The Right Move

I just barely made my flight out of Iqaluit, because I was rushing around trying to buy an ulu. I didn't end up getting one, but managed to just get on my plane. I did, however, learn a valuable lesson about buying things as soon as you see them rather than waiting to find something better.

My flight was fine. I am very dissatisfied with First Air and wish that I had been able to fly Canadian North instead, but I didn't have a choice. My Dad picked me up and drove me to his farm.

I worked all day on Friday doing yardwork at the farm and then got a ride to the airport. Now is the best time to work outside, because it's mild, but the ground isn't muddy and the bugs aren't out yet.

I was very impressed with Air Canada's self-service check-in terminals. I especially liked the seat-chosing feature where you can look at the plane and pick the seat you want. I wanted an aisle seat, but they were all taken so I took a middle seat in the one row that only had two seats. Though it was considered a middle seat, it was in reality an aisle. When I dropped off n itmy bag the agent asked if I was travelling alone and if I would prefer a non-middle seat. I told him what I had done, and he looked it up for himself and said, "Nice choice."

The flight was fine and I was lucky enough to get an airport pick-up.

It turned out that a bad blizzard did hit Iqaluit and that the flights were unable to land and take-off. I made the right decision to leave on Thursday. That doesn't happen often, but it feels good when I do something right.

We All Knew It Was Coming

Just when you think that everything is going according to plan and that everything will work out, then something comes along and kicks you back. Nothing can ever be easy.

I woke up this morning and turned on the computer. The Weather Netowork's Weather Eye program on this computer's taskbar opened up with Iqaluit's weather conditions. The dreaded red bar appeared at the top of the screen: "Winter Storm Watch."

I clicked through and discovered that there are blizzard conditions in Pond Inlet and that they are heading to Iqaluit tomorrow. That means that it is very likely that my flight will be cancelled and I won't be able to make it home for the bachelor party that I'm hosting.

I called Canadian North to see if I could fly with them this evening, but because of the blizzard yesterday the flight is not available. They said that they will fly tomorrow, but then that doesn't help me because the flight will be cancelled as well.

I called First Air and they do have a flight for today. It will cost an unnatural amount of money to switch the ticket as they will not honour the discounted fare and simply switch it. It will cost $651 to switch to today's flight. Nevertheless, I booked it. I'm leaving at 1:45 today and flying into Ottawa. I still have to check the Ottawa/Toronto flights, but will investigate a little later.

The problem too is that I now have to tell the people at the elementary school that I won't be able to teach this afternoon. It might be very difficult to find another supply teacher, but there isn't very much that I can do. I feel horrible about short-changing them, but I will see if they want me for the morning and then head off at 11:45. It is especially painful since I am not only spending all that money, but I'm losing money in lost wages. It doesn't really matter. Money isn't what's important in life and as much as I would like to conserve what little I have, I'm not going to let it overwhelm my life.

Addendum: I discovered that my flight from Toronto was non-refundable, and non-transferable. That means that if I don't take my flight tomorrow, I lose the $90 and have to purchase a ticket for today. The cheapest flight today was $176.67. I decided after the thorough gouging that I'd already endured that I would just spend the night at my father's house. I'll be in Toronto tomorrow evening.

Snowed In

The blizzard hit yesterday at noon. There was no announcement on the radio, so all the kids came back for 1:05 and the school closed at 1:10. I had to call parents to come and pick their children up. I didn't get home until about 2:00 which was fine since I was still paid until 3:40. The kids were very upset about not being able to go swimming, but I was very relieved that I didn't have to fill three hours yesterday afternoon with students who were not happy.

I was scheduled to work today, and they wanted to book me everyday until the middle of next week. I told them that I was heading back to Toronto on Friday (which is true), they booked me until Thursday. I was especially happy to be booked for today because the blizzard was supposed to last until lunchtime. That would mean a morning off with pay.

Indeed, the storm lasted all night and schools were in fact closed for the morning. We were asked to listen to the local radio for opening announcements at 12:00. It's actually beautiful outside and I was all set to go in for the afternoon, but apparently the road crews haven't been out and so the roads are still impassable.

