Andy & Meghan World

Changes Changes

2008-09-15T17:25:00.003+12:00

Whew. Lots of change, too much to keep up with. Mainpoints:

Winfly/Springfly has begun

We have sun, freshies and new faces

Andy redeployed and is happy in the real world

I'm still here, living with Leah

Due to our separate locations you can find updates on us on separate blogs: Andy (still working on it will post it soon), Meghan

Lately

2008-08-27T17:50:00.007+12:00

One week. Only one week until first flight. How? September? Not ready, nowhere NEAR ready. Oh well. It hasn't really hit yet, I've just been coasting along doing the same things I have all winter. Well, besides staring at the Sun whenever I get a chance (okay it's only been twice, but amazing each time). So the stuff my days are filled with as of late:

Liz & I on our daily commute (NOT in the DARK!)

Liz & I fixing sleds

More Komatik repairs

Liz, Me & Sal after our first sun sighting

Sledding for the first time in light

Goals & Results

2008-08-22T20:00:00.003+12:00

Wintering in Antarctica might have been my idea. It was a mutual decision, but I might have originated the desire. Either way, we both had goals that were met, yet it was a bad idea. Right, I get that you could have told me that 366 days ago, but I didn't know it then. Whatever, good idea or bad idea, here I am ecstatic at achieving a goal of mine:

Right, those of you who know my quest of the last five years can guess I'm paying off my "bad" student loan. Sure enough, I procrastinated sending in the last $137.16 until they upgraded to payoff online. Thrilled. 100% thrilled. Despite that, I have to admit I'm saddened for two reasons. 1 - postpartum goal - now what goal? 2 - where are the balloons? the congratulations? the parade? the champagne? For something that has so consumed me, how can the loan company say nothing but "thank you for your payment"? I admit, last winter (Antarctic style) my friend Sandwich had a similar post about said disappointment, yet I held onto the belief that MY loan company was different. They CARED. Not true. Despite that, Andrew and KDub stepped up to make loan payoff memorable and celebratory. Adios loan, hello 20/20 or new bike......

I Saw the Light

2008-08-20T17:16:00.005+12:00

A-
Back out to Pegasus today to squirt some more fuel around and was lucky enough to catch the sun. It poked out from the shoulder of Mt. Erebus on the drive out, then did a hour or so run across the horizon before sinking. Quite the sight after not laying eyes on it for roughly 4 months. I actually had a hard time not looking directly at it, which caused momentary vision discomfort with hopefully no long-term damage. But come on, it was pretty damn pretty and I wanted to look at it! My sunglasses made the trip with me as well, but were not needed. They will be on a short leash from now on, however...

Oooh!
Ahhh!

Waiting for the Sun

2008-08-20T09:56:00.004+12:00

Yesterday the sun rose for the first time since April. Unfortunately we didn't get to see it. Andy drove us out to Pegasus to get a view of the object we so long to see, but it was cloudy and the sun just didn't get high enough to clear Erebus. Maybe today? Or tomorrow when it will rise completely above the horizon.

Nacreous

2008-08-18T13:18:00.002+12:00

A -
Some photos from Saturday. We've had nacreous clouds filling the sky for days. Almost getting kinda sick of them, you know? More pics to come of the recent eventful McMurdo weekend and hopefully some catch up of blog-worthy happenings that have been neglected. Ciao for now.

Above from the pass and below from RadarSat
A blurry shot of a brightening McMurdo

Current MacTown

2008-08-11T17:56:00.003+12:00

MJ --
It's getting brighter.
At this light I actually thought about sunglasses - it seems bright - and I've been angrily unscrewing light bulbs at work - hurts the eyes you know -

Thanks to Dave for the picture --

sun, sissman cooks, & the boys with beer

2008-08-01T17:49:00.002+12:00

Crusty?

2008-07-29T18:44:00.003+12:00

MJ -

Crust"y\ (-[y^]), a.
1. Having the nature of crust; pertaining to a hard covering; as, a crusty coat; a crusty surface or substance.
2. Having a hard exterior, or a short, rough manner, though kind at heart; snappish; peevish; surly.

I'm not in denial like Sal, I'm aware that T3 has begun to take it's toll on me. I'm even willing to admit that "crusty" (a common adjective used to describe winterovers) may apply to me. Actually I came to this realization a few weeks ago after a solid 2 hour rant with Jolene. At the end of the two hours while I was catching my breath (or trying to remember what I was talking about) I scanned my brain to see if there was anything else I could find to be angry about - but all I came up with was "Oh, God! Jolene......I'm crusty?!"

I have so many T3 stories I can't even think where to begin - so instead, how about a little email chain from last week:

From: Walker, Meghan Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 3:10
Subject: correction

Dear Friends -

I apologize for the agony a comment of mine may have
caused you. This morning when I stated that the firehouse confiscated my
hot pot - I was mistaken. I know you all have been contemplating just how
horrible of an offence this is, and thankfully it is not true. Turns out,
I relocated the hotpot to a cupboard - and may have forgotten doing so. You can
imagine my shock when the appliance was rediscovered this afternoon and I still
have zero recollection of hiding it. I've even gone through
the painstaking process of interrogating my co-workers - and have come to
the conclusion that they didn't hide it either. Again, I apologize.

From: Rhemann, Jennifer Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 3:25 PM
Subject:RE: correction

Dear Meghan,

Your humble apology honors all of us, however
your suspicions might have been assuaged a bit too early. I overheard Elizabeth
and some guy from the Fire House laughing about what a great trick it was for
the McMurdo Station Fire Fighting Department Dormitory Inspection Officer
(MSFFDDIO) to hide it when performing your room inspection. I am dismayed at
their callous laughter. Your well-being is hardly in a state to tolerate such
tampering. I hope that they will reflect on the damage that they have done to
your poor, frightened state of mind and that they will resolve to be more
sensitive to your wild vacillations between sanity and kuku. We in Science
Support are here for you, Meghan. Not only do we want to commend you for the
great job that you’re doing and for being a model of safety, but we want to
cushion any blows (emotional, not physical) that you might receive from the
community. Stand strong against those who would tear you down by petty little
tricks like this, Meghan! We’re standing with you.

