 6:00 in order for staff to have dinner then reopened at 8:00 pm for the sale. Unlike southern stores where people shop consistantly for thier presents, here everyone saves thier money for thier events. We have events for everyone in the community, Teen night, childrens day, womens night, mens night and elders night are all still coming up. Each of these nights we try to align with a pay period for for the local economy. We then target what that group will be shopping for and apply discouts to our stock. We give away door prizes and play varuos games through the night, such as turkey bowling, lets make a deal, survivor etc. The people of town really expect the Northern to set the tone of the period as well as celebrate christmas for them. The enviroment inside the store on Friday night was not as populated as I expected however the enthusiam was more than I expected. By 20 minutes to 8 there where about a hundred people waiting in front of the store in -20 degrees The numbers must have increased to 200 by the time we opened the doors. They were chanting and counting down the time till we opened like it was New Years Eve. The store used to leave the shopping carts at the front of the store however after some injuries due to the mad rush we now scatter them around the store. They literally run into the store. Last year they broke the electronic security posts (like at Wal-Mart) beside the doors clean off. After getting a shopping cart they find out who has the raffle tickets and line up for those. The mad rush is to get a shopping cart once they get in they calm down a bit. They then locate the person who has the raffle tickets and line up for those. Then onto shopping. I'd say by 9:00 we had 500 people in the store (which in a population of 1500 isn't bad) and this was the first event, Womens night will be the biggest event. Elders night is more of a celebration that a sale.
Which leads me to a thought. Elders, whnen I came up here I didn't quite know what this term meant. Elders is a term of respect for their senior citizens. Between 55 and 65 you become a elder. There should be a photo here of a 97 year older elder who attended Midnight Madness.
Also all the events are formal for management(for when you see John the Quickstop manager). They baby he has is his new daughter Jasmine who was born 4 months early and is now 1 month old by her due date, five months by real time, When we arrived she was 5 lbs and the tiniest thing. Johns wife Karen is also pictured with a traditional baby carrier. The other baby carrier is the more common carrier for children outside. Children upto around three are carried around in the hoods of thier mothers Parka's (I can't remember the name of this piece of clothing). Most women wear this garmet all winter and summer, child care is such a community concern that almost all women wear them, aunts, grandmothers, mothers anyone above child bearing age (16) and below the point where they couldn't handle the weight.

Hunting and Dressing

Ok thier in reverse order. And covering each other, just click on the overlaps and you can see the whole image. Sorry

Hello Everyone,
These photo's are from in front of the house from this morning, Pictured here are Roger and Winnie. Roger caught these three caribou on the other side of the lake and then cached and froze them to make the cutting of the meat easier. They catch and clean the caribou where they kill it. They then bury it in snow to allow it to freeze, bring it back to town on Kamatik, then they cut it into managable pieces. At some point after this my wife shows up and asks them for some antlers, You'll see what I mean.