The big melt

I'm wondering if ski-doo season in Iqaluit didn't take a fatal hit yesterday. We had a lot of good, old fashion Newfoundland weather - rain, drizzle and fog. Even today, after the rain had stopped, you could see large pool of rain water collected on top of the ice. That, combined with a week or more of above freezing temperatures and I think we're getting pretty close to the end. I hope.

Having said that, I'm pretty sure I saw some people on ski-doos on the ice this afternoon. I also saw people using their para-sails for a few hours. But that was all in the inner bay, where the ice normally lingers the longest. Nearly all the snow is gone from town (I saw someone using their ATV to tow a trailer carrying their ski-doo last week to the ice.)

I normally don't have a problem with the sea ice. Hell, given the right time of the day and the sun, it's really quite beautiful. And the tidal flats that are going to replace it are kind of ugly. But hey, it's a change. I've been staring at sea ice for about six or seven months now. I'm kind of done with it. Besides, the earlier it breaks, the more sea lift boats can get in, and I suspect we might need that before the shipping season is over.

There was one other things about the rain yesterday, and that was a confirmation that it's going to cause a bit of havoc with our satellite dishes. I kind of already knew that, but still. Not only was the TV behaving poorly last night, but the internet was pretty irregular. I was lamenting about how a signal can travel hundreds of kilometres from outer space, through god only knows how much wacky radiation without any problems, but a little bit of water screws it up. A friend pointed out that's just the way these things work, hence the problem of using similar technologies to transmit information underwater.

Fortunately Iqaluit is pretty dry most of the time, what with it being an arctic desert and all. And for some reason snow doesn't seem to affect it as much as rain. Go figure that one out.

For those wondering how the satellite internet is working out, so far I'm mostly pleased. It went down for a couple of hours this evening for reasons I couldn't figure out. It also appears not to be significantly faster than NWTel. But, as I've said before, there's no cap on usage. Considering Northwest Tel sent this beauty of a link out on Friday that made me want to spit bullets - friendly tips on how to not use the internet in ways everyone else in the bloody country can in an attempt to not blow your cap - I'm more and more glad every day about the switch. Especially if things get bloody later this summer, as I suspect they will.

Anyway, it's the end of May. I can be forgiven for wanting the end of ice and snow.

Last Five
1. Rub me raw - Warren Zevon
2. Murder in the Southlands - Mark Bragg*
3. Running (live) - Allison Crowe
4. Pasties and a G-String - Tom Waits
5. Mohammed - The Dandy Warhols