I can't say I've missed it, mind you, but this is what winter in Nunavut is supposed to feel like, so there's no sense of griping about it. Besides, it could be worse. This picture has been merrily making the rounds the past 24 hours. It's a satellite photo of Great Britain.
Now, there's no way they're getting the same level of cold that we're getting right now. However, we at least know how to dress for it, whereas I suspect most people over there are currently wonder what the hell just hit them. Well, probably in the south of England they're wondering that. I suspect parts of Scotland are very much use to this kind of weather.
So far the house is holding up with the cold. The first oil bill was not as evil as I thought, but that was during the relative mild spell. I am resisting, barely, to yell when Cathy opens the door to come into the house with a massive cloud of ice fog comes rolling in with her. Just the way things happen up here with the cold.
However, nothing evil has happened with the house. This paranoia will not abate anytime soon, I fear. Especially since one of my fears came though, albeit via a neighbour.
One of the things we didn't have to worry about much while staying in the 6-story or the NEU building were break-ins. Both were secure buildings. You needed a swipe card to get into the 6-story and the NEU had keys to get into plus security cameras around the outside of the building. We were feeling that safe in the NEU building that we actually never used to lock our apartment door. Probably stupid, but we knew everyone in the building and we never had any problems.
However, over the Christmas holidays one of the houses in our neighbourhood was broken into. I know this, because the RCMP came knocking on our door this week asking if we heard anything. Which we hadn't because the break-in occurred while we were in Newfoundland. Although I think one of the key differences is that house has all the appearance of no one living there right now (no shovelling done on the steps, lights not on during the evening), but we had someone staying in our house, so there were lights on, the truck was moved and we have a noisy dog who thinks he is bigger than he actually is.
Still, it is one of those worries. We do live in a nice neighbourhood in Iqaluit. We're going to be a target at some point, I fear, for a break-in. I don't like it, but I'm not sure how much more we can do about it other than making sure there are people staying here when we're away. I can look into an alarm system, but I honestly don't know how useful such devices are up here. I'll have to ask around.
I guess that gets added to the list of things that needs to be looked at for the house. It's getting to be quite a long list, I must say. It's also never going to end, is it?
Last Five
1. Yesterday's man - Madness
2. King of swing = Big Bad Voodoo Daddy*
3. He hide and seek (live) - Allison Krauss and Union Station
4. Be my Yoko Ono - Barenaked Ladies
5. Mrs. Robinson - Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies
6 comments:
It is just the tip of the iceberg...literally in your case I case. -50 Gah! It is -26 with windchill here tonight, and I have had just about enough of it.
No, it is not.
what's really funny is that the ponds, canals, rivers etc are freezing, but they freeze from the middle outwards, because the ground isn't frozen. it's not that cold most places, but people don't have boots, or shovels, or snow tires....
I'm not sure if I could handle -50'C even with the best of gear! Anyways, I didn't know that break-ins were a problem in Iqaluit...???
Why is that? I'm just curious. Is it usually for petty things, or is it really serious?ca
It's mostly the same as you would get elsewhere...petty break-ins looking for booze or valuables to sell quickly to buy booze or drugs. It can happen anywhere, but as a new home owner, I guess as a new home owner I'm more paranoid about it. I honestly don't know if it's more common here than in other places on a per capita basis.
To the chagrin of most fathers... the best security is to literally keep every light on when you leave. This includes TV's and radios. While this may sound silly the reasons are actually cost efficient and useful. To keep every item on the "on" position may mean an extra 5 bucks a month and is certainly cheaper than getting a security system.
I find it comical when you drive around and there is one lone light on above the door. You know immediately that no one is home. Keep the malcontents guessing.
Even though I own a fluffy dog, I also have a "Beware of Dog" sign up...just to make the dog that more important.
The biggest hurdlle will be to get in the habit of turning lights on when you leave. When tarvelling you should also crank up the TV when you leave your hotel room. Once again you have to keep idle minds guessing what's behind the door.
It has taken me years but I now have my 75 year mother, who lives alone, bought into the concept.
Wm. Murphy
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