| (no subject) |
[May. 3rd, 2006|12:14 am] |
Finally I have a home to settle in (for god knows how long).
Two weeks ago, I arrived in Fort Providence--after a journey through Fort Liard-->Fort Nelson-->Fort St. John-->Edmonton-->Yellowknife.
So the manager's wife (Jen), the associate's wife (Tina) and I left Liard on Easter Saturday for Fort Nelson. The highway from there was crap (there was only one set of tire ruts and it snowed the day before). We arrived in relatively dry Fort Nelson where I stayed overnight at the Travelodge. Before the hotel, we had lunch at the Boston Pizza there. The service was meh-tacular, they gave a dirty kettle to Tina, they forgot Jen's appetizer, service was slow, et cetera.
The sunday was kind of un-eventful. Flying out from Fort Nelson. Had to land in Fort St. John to pick up passengers and go through security there. Landed in Edmonton and got to my hotel (the Nisku Inn) in time to watch Simpsons, Family Guy, nothing else.
Left the hotel at 6:30am for my 8am flight to Yellowknife. I get kind of lost in the airport (trying to find the security thing). Get into line and I beep. (I beep usually for my belt buckle, though it sometimes won't beep---at PIA, North Bay, Prince George). Security does the wand thing, it beeps at the normal spot. But then she goes down to my Lugz (I didn't feel like squishing them into my suitcase) and they beep (the frickin' little logo on the side). Finally, I go and wait at the gate.
The ride to Yellowknife was ok, I got a whole row to myself and hot breakfast that was free (and the opportunity for hot towels--I passed). Now, when I got to Yellowknife, the manager here in Fort Providence was unsure of how I was going to get to there--the night before the guy that was supposed to pick me up at the airport was drunk...so I stayed for the day in the Yellowknife Inn and watched Maury. Someone picked me up at the hotel and we drove the 4 hours to Fort Providence seeing only one bison.
So I am here in my new home. And I have high-speed internet. Although it is $60/month, it beats stupid dial-up.
Also, in June, I am going home for a few days. I was talking to mom about getting a used SUV in Calgary when she told me that I could take the minivan with me. So in June, I pick up the minivan and drive it through maybe half a dozen states and a smattering of provinces...I know somewhat of my own itinerary;
one night in Chicago
one night in Minneapolis*
one night in Winnipeg
two nights in Edmonton (to see what this West Edmonton Mall is like)
*I have no idea how long a drive it is from Chicago to Winnipeg.
I figure the drive from Winnipeg to Edmonton is about 11 hours, maybe quicker and supposedly Edmonton is a nine hour drive from here.
I also got back $2000 for tax refund...hooray for Northern Allowance zone A ($7.50/day credit) |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 14th, 2006|04:18 pm] |
Well, another adventure for me coming up.
I was going to leave Liard here on Thursday but the ice bridge near Ft. Simpson pretty much is closed (and the ferry is not open because of the ice in the river). So I get to have a drive down to Fort Nelson and stay overnight. Afterwards, I fly out to Edmonton (with a stopover in Fort. St. John). After overnighting in Edmonton, I fly to Yellowknife where someone will pick me up and drive me the few hours to my new home. I hear in Fort Providence, I can have faster internet of broadband proportions..... |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 1st, 2006|12:13 am] |
Yes, so I survived five weeks of the BC interior....
I left Stony on a Friday nightto stay for a couple of days in Saskatoon. When I got to the airport, I got into my rental car, a red Pontiac Grand-Am. The doors and windows were frozen shut save forthe driver's door and the trunk. So everything is squished in there, the windows were all iced up, et cetera but the hotel was really nice and I drank much booze.
After that, I left for Vancouver on a Sunday afternoon on a WestJet...jet but with no tvs. Arrived in Vancouver where it was naturally, raining and when we landed, the jet kind of slidded to the right and then corrected itself. After an hour there, I flew in another WestJet to Prince George (I saw the Family Guy episode where....oh jeez, I forget---no, now I remember, it involved James Woods).
On Monday morning, I flew to Fort Ware, about 2 hours north of Prince George in a small Grand Caravan plane. Fort Ware is about 400 people. Its a nice community and thus I survived there for five weeks.
After five weeks, I flew to Prince George again for a couple of days. Prince George is like a mountainy North Bay with a casino and yellow cabs. But it had this pancake place with pancakes the size of dinner plates (I think it was like Old Dutch or DeDutch or something Dutch). This place > Golden Griddle Pancakes. After that, I flew to Fort Nelson to do relief managing in Fort Liard (where I am now). Fort Liard is about 20-30km north of the border to BC, thus it is North of 60 (60'15"). Its about 600 and these people have money, because of OIL. Its a nice town where Bison roam. They also leave cantaloupe sized packages around and love to rub there backs on the corners of houses.
