Music at dawn...

The sound of the Goldberg Variations as interpreted by Glenn Gould always seems to be the perfect morning music for me. It never, ever fails to take my awareness (I guess) to new levels as his playing evolves in ways that only Glenn Gould could accomplish.

It’s a 1981 recording that I have loaded into my laptop and I wonder if this is the session that a buddy of mine was allowed to sit in on. Mr. Gould was an eccentric to say the least and was VERY particular about EVERYTHING in his life and often demanded to have several pianos to choose from whenever he played. (This one is too soft, this one is too loud, this one has sticking keys… you get the idea.) He even carried his own chair with him folded up and tucked under his arm which gave him what he considered to be the ideal height for playing piano.

He dressed for winter in the middle of summer but perhaps the idiosyncrasy that amuses me the most was that he sang to himself all through his playing. This drove the technicians crazy because they were unable to cover up his humming and whatnot on the recordings and they finally gave up trying to make him stop and just left it in as part of the character of the piece. He also refused to allow anyone in the same room with him while making these recordings which is why it is remarkable that my friend was allowed to sit in (out of sight) during one session. I guess they hit it off somehow so the master allowed the aficionado to remain.

Anyway, you youngsters out there have absolutely no idea who Glenn Gould was because he died far too young back in 1982. It was a stroke that got him at age 50 and it gives me pause when I realize that he was younger than me and accomplished so much in that time. (How does it appear to be so easy for some people?) It’s difficult to imagine that his playing could have gotten any better, but I just wonder what works he would be producing today if he were still around. Our loss for sure… but hey, you can still talk to him whenever you want as he is sitting on a bench outside CBC in Toronto just waiting for all of us to stop by. (This is a little bit strange in itself by the way because in his later years he became a recluse and avoided people as much as he could, talking only by telephone whenever possible.)

Photo Credits: http://time4time.blogspot.com/2007/09/75-years-of-glenn-gould.html
http://www.castalie.fr/photo-2668-glenn-gould_jpg.html
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/blog/2007/04/strange_statues_from_around_th.html

I Miss My Pepper...

One of the things I dislike about all my travel is that I have to use whatever cooking supplies are available in the houses I stay in. That means that this morning for example I had to use pepper that was just flavorless dust when it came out of the shaker. Terrible stuff and I don't understand why this is what most people choose to use on a regular basis. Awful tasting, a pure disappointment and the ruination of my scrambled eggs. Let me send you some samples of Watkins Pepper and you’ll never touch the grocery store shelf brands again! Hey, I even know of people who carry our pepper with them and use it in restaurants so they are not forced to use what’s on the table!

Of course I can’t carry all the spices and Watkins products we regularly use at home but at least I’m going to pack some of the little pepper samples with me next time I travel. This will also include our Cinnamon as a quarter teaspoon of this brand a day will help lower your blood sugar levels by up to 30% according to a recent study in the US.

Vanilla is one other item I’d like to bring with me but that would probably be going too far. Again, once you try the Watkins Vanilla you won’t even look at the regular store brands which taste like chemicals or medicine of some kind when you compare them to ours. The "Original Double Strength” is just fantastic and I enjoy putting a few drops into water to make a great tasting and refreshing drink with a few ice cubes added in… and in a milkshake… WOW!

Want another vanilla tip? Put a few drops into a microwave safe mug and put it in your microwave on high for 30 seconds or a minute depending on your power setting. The steam put off will make the inside of your microwave come clean with just the brush of a cloth and your room will smell great!

Hmmm… This has started sounding like a sales pitch but it was only intended as a lament to having to use “store bought” brands and REALLY missing my Watkins products. Try them and you’ll know what I mean.

Old Crow Walking Tour

Well I completed my walking tour introduction to Old Crow this morning. My initial impressions that this is a great little community have been reinforced. It’s neat and tidy, the people are friendly and the countryside appeals to my nature. I’ve posted a number of photos on my Flickr and Facebook sites so the ones here are just teasers for you.