So the announcement has just come on the radio. Everything seems to be reopening this afternoon. Wait...! The schools are closed! I guess they don't want to send the buses out. That means that I'll be paid for the whole day and haven't done anything. Wing Night is going to be extra great today!

Snowy Workday

It's lunchtime. The schools are closed at lunch because all the kids go home. From 12 until 1, most people in town go home for lunch. That means that I get to go home for lunch, too.

I worked yesterday and again today at the elementary school across from my house. I'm teaching a nice class of 31 students. They have a lot of energy but are very nice children. It's an Inuktitut immersion class, but we've been doing everything in English.

This afternoon we're supposed to go to the pool, but a blizzard is developing and most people believe that the schools will be closed this afternoon. I know that my students will be very disappointed, but hopefully they can be rescheduled. I don't really care if school is cancelled or not. I get paid for the full day, but an afternoon at the pool might be fun, and would certainly be a good experience. I'm actually kind of hoping that it will happen. Still, the wind is picking up and the visibility is deteriorating every minute.

It is an absolutely beautiful day. There is bright sunshine and sunglasses are a must. The problem is that it is -29 and there is a 39 km wind blowing from the north and so it feels like -56.

I've been doing a lot of reading these days. Being at my Dad's, waiting for flights, -56 degree weather, and horrific daytime television has meant that I have made time for books.

I got Dan Harrington's "Tournament Hold 'Em: Volume One" for Christmas. It was a perfect gift because Harrington is famous for his conservative style poker and I am not the super-aggressive play garbage and bluff player. I've read Sklansky, and Brunson, but a book by "Action Dan" had to be on my reading list.

I finished the book in January and ordered Volume Two and The Workbook through Amazon.ca. I had it shipped to Iqaluit, and hoped that it would arrive quickly. I waited and waited, but it didn't arrive before my rather sudden departure in mid-February. Naturally, the book arrived a few days after I returned to Toronto.

I wasn't planning on being in Toronto for too long so I told *** to just hold onto it. She did, and we joked that the best way to get me back to Iqaluit was to put the books in the mail. When it looked more and more like we wouldn't see each other until May, we decided that she could ship them.

On the Thursday that I booked my flight, the books had still not arrived. I was leaving on Friday morning, and laughed that I was playing the Snuffalupagus with these poker books. With about 45 minutes to spare before I walked out the door on Friday, the doorbell rang and the books had arrived.

I finished Volume Two in a flash while at my Dad's house. I started The Workbook, and am now about halfway through. I have found the books to be invaluable. The Workbook, especially, is a great tool. It presents 50 hands, and you have to choose the play that you would make if you were in that situation. You play with players like Ivey, Harmon, and Hellmuth and Harrington rates your play based on your choices. What I really like about it is that the decisions that the players make aren't necessarily "the right answers" and not necessarily that which we have learned throughout the first two volumes. At the end, you tally up your score and you can evaluate your play and discover some of the situations that are your strengths and weaknesses.

When I finish that, I'll be back into The Kite Runner, which could possibly be the perfect opposite to my current read.

Iqaluit Bound

I spent the weekend at my Dad's house. I used my Via Preference points to buy my train ticket. This was my first time redeeming points for a free anything. The train ride was fine and all the sweeter because it was free.

The weekend wasn't very exciting. My father was hoping that we could take care of outdoor jobs, but it was cold and snowy all weekend. It felt like a real waste to me, but I think that my Dad was just happy to have some company. He was fasting on Sunday, so we couldn't do a lot since he had to stick pretty close to home because of the medication he had to take. His appointment on Monday was just routine and nothing to worry about.

I was planning to take the bus to Ottawa on Tuesday morning, but my Dad offered to drive me. I thought that that was a great idea, because it would allow me to take more stuff with me. Flights to the north allow you to check two 70lb bags. It makes no sense to me to take any less than that since everything is 2-3 times the price in the north. If I can save $300, then that reduces the price of my ticket.

Since my Dad had to work at 9:00, we had to leave his house at 5:30 in the morning. I was up at 5:00. I showered, let the dog out, loaded the car and had it warmed up by 5:45. My Dad slept in a little late so we didn't get out of the house until 5:50. The roads we icy so I found the drive a little stressful. The roads were dry by the time we hit the 417 in Ottawa.

