Less than a Month...and yet a World Away!

It’s mid-January and already, locally, the days have started to yield more light. Leaving the camera store on the weekend, the sun was shining and still above the horizon after 5 p.m…and it just makes you feel more positive about everything.

Sunset last week on Kalar Road, Niagara Falls

We have had less than a month of official “winterdom”, but the milder weather of the past few days has excited many. The comparison of last year’s January weather to this current month is a “hot” topic of conversation. In fact, last year our weather started cold with snow in late November and pretty much stayed that way for the next four months. Even the famous ice boom across the Niagara River wasn’t removed until May…a month late!!!

Contrast that with this season’s early snow sprinkled with some bitter cold around new years. Despite some bone chilling days since then, a few flakes and snowfalls have led to much milder weather overall than last year. The next week for Niagara looks like this will continue.

There are several interesting comparisons when you compare our local weather, here in Niagara,  with that of Rankin Inlet. Firstly, our temperatures and wind chill factors are considerably different. As such, my warm (i.e. cold weather) gear is ready and waiting having been augmented to a degree. My time in the north, this time, is occurring later in the winter season and I expect warmer temperatures into the last half of march. I learned last time, however, that expectations in the North are seldom a reality. Having recently talked to staff at the health centre, they have had a series of heavy winds and blizzard conditions. It affects the staff and life, in general, in the town.

2008 Snowy Landscape outside Rankin Inlet

People are no different when they are locked into an environment for days on end, whether it is north or south. “Cabin fever” is something you can deal with if it’s recognized. The other interesting outcome of long term blizzard-like conditions is that goods, services and people are not transported as normally occurs daily. Shortages in the milk and bread sections of the local supermarkets in January 2008 were evident during our 6 day blizzard at that time.So the weather can definitely be a factor in the health and well-being of a community.

While looking over the weather data this aft for both my deck weather station (JCWX) at home

and the airport reporting in Rankin Inlet(CYRT), I noted a couple of other interesting facts. Here, in Niagara today, we had a sunrise at 7:44 and a sunset at 5:10. In Rankin Inlet the sun rose was 9:14 and the sun was to set at 3:23(if the clouds and fog allowed them to see it). More curious was the other stat shown clearly on both pages.

In Niagara we will gain an extra 1 minute and 52 seconds of daylight, while in Rankin Inlet they will gain 5 minutes and 5 seconds, that’s almost three times more daylight per day and this will continue to increase each and every day.

While it’s just a few weeks until my potential departure, the weather is but one aspect of the contrasts of the two regions. The climate, the people, the daylight…it’s a world of difference in both spots and hard to believe you remain within the same country.

Coming Soon:  LONG DISTANCES

Resolving Those UNREVOLVING Gears

Previously, you learned about my welcome in the midst of horror. As the staff of the Kivalliq Health Centre had arrived that January 3, 2008, I was in the middle of a “situation”. . As each of the curious staff greeted me and/or welcomed me, they were met with a mess. I was up to my elbows in chemistry, a processor in disarray, and a floor that also required attention.

Trying to analyze my dilemma, and get those racks a-turning was now a serious issue. It was 0830 and the centre was open for business. I was not. As I pondered and concentrated on resolving the matter, don’t ask me why but I thought back to those times when you try to open that wide mouth pickle jar and that lid won’t budge. You try to wrap your hand around it, you tap it, or you sometimes run hot water over it hoping to warm any brine residue that might help to release that lid.

Brilliant…use the hot water. I carry the first offending roller rack across the “wet” room to the sink and start the hot water flowing.  Have you ever waited at a sink that seems to take forever for hot water to arrive…only to scald yourself eventually when the full temperature was reached? Let me put it to you this way…if your sink hadn’t been used in say 2 weeks AND your outside temperature is about -25….in spite of insulation inside a building…well it takes a while LONGER. Eventually a slight change in the level of cold in the water started to happen. About 5 minutes later (or so it seemed) I had hot water.

The reception desk for Lab/Xray patients

Now while this was all taking place, I had met the secretary/receptionist (shared between Xray and the Lab staff). In fact, by this time, I had met her about three times. She had introduced herself and welcomed me like the others. She had, quite nicely, and very business like, returned each time to announce the arrival of my next patient. Somewhere in the conversation exchange, I mentioned that we wouldn’t be doing any cases today if I didn’t get this processor functional. I think she returned three more times before my first case was done.

I had set the developer roller rack on the floor near the counter with the sink, while this whole thing was acting out. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get this rack into a sink the size of many used in home bars….a round peg in a square hole so to speak.The best I could do was to get the gears portion of the rack, almost, under the water stream.  I say almost, since there was a great deal of water splashing around me and onto the floor below.

