Ouch, Yummy, Aaah.

Haha, ok. So the title of this blog is a little odd. For multiple reasons too. The ouch is for the frost bite I got on my cheek. My first ever frost bite. I wear this frost bite like a decorated solider who wears his medals. I actually remember the moment I am sure I got hit by it too. This war wound I proudly show off to others. Although not blackened, no dead tissue abound, it is red, and hurts to the touch.

Yummy is for the mukta (check spelling) I tried for the first time last night. It was good, I could see myself eating more as long as I had hot sauce for it. I can definitely see the survival side of it out on the land. The whale blubber warms your blood as does caribou meat. One of the natural secrets the Inuit must use to keep so warm out on the land. If you have the chance to eat some, I recommend at least giving a go once. I can now say for myself, I have tried it.

The 'aaahh' was for finally visiting the local Legion here in Rankin Inlet. Having never been and seeing as how fellow blogger BNorthern is leaving the north to go back home in the south, and I wish him all the very best in all his future endeavors, I wanted to go to show him some thanks for helping me out when it was needed.

So another "blizzard" hit Rankin Inlet as of last night and canceled flights across the board. Ha, I seen more blizzards at a Dairy Queen than in Rankin Inlet. Not axing Rankin at all, but c'mon weather guys. Your the experts? I get a better prediction from Nostradamus on the end of days for crying out loud.

Ok, cigar and cognac time....till we met again bloggers.

Who Are You?

To the person(s) who made it to the Siniktarvik Hotel in Rankin Inlet who reads my blog and took into account my blogs about the hotel, thank you for stopping by! But who are you? Your identity seems to remain shrouded in mystery lol. I would love to know who you are!

Thanks and I hope your stay was enjoyable!

Come Mr. Taliban....

Is the U.S Government really serious about reconciliation? A theory now being toyed with for attempting to 'lure' out the lower Taliban fighters with money as the bait. Let's assume they pull out even one, the money the Government will spend just to do this will be costly. Let's even assume they pull out 2-5000 Taliban fighters from the lower end, what happens to the bigger fish in the Taliban at the top of the line? Do you really think your going to lure the big fish out of the water (or the sand dunes) with promise of money? They already have their own money. They want the US to stop supporting the Israelis do they not? This of course was according to the big guy himself, Osama bin Laden. Chances are Uncle Sam won't get one fighter.

Speaking of Osama bin Laden; how it is possible he STILL has not been located? Could it be for the fact that the Tora Bora mountains are so complex and the cave systems are so elaborate that Laden can hide for months on end despite the battle that took place in the area in 2001? I highly doubt your not going to be able to spot a 6 foot Arab hooked up to a dialysis machine walking around in the mountains in a white robe. After all, they found a tyrant of a President from Iraq cuddled in a hole in the ground hidden under a mat.

If Osama was caught, the money stops trickling in. Osama is and always will be a US cash grab folks.

Osama, welcome to the free world.

Penny Sale In Rankin Inlet

Today Rankin Inlet hosted a Penny Sale and a Talent show this evening respectively as a relief effort for Haiti. I do not yet know the outcome of the Talent Show financially what it has brought in, but I do know the Penny Sale has turned out just over $7,000. I would like to say, this sale alone was amazing that it brought in as much as it did. The turn out was huge. Thanks to everyone in Rankin who did come to show support both by setting up the tables, bringing in their wares for sale and the people who contributed financially.

If you are in Rankin Inlet reading this, or ever come to Rankin Inlet, come by the Siniktarvik Hotel and say hello to me. It is my new place of work and I am immensely enjoying it there. The restaurant is busy, and chocked full of wonderful foods on the menu in the dining room section. If you are coming to Rankin Inlet for a visit, book yourself in at the Siniktarvik and stay a spell. The staff are exceptional and friendly.

Well Deserved Win

Going back to the topic of last night's blog relating to the tragic loss of Nan Dicks, my grandmother in Newfoundland who lost her battle not to cancer which she has been battling for 43 years, but to a car accident. Reports are there were no skid marks on the road indicating she never even attempted to stop. Possibly indicating she may have had a heart attack or stroke while driving. There are many twists in this story behind the scenes that involve coincidences. To start, how is it that while being trained last night at work as I was asked to answer the next phone call that trickled into the hotel was the very phone call that brought the tragic news of my grandmothers death?

