Spring Melt?

Today we had the day off school, as it was closed due to a large percentage of sick students and staff. Overall, 46% of staff were either off sick or came to work sick and 44% of students were sick. The maintenance men disinfected the school today by using a hospital disinfectant that they had left over from last year's H1N1 scare. Hallways, desks, chairs, etc. were wiped clean. We used the day to relax and refuel for next week.

Today, RJ and I went to the store. While we were there, the worker at the Post Office (a cubicle and part of the Northern Store) asked if Amanda was there. I told him no, so he gave her package without signature or anything. One thing that we have loved about being up here is the closeness. Everyone is on a first name basis.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across something about my Grade 9s. I realized that from September-December few students mentioned celebrating their birthday, so I looked on my class roster and found this out (number of birthdays listed per month):

January - 6
February - 4
March - 1
April - 1
May - 1
June - 1
July - 2
August - 0
September - 2
October - 1
November - 0
December 1

Overall, 50% of the grade 9 students were born in the first two months (and February is the shortest month). And, for those of you who like numbers you'll really like this: The last birthday in February is the 15th. So 50% of the students are born in the first 46 days, or the first 13% of the year.



This picture was taken today at 1:07 pm. And no, it wasn't doctored at all. It was indeed 0 degrees today.

The temperature rise has been nice, but locals are worried as it means the winter road won't be open as long as usual. As it stands now, the winter road is open to vehicles, but is still too small for big trucks. The community ran out of gas today at 4:30 pm today. The planes won't fly in fuel because it is too much money while the winter road is open, and the forecasts aren't looking good for the ice to thicken even more. Early prognosis is that we will be without fuel for 3 weeks. Rough guess, and I am sure one that will be moved forward.