The last farewell?

Well, I endured my trip to the dentists with manful dignity, and compared to last year's marathon it was actually a breeze. I was only in the chair for ninety minutes this time round and, courtesy of the TV precariously bolted to the wall, I had the Weather Channel for company as the dentist and his assistant attacked my mouth with gay abandon. Many of the reports came from the UK, where temperatures have been rivalling ours of late, and whilst I have somewhat ridiculed the mother country's inability to deal with the cold in the past, I must admit that this year Britain's winter really has been one for the ages. This recent satellite picture looks like it could have been generated for a scene in The Day After Tomorrow, but I assure you it's for real:

On Monday I will be experiencing English-like temperatures as I head back North, but if Melanie can find me a job at King's Town School next year this could be the last time I make the trip. I enjoy what I do in Nunavik but it doesn't get any easier leaving Melanie behind each time I go back, and I really don't know if I could manage another year after this one. We don't own the future though, only the now, so for the time being I shall simply pack my bags and do what has to be done. Next stop: Kangiqsujuaq.

Working from home

So, the first post of 2010 and the blog goes into its third calendar year of operation. Quite what the new year will bring is anyone's guess, but for the time being I'm enjoying an extra week at home. I have a further appointment with the dentist on Friday and I am not now due to fly back North until Monday, all of which is something akin to a late Christmas present (except the dentist part). I recently found out that my colleagues in Kangiqsujuaq got snowed/fogged in before Christmas, and some of them didn't get home until the 23rd; as a result the start of school has been put back a few days, so I won't be the only one returning to work a little later than planned.

Much of this week has seen me sorting out a variety of financial paperwork, the type of stuff that makes you wish you were an ostrich with a suitably deep bucket of sand nearby, but it has to be done and it's much easier for me to do it whilst I'm still in the south. Melanie went back to work on Monday so my house husbandry is also extending to washing, cleaning and cooking, the latter of which is currently inspired by Julie & Julia, a film which I was reticent to watch when Melanie rented it on Monday but that I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed. Speaking of movies, my other favourite of the holiday has been Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, which must be as cinematically removed from Julie & Julia as Amy Winehouse is from sobriety; if Christoph Waltz doesn't get an Oscar nomination for his role as Colonel Hans Landa then there is simply no justice in this world.

For now though it's back to the finances, and an impending walk in the snow to the bank. Tim Hortons is inconveniently at the other end of town, but fortunately I feel in the mood for taking the scenic route today...

Extra time

It's been more than 'a couple of days' since my last post I know, but as I've said before I tend to lose all track of chronological perspective at this time of year so you will have to excuse me. Christmas has now been and gone but we had a good one, and I've been able to catch up with most our friends in and around Kingston. I've also been catching up with eating too and have put on about eight pounds since I've been back, but when you consider the fact that I lost twenty pounds between August and December then it's probably not such a bad thing. I don't eat badly in the North, but there's less snacking - trips to Tim Hortons are not a particularly realistic proposition - and I guess the cold must effect my metabolism in a weight reducing manner.

It should be less than a week before my return to Kangiqsujuaq, but as is rapidly becoming a Christmas tradition (well, it happened last year as well) I need to visit the dentist, and with my appointment booked for Monday - the day I should have flown back - this will necessitate a few extra days in the South. Whilst the prospect of going under the knife (or whatever instruments dentists use) is not a pleasant one, a few extra days at home with Melanie is a good pay-off, so it might be a little while yet before the blog comes to you live from Nunavik once again.

Not sure what we're doing for New Year's yet, but I shall wish you a happy one for now as the next post probably won't be until 2010 (that's next year, not ten past eight). Happy New Year!

Six hours

Remember that sword I was mentioning a couple of posts ago? Well it dropped today. Painfully. My dentist's appointment was moved up two days as there had been a number of cancellations due to the weather, and I'm now wishing I'd been one of those who's stayed at home. Six hours I was there. Six bloody hours! Now, I know that going to the dentist doesn't really rank that highly in the pantheon of life-challenging events, but show me someone who enjoys such visits and I'll show you someone who's either a masochist or someone who actually works at the surgery.

Now, in the past, I've been used to seeing the dentist and having his or her (it's so difficult to tell these days) undivided attention for the duration of my visit. However, the practice I've attended this week piles in the patients, then the dentist flits between them like one of those old variety acts you used to see where they kept dozens of plates spinning on long, wobbly poles. Often they would then purposely smash the plates at the end of the act just to show you that they had been using real, breakable china rather than plastic, which always seemed to defeat the purpose of the entire act; it would be like a doctor performing complex heart surgery then shooting the patient at the end.

Where was I?

Ah yes...the dentist would prod around, sigh, make some notes, sigh again (never a good sign), numb the area of the mouth he was about to invade, then leave. He'd then work on another patient or two before returning to complete whatever it was he had to do to me. Over the course of the day this process was repeated a number of times, so you can see what I mean about spinning plates.

By the time it was all over, I felt like I'd had the orthodontic version of Mike Holmes and his team at work in my mouth, and I'd had to pay for the privilege. At least I now have a couple of days rest before travelling North at the weekend, and hopefully I will have regained all the feeling in my lips and cheeks again by then. I feel like a cross between Mick Jagger and Alvin and the Chipmunks at the moment.

Six hours!

Happy New Year

With the holidays over, the blog is back! I suppose I could have re-run old posts over the last week or so, much in the way that the major networks air re-runs whilst their top shows are in hiatus over Christmas and New Year, but I didn't want to short change you, dear reader. I say the holiday's over, but I actually have an extra week's laze to look forward to, courtesy of a cunningly booked dentist's appointment this coming Friday. I should have flown back North yesterday, but now I will probably not return until Sunday, so I can continue to enjoy my Tim's for a few more days. That said, my trip to the dentist will now hang over me like the Sword of Damocles for the rest of the week, so I suppose it's a bit of a mixed blessing.

Melanie is now safely back in the UK, and I've been entrusted with taking down all the Christmas decorations by myself, always an arduous task. It's always a touch sad to have to 'de-Christmas' the house after all the build-up to the day itself, and you can bet your bottom dollar - or your top one if you like - that I'm going to miss something, and that we'll be finding a surreptitiously hidden snowman or reindeer come Easter. Speaking of Christmas, ours was very good, and involved the usual round of eating and greeting, and public thanks to Tarni and Dave for providing such a feast on Christmas Day.

New Year's Eve was a quiet, 'at home' affair, and I must say that I was most disappointed with the fare offered on TV over here. Nothing to touch Andy Stewart's hogmanay party, and in fact many channels didn't even show anything different to their normal programming. You could very easily have unknowingly ushered in the New Year whilst watching the Sham Wow commercial. Speaking of Sham Wow, I had the privilege of actually using one over the holiday, having anticipated such a day for longer than I care to remember. However, just as in the way that it's often disappointing to meet your heroes, my Sham Wow experience was a bit of a let down. It didn't mop up vast areas of spillage as depicted on screen, and my idea of using miles of Sham Wow as a tsunami defence system looks like it will now have to be shelved.

I hesitate to try Mighty Putty now.

Happy New Year.