Smile!

Let's face it, in larger city centres, you don't go around smiling at everyone you see on the street. There are many reasons for this, but the bottom line is that it is a matter of personal safety. You never know what creeps are out there lying in wait. I am above average in the paranoia department due to my cop's kid upbringing, however, most females are pretty careful these days. Or maybe that is just me.

When I left my friendly, warm land of Nova Scotia the unfriendliness of the general public of British Columbia really floored me. In Halifax the standard stranger eye contact in public places etiquette seems to be:
a) Acknowledge other individual with a brief glance and quick closed lip half smile. Eyebrows remain level.
b) Keep face neutral, avert eyes. Continue briskly on your way.
c)If the person seems really sane a full fledged eye squint combined with a full closed lip smile may be appropriate.

Now, in BC the standard procedure is ALWAYS B. Never A or C. It just doesn't happen. When you are used to A and C, it is alarming at first. However you get used to it pretty quickly.

Yellowknife seems to have a scale all on its own in the stranger eye contact department. It is commonplace to have complete strangers execute a FULL teeth exposed, eyes squinted, warm faced smile. Imagine my complete surprise after the coolness of BC!

To this day, the friendliness and warmth of complete strangers still takes me off guard. I must say, it is another asset of this wonderful little place North of 60.

Grocery Rant

The first ever time I grocery shopped in YK, it was absolutely scary. The cashier wildly scanned each item and then flung it down the conveyor belt. Hubby and I stood there waiting for her to bag our groceries (as that is what happens at every other grocery store I have ever shopped at in my life...) while she continued the wild scanning and flinging. When she was done she stared blandly at us and announced the HUGE price. (First grocery trips are always so expensive, I hate having to re buy everything that was once in your cupboard.) While she smacked away on her gum she completed the transaction and then, as she handed us our bill told us to bag our own groceries.

I hate grocery shopping in YK. However, nine months down the road I feel I have become a marathon grocery shopper, I have learned to ALWAYS bring Hubby to the grocery store, he loads up the front end of the conveyor belt while I run to the end part of the conveyor belt and start bagging. It works well, and I am contemplating applying to the Northern Olympics to see if we can start it up Northern Grocery shopping as a new Northern Olympic event.

Having boycotted EF and I have now returned as the high prices as Co op became far too expensive to continue to exclusively shop there. The last trip to EF grocery store illuminated exactly why I cannot handle shopping there.

Hubby and I set up for the unloading and packing of the groceries. His mother was even there to help me pack. As I filled a bag with groceries I sat it at the end of the conveyor belt as Hubby was still unloading the cart. That same cashier was practicing her expert scan and fling technique. Soon the end portion of the conveyor belt was jam packed with bagged groceries and groceries still requiring bagging. MIL and I worked at top notch speeds. As the cashier was in her happy place, scanning and flinging away (while smacking loudly on her gum) she did not notice that the groceries were piled high and there was no more room for more bagged groceries. (No, putting bagged groceries on their filthy floor was not an option!) I loudly yet politely called out for her to stop for a second until Hubby could push the cart down so we could start loading up the cart and finish bagging the groceries. She ignored me and within these few seconds the influx on new groceries caused all the bagged groceries to squash together at once. I heard a huge crunch as the bags of chips crushed together and the bread bag was flattened to a pancake like state.

So here’s my problem. I am sick and tired of the dingy half empty store filled with half spoiled produce and often empty shelves. I KNOW there are people on this earth who don’t even have the luxury of a grocer or even food while others are stuck paying $20 for a litre of milk. I SHOULD probably not complain.

But here in YK, it’s almost like a tease. We have produce, but it half rotted. There is a grocery store (Three to be exact) but the shelves are half filled. The bread is set to expire in four days. The milk goes bad after two... and then there is the often times poor service at that certain grocery store. My grocery order is ALWAYS between $300ish to $400ish every 3ish weeks. I hate paying all that money to a national grocery chain to consistently have these bizarre and stressful shopping experiences.

And NO, I really don’t buy into the whole, “We have a hard time finding good workers here in YK” thing. The difference in customer service and overall store quality between Co op and EF proves that is not the case.

Summertime in the Knife

Almost every YKer that I have met has assured me since the first day I arrived in the metropolis that YK has fantastic summers. The summers are so marvelous that they actually "make up" for the long, cold, dark winters. In the midst of the long, dark winter, these individuals would seem to develop a longing, far away, dreamy state when even thinking of the wonder that is the summertime in YK. Let me be very honest when I say that I didn't believe a word of it, even though numerous people sang the praises of the Northern Summer.

