How does one pronounce "Flintabbatey"?

A friend of mine, and fellow blogger Lmizzle recently commented on how she was cheated out of a free Westjet flight because of the absurdly short deadlines imposed by the airline as to when you notified them that you shared a surname with one of our even more absurd political leaders. She had mentioned in passing that she would even fly to Flin Flon, Manitoba for free. I rebutted by pointing out that the city has...um...unique plumbing situations that would likely not be a tourist attraction in the middle of winter should the mercury plunge a little too low.

Namely, the town/city is built on a geological formation called the Canadian Shield - a.k.a. Bedrock City. The ground has very little topsoil to speak of, a few swamps and a whole lot of rock. Any residential community would be faced with the dilemma of how to dig sewer and water pipes in solid bedrock – very expensive and a pain in the ass (no pun intended).

Their solution? Run the pipes above ground! Woot!

What an esthetically pleasing notion; run your poop tubes down your yard and make a sidewalk out of them! Genius! Little Johnny and Susie could take turns daring each other to stick their tongues on the frozen metal of the doodie duct in the dead of winter! Fine Family Fun!

Just to give you an idea of the majestic beauty that is a crap chute running down your yard; observe:

The wooden boardwalks running along the front of these houses hide an icky, sticky secret. The actual caption giving to this picture by the fine folks of the Flin Flon City Council reads:

“Sewer box in front of houses”

And this one:

"House with sewer box running through yard"

And this unique sculptural feature is not reserved for the residential elite. The town had to ensure that these pipes ended at the treatment plant, therefore they snake and weave their way through the town and comprise part of the pathway around Ross Lake (Little visual for Steve-O here). Judging by the current colour of the lake, me thinks that many a pipe may have burst last winter...

To address the title of this ill-fated blog; Flintabbatey Flonatin is apparently their town mascot. And...um...this is it...

Draw your own opinions on this one; I really can't get past the notion of "sewer boxes" as a lawn ornament. "Hey honey, where's the shovel? The snow froze the doodie duct, it burst, and now the kids keep trying to make Mr.Hankey snow angels..."

When do we pack our bags!?