With firm
resolve,
Jen

From: Mcdaniel, Elizabeth Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 9:07 AM
Subject: RE: correction

Ahh yes, so this morning I have had the pleasure of reading this email
conversation regarding Meghan, her hotpot and the correct use of acronyms
(CROA). However I did discover in reading this a few quiet accusations
about myself and a bit of callous laughter overheard. I wanted to clarify
that this callous laughter overheard was not directed only at the hot pot moving
incident but also at the tampering with the space heater and the daily losing of
the tea and coffee cups at the BFC. In no way is Meghan suffering from
anything we may know as T3 or of becoming what some might call "crusty".
In fact, all of these jokes are being played out by myself for the sole reason
of having great theorizing conversation during our work hours. My greatest
apologies to everyone who has in any way suffered for this.

Elizabeth

Please note Liz's acronym makes zero sense - yet another T3 example.

My Tent, Talkin 'bout my.....

2008-07-29T18:16:00.002+12:00

MJ -

This is Sal.

Sal is doing what Liz, he and myself must do 424 times.

Don't worry we only have 138 to go.

Cloudy Days

2008-07-26T17:32:00.002+12:00

Check out how cloudy it was today...
The real story is that it is getting impressively brighter by the day. Especially noticable if it does get clouded over for a few days and then clears. At mid-day, on a clear day, the light is no longer only on the horizon. It seeps far enough toward us to make it almost feel like a dawn sunrise, which is where it stalls out, quickly turns to dusk and sunset, then to black again by early evening. Ciao for now...A

More 4th Photos

2008-07-16T08:30:00.003+12:00

A few more shots of our recent holiday weekend...eh?

Chili Cook-off
Human Jenga SAR Booth
Dennis under the influence
Dunk Tankage
Race Start Line

Holiday Weekend

2008-07-10T08:51:00.005+12:00

Thanks to kinda Mother RayRay we were treated to yet another 2-day weekend over the fourth. Friday afternoon we BFCers did our monthly drive of the Castle Rock loop checking on the survival apples. Highlights from the trip include seeing light on the horizon, and coming prepared with galley trays.

We had to rush back to prepare ourselves for the 4th of July carnival being held that evening at the MEC. This is quite the event with a chili cookoff, a dunk tank, human jenga (ran by Bodie and SAR), other carnival type booth events, an auction, and of course live music.

Finally we finished our big weekend with the Mid Winter Run (AKA Half Done Run). The course is an intense 1.3 miles from town to Scott's Hut on the point and back. The weather was less than ideal with several brave runners coming in with white than white parts on their faces. The big winner? Andrew of course. Actually, he was the bigger winner of the weekend - winning the server challenge at the carnival, the bar sport triathlon (with a partner - pool, shuffle board and darts) - and capping it off with the run. I myself didn't partake in the run as I was the coordinator/planner and checkered flag. Post run we went to Gallagher's (my first time all winter) for made to order burritos and morning cocktails.

And now, we watch the sun make it's return:

Could it be?

2008-07-01T12:11:00.002+12:00

From outside town

June! What? When? Where?

2008-06-29T18:13:00.000+12:00

MJ - Well, now that June is just about over I thought it appropriate that I finally post. So what happened in June at McMurdo Station?

1) I turned 27.

2) We BFCers (with assistance from Andy, Bodie, and Jolene) created the Bourgeoisie Faustian Culture Lounge. Complete with a custom built bar (Andy & Bodie), a menu, a tour of lounge tracks, cocktail servers (Liz & I......sorta, ok not really), bartender (Bodie, Andy, Jolene - Kdub thought he was), the host (Sal), and a dress code.

3) I took yet another plunge into the Ross Sea. Why? Cause it's Mid-Winter naturally.

4) The BFC was the site for the MCI drill - and we (Sal, Liz, Andy & myself) were the victims. What was the scenario? Ah, a fire - which I'm sure had nothing to do with Liz "Fire" McDaniel.

5) Mid-Winter! Yes, that's right the sun bottomed out and is now working it's way back. Sure, sure, it'll be sometime still but we are on the other side - which is nice. (See Andrew's post below)

6) It's still dark and we are enjoying nice auroras displays.

Mid Winter Dinner

2008-06-28T08:34:00.010+12:00

Strategically charted for the middle of our Winter contract, mid Winter dinner is the premier holiday event celebrated across the continent. Last weekend, everyone shook off the T3 syndrome as well as they could and made it out for a great night of wining and dining. Some pics...

As nice as it gets in the galley

Pre-dinner social at Jolene's

Dinner

Group shot of Yoga peeps

Nice vintage

BFC crew

Jolene, Kevin, Meghan and my co-fuelie Bodie

Good Health

2008-06-17T11:12:00.002+12:00

Here's an uplifting message from our friends at Environmental Health and Safety...

Daily Dose of Safety…

Today’s Topic: Polar T3 Syndrome

What is Polar T3 Syndrome?
-A thyroid condition that researchers believe is caused when the body adapts to extreme cold. T3 is a thyroid hormone that acts as a neurotransmitter and also regulates the body’s temperature. Caused primarily by cold, not darkness. (although darkness plays a part)

What does it look like?
-Fatigue
-Lethargy
-Sadness
-Social withdrawal
-Carb cravings
-Sleep changes
-Mood disturbance
-Forgetfulness
-Irritability

What can you do?
-Use the Light Room (in Bldg. 155, Room 101)
-See Medical if symptoms progress
-Exercise
-Become more social

For references from scientific journals, you can check out:
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/86/1/110
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/70/4/965

Good Health!

...now it all makes sense!

-AM

Iridium Flare There

2008-06-03T16:36:00.003+12:00

photo by: Antz Powell Here's a photo from our favorite sky-watcher from in between our dorms...and a link to wikipedia info about Iridium flares. He used a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, F 2.8, ISO 200 with a one minute exposure. Pretty cool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_flare

Beauty of Here

2008-05-28T09:45:00.004+12:00

BTW - that's the moon

Day to Day

2008-05-24T09:36:00.007+12:00

MJ - If I had to pick the most frequently asked question about me and this place I'd go with "What do you actually do up there?" Right, first off we all know it's down. The runner up would be "Are you going back?" - but that's a whole different story.