Well, now I am living it and I must admit, Yellowknife in the summer is truly a lovely place. The long days without any darkness are certainly a little wonky when you are not used to it, however I much prefer this to the long, dark winter days. A nice room darkening curtain will do the trick of eliminating the daylight from shining though into your bedroom. Walmart in YK carries a few different styles, so they are available here in town.

Now, I am not naturally a Nature person. I don't enjoy being in wild animal's homes or territories. I wouldn't want them in my home, so I tend to grant them the same respect. One of the most fantastic aspects of the Yellowknife summer is going outdoors and experiencing the awesome hiking trails, day parks, lakes, and other attractions such as Cameron Falls. So I have recently been facing some of my biggest fears (wild animals) and getting out and enjoying all that the North has to offer out of doors. Hubby and I have taken up fishing (heart stoppingly FUN!) and are looking to purchase a canoe right away. While I am constantly phobic that a bear or any other wild animal is going to come wandering out of the forest to where I am hanging out, I am facing my fears and hopefully will come to feel more comfortable amongst wilderness.

There just may be hope for me yet.

Here are some photos from the beautiful lakes around the Yellowknife area.

Prosperous Lake at 11:15 pmProsperous Lake, around 9:30 pm, this was one of the most calm and peaceful places I have been in a very long time. All around us we could hear the calling of birds, the splashing of fish in the lake and a muskrat entertained us swimming all around the wharf where we were fishing.


This little guy was spotted in Frame Lake, just next to the Frame Lake Walking Trail. This trail is accessible at various places around Yellowknife, including by the hospital, Ruth Inch Pool as well as City Hall. It is a satisfying and beautiful hike from the hospital to City Hall and back.

Frame Lake

This is Madeline Lake, located just off the Ingraham Trail. They have picnic tables and little camping stoves if you are looking for a nice place to have a picnic and do some fishing or boating.

I encourage anyone coming to the Yellowknife area to get out and experience the wilds of the North. It is absolutely spectacular as Tourism NWT claims and if I can do it, so can you.

Keeping it Real - Restaurants in YK Part 1

I find there is very little online info on restaurants in YK. I really dislike going to a new restaurant without prior knowledge of the place, so here is a rundown if you are looking for a place to eat in YK. I welcome and encourage all you Northern Bloggers to respond and blog about your experiences to help out all the Northern Newbies looking for a place to eat. If you know of any hidden gems, please let the rest of us know!

Note to Newbies: Never feel like you are under dressed when dining out in YK. It is not possible. So strike that worry from your dear minds.

$$$$$ is the most expensive rating and $ is the lowest.

Le Frolic Bistro Bar
$$$$
5019 49 Street, or as we say in YK, across from the mall

I have mixed feelings about this place. It is one of the more upscale dining establishments in YK. Initially it was my absolute favourite place to eat. While the atmosphere is fantastic, the best I have yet to see in YK, like all things YK the service and food is hit and miss, which I find disappointing beyond belief. I have probably ate there about six times, the first four times we enjoyed very nice, well cooked and presented meals with on par service and walked away feeling satisfied and leaving a nice tip for our server, always a good sign. The last two visits we had some bad service and not so great food, we haven’t returned since.

Final thoughts: Great ambiance, mediocre service, pricy drinks, expect to pay $30ish for entrees and $15ish for starters. Don’t miss the Crab Cakes, Arctic Char or Bison Burger. For the price, I expect vastly better and consistent service. Try it out and hope you catch them on a good day.

Fuego
$$$$
4915 50th Street

Hubby and I had our V Day dinner at Fuego this year. For Valentine’s Day, they opened up their upper banquet room to accommodate the extra bookings. I don’t really have many great things to say about our experience, so here is the rundown. The room we ate in smelled very musty and old. The servers were vastly unknowledgeable. The Tinhorn Creek Pinot Blanc was grossly overpriced... $46 for a bottle that sells for $16 at their winery and $22 ish at the YK Liquor Store. A portion of our meal was still FROZEN inside, the duck was 100% uncooked, it was supposed to be cooked. My last beef was the included 20% gratuity. I have known many servers and know how darn hard some of them work. I understand why some establishments include a gratuity on the bill. But at Fuego on February 14th, the service was just bad. There was plenty of staff to accommodate the number of patrons, but these gals were just young and unknowledgeable. They really didn’t care about what they were doing, but tried to maintain the fact that they were extremely posh folk. I didn’t want to tip these kids 20%... because they sucked at their job and served me below par, overpriced food. It was obvious they were not well prepared for the numbers they booked and fed that evening.

