Friday, October 22, 2010

I'll take a vet, thank you

The city, indeed the nation, has been fixated on the story that Iqaluit is getting its first Tim Hortons. Look, they even have part of their logo translated into Inuktitut.



Reaction around town has been...odd. Some are excited, a surprising number are grumbling about it. Either because of the anticipated volumes of trash, that Tim's is a pretty unhealthy place and lord knows there is enough unhealthy crap to eat anyway (I love the ones bitching about how unhealthy Tim's is, but who I know eat at the Snack from time to time). Plus there are those who hate Tim Horton's coffee and just like to hate on the place as a rule.

I remain mostly ambivalent. I'll certain get some donuts and muffins from time to time, but I won't be going there for coffee. I don't like hot beverages, so Tim's has a limited appeal to me. I'm happier about the news that Iqaluit is on the verge of getting a vet full-time.

We have vets in town this very minute, but it's part of the twice a year visit the vets make to town. So as long as you're just getting vaccination updates or getting your pet fixed, you're fine. But if your pet gets suddenly ill, well, you're in trouble.

I've recounted here before how we spent nearly $2,000 flying Boo to Ottawa to get treated for an infection nearly two years ago. We nearly had to do that again earlier this month. He's fine now, but he was having some issues and Cathy actually had him in a crate at the airport getting ready to send him to Ottawa. By dumb luck I was already in Ottawa for meetings, so I was going to pick him up and transport him to the vet, get him looked at, and then sent back to Iqaluit the next day.

As it happens, the plane he was supposed to go out on got cancelled because of high winds. Then he got better and we decided not to send him out.

But you see how this goes. A full-time vet in town would be a very nice thing to have. Just because I suspect this is going to be a reoccurring problem. Tim's coffee and a donut is nice and all, but I'd much rather not be dropping a lot of money shipping the dog off to Ottawa any time he gets sick.

I'm disappointed that it looks like it's still going to be another year before she's able to set up her practice in town. She still has to finish school and she's also pregnant. So that's slowing down the process a bit. However, I'll be happy when she's here. And certainly happier than a Tim's opening up shop.

Last Five
1. Eventually - Brendan Benson
2. Giving up the gun - Vampire Weekend
3. Fuck and run - Liz Phair*
4. American girl (live) - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
5. Store bought bones - The Raconteurs

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

A vet in Iqaluit would be great - especially if she has a way to pick up/drop off at the airport and an overnight place. We had to send out a dog last year from Igloolik, it was a very expensive weekend. Dog or vacation, that was the question.

I remember having vets/students come up to most of the isolated communities in NWT and most of Kitikmeot, similar to what the dentists do, it would be awesome if this vet could do a one-or-twice a year road trip.

As for the Timmy's - I think the complainers will never be satified, especially with the garbage. Our towns - Iqaluit in particular - have gone too far from personal responsibility (Throw your garbage in the garbage!) to blaming everyone but the person doing the deed (It's the Northern's fault because they sold me the coffee, or maybe First Air, because thay flew it here. That's why I threw the cup on the ground).

Jason in Igloolik

Megan said...

I generally dislike Tim Horton's (Hortons?) and would never go out of my way to drink the oily black dishwater they call coffee. But blaming them for litter is ridiculous. It's not the store managers' fault that their customers don't care about the land.

I've been hearing complaints about litter all the way over here, so you must hear them several times a day.

Anonymous said...

I do get annoyed that Tim Horton runs the "roll up the rim" contest...when folks should be encouraged to bring in their own personal travel mug for their caffeine hit all the time.

Aida said...

not a coffee drinker so i couldnt care less for Tim's but I must say i love their chocolate danish. I wonder what will happen to the 5 or so odd coffee shops around town.

blaming Tim's for potential garbage issues is retarded. Then everyone should also complain about Pepsi, I was at Grinnell today and saw at least 1/2 dozen littered pepsi cans.

towniebastard said...

Tim Hortons gets attacked for the amount of garbage they produce across Canada and the Roll-up the Rim to Win contest is what gets them the most fire.

But yes, a little personal responsibility for keeping your city clean would be a refreshing change of pace around here.