Now, I do have one big disappointment however and even if the powers that be in our head office read this and choose to “disagree” with me I still have to say it. My problem is that we do not have the facilities to service this town properly. I understand that our store, warehouse and staff house are leased from the local Band Council but these buildings are woefully inadequate and since we are the one and only store in town it genuinely bothers me. We have space to carry only the very basics in groceries, no retail display unless it’s piled high above the grocery shelves and while the produce department is looking pretty good, three of our freezers are broken and can’t be repaired so there isn’t even room to display much of anything. We do however have 4 chest freezers full of ice cream and frozen novelties. Hmmm… think I’ll shift priorities this coming week.

To tell you the truth I personally find it a little embarrassing that I’m not able to provide better customer service here. There are just too many things required that I either haven’t done in years or ever done at all. (Does anyone out there know how to complete a Post Office accounting week-end and month-end?) In the meantime I’ll keep plugging away and try to get things cleaned up enough so we can do a proper inventory and determine a solid starting point to get things rolling from. The new District Manager is coming up the first week in June so we’ll see what he feels can be done to improve the situation. Time for a joint venture to upgrade a few things?

The town has a great web site where you can get all kinds of information and you MUST read the “Caribou Coordination” page as it explains the importance of this location in relation to the 150,000+ strong herd. All parts of the animals are used from the meat to the antlers, hoofs, hide, head and hair. Nothing is ever wasted in a First Nations community as they understand and appreciate how the lives of themselves and the wildlife must co-exist in harmony with each other.

Again, it’s a great place and I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to visit here. The town is in the process of building a fancy new visitors center so that, combined with a couple Bed & Breakfasts that I saw this morning means that the community of Old Crow is ready, willing, able and eager to welcome you to the shores of the Porcupine River. I highly recommend it for tourists and let me know if there is any information I can get for you and I’ll meet you at the airport!

Enroute, May 18/08

I always get a kick out of the airline announcement about using the life jackets that are located under your seat cushion. Does anyone actually believe that “in the unlikely event of a landing in the water” that it will make the least bit of difference if I have my life jacket on or not? Come on… tell the truth now. The only reason for us to be wearing those bright yellow vests is to make it easier to fish out the pieces later. I say pieces because if this Airbus 321 touches the water even at something approaching a normal landing speed (let alone the more likely 400+kph) that’s all that will be left of most.

Now, what’s the main reason for fishing us out? Why, so the sharks won’t choke on us and die of course. So therefore by my powers of deductive reasoning it has become obvious to me that the manufacturer of all those tens of thousands of little yellow pieces of plastic is owned or controlled by Greenpeace. Yup, not only are they saving the predators of the deep they are making a tidy profit off it at the same time.

Wow, my reasoning amazes even myself sometimes. Must be the thin air at this altitude as at the moment I’m scribbling these notes I am near the end of my third flight of the day, almost 9 hours in the air so far. I was up at 5:00am to get to Sudbury for the first leg of the journey to Toronto on Air Canada Jazz (about 1¼ hours) then another flight of just over 5 hours to Vancouver and then onto this flight of another 2½ hours up to Whitehorse where I will spend the night. Tomorrow will be another 4½ hours from Whitehorse to Dawson to Inuvik and finally landing in Old Crow in the early afternoon.

I wonder what conspiracies I’ll think up during that flight! Maybe I’ll work out a plot for the next X-Files movie… wait, who’s that guy coming over holding the funny white jacket? Stay back or I’ll hit you with my yellow plastic vest! No, wait, get away….. aarrgggghhhh!

See you tomorrow! (If they let me out)

Where to next?

OK, it’s now official that the next trip is to Old Crow, Yukon. I’m looking forward to it as it’s one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit and it’s our only store in the Yukon Territory. Old Crow is located on the banks of the Porcupine River, is part of the Vuntut Gwitchin (People of the Lakes) First Nation and has a population of about 300. It is named after a chief named Deetru’ K’avihdik (Crow May I Walk) who died in 1870. The town is accessible only by aircraft and is the most northern community in the territory.

Travel route will be Sudbury – Toronto – Vancouver – Whitehorse – Dawson – Inuvik – Old Crow with an overnight in Whitehorse. I’m also hoping to spend a day or so in Dawson on my way out to visit this old gold rush town and some of the historical sites such as Jack London’s cabin, the Robert Service cabin and the Berton House. I’d also like to check out some of the Paddlewheeler’s and hopefully there is still at least one running that I can take a tour on. If not I know I’ll still have a great day walking around the community and maybe I’ll even have a drink or two in one of the local establishments… maybe even the world famous “Sourtoe Cocktail” at the Downtown Hotel.

