Shipping Things North.....

Well here I am 2 months into the new life, and loving it. It has come to the point where it is time to get the rest of our belongings shipped north. Well not everything, but at least some pictures for the walls, some military uniforms, and some decorations for Christmas. Of course the kids will be happy to receive their boxes from their old rooms too, that will put more normal and old memories back in place. It is now too late to ship anything by ship so the only option is to ship by air. Thankfully we have some great family support in Ontario who will take our belongings to the airport in Ottawa where it will be dropped off to be shipped by first air. $3.00 a kg is the going rate, which I suppose is not bad, but then again.....it is not cheap either.

Life is pretty good here, Heather has returned to work, and Amy continues to work, all at the store. Andrew is enjoying a few babysitting gigs and eager to join the workforce next year. I think he really likes Amy's pay checks the concept of getting hundreds of dollars every 2 weeks. The kids both have friends and things are settling in just in time for the winter.

All is well, more to follow!

Paper Driver Licences and Goose Down....

What does Goose Down and Paper drivers licenses have in common? Well both are new experiences for anyone coming to the North. Today I happily experienced both. First I went with my wife to get new drivers licenses. Mine expires at the end of the month from Nova Scotia so it was time! It was a pleasant surprise to head into the motor vehicle branch and be the only one there. Unlike down south where there can be hundreds sitting and waiting, and the process can be 2-4 hours, here it is a very quick process. Everything looks the same when you enter, just on a smaller scale. You still fill out paperwork, and hand over money, and get your picture taken....but then it changes....Your drivers license will arrive in 3-5 weeks, and here is your temporary drivers license....

Your temporary license is on a piece of for all intents and purposes receipt paper. The same paper that comes from the cashiers at the grocery store. It has all your information on it, and you treat it like a license. I was deadly serious when I asked the lady behind the counter if I really had to carry my license. Where I do not carry a wallet, I am not quite sure how I keep this receipt licence for 5 weeks......but here is hoping I have it all the way through!

The other first today was the purchase of my Canada Goose Parka. I went for a red resoloute parka........I can tell you already that it is warm......and big, and bulky. I know I will be happy when the weather gets colder.....and I certainly will have lots of time to use it so all is good! The parka is expensive, but you pay for quality, and I have to say it was less then 700.00 so actually not all that bad. I am ready for the winter, and for years to come.

Every day is a new experience and today was a chance to experience Goose Down and Valuable 5 week receipt paper.

Take care, more to follow!

Hard to work at 7:00am when you stay up until 2:00am the night before....

Ok, I am getting old. There was a time when I could easily stay up for 2 or three days without sleep and just power through. Even up to 2 years ago, I used to power through 2 days, 48 hours straight at the store when we were setting up displays and what not. Well that time has passed, I believe that I am now officially part of the old crowd....I knew that every year after celebrating yet another wedding anniversary that it was creeping up on me....15 years 16 years, 17 years...yeah Heather and I were part of a select few.....but now I realize that as the old saying goes.....I am not as young as I used to be.

I worked all day yesterday, when I went home we had plans to go to the bosses place and play poker......we got there at 8:00pm.........I think I yawned a few times around 10:00 when I would normally be asleep in my bed....by midnight I was slowing down...by 1 am I was getting a second wind, and by 2:00 am I was thinking I was not old at all......but then there is the next day.....

My alarm went off at 6:55 am...weird cause it normally goes off at 5:30. At 7:45 I pushed myself out of bed......worried that I had slipped being normally at work by 7:00 am........I knew I was in trouble when we had zero cashiers show up.......so needless to say, I was a cashier.....but not my normal happy self......I went home for lunch with Andrew, and fell asleep on the couch. Andrew took pitty on me and made me lunch.......by 1:00 I was headed back to work dragging a little too much....back on cash for a few hours.....then once we got through the slow time, by 4:50 I was just passing time looking at security footage. I gave in and headed home at 5:15...which is a first.....I guess I am worn out.

That is ok....great things come from challenges when we overcome them......to bed early tonight.........tommorow is Sunday so I can sleep in until 7 and head to work for 8:30........all is well that ends well.

Onwards and upwards......

A Wonderful Thanksgiving in Iqaluit

Thanksgiving was a wonderful blessing and a great time here in Iqaluit. It started with a great Sunday evening dinner. Just outside the door to my home is the door to what we refer to as the 8-plex. This building has 8 apartments, a mix of 2 bedroom and 1 bedroom units. It is the home of many of our fellow colleagues at the store. They have on holidays taken to the art of hosting a meal with everyone in the 8-plex as well as others in the hallway downstairs. Tables are lined up and chairs from everyones apartment and food is cooked in multiple apartments in multiple ovens. Everyone contributes something (we took the easy way out and put a turkey forward).....in the end a great meal with some great people. Full turkey, dressing and all the trimmings, great dessserts and above all great time with fellow people away from their "home" family and friends coming together to share and enjoy. We really enjoyed it!

