Yes Mistress

Well folks we made it. Yesterday was the official end of our three month trail period. I'm guessing we passed probation since I has to remove myself from a very cosy nest of a bed this morning and go to work. Being the month of May also brings a few other mile stones, May 19 was the day that we landed in Pond and started life all over again.  And May 21st being our 4th wedding anniversary
This was a means to an end, and although some days I question the wisdom in this choice I know that it was the only way to remove the negative fog that surrounded our lives.
Sadly this month also brings with it a not so great milestone, one year ago on the 20th we had to say goodbye to one of the greatest best friend a girl could ever has. Sierra had been my dog for 10 years and was about 15 or so, after many years of ongoing health issues we had to finally let her go. It's not something I'll ever get over and it brings me to tears whenever I think about her.  I miss her every day.

For this past week I have been playing role of stand in post mistress. It is very common here for people to just up and quit. No rhythm or reason just because. My last co-worker in the office quit because 8 hours of work a day was too many hours. Yah I know, I don't get it either. I am happy to say that her replacement is a god-sent so I was happy that she decided to move on. And the second post office girl went home for lunch one afternoon then called in and said she wasn't coming back, um ok?
Most of the time here mail is fairly slow. Sometimes it really does earn the nickname of snail mail, but it is still the cheapest way for things to come here. It also feels like sometimes the airline that fly's the mail here holds it hostage when they come after not really bringing you anything for a few days then suddenly you get 50 boxes and 6 bags.
Being a supervisor I must take up the slack when needed, so I have been in the post office every morning, sorting mail, filling boxes, scanning packages and dealing with customers. It certainly does help the morning pass quickly.
It is a juggling act to work in the post office while still keeping an eye on the cashiers and the office. Some days I do feel like I am getting pulled in many directions. Megan can you help me is something that I hear at least 15 times a day. Being a supervisor in a retail situation is something that I was not prepared for but I'm hoping that I am dealing with it. I sense that I am liked in the role so I'll take that as a positive thing.
Happy to say that my parka has been put away for the season. The roads are muddy and the ground is emerging from it's blanket of what seems like permanent white. Fishing will be starting soon, too bad Drew doesn't actually eat fish. The Arctic char is a things that some people would give a pretty penny to get their hands on and he will be able to go out and catch them for free.
In case you are wondering, our sleep pattern has returned to normal. Cardboard on the window, blackout curtains and a sleep mask are wonder things. It is still quite possible to stay up all night if you don't shut the curtains and keep an eye on the clock.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Victoria day weekend.

F*&k you Amazon.ca

Originally written on April 28th.

 I guess I owe you all some sort of update or at the very least a pop in to let you know that we haven't been eaten by a polar bear.
Since my last post there has been an on-line shopping catastrophe. On April 8th without warning Amazon.ca cancelled all free shipping to remote locations. Instead they now offer shipping at the ridiculous price of$29.99 per order plus $9.99 per pound. As much as I enjoy receiving packages in the mail that is nor a fee that I am willing to pay. I am regretful now that I waiting to order a few things from there that were a little on the pricey side such as a new digital good quality camera, and dog food.
In the same week of the Amazon fiasco the community ran out of dry dog food. This is not as big of a trauma for us as Tia eats mostly rice and hamburger as her staple.  The dry food is just extra and a bowl is down if she feels extra hungry. The lack of dog food here is because of a big dog sled race that was to start on April 14th. As you can imagine when you have a sled dog team of 6-8 full grown working dogs they eat a lot of food. The white owners buy food (the natives feed their dogs seal meat) by the case not just by the bag so they came in and bought up all of the extra food. Not very considerate but as I have quickly learned here if you like something in the store you buy as much as you can afford because the stock levels are unpredictable. We will eventually get dog food but at a cost of over $140 per bag if flow in it won't be until the August sea lift before the stock is refilled. No dog food and no amazon leaves us now searching for a cost effective alternative. Walmart seems to be the next best choice if you can say that with their $100 flat rate shipping fee to remote locations. Oddly though that rate is to ship to your home. With a $50 rate if shipped to a Canada Post. There is no home shipping here. I sent an email to Walmart asking about this but I have not heard back from them. clearly I will have to suck it up and pay the $100. I figure if we order 10 items it will at least some what justify the shipping fees.
As it was the sled dog racers didn't actually leave until April 27th. They were waiting for a few more teams to show up. The last teams snowmobile broke down on the way here had to wait to be rescued. If your thought was, huh, snowmobile? Why not use the dogs? I had the same thought until someone pointed out that the dogs would need a rest before starting a week long race to Arctic Bay. So they couldn't pull all the way here and then race the next day.

Last week our oldest employee was honored with a commissioners award for being an outstanding volunteer. This lovely man clearly does not seem ever sleep except when Drew sometimes finds him napping in a back corner of the store so I can understand the award. After working all day he then goes and hosts the radio from 8pm- midnight Monday to Friday and then again for 4-6 hours on the weekends.
Not sure if I've mentioned this before but since everything here communication wise is done via satellite we only have one radio station. This station is manned by members of the community who seem to have no formal broadcasting training. If someone isn't available to work then they broadcast CBC and CBC north. Years ago I worked in a barn where the owner would have CBC on while we worked. I enjoyed listen to CBC. I find that some one the stories that they air are very interesting. Unfortunately the downside to an almost pirate like radio station is that if someone comes into work during the English CBC program, BAM off it goes and the local person plays what they want (normally some kind of junk dance music) or talk in Inuktitut, very frustrating some mornings when there is something particularly interesting being broadcast. I do at least get to hear the news in English via CBC North out of Iqaluit, usually...

The temperature is getting warmer here and things are slowly melting. We have been in winter mode now since November between here and Ontario so Drew and I are both looking forward to seeing what Pond looks like without all of the snow.
I am jealous of all of you southerners with your +15 weather. It's a balmy -14 today.