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Igloolik

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    • TravelerThe Great White North
      Day 72

      Fall in Igloolik

      November 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

      Ah, the title conjures up images of hot apple cider, vibrantly colored trees, crisp mornings, and pumpkin spice everything. Igloolik fall? Oh, definitely the same. Nothing different about fall here. Well, except everything. lolol. In one week, the daylight will be done. Currently, we have just under 3 hrs of semi-daylight---if you can call the sun rising about two inches above the horizon daylight. lol. The mornings are definitely crisp, though we've gone through a warming spell. In fact, it got up to -15 and I thought, "I'll just take my trash out to the dumpster with no coat or hat on since it's so warm." I even put back the big parka and broke the little guy back out---though I will say, the little parka now seems rather inferior and lame. Nonetheless, it is way less bulky and keeps me warm---but its fur is no match for the big parka's fur. I wanna sleep in the big parka's fur. I have a feeling I might be draped in animal skins the next time someone sees me.

      While those down south are enjoying fall leaves and football on the weekend, I have been enjoying such activities as helping dig my boss's qamatik out of the snow. The qamatik (various spellings) is a wooden sled that was traditionally pulled by dogs. It is about 12-15 feet long and the runners are 2x10s. The runners have a piece of teflon plastic to reduce drag. The two runners are spaced about 3 feet apart. Two-by-fours or something similar make up the decking with about an inch of space between each board. You can leave the qamatik open, like a flat-bed truck, or you can lash a shelter onto it. My boss has a box that he puts on it so we had to get that out too. It was the width of the qamatik and 8ft long; a plywood box. Trying to maneuver and pull these wooden items through the drifts of snow was more than enough work out for me.

      I finished off the wild weekend with some more bingo---didn't win again---and started a jigsaw puzzle. The activities I engage in here are truly exciting.

      Today, there was no work because of a blizzard. However, it's not like when you were a kid and you could watch the TV to see if school was canceled. I have no way to know. And, because my job is so weird about email/internet, I cannot even check my email on non-work servers (exceedingly annoying actually). Thus, I can't get the bulletin that work is closed. So, what do I do? I open the door this morning, have it nearly blown back in my face, and then slam it shut, muttering, "Aw hell naw." Which means I trudged back in to find my goggles, put them on, zipped up the coat fully, pulled the neck gaiter up, and pushed back outside. I have been getting rides to work from my boss so I headed towards his place. As I wound through the buildings, the drifts were catching my feet on what was usually a well-packed path. I emerged from between the housing units and saw neither his ATV or Skidoo were running. And, that's how I knew there was no work. Nevertheless, we decided to go to work for a bit just to finalize some things. I mean, what else am I gonna do? Go to the mall. bhahahaha.

      It was quite the trip getting back home though. Turns out living in Washington made me familiar with snow. The difference now is that I am IN the weather, not just driving through it with a climate-controlled, warm car. Nope, snow-ice pelting my face as we slip and slide on the ATV back home is a real treat. The light is so flat you can't see any features. Hence, we drove right into a 2-3ft snow drift without even seeing it. Oops. Get to push the ATV out and continue on your way----away from the edges of the road.

      Thankfully, I have plenty of food to eat because I'm pretty sure I'm not going back out in this to the store and there won't be any planes coming in anyhow. Now just to relax in the cozy warmth of home and stuff my face. :)      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      1
      11
      Day 64

      Hallelujah for humidifier

      November 13, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ -22 °C

      I am beyond excited. My humidifier arrived today! I think I'm going to set her up on my bedside table and stare lovingly into the mist as it soothes my aching nose to sleep. The say absence makes the heart grow fonder and I believe this should be applied to inanimate objects as well, not just relationships. Take the humidifier for example. I did not have one. My nose and throat have been aching for weeks. It's been awful. I can't simply go peruse various shopping establishments to get one. I order it and have to wait for almost two weeks. Then, it arrives but the store closes at 6pm and I arrived by plane at 540. Was not able to make it. The next day was Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day) so the store was closed. The next day was Sunday so the post office was closed. FINALLY, TODAY was the day to get my precious package!! There she was, tiny yet powerful. I am so tired of blowing bloody pieces from my nose. It just isn't right! I'm tired of sleeping with the sheets over my face and dry coughing throughout the night. I faced this similar stuff in Mongolia, but I was only there for a month so I could deal. If this humidifier is broken for some reason, I will most definitely be crying...real tears.

      That's it folks. That's my life. Revolves around getting a humidifier at the post office. I mean I did grab a few other grocery items, but as usual, there were key missing ones like creamer. That stuff is rare---always empty on the shelves. I'm going to have to buy them out the next time it's in. They did have milk so that will have to do.

