Won't be burning wood next year...
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Oh my. That looks....cold. Really, really cold.
Good luck with your new adventure (same job as the old job, or a new job?). It should be a cool experience for the whole family.
Good luck with your new adventure (same job as the old job, or a new job?). It should be a cool experience for the whole family.
velvetfoot
Minister of Fire
Yeah, it sure will be. Last week I had to write a personality exam: MMPI-2. I have written it before. Quite the test: 567 true/false questions. "I want to be a florist", "I like to fix door handles" , "I hear voices that nobody else hears", "I am happy with my sex life", etc etc.
Thanks Jags! The entire family is excited. My wife is the most out of all of us. New job: team leader for a team of 6 employees. Nights, days and weekends. I like the rotation though: 5-4, 5-4, 6-4 (5 shifts, 4 days off). I always have 4 days off which is nice.
And yes, it will be cool. Once winter arrives everywhere it's not so bad. They are forecasting -19C to -22C for daytime temperatures this week. The difference: it starts earlier. Last Halloween it was -20C.
Andrew
jharkin
Minister of Fire
Wow Andrew, that is quite the trip. Are you still with the RCMP, are they the ones sending you up that way?
Out of curiosity will you be moving back to your house in Quebec after this rotation, or will they then send you someplace else?
Lots of pictures and updates please. The trip out there alone will be something to see.
Out of curiosity will you be moving back to your house in Quebec after this rotation, or will they then send you someplace else?
Lots of pictures and updates please. The trip out there alone will be something to see.
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Hey Jeremy,
Yes, I am moving with the RCMP (nothing to hide!). However, it is no longer the 1940s. In order to move, you must request a transfer. They pay for the entire move so a transfer is based on available funding, realeasability (from your province if you want to move to another province) and the needs of the RCMP (priorities for HR). I was pushing for this town for many reasons: I think it is a wonderful work experience for myself and an AWESOME life/cultural experience for myself and for my family. To note: my wife is actually more excited than I am...haha!
I signed a document indicating that I am aware that a rotation in the NWT is 5 years. After that they attempt to accommodate you in a post to the southern part of the country if you wish to leave the North. When leaving the North, you give them 3 geographical locations of your choice and they work to find a suitable posting.
There will be LOTS of pictures. I am thinking about creating a blog about the entire experience.
A
Yes, I am moving with the RCMP (nothing to hide!). However, it is no longer the 1940s. In order to move, you must request a transfer. They pay for the entire move so a transfer is based on available funding, realeasability (from your province if you want to move to another province) and the needs of the RCMP (priorities for HR). I was pushing for this town for many reasons: I think it is a wonderful work experience for myself and an AWESOME life/cultural experience for myself and for my family. To note: my wife is actually more excited than I am...haha!
I signed a document indicating that I am aware that a rotation in the NWT is 5 years. After that they attempt to accommodate you in a post to the southern part of the country if you wish to leave the North. When leaving the North, you give them 3 geographical locations of your choice and they work to find a suitable posting.
There will be LOTS of pictures. I am thinking about creating a blog about the entire experience.
A
velvetfoot
Minister of Fire
bag of hammers
Minister of Fire
Awesome, Andrew. Hope you manage to check in here and let everyone know how things are going now and then. Taking a trip up that way has always been a wish list item for me, but one my family doesn't share unfortunately. FWIW I have family that's now retired from service in the RCMP. Its not for everyone IMHO - those who wear the uniform are a special breed, my hat's off to you for stepping up to that challenge. Best of luck to you and your family, hope you guys experience all the great adventures you seek. Stay warm, stay safe, have a blast....
I will be checking in for sure!!
You're right, it is not for everyone. But for me it's the best employer in the world. Soooo many opportunities!
On another note, my wife is getting her pack of friends after me to "justify" getting a $900 Canada Goose winter parka for when we're up there. Considering that last year on Halloween it was -20, she may be mounting a fair defence. lol
Andrew
You're right, it is not for everyone. But for me it's the best employer in the world. Soooo many opportunities!
On another note, my wife is getting her pack of friends after me to "justify" getting a $900 Canada Goose winter parka for when we're up there. Considering that last year on Halloween it was -20, she may be mounting a fair defence. lol
Andrew
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
A $900 goose jacket . . . was it made from the Golden Goose? Yow-sers . . . seems a mite bit expensive.
jharkin
Minister of Fire
Its funny, when I first saw this mentioned, I did get a picture in my mind of the picture Velvetfoot posted, and you guys out there in your red uniforms riding on dogsleds to patrol the frontier from incursions by those pesky yanks
But I realize that times have changed and this is not the 19th century anymore... Side question - do you guys still do much actual "mounted" patrolling or is that part largely ceremonial now?
