The Problem of Stuff

Well, tomorrow is the big day.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm insane because I paid to fly 4 overweight Rubbermaid totes from Ontario to Rankin Inlet, and I'm going to pay for them to make it to Iqaluit tomorrow with me.

The 37 hours it took to go from Sarnia to Rankin Inlet were quite stressful. I made it to the Sarnia airport an hour before my flight, but apparently the Air Canada employee wasn't in yet. That airport doesn't have an x-ray machine for baggage, so they have to open up all of your items and dig through them. Because I had so much stuff, a long line formed and everybody was staring at my open Rubbermaid totes. Apparently packing popcorn is funny. I heard more than a couple laughs about all the popcorn packages interspersed in my totes that day.

In Winnipeg I was all prepared to haul off my 5 pieces of luggage...but only 4 showed up. And a bottle of hair styler sprayed inside the only tote that had electronics in it. The baggage counter people told me to keep coming back to see if my lost tote arrived on a later Toronto flight and thankfully it did arrive later in the afternoon.

The next day, the Calm Air people kindly informed me that any item over 50lbs cannot be guaranteed to be loaded on the plane. I knew I was allowed one priority piece, but it turned out my suitcase couldn't be made priority since it too was over 50lbs. I looked down at my clothes in dread that I might end up wearing the same get-up for the next while. The Calm Air employee also told me the flight was full and she insinuated that there was no chance in hell I'd be seeing my stuff for awhile.

By some stroke of luck in my favour, all of my things made it to Rankin. I didn't even mind hauling my totes out to my friend's truck; I was just so happy to see them.

On the Move: March 31

For most, moving from one northern community to another isn't nearly as difficult as moving from the south to the north. However, it is not the case for me. I will be moving on my own and as I have never lived on my own before, I have the added task of buying myself everything a person needs to live on their own.

Almost of all my things are on their way (or have arrived) at my new home, but most of my things are extraneous items. On this vacation I have had to buy myself all sorts of things like dishes, cutlery, towels, pillows and anything else I think of while browsing Wal-Mart's aisles for the millionth time.

Don't get me wrong, this task has its own way of being exciting, but I feel it's a never-ending mind game. When will I ever have enough? Do I really need all those tealights? What items should I splurge on?

So, back to the big picture. I am moving across Hudson Bay and right into our quaint capital, Iqaluit. Doors of opportunity opened for me that I couldn't possibly refuse. As I said, I will be going alone and staying alone. I will not answer any questions about that; you can come up with your own conclusion. I do not need apologies or anything of the like.

This is going to be a big year for me and I plan to write all about it.

(posted by Jaime in Ontario)