      I braved a -36C (-33F) windchill to get my mighty mucous membrane healer. I was fortunate however, to catch a ride to the store from my boss cause he was going to the post office as well. Apparently, it was too cold for his ATV to start so he had to clear off and start the snowmobile. He says and I quote, "Fuck it's cold!" I take in the fact that he has goggles and a face protector on while he says this. I instantly recoil and think, "Nope, I can't go outside. If this crazy arctic person thinks it's cold, I will certainly die." But then, I think of my humidifier and I think of all the other people that manage to survive this....and I pull on my mitts and hop on the back!

      My boss also tells me that he hopes the snowmobile stays running because he has warm weather spark plugs in it?? Whaaaa?? Does anyone know what that means? Are there different spark plugs for warm and cold weather?? Is the gap different? I don't know anything about this. In this instance, the snowmobile did great, got our packages, hunkered down hiding from the wind, and made it back home in less than 20 min. I'm gonna have to get some sort of motorized transport. I am far too lazy to keep up this walking nonsense and lord knows I ain't biking!!      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      1
      Day 45

      Now I understand winter goggles...

      October 25, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

      Today I laughed out loud as I trudged to work. I laughed because of the ridiculousness of it all. Here I am slipping and sliding through snow and drifts created by the blizzard, which incidentally caused the entire city and government offices to shut down at lunch on Monday, thinking about how I came to be here. The wind was blowing this morning and blasting the small ice kernels right into my face and eyes. I pulled the fur closer to my face to stop the crystals from making it through so I could peer out through the fur. It turns out that in the flat light of a blizzard coupled with the time of day being pre-dawn, it is VERY hard to discern the features of the snow. I couldn't see whether the snow was raised or dipped, crusted or powder, plowed or not. Makes for even more fun walking...into the wind. It was at that moment, while walking into the wind that I just started laughing....and then I quickly stopped because that wind will hurt your damn teeth!

      Vehicles are not having an easy time of it. Yesterday, a pickup was fully engulfed in a ditch...up to it's roof (not hood, roof). Obviously, they didn't know where the edge of the road was and oops, went in the biggest ditch in town. My morning walk was filled with the sounds of spinning tires. Tonight, I tried to help dig out my neighbors who just happened to have moved from the next town over from me in BC! They've been here about 3 months and the husband does not seem to be in good spirits. Well, I don't really blame him because they gave them vehicles with no 4-wheel drive....or a tow rope. Yep, not too bright. They are priority government employees that need to be responsive and they were issued regular ole, run-about-town small SUVs. lolol.

      On the plus side, I got a ride home today from work on a snowmobile. Actually, I got a ride home at lunch too and learned that one does not ride a snowmobile without snow pants. The complete wetting of my entire lower posterior body in 5 minutes taught me that. The snow was crusted on my jeans on the front. Fool me once.....and the snow pants were on.

      Yesterday, the main store was only accepting cash for several hours. These are things that happen up here that are not really common down south.

      I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but there are many artists in town. Apparently, Igloolik (among other hamlets) is known for producing a lot of artists. Carvers mostly. They come door to door selling their wares. They come several times per week. Sometimes more than one in a night. You get to where you just don't answer the door if you are not interested. It is easier that way. Well, when I first arrived, I saw a carving of a polar bear that balanced separately on each of his legs. It was really cool. That carver came to my door last week with a 2-way standing bear that was much smaller and cheaper than the 4-way standing bear. On the sides are carved a narwhal and walrus. Three animals in one! Last night, the carver approached me again and I bought my first Igloolik carving. It's pretty cute and I am pretty sure I now know what everyone is getting for Christmas!! I know!! Hold your excitement....chotchsky (sp?) from a place you're never gonna visit!

      We are also losing an hour of daylight a week now. In one month, we will begin the 24 hr of darkness.

      Oh, and did I mention that my other neighbors have children that are training to be long-distance runners? Yep, they train nightly by running back and forth, back and forth in the apartment for hours. They intersperse their running with jumping (presumably to build power). I know all of this because their dedication vibrates through my house and shakes me as I sit on the couch.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      21
      Day 2

      Who knew the Arctic was cold?

      September 12, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

      Actually, it was a bright blue sunny sky day with little wind and very warm temps. And I was still freezing. My body better get the memo and start adapting asap! It was a balmy 35 degrees F, 2-3° C. Really not bad... Which is why my reaction to it is so sad.

      My new house is quite nice on the inside considering the outsides. Because it is so dusty and dirty---literal dirt from the earth, not unclean--everything has that look. Plus, there is no grass or trees or any vegetation at all for that matter. As you can see from the pics, the beauty is in the land, not the structures themselves.