I’ll keep you all posted!

Solved one problem...

There, solved one problem. I've deleted my "Bingo" game. Now maybe I can get some yard work done.



Or maybe not... "PuzzleBee" anyone?

Hello, my name is Murray and I’m a Facebookaholic…

So recently I’ve become addicted to a couple “educational tools” on Facebook. I absolutely, positively HAVE to play my “Roll Up The Brim” every four hours and I’m now up to almost 3,000 brims rolled with nothing to show for it yet but a sore index finger.






I also have to play every hour “My Facebook House” plus answer 20 challenges on top of that every day as well.





Yesterday I discovered “McNopoly” and I’ve got three quarters of my game board filled in that already.










NOW I’ve discovered a “Bingo” game that will play automatically for you so you don’t have to take time away from anything else to watch the board.


Sigh… when am I supposed to find any time for my “Pirate” battles?

And anther one...

This isn't a new visitor for us but it's the first time we've seen them this year. What's going on? Do the Orioles and Goldfinch families travel together?

Photo is under a Creative Commons license from the Carplips Family. Thanks!

Some day I just have to upgrade my own digital camera system. The one I'm using now is a Polaroid I bought about four years ago in Churchill. Of course I'll also have to grow some patience so I can wait for these guys to get into position for me.

New visitor this morning...

This is the first time we've had this fellow around the house. He has been spending the morning feasting on assorted insects by picking them off the screen door and deck chairs. Hope he stays around a while... I wonder if it's the new bird bath that attracted him?

This photo is under Creative Commons license off ricmcarthur's photostream. Thanks, and now I've got to go start looking for this guys nest.

Great trip coming up!

Just got an e-mail from Winnipeg and they sure knew what would entice me to make another trip for them. If it goes through it will be a visit to one of the locations I’ve always wanted to see and a place that there is a line up to go to. I’ll just post the photo for now and make you guess a little bit. What? You want a hint? OK, it’s above the Arctic Circle and that long winding river in the Google Earth photo should also give you a clue. Watch for more news coming soon!

Now arriving...

I know I’m a week late is checking out the ferry for this year but I happened to be in the South Baymouth area yesterday making some Watkins deliveries when it came in. “Going to see the ferry” seems to be a regular pastime for me and I enjoy heading out there several times through the summer just to watch it come and go, and get some great Farquahar’s ice cream from one of the local stands at the same time. When you come to visit make sure you try the Hawberry flavor as it’s one of the best and of course the Hawberry is native to Manitoulin so you can say you’ve visited the island unless you’ve tasted the Hawberry in some form or other!

Of the highlights of the summer for us is taking the Sunset Dinner Cruise that the Chi-Cheemaun offers. The cost is very reasonable and includes your walk-on return trip, a great meal and of course some of the best scenery in the world. For sure we’ll be out there at least once again this summer and perhaps you can join us for an evening or two. We look forward to seeing you on board!

Blue, Blue, Blue...

Why do some people become such idiots when they drink? I'm probably no better of course and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I become an obnoxious rectum after 4 beer. I was recently on an aircraft for a 3 hour flight where two ladies had to be cut off by the stewardess because of (I think) their excessive noise. To me the last barley sandwich had to either just bring out their natural immature personality or betray a defect in their DNA which forced them to believe that it was their divine right to be the center of attention at all times. Personally my completely ignorant and untrained mind says that they were very insecure and had to bolster their ego by trying to make the rest of us think they were important.

Naturally I'm a mature drinker myself and have NEVER offended anyone while imbibing, right? Stop giggling out there, I know, I know... another round barkeep!

One last time...

I can't stop watching out my window at the land passing beneath us. Although Northern would like me to stay on the relief circuit for at least a few more months, what if this is my last flight... ever. What if that ice field south of Inukjuak is the last one? What if that maze of caribou trails between Kuujjuarapik and LG-2 is my last hint of the herd? What if I never again feel the glory of rising above a cloud layer into the rays of the setting sun? I want to experience and feel it all over again and all at once.

A strange and morbid thought has just come to mind and I can't help but wonder if this is what my death bed will be like. I can almost hear myself saying... "Please, let me see it all again, just one more time."

Sleep, hah!