At some point while I’m struggling to get those gears turning under the running hot water, and with water running over the countertop down the cupboard doors and onto the floor, someone arrives with a bucket and mop in order to prevent someone from slipping or other damage. The combination of water on both ends of the developer rack along with more effort on my part on the drive gear starts to free it up and the rollers begin to turn.

Eventually the rollers turn freely….one rack down and two to go. The fixer rack needs less work even though it looks worse with all the crystallized fixer affixed. It cleans up relatively quickly and turns freely…likewise the wash rack. We are making progress. Now having found something to carry the developer from those replentishment tanks to the processor itself, I start to fill the tanks. With first the developer and then, the fixer, completely filled we are ready to reassemble.

The "Thumper"

The pieces are falling into place. Once the processor has been energized, the banging has been quieted to a faint repetitive thump. A noise is still there but it is less noticeable now. It’s almost nine and time for the test films. A little later these 14 by 17 test sheets drop into the exit bin. Damp but delivered, my workday has started…just a little late. Let the patients begin.

The Blogger’s Epliogue: Later in the afternoon after playing a game of catch up with my patient backlog, there was an opportunity to check where that continuing thumping was actually coming from. It turned out that a drive gear for the developer rack had become stripped due to the initial binding on that fateful startup...the loud thumping earlier in the day was actually the developer rack jumping as the drive gear tried to get that rack turning. Some quick thinking now allowed me to reverse that gear on the drive shaft and, with it on backwards, smooth meshing ensued and the thumping was gone. Later in the week, I replaced that defective gear once I had discovered where “we” stored the spare parts.

As a momento of this near tragic event (at least in my mind), I have kept that gear attached to a USB drive as a sort of “lucky” charm and it constantly reminds me that you can overcome adversity with sound, practical logic. It will accompany me as I travel north for that same remembrance.

Coming soon: TIME IS PASSING

Being Given the Gears

It’s been interesting these past few weeks to think back 7 years to my first day at Kivillaq Health Centre.The details remain sharp.  Having arrived the day before in the darkness of night, I had risen after a well deserved sleep. Recalling that the day before had been a long day of travel...from

Departing on Wednesday Jan 2, 2008

the 3 a.m. wakeup, the 4 a.m. transport ride to the airport, check in and a 6 a.m. early breakfast off the airport property with my brother.

The boarding of the 8.a.m. Westjet flight to Winnipeg…the waiting…the check-in to my 3 p.m. Calm Air flight…the waiting…some TSN World Junior hockey tournament viewing…a bowl of chili and a cold beer in the Air Canada lounge…some waiting…the flight to Churchill…the refueling (more waiting)…the continuation of my flight to Arviat (waiting on the plane while they defrosted the built in steps of the plane)…and, finally, the touchdown at Rankin Inlet airport amid some winds and swirling snow. A greeting party of two had met me in the airport arrivals waiting room and, like a VIP, had wisked me away in an SUV to my new Rankin Inlet address (commonly known to the locals as “the barn”).

A quick breakfast and, if the mind is accurate, my airport greeting party again arriving just before 8.a.m. and driving me into the Health Centre (otherwise, how would I have found it?).

It had seemed like forever to get ready for the outside. My face mask, gloves, boots, coat, over pants, sweater and heavy socks had taken forever to install for that 20 second trip to a warming white (or was it snow covered) SUV left running outside my apartment. 

Here, at “the Barn”, I had unpacked a bit the night before to organize my food and my clothing for

2008 MUDROOM at "the Barn"

the next day, so I would be prepped when the “cock crowed”.

The morning was crisp (they all were) and it was dark (same again). The winds were calmer and the packed snow of the parking lots crunched under my Sorell’s.  As we entered the backdoor of the Health Centre, I couldn’t help but notice, the absolute cleanliness and neatness of these surroundings. The floors were pristine and literally sparkling. The place was only a few years old but one could tell that it was well maintained.

I was escorted to my “workplace”…and as lights were energized, I was introduced to a couple of early arrivers. They had anticipated my arrival and were eager to meet me (mostly since they had been without a tech for over a week). As I defrocked my outside clothing, I toured my surroundings, scoured the notes and papers affixed to equipment and walls, and generally looked over my “tools” of the next few weeks. I powered up the xray control and table to the normal hum of electrical equipment. My morning had started.

