July 29th, 2014 ........ started off as a regular smokey day in Yellowknife..... 







The highlight of the day began around 5:15........downtown workers were starting to transit to various places following their workday....I was standing outside waiting for Rochelle to pick me up and I see that the sky is taking on various shades and hues outside of the regular pall of brown / grey smoke.....and I'm thinking that I've not experienced a rain storm or significant rain fall in Yellowknife ..... "I wonder what this is going to be like?"

Just as I'm getting into the car I see that the sky has assumed a different weather 'profile' every 90 degrees or so....we start making our way towards home and the skyline has noticeably changed at every stoplight....we see people everywhere looking up at the sky, cameras in hand.... wondering....thinking.....'this might get interesting!'

The sky behind us is pale pink yet black looms ahead of us and various other colours exist in our peripheral vision.....

Thunder precedes the lightning which precedes the rain....but down it comes....and we are thankful because it is so dry and we all want the fires to cease their burning in the territories and we're all tired of smoke....

The colours are bizarre to say the least....















 Rochelle took this outside our apartment building.....the storm is just starting.

I'm so glad someone took photos of the 'red lightning'

Probably the most bizarre aspect of this whole storm was that the sky turned completely black...which obviously means the sun was completely blocked....that in itself felt very peculiar since we still had direct sun until 10:30 or so....

I'd like to say everything ended happily.....and what I mean by that is that there was more smoke the next day just like one would encounter as they put out a campfire - it tends to produce a lot of smoke afterwards... however, it was a welcome rain and we managed another day of smoke and fire.....my conclusive thoughts on the subject is that the only references to smoke and fire I am receptive to come from the following songs....and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting right now.....peace and love my friends, peace and love :) 

Smoke From a Distant Fire
Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple 
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - various artists 
We Didn't Start The Fire - Billy Joel 
Light My Fire - The Doors

Where there's smoke, there's fire.....

Earlier this week I was looking out the balcony window from the dining table where I have my computer and ended up staring at the sky for the longest time, wondering what was so different about it....finally realizing that the beautiful evening skies that I've fallen in love with in Yellowknife had returned....well, maybe I need to backtrack a bit so that you know what I'm talking about....

I can't even remember when the fires in the Northwest Territories  started - I think it was the middle of June when the smoke started to waft into town on occasion. It wasn't constant by any means but there were days when it was strong enough that your throat became a bit irritated and made it difficult to open up a window to get some fresh air (which wasn't there).

I'd gone back to Ontario the first part of July and was glad to leave the smoke behind.  The early reports included this one that comes from Wikipedia:

The 2014 forest fire season in the Northwest Territories of Canada is reputed to be the worst for at least two decades. As of 3 July, there had been 123 fires reported in the territory, of which at least 92 were still active and 13 were thought to be human-caused.

By 9 July the total had reached 164 fires and on 10 July over 130 fires were thought to be burning. The smoke generated by the fires was blown in the Prairie Provinces and created a moderate health risk there leading Environment Canada to declare an air quality advisory for southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba on 9. July. The smoke reached as far away as Bismark, North Dakota, over 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) away. By 8 July the largest fires were the Lutsel K'e fire at 31,000 hectares (77,000 acres) and the Gamèti-Wekweeti fire at 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres). By 9 July an area of 5,000 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi) had been consumed, about the size of the island of Trinidad.

I had helped Danielle and Caitlyn move into their new home in Chesley, a really cute little town, and a cute little house and I'd stayed there most of my time in Ontario. Technology hook-ups took a few days and I was busy anyway so didn't really keep tabs on what was happening back in the territories. However, one radio news report sounded so awful I had to call Lauren and Rochelle right away to see if they were all right. Lauren hadn't seemed that concerned about it though the hydro went out while we were talking, which is exactly what the news report speculated might happen on a larger scale if the fires came in contact with transformers and the like.  By the time I came home the fires were still raging and I think the count was up to 190 active fires....I couldn't and can't even imagine what that looks like. However, I did hope that I would be able to see 'something' when I flew into the territories. 