My Dad dropped me off and I checked in. There is an understanding among those living in the north that luggage is always filled to the brim with supplies and is very heavy. I thought that there was an understanding that overweight bags are ignored. When I put my 90lb
bag down, the agent choked and told me that my bag was overweight. She would have to charge me a $53 fee. I wasn't angry, but just said, "If you have to charge me then you have to charge me." I put my other bag on the belt and it too was overweight, but only 5 lbs. Still, she charged me another $53. I paid the fee, but realized as I was waiting in the security screening queue that I should have transferred stuff from the one bag into the other so that I could have one underweight, and one way overweight. I kicked myself for wasting that $53.

When I got to the gate, I waited. I had been worrying about whether or not we would be able to land in Iqaluit. As early as Saturday, a blizzard had been forecast for Monday and Tuesday. I was relieved to see that the First Air flight was on time. I waited until my boarding call at 8:30. By 9:05, our plane was still not boarding. People all around me had been on the phone to friends in Iqaluit and were all speculating about the weather and the flight. At 9:30, the flight was cancelled.

Initially, I was excited about being able to save at least my $53, but was totally bummed out about the flight being cancelled. I noticed that the other flight to Iqaluit on Canadian North was not cancelled but was delayed three hours. That made a lot of sense since everything that I'd heard was that the blizzard was supposed to blow through in the afternoon. I decided that instead of waiting for the notoriously slow baggage carousel at the Ottawa airport, I would head to the Canadian North ticket desk.

I expected a huge queue of First Air passengers to be waiting, but I walked right up to the counter and asked if I could switch my now cancelled First Air flight over to the delayed Canadian North flight. They said that that would be fine, but that they were unsure as to whether or not the flight would also be cancelled: "Come back at 10:00."

I went over to the First Air desk and got my $106 back. At the very least, I did get that money back, and regardless of whether or not the plane left, I would have a huge inconvenience, but it was going to cost me significantly less than 106 bucks, or even the $53 that I would pay for one overweight bag. The funniest thing about it is that the food and drinks inside were still going to be a steal even with the $106 fee.

I hung around and made a few trips to the carousel, but still no baggage. At 10:00, the the CN agents said, "We're not sure. Come back at 10:30." I made a few more trips to check for my luggage.

At 10:30, the decision was again pushed back, this time to 12:00. I was encouraged as no news was probably good news. Eventually, my luggage did arrive and I loaded it onto a cart. I realized that I was hungry and got a BLT and some oatmeal-raisin cookies and a bottle of water from Tim Hortons.

I made sure to wash my hands as the cart handle was likely full of bacteria. The cart rolled nicely into the washroom which shouldn't have surprised me but did. They had this nice foaming soap.

I rolled my cart back to the seats near the Canadian North ticket desk and ate my sandwich. It wasn't bad, but the tomatoes were flavourless. I hate tomatoes in the winter.

I unpacked my smaller bag and loaded what I thought was about 12 pounds into my larger bag. I sat down proudly. I read my book for a while and revelled in the extra 53 bucks in my pocket.

The ticket agents were on the phone almost constantly, and a few people approached the desk. I became increasingly nervous that even if the plane did take-off that I wouldn't get a seat. At about 11:35, the flight was confirmed and was scheduled to leave at 1:15. I booked my ticket, but was, indeed, put on the standby list. There were 55 seats, and 51 confirmed passengers. I was just going to have to wait.

I loaded my now 100+ pound bag onto the belt. The agent put a tag onto the handle and slapped a "Standby" sticker onto it. Off it went down to the conveyor belt into the mystical underworkings of the airport. I put my second bag on, but because it was a box and not luggage (it contained a microwave filled with 4 bottles of cranberry juice which incidentally costs $11.99 a bottle here) I had to take it to special baggage security.

My mother was intensely honest, and, sometimes sadly, she gave that to me. I said to the agent, "These bags are heavy." He replied, "Don't say that loudly. Do you want me to charge you?" I said no, satisfied that he understood the situation and that I wasn't trying to rip them off. I hate it when people think that I'm dishonest. Sure, I was being dishonest by not paying for the overweight bag, but it wasn't like I was trying to get away with anything.