Anyways, since I've been miserable at posting I thought a little info on my daily life would be a good way to break back into it.

Monday through Saturday:

6:50 am - roll out of bed

7:00 - walk from dorm to galley

7:05 - wait for egg guy

7:10-7:20 - eat with Andy, Bodie, Kevin & Austin - bitch about eggs, listen to them talk about option trading

7:21-7:26 - walk to BFC

7:30 - 17:30 - Work & Workout

17:30 - 22:30 - avoid social obligations

A picture essay of work :

Hurdy Gurdy Hoedown

Liz working on a Scott Tent

RFIing Stoves
Fire Extinguisher Training after Liz "Fire" McDaniel's mishap with the stove
Checking on the Apples
BFC winter crew

The 2 people I spend the most time with
More Castle Rock

Summary of post work social obligations:

Monday - SAR training (every other)

Tuesday - Playing Librarian (every other)

Wednesday - LOST

Thursday - Yoga

Friday - The new Saturday

Saturday - Always something

Sunday - Brunch

John Booth Bakery

2008-05-15T14:00:00.003+12:00

AM: Some serious baking went on last week in McMurdo. Our friend John shared a Youtube video about a no-knead bread method and gathered the ingredients for a bake-off. It was simple to prepare and some of the tastiest bread I've ever made, which would have been true even if it was horrible. Check out <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU> and give it a shot. Here are a few with a couple loaves still rising...

Smurf Shack Aftermath

2008-05-14T16:42:00.005+12:00

AM: I made it out to Pegasus yesterday to help out with the fire clean-up. We drained off about 200 gallons of fuel from a tank that luckily survived the blaze. Another 500 gallons that was in a larger tank was long gone...along with the aluminium tank that it was in! That was the likely source of the light show that we could see from McMurdo, over 12 miles away. Ideas are still being tossed around about how to clean the mess up. The current Blizzard may have its own plan. Here are a couple views of the incident:

Smurf Shack

2008-05-12T16:18:00.004+12:00

As it was & burning view from McMurdo

We started off our week with a 7:30 all hands safety meeting in the galley. Today's topic "Stuff does happen in McMurdo". Pretty much we talked about the emergency incidents in the past, mainly fires. Less than 2 hours later the Smurf Shack (Fleet-Op's warm up hut) at pegasus was in a blaze. The last time we had an All Hands safety meeting a dozer fell into a melt pool by Black Island. Now I'm not saying I'm just saying.

Ridge Running

2008-05-10T09:24:00.004+12:00

MJ -- The Ridge (AKA Hut Point Ridge Trail) has been my favorite run on this rock since my first year. The short 4 mile loop has it all: ups, downs, mars, views of everything, and serious wind. This trail is my Hartley of Antarctica, I've spent countless hours running it keeping my sanity. Sure admittedly the majority of that has been when it's warmish out with 24 hour blazing sunlight, but not anymore. We have the goal of running outside at least once a week for most of the winter so the last few runs and the rest will all be in the dark. Last night was clear, calm and on the warm end of the temp scale (-10?) - perfect for our weekly run. We were out the door with our headlamps just before 6. Halfway up the VMF/Arrival Heights hill I was starting to think it was a miserable idea due to the metallic taste in my mouth, freezing contact eyes, and numb toes. Just as I was about to crest the hill I noticed lights towards Scott Base - strange as the sun had been below the horizon for sometime and shows on the other side. Further up the hill, farther from McMurdo's light pollution - and yes that's what we were seeing, the unmistakable green streaks of the Southern Lights. An immediate boost in my morale occurred along with elation on the great idea of running the ridge. Again, I love this place.

Auroras over the backside of the ridge trail, similar to what we saw - pic courtesy of Antz

light

2008-05-03T16:33:00.002+12:00

This was taken maybe a week ago - we don't get anywhere near this much light now.

Warning Signs

2008-04-29T18:46:00.003+12:00

MJ -- So you're just floating along in your world, oblivious to how it has been effecting you. Then it comes, a sure sign of how your current environment has skewed you a bit - almost like you've been there too long.

Tonight is my weekly evening to pretend I'm a librarian. I sit at the library desk from 6-8 and do nothing but read, as I've yet to have a single patron since mainbody ended. It's a bit of a rush for me to leave work, get dinner, pick up the key at the secret location, go home to put on my glasses (I am THE librarian), and open the door on time for all those waiting.

Okay, a bit more background before I carry on. I'm of the strong opinion that I have the longest commute to work on station. Without a galley swing through, it takes me on average from dorm door to BFC door 5.5 minutes. I can get out of bed at 7:17 and still make it ready to stretch before 7:30 (not that I do that). Okay people, that is a long commute at McMurdo (and it is normally directly into the wind, actually I think the source of all the wind is the BFC front door).

Now back to the library been here too long sign. Tonight I make it to flip the library "OPEN" sign about a minute late - I got held up on the shoe thing. About 20 seconds later I make the discovery that I've been handed the wrong key. This pretty much sends me into a total break down (I'm working on that patience thing). Now I have to walk from the library ALL the way to the firehouse to get the correct key. On my way back from the firehouse I find myself muttering about why McMurdo has to be so gosh darn big and spread out. What? What did you just say Meghan? The longest commute is 5.5 minutes, and this "key fiasco" took you a total of 3 minutes round trip including the chat time with the dispatch dude.

I've been here too long.

Sunset - April 24, 1:12 PM
Sunrise - August 19, 12:09 PM

Goodbye Sun

2008-04-22T18:31:00.003+12:00

From Antz:

Today is the last day the sun is completely above the horizon.
Tomorrow it is about 2/3rds above.
Thursday, just a sliver.
Friday, gone.

