Saturday, October 8, 2011

Stranded on an Island

Thursday October 6th, 2011. 5:28pm

I always wonder what would happen if I were in Iqaluit when the world came to an end. Morbid and strange, I know. I imagine we would drown if it were water and ice that would take us down. The city is literally in a large bowl and I picture us being engulfed in cold water. I used to assure myself that somehow I would make it onto a plane and fly to safety.

Today, Northwestel's service went down, I'm not sure why or how but it resulted in an interesting day. Our debit machines went down, our atm's, internet, telephones and cells went down. We have been able to use land lines to call local numbers but we have lost all contact with the outside world.

Flights stopped coming in and going out due to planes not being able to communicate with airports and towers. A Canadian North flight went out a couple of hours ago, but all other flights are staying put. My bakers were supposed to leave for vacation today but have to wait until our world starts turning again. My friend Kayla was waiting for her mom to fly in today, which breaks my heart.

Obviously none of our departments at the store recieved any freight and no one could place any product orders. Our suppliers were probably stressing out trying to contact us but they'll have to wait for our excuses until service returns.

Earlier today I heard that we would be without connections for a minimum of eighteen hours and that we could go without it for up to four days. I'm not sure how straight those facts are, as I heard them through a very long grape vine.

I knew I relied much too heavily on my cell phone but today, I realized just how bad my habit is. I was sitting at the lunch table and went to message my friend who was sitting directly across the table from me, not because I'm sick and twisted but because we use that method for private conversation. While I was working on our Tims schedule for the next couple of weeks, I went to text Katie a couple of questions and ended up having to physically find her instead. This morning at 5 am I messaged my sister after she asked me for some advice, I never even found out what advice she was looking for. Life without constant social updates and networking, is very... last century, almost refreshingly oldschool.

I can live without my phone, but loosing all connection is a little unnerving. I couldnt call my family if there were a real emergency. We have no way to communicate with the rest of the planet. Which brings me back to the end of the world... it looks like my plan to fly out would fail.

I'm not going to lie, I enjoy a little switch up in the way my days play out. Internet and phone service down, rotating power outages, water cut off's, losing our satelite. We see it all in Iqaluit, perhaps a little too often.

Playing Catan by candlelight during last months blackout

I have four words ladies and gentlemen, Welcome. To. The. North.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That reminds me of the huge blackout in Toronto and parts of the U.S. a few years ago. I actually saw stars at night. There was something peaceful about it all. But I was relieved when power was back. A couple of winters ago there was a large but more localized blackout in part of Toronto. It was winter and I was worried about my kids. The only neighbour who had heat had a 100 year old boiler that wasn't ignited by electricity.

Mom said...

Your amazing!! Your living the adventure you always wanted. Love ya xx00