Another is even bigger. There has been a riff in the family. Between my step mother and I. This is where my blog gets so personal, it will most likely be the most private thing I may ever discuss on here. And I do so to bring you a little closer to my life, and into my world. As my wedding date speeds fast towards July 9th 2010 my step mother and I hit a speed bump in the road while on that journey. As I was anticipating her, her boyfriend and Nan to arrive this summer at the wedding, she wanted me to invite her sister, and brothers. I really don't know her sister and brothers very well. I had declined her suggestion of inviting them and just wanted to go form there. She had brought to my attention she would not be attending then. I had helped her with that decision by telling her she will not be invited then. Two mature adults acting like children.

Uggh. Ok, so this has come to a stand still and got so bad, we ended up not seeing eye to eye on the matter and ultimately stopped talking to one another. Enter the loss of my grandmother, her mother. I needed to be there for my step mother and made the call to her as soon as I got home last night after receiving the news of the accident. The call was hard for her, in more ways than one, but it was a loving and endearing phone call that was supportive of course as I am the eldest out of her three boys and needed to fulfill my role as such. I firmly believe I need to do the right thing here and let her know she is most certainly invited, as is her siblings in question.

Ironic twists of fate. Or signs from the Lord above that such arguments amongst family are insignificant in comparison to the fact that we are not here for a long time, nor is anything in life guaranteed? Whatever the answer is. It is awfully gut wrenching to think it may have taken the death of a family member to bring a family closer together.

I need to get ready for work. Thanks for reading.

A Great Loss

Tonight as I blog, I blog with a heavy heart. My grandmother on my step mother's side has passed away, she was in a car accident earlier tonight. Although I have just seen her this past summer during my trip with my fiancee through Ottawa, where my grandmother, or Nan as I call her, was visiting up from Newfoundland to see her daughter (my step mother) I must say, cancer or not, she looked great. A battle she has been fighting for over 40 years.

I received the call tonight while I was at work, in training. It hit me hard, and I am deeply saddened not so much for myself, but for Juanita, my step mother. Her sister and her brothers and the rest of the family. You see, if you know Newfoundlander's at all, it is the are a very tight knit type of people when it comes to family. I would appreciate if you took the time to read this far into my blog, if you could go a little further and view the photos below of my Nan who never asked for anything from anybody. Was tougher than most people I know, and would do anything for you. The way you would know a grandmother would be.




My two younger brothers, Adam on the right in the white shirt, and Brendan, our youngest brother on the left in the black shirt and Nan in the middle on her summer visit in 2009.



My Nan & I during the summer of 2009 in Ottawa at Juanita's home.




Nan, her daughter Juanita (my step mother) & I.



I love you Nan Olive Dicks. R.I.P

Take 2

Ok, ok. So my blog wasn't so user friendly yesterday lol. Or very pleasant on the eyes. Thanks to some fellow bloggers and advice from them, I did a little more tweaking with my blog page. I hope this is a little more pleasing to the eyes. With that being done, enough on that subject. I removed the poll as to whether or not the page was good, boring, whatever, whatever.

What I really wanted to blog about was this Nutri-System I have been using. Last Saturday was day one. I started at 254lbs. The biggest I have weighed. Today, just 5 days later, a few workouts on the elliptical trainer and a whole lot of Nutri-System meals and glasses of water later I am weighing in at 247 today. I feel good about this weight loss. I hate, hate the portion sizes offered up in Nutri-System however. They are no bigger than what a gerbil would dine on for a late night snack. That goes for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Though I did have a treat today for lunch, whole wheat pita bread with steak cut up into little bite size pieces with mozzarella cheese, green pepper, onion and a little fat free ranch sauce. Mmmmm mmmmm!! Ok, did I deserve it? Was it worth it? Did I cheat myself? I have no idea whatsoever but I can certainly tell you, it was fan-freakin-tastic!

And though I did treat myself today to at least something that resembles a darn meal, I will be right on track again tonight for dinner and have a treat day tomorrow, I will be ok. To see the scale weight looking back at me with a much smaller number than the day before is encouraging. I firmly now believe that daily tracking of your weight is motivating enough. Though I don't expect to see everyday results, I will continue to reap the rewards of what Nutri-System has to offer.

