Sick Weekend

No I'm not using sick in the "wicked, awesome, fantastic" meaning of the word. I am talking about popping nyquil, not getting dressed, and drinking soup sick.

This post may not be the most coherent because I am writing it from in bed.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about healthcare in the Yukon. I figured I'd examine it from an outsider's perspective and hope that in doing that the virus that is invading my body will leave and I won't have to give the insider's perspective. P.S. for all of you family members don't get worried. Its just a winter virus. I will be fine. No need to worry.

The Nursing Station in Dawson City is run by Yukon Health and Social Services. The building looks like a big portable from an elementary school. It is a orangey-yellow. And it is about 100 steps from my house.

The doctors work monday-friday in normal business hours. And I guess are on call. I think there are nurses on call all of the time.

I'm not quite sure what number to call if I need an ambulance. But the number that is similar to TeleHealth Ontario is 811 (there is no 911 up here). There is a nurse answering 811 24/7.

The "pharmacy" up here doesn't dispense prescription drugs. They are dispensed at the health centre. And if they don't have them they need to get them from Whitehorse.

For exciting medical conditions you are flown in a chopper down to Whitehorse. If you need to get fancy tests done (an ultrasound for example) Yukon Health pays for you to fly down to Whitehorse for the test and pays to put you up there. Due to the lack of hospital here in Dawson many things are done down there (yes Whitehorse is down there). If a woman is going to have a baby she needs to go down to Whitehorse. So siblings get to see their new baby sibling in the Dawson Airport for the first time. Babies come from the airplane kids.

An important lesson has been learned from this blog. Don't do drugs kids. Or get the wrong airplane baby.

Things that excite me about my job....

I haven't done a good ol fashioned bullet list in a while... And considering the reason I'm up here I thought I'd provide some tidbits for the museum folk and non museum folk alike

• the coolness of old stuff
• I have my own desk with my own computer and a really nice desk chair
• sometimes I find artifacts that are dated on my birthday... so what it if was 63 years before I was born
• I learn so much about people who don't make it into the history books
• My coworker Lynn gave me a cookie and sometimes she brings in other treats
• I get to play with artifacts (but not in a sporty way, just in a I get to catalogue and handle them properly kind of way)
• the view from my desk/office room is of beautiful trees on the mountains
• I am directly in the path of the sun when it comes up
• moldy ledgers get me all excited
• no day is the same as the one before
• artifacts don't generally talk back or get angry
• I can wear jeans to work
• and the single greatest part of my job is that it is not in the customer service field:)

I love Toronto

Philosophical question of the day

Can Mr. Big mini chocolate bars still be called Mr. Big?

A cold day in .......

I'm writing this post with a huge smirk on my face.
The temperature in Dawson City is sitting at about -15.

Using the Official Environment Canada Website I have looked up the temperature at various locations where you folks may be living in Ontario:

Kingston: -19 (-23 with the windchill)
Belleville: -18 (-22 with the windchill)
Ottawa: -23 (-28 with the windchill)
Etobicoke: -13 (-19 with the windchill)
Huntsville: -20
Hamilton: -13 (-16 with the windchill)

Which means it feels colder for all of you today than it does for me. And I live in the Yukon. What is wrong with this picture?

Also, please keep the cold down there. I'm quite happy with this heat wave.

The Shocks

No, I have not lost my mind from the darkness and am receiving electroshock therapy from Yukon Health and Social Services.

I am suffering from a far more sinister medical condition.

This condition can strike at any time, day or night, and is not precipitated by me doing anything, other than the possible occasional dragging of my feet.

This condition is highly contageous and can be passed to others through touch.

The condition of which I speak is called the shocks.

Symptoms involve large bolts of electric current running through your body that occurs from touching ANYTHING up here.

Culprits of the shocks have included:
My Bed
My computer.
The filing cabinet.
My winter coat.
Any type of handshake.
Water.
Any light switch.
And the worst offender is the fridge handle.

I've developed coping mechanisms for dealing with the shocks. I put my hands freakishly high in my sleeves. I touch touch touch anything in hopes of grounding myself. I have started to skip across the floor (and trust me that isn't pretty).