Sunrise - 11:52
Sunset - 2:11

Doughnut of Despair

2008-04-21T08:24:00.004+12:00

MJ - My Doughnut of Despair says:

Time Done:

34.76 weeks
243.35 days
5840.46 hours
350427.88 minutes

Time Left:

24.24 weeks
169.65 days
4071.54 hours
244242.12 minutes

Thus making me 59% done with 41% to go. Not that I check it often. Really, this is the first time I've looked at my pretty doughnut since my first day on ice (which was 243.35 days ago, but who's counting?). It's true, I believe it was the first email in my inbox - as Bodie was oh so thoughtful and sent it to me first thing.

Final Flight (again?)

2008-04-17T16:22:00.004+12:00

MJ -- Well, that is that. It is now officially 100% winter at McMurdo. Our first plane in 6 weeks and last for 4-5 months came and left. It brought us freshies, mail, 6 new people and took 100 people back to the real world. There were some very important people to my hour to hour activities on that flight - I haven't fully grasped that they are gone just yet.

I rode out to the runway with Andy and Bodie to check out the action - well worth it. The sun came up just as the plane landed, which made for a gorgeous day. We hung around chatting with the winterovers waiting for the delayed arrival of the pax. The goodbyes were hard to stomach, but I had Leah's blue boa to calm thee ol nerves. I stared at the boarded plane just long enough to catch Leah standing in the door (in her painted up charharts) blowing me kisses - perfect last image.

The fuelies stayed out there longer to do some real actual work, so Liz and I hooked a ride back with the Kiwis. Lucky us, we were treated to a late late lunch and dessert at Scott Base - never pass that up. Now we (Liz &I) are finishing up our day with cocktails and some intense internet-ing.

Hasta Luego Extenders! Hola Winter, My Good Friend.

Scott Base Winter Population -15
McM Winter Population - 125
McM Women -34
McM Men -91
Sunrise - 10:34
Sunset - 3:21

Catch Up

2008-04-14T16:50:00.006+12:00

MJ -- Sorry, I've been miserable at posting lately (thank you to those who keep harassing me). Wish I had a good excuse, but really I'm just slipping into floaty winter mode and working on my stare. We've had a big couple of weeks with Andy's birthday, live music, a SAR debacle, social obligations and preparing for half our population to depart. That of course also means I'm busy at work trying to suck heaps of BFC knowledge out of Jessy's head before she leaves me in this giant closet and heads to warmer lands.

Also in the last week the scale has tipped to more darkness than light, today the sun rose at 10:02 and set at 3:53. Nothing like watching both from the work window. On top of that, the sun never gets high enough to shine on town - I'll just have to wait until late September to feel the sun again.

So, I'm lazy - you'll just have to deal with a picture update on all our happenings and I'll work on future posting motivation.

SAR debacle

BFC camp out

Just another sunrise

Andy's birthday brew (Flux IPA)

The Highlight

2008-04-03T10:15:00.001+13:00

MJ - Oh, I forgot the highlight of my days -- Yes I love this toy...

BFC Living

2008-04-03T09:26:00.002+13:00

MJ - So, as many of you are aware I switched jobs at the end of February for the remainder of my stay here. I now work in the BFC (Berg Field Center) with 3 wonderful women (2 of which leave soon to be replaced by 1 dude). This is my job and what I spend 54 hours a week doing -

BFC - The coolest building on station (I think)

Extendo Crew: Liz, Me, Leah & Jessy

Leah in our Kitchen baking a cake

Liz & I in the Climbing room

The swing in our main room

Tents Galore

The Bay

Getting ready to drive the loop

And, well no post is complete these days without a sunset shot -

April

2008-04-01T16:30:00.001+13:00

MJ - April? Shit, it's already April! Really, what happened to March?

This time last year I was in Cambodia thinking I would die from the heat. The year before, in NZ tramping my little butt off. This April, well -- currently sitting at my desk in McMurdo watching the sun go down while nursing my hand wounds.

First of the month is kind of a big deal - I switched the mobile charms, flipped the bird calendar from Mary, made a new running log, and opened yet another of Popo & Dave's envelopes. This month will continue to be excitement filled - highlights: Andrew's 30th birthday, we have a (1) flight, extended season people (Leah, Jessy, Birdhouse, etc...) depart dropping population, and we say goodbye to the sun. So much to do, and yes so much time. Speaking of time, about a week ago we hit the halfway mark. Yes, that's right people 7 months down and 7 months to go. That was fast, right? Either way if feels good to be on the other side of the bell.........

Plunge

2008-03-29T16:31:00.006+13:00

Ahh, Friday night excitement - thanks Scott Base

Leah & Jessy on site

The "hole" in question

Some of the women

Leah post jump with Genevieve

Me being hooked upMe coming back up

This Morning

2008-03-25T21:18:00.002+13:00

Who put the WIND in Window?

2008-03-24T20:56:00.004+13:00

MJ --
*winds of 35-50 kts with gusts up to 65
*WXCD 1 everywhere but in Mactown for 36+ hours
*snow, and more snow

Normally I really enjoy when the weather here turns nasty - but this time, or for the rest of the winter it's different. Why? 2 main reasons:
#1 - seeing nothing but white is one thing when it's light, but darkness adds a different element #2 - Dorm 208 windows HOWL

Our Mainbody room was fun for storms - being an end room we could feel the building rock a bit, especially when in the loft. Now our window is in a full-on wind tunnel - no joke. So last night the windows in both rooms were screaming and the doors were slamming due to pressure changes. We went for the whole shimming the doors and broke down and put the plug (a popular must have for winter windows, blocks cold and wind) in the window. The plug did nothing to dull the noise.

At 12:30 when I complained about the howling window keeping me up, Andy so kindly pointed out that it could also be due to my inappropriate late/early bedtime the previous night and sleeping past noon. No, couldn't be. Well, at 1:30 when he crawled out of bed and I heard the unmistakable noise of a pill jar it was definitely the winds fault. I need not ask for whatever he was taking he was already handing it over (no worries moms just some simple over the counter sleeping aids (recommended by friends who have wintered before, except I think they said to chase it with about 1/2 a bottle of NyQuil)).