My microwave and box cleared security and I headed back down to security and, as before, I was asked to open my bag. They looked a second time at my camera, but this time confiscated my half a bottle of water. I had forgotten all about it, and felt like a fool for passing dozens of "No liquids" signs and not remembering that I had bought water with my breakfast/lunch. The lady was nice about it.

I went to my gate and read. I was more an more nervous as 12:45 approached and they hadn't asked for standby passengers to come to the desk. I probably should have gone up and said something, but decided that I didn't want to be a pain in their side. They'd had a rough day, too, and I figured that they weren't going to be too happy about being there four hours late. I decided that pestering them wasn't the best way to get a seat.

They preboarded, and then boarded the first rows. I stood up nervously to see what was happening at the desk. The woman who had seen me hanging around her desk all morning called my name and told me that my boarding pass was at the desk. I made a quick call to Iqaluit and then I was on the plane.

I was so relieved to actually be on the plane. I knew that it wasn't up in the air since we hadn't landed. The plan was to attempt a landing and then if it couldn't be done, we'd fly to Kujjuaaq, refuel, and then fly back to Ottawa. I figured that the chances of landing were better than sitting around doing nothing, and that even if I ended up back in Ottawa, at least I'd had some time to read a book, have some food, and some complimentary beverages. Hey, it would be an adventure!

They served us a choice between a hot or a cold breakfast which I thought was pretty funny. I decided that I wanted a drink so I had a beer for dessert. I felt a little bad about it, but I had found the whole thing very stressful.

The flight was relatively noneventful. The premier, Paul Okalik, sat in front of me and across the aisle. He seemed very nice and read a newspaper for most of the flight.

We landed without incident. It was -22 with a 40 km wind from the north. The walk across the tarmac was a real shock to the system. I ran with shorts the previous weekend!

Tonight is Wing Night, so we're going to the bar for drinks. It will be nice to see everyone again.

Last Minute

It has been a busy week. The house is on the market and I've been doing all the last minute things to get ready for the showings. Some of those jobs have been:

-chipping the snow and ice around the house.
-cleaning the back deck.
-raking the front yard.
-picking up a winter's worth of outside garbage that melted snow has revealed.
-cleaning eavestroughs.
-cutting up fallen branches.
-painting the basement bathroom.
-painting the main bathroom.
-cleaning the house.
-mopping all the floors.
-painting door jambs.

I think that despite the problems, the house looks pretty good. I hope that the work that I've done will make a difference and that it will sell quickly.

Yesterday was particularly nuts because I woke up late and decided that the best way to start my day was to play a game of Railway Tycoon. It was a dumb move considering how much stuff I had to do, but I did it anyway. I actually considered starting today off the same way, but decided that blogging was a much better use of my time.

I had noticed that fares to Iqaluit had been dropped for two days and I forwarded the email on to my girlfriend. At about 12:30 yesterday, she asked, "What are you doing now that the house is ready?" I thought about it and decided that there was no reason for me not to take advantage of the half-price fare and go back to the Arctic.

I am going to my father's house this weekend. He needed someone to drive him home from the hospital after a colonoscopy. I told him that I would. I realized that being there would save me having to take a flight from Toronto to Ottawa and so I've decided to head north on Tuesday morning. I won't be back until the 30th.

I booked a train using my Via Preference points and will be heading out of Toronto at 5:30. I won't be blogging for the weekend, but will try to blog while I'm in Iqaluit. After being sick and tired of being bored and tired, I'm excited about being back in the Arctic and know that it's going to be a rough weekend of waiting.

Monday Comedy

I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I went to a comedy show last night. Some of the acts were quite good and some were quite bad.

The memorable lines were few and far between, actually, but one was: "I work at the Hockey Hall of Fame and there you see a lot of people buying jersey's for the people they hate."

I much preferred the first half of the show because we were standing at the back. During intermission, some people left and we moved to a table at the very front. I kept feeling obliged to laugh even when it wasn't funny just because I felt guilty and because I didn't want them to start making fun of me. I felt quite vulnerable up at the front without the protection of a table in front of me, and the second half, for me, had an undercurrent of imminent attack.

What concerned me the most was that one of the comdians had the same first name as me and wore exactly the same shoes as I do. It also concerns me that I noticed such a thing.