Monday was a time for our family.......Heather cooked a great meal, and we took the time to sit around a table ourselves and enjoy each other....

Yes it snowed on both days!

My daughter the Sqaudron Warrant Officer......

OK first things first.....my daughter looks amazing in an air cadet uniform. She looks so grown up, and so ready to be a pilot.....wow! That is right...my daughter has left the ranks of the navy (cadets) and is now a fully uniformed member of the air cadet sqaudron. She has kept her equivlent rank (WO2 equivelent to a CPO2) so that is good. Getting the uniform and being able to trully be one of them.....is great! Heather continues to wear her naval uniform, although I think this may be hard for some of the locals....and me......well it is time to swallow the anchor. It appears that there is not a meaningful role for me here locally, and instead of hanging on...I think retirment is in order. It has been 26 years.....26 good years, but time to hang up the sword.

Work is going very well. I love the fact that I can actually make decisions, and impact change. Long days, and long hours, but there is so much to do. I have worked straight since arriving. I tell Heather that I take tuesday off......I get up and put jeans on....but I still go to work at 6:45 and get home late at night. maybe next week I will take a break.

Still loving the locale.....it is not too cold. Winter is here, not with all its fury, most days see flurries, and the mountains across Frobisher are very white with snow.

Purchase of Canada Goose jackets starts this week. All is well!

Life has gone back to normal....kind of....

So today we added a 42" HDTV to our home. Retail price of $1000.00 here in Iqaluit. I think it was a good move, but the first item on the agenda for the kids was getting Wii hooked up. Now I am sitting writing while my daughter is doing a sing off/ dance off with one of her games.....kind of like normal. The 42" TV is a little bigger then our 27" picture tube TV that we had in Halifax. The LCD TV is a nice change, with a clear vibrant picture. Next week I may add a surround sound system to make cold winter night movie nights that much more enjoyable.

Also today, Andrew started Judo again. I must say the rate for the year of Judo is very reasonable. It was only $100.00 and that is for 2 1 hour sessions a week. Pretty reasonable I think. I think he is very happy to be involved with Judo again, and he proudly wore his yellow belt.

We got a few other nice things today for the house, a new microwave, a new kettle, some new baking sheets and a muffin pan...and oh yes the spaghetti tongs.

Work is going very well. It has been 15 days straight, but I am really enjoying it. We had some great wins this week, a great week in sales, and a great week in hiring. It seems that I have hired about 30 people in the last 2 weeks, and we are getting to a place where it is working. We had some great additions to the team! I have high hopes for a super million dollar week before the end of November.

Furnace was cleaned today as well getting us ready for the winter........it has snowed some already, and the furnace has been on regularly...but it is good to know it was serviced and readied for another winter.

Life has certainly settled in...Heather and the kids are doing well....Amy will keep her rank now as an air cadet.....and Andrew while leaving cadets has lots to keep him busy.

Life is great....more to follow!

Carvings, Paintings, and Inuit Art.....

There can be no question for someone that likes Art, carvings, paintings, and fur art that Iqaluit is a great place to see a huge variety. On a continual basis daily you have the opporutnity to buy pieces of art work that are created from various stones to furs and canvas.

Every day at the store you are guaranted to be approached by at least 5 different people that have a carving, jewlrey, etchings, or fur art that they are trying to sell. For many this is there way of making money, and they are not pushy about it but rather they will approach you and show you the carving, and gauge your interest.

There is a wonderful older lady who is in a wheelchair that will often sit inside the store with her pieces of fur that she has crafted into small huskies....very cute and quite a fine piece of art. Another gentlemen often has polar bears that he has carved himself out of a green stone(serpentine). There is another great artist that carves using a small rotary hand grinder (he has replaced the blade with a saw wheel). I imagine that I would cut my hand off, but it is amazing to watch him with the saw perched between his legs and rotating the stone to make the right cuts, to make the piece take shape. He specilizes in polar bears as well, but also has a lot of other carvings ranging from seals, to whales, to inuit hunters.

I went out for supper with the crowd from head office last week. While enjoying a great meal we were shown atleast 12 different carvings.......some were very beautiful. Asking price ranged from $40.00 for a small carving, or earrings to 2000.00 for a beautiful polar bear on a sheet of ice. These carvings were a different class with differnt colour stone inset. For a collector or someone who knows what they are at there is probably a great online market for these pieces of art. I know that as time passes I will build a small collection. They are great gifts as well. Supper here is very different with a parade of art....but it adds to the atmoshere and reminds you that your not in Halifax anymore.

