Sunday, June 27, 2010

Sealift is Go!

Alas, I failed to win the millions again on the weekend. This is bad news, if for no other reason than we now have to use actual hard earned money to pay for our sealift. I'm not saying we need $50 million or even $1 million to get everything we plan to get on our sealift, but I am saying it certainly wouldn't have hurt.

That's what part of this weekend was spent doing (well, when I wasn't watching three of the teams I was cheering for - South Korea, the US and England - go down to defeat in the World Cup. The Dutch should be worried), walking around the house and the sealift room trying to figure out what it is exactly we need. Even though we leave on Wednesday, we get in too late to do much shopping that day, Thursday is a holiday and we fly out early on Monday. That leaves us Friday, Saturday and a bit of Sunday.

That means a careful plan of attack is needed. For example, we need things at Costco and IKEA. Only the truly desperate and insane would try and tackle either of those stores on a Saturday. We would literally have to kill people to get our shopping done on time. Cathy, being the master planner that she is, pretty much has all of this laid out. And in a way that doesn't involve killing people.

So Friday involves a quick trip to TSC to make sure everything is set up. Then we head off to Costco and drop silly amounts of money. The nice thing about this is, having spoken to other people up here, we simply go in, tell management what we're doing and they become tremendously helpful. Probably has something to do with dropping $2,000 or so. We can actually leave everything we buy there and TSC will pick it up for us. Bonus.

Then we're off to IKEA where we have a list of things to buy. Fortunately, that list has become smaller as we no longer need coffee and end tables. Cathy's dad found a pair of end tables someone was tossing out. We found a coffee table at a house sale for $30. Which we carried down the street in the rain.

I was concerned we might be becoming white trash. Fortunately, after consulting with friends they determined we were simply alt-White Trash because of my fondness for alt-country musicians like Neko Case. Plus, we don't live in a trailer home. It's a load off my mind, I have to say.

After IKEA, then it's mostly odds and ends. We need to pick up some tiles from a Home Depot, some odds and ends groceries from Loblaws and Wal-Mart. We have made an extensive list, although I'm sure we're still going to forget things. Oh, and I need to convince Cathy of the necessity of buying a 46-in Samsung LED TV set. Samsung seems to be the best for the price, unless someone wants to tell me otherwise.

So yes, it will be quite the madcap, expensive and frantic few days. It's going to be a lot of money, but then again, we are buying a year's worth of supplies in a few days. It tends to be a shock to the system. Or the Visa.

Last Five
1. Box hat - Beck and Leopard-Skin Pill
2. Medley (live) - The Chieftains*
3. Sweet child o' mine - Guns 'n Roses
4. Fire door (live) - Ani DiFranco
5. Always tomorrow - Bob Mould

6 comments:

Jennifer said...

Hey,
My name is Jennifer and I am moving to Cambridge Bay in 10 weeks! Whop! WHop! I read your post about the sealift order and I just got my order finished yesterday. Now I have a question, you can go shopping yourself for the sea lift??? I just ordered online and then it gets crated and shipped... I am guessing that this may be my first learning experience???

Anonymous said...

The Ikea in Ottawa is open until 9pm on Saturdays, and if it's anything like my previous visits to Ikea on a Saturday evening, it's not at all crowded.

Aida said...

well, i have news for you, the man was just down maybe 2 weeks back? the shelves in Costco are bare, probably b/c its summer. heck, he cant even find peanut butter in one costco and had to go to another.

a tip if you dont know already, TSC will pick up from anywhere except IKEA. if you plan to add more stuff to your order but you dont have time, just tell TSC that you will be adding more stuff so they wont crate your stuff by the time you leave. I am assuming you are getting the last boat and I believe the last date to add items on that boat is Aug 9. TSC wont bill you till your stuff arrives, so the visa might be spared for a while yet..haha, i am scared, very scared to see the damages!

happy shopping!

towniebastard said...

Welcome to Nunavut, Jennifer. Don't worry, this is the scary part...just trying to get up there.

For years we did our sea lift order online. We used Northmart, but I imagine there are other companies that supply Cam Bay. The way you did it is just fine. Once you spend some time in Cam Bay, you can ask others how they do their sealift. They'll probably give you suggestions that will save you a few dollars and give you some variety or access to additional supplies.

It's your first sealift...nobody gets the first one right. You've probably over ordered on some things and under ordered on others. On our first sealift we over ordered on toilet paper so badly it took us more than three years to go through it all.

Mistakes may well be made, just don't stress over it.

Jennifer said...

Hey again!
Yes I am sure that I will find some mistakes... things I did not anticipate, or over anticipated... I had 3 other people look at my list and give some suggestions... so what will be, will be right? I am planning on chatting to as many people as I can about sealifts, food mail and other things, but that will come.
I am SO excited to come, but it feels like torture that 10 more weeks need to pass by! I want to come now!!! Where are you living? What work are you doing? Will you stay in Nunavut for many more years?

Ludik said...

Don't forget: Costco does not accept Visa or Mastercard in store (only online). In store you can only use Cash, Debit, or American Express.
Also, give the store a call to check if they are open on Canada Day (maybe only afternoon). I was surprised to find Costco open on National Holidays in BC.
Cheers