Final thoughts: I will try it out again on a non holiday in the future. The ambiance in the bottom level was pretty modern for little ol’ YK. If you do go, skip the V Day meal.

Taste of Saigon
$
4913 50 Street

Please try this place out and enjoy their consistent, yummy, affordable food. As the name suggests, they serve Vietnamese cuisine and their slogan is, “Vietnamese dining at its best” and I agree. The interior is clean, and well maintained. The staff is pretty efficient and friendly. They offer a great, speedy take out service. I highly recommend #44 or #45!

Final thoughts: Do it. It’s good. Order by the number and not the name, it will be worth it.

Boston Pizza
$$ ½
5102 48 Street

I genuinely cannot formulate any sort of review for YK BP. I went. It was bad. I wrote the company. They sent me 4 free vouchers for personal size pizza and a fountain pop. I donated them to a kid’s program run by Hubby’s work. According to the manager they have a really hard time finding and retaining good employees. It shows.

Final thoughts: It’s a great chain to have in YK, I may in fact return one day... maybe.

L’Attitudes
$$
Upper Level, YK Centre Mall

This is one place I go back to again and again. Consistent, friendly, knowledgeable servers, which I love. There is a modernish, clean atmosphere and the food is always good to great. Kind of reminds me of an upscale Irving Big Stop, if ya know what I mean my Maritime peeps. (That’s a good thing for the rest of you!) They have a mean chicken finger, great wraps, the salads are always fresh, and the fries are crispy and plentiful. Oh yes. We like that. L’Atitudes is the perfect place for a quick or leisurely lunch.

Final thoughts: I am pretty sure you can’t go wrong with this place! However, this is YK, so nothing is ever definite.

Much ado about nothing... or mouldy cheese. Whatever.

One thing I miss constantly about the Southern land of Canada is the never ending supply of fresh produce. This was a long, hard winter filled with withered peppers, rubbery, half rotted potatoes, tomatoes, you name it, it wasn’t so fresh. I know a few people who have worked in grocery stores and I am pretty sure that most of the fresh produce on the shelves at YK groceries stores would have been pitched in the bin in other groceries in Canada. Like the trooper that I am, I dealt with this, cutting off the mouldy bits, throwing out much more produce than I ever had before in my life as everything seemed to go from “OK looking” to “inedible” in 2 days of being in the fridge. I get it, I live in the North and I obviously cannot expect to purchase the same level of quality produce that I would expect to readily purchase a 12 hour drive south of here. Ok. Fine.

Recently, with the closure of the MacKenzie River crossing, the selection and quality at the grocery stores here in town has really gone from bad to worse. In the past few weeks, I have purchased bad chicken, bad milk and cheese in addition to the usual half rotted and withered fruits and veg. While I couldn’t do anything about the chicken or milk, when my nice $12 chunk of Gouda turned to white fuzz after one week in my fridge, my hubby very nicely returned it to Co op for me. This was the third package of expensive-ish cheese that I was going to have to trash that had been purchased in the past few months.

Interestingly, the deli produce manager was present at the customer service counter when it was being returned. When she noticed what Hubby was returning, she was apparently horrified but aware of “this problem”. Oh. OK. She further elaborated that some of their fromage comes pre-packaged but others come in wheels which they have to slice themselves. This is where the problem begins. Their packaging system involves wrapping the hunk on cheese in plastic wrap and heat sealing it shut with a heat gun. The heat of the gun triggers mould production in the cheese and they end up losing about 1/3rd of the cheese from every wheel they package.

Now, I am not a scientist, nor do I pretend to be one on the weekends, however, that just doesn’t seem normal to me. The first mystery which I cannot crack regarding this is, has the technology of vacuum sealing not come to Yellowknife yet? Why do they continue to heat seal this product when they clearly are losing revenue by subjecting the cheese to a detrimental heat sealing process? The second issue I have with this is, do they not understand the nature of mould on food? Yes, you see the mould on the surface of the item, however it also has little mould roots that reach down through the food item. To safely eliminate bad mould from cheese, it is recommended that 2 centimeters be cut off from around the fuzz. Obviously this packaging process is triggering mould production and I think they need to stop doing this!