Now it was time for the darkroom portion of my excursion. Checked cassettes and film bins…found the flow taps for water and power supply, closed the lid…and started up the processor. Suddenly, there was a hard banging. It was regular with each one about a second apart…..Panic….Problem….Shutdown….where was the emergency power shutoff??? After what had seemed like an eternity (probably only about 15-20 seconds), I killed the power and immediately the banging ceased. This was not the way to start my Nunavut career. Would I need a service call BEFORE I even got started? Where would they have to come from?  No time to panic, but it was, instead, a time to solve.

Pulling the lid off the film processor, having determined I’d better start and run through a complete diagnostic check of the whole unit, I lifted the developer rack. The tank was empty…dry….well there was some residual developer in the bottom. I tried to comprehend...why dry?

I turned my attention to those first set of rollers. The developer rack was caked in oxydized developer...dry and dark brown…so this was not recent drainage. Feeling more like Sherlock than Roentgen, I glazed on the next tank. It was almost to capacity and stunk like fixer…a far better sign. After a glance at the rack, though, I could see my next hurdle. The encrusted and dried fixer had

2008 Fixer Rack

deposited on all the gears...and they would not turn. I tried again with all my strength to turn the main drive gear, but to no avail. This was definitely a drive train problem and now to check on the gears.

Now, while this was happening, the remaining staff of the Kivillaq Health Centre was arriving to begin their normal workday. Even before they had removed their coats, almost each and every one seemed to stop into Xray to greet me, wanting to shake my hand, and welcoming me to Rankin Inlet. My hands smelled of fixer and developer…and I had dripped chemistry all over their pristine floors…this was not a best first impression.

Next Time: RESOLVING THOSE UNREVOLVING GEARS

When a PC is actually a VS

The letter started “Dear Robert:” The formal name...good news could not be following.  It sounded like someone addressing you in school when you’re about to be…well, you get the picture.

A sprinkling of snow on the back deck

The day had started out like most winter weather in our area here in Niagara this time of year…some clouds, some temperatures hovering around freezing and a sprinkle of snow, which had melted earlier, just to let you know it was December. Santa was not far off.

The Canada Post “door to door” had arrived. Vince, our post person, had neatly placed our stack in the metal receptacle.  Some Christmas cards….the usual flyers (one telling me that I could reduce my payday loan costs) and a crisp white envelope that immediately got my attention. I tore it open.

Niagara Regional Police Service had said the envelope. Chief Jeffrey McGuire read the letterhead. The body explained more. It was a confirmation and clarification of information that I had received that morning by an email directly from Chief McGuire. And, like his email had said, I had also received a phone call from the Police Service just about a half hour after I had read his email.

I guess to really explain the situation of my involvement with the local “gendarmes”, I had better go back in time to frame this properly. You see, I had been contacted 10 days earlier by officials of the Kivalliq Health Centre in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut (Canada’s most recent Territory). They requested that I consider helping their situation since seven years prior I had completed a relief position as their Xray Technologist during January when their tech had gone on annual leave.

It seems that they were “techless” and they needed some help. My name had been raised since I had “experienced” the north previously. Seven years is a long time between postings. There were many things to consider…my age, health, family, and other obligations. The list dwindled as all the factors seemed to align. With my registration validated, the last obstacle was my police background check (PC).

So I had gone to the Niagara Regional Police Service website, to obtain the necessary forms and complete the process. This was the day after I had discussed my employment in Rankin Inlet. The last piece of the puzzle was a police clearance (PC), as required by most employers these days. Mine only took about a half hour seven years ago. Health care workers, like teachers and other professionals, require a more in depth background check called a Vulnerable Sector (VS) search since these professionals are dealing with children, the aged, and the infirmed.

Information on Vulnerable Sector Police Background Checks

A quick search of the website revealed a four week waiting period for my VS checkup. I was prepared and, since it was the week before Christmas, I had loads of time. Arriving Wednesday morning at 68 Church Street in downtown St. Catharines, I bebopped up the stairs to RECORDS. At 0830, the area was clear....only a records clerk behind the window…and an empty waiting area. A quick explanation for my visit was followed by a Hindenberg moment. The clerk politely informed me that the Vulnerable Sector (VS) background check backlog was NINE WEEKS.

Their website had lied! What to do…in nine weeks I was scheduled to be in the Arctic…well, maybe not now. In a calm, and somewhat collected, manner I completed my application, paid my money and departed. How could this be? What were the ramifications, not only for me, but for others awaiting their employment? The result was a quiet drive home as I thought through any options.

