Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Apr 30/99) - As natural gas lines are about to start connecting to Inuvik homes, the final season of fuel-only heat is about to wind down.

And for Arctic Dove fuel truck driver Denny Conley that means some angst about his future.

"Natural gas is going to put a little dent in (Arctic Dove business) but I hope Esso fights with them so I can keep my job," he says.

"For natural gas there will have to be jobs for maintenance."

Conley's days start at 8 a.m. when he goes to work and gets his route for the day. Though that sounds simple, he says there are more than 40 different routes depending on the size of tank and frequency of tanks needing filling.

"At my house one tank of fuel will last me 32 days but at the Eskimo Inn, for example, one tank might last them 17 days," says the 19- year Inuvik resident who is originally from Grande Prairie, Alta.

"At the Finto Hotel, we go there every four days when it's -40 C."

Trucks are computerized so he punches in the code number for the delivery into the computer, puts the hose in the gas tank and then pushes the start button.

Then he waits until the tank is full.

"Around coffee break people usually invite you in for a cup of coffee," he says, adding that mixing with customers is one of his favourite parts of the job.

His least favourite part is just before that -- standing on a fuel tank when the temperature is -40 C.

Outside of work he likes to spend as much time as he can out on the land.

Next week, for example, he says he hopes to set out polar bear hunting north of Kendall Island for the first time this year.

"I'm getting anxious to go but I don't know if it's going to be warm enough. I might have deliveries," he says.

Last weekend, like many recent weekends, he spent some time with his family at his camp near Blueberry Hill between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk.

Soon he will have more time in the slow summer season to fish and travel around the Delta by boat, he says.

His partner is Patricia Rogers and he has an eight-year-old daughter Blair and a four-year-old son Kyle.