Till next time...

Breaking 1000

Well I never started blogging on Blogger to gain popularity. I was merely hoping to just use the opportunity as an open journal for anyone to read or follow along my time in the North. And although I do not always blog about the North per say, I still do my best to blog about something. I am hoping to have some better blogs to come as I hone my writing skills and following others, learn how they use words. The art of being able to paint a picture in someone's mind simply by using words has always intrigued me. At times I have been able to paint colourful pictures and other time's I feel I have not been very good at it. I hope by year's end I can weave a tapestry of words for you that will enable you, the reader to understand where I am coming from with ease and enjoyment from reading my amusing little blogs.

With that being said, I thank you very much for visiting my blog and supporting me and encouraging me, even if you didn't realize it, to continue to blog each week at the very least. This morning I seen I have reached 1000 visitors. I am quite proud of this and I am sure my future father in law, Gord Dunphy who has a very professional like blog is laughing at my measly little 1000 visitors, haha, this is big for me.

In conclusion, again, thanks everyone!

Is It June Yet?

Finally got a chance to get out and about today here in Rankin Inlet as the old man winter let up a little on us today. Warming things up to a balmy -27, got the town out in droves nearly. Made for a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Monday and Tuesday won't be no exception with temps getting as high as a reported -7 to -11! Come on, I know I am looking forward to May, June and July but this is a little too early isn't it?

Grabbed a couple of photos and finally, a brief short clip of the edge of Hudson's Bay frozen over. I hope to be adding more photos of around Rankin Inlet in the next few weeks. Check out some pics from earlier today below.



This was me trying to recapture my youth by climbing this giant mountain of snow.



Just me stopping for a photo pose.



Because it was so warm today I decided to jump for joy.


Till next time everyone, thanks for coming by...

A New Dawn

Tomorrow marks the first day of my new job in the north. Hotel Desk Supervisor at the Siniktarvik here in Rankin Inlet. This isn't a big role, although it carries many duties to the role it is a good start for Melissa and I. We had been hoping CIBC which hired me a few months ago would have been our big ticket in the north to making headway financially up here would work out until I quit that gig. Not the smartest move, but I was very unhappy in what I was doing and was miserable doing it. That was just in the first 3 weeks. After the 4th, decided to leave.

The Siniktarvik offers lot's of room for advancement and a fairly decent offer was put before me after helping them out with security work over the holidays that consisted of me doing that during the nights. Sacrificing our holidays to see what if anything, would come out of the security stint, I did it. Glad I did, as I will be once again, working full time and hope everything works out well for us. Training begins this week, on board fully the week after. I am excited for a new venture and a new beginning. Hopefully, this is the last job I will need to ever apply for.

On another note about making it in the north, I want to wish my future sister in law and her fiancee, Lori & Matt, the very best of luck back in Whitby, Ontario as they left from Kugluktuk, Nunavut after a year and a half. They were coaxed to come up by us last year and had the opportunity to experience the north with us. They did exceptionally well and enjoyed themselves but are very happy to be home. I hope Matt has a good game tonight as he is back playing with his recreational hockey league team, The Mighty Pigs. Looking forward to seeing you both this summer in Newfoundland when we all four of us get married in July!

One last note of recognition goes to my blog readers. I have no idea who some of you are, as many do not post comments and this is perfectly fine. But I definitely want to thank you for taking time out of your lives to stop by and read my blog postings. Not much point in doing this if no one is reading it really. My tracker at the bottom tells me I am close to reaching my first 1000 visitors. That is exciting for me being new to blogging. To the Nunie Award nominees, I wish you all the best of luck as the results are still pending.

Till next time...

Nutrisystem, Tower 200, Elliptical, WeightWatchers & Hope.

With the Christmas season done, and the new year set in stone, the time is long over due for this fat boy to drop the pounds once & for all. With a bevy of weapons under my wing I am well prepared to say the least to loose enough weight for me and a small army of men. Have my fiancee and I over done things by loading up on all these tools?

I do believe this could work if well played. Nutrisystem. Our first ever order arrived yesterday. Two giant boxes with a month's worth of food for us both. Upon getting the boxes home we opened everything up and were surprised...stunned...maybe a little shocked at what 'portion control' really is all about. My God man, have we been so blind as to not really know what a normal portion of food considered one serving is?