More to come....enjoying every day, and every new experiance....

Everyone is settling in....

Well after my first full 12 days in Iqaluit, I must say things are settling down and feeling very normal.....well except for the fact that we got our second snow fall and it is Sept 20th. It started flurrying in the afternoon 2 days ago and after getting home from work, and having supper with the family, we loaded up in the truck and went for a nice drive exploring the city in the snow. The real danger in driving in a snow downfall here is in my opinion the lack of "big" city lighting. It seems it does not matter what the temperature or weather is, people will still be out walking the streets.....problem is many are wearing black winter coats, or dark coats and you have to be very careful to watch out for them especially in the dark stormy night.

The kids are doing well at school. My Amy is studying Match that I can not ever remember doing...(of course I was not a model math student), it is so weird and wonderful they do not even call it math, rather they call it calculus........a great subject that requires a 250.00 calculator to complete. Andrew is doing well at school, still running for student council, and after attending his meet the teacher night......being very helpful, and volunteering a lot. That is very good.

One of the benifits of working here in Iqaluit is the opportunity to get home for Lunch........I was reflecting on how nice it was to popout from work, and go home mid-day to sit with my wife, and if I am really lucky and get home on time with my kids and enjoy lunch. This is something that was impossible in other locations as the drive home was just too much and the pressures at work too great. Here it is a normal thing to do, and because the city is not huge, and I live close to the store, it is quite doeable, and something I look forward to dialy.

Now that does not mean that I get home at 12:00 every day.....I still am managing a large retail store......sometimes it is 12, sometimes 1, and sometimes 3....but that matches the times I get home for supper.....sometimes 6, sometimes 7, and sometimes 9. But I love it!

Amy has asked to go out on vactaion in February....mostly because the bands she likes are on a Canadian tour and she would love to see them.......we will need to see what we can do!

Until the next time.....while the North is certainly different, it is wonderful, and the more different, the more the same!

More to come!

The Great "White" North.........great to be here....

Well I have arrived! Great flight out of Ottawa with amazing service. Not only did the flight crew treat me to the traditional cup of tea, I also enjoyed hot towell service, a great meal of eggs benidict with a fruit salad and a nice selection of banana bread and cream cheese and crackers, a great bottle of cranberry juice.....and.......yes there is more, a pillow, a blanket, a warm large oatmeal cookie, and just when I thought it was over they came with a tray of sweets (candies) to ensure our ears would be o.k.. It was a great flight, and fantastic service. Way to go First Air!

The house is nice, in decent shape and clean. A few minor issues, but nothing crazy. The city of Iqaluit is nice enough. It is about the size of my old town of Bridgewater (7500-8000 people) it is on the water surrounding the harbour just like my old town of Lunenburg, but there is something very different and refreshing. It is almost raw.....raw with opportunity. There is a mix of jelly bean style St. John's homes perched on the rock face, many duplexes, and town homes, and more apartments going up then even Halifax.....it is certainly growing.

As we flew in there were a few icebergs in the water below. As we approached the town I looked below to the mountain tops to see pure white snow. I am told that arrived on Sept 2nd.

Once in Iqaluit ther was no snow, but it was a plesent 6 degrees and sunny. We drove around town getting our bearings.....and were pleased. We located the forward fighting base of the Canadian Forces, the damns, and the mountain side. We also drove out to Apex.

First thing this morning, my second day after waking up at 5:00am (which did not please Heather) we headed out for a drive, and then over to Sylvene National Park....Heather and I went for a short hike up the hill side to the top where we were able to see both Iqaluit behind us, and the mountains un front of us as well as a great view of the flood planes, and of the 2 waterfalls below. Also of course a much nicer view of Frobisher Bay.

Things are looking great. After attending the cities recreation department mass registartion this morning the kids, and Heather are involved now in a number of events....and just like St. Nick we are preparing for the long winter....but instead of a nap...we plan to be involved and going.

More to follow.....!

Families doing ok....I am on my way!

Well I need to start by saying sorry....Internet in the North is sketchy at the best of times. I was not even North yet, but alas not much quality internet in Goose Bay either. Bandwidth is used up.....and I was only able to make post when travelling or visiting the local CapSite.

My family has now been in Iqaluit for 2 weeks. Things are o.k.....obviously there is lots that is very different. And, there is snow acroiss the bay, which is clearly visable I am told from our house. That is right....September 8th, 2011 and there is snow. I am told from some ex-Iqaluit residents that it kind of creeps towards the city.........until they are covered in snow....we will see.