It was cloudy coming over the prairies and I suspect we were just entering the territories when a bit of a clearing occurred and I was able to spot a couple of (what I would consider smaller fires) that were close to one another and looked to be in the vicinity of a small community. About 40 minutes out of YK while we were still travelling through cloud, it seemed like an atomic bomb mushroom cloud had formed ahead of us. Very dirty and smoke coloured, not cloud or vapour like at all. It probably is similar to a photo passed around on Facebook with a caption of smoke from the NWT's ending up in Portugal. However  the photo also depicts fires - outlined in red - and of course wafting smoke and smoke clouds. 

It was pretty hot in YK when I returned and there were some intense smoke days, to the extent that windows had to be completely closed. Not thinking we'd need AC for a short summer season, I found it quite unbearable and almost panicked at the feeling of stifling heat and limited oxygenated air in an apartment with no air circulation / ventilation. This intense period of time lasted about two weeks and the situation seemed to be getting worse instead of better. And dry.....we'd only had about two very short rainfalls since May and though we'd had a greater snowfall than the norm last winter, the water run off didn't seem to pool into lakes but went straight into evaporation. Imagine too, the fact that most of the fires in the territories were in places that didn't have road access so getting firefighters into those remote areas must have been challenging. The highways were being closed mostly due to limited visibility, the civic holiday weekend turned into a very long weekend for those that had arrived in YK only to find themselves unable to leave until the roads reopened which finally occurred on the 6th of August. People were either in line on the highway to leave, or waiting to come in. The city opened up some facilities for people that found themselves stranded' in YK. It also meant some food essentials were not getting into the city and that felt a little surreal to us.

The number of fires continued to increase and we could only pray for the temperatures to cool down and for rain to come. It did and there is another blog entry for the sole purpose of showing photos from that particular event which turned out to be a little bit spectacular. 

This came out the end of July when the number of active fires hit their peak.....

This seemed rather remarkable in that the fire left this roadside memorial alone.  

I think this was a CBC report showing the smoke reaching southern Ontario as the jet stream indicates above. 

So here we are - 23rd of August - the stifling heat and smoke has been gone for over a week now - well, the heat has been gone for a little longer than that.....we would have had a great summer had it not been for the 6-8 weeks of smoke and fire - but as we returned to normal territory weather, we're so glad to see our bright and clear sunny skies. I think the active fire count is down to less than 200 so there is much progress being made, but hearing that thousands of hectares of forest has been destroyed is unfathomable and I hope this is not a reoccurring theme of the north. 

There were so many people outside today it was so refreshing to see and I think we were all feeling rather pleased with life. The 2nd to last photo I post here is showing how we could stare straight at the afternoon sun since there was so much smoke and ash in the air.....the last photo shows a beautiful Yellowknife sunset with few smoke and ash distortions.....peace and love my friends, peace and love....!!

Mid-day sun......pretty, but obscured by smoke and ash!

Actually these two photos look quite similar though this one was taken after 11 pm in the middle of June...beautiful!!

Culture Shock in the workplace...

Okay, so the last blog gave information regarding the big picture of my job and I asked you to imagine coming into a role where you knew there were new systems to learn, no one to teach you your role – no breadcrumb trail to follow, and few people to ask for guidance. That's basically the jist of it.

Putting drama aside…on the micro end of things I have a rather large (cubicle?) area with two windows – lots of counter / desk space right outside the Director’s and Manager of Fuel Operation’s offices. So even though there is nothing too outrageous about that setting, it is still very different from the Employment Specialist & Career Counsellor roles I’ve held for the past 15 years. What IS different and quite amusing (to me) about these topsy turvy changes include the following:

Constant interruptions to no interruptions: this took a little while to get used to and at first I couldn’t even figure out what was missing, or what felt absent in my day to day routine. Employment Services environments – particularly the Resource and Information area – is designed to assist job seekers in whatever fashion they require, on an ‘as and when’ needed basis, thus setting the stage for potential interruptions. So while you weren’t always stopping and restarting whatever task you were involved in, there was always the potential for an interruption to occur at any time, to the extent you knew it best to not get involved in anything that required a significant degree of concentration. At the opposite end of the spectrum you will now find me immersed in a task for minutes or hours without any interruption; in fact a phone rang yesterday which I tuned out as belonging to the Director until my ears finally discerned that the ringing was actually close by….and, as you are probably now able to guess, it was my phone that was ringing…..whew, that’s the 2^nd time in 3 months….