Today was rough, fighting sleep deprivation, a case of the Monday's and starting the day fighting the wind to shovel into my work center. The wind died a bit during the day, but not a whole lot, still whistling through the window. Even Andrew's father from over the phone asked what the loud screeching noise was.

Now at 21:30 on Monday night, just back from SAR, with the winds whipping we are taking no chances for the weather and windows to mess up another nights sleep. Nope, we are planners and learn from our mistakes - beers and sleeping pills -- sweet dreams.......

Sauna Sunsets

2008-03-20T21:50:00.002+13:00

MJ -- Sunrise 7:50, Sunset 20:15
The weather has been relatively clear so we've been able to enjoy the full colors from long sunsets. Here are just a couple of shots taken by both Andrew & I -

From the window at my workcenter

View from the sauna cooling deck

Same night, same sauna, one round later

Fading Light

2008-03-16T21:40:00.003+13:00

MJ -- It has become all too obvious the we are entering winter. Gone are the days of no neck gaiter or gloves - hello brutal cold winds, mittens and no exposed skin. My work center had a function last night and I think it's fair to say that everyone ended up running to or from to minimize time fighting the wind. I did stop running long enough to appreciate seeing the stars for the first time since September.

This evening Andrew and I took a sunset stroll down to the point to enjoy one of the first clear evenings we've had in awhile. Check out the difference in my attire to a similar walk just 3 weeks ago. Speaking of the sun, today it rose at 7:13 and set at 20:55 - as Mr. Bob would say - not dark yet but it's getting there.......

Confined Space

2008-03-11T21:10:00.006+13:00

A nice view of a full tank of fuel. Mmmm.

Tomorrow afternoon I get to hop inside such a tank. It has been drained and is first in line for the Winter cleaning rotation of aviation tanks. I'll be sure to update about how this amazing adventure goes...if I make it...A

Lake Hoare

2008-03-07T15:36:00.009+13:00

MJ -- I arrived at work on Monday in complete despair. Ugg, my first full-on 6 day work week in quite sometime - however would I make it through? Sure the women I work with are amazing and entertaining, yes it was the first day all 4 of us would be together - but still the week looked long. The morning sailed right on by with Leah hucking tents at my head and things began looking up. When I returned from lunch the 6 days seemed less daunting, especially after I found out I was going to Lake Hoare for the rest of the week. I spent the evening packing and early the next morning I was off in my Helo to the Valleys.

Leah and I at work on Moosstoosh Monday

Lake Hoare is the hub camp for the Taylor Valley camps (3 during the extended season) all which are run by the wonderful woman Rae. The camp is seated at the base of the Canada Glacier on the shore of Lake Hoare (naturally). While I was there I helped Rae with various camp tasks such as cleaning, cooking, building sling loads, helos, reading, movie watching, and coffee drinking.

Camp from the Ridge

My tent

My favorite camp chore was berry picking, glacier berries that is. All the water the camp uses comes from melted glacier ice, quite the constant process. We cruise across the lake on an ATV to a spot where the glacier calved off and pick/chip ice chunks, or berries. Then we cruise back, unload the berries and carry them up the "StairMaster" to the hut. When the berries are melting they make crazy popping noises from the CO2 escaping - this entertained me so much I brought 15# back with me as party ice for my whiskey - oh I'll share too.

Rae and the berry picking setup/pile

Other highlights of camp include the Rocket Toilets - very similar to an outhouse - except when full they are lighted to burn the deposits down to clean light ash. Again, I was really entertained by this. View from inside the Rocket

Despite all the slave labor Rae had me doing I found time to get out and do several hikes. The first day I did Andrew's Ridge (after my Andy no doubt), a large circuit around a few of the lakes. The big thrill was a sunset walk up the Canada Glacier to it's ice falls to watch the sun go down.

Canada Glacier close to the top

Zen at the Ice Falls

Sunset from the front porch of camp

First of the Month

2008-03-01T17:56:00.003+13:00

MJ-- We've been lucky enough to have a few friends go above and beyond with mail for us. What could this be you ask? Well, we have a few packages that are labeled for each month we are here without planes/mail -- so we have something to open on the first of each month. One set of these packages contains items for a changing mobile -

January's with the theme cold MN

March - St. Patricks Day, Easter and Spring Break Locations

Phase 3 Room 3

2008-03-01T16:56:00.005+13:00

MJ--Summer? What Summer? On this 5th day of extended season/winter I don't even remember mainbody. It wasn't 6 days ago I watched the last of my summer friends fly to tarmac, tap beer, and beaches - No that was at least 2 months ago. Seriously, it feels like they were never here and the way it is now is how it always was. Time is strange, especially here. I now eat in the galley (first time since late September (all 3 meals even)), I live in an "apartment" where I share a bathroom with JUST Andy not 40 girls, we have itunes access, wireless in our room, can accept phone calls from the "outside" right to our room, and the food is way better. Yes, I'm settling in nicely. It's been fun to look around our empty station and see the only people I'll have interaction with for the next several months (population is currently 215 with 30+ others in the field).

After watching last flight leave we've been really busy getting ready to not be busy. The main time consumer? Yes, moving out of our second room so far this stay into our third. Our new "apartment" consists of a bedroom, bathroom sink, bathroom complete with shower, kitchen, kitchen sink and a living room. Okay, I might be playing that up a bit, it's really just 2 small dorm rooms with a sink connected by a bathroom. During the winter each person gets their own room so we've just turned our 2 rooms into an "apartment." It's wonderful, after 6 months of sharing a small room the space is incredible and is taking sometime to get used to. I'm not sure what the best part is - not having to climb out of a loft and walk down the hall to go to the bathroom, having running water, or Andy not using a pee bottle in the room......it's all superb - a step up no doubt. We'll be better than last time about providing pictures and a tour when the room is completed.

Moving out of our much loved 211 homestead

Room 1 the bedroom

The bathroom/hallway connector

Room 2 the living room/kitchen

Then we had Bodie's big 30th birthday to celebrate - Amy brought the tart/fruit from CHCH.