The packages are small, thin and frighteningly light. How does one survive on such small amounts of food? Is this not NASA space food? Hamburger patties you immerse in water and watch it grow like those coin dispensed toys you soak in water for 24 hours as it gets bigger. Chicken salads already made for you in a package that feels like goo inside as you squeeze it in curiosity. The cereals are petite but the cookies look great. The price we pay to loose weight is unforgivable at times and I feel like it consumes us like wildfire sucking up oxygen to survive.

The Tower 200. Body by Jake. Endorsed by Randy 'The Natural' Couture, this single piece of equipment can totally transform you into a fighting machine. Ok, maybe not exactly as such, but will get you toned according to the reviews. It attaches to any door, is secure and by use of pulleys and bungee like cords gives you resistance in the form of 25, 35 and 60 pounds. For both arms/legs, gives you a total of 200 pounds of resistance. With over 200 different exercises to learn, it is a personal home gym.

Our Elliptical gives us our biggest hope in fighting the weight bandit. Making use of this machine is crucial. With less than 6 months left till we leave to marry, we are hoping to motivate each other. I'll keep ya posted folks.

Sham Oww!

Well good day to you my fellow bloggers and readers alike. Being 3am in the morning here in beautiful downtown Rankin Inlet, with light snow blowing in the cold wind I find myself laying wide awake as my fiancee snores up a storm of her own right beside me(rub it why don't ya sweetie). I decided sleeping is not my best quality as of late. I decided to get up and do the early morning routine that one does when facing this issue and make a bathroom run, a fridge stop along with a 'what's on t.v trip' and a final stop of 'who's online at 3am'. The first two went relatively well, the fridge stop was good for something cold to drink and the final check of the internet dealt me a blow. Let me take you back to your late night infomercials on T.V.

We have all seen em, watched em, talked about them amongst family & friends alike and even hated and liked them. Infomercials. Perhaps, you, like me, have even indulged once or twice to purchasing one of these 'As Seen On TV' products. I have been found guilty of purchasing such items as Dr. Ho's Muscle Massager (sends a ever soothing electrical pulse to the ab muscles creating the biggest idiot walking around with a velcro belt on, you!) or the Ab Doer, a chair that swivels around in many directions as you loose 1400lbs in just 30 seconds a day by sitting in a mini chair looking like a knucklehead just for buying the lamest product out there or perhaps you too have found the chills late at night so frustrating and just couldn't get relaxed all tangled up in that constrictive blanket that grandma knit for you which apparently according to the makers of Snuggie act like a straight jacket, or maybe you are deaf and need the Whisper 2000. This little tiny device looks like and resembles a Bluetooth wireless phone that attaches to your ear yet can deliver up to 9000 decibels just by cranking her up at full tilt so you can listen to birds, snakes, ghosts, farts, space transmissions or whatever the hell else they claim it can do. For you ladies, maybe you have bought the Bumpit from these late night scammers. A hair accessory for your hair that creates the illusion you worked feverishly for hours doing your hair and giving you the most ridiculous Wilma Flintstone hair look ever on your block.

Ok, so I am not saying that these products do not work, nor that they do work. And as I get off track here, let me take you back to what I am getting at. The Sham Wow. The Slap Chop, more precisely the man who endorses the product himself on TV, Vince Shlomi. The hyped up (probably coked out) endless ball of energy of a man who never seems to take one breath in between his sales pitch to us over the 'greatest products' on earth besides Rogaine and Viagra. Or was that sliced bread? Hmmm, whatever the case. Who is this guy? What's his background? Is he real or just an animated string bean who wears the best of what WalMart has to offer that week in T shirts? Well folks, get your cup of java ready, your favorite beer, your tastiest treat and let me lay it on you. I did the research on this clown. Here is the lowdown.

Offer 'Vince' Shlomi was born in Haifa, Israel on April 26th 1964. The man is a director, writer and a comedian. The first anyone ever seen of him was in 1999 comedy film called The Underground Comedy Movie which turned out to be a bust. He sued film makers saying that 14 scenes from the Farrelly Brothers film There's Something About Mary were adapted from his film Underground Comedy Movie. Shlomi also sued Anna Nicole Smith for breach of contract. He claimed that Smith agreed to be in Underground Comedy Movie, but backed out because she was afraid it would hurt her career. I didn't know Anna had a career. He is also a former member of The Church of Scientology, maybe Tom Cruise can teach him a few acting tricks? Shlomi apparently sued the Church for libel in 2004. I have not been able to find out what the outcome was of that.

