Carrying on a great blogging tradition...

Rankin Inlet really does look better with powdering of snow. Do we?
Notice Betty and I are smiling. That's because we hadn't yet seen the forecast.

I know you can't really see it very well, but in the bottom left, the windchill? It's -8.

That's what it was pretty much all day. And I think it got colder than that at some point tonight, because around 8 pm we looked out the window and the wind was whipping up the snow into a big ol' ground blizzard. The winds were gusting up to 50 kph.

A few flurries, my eye!

Ike-the-bike was not impressed. But Gene-the-snowmachine is getting pumped.

In the spirit of solidarity with Ike, I decided to follow in the great blogging tradition of navel-gazing and whining about how life is harder for me than for anyone else.

Today we had a rather big time news event in town. The new health centre was launched. I went and took lots of pictures and interviewed the health minister, thinking perhaps the information might come in handy. I'd like to say it was a matter of "you can take the reporter out of the newsroom, but you can't..." or "old habits die hard" but by the time I had written up my notes I was half hoping the pitch I tossed out to CBCunlocked would turn out ot be a strike.

However. I did hand out lots of CMG bumf and hobnobbed with some of th usual suspects. I even harassed the premier who is sporting a rather nasty fat lip with stitches. Apparently hockey practice got a bit rough over the weekend.

This morning...in the run up to the BIG event Nunavut's health minister was interviewed by phone from Iqaluit by the only Inuit staff member still in the building, a manager. I did mention to her and to a few other mayors and notables that if people really want their regional programming back, they can show some solidarity with us by not crossing the picket line.

It's hard to be ticked at people who do, however. How can you ask them not to, when there is no other media outlet doing daily news and current affairs in the territory? It's not like she can go down the road to the CFRB studio instead. Which just shows to go why this lockout is harder on the North than anywhere else. (Just following in that great blogging tradition again)

Tomorrow we have invited people to join us on the picket line for a coffee at the time most people take their morning break. We've promised no speeches. Some of the mayors and reps from the inuit organisations have indicated they will come. I've ordered a vat of 40 cups of coffee and I've been worried that won't be enough. But if this weather keeps up...it may just be the three of us again. (There's that G-B-T again!)