Oh, the travesty!

This week the Man’s job requires him to carry a cell phone with him at all times.

*Yes, we know: This is absolutely shocking news.*

(Albeit to him, more so than to you.)

And not only must he keep the cell phone charged and turned on, he’s EXPECTED TO USE IT.
Of course, you reader, must empathize with him. He, who eschews all things technological when he can, being put upon this way. And, this is in addition to a requirement to also use …

wait for it…

a satellite phone and a GPS on frequent occasions.

(The Man would now have me remind you that both have failed when needed and it was only because he had of course, brought his compass that things turned out all right.)

However, now that The Man finds himself not only regularly using a computer and watching old versions of The X-Files on television now and then but also using the (deep breath) C-E-L-L-U-L-A-R phone, and other such atrocities, he’s concerned that this signifies he may next find himself wearing ….

slacks.

Of course, I laughed uproariously when he told me this (as did he) and only later remembered that a garment bearing suspicious similarity to slacks was, in fact, imposed upon him at our wedding and is currently hanging in his closet. (Although, thankfully they aren't quite the same styling as sported by our Rock, Paper, Fist gang above.)

Sorry darling, but your worst fears are being realized.

Next, it might be polyester…

Of insects and wildfires

July has been fairly warm in our locale (Yes V., I'm glad I brought my summer clothes!) and The Man has been keeping busy flitting about the countryside in helicopters, boats and pickup trucks. He took these photos last week while training some firefighters and keeping tabs on the wildfire situation:

(Yes, that IS snow in that last one on the right. The permafrost is pretty close to the surface although it was 27C here the other day, so I can't imagine much snow is now left.)

And closer to the (unburned) ground, here are a few photos snapped while I spent a morning with The Man and a large bottle of DEET. In order of appearance by common name and latin name, respectively: Indian Paintbrush -Castilleja raupii, Northern Labrador Tea -Ledum decumbens, Labrador Lousewort -Pedicularis labradorica, WomanNorth -Dousedindeetum fewbitesum.

I really do need to have a look at YouTube one of these days in order to show you the video associated with this last photo which I clipped from the digital video, if only for the deafening buzz of the hundreds of mosquitos risking imminent squishing by getting fresh with me. In situations like this, I have nothing but good things to say about insect repellants that contain 98% DEET although they have melted little holes in the plastic coating of my binoculars where my fingers rest and I hate putting repellant on my face. I think that concentrations this high are now illegal for current manufactured repellants, and probably for very good health reasons, but we happened to have a few bottles of the old powerful stuff stashed with our gear. The stuff worked well, although the headnets did come out for a little while until the sun climbed a bit higher and the insect numbers dropped in the heat.

Thankfully, the constant winds have been keeping the insect numbers quite tolerable in town so I can leave my mosquito netting at home when I walk to get our mail.

However, a recent walk around this lake

just behind our apartment (and bordering town) was quite tolerable only after patronizing the makers of DeepWoods Off! and downing my mosquito head net.

Adjusting to apartment living...

After performing well for the past week or so since we got our line hooked up, our phone has mysteriously decided to stop working. No dial tone -only loud static.
After fiddling with all the plugs and walking back and forth a few times to local pay phones to test it, as instructed by the phone company, I had to ask for someone to come to our apartment to check the phone line. Although our building is secure, according to the landlord, the outside buzzer doesn't work and so tenants frequently prop the outside door open when expecting visitors. Since I didn't know exactly what time to expect the repair person this morning, I walked downstairs to latch the front door open so that I wouldn't have to spend my morning sitting outside waiting for them to come by.

Walking back up one of our two disgustingly dirty apartment stairwells, I was attacked by not one, but twenty dustbunnies who commonly lie in wait among the dirt and gravel that line the stairs. I barely escaped with clean lungs and a light coating of dust after fighting my way through. I had had enough! Armed with a broom, dustpan and garbage bag, I ventured back to conquor them all. The dirtier it gets, the less people seem to care, thought I (as evidenced by the cigarette butts and miscellaneous garbage that had been growing in number over the past few days.) But I DO!

No sooner had I swept two flights of stairs, thrown out the bag of garbage and dustbunnies and returned triumphant to our apartment to close the door, only to hear the tell-tale sound....of a broom sweeping the stairwell!

Gah!

I went out and spoke with the girl doing the sweeping to ask how often the stairs get swept. "Twice a week", she said brightly.

No. I don't think so. Those bunnies reproduce quickly, but given the size of the population I'd just exterminated, they'd been at it for longer than a week. I explained that I'd just swept, not knowing how often management did so and that the dirt had been driving me crazy. Perhaps she could mop the stairwell instead of resweeping?

She didn't say but instead, inquired rather hopefully as to whether I'd swept the other stairwell too?

140 Years Young

Happy Birthday Canada!

We love you but can't remember much about you...

It seems Canadians are increasingly becoming ignorant of our history (Canadian’s self-knowledge dismal, poll shows) and we’ve been called “civic slackers” by the executive director of the Dominion Institute, which commissioned the poll and is pressing Canada’s citizens and government to take some remedial action. A surprising number of those polled couldn’t name our current prime minister, give the first two lines to our national anthem or name the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as the part of the Constitution that protects the rights and freedoms of Canadians and didn’t know what provinces initially joined confederation in 1867, among other facts that should come easily to Canadian citizens. I agree with the recommendation to make taking a Canadian history course mandatory in high schools across the nation (astoundingly only three provinces require this), or at the very least, make passing a citizenship test mandatory for high school graduation.

So, educate yourself.
Visit the government of Canada’s website for links to all things Canadian, from a Canadian perspective. You could visit the government of Canada’s heritage website and learn such things as how to properly fly our flag, when our flag was first flown what provinces initially joined confederation in 1867 and when the other provinces and territories did so and when the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was signed.

You could browse the CBC’s Canada day website for more links to all things Canadian and special festivities happening today. See the Canada Day live coverage from Parliament Hill, for example.
As for me and The Man, we’re celebrating with homemade pancakes (and yes, maple syrup) and some exploratory cycling around our new hometown.

Happy Canada Day!