So, the deli manager nicely suggested that we “go see her” when we go to the deli section at Co op from now on and she will “get us some good stuff”.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think this is an acceptable practice? Cause, I am not feeling that it is so great. I would like to see the grocers in this town step up and start improving practices to better their service and products for this community!

Fun with watermelon!

Malcolm and Liv absolultely love raw fruits and veggies. I give them a little bit here and there as I really prefer they stick to their dry kibble. However, as you can see things tend to get a little out of hand when the watermelon comes out.

Here we have Olivia glaring with contempt and jealousy as Malcolm gnaws his was through a yummy slice of watermelon.

Olivia remains utterly unimpressed as Malcolm lovingly devours his slice.


As always is the case with watermelon, things tend to get a little crazy.

Yes, the doglets do love their watermelon!

Another wonderful retail experience in YK

At the YK Centre Mall, one particular store kinda rocks (or their merchandise does) and I like to pop in whenever I am there.

Now, I have a disorder inflicted from years of customer service based jobs where I “expect” other retail industry workers to be able to form coherent verbal structures in an effort to communicate with their customers. CRAZY, I know. That being said, this store offers very little in the whole domain of customer service, from my experience the workers are there to ring through sales and that is where their duties end. There are no friendly, “Hi, how are you today?” or “Let me know if I can give you a hand with anything!” in this store. However, they really do carry fun stuff, so my body keeps urging me back to this store for a browse.

Yesterday when I stopped in, I immediately noticed adorable horse themed pyjamas for little girls. My niece, MacKenzie lives on a horse farm and loves all things horses. I knew she would love them and the $31 price tag didn’t seem too horribly steep, so I thought I would purchase a pair for her. They did not come in her size, so my brain and common sense suggested that I ask the very young worker if she could order a pair in MacKenzie’s size for me. As I have myself worked in small boutique style shops, I am highly aware that this is common practice for small business owners, and is in fact a large part of their business as it can be quite costly to carry an overabundance of stock.

When I asked the young girl if it was possible to order in a different size, she stared at me blankly and squinted her eyes in confusion. After a minute or so of pondering she told me that they had just got in this order. And starred some more at me. As that did not answer my question I asked again if it was possible to order in a different size. She looked at me and repeated the same answer she originally told me. Realizing this conversation was futile, I gently suggested that perhaps she could find out for me and give me a call. As I said that, I flipped the pyjama package over in my hand and noted the company’s website. I told the young girl I would actually just check out the company’s website and thanked her for her help. She looked at me as if I was severely mentally incapacitated and said, “Well, you could TRY that...” indicating she did not think that a company’s website would ever sell their own goods.

Sigh.

Just then her “superior” returned to the store and the young girl said she would find out about getting in a different size. Here is the gist of this conversation:

YG: Hey, can we like order a different um, size in this pyjama set?

S: (Starring blankly)

YG: I think like, a special order or something.

S: (Sharply) No. We can’t do that.

YG: Oh. Ok.

From a customer service viewpoint the above conversation contains ALL KINDS OF WRONG. The Young Girl relayed this information to me since I must be mentally incapacitated and hearing impaired so I thanked her again for her help. I continued to browse and purchased a few items I had been eyeing before leaving anyway.

Later on, when I got home I popped onto the internet to see if I could order the pyjamas, guess what I discovered? They do sell their own products and at a CHEAPER price than the boutique in the mall. Ah ha! The same $31 pyjamas from the store were ON SALE on the website for $19.99. I kid you not. I also noted that most of the other pyjamas were a few dollars cheaper than the YK store as well. Shipping to Southern Canada was free on orders over $65, however to ship to the Northern territories there was a $9.99 charge. (I have no idea why?) Lucky for me the items were being shipped to NS and I did receive free shipping.

So the moral of the story today kids is that you should always expect crap service when in YK and then complain about it on your public blog! Just kiddin’ but seriously who doesn’t like to save some cash?

Just another wonderful shopping experience here in the North!

Puddles and poopsicles

Warning: The following deals with the topic of poopsicles, which probably is an offensive topic to most. If you fall under that category, you may want to not read the following entry. Thanks!