Side effects of the shocks can include freakish avoidance and attempts to open things with my elbows.

Although certain shocks have a bright blue beautiful flash to them most are just annoying and should be avoided at all costs.

I am thinking of investing in a full body rubber suit before I am forced to concede that the shocks have won.

An Open Letter to Sears

Dear Jerks at Sears,

I am sitting at my computer now in awe wondering about your incompetence. I live in the Yukon. Today the temperature is -50. That is right. Half way to -100.

I received an e-mail from your company this morning informing me that my order had been cancelled. This was not an extravagant order like spongebob squarepants slippers or Jessica Simpson Perfume. This order was for snowpants.

I placed the order on December 8 shortly after I moved to Dawson City, Yukon. In this order I purchased two pairs of long underwear, one bath sheet, one parka, and one pair of snowpants. I received my long underwear and towel in a timely manner and was very happy about that transaction.

About two weeks after my parka was ordered I received an e-mail from your company saying my order had been cancelled. I was upset but able to deal with this setback because there were other parka buying options.

The purpose of this e-mail is to express disgust about your system in regard to my snowpants. These snowpants were also ordered on December 8. They, like my parka, were backordered, and were scheduled to arrive on January 7. On January 8, I went to the Sears depot in town to see if my pants were in. There were no pants but that could easily be explained by a lack of mail reaching Dawson City. There is a cold snap going on right now, if you haven't heard. However, I was horrified to look in my e-mail inbox this morning to find that "order status changed" e-mail from your company.

How on earth could you not have known earlier that you were out of snowpants? You would think that if there was a possibility that my pants would not have arrived by January 7, or at all I would have received some sort of notice earlier.

I am angry. I am an upset customer because I am snowpantsless in -40 and -50 temperatures. If I had known I would have purchased elsewhere and would be wearing snowpants right now.

In future if you are going to cancel orders on customers after they are supposed to have received the order you will probably receive more angry letters like this. I am now paying the local inflated price to buy a pair of snowpants so I do not freeze. I wish I had known this earlier so I could have been wearing these pants when I had to go for walks to get groceries in -46.

Thank you for nothing Sears,
Jen Gibson

The greatest discovery up here since Gold.

I never thought I'd say I missed the -30's. The high today is -48. The current temperature and the one outside when I walked to work -49. I'm surprised my brain hasn't stopped working.

But this is a happy blog post. I have discovered the greatest website since sliced bread.com. It is better than ebay but not quite as good as chocolate. (I'm such a great comparer)

I am talking about www.well.ca Its like a shoppers drugmart that delivers all over Canada. There are two things about this site that get me super excited. a) the products are "Ontario Prices" meaning I'm not going to be paying $10 for a bottle of shampoo and b) free delivery to anywhere in Canada!

I'm pretty sure I'm in heaven right now. Or I will be when my Curel Continuous Comfort Lotion arrives in 13-15 days. I can get my own brand and scent of deodorant which I haven't found yet up here. All of the stomach remedies that are "Behind the counter" here are one click away.

If you want to get an idea of what the prices are like up here go to the corner store. And I don't mean a macs. One of those family owned ones. Then add at least two dollars to the price of everything. And that is the Yukon. So you can now understand why finding this site was so exciting.

Look, Look... I'm a moose

That's all for today.

I'm pretty sure I can't feel my hands...

Here is how my day at work is going......

I start shivering. I go to my boss' office to get her to turn the heat up. The heat goes on in my space for about 10 minutes. I get overheated my hands start to sweat. It dies completely and I start the shivering process again and no blood circulates to my fingers. I don't know about you, but when its -47 outside I like the heat in my workspace to work. Its one of those things I'm anal about. And I'm not anal about too much.

I think I'm going to head to the thrift store to buy more layers. I've decided that big burly plaid men's sweaters are going to be the latest fashion in my life. Who knows the trend could catch on elsewhere?

I'm too cold to write properly. If warmth could be sent through the Canada Post I'd be asking for some of it ASAP.

Time for jumping jacks.

Brrrrrrr......