The next day of problem-solving, this roadblock, was depressing as no solution could be found. What to do? Consult !!!! So I called Matt the next morning (friday) at the health centre and explained my own overnight solution. He was encouraging, not overly optimistic, but he said that he would assist, however possible, and he did so in an email later in the day.

His email, my letter of explanation and a copy of my previous police check from December 2007 were delivered on Saturday morning to police headquarters in an envelope addressed to Chief McGuire. My solution was simple and straight forward…explain to him the situation in the community up north and ask for the process to be expedited, if possible. It was the only thing I thought might help. By Monday, I had three responses from the Niagara Regional Police Service and their help and guidance.

The quick response showed me that sometimes you just have to ask. The letter that afternoon explained the situation more thoroughly. It started out:

“On July 19, 2010, the RCMP instituted enhancements to the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) system for querying flagged pardoned sex offender records, commonly referred to as a Vulnerable Sector (VS) query that all Canadian police agencies must comply with.”

Further explanation included the fact that I needed to be finger printed and that this was done by appointment only. I called and made my appointment as these are done, but twice, a week. As we write, my digital digits are traveling electronically over the internet having paid my fees.  The usual

Sgt. Preston & Yukon King from CBS in 1956

10 day turnaround means I should know by mid- January….my fate is now in the hands of those scarlet tunics in Ottawa.

ONWARD…SGT. PRESTON !!!! 
Mush.... you huskies! 

Coming up soon: Giving me The Gear(s)

After the Parade Passes You By

The past two weeks have been hectic, to say the least, for everyone celebrating Christmas followed by the close of 2014. In our house, like everywhere else, there is that constant balancing act of…time, events, family, work and everything that falls between. All these needs are woven into a fabric called “life”.

At Christmas time, and the week that follows, family gatherings usually focus, at some point, on Christmas’ and New Year’s past traditions and loved ones… things that seem somewhat less important overall to our today’s plugged-in society. But, to many, there is a whole host of traditions that are kept alive.

The Rose Parade people in Pasadena have put those floats to bed by now. For 48 hours after the big show, they are on display in a park-like setting of residential streets to allow the curious an opportunity to view them close at hand. Within a few feet you are able to see the handiwork of thousands...high school students, retirees, church groups; volunteers of all sorts. Traditions abound at the float barns. Some of these floats are massive and multi-sectional. You walk all around them, talk to the float handlers, sponsors and affiliates and just admire.

Families book their vacations, decorate the floats, view the parade and BRAG with pride how they decorated that one little section…and it took four days.

Painstakingly, these “workers” attached single petals of flowers to the appointed spot…Massive blooms of every type imaginable as well as handfuls of coconut, rice, straw flowers and other vegetation are used. The varied materials are not tinted to get the exact hue as imagined by the designer but must be natural.

Dried bark, seaweed and wide grasses (some that have been ironed flat) are woven together and pasted to form intricate designs for baskets and used to cover supporting frames and structures so they don’t stand out. The intricate use of various seeds in the floragraphs has taken hours by these decorators over the past month and the results…unbelievable. Even the name of the sponsors and the theme or name of each float is not painted but hand decorated…then attached just before delivery to the pre-parade setup areas.

The resulting visual effects are stunning on our HD television displays…but seeing these objects in the glowing sunshine on an early California morning…perhaps breathtaking is the right description. The use of seeds, the varieties of rice and other material when combined with the digital images of today, has produced a new wave in float decorating technique and design.

It’s called a floragraph. These picture floral images were widely seen this year front and centre. For me the most moving was the float recognizing worldwide Ebola First Responders and honouring two dedicated Ebola workers, stricken with the disease while helping others to cope and heal. The tragedy of those deaths was honoured, with their families in attendance on the float, having had their floragraph images revealed to them, just days before.

Again this year, like last, the largest collection of floragraphs appeared on the “Donate Life” float. The message is clear. Organ donations work. Riding on their float were people who have had their lives extended, their lifestyles changed and they had others to thank. Walking alongside the float, I noticed a large number of men and women wearing shirts that said “Live Donor”…recognition for an unselfish act.

Last year, our hotel was the base for the “Donate Life” float organizers. There was a constant stream of people supporting each other. Most wore photo badges of their loved ones who had donated. An equal number of recipients and their families were also there...some also sporting photos of their “givers”. They were all decorating their float together.  The floragraphs on the float are based upon photographs provided by families of the donors. It’s a way that this organization puts a face to recognize the human need and the sacrifice made by others. There website currently explains 123,000 men women and children are waiting for organs in the U.S. alone, and thousands more require tissue and cornea donations to restore sight and mobility.