-nwtnatalie

I am having a major love/hate relationship with Springtime up here in the Arctic. I LOVE it for the obvious reason: it is plus 5C, the sun is shining and my nostrils no longer freeze together when I frolic amongst nature. Life is good, great in fact. This actually makes me so happy I want to run outside and kiss the ground while exclaiming to the heavens above, "THANK YOU! Thank you Baby J, thank you Caucasian bearded J, I feared this day would never come, thank you, thank you, thank you oh wonderful Mother Nature lady!" Never in my life have I felt so over abundantly happy for Spring to arrive.

However, two things prevent me from running around and kissing the ground like a freshly escaped prisoner from jail and they would be: puddles and poopsicles. The street that I live on now is a half pavement/ half rocky crater filled, snowy, slushy, poopy, gravely, puddley mess. I have never seen the likes y'all.

Since the weather has improved so dramatically I now can start walking my children aka dogs again. This is a very exciting thing in my household, the kids LOVE car rides and walks. Where we lived in Southern BC, it was warm all the time, and there were only a few weeks of the year that we couldn't walk the dogs. Now that we live in the Arctic, that obviously has changed.

Yesterday we went for the first walk. I was so very happy to be outside and not freezing off various important bodily parts, it was a great moment. The kids were trotting along joyously when all of a sudden upon leaving the driveway they saw the array of puddles, craters, slush, snow and ice mess ahead of them on our street. I had to carry Olivia through the battlefield of our street, as she strongly dislikes dirtying herself (she's a diva and I love it) and she had put on the brakes. After jumping a huge lake like puddle at the end of the street, we made it to the sidewalk. Initially I felt relief as the next few sidewalk squares in front of us were dry. Then I realized for every 3 squares dry sidewalk there were 5 squares of drowned, lake like sidewalk to maneuver. That was fine, I am Maritimer, clearly tough as nuts, however I imagine the townsfolk got a kick out of seeing Olivia and myself walk a few feet, see me pick her up, jump the puddle, put her down and so on.

Very quickly amidst puddle jumping, I began to notice the poopsicle situation of my neighborhood. And I wanted to BARF ALL OVER THE SIDEWALK. A poopsicle, for those who have been wondering if I simply misspelled "popsicle", is a frozen or once frozen piece of canine excrement that is found in highly unsavory public places. It is especially sickening in it's melted form it has a shiny, melty, runny look that in some cases may trigger mouth barfing. In my case they seem to be found every two paces along my neighborhood walking route. Some are squashed with a foot imprint (Oh Grissom would be in heaven!) some are long and just THERE, some are broken up, they come in all shapes and sizes.

For the record, I have visited la belle ville de Paris en France and let me assure you, they have got nothing on YK for sheer amount of canine excrement on the sidewalks.

Pick up the poop fellow YKers, the poopsicle situation in town right now is absolutely filthy and sickening. Stoop and scoop. Have some respect! I am certain that most small birds emit more excrement then my doggies, however I still clean up after them. In YK it is also a bylaw, so there is even more incentive fer ya.

Puddles and poopsicles friends, puddles and poopsicles.
Spring has arrived in the glorious metropolis of YK. I love it.

The Complexities of the North

All the Maritimers out there are going to know what I am talking about.

What is up with the drive thru system at McDonald’s here in YK?

In Nova Scotia and BC we have a very simple system. You drive to the little metal box and magically a voice will ask you what you would like to order. Once you tell the little man inside the metal box what you would like, you then proceed to the next window where there will be a worker who you pay. Next, you drive to the last window to pick up your order. A very simple process.

This is not the case in YK.

In YK, we do not have a metal box to speak in to for placing your order. We actually have to drive to the first window, speak to an actual human being in person and tell that person what you want. That person then rings in your order and also gives you any condiments you may require. Then you continue to the last window to pick up your order.

Now that the non Northerners comprehend this system, let me say that I do not actually go to McD`s that often. Maybe once a month I feel like a cheeseburger, the ensuing guilt over consuming said cheeseburger prevents me from daring to eat one for at least another month or two or maybe even three.

