Alert-120

Dear Marty,

I know Google is an amazing tool that can tell us a lot of things about the world around us and I hate to be the one to break it to you but…people lie on the internet. There is no Terrys Tacos, Subway Subs, or even a Tim Hortons up here at the top of the world. There is one large road that circles the base, but lucky for us, restaurant (yes singular), the bars (yes plural), and store are all conveniently within the same building. The Igloo Gardens is a world-class dining hall that is known throughout Canadian military bases as having the best caf food, usually with ‘for a military base’ tacked onto the end. The Trading Post has all your necessities ranging from one type of body wash, candy, and any kind of Alert merchandise you could dream of. The Arctic Club and Wolves Den are the two bars on station and while we do have a bartender named Rick, there is no Rickys Bar.

When you google Alert, due to its mysterious nature to the outsider, it is often targeted for false advertisement simply for shits and giggles. Google only just removed the Tim Hortons that supposedly ran out of the maintenance bay from Google Maps. I actually heard it was pretty good, or that’s what the suspicious number of 5-star reviews said. On a more serious note, Wikipedia is a pretty good source of information regarding Alert and any Government Canada sites that may mention the military and science purpose of the station. You’ll notice the lack of conveniences and average everyday luxuries mentioned.

Oh, and there are no boat rentals. Being about 500ft away from the Lincoln Sea that is iced over for a good part of the year may seem like a great venture for an up-and-coming boat renter, however, I am afraid the polar bears that patrol said sea ice may turn some people off from the business.

This also goes out to Samson who thought there was a 2-hour time difference based on some sketchy website despite me – who is currently in said time zone, stating there is no time difference between Alert and Kitchener.

Marty please don’t take it personally, you’re more a convenient scapegoat to fulfill a broader purpose of dispelling false information, you just so happened to be the guy my mom told me about specifically.

***

On the topic of bars, I actually started bartending a week ago. All the bartenders in Alert are volunteers and do not get OFFICIALLY paid, even though you can make more in tips in 3 hours than if you worked for minimum wage. The only requirements are an Ontario Smart Serve and a good attitude!

I can now add the title of worlds most northern bartender to my resume, I even have a funky little shirt to prove it. The Wolves Den is a smaller bar than the Arctic Club which I have shown a picture of in an earlier entry and is the bar that is open every day throughout the week. Even though it’s essentially across the hall from the Arctic Club, the Wolves Den is the World’s Most Northern Bar.

There is a pretty large selection of liquor, spirits, and beer though I have come to realize that the alcohol selection is mostly for show. We may have 10 different types of whisky and rum but only two ever get used. Newfoundland Screech and Jack Daniels if you’re wondering. There are three whole bottles, unopened and still sealed of Signal Hill that wait patiently for the day someone asks for a glass. Most people order beer anyway, and out of the dozen types of canned beer we have, Electric Unicorn is a clear favourite.

In Alert, there is a two-drink limit, unless it is a special occasion and an officially declared four drink night (e.g., New Years Eve). The bartender is responsible for keeping track of everyone’s drink number by asking for the persons last name and keeping a tally on a large list of names of everyone on station. I enjoy the slow, relaxed atmosphere of the Den and it’s a great gig to get to know people. Some days are obviously slower than others, but there is usually a game of Crib/Euchre/Poker/Bingo some night of the week which brings in a small crowd. It’s also reassuring to know that no one is in any big rush to get anywhere so if they order a Cesar, that’s honestly on them if I take a while.

Other than the social aspect, I wanted to start bartending as it’s a great gig to make some side cash. So far, I have not spent a dime of my own money and any cash that I spent on my mess dues or VOD subscription I have easily made back with station activity prizes. Working a TGIF is like the golden goose of bartending shift, and I know that the bartender covering the bar on New Years made close to $500 in tips.

It’s really fun picking up totally unrelated skills. If anyone needs their snow swept, fish tank cleaned, bar tended, track truck mattracks greased, I’m your guy. Jack of all trades.  

***

Some photos from the week:

^The day after posting Entry 5 and talking so much about the sun below the horizon becoming more visible blah blah blah polar night this and that, guess who decides to make an appearance? The moon! Right where the light was coming from! Surprise was immediately followed by disappointment as I figured I must have been wrong, and the light beyond the horizon was just the moon the whole time. There is just one problem with that. That is due South. Moon rises in the East, sets in the West. So why did it rise in the South? And why is there still light coming from behind the mountains?

Samson to the rescue. I will explain this in much less detailed than he did:

The moon does in fact still rise in the East and set in the West, even up here, HOWEVER, since we are so North, the highest point in between East and West is South, hence the moon becoming visible at its highest peak above the mountains due South. Thanks to a really helpful astronomy app that Samson has, he was able to also show that the sun was still hanging out below the horizon in the Southwest which is why the range to the right was still lit up.  Do I really understand it? No not really, all that really matters is that the sun is still coming.

^Once the midday sunrays from beyond the mountains leaves us, the moon takes over. It’s been a few days since I’ve seen the moon (this picture was taken a few days after the previous picture), and it was shining bright today. I am pretty sure to the left is Crystal Mountain and to the right is Mount Pullen. There is an anticipation that is building slowly in my chest as it becomes lighter outside to see the land around me in its entirety, though I still stare in awe at the half-shadowed mountains and valleys that lie in wait in the moonlight.

I am starting to think that the weather knows when a flight is scheduled. The last few weeks of flights have been delayed due to poor visibility, however, as soon as the flight departs from Alert after finally getting in, it almost miraculously clears up.

^Friday was -40 with wind and it hurt to blink. We had to push our air sampling on Wednesday to Friday due to poor weather conditions. Due to the sensitive nature of the flask sampling, there are two stipulations that must be met before we can flask:

1. There must be enough wind. If the air is stagnant, it could be artificially contaminated with our breath or previous air holding exhaust fumes from our vehicles.
2. Said wind must not be coming from the North. Any wind coming from the North is carrying all types of fumes from the Station.

Lucky us when Wednesday and Thursday had erratic wind speeds from nothing to something, all coming from the Station sector. If we cannot flask Wednesday, it is pushed to Thursday, and if not Thursday, it MUST be done Friday regardless of conditions. So Friday was our flasking day, and it was also a longer flasking day for me as my flasks that are done bi-weekly happened to line up with the weekly ones this week + my outdoor checks creates a nice dressing of frost. I’ve noticed the frost gets worse as you go from outside and inside more times in a day. By the end of the day when I was doing my outdoor checks, blinking started to become risky business with the frost caking my eyelashes.