Running Around Going Nowhere

This morning, I had to buy some plaster. I decided to go over to the Home Hardware on Bloor. I headed out the door and got to the corner before I remembered that I had to return a hard drive. I accidentally bought a SATA drive instead of an IDE drive. Anyway, I decided to return it to one of the sketchy computer shops on College Street and that I could go over to the Home Hardware down there instead. I went back inside, grabbed the drive and headed out.

During my walk, I made plans to run with a friend. When I got to the Home Hardware I discovered that it was closed. It's closed on Sundays. I cursed organized religion and chuckled in disgust that my attempt to save time was now going to cost me not only more time but also more effort. I would have to now go to the Home Hardware on Bloor which is the place that I should have gone in the first place.

I tried to make the best of it and went to the computer store. I managed to return my hard drive but because I bought it more than 7 days ago I could only get store credit. Apart from the fact that I now had to spend money, I wasn't that upset because I could buy some RAM. I wasn't sure exactly what kind of memory I have so I decided that the prudent move would be to go back home, check the memory that I have, and then return to get the right kind. I headed home a little miffed knowing that I would only have to return.

I had to meet my friend for our run. When I got home, I checked the memory and wrote it down on a piece of scrap paper. I put it into the pocket of my running jacket along with my credit card, credit note, tuque, and house key.

I went for a long run (12.5 km), and when I ended up on College, I decided to head back to the computer shop. I managed to pass another Home Hardware, but it, too, was closed. No matter; I knew that the place on Bloor would be open.

I ran to Spadina and bought my RAM. I headed north to Bloor and over to get my plaster. I got to the door, pulled, and nothing. They are closed on Sundays. I gave up on my plan to plaster today. It's just as well since I hate it so much.

I ran back home. I installed my RAM and had a lot of trouble putting it in. You really have to push very hard in order to get it into the slot properly. I've always believed that you shouldn't force things like that, but you really have to in order for it to click in. It worked and I do notice a difference in performance.

I remembered that I had put in a load of laundry in the dryer last night, and I headed down to the basement. What do I see in the corner? A large tub of pre-mixed plaster. After all the running around trying every Home Hardware in the neighbourhood, I had what I needed all along. I'm not sure if that makes me lucky, or just stupid.

Yesterday was the end of a huge job. I painted for four hours on Wednesday morning and then headed to Discount Truck Rental to pick up a 16 foot moving van. When I returned home, I immediately began filling it with all the junk in the basement and throughout the house. Though many would argue that plenty junk remains in this house, I was satisfied when the basement was empty and the van was full.

I drove to my father's house and then went straight to bed. The next morning was very cold and I had a hard time getting started since it was 7:30 in the morning and I had a 16 foot cube van full of garbage and furniture most of which was surprisingly heavy. Through my own stubborn determination, I emptied the truck and put everything away.

I headed to my Dad's office for an appointment and was then on my way back along the 401. At one point I was behind a beer truck. There was a glass of beer painted on the back and I marvelled at the ridiculous name written above: "The Beer Store."

Why and how did the Ontario government decide to name the place that sells beer "The Beer Store"? I suppose that it is the simplest name, and the name that avoids confusion, but it struck me as quite odd that of all the names and all the creative people in the world that this is the best that they could come up with.

When I was a kid, it was called Brewers Retail, but along the way of me reaching the age of majority the name was changed to The Beer Store. I think that "Brewers Retail" is a much classier name than "The Beer Store" despite what some people say about the power of branding.

As I was driving along I started thinking about why they might have changed the name. Was is because people were too stupid to know that beer is brewed and that the people who brew beer are brewers? Was it because most people called it the beer store (i.e. "I'm heading down to the beer store. Do you need anything?") and in an effort to dumb the world down they decided to change to their everyman name?

I wondered if it had anything to do with the apostrophe. www.thebeerstore.com refers to their name historically as Brewers Retail. It seems to me that that is spelled incorrectly. My knowledge of the possessive tells me that for a singular noun the apostrophe comes after the word and an "s" is added (brewer's). Similarly, in a plural noun, the apostrophe also comes at the end of the word with an "s" added and though not incorrect to include the second "s", it is more appropriately removed (brewers').