Anyway, congratulations - it sounds like you and your family are in for the adventure of a lifetime. Its fun to use google maps, I was looking at the street view on Inuvik and its like I can actually walk through your future neighborhood - very cool, and the place is like another planet.
Heck even the road trip out there is going to a trip of a lifetime - looking at the map it seems like when you pass through Yukon territory even towns with fuel stops are going to be very far between, probably takes real careful planning. (and am I right that the last few hundred miles is all gravel road though the mountains??? too cool!)
But I realize that times have changed and this is not the 19th century anymore... Side question - do you guys still do much actual "mounted" patrolling or is that part largely ceremonial now?Anyway, congratulations - it sounds like you and your family are in for the adventure of a lifetime. Its fun to use google maps, I was looking at the street view on Inuvik and its like I can actually walk through your future neighborhood - very cool, and the place is like another planet.
Heck even the road trip out there is going to a trip of a lifetime - looking at the map it seems like when you pass through Yukon territory even towns with fuel stops are going to be very far between, probably takes real careful planning. (and am I right that the last few hundred miles is all gravel road though the mountains??? too cool!)
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You know you are up north when a group of friends is considered a pack.
Considering a blog?? I certainly hope it goes beyond "consideration". You write nicely and you have a thoughtful and gentle perspective on things; both make you a natural for a blog. I, for one, certainly hope you decide to go for it. You are, and will continue to be, a credit to red serge (a tailor, I appreciate your dress uniforms and serge!). And hat's off to your spousal unit for being so gung-ho on something that will give you and your kids such great insight into life beyond the tree line!!
Right and I agree. But I do support something made in Canada with a lifetime warranty. Not to mention, when the coat was originally designed for scientists in Antarctica, they gotta be toasty (and they are nice looking lol..) https://www.canada-goose.com/ca/en/expedition-parka-4565M.html#start=1
Its funny, when I first saw this mentioned, I did get a picture in my mind of the picture Velvetfoot posted, and you guys out there in your red uniforms riding on dogsleds to patrol the frontier from incursions by those pesky yanks
Anyway, congratulations - it sounds like you and your family are in for the adventure of a lifetime. Its fun to use google maps, I was looking at the street view on Inuvik and its like I can actually walk through your future neighborhood - very cool, and the place is like another planet.
Heck even the road trip out there is going to a trip of a lifetime - looking at the map it seems like when you pass through Yukon territory even towns with fuel stops are going to be very far between, probably takes real careful planning. (and am I right that the last few hundred miles is all gravel road though the mountains??? too cool!)
You got it Jeremy...since the invention of internal combustion engines we've ditched horseback
They stopped the compulsary equitation component of the training academy in 1966. BUT we still have the RCMP musical ride which requires intense training and is largely historical/ceremonial. In fact, members are not allowed to parade on horseback unless they have the RCMP equitation course. We have high standards when it comes to horseback riding.I wish when google was there it would have been SUNNY!! It's much nicer when it is sunny.
You are right. From the reading I have done and the people I have spoken with, the last Dempster highway is quite remote. Eagle Plains is the saving grace approximately mid way (https://www.yukoninfo.com/listing/eagle-plains-hotel-service-station/). The Dempster highway connects Dawson City to Inuvik. It's actually named after a member of the RCMP who had patrolled via dogsled this route and had been sent out to find the 4 members of the lost patrol (who had unfortunately died..). Lots of rich history in this neck of the woods.
Thanks Bobbin! Our tailors do awesome work at the training academy. We also have some in Ottawa at our National Stores unit. They do great work
As for writing nicely, I have to print this off to show my wife that someone said that about me. Arts are not my strength (I obtained my degree in Chemistry).
My wife is very supportive and is really looking forward to the adventure.
Andrew
coyote...and there's an open hunt for them in many provinces as they don't have any natural predators...just saying...or I could wait and buy a caribou hide or seal skin coat once I get up there.
Not a big fan of fur in general. However, having worked for a fur company I can attest to the refined skills required to turn pelts into apparel. Also, I regularly saw coats that were 50-80 yrs. old come out of cold storage for yet another "season". I also watched some very dated items re-cut and restyled... sooo... all things considered, furs can rightly be considered as fully recyclable/repurpose-able. Would I buy a fur? NO. Do I respect the use of fur? not generally. Am I in awe of the many skills required to turn pelts into coats? Indeed I am!