OK, should have known that I wouldn't be able to sleep right away. Call me crazy if you want but I always have the exact same feeling every time I leave a community... I could have done more.

I could have finished just one more task, one more file, and one more shelf. I could have had more patience, been more of a listener, more of a teacher and coach. I could have spent more time with the new guy and maybe could have understood if his bearing was one of arrogance, confidence or just a feeling of being overwhelmed at accepting his biggest assignment to date. I could have thought back to when I was put into a similar position and tried my best for days to hide my uncertainty, fear and panic.

I could have done more...

Withdrawal...

I was once told that I was addicted to adrenalin. This seemed ridiculous at the time but it almost seems to be true on occasions such as today. At the time of writing this note I'm sitting at the Inukjuak airport struggling to keep my eyes open.

Leaving the store about an hour ago started the process. I had checked in my suitcase late this morning and then was dropped off myself by the Meat Department Manager on his way home for lunch. As soon as he left I sat myself down in the corner to wait the arrival of the Dash-8 that will take me to Montreal and at that point the rush and energy necessary to manage a large store left me.



The only way I can describe it is a draining of power or being. Sure, the new Store Manager got here a couple days ago and I handed over the keys and safe combinations to him, but I was still there as the resident expert up until this point in time. It's hard to put into words but it's just the feeling of relief with a long, hard job being finally over.

Time to board the aircraft now and I'll probably sleep all the way to Montreal. See 'ya! ZZZZzzzz....

I don't know what to say...

Another grandson was born a few days ago, seen here in the photo with his grandmother. Eight plus pounds and everyone fine. What to say... what to do... how to feel... what to say to my son. Are you ready? I wasn't. Such a huge, great and wonderful responsibility. What words to explain my thoughts and actions... or lack thereof. How fortunate I am to have such a great friend and partner in life as my wife is. She knows instinctively how to feel and act when I am confused and tongue-tied. It's not lack of feeling and emotion that is my problem... it's a lack of the ability to express it.

All I can say is... Way to go Shmitty!

Ice Cubes...

OK, so yes there is global warming and that is a documented fact but I can't get too excited about the latest chunk of ice breaking off in the Antarctic. I just saw where a slab the size of the city of Montreal detached yesterday and even though it may be a symptom of the changing climate is it not also likely that this is just a natural part of ice pack evolution?

I will be the first to admit that I've been hesitant in embracing the panic of rising temperatures but I'm sure you'll understand that it's because I spend a good part of the year in the arctic. For example where I am now the temperature has ranged from -15 to -45 over the past month, so it's a little difficult to believe it's getting warmer when you're walking into a blizzard with a -50 wind chill factor.

OK, so my point (and please correct me) is that any object that is supported by water or air or anything at all, and gets bigger and bigger over the years from more material being added to it will change and get heavier over time. So when things get heavier and heavier, even over thousands of years, does it not eventually have to reach a breaking point? Now I believe that the Antarctic does not have any land under it but what about the top of the world... is it not land based with tons of snow being dumped on it each year? Is this snow not compressing and moving outward to the edges? Is this edge not expected to break off once in a while?

Try extending a tape measure straight out and it will only go so far before it kinks and flops downward. Is the ice not acting the same? Hmmm...

Overhead bins...

I travel a lot and in fact I’m on the road well over 200 days a year. Almost all of that travel is by air and it seems that every time I get on an aircraft more and more people are trying to cram more and more stuff into the overhead luggage compartments. Most of these compartments are made to hold nothing more than a computer briefcase and your jacket but I’ve watched while people try to stuff that briefcase, their parka, presents for their great grandkids, suitcase and even their walkers into these areas. The airlines seem unable to control these people and have tried a number different aircraft configurations to accommodate them. The CL-40-0 Skymonster could have been one of their first efforts followed by the Guppy, the Super Guppy and most recently the Airbus A300B4ST Super Transporter.

Personally I’m getting fed up with those travelers who think they have to carry most of the contents of their homes with them whenever they fly and I’m sticking with the train whenever possible. Happy trails folks!

On the road...