Just before Easter, I'll be moving semi-permanently to Fort Providence, about a 6 hours drive northeast of here, probably going through Fort Simpson to there. Providence I think is the same size as here and is only a few hours from Yellowknife and the border to Alberta. Hopefully, while there, I get my T-4 sent to the government. I also figure I might get at least $1000 from the government for Northern Allowance (if you live in a certain part of Canada, you get $7.50/day). Maybe with a semi-good refund, I could put a down payment on a truck (there's cars up here, but if I have to, say, go back to Northern Saskatchewan, a car wouldn't make it north of La Ronge). |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 26th, 2006|11:42 pm] |
Yes, I finally have internet.
After 5 weeks of no internet in Northern BC, I come to North of 60 (about 30 clicks north of the border to BC) and have internet.
I survived 5 weeks there, including flying in an eight-seater plane, two nights in Prince George, a flight to Fort Nelson, BC and now up here. But Ft. Liard is a nice quiet spot...it has everything, magazines, cell phones and AUTOMOBILES!!!
Well now, time to hit the ol' dusty trail, |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 22nd, 2006|10:41 pm] |
Well, I'm moving again....
Around Valentine's Day or so I travel in at least four airplanes from here in Stony Rapids, SK down to Saskatoon and then from Saskatoon to Vancouver (probably with layovers in Calgary or Edmonton) and then from Vancouver to Prince George BC. From Prince George I'll be in a small airplane to a place called Fort Ware somewhere amongst the mountains (the nearest town is Mackenzie or Fort St. John). I'll be there doing relief managing for four weeks. After that I have a new semi-permanent home in the NWT. I'll be living about a two hour drive from Yellowknife at Fort Providence. I have no idea how long I'll be there for but there's bison living on the front lawn (how long until I create a stampede and get mentioned on CBC?)
Crap, I hate packing up and both places are a 5-10 minute walk from the hosue to the store (though Fort Ware has a company quad and I do have my ski-doo/atv helmet).
Hurrah! |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 1st, 2005|05:44 pm] |
I'm MOVING!!!!!!!
Well...only 20km away from where I am...to Stony Rapids. I am also being promoted to "Associate" which potentially means more money.
All I know about Stony Rapids is that it is a hamlet/northern hamlet, its slogan is "North of 59", it is legal to drink and have booze there, its a mix of white and Dene people. I'll be living in a house on top of a hill (which means that I'll probably fall down that stupid hill many times). The store itself is helluva lot smaller then the store I am currently at---though I won't have to suffer through welfare day and child tax day (when the line ups are crazy and everything).
But at least I'm not too far away from my manager (his wife's parents will live down the street from me which is cool).
I have to move out by Monday.... |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 28th, 2005|11:27 pm] |
Curse Sasktel and their immensely slow dial-up!!! Oh why can't I leech off the company's DSL satellite interweb thingy!!!
Other than that, it's been mildly cold lately, the lake's frozen (maybe I'll walk on it or something) and the elders are getting ready with their traplines and the dogsleds. People are ordering snowmobiles and such. Soon it'll be too cold for snow (last Christmas, it was -40C) and last monday it was -28C when I left for work in the morning (it warmed to -23C).
And tomorrow is Welfare Day!!!! Hooray!!! |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 6th, 2005|12:12 am] |
Hooray, its snowing out and so forth!
But its only a small dusting out (the first snowfall on the ground was a couple weeks ago and it melted by the afternoon, like today).
And I haven't updated in awhile, I know.... Hopefully I might be promoted to associate (basically same pay but I get bonuses---of the XMAS kind)!!! |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 12th, 2005|12:18 am] |
So, I figure (and I know this is super early) that in August, I'll get my three weeks paid vacation. While in Toronto, I might (probably, hopefully) purchase a vehicle (an SUV or pick-up) to drive back up north (there is a highway 905 that connects up here to La Ronge and the rest of civilization). Now there are two options--one is to go through Northern Ontario which is nicer but might (or might not) take lownger than going through the states on the interstate system thingy up to Manitoba.
My mom is pretty warm to the idea (I'd be the only northerner with Ontario license plates with a Saskatchewan driver's license) and might (or might not) help me finance the vehicle. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 28th, 2005|08:43 am] |
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My stars its going to snow tonight--5 to 10 centimetres (maybe 15) before it all melts. |
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I was tagged (last week) via ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) blue_toed_angel for random 20 facts or 20 random facts or.. |
[Sep. 11th, 2005|11:56 pm] |
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( 20 facts ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 23rd, 2005|01:49 pm] |
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Hooray, I get to be torned apart from people at Head Office as they have a tour of our dinky store.... |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 4th, 2005|10:20 am] |
Well, the district manager came to the store last week and told me a few things.
I am going to relieve my manager when he goes on vacation for three weeks (well, he's going to Prince Albert for a few days, but other than that, he'll be a 24 second walk from the store if I need him).