My son after his first week has been nominated for Student Council President....and is making friends, and my daughter who at 16 I am mostly worried about, met a young lady from Lower Sackville on her first day, and is already referring to the lunch hang out spot as "The Browns". She is outwardly saying this is a terrible thing....my hope is that she settles in and everything will be ok.....

I left Goose Bay today at 9:40. I am in Halifax right now waiting to catch a flight to Ottawa where I will overnight before getting on my final plane of this trip to head to Iqaluit in the morning. I will be there by Lunch time.

I hope to do a tour of the town, and visit each of our 5 Quick Stops and the main store by supper time to get a glimpse of where we stand, so that come Monday we can start planning.

The senior executives from Head Office will be there on Tuesday at which point we can start to make our stores the best, and a destination for all local residents.

Stay tuned, more to come with a couple of pictures in the next couple of day!

The night before the trip North....for the rest of my family....

Well today is Thursday, and tommorow my wife and two kids will depart Ottawa airport at about 9:00 am for the trip North to Iqaluit. I should add that the cat (Scamper) is still tagging along.....now a world traveler. Heather and the kids have had a little less then a week to visit with her mom and family......but I felt it was still important for them to do that before heading North. Everything seems to be all set in Iqlauit. I am told the house is ready to go, and other then having to get phone and internet hooked up we should be good to go.

I will post later on my wife's and kids first reaction.....I hope to hear from them tommorow night!

Life at the airport when your family has left already!

Still the 20th of August,

My family, Heather, Amy and Andrew and Scamper the Cat....all went through security at the airport at 0800 am this morning. What was there for a husband and father who is going a different direction to do......I went back to the airport hotel (who gave me kindly a 2:00pm checkout), cleaned up after our stay, and our feed of take out chinese food.....

|I emailed my wife 3 times and thanked her for putting up with me....emailed my daugter and begged for understanding....and basically moped arouund until now....3:00 pm, sitting in departures waiting for my flight back to Goose Bay.....

Yes that is right, Goose Bay, Labrador. It turns out my family will see Iqaluit before I do, as I am in Goose Bay until the 9th of September, while they will arrive in Iqaluit on the 26th of August.....

No worries....it is still summer according to the weather network.....and a balmy 8 degrees.,....

I should mention the great service from West Jet this morning........and Air Canada this afternoon.....both actually worked with us to save us money.....my wife and kids had 3 bags each and 2 carry on pieces each....that is right 15 pieces of luggae plus the cat!!! That is what happens when everything you own is in suitcases......The West Jet agent worked with us to save us $60.00...well done West Jet...still an extra 310.00 dollars, but it could have been worse.....Then this afternoon....after having to pack a few uniforms in my luggae...a kindly air canada agent, against what I believed told me....:we`ll let this one go today`....I was 12 lbs over......super agents, super job......bodes well for the trip north I hope.

More to follow!

The Trip North.......August 20th, 2011

My family and I have known now that we would be going North to Iqaluit for well over 6 months......Today is a day that will be forever remembered by my wife and childern. Either it was the day Dad lost his mind and moved everyone north, or it will become a day that changed our outlook on life.

I had worked for Loblaw's for a number of years. I started as a Regional Manager Human Resources / Labour Relations, and later moved into the  stores as an Assistant Store Manager. I worked on the grocery side of the house and the fresh side. The job was not overly stressful......on me. 100 hours a week and people crying because their hours were being cut.....well ok, I care about people so this was stressful, and the reason that I left Loblaws.......I care about my employees. Long before I left Loblaws I had been considering the North West Company.....they seemed to get it. They seemed to care about their community and their employees. So far, now after 5.5 months with the North West Company, I believe that to be true.....but it is not all easy.

My wife was left to get rid of our home both literaly, and figuativly...........she had to deal with the condo, and everything we owned for the last 20 plus years together. We kept very little. Clothes of course....some pictures, my wifes good china......a few other odds and ends, but not much else..... That is what has been going on for the last 5 months...getting rid of furniture, artifacts, vehicles and so much more........

Yesterday my kids finished cadet camp, and my wife and I picked them up. We headed to the airport hotell......and this morning I loaded my wife and 2 kids on a plane......they are not headed North quite yet....they will stop over to visit family in Ontario for a week...but it is all very real now.........the journey North has started.......

It should be noted that along with my wife and 2 childern the family pet, scamper the cat is travelling.......hopefully he survives and does not become a meal for some wayard animal.....

More to follow.....