At Work in 1972

John S posted these photos on the CP Air Employee Facebook page.  I hope he doesn't mind me using them here.  Just looking at these photos makes me feel a bit homesick.  I think it was one of the BEST jobs I have ever had.  The shifts were crazy - 5AM, 6AM, 6:30AM, 7AM, 7:30AM, 8AM, 8:30AM, 9AM, 9:30AM, 10AM, 11AM, 12PM, 1PM, 2PM 3PM, 4PM, 5PM then the midnight shift.  And, you worked them all.  And you "traded" shifts with people so they could take a flight somewhere.  

Back to the availability board above, we had no computers in the 1972.  All the flights that CP Air flew were listed on boards agains the walls of the reservations office.  Each flight was shown by number, each stop that flight made and 1 to 1-1/2 months of availability.  Each flight segment was marked by a) nothing (was totally available), b) an empty circle that showed restrictions on First Class, or c) solid squares which showed the restrictions on Economy Class.  These circles and squares were coloured white, red, yellow and there were stripes as well.  Red was flight full (closed), white meant only a few seats left so you have to request a seat from Vancouver, and I think yellow meant the flight was waitlisted.  This was an amazing system as you could tell the availability of all of the flights at just one glance.

Above is a section of the reservation office.  The first two rows were specialized and dealt with the Travel Agents only.  The next rows, how many were there?, 8? 10? rows were for general public.  The books at each station held all the information on, flights, fares, all the other necessary airline information.  We also had a giant hotel book and a TIM (Travel Information Manual) that told of visa requirements and other information for each country, and a giant Atlas, at the back of the room.  It was quite the pre-computer information system.  

Fur Fest

A first in Whitehorse.  This Fur Fest was held to showcase local trappers who brought their winter crop to sell to the public.  Most furs were untanned but a few were tanned.  Brooke was on a mission as her mother requested some fur to work with her leather crafts.

I have complained about how cold this winter has been.  For me that is not good.  For the trappers it is excellent as the fur is thicker and (for us) more luxurious.  Above, Emerson is looking at lynx.

There were pelts of all kinds, beaver, wolf, wolverine, mink, ermine ... you name it.

The crafts were beyond superb.  I have NEVER seen such variety and quality as was displayed at this fur fair.  Saw Jean Legare there and he told us that the fur balls on the Team Yukon toques are wolf. There was a culling of wolves and trappers not only got paid for the pelt from the government but the pelts were used to make the decorative balls or pompoms on the top of the Arctic Winter Games Team Yukon toques.

Brooke found a hat that would keep her warm at -60!  The cost was a bit prohibitive though at $850.

And while I went off to make a small purchase, the kids learnt about live traps for lynx from a Yukon biologist.  When I returned they were asking excellent questions and discovered why there were live traps, how tagging worked, what interested the animals in the traps etc.  

It was a great fair and if you are in the market for new moccasins, hats, gloves, pelts etc., put your order in with me.  This fair is scheduled to run every other year in the Capital.

The Artists

Artists at work.

snow snow snow

Did I show you how much snow we have?  I put the shovel in the photo to give you an idea of the size.

In February we had 347% times our average February snowfall.

And to boot, it was colder than our average February temperature.  Hope March comes in like a lamb and departs live a lamb.

Me Being Kinder

Ahh, here is a video that is a bit kinder to little Emerson.  This was my second choice but the first choice was too large for blogger.  For your information, they are 3 years + 8-1/2 months of age.

March 4

Had the kids for a sleep over and the cynic that I am, I still chuckle when I view this.  Hope to insert a kinder video soon.

Academy Awards

Before I start, I haven't seen:

Phantom Thread or Lady Bird, two movies I still wish to see  (I don't like watching war movies although I heard Dunkirk was Exceptional)

Happy:

Best Supporting Actor:  Sam Rockwell; you hated him in the movie Three Billboards, then kinda liked him as you kinda understood him.  His acting was superb.

Best Supporting Actress:  Allison Janney; she played Tonya Haring's mother so well!!!

Not Seen (and won't as it has to do with war):  Best Actor :  Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour

Best Actress:  Francis McDormond for Three Bill Billboards, Loved her in the Movie and glad she won!  Like the fact she doesn't dress and make-up like all those stars which to me proves you don't have to be glitzy in Hollywood to be the best.

It's the 51st Anniversary of Bonnie and Clyde.  That made me feel old, thank you.

Best Picture:  The Shape of Water (I'm not sure I agree) but at least Warren Beatty was given the correct card this year (remember last year he was given the incorrect card and announced the the incorrect Best Picture ... what a mess that was!)

So I watched the whole award ceremony but have to admit I enjoyed watching it more when I had my Academy Award Parties here.  Miss all of you!

Joan's Birthday

This is what you do in the afternoon when you are retired.  Joan is pouring the Prosecco while Deb gets ready to light the candles on the cake.  

I can't remember what was happing in this photo but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So you can look at this picture and find your own story for it!

Joan blows out the candles and hopefully her wish comes true.  Happy Birthday Joan!!

Joan lives in a downtown apartments.  Her windows are large and look out over the downtown area.  

The cliffs you see are really on the other side of the Yukon River.  That is where they set off any fireworks display (ie Rendezvous) so she can cozily sit in her living room and watch the display with a glass of wine.  Now that's living.

The Post

Caught this movie just before it left Whitehorse.  Most of the interest for me was to see two iconic actors together, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks.  The movie is nominated for Best Picture and for Best Actress (Streep).  I thought the subject matter, though important, might be a bit dry or too technical to watch and the first portion of the movie proved me right.  There was a lot of newspaper people running around trying to gather top secret information and keep it top secret until printing with two rival newspapers trying to make the front page splash first.  And, I was trying to grasp this important story as, for some reason, I missed it in real life (of course, I was a young pseudo hippy with other things on my mind).  The story revolves around the secret Pentagon Papers, a USA Department of Defence paper describing military and political US involvement in the Vietnam War over the time of (I think it was) 4 presidents.  The papers states that the US cannot pull out of the war without humiliation and therefore must continue to fight until they could find a way out with their heads held high.  In the mean time, young Americans were dying in Vietnam.  It was exposed when Nixon was in office - as if he didn't have enough troubles anyway.  Streep is the first female owner of a large newspaper and Hanks is the editor.  1971 was still a man's world and Streep had to dig deep to find the strength to perform in this arena.   The movie moved quickly during the last 2/3's and at times I wanted to jump up and clap my hands.  The fight that still goes on today - government cover ups v freedom of the press.  I enjoyed this movie and there was a lot to talk about after, over our glass of brandy (it was a cold cold night).  I give it 3.9 Stars out of 5.