Not long ago, hubby was working a night shift and I thought I would head to McD`s for a fix. I drove up to the drive thru lane and entered, driving up to the first window. I knew this is where I should order, but I felt nervous, not ordering at the metal box felt very wrong, almost unnatural. Sitting at the window I waited, and waited... and waited. I looked around nervously wondering if there really was a metal ordering box and maybe it was new and now there I was like an idiot sitting and waiting for a human to come and take my order. The old McD`s guilt overcame me and I contemplated making a break for it and leaving the drive thru before even ordering. However, there was a car at window #3 waiting for their order and I knew I was trapped. I looked once again to the window where I saw a big sticker telling us patrons to stop at that window and order. I continued to sit and wait for someone to come. Soon, another car entered the drive thru behind me and that is when things got crazy.

At least ten minutes had passed since I had first drove up to the ordering window. Now a car was behind me and I almost felt panicked at what was going on and convinced myself I was spiralling into a bottomless pit of obesity by even being at McD`s. I figured that perhaps the order taking person was at the middle window and made the executive decision to advance forward to check this out. As I feared, no one was at the middle window. NO ONE. I continued to wait as there was now a large line up behind me when all of a sudden I saw in my rear-view mirror the order taker hanging out of window #1 and giving my vehicle a nervous glance. She even waved to my vehicle, although there was no way I could reverse at this point, I was really in a pickle.

Realizing this was one of the most ridiculous situations I had ever been in I silently cursed this silly Northern McD’s as gigantic ravens swooped around my car, seemingly staring at me with pity. I sensed them saying, “You silly Southern girl, you can’t even handle a Northern McD’s drive thru... idiot,” as they shook their heads in embarrassment for this poor, stupid girl. I pulled up to the third window, nervously wondering what I should do, just drive away or tell the worker what happened. The latter seemed to make the most sense as I had now wasted approximately 15 minutes of my life at this drive thru.

At #3 window, the worker approached the window, opened it and held out a brown McDonald’s bag for me to take. I explained that was not mine, what happened and waited for the scathing look. To my surprise he smiled at me warmly and quickly asked what he could get for me. Total shock overcame me, and I stuttered that I would like a cheeseburger. In a few quick minutes he had it ready for me, I paid and off I went.

Now, this is surprising to me for two reasons. Firstly, in other regions, the metal box eliminates any “which window do I order at” confusion. Even though there is a large sticker with a big old stop sign on window #1, saying to stop and order there, after ten minutes and a long line-up growing behind me, I clearly felt the appropriated action would be to move ahead and see if the order taker was at the next window. Then by the time I got to the third, I feared that I had obviously missed my chance to order.

But friends, this is the North! People are ridiculously friendly here. If that same situation had occurred in the South, I am certain the pubescent McD’s worker would have looked at me, flung some ketchup packets at my head and screamed for me to get out of there because I was too fat to even order a dirty McD’s cheeseburger. I KNOW THAT IS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. Now in the North, that lovely young man rolled with this unexpected twist, did not even give me ONE disparaging look and quickly prepared my order. I love it.

The North is also the place where you can be invited to a party from a girl who you have only met once, she is the only person you know at this party and end up having a great time and leave after having met some great new friends.

I’m tellin’ ya, the Arctic grows on me more and more, day by day.

It's a Northern Thing

I can definitely say I have never saw these signs anywhere else that I have lived. I wish we could have saw an actual dog team crossing the road!

Checking out the sights

This year I didn't get to see the inside of the infamous YK Snow King Castle built on the frozen ice of YK Bay. Here is what it looks like on the outside at least.


As the Mummy of a five and ten pound chihuahua, the thought of chaining my dogs to a stick in the middle of an ice road in YK was slightly unlikely! Olivia is glaring at me as I type this sentence.

After checking out the Snow Castle, hubby drove us out to N'Dilo, a small community just past Old Town in YK. As we were driving into town, I saw what appeared to be a dog curled up into a ball in the middle of the snow covered road. (Keep in mind, Malcolm and Olivia were comfortably snuggled up on my lap, Olivia wearing a rhinestone encrusted pink velor hoodie, and Malcolm in his manly gray soccer hoodie)

Like the Southerner I am, I saw this dog and said, "Oh my GOD, HUBBY, what is that? Is that a DEAD DOG?! Oh my god, why is there a dog balled up in the middle of the road! Stop the car... STOP THE CAR! Go see if he is OK!"

Hubby responded by telling me this dog is very much alive and that it is in fact normal to see dogs roaming or even sleeping in the streets in various areas around here. Yes, even when it is freezing outside. Then as we drove by he said, "See Nat? He's lickin' his crotch."

Oh. OK.