      Got my first sticker shocks with food prices. It was a very quick trip in and they closed soon after at 630pm! And I thought New West places closed eyes early! Yikes! I opted for the pound of ground chicken for $4 rather than the lb of ground beef at $13. Also, I bypassed the frozen skillet meal at $16. Got some frozen peas for $5.50 and iceburg lettuce for a steal at $3.50! Small italian dressing was $5. Nectarines were there! Twelve bucks a pound.

      All in all, I think my hands, ears, and face are gonna freeze off.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      1
      Day 5

      whale jello trampoline

      September 15, 2017 ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      It's a jello trampoline, a jello trampoline, a jello trampoline (sung in the tune of "Yellow Submarine"). Bet you never knew there was a rhyme for yellow submarine! But there is! And it's for when you're jumping on a rotting whale carcass! It's like a jello trampoline.
      Things to be grateful for: cold weather when investigating decomposing sea mammals.

      So that was a big highlight of the day. Getting to see a washed up bowhead whale carcass. Also exciting was realizing that the grease from the whale moved away from the site in a definite, recognizable pattern of polar bear tracks. Further investigation revealed where said whale had been scratched and gnawed on. Just a little though. Maybe not quite rotten enough for the bears yet? Nevertheless, he/she sure greased up her paws and made some tracks! I'm not sure how long it will take before it really sinks in my brain that there are polar bears around. Like around me. Potentially at any time--especially away from town---which is where I was. Not to worry though, we approached the quintessential polar bear feasting site on foot while leaving the shotgun in the truck. You gotta have a little spice in life. I guess. Anyway, no polar bears spotted so it was all good.

      The second big adventure was returning to what was either a cabin or large rock. On the way out to the cache sites where locals bury walrus meat to ferment and cure or whatever---honestly, I don't know what the meat is doing under the piles of rock---but that's neither here nor there. The point is, on the way out to these sites, my partner noted that, "oh wow! Is that a cabin or a huge rock over there?" while pointing some distance to the horizon. I couldn't tell. It was resolved that we'd have to check it out on the way back because it was imperative to know if that was the biggest rock on the island. One must know these things you see. During our return drive, we stopped as close as we could get and began the walk to determine the size of this rock. It was NOT the biggest rock on the island and thus deemed, "a big waste of time" which I took to mean, had it actually been the largest rock on the island, our time would have been well spent.

      I also saw a rarely sighted gyrfalcon and the less uncommon peregrine falcon. Saw an all white arctic fox as well. Mind you, I would not have known these species had I not been told. I am useless in such situations.

      The location of the caches and the washed up whale carcass are "out of town" along the island's tip. I passed by the dump to get there which looked like a big ole smorgasbord of odds, ends, metal, and lumber that potentially could be very useful! Duly noted... Folks like to get "out of town" and go to their cabins. Town gets a bit stuffy and cramped. I will agree that the landscape is much more beautiful without staring at water tanks and broken bikes and trash strewn in ditches and the other usual detritus of humans living as we all do. However, what I found amusing was that near one set of caches there were about 5-8 cabins within slingshot distance from each other. So much for privacy on the land! lol.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      Day 636

      Do you Seal what I See?

      June 8, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

      The summer melt is full upon us here in Igoolik and with it brings much surprises at what lay underneath that obscuring blanket of snow for 8 months. Lots of pooled water that the kids absolutely love. Sometimes makes getting from your front door to some dry land a bit tricky. Rubber boot season.
      Where the snow is gone and the water is gone, we’re left with mostly trash underneath, unfortunately. The snow acts a great eraser. The 8 months of winter creates a giant layer cake with snow layers alternating with trash layers. It’s extremely effective. During the winter, the town landscape appears pristine. The ugly reality of non-degrading objects becomes painfully obvious at this time of year. I think the contrast between the impossible cleanliness the snow imparts and the accumulation of 8 months of dumping is what makes the change seem so stark. There is everything from dirty diapers to snowmobile parts. From the banal cigarette butts to the shocking dog carcasses. My pictures on here show a full seal just chilling in the trash. Looks perfectly edible to me. Not sure why it was there. It’s like the curtain got pulled back from the Wizard.
      Every year the community organizes a clean-up and there is good participation. Last year, the person that collected the most cigarette butts received quite a monetary reward—can’t remember how much, but it was probably pretty good because the monetary rewards/incentives here are usually pretty darn good. Unfortunately, the clean-up has to wait until the snow has all melted and the pooling lakes and mud have dried.
      This isn’t aimed at being negative about the town. It is a fact. There are no municipal services that clean the streets or remove general waste and garbage other than what is in the plywood garbage bins outside each house. In a place where you can’t go to the local home hardware store or Ski-Doo parts store to get things, many people’s land surrounding their home looks like a junk yard. Broken and discarded objects of any type you can imagine are there, just waiting for the time that a throttle cable is needed or a 2 inch hex head bolt. You never know.
      It makes me think of 2 things: 1. The unsung work of municipal/city works that keep your cities and neighborhoods looking clean is like a mother running the household behind the scenes making sure everything runs smoothly without ever getting the credit she deserves. And 2. The impact humans have on the landscape when we live in a place. I had a coworker that went to Myanmar during the Rohingya refugee crisis. He went there not to provide aid to the people or help the people live, but to assess the dramatic impact the almost instantaneous flood of 400,000 people had into an area with no infrastructure. The refugees had to dig latrines and wells. They dug them very close to one another because, well, that is convenient and there are no codes/bylaws. The refugees need fuel to cook with and heat their shacks with so they cut the surrounding forest to nothing. Mudslides ensued---Onto the refugee camps. It was an aspect of human inhabitation that I never really paid much attention to, and definitely not one I thought about in terms of an unplanned, inundation of people into an area.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Great White North
      Day 539