I’ve been off the air lately and just now getting caught up on everything. I’m up in Inukjuak, a community of about 1,300 in Northern Quebec doing a Store Manager Relief job. The house I’m in had no telephone and it took about 3 week to convince Bell Canada that the dwelling even existed. According to their records it was demolished several years ago and they could see no reason why I wanted a telephone installed in a pile of rubble. Finally I called one of their service representatives in Ottawa and asked her if she had a telephone. “Of course,” she said and I then asked her if she had a house. When she said yes I said “prove it to me” and I had my telephone the next day so my internet connection is now up and running.

I know, they have their systems to follow and we have ours. For example, we used to have control over customer accounts at the store level and now it’s all handled by our head office people. As a result when we may have someone we know is an excellent customer with years of loyalty to us who wants to maybe just charge that one more thing we can’t approve it. To be fair, when the stores had full control things sometimes got out of hand and we can normally also get in touch with someone at our head office to stretch limits a bit but it can be a bit inconvenient on a busy day to have a customer wait in line with 10 people behind them while we get approval. Would I like to go back to store control? Not a chance because this makes things a lot more smoother and also much easier to say no to an overdue or over limit customer when necessary.

Anyway, this is one of the nicest locations we have in our entire system which stretches all across Canada, into Alaska, the Caribbean and now all the way to Guam way out in the Pacific Ocean. If you want to see some great photos of the Inukjuak area just go to WWW.PITUVIK.COM and check out the photography area. This is one fantastic place to visit so feel free to contact the Pituvik people to see about your next (or first) vacation to the north. And to you Toronto people out there… NO, Barrie is NOT part of the arctic, get out in the real world will you?

Early Morning Puzzle...

It's 7:00 am and I’m just finishing up breakfast here at the Quality Inn on Carlingview in Toronto. Looking around the restaurant over my second coffee I note that there are around 100 of us here, all men. Where are the business women? Fully believing in the best person getting the job no matter whom or what they are I started wondering and came up with some theories. Maybe you can help me iron them out a bit and I welcome all comments from all sides of the fence.

One: All the business women are too smart to book meetings and travel for the early morning. They probably even got to wherever they had to get to yesterday so they could get a decent night’s sleep and rise the next morning at a reasonable hour, not 5:00 am as I did.

Two: The men are all so paranoid about the possibility of a woman taking over their jobs that they can’t sleep. This forces them to congregate in small huddled groups either before or just after dawn, pretending to enjoy the camaraderie of their equally paranoid competitors.

Three: Perhaps, as in my case the timing just wasn’t right. I would have preferred to take the train from Sudbury but on this occasion “time was of the essence” and a quick fly down and back was called for. Or…


Four: Maybe they are like me and just enjoy watching the world come alive with the sun over that first coffee of the day. Of course, here in Toronto I can’t say that the world ever comes alive. In the self-proclaimed “Centre of the Universe” all I see is dirt, slush, smog and traffic. Who in their right mind would ever consider this life? A life sentence maybe, but certainly not life. Give me the open skies and clean air of Manitoulin Life any day!

Memoirs?

Someone asked me this week if I was going to write a book when I retire. It’s certainly something I’ve thought about but the answer has to be no. The main problem with me writing a book about my 35 years with The Hudson’s Bay Company and The North West Company is that too many people are still alive. I can think of more than a few happenings that would make at least a TV movie but there is no way I could afford the certain lawsuits!


Actually I’m just joking as there are lots of little things that could be told. Things like me being lectured by a fellow in Mistassini because I cut down a living tree and learning that “you never kill anything you’re not going to eat” for example. How about the time we chased the bears up the river bank with only .22 caliber rifles and me finding out later that the bullet in the chamber was a dud and didn’t fire?

How about lighting up the muskeg with ski-doo headlights in the middle of a winter night so the DC-3 bringing the students back home from school for Christmas would be able to land? Along the same theme how about stuffing black garbage bags with snow and laying them out on the drifts so the Twin Otters with our grocery supplies could have some sense of depth perception while trying to land in the mountains of Salluit?

Having to go to work by helicopter when it was freeze-up or break-up time in Moosonee and Moose Factory… Seeing half the sky blacked out when the geese all took wing at the same time at the mouth of the Severn River… Watching 500+ white beluga whales feeding in the Churchill River one evening… Glaciers on Baffin Island… White-out on the Barren Lands… Fish ‘n Brewis with Scrunchions and Cod Tongues in Labrador…

Hmmm… maybe I should give that book some thought.