Gryphon enjoying his candy-cane striped rawhide chew...

Another Christmas past and another horribly neglected blog…this time I have an excuse, though: no bandwidth to help me along! The computers running in this apartment for the past two weeks have eaten up every extra byte and has left me ‘net-less’. Ahhh!! I believe it’s because of the extra person living here…sounds about right.

I had a lot going on this year. I was here in the north last year for the holidays, but I don’t remember them as being so busy…good busy, though.

Like I mentioned in my last blog entry both my Macbook Pro and Arctic Cat arrived in Qik just in time to make the season enjoyable (or so I thought). Withing 2 days I was as frustrated as h#%* because the computer wasn’t working the way I’d been promised…plug in and go. It was painfully slow to load and, whenever I could access safari, it would “quit unexpectedly”…after awhile I got to expect it. So there I was, days before Christmas, with a bum Mac. Now I realize that a lot of it was because of internet usage.

The Arctic Cat? When it arrived, it was still clicking and scraping with horrible protestations if it were ever put in reverse…sometimes to the point of “outta here bee-otch…I’m not workin’ for you!” with an immediate shut-down. I decided to order a ring plate for the clutch (you could see it was bent out of shape), 2 belts, an extra shock system, skis, and carbides. A bit pricey. Unfortunately, this was all before anyone had a chance to really look at it. When the mechanic in town finally had the opportunity to peek under the hood, he was a bit perplexed as well (having no experience with the new Cats). What we decided was to perform a type of snowmobile appendectomy…he just completely removed the electric start system leaving the pull-cord its only source of life. Gone are the crazy noises and reverse problems as well as the smell of burning rubber. Not bad, right? Bill from the Arctic Cat dealership in Iqaluit? Bad.

Today, though, things are well with the world. My internet anniversary date has passed (resetting my bandwidth allowance), I was able to download firefox, I’m working on downloading the Apple software updates now, I go for a ride-around on the Kitty Cat at least once a day, and I’ll be able to replace the skis and carbides sometime soon. Better steering…yay!

Ready for a trailride!

Aaaaannd…polar bears. They are still everywhere but, as you can see from my picture, I’m more prepared for an encounter than I have been in the past. And don’t worry, there’s someone else with me to do the aiming and actually pull the trigger!

What else? Hmmm…both Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner were spent with recent friends, and it was nice to finally relax over a cup of Keurig coffee. What an awesome rig! Hazelnut coffee brewed to perfection flew me south for just a wee spot of time. I think New Year’s Eve will be another great gathering.

Gryphon and Scarlett, resting after the excitement of tearing open the presents...

Gettin' chilly up here!

So here it is, the shortest day of the year. Not too bad, actually. We were still in a twilight state until around 2 pm, and tomorrow we will start moving towards those wonderful sunny days…the days when kids are outside playing at 3 in the morning and time is spent wishing you could forget work and head out on the land. Though there’s still no reliable sea-ice, snowmobiling out and around the island is still a possibility.

Snowmobiling? Yes. Do I have mine? Has it arrived from Pang? It flew in yesterday. On par with its reputation, it refused to start; however, after several people fiddling around with it, today it has enough juice to run. Though I think the battery might be fried, the pull-cord still works. There is still a problem with the clutch and the possibility of the belt getting damaged, but it will run until I get those parts ordered in.

I also have news on the kamik front! My duffel socks are done and trimmed (though not yet embroidered), and I’ve already bought the sealskin needed to complete the uppers of the main boot. As for the bearded seal required for the sole…I think that will be the one thing I’ll get someone more experienced put together. I’ve been wondering, though…just how comfortable is this sort of footware? My Baffin boots are pretty rockin’ – especially when snowmobiling. Are kamiks just a fashion accessory these days?

BREAK FOR AN AWESOME SNOWMOBILE RIDE AND CONTINUED THE NEXT DAY…

Last night, when Clint got back from work, we decided to take the Arctic Cat out for a spin around. Now, for anyone who followed my blog last year, you would know how nervous I am around the thing. In fact, it rarely made it above 30 mph! Last night, as a passenger on my own machine, I thought I might die…I’m not used to just sitting there, nor am I used to going very fast. Ahhh!!!

…and you know what else I learned? I’m not overly paranoid about the Beast! Last year, whenever there were problems, I had no idea whether it was something I did or because I just didn’t know what a snowmobile should feel like. How much pressure do you have to apply on the throttle to make it move? Is it normal that it seems to slow down after riding for awhile unless I squeeze harder? Is the smell normal? Apparently the answer to all of those questions is ‘no’.

Another problem? The shocks. Yes mom and dad, I think that trip we took out to the fishing derby last year killed them. The reason I didn’t notice was because I prepped it for summer-storage not long after as well as the fact that whenever I rode it, my relatively light weight was on the front. As it stands now, I can take my puny arm and push the back almost to the ground! Money, money, money…lots to fix.

…and, since we didn’t take the gun last night, we didn’t want to venture too far away with the roaming polar bears…it was still pretty awesome though!

Just a few more days till Christmas, and I’m already set with my treasures. The packages my family sent (from Nova Scotia and BC) have arrived as well as the treasure I ordered for myself. I’ll have a report on the previous gifts in a few more days but the latter? My Macbook Pro has finally wound its way into the small hamlet of Qikiqtarjuaq, and I now sit tapping away on the backlit keyboard. Saa-weet! Lovin’ it. For sure, it’s going to take awhile to get used to it, but I’m going to figure it out at some point. Right now my netbook is sitting there on the table looking a little forlorn.

Today I’m finally in-line to get someone to help me cut my sealskin and show me how to put it together…time to start sewing again! What I’m worried about now, though, is actually where I’m going to sew. Does the smell just fade after awhile? The dogs were super-interested in just licking everything as soon as I brought the skins in, and I’m not really interested in fighting them off every time I do some work on the boots.

…I guess we’ll see how it goes…

I wanted fresh figs, not dried dates!

Today I received my second-ever load of foodmail and, though I’m super pumped to finally get a puffy knob of fresh ginger, there were a few discrepancies. For example, I have a fantastic recipe that uses fresh figs; as a fruit, I figured this would fit into the new foodmail allowance. I think it probably does, but the picture shows what I actually received…instead of 6 fresh figs, I got 6 packs of dried dates!!! Grrr…

...I gave them to a lady at the airport...

Order? Deluxe Mini-Pizzas. Received? Bagel things. I guess I see the connection, but if you’re expecting the regular, this is a huge disappointment.

One more thing that arrived today? My Mac Magic Mouse! I still haven’t really moved from my PC yet (no flights to deliver my new computer), but this is a nice type reminder of what’s to come. Ahh!! Just looking at the controls on the thing makes me wonder how I’m going to make the adjustment.

The bulk of the teachers flew out this afternoon on the Canadian North flight; that means it’s officially the holiday season up here. Now what happens? Last year, in Pangnirtung, there were games out on the ice…what happens when there’s no ice? I guess we’ll see soon enough!

T-Shirt says: Cute & Aware...perhaps it should say: Cute & Don't Care!