This means that I get paid an extra $150/wk.
I am also soon going to be promoted from a CSR to an associate. Basically, I am the official asst. manager for the store (not bad in two months of working). No one else knows this in the store. When the manager comes back for vacation, I get to relief another manager (this will be sometime in October). It could be of any other 9 stores the district manager covers: Fort Vermilion, Fort Chipewyan, Fond du Lac, Stony Rapids, Fort Ware, Fort Liard, Fort Resolution, Fort St. James, Fort Rae, Fort this, Fort that. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 26th, 2005|12:06 am] |
I think winter's a-comin' up here...with the temperature rarely going above 20C for the past two weeks.... (sorry to rub it in people in Ontario/eastern Seaboard/midwest states). Perhaps by September, I can wear my parka and beaver mitt gloves and fall in snow (and get another concussion).
But the good news is, is that I get paid on Wednesday (and I did 50 hours last week--of sitting on my bum) and this week is welfare day.
And now to harass some grape flavoured kool-aid and hit the ol' dusty trail |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 20th, 2005|11:19 pm] |
Holy flurking schnit, I haven't updated in almost a month.
I have a new roommate, John from Newferland. He's a few months younger than me and is pretty cool.
I ordered DVDs of Monty Python (the whole series)--stupid slow Canada Post Priority...
And now to sleep and hiccup and burp. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 22nd, 2005|08:38 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | CBC and a thunderstorm | ] |
Yes, so I made it up to the sub-arctic Saskatchewan.
I left home at 6:15am and got to Pearson before 7 and waited in line to have my bag checked. My mom, sister and brother stayed with me until I got through security at 7:30 (and I went through fine--they checked my laptop). At 8:30am, I got on the plane to Saskatoon (an A319) and we left just before 9 (the plane was half full). I saw The National and Frasier on the plane and we landed in Saskatoon 20 minutes earlier (around 10am Saskatoon time). So for four hours I was in Saskatoon. I got my Saskatchewan DL while waiting for my next plane. At 2pm, they started boarding on my plane, four people total, including me (plus two pilots). The plane was cramped and small and scary and yet I survived landing in Prince Albert, La Ronge and then Stony Rapids where I got off. My ears were blocked for a day when I landed.
When I landed, my boss (Wes) met me. We saw the Northern in Stony Rapids (the size of a small variety store) and I met the manager there (Rick) and his girlfriend. We went to the local restaurant where everything was over $10. Then we drove the 15 minutes on the "paved" road to Black Lake where the streets are all dirt but not mud like. The store is pretty small and the food is expensive. A four litre jug is $7.75, a 2 litre tub of Breyers is $10 and bananas are $5 a kilo. The people up here are pretty friendly and laid back. The older people speak Dene and most are bilingual. The only thing crappy is using dial-up for my internet needs but at least I get $200/wk allowance for my food (I couldn't survive on $40 a week here). |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 22nd, 2005|09:43 am] |
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Hooray, I survived the planes--especially on the 30 year old nine seater while flying through two thunderstorms! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 9th, 2005|05:29 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  rushed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Bronson, Missouri! | ] |
Firstly, Happy Birthday to su_carbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I talked to the Saskatchewan MTO place about my license. Luckily, I can keep my G2 equivalent into whatever Saskatchewan has.
Then I talked to my new manager who seems nice and laid back. He's originally from Newfoundland and joked about me living from Toronto up to this small town of 1200. I get to have a four bedroom house to myself with my own bathroom and laundry room! Milk up there is $8/litre and pop in a 12 case is $9! (In Toronto they're about $4 for a 4 litre bag and the same price for a twelve case of pop). Oh, and I get my own BBQ, but how the hell do I work a propane tank.
This also means I won't have internet for awhile...I have to get a modem for my dial-up technology.
My itinerary tomorrow makes me leave Toronto at 8:55am (Toronto time) and I arrive in Saskatoon at 10:37am Saskatoon Time (2 hours behind Toronto). I get to have a fun, delicious four hour layover in Saskatoon and then at 2:45pm, I fly out and land in Prince Albert (in a Can) and La Ronge before arriving in Stony Rapids at 5:50pm where I am picked up by the store manager.
And now to pack |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 6th, 2005|06:15 pm] |
Its too stupidly hot outside
Stupid summer, can't it just be spring-esque and 15C |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 1st, 2005|01:13 pm] |
Well, I am leaving next Friday for Black Lake...I got my itinerary from the company.
I fly to Saskatoon at 8:55am and arrive around 10:30am (I assume its Central Time...curse you Sir Sanford Fleming!!!!) And for four hours, I have to be in Saskatoon (is there anything to do in that city?) At 2:45pm I transfer to fly to Stony Rapids and arrive at 5:50pm, landing in Prince Albert and then La Ronge. The cost that the company pays (or reimburses)--$760 one way--cripes! |
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