Amy, Kevin, Bodie, Lisa, Jed & Me

On top of that we had a big week at SAR. Did we tell you about that yet? Andy and I are both on the winter SAR team; Andrew has been training with them all summer and I just started. With last flight all the primary team has departed (minus 2) so now it's just us. On Thursday we took the SAR hagglund 007 out to the Kiwi A-Frame to practice with the radar for whiteouts, really fun and similar to Atari. Being on the SAR team has a long list of perks but one that really sticks out is the fact that it's a joint team with the Kiwis - So yes we had lunch at Scott Base....so good.

007

Joe and the inside of 007

Kiwi A-Frame

Now we are finishing off our last summer/first winter week with a 2day weekend, which we have the first weekend of every month all winter - something to look forward to........

The End/Beginning

2008-02-25T13:56:00.005+13:00

MJ -- Well that's it. After days of delays the last flight has left. Leah and I stood on the Chalet deck and watched the C-17 do it's flyby on town. I don't think I really realized that people were leaving/gone and I was here to stay until that moment. I looked at Leah, my stomach sank, my eyes went wide, and my hand was hovering over the RED PANIC button. Since then (3 hours) I've been wandering around aimlessly in a daze - basically I just miss my summer friends. Tomorrow I start my new job at the BFC (now as the winter supervisor) that should help kick me out of summer and into winter mind. We'll get one more flight in April to remove the 100 extended season people and drop us to our 130 winter population, but besides that it's winter in Antarctica.

Basler Recovery

2008-02-21T17:59:00.005+13:00

AM--Here's a few pics of Ken Borek Air's Basler that crashed due to a "rough take-off". I think a wingtip caught the snow and it had a bit of a spin-out, which did considerable damage...

They put a crew together and, in about 2 weeks time, replaced both engines, repaired and reattached the tail and landing gear, patched some holes, and flew it back to Canada via the South Pole and South America. Crazy Canucks.

Weekend Getaway

2008-02-19T10:50:00.005+13:00

MJ -- I was fortunate enough to spend last weekend out of McMurdo visiting Andrew at Marble Point. It was a much needed break from the MCM population and the general exodus attitude. I spent Friday night slinging drinks at The Southern into the wee-hours of morning, then dragged my butt out of bed early to catch my flight. The flight in question was the tour-de-valleys hookup from Helo Ops. We went to Lake Bonney for some sling loads, then Lake Hoare and after a sight-seeing detour made it Marble Point.

Lake Bonney

Helo View

Andy and I spent the weekend lazing around, talking the talk with Crunch, cooking, and hiking. We did quite a bit of strolling on the beach listening to the ice waves crashing on the shore. This naturally lead to daydreaming about the soonest we could be on a hot, non-frozen beach - August, October...November!?

Beach infront of Marble (and peanut M&Ms)

Bay of Sails

Ice Swells

Patty Pans (mom)!

For the flight back to McMurdo we followed the ice edge in and were treated to a metric shit ton (which is more than a wicked lot of pods (if I need to get all scientific about it)) of killer whales. All the way along the edge there was nothing but spouting, spy hopping Orcas. Right, and all the boring seals, skuas and cute penguins. It was a superb way to spend my last mainbody weekend - 4 days until winter starts.

Simple Things made Luxurious

2008-02-15T13:29:00.010+13:00

MJ -- Two of our friends were the lucky winners of dinner for 4 at Scott Base (being our green Kiwi neighbors with better food). These two indivduals happen to be rather crafty and swindled 2 extra spots so a group of 10 of us went over last night for a simply delightful evening. Being my first dining experience at Scott Base I was completely overwhelmed with joy with the set up: fresh tasty veggies, beer in the dinning room, make your own espresso, do your own dishes, pepper grinders and yes real hard ice cream! After staying to enjoy their loungy bar I exited to be surprised by the low sun and the return of my leggy shadow. A fine fine evening.

Ken, Leah, Nick, Kim, Steph's hand, Birdhouse, Pauly, and Pint

My meal, yes dessert first.......and last

Ninja Justo and my long long legs

Marble Point Rotation

2008-02-13T22:06:00.000+13:00

AM...Back at Marble Point. I spent about a week here in October to help open the camp and have returned for my 3 week rotation. It's a perfect place to be to transition into Winter mode. There are only three of us, with people in/out but rarely staying too long. When I left McMurdo the population was over 1,000 and the chaos of the cargo vessel offload was beginning. I'll get back to town the day before the last people fly North, leaving us with just over 200. Bring on the Winter! Aerial shot from flight in:

My day: up at 6 o'clock. I'm solo living in the bunkhouse so I throw a few clothes on and stumble over to the house. There, the coffee will be already made, Crunch (camp manager) will be doing his morning emails, and I will fill my mug with afore mentioned coffee. I drink coffee as I slip into my carhart work bibs and other various clothings. Crunch and I do a little catch up on the day's news, events and expectations. I probably have already finished my cup and filled another, or have just topped it off. Point is: I have consumed more than one cup before I walk out the door to do my morning duties. I head to the fuel pits and spend about 20 minutes turning valves, draining fuel, running pumps, collecting samples and connecting a nozzle.

Since I have to walk right past the house, I drop in, fill my mug once again with coffee, and head back outside to the shop building that is home to the testing equipment. I pop in my earphones and spend 20-30 minutes running the samples (FAA requirements). That's about when I head back in for a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. By now its around 7:30 and the rest of the workday will consist of a few helos to fill, a few side projects, and a lot of "standing by" (enter crossword puzzle, book, computer, and the like).

One of the best things about Marble is the hiking. And, with plenty of daylight, the after dinner stroll works out pretty well. Out here we don't have the "stay on the flagged route" rules and have quite a bit of territory to roam. Maybe its just that everything is unfamiliar, or that there is absolutely no one around, but something is so different and special about exploring this area versus McMurdo's...most likely the lack of flags, footprints and boundaries. The excitement of seeing cliffs, frozen creeks, and sandy beaches is also pretty hard to beat right now... pond, stream, marble point, icebergs, open water, mt. erebus...can you see?