Silence.....to have or not to have...

Noise to almost complete silence: at first I thought I was going to go mildly crazy due to an abnormal amount of silence in the workplace, which no one has probably ever said before. But really, this was one of the hardest adjustments for me to make, or rather not make, as I e­­nded up bringing a radio to work: I play it very low as I’m still not certain if the absolute quiet is a preference, or a reality no one thought to challenge or change. And, it might only be my area on the 2^nd floor that is experiencing this omnipresent silence, but as said, this is how I felt the first few weeks. Now, I am picking up some sounds that have probably been there all along and are quite funny, but also a little on the noisy side. The Director, bless his heart, likes to bang things, and I want to confirm that there is no disrespect intended in telling this of him, however, by the way he bangs at his keyboard you would think he is constantly angry, which he is not! And when using the land line office phone, he does not use the release, or end call button, or use a finger to press down on the disconnect upon which rests the handset, but instead bangs the handset into the cradle area (numerous times) until the dial tone reappears.....

100% accessible to 0% accessible: until mid-November I was directly situated in the midst of an Employment Resource Centre that allowed access to me from start to finish of my day; currently I’m behind 5 foot high baffle boards that create a cubicle style work area. What I’m not used to is that I’m not visible to anyone but the Director and Manager which can make it feel closed off – almost excluded – from the rest of the world. And, sometimes I get caught in that dilemma of ‘do I or don’t I’ that occurs when someone walks into the area, peeks into the Director and Managers office, sees they’re not there (but doesn’t see me), then tries to start up conversations with people way down the hall about where they are, or make other comments not realizing someone is within earshot of them. I still haven’t decided what my action should be….to date, I’ve not made any effort to make myself visible…..probably it will depend on whether I want the interruption, or not!!

100% customer service to 0% involvement with anyone:  on the heels of the previous point the last 15 years revolved around direct, and numerous contact with clients, and, because of government funding it was necessary to continuously provide extensive client service feedback. My current position, however, does not involve customers or clients, or consumers, or candidates etc., and therefore does not require any form of customer feedback. So while I certainly understand the concept of petitioning information regarding the service you provide, I am so glad this no longer applies to me as I found the process extremely annoying…there, I said it!!

Team vs The Collective: these concepts are certainly valid to my perception only and a little trickier to report on. However, I’m not sure if ‘Team’ is a word or concept I’ve heard used with the Government of the Northwest Territories, yet, perhaps there is an implicit understanding this exists. Regardless, I want to lean towards the position that due to its absence from any type of reference, the term does not quite belong here. When ‘Team’ made its entry into the workplace in the 90’s (?) (and apparently is a Baby Boomer characteristic and attitude) assorted adjuncts entered with it such as Team events, Team building exercises, Team meetings, Team objectives and the like. Certainly, if you worked in a Team environment, you, without question, knew it. So, what ‘environment’ do I now find myself in? Well, we certainly don’t have any Team building events and the like so there’s that to reference. And why am I pondering this when I’d safely guess there’s absolutely no one else even thinking about this? Well, you know, I noticed the difference and just had to remark on it. So, I’m going with Collective environment which denotes ‘a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective’ – Wikipedia; And since this has turned into a revelation of sorts, I will announce I’m quite happy about leaving the team building events, exercises and mindset behind and leave it at that…

Coverage: In a customer service environment you can’t close the doors and have everyone take their lunch at the same time – you are open for all of the hours you've designated you'll be available. As such, your team becomes very aware of each others' schedules and absences and works to ensure coverage is met at all times during the business day. This can be somewhat restrictive and certainly problematic if you’re short staffed. Currently, we can all take our lunches at the same time and all leave the building at the same time, or have a shorter lunch and leave earlier, which prompts me to say how much I love this job!!

