Weather: - 18 and cloudy
Sunrise – Some time in January, I’m told
Sunset – Some time in September, I’m told

There is very little wind here. Where I come from the wind is an ever-present force, constantly opposing your every effort. It dries your skin, makes your eyes tear, howls at your ears, opposes your motion, and generally aggravates you. There is none of that here. The air is almost always calm. Sometimes there is a breeze, but it is always very gentle. It’s a good thing too, at 40 below even a slight breeze slices into you like a Samurai’s sword.

We got the keys to the house today. We put what little we had brought with us in there. Lorie is pretty happy to have access to a washer and dryer again. She has been doing laundry by hand in the sink at the hotel for the last two weeks. A real pioneer, that one!

The house smells new, like fresh wood. The carpets and kitchen cabinets are all new, so are the appliances. That makes both of happy because now we don’t have to wonder who’s lived there before us and what kinds of messes have been made in there.

Because we spent most of the evening putting stuff in the house, we decided to get takeout for dinner. Given the amount of takeout we ate coming across Canada, I thought it was entirely too soon to eat out again, but laziness prevailed and we got some junk food at a local diner. I had a three piece chicken and chips ($12) and Lorie had a cheeseburger ($6) and a plate of chips ($5). The total came to $23. I have to say that one nice thing about the pricing up here is the fact that most prices include GST. The cost you see on the menu is the final cost. It’s very convenient like that.

Starting next Wednesday the government shuts down on its annual mandatory layoff. I will finish work on Wednesday and not have to go back till January 3, 2006. Those days are unpaid leave days, with the exception of Christmas day, Boxing day, and New Years day, which are all paid stat holidays. It’s a nice break, I suppose, and had we been here for a while and had the cash, we would add another week or so to it and fly home for Christmas. That will likely be the plan for next year, I’m sure.

Lorie visited the thriving metropolis of Tsiigehtchic (population 150) today. She spent a few hours looking at their water treatment plant before heading back to Inuvik. Although she hasn’t started work yet, she took the opportunity to visit the town with a future co-worker. She was happy to have the opportunity to travel a little.

In the comments section of the last entry, Arup asks “How do they distribute beer, wine and liquor up north”? Why, a liquor store, of course! Although they don’t put the same effort into making the liquor store look pretty like they do in the south, it probably just as well stocked. And there’s only one in town. In the smaller communities there are no liquor stores and individuals have to fly it in. With the freight costs being so high, that makes a drink pretty expensive. Some communities also require importers to have permits, which can be pretty expensive too. But there’s a liquor store here, and that’s good for me!

The weather is supposed to get really nice this weekend - clear and minus eight degrees. That’ll be a real treat. I am used to the weather getting poor just in time for the weekends, but it seems to be the opposite here. Another positive! Now if we could just find toilet paper for under two dollars a roll, we’d have it made!

Cheers!