      Hot showers and flushing toilets!

      March 3, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ -21 °C

      I returned from more travel to find that I finally had a toilet that flushed more than twice before overflowing! Can you believe it?! I couldn't either.

      What happened was I lost my marbles on February 14th. I had been told twice, over the phone, that the house was ready and all was good. I stayed late at work and got home ready to pee. Alas, it was not to be. And, then. I lost it...just a little bit. I called the after hours line and when they told me they would be by to check tomorrow, that's when I, in a slightly hysterical, breaking voice, shrilled that I hadn't had a toilet working for more than 3 days out of 20 and this had been going on since January 6th!! He said he would ask his boss and let me know. To which I replied, "How?! How will you let me know?!
      Do you have my phone number? Do you know my name?! You won't let me know! I know how this works!...." The line got cut off, mercifully---for the poor guy on the other end. Not to worry though, I just gave him 10 minutes to call his boss and then I called the after hours emergency line again. And, this time, the boss was listening in.

      The boss sent the after-hours call guy over here. He was clearly not pleased to be at my home dealing with this at 730pm. He was banging into doors with his equipment. He said not one word to me. (because I'm the one causing work for him rather than them fixing it properly over a month ago. Yep, I'm the bad guy.) He went to work thawing the toilet line, like they've done so many times in the past. I am not sure at what point the thought of, "Hmmmm, this exact problem keeps happening with alarming frequency. I wonder WHY. Perhaps there is a CAUSE for the freezing toilet pipe and sewage tank besides the cold weather since EVERY other house endures cold weather too without having a sewage/toilet freeze up every couple of days". I am not sure when or if that thought was ever had during the course of these workers coming into my house over and over and over again.

      The boss showed up on February 14th though and he saw my frustration. I explained I didn't have any of these problems last year. There MUST be something causing this to happen. None of it made any sense to me.

      He goes into the attic and almost immediately asks down to the worker, "Peter, did you check if this valve was working? Was it seized before?" Seized, what? I call up, "um, what is this seized valve for?" He explains that this valve opens and closes in response to a thermostat reading from the sewage tank. When the temp falls below a threshold, the valve opens and the warm glycol runs through the heating tube trace around the sewage tank to keep it thawed. When the sewage tank temp rises, the valve shuts off. I asked, "So, this valve, huh. It's probably not seized in the Open position is it?" "Nope", he confirms.

      Hmmmmmm.......so you're telling me there is a thermostat and valves that control whether the heat trace is working to keep the sewage tank thawed.

      Are we all aliens here? Does anyone not remember the THREE times you've had to THAW my completely frozen sewage tank?

      No one thought this was weird that the sewage tank was freezing over and over and over. Nope, they just kept thawing it out and telling me all was fixed.

      The boss replaced TWO (yes, there are actually two valves up there controlling this and one was completely seized and the other was not working great) valves. Thawed the toilet line and they both left around 10pm that night.

      I returned after a week away and guess what, the toilet was STILL WORKING!! Hmmmmmm......I guess when you actually look at the cause and try to fix that, outcomes are better. #sigh #bigfreakingsigh

      I've been back a full week and I haven't had one plumbing problem.

      Even better, they turned on, or fixed, our second boiler. I didn't know we had two boilers. I have been dealing with lukewarm showers for about 8-9 months now. Since last summer. The water just wouldn't heat up. You turn it up to max and it was warm enough to stand in, but after about 1 min, you would start to feel chilled and my showers would end with me covered in chill bumps. I started showering at night so I could get into bed quickly and warm up. It didn't get hot enough to even steam up the mirror in the bathroom. I have been taking very short showers.

      I come back from travel and discover they've turned on/fixed the 2nd boiler and it is divine! The water gets so hot!

      That's the happy ending....I have a hot shower AND working plumbing again! Things are looking up! lol      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Igloolik, Iglulik, Иглулик, Igloulik, YGT, İglulik, اگلولک

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