Departures

2008-02-13T15:23:00.003+13:00

MJ - Redeployment is in full swing and the countdown to station close is nearing it's end -

Bye to the Oden, Tern and Ship season

Bye to the Duluth Women Terror Three -I feel this series of pictures from Molly's last night in McMurdo pretty much sums up the 3 of us:

Molly & I playing nice -- Leah not so much

Molls & I giving in to laughing at Leah

Leah enjoying cracking us up

Leah finally deciding to play nice - but we missed that memo

Us at Molly's transport

Then there was 2.......... ( I have Leah until late April)

Holy Moley

2008-02-06T16:41:00.000+13:00

AM -My left leg just got way sexier. Last Friday I had more tissue carved out of an area where a mole was removed last year. Apparently the existence of transitional cells in the initial incision, coupled with the narrow margin of said incision, urged the suggestion of modest re-incision to ensure that any migrating transitional cells were removed. I had hoped for a Christchurch getaway for this but was shot down. On the flip, the doctor happened to be a surgeon which led to a pretty smooth procedure. He cut out the old scar with an extra 4mm on each side and at least a quarter inch on the ends. He sewed me up with an internal disolvable stitch for the length of it, plus the 9 on top. Can't wait to pluck them out next week. Maybe I'll blog log it...A

Cha Cha Changes

2008-02-05T08:20:00.000+13:00

MJ-- It's Monday, I'm back at work and back on days. The last 2+ weeks are nothing but a confusing blur - between working 12 hour shifts and changing from days to nights to days "outta sorts" doesn't quite cover it. I kept telling myself that once I was back on days I'd feel closer to normal. Well, that didn't happen. Station, and everyone on it, is in the midst of a serious transition (leaving - staying - job shuffling) causing widespread unrest. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, maybe I'm just upset about all the sweatpants (NAVCHAPs in town for Vessel Ops) in the galley walking in the wrong direction.

The fact that people are redeploying and going on to travel actually doesn't bother me. I thought for sure I'd be bubbling with envy when this time of year came. But no, not at all. I am, however, beyond anxious for the 900+ people to get on a plane and leave the sandwich line open with leftovers in the fridge. Andrew is lucky and gets to avoid this whole time of year as he leaves for a 3 week stint at Marble soon. Good for him, the whole 130 people leaving every other day breeds excuses to have too many bar nights. When he gets back there will be 220 people on station, we'll be living in a new dorm/room, I'll be working at the BFC, our winter friends will have returned, and all our summer friends will be gone.

I can't help but wonder why in past years I've been dying to get on a plane north, and this year it is a non-issue. Am I used to the time here? Is it all about mental preparation? Am I not as tired, irritable, or impatient as in the past? I actually had myself convinced that these were all valid possibilities, leaning mainly on being used to it and not tired (keep in mind the exhausted factor is huge here). Well this was all proven wrong when our good friend Amy returned two days ago. Amy, who has been in the real world vacationing and the likes since early October, is one of the first winterovers to arrive on station. Within hours of her arrival we had a 15 minute hypersonic overwhelming visit that left no doubt in my mind I've slowed down. Immediatly following that interaction I began my winter to-do and goal list.

Right, I think it is worth mentioning that just because I'm anxious for the masses to hurry up and make their grand exodus (by the by - they are more excited about leaving than I about them doing so), it in absolutely no way means I am not sad to see my friends depart. Hmm, maybe I'll give you a little informational post soon on my important mainbody people...

(Hasko on pic again)

6,000,000 Gallons Later

2008-02-04T16:44:00.000+13:00

Operation Tanker Offload 2008 has been successfully completed. In a few hours more than 40, averaging about 3,000 gallons per minute, with not even a drop hitting the ground, we were glad to have the Gianella emptied and out of here. Our sleep schedules are still a bit whacked, but we are back to the land of day-workers. The following pictures may help you all visualize this amazing event....The first is from the deck of the 600 foot (kinda short, eh?) Gianella oil tanker where our 6" flexible hose attaches to the ships flanges. The 5 hoses are about 770 ft long and attach to hard pipeline at what we dub "the pier valves". The goofy French dude and the short dude are seamen.

The previously mentioned "pier valves" with Hot Carl standing by on his watch: After the hardline climbs a steep hill, we have 4 booster pumps to help the fuel along its way. The big tank above us is for gasoline, while all the aviation diesel is stored further along the line.

This is where at least 2 more pictures should be. Including: the hardline continuing up the hill, the bulk tanks where it lives, and maybe even a quick video tour. Oh well. Probably could have done a better job. I'll try harder next time...A

Tanker Begins

2008-01-30T04:18:00.000+13:00

Sitting in the office for 12 hours has sapped any little bit of creativity or thought I may have had - just the pictures for you today-

Thanks to Ol' Joey for the Pics

Still Waiting

2008-01-28T03:34:00.000+13:00

Still on nights. Still no tanker. Here is the Oden escorting our much anticipated Gianella to McM.

We've had several whale watching sessions, and Emily is getting better at pool.....so we've got that going for us.

Waiting Whale Watching

2008-01-25T02:16:00.000+13:00

The Fuels department's primary tasking of any season is the upcoming Tanker Offload. That silly boat was supposed to be here on Monday, it's Friday (2:19 am), and it is nowhere near. Rumor has it the Gianella is 540 miles away from McMurdo, 500 miles of open water and 40 miles of pack ice, due at the Ice Pier on Tuesday. The Oden left McMurdo Sound this evening to save our Tanker from the ice. What is pack ice and how does it slow down a giant ship so much you ask? Check out this picture the Captain sent us: While we wait for the Tanker to make it we wait, and wait, stare at each other, wander around, and look for things to do when there is close to no tasking for 7 night fuelies. New fuels motto "Fuels Summer 2007-2008, We make Age look busy" - This is sad and not entirely true, we have had stuff to do, but waiting sucks. Thankfully we have open water to stare at --

National Geographic

2008-01-22T23:33:00.000+13:00

I love this time of year, the end of summer beginning of fall. The sun is getting lower in the sky and dips behind ObHill for most of the night (aka: not blazing on our window). In past years we were aware of this only because of the decreased light in our room while attempting to sleep and the lack of melted glue on the velcro holding up the window shade. This year we are lucky enough to have switched to the night shift in preparation for Tanker Offload, so we are awake to notice the drop in temperature and light.