Standing in the warm sun, last year, with the San Gabriel mountains shimmering in the backdrop while next to the Donate Life float, I realized something was missing…all the floragraphs….there had been many.  They were missing…gone…but why, where?.  I asked the float handler. As a final gesture of thanks, he said that they had all been turned over to those donor’s families.

HAKUNA MATATA---SIGN YOUR DONOR CARD!     

Ahead: Back on Track now that the Holidays are over

A New Day (Year) Dawns

While yesterday’s story was a summary of last year's New Years eve in Pasadena…today I’m going to relate some interesting notes about last year’s visit to the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl game….and in subsequent postings, I hope to tie them all together.

A 4:30 a.m. wake up call is required if you are going to the parade and be in your seat for the start of the parade at its prompt 0800 hours start time. We are only 5 kilometers from our seats. It’s dark and quiet outside after breakfast as we head to the bus taking us to our reserved grandstand. Standing waiting to board, we can see our breath in the headlights. Some folks have gloves with them.

Aboard our bus, we move out with our credentials draped neatly on lanyards around our necks (the parade seat tickets, the football game seat tickets and our luncheon VIP passes).

All lined up at our hotel awaiting departure

Soon, a convoy of buses forms along with our CHiP motorcycle escorts. With lights flashing and flags fluttering we travel the parade route in reverse…past those that have held their domain and viewing spots through the night. After listening to post-parade instructions, we de-bus

On our way to our parade seats before the start

and start the trek almost a kilometer to our seats at camera corner (Orange Grove at Colorado). We are only an hour away from the parade start when we get seated.

Helicopters hover overhead. Security is tight. The massive movement of people scampering to find their seat access points before the streets close down. The bluest of skies reveals the sun
rising behind our position…piercing the shadows…the resulting warm feeling amplifies the anticipation of the 125^th  Tournament Parade. The numbers on the street begin thinning as the grandstands fill. Over 700,000 will be watching this parade today
                                                                                    with  an estimated 70 million viewers around the
                                                                                    world watching on TV.

The crowd getting to their seats BEFORE it begins

With the odd “white suiter” now riding their red moped to clear the street…we are but moments away. A flurry of bugles from the Pasadena Community College honour guard and the televised event is under way….the Goodyear blimp floats past our position and the floral displays begin to rumble by.

Each float has been designed since the previous parade. Its concept is approved in February based upon the designated theme for that next parade. Designers budget their costs based on construction techniques/costs, floral coverings and use of paid or volunteer decorators. Corporate sponsors are mated with designers and the full circle begins anew.

Sierra Madre Float Association (annual City Float)

Each vehicle (float) must be able to travel at mandated speeds and be able to drop to a restricted height as it passes underneath highway I-120.  On parade day, this height is checked by laser beam twice before the float enters the underpass lest it block and/or delay the parade. This height test is checked several times by the float construction regulators during the build to

From Concept to Completion

ensure the raising and lowering is within time specs, is consistent and flawless. They are checked after initial build, after the installation of base material (usually wire and foam) has been applied and, again, once lined up for pre-parade judging.

Internal construction and Hydralics

The length and width mandates are constantly   float travel along the route. Fire extinguishers are aboard and float handlers escorting the vehicle are in radio contact with the driver to help ease the difficult turns.
being pushed to the limits by designers. Further
rules involve the driver having clear lines of sight supplemented by video cameras to ensure safe operation and handling as it follows the famous red line of

All floats are classified A, B, or C. Should the drive mechanism break down, they have less than a minute to get it going or the appropriate sized tow vehicle (A, B, or C) will be connected and continue…well out of TV camera range, of course. The tow vehicles are waiting in the wings, just out of sight but never out of mind all along the parade route. Along with ambulances, fire trucks, and police vehicles, the emergency responders are present but nicely hidden.

Decoration Team working on Public Storage's "Adventures in Space"

Anyone who has watched the parade knows most of the restrictions regarding the floats’ coverings. They must be vegetable, natural or floral.

Four foot high adornment

Everything from exotic plants, pampas grasses, coconut, cranberries and a multitude of others must be applied to the entire visible surfaces. Five different glues are used as necessary. Both volunteers and paid workers painstakingly apply the decorative touches in common “float barns”.

The results are unbelievable and like many things, seeing it in person gives you a whole new appreciation of the massive commitment required for this two hour parade. It’s quite a way to celebrate the start of a new beginning….to a very new year.

                HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Part of the Mayors Unit 1909 Seagrave Pumper 
owned by Pasadena Fire Deptartment

UP NEXT:   After the Parade passes you by.