Enter 2006. The infomercial was filmed in 2007. An absorbent towel he saw at a flea market which he dubbed, the ShamWow sparked the whole idea. The commercial was originally slated has having Vince saying the product held 20 times worth it's weight in liquid. Then re did the commercial saying it held 12 times it's weight, then finally re did to say it only holds really 10 times it's weight. Which apparently, ten is the most it can really adsorb. I won't get into any details of his second pitch, The Slap Chop for fear of my fiancee and her retaliation as she owns, well, not quite the Slap Chop, but a knock off which is deadly close to it in every way minus the name. And let's be honest, the couch sucks for sleeping on and she does read my blogs. With that said, let's move on shall we?

Here is the kicker folks...Vince, on February 7th, 2009 was arrested. Felony battery on a 26 year old prostitute. While in Miami Beach, FL while he was staying at the hotel Setai, an upscale $750 a night room where in the nightclub, he met Sasha Harris, 26 who accompanied Vince to his room. Vince admitted he paid Harris $1000 after she propositioned him for straight sex. Upon commencing of the kissing, she bit his tongue and wouldn't let go. Vince, being the nice guy he is obliged her by punching her several times in the face where Harris sustained facial fractures and lacerations all over her face at 4am. After releasing his tongue, Vince ran to the Setai lobby when the hotel security called for the cops to show. Turns out, Harris was not very cooperative with police and the cops says both parties reeked of alcohol. Bear in mind, Harris was also charged for battery on him. I have posted the actual copies of the police reports below.


Well folks, I hope this was as exciting for you to read as it was for me to type. I should be going I suppose, 4:30 am came quicker than I expected....now, what's on TV?

My Achey Breaky Back

Ok, ok....I know I been missing my blog updates as I was doing so well. I had some time out. I was doing night shift work for two and a half weeks which totally and utterly ripped up my sleeping schedule and my fiancee's. Threw off our holiday plans and left us feeling alone. Being on different time schedule's is not fun. Her and I found it hard to get used to making time for seeing one another. I ended up finishing my work doing night security between two hotels early due to throwing (I never threw it anywhere) my back out. Let me tell ya, if you have never experienced the wonderful friendship of pain and immobilization, you aren't living then. The fact I originally threw out my back three and a half years ago in Kentucky, US by participating in my own personal strong man competition was a stupid thing to do. That fridge weighed a lot! In any case, I reaggravated it last year in Kugluktuk simply by washing my hands leaning over the sink.

The pain strikes like lightening and brings a grown man to his knees. Then your laid up for a week. My sister in law to be also experienced this about a month ago. So once again, while shaving in the bathroom (why am I always in the can when this happens?) when it struck again. The trick is a couple of key things; ibuprofen 3 times a day, lay on your back on the floor with your knees up, and do 20 minutes of heat compress and 20 minutes of a cold compress. I also think my future mother in law would also suggest Gatorade. Good for everything that ails ya.

With my back feeling a bit better after 3 days, I am still careful not to do anything suddenly. Last thing I need is to be out of commission for an extra week you know.

On another note, six months from this day, my fiancee, Melissa Dunphy and I marry in Newfoundland and it couldn't come any sooner. With such little time left, we still feel there is so much left to do.

Life in Rankin Inlet is just fine. However, I find I do miss certain aspects of life from down home in Ontario. I miss my cats, Lexus and Casey. They are being well cared for and I am grateful for that. I miss driving. I don't yet have a vehicle in Rankin and I love to drive. I could drive for days straight. I miss Tim Horton's. I miss my friends. I miss my idiot brother's. I miss stopping at a garbage sale on someone's property to go through the shit they no longer want, but will try and sell to you. I miss saying hello to people in downtown Toronto only to have them give you the middle finger or tell you where to go. Yea, I miss those things.

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I will once again try to keep my ever so boring blogs updated more frequently as I once did. Hope your all having a good start to the new year everyone.

Till next time....