Meetings: okay, here I’m referring to Health and Safety specific and I find this quite funny; typical to H&S content in the south (ie. Ontario) content would revolve around fire drills, exercise, stress, physical – heart health etc; whereas at our last H&S meeting the content revolved around bear attacks / safety; one vs two engine planes, wild dogs in remote locations, taking sleeping bags when travelling to remote locations due to ‘bed-varmints’ and replacing the tracker devices staff have when they are on travel duty (remote locations) – sometimes I feel a million miles away from Barrie, Ontario.

Gender: coming from a female dominated workplace at Northern Lights Canada – Barrie, to a 60-40 male to female ratio – is this what the quiet is based on?? jk…jk…jk.

Kitchen:  while some similarities exist the main difference is that in my current workplace, for whatever reason, no one brings in treats; this is so great particularly when I’m constantly striving towards healthful eating only to have the frequent temptation of Timbits and Chocolate Zucchini loaf from previous workplaces – please do not misread this statement – I love treats – yummy as they all are – I just know that temptations and I are constantly battling it out….and it is so much easier when they’re not available….PS, haven’t even been to the one and only Tim Horton’s, and it’s close by too!!

So……what DO I do up here?

On the heels of what Yellowknife is like for us up here comes the question about the actual position I hold, and how it relates to previous work?

When I applied to this job – Information Coordinator, I can assure you that what I read in the job description and what it actually is, reveals some distinct differences. Though I’m inclined to believe my perception at the time of applying was filled with hope and inspiration and the huge desire to make a change in my life and, therefore prompted me to see the role a certain way, I also believe that job ads, as thorough as they sometimes are, tend to be a muddle of words verging on gobbilty gook. Therefore, it’s difficult to imagine that I would have been able to see the ‘real’ job between the lines of the crafted description. With no intent to convey any dissatisfaction with the reality of the job – plain and simple it is different from what I expected and time will inevitably reveal the entire magnitude of relevant tasks and duties.

Specifically, my role lies within the Petroleum Products Division (PPD) of the Department of Public Works and Services, Government of the Northwest Territories. PPD sells select petroleum products to businesses, residents, and government departments in 16 NWT communities where there is no private sector supplier. We are also responsible for purchasing these petroleum products and arranging for transportation of the products to those communities, as well as for sales, inventory management, and other related functions.  Transportation to communities is provided on a contract basis and consists of barge, and truck transportation: the two most common products sold by the division are home heating fuel and gasoline. The primary feature that makes PPD’s environment different from many other petroleum product distribution companies is the location; PPD operates in geographically dispersed, environmentally hostile, sparsely populated locations that may not be year round accessible.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words…..here is the actual building that houses the Public Works and Services department - my division is on the 2^nd floor.

Back to point – what do I do? Well, as we have been living in an information age for some time now, my role is to manage some (or most) of that information as it pertains to the Petroleum Products Division. When I came into the position in November, the government had converted their electronic records management to a new system. While it would be safe to assume they had been using a standardized system previously, it doesn’t appear it was as efficient and procedural as it should have been given many comparables across Canada that have been doing so for quite some time. Needless to say it was recognized that in effort to account for record management integrity, it was time to move towards complete immersion in that task – no matter how painful that might be.

Basically, the role currently involves managing paper files and electronic files and making sure they have been classified according to the Administrative and Operational Filing Structure and that they are filed correctly within the electronic filing system (which is huge). Working with active and non-active records and transferring to a Records Centre takes up most of my time. Additionally, I support the division with meetings and correspondence and contract editing etc. In the near future we will endeavour a website overhaul which will be a project I will manage. Though it is 100% different and requires major adaptation from the recent past, I do enjoy the variations – some subtle, others not so much and have determined that next weeks’ blog will be a more suitable place to explore those variations further. Until then, enjoy your work week - however that looks.