According to the history, the brewers of Ontario created the Brewers Warehousing Company Limited. It would seem to me that this was a collection of brewers, hence making it plural because there was more than one brewer. Should not the name Brewers Warehousing Company Limited have an apostrophe becuase the warehousing company belongs to them? Should it not, therefore, be spelled "Brewers' Warehousing Company Limited"?

Because Brewers Retail is the name of a company that distributes the beer of various brewers in Ontario, shouldn't the name be spelled, "Brewers' Retail"?

I thought about the name Tim Horton and thought about how I would spell the doughnut franchise. Tim Horton was a player on the Toronto Maple Leafs (aka: "The Leaves") and he opened up a doughnut shop in Hamilton in 1964. Because it was his, it should have been called, "Tim Horton's Doughnuts." The spelling of the franchise should be Tim Horton's. Nevertheless, their website only refers to itself as Tim Hortons.

I've uncovered a few interesting sites addressing this problem. Wikipedia has a note that states, "Note that the name "Tim Hortons" has been officially written without an apostrophe since at least the mid-1990s. However, some older locations retain signage with the spelling "Tim Horton's"." A BBC article has a note: "Tim's started out its existence as Tim Horton's. The apostrophe was lost to the language legislation in the Province of Quebec: unless a business name is simply a personal name, in Quebec the signage has to be translated into French: Tim Horton's Donuts would have to become Les donuts de Tim Horton. Rather than producing entirely new signage for the Quebec market, Tim Horton's became Tim Hortons from coast to coast to coast."

Consider the following sentences:

a) Tim Horton's hot breakfast sandwich is delicious.
b) Tim Hortons' hot breakfast sandwich is delicious.
c) Tim Hortons hot breakfast sandwich is delicious.

Which is correct and why? It's no wonder that people have difficulty learning and using English.

There is a petition here to have an apostrophe added.

Note: As I was driving along the highway and considering the use of the apostrophe, I laughed at the irony of me creating a blog post on the correct use of a grammatical device since my blog is so riddled with grammatical errors. This post no doubt includes ending a sentence with a preposition, the improper use of quotation marks, incorrect comma placement, and capitalization errors, just to name a few.

Burned Bridge

Well, I'm supposed to be on the train right now heading towards an interview. Instead, I'm blogging. The simple reason is distance.

Mapquest directions said 43 minutes which we all know in Toronto is much more than that because of traffic; especially rushhour traffic. The plan was this:

1) Walk or take the streetcar to the Bloor line. Transfer at St-George or Yonge and head to Union Station (estimated travel time: 20 minutes).

2) Catch the GO Train west towards Guelph and get off at Bramalea GO Station (travel time: 34 minutes).

3) Catch the GO Bus to Mount Pleasant GO Station. (wait time: 6 minutes, travel time: 35 minutes).

4) Catch the Brampton Transit bus (wait time: mad dash, travel time: 16 minutes).

So the commute, if I made every connection, would be 111 minutes. That's just to get there. A commute is never one way, so I would be spending roughly 4 hours of my day on buses and trains. That doesn't make sense.

There is also the reason why I want the job: quite simply, it would be a notch on my resume. That's not a reason to take a job and be miserable as a result. If I want to pad my resume, I might as well go back to Iqaluit and supply teach. At least then I would be happy. Supply teaching in the Arctic is much more impressive on a resume than a job in Brampton. There's nothing on a resume that can express that you sacrificed more than 20 hours a week getting to and from work anyway.

I shaved off my beard this afternoon. A case of boredom, I suppose. You know when Homer shaves on the Simpsons and his face is clear and then a few seconds later his beard fills in. I look a lot like that and it's hard to get used to.

I have an interview in Brampton tomorrow morning and will have to brave public transport to get there. I'm estimating at least a two-hour journey which makes accepting the job an impossibility since not even I would consider a four-hour per day commute. Carpooling might be an option. There is the chance that I could get my car back, but that's still a long way to go every morning. I'll have to suss it out and see what happens.

I'm also renting a 16' cube van tomorrow so that I can clean all the garbage and unused furniture out of here. It will be a busy day, but hopefully a good one.

It has been quite a while since my last post and there really isn't any explanation for it. I just didn't feel like it.

It was my birthday on Friday. People came over on Saturday. I was hungover today.

There isn't much else to say, but I will try to post more frequently.