One of my alteration customers was from Ottawa. She said that when you reached 16-18 yrs. old it was a rite of passage to receive a beaver coat; they were warm (long before the era of Thinsulate) and a sign that a young woman had "arrived" in society. Dated? unquestionably! but an interesting insight into "society" in the late '30s. As one who actually makes things for a living, let me assure you that $900 for a parka made by people in N. America reflects not only the skill of the work force but the commitment of the manufacturer to machinery and production techniques required to produce top quality items!
One of my alteration customers was from Ottawa. She said that when you reached 16-18 yrs. old it was a rite of passage to receive a beaver coat; they were warm (long before the era of Thinsulate) and a sign that a young woman had "arrived" in society. Dated? unquestionably! but an interesting insight into "society" in the late '30s. As one who actually makes things for a living, let me assure you that $900 for a parka made by people in N. America reflects not only the skill of the work force but the commitment of the manufacturer to machinery and production techniques required to produce top quality items!
Ha. Nice reply Bobbin!
Here's how I see it: I don't want my wife to be cold. Period. cold wife = unhappy Andrew. I don't imagine goose down is any better: they pluck the feathers and let them run naked?
All that to say, I hope I don't need to go up there when the ferries are not running yet the ice is too thin to cross at the 2 river crossings.
Andrew
Here's how I see it: I don't want my wife to be cold. Period. cold wife = unhappy Andrew. I don't imagine goose down is any better: they pluck the feathers and let them run naked?
All that to say, I hope I don't need to go up there when the ferries are not running yet the ice is too thin to cross at the 2 river crossings.
Andrew
Lake Girl
Moderator
Hubby still has the parka from when he crewed out of Tuktoyaktuk in the 80s to work on drill ships in the Beaufort. Make sure you have all the winter gear you need before you leave as the cost of anything is really expensive in the north. Definitely function over fashion for the winter there. Good boots and mitts would be high on my list as I always have cold hands/feet. Usually wear 2 pairs of socks ... with outer one being wool! You might want to invest in some of these too!
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/hothands-hand-warmer-10-pair-value-pack/6000072430510
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/hothands-toe-warmer-6-pair-value-pack/6000118331015
I know milk in the northern reserves in Ontario is outrageous ... fresh fruit and vegetables the same. Food costs will be interesting for you... Since RCMP is paying the freight, don't just take what you need include what you "might" need. We have been a host community for northern evacuations ... folks always go back with far more than what they came with. Do you have snow machines to take with you?
Make sure you and the family take Vitamin D supplements since there is virtually no sunlight in the winter (bone health and also has effects on mood as it is used in combination with prescription drugs for depression). Hubby said it really throws off the circadian rhythms with virtually 24 hr sunlight in the summer and none in the winter. Northern lights are great though!
When Hubby was in the Beaufort, they used to hire local folks for polar bear patrol. Not sure if they are as problematic in Inuvik as they are in Churchill, MB but figure the same caution is prudent. Kids at one of our more rural schools have been trained when they hear the air horn, you get inside... wolf in the yard. I would imagine they have roughly the same system there...
Enjoy the new experience Andrew ... and keep us posted.
Lake Girl
Moderator
My sister still has my Grandma's mink stole ... probably from the 30s-40s. I inherited my hubby's Aunt's full length (from 60s-70s). Very heavy and very warm ... especially good in Winnipeg in the 40 below and windy weather but not something I would choose for every day wear. It has always ticked me off when we have "helicopter" stars coming in to protest hunting/trapping practices ... especially when it is a source of income for the local people. Many of those local folks have hundreds of years of heritage in the hunt and use the skins/furs for winter wear as their ancestors did. Not much wind is going to cut through a skin/fur parka compared to some of the jackets I've had! I especially remember Sir Paul (McCartney) doing a photo op when the seal hunt was on years ago ... standing there in his Mustang suit. I wonder what sort of greenhouse gases were created to make that synthetic floater suit? Not particularly eco-friendly...
Always best to get it from the source! Don't forget the muklucks!! Not sure if you caught the CBC item this winter ... an Inuit design copied from a photo of the shaman who created and was wearing it ... used without permission or acknowledgement by KTZ Fashion and D2Squared. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuit-shaman-parka-design-history-1.3345968 I look at that item and think of an opportunity lost by KTZ. If they had been granted permission, can you imagine the hype they could have generated by having a descendant there when it hit the runway?
Learn from the locals Andrew! ... but you likely have already figured that out
Thanks for the awesome tips!
I have a weight limit when I move. Personal belongings will be more important than food. That being said if I get the chance to drive there, I'll be bringing some stuff with me!
Unfortunately I do not own any snow machines
I will certainly be bringing some VItamin D and some sun lamps as well. I can't see myself without those...
Andrew
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