Being on nights has been a welcomed change of pace, it's more relaxed and the food is better. We aren't sure how long we'll be on this schedule, it should have just been for a week but the tanker is due almost a week after originally thought - so who knows. I've taken advantage of being awake during the period when wind is at it's calmest for some nice runs. A large part of ice has broken exposing open water on one of my favorite routes, making it a must for every run. Yesterday on my classic standby 5 miler I saw seals (boring), skuas (I'm petrified of them), penguins (3), no other people and yes a minke whale. I'll take that, actually I was thrilled, especially with the thought of the winter treadmill hours looming.

Crud Catch Up

2008-01-17T09:40:00.000+13:00

Alright, plenty has happened since our last "informational" post. Well, maybe not but it feels like it. I came down with a miserable case of the McMurdo Crud and was confined to our little room for several days. Today (Thursday) is my first day at work this week. So what has happened --

Saturday night was MAAG (McMurdo Alternate Art Gathering) - We cruised to the show on our safety bikes with Leah and Matt then spent several hours engaged in deep introspective conversations spurred by the pieces. Some of my favorites: the sausage puppets, beef jerky log cabin, Hasko's bird and wire paintings, and Salava's Unfortunate Harmony providing the ambiance.

Leah & Birdhouse

Bike Self Photo (I'm on the handlebars)

While I spent the next 4 days in my room the rest of station and fuels continued the progression towards end of season - Ships are arriving, the channel is being cut and people are talking of leaving.

Ships on their way to MCM

Ross Island satellite image, showing the Icebreaker's Channel

Snow and Oden

2008-01-14T09:53:00.000+13:00

January's Snow Storm

Oden at our Ice Pier

Press

2008-01-09T09:48:00.000+13:00

Whew, the 2007-2008 summer season is really shaping up to be a good gossip and drama year. The drama has been so good it's even making news in several countries papers. Interested?

Alright, I told you about our holiday but what really happened on station? Check out what a NZ paper has to say about Christmas on Ice:

A bad Santa in Antarctica had his festive cheer cut short when he was hauled before management over allegations of "inappropriate touching" during the American base's Christmas party.
Santa had been sitting on a decorated snowmobile at McMurdo Station, posing for photographs with revellers which included New Zealanders from the neighbouring Scott Base, when complaints were made.The bad Santa episode was one of a spate of incidents just before a
delegation of high-powered US dignitaries visited Antarctica.The group included members of the US Congress who are influential in setting the United States Antarctic Programme (USAP) budget.Besides Santa being hauled before the human resources staff at McMurdo, there was an emergency medical evacuation to Christchurch.A Christmas punch-up between two workers at the South Pole left one man with a broken jaw and his attacker sacked and facing possible
criminal charges.Soon after, there was believed to be Antarctica's first car
chase - on Ross Island, where the longest thoroughfare is the 3km shingle road
between McMurdo Station and Scott Base - after a USAP worker suspected of
drink-driving in a misappropriated four-wheel-drive van was chased down by the
McMurdo fire engine.She drove past Scott Base and crossed onto the Ross Ice
Shelf on a road to the ice runway, where she was intercepted by another fire
engine and taken back to a meeting with her supervisor and the McMurdo Station
manager.Within a week of the incidents, a troupe of 10 members of the US
Congress passed through Christchurch to McMurdo and on to the South Pole as part
of a delegation representing the House Science and Technology Committee.
It helps set the budget for the National Science Foundation, which in turn funds
the USAP.

I can confirm that Santa was indeed overly touchy, as the buzz among the women was to not sit on Santa's lap this year. As far as going to HR - that's news to me and possibly an extension of the truth. All the other holiday weekend happenings are close to accurate. The South Pole fight resulted in 90+ people working on their holiday for the medivac, yes including fuels. Oh, and the kid with the broken jaw has been my nemesis on station 3 years running, now I'm in need of a new one. This picture of Joe and the Zim's Family Xmas song "I'm getting fired for Christmas" sums up the holiday here:

Well then of course there was the Bassler crash, or rough landing, or difficult takeoff, however you phrase it the end result is an aircraft down in the deep field - maybe permanently? Check out the NSF press release on the incident as well as one of the passenger's blog. Rumor on station is they are sending a crew down to set up camp and attempt to fix the Bassler and fly it out.

Oh, lets not forget the DV drama. DV's are Distinguished Visitor's that have special yellow name tags and can't ride in vehicle's with commoners. One apparently peed on Schackleton's Hut at Cape Royd's, another threatened the NSF in order to have his Raytheon GA son accompany him to the Pole, and yet another was taking pictures of the decoy penguins at Pegasus Airfield and missed the shuttle back to town. Entertainment for the common population.

All this in addition to the beaker setting a Mattrack on fire, a dump truck taking down power lines turning off the lights and communications, and the normal personal drama.

Huh, all this and the NAVCHAPS, and ships still haven't arrived - more to come I'm sure. Ah, McMurdo the fishbowl.

Breaking Ice

2008-01-08T11:03:00.001+13:00

It's amazing but true -- that time of year has arrived. McMurdo will soon be reminded that we are indeed on an island. The Swedish Icebreaker the Oden is approaching McMurdo and will soon be the first ship in McMurdo Sound and Winter Quarters Bay this year. The Oden can currently be seen from the top of the ridge trail and should in the next day be on our front door. Here are some pictures, taken from a helo, of the Oden breaking ice and the channel behind it. Now we start hoping for big storms to blow the ice out, so we may again this year have open water -- come on whales......

Room Shot..Finally

2008-01-03T15:39:00.000+13:00

Right, I know, this is way overdue. But nonetheless, here they are the before and after pics of our sweet little dorm home. I've been meaning to get a video for a nice 360 view of the huge space -- I'll get on that.

Moments after turning the key

As it looks now

The post is the spiral staircase to our bedroom

Final Holiday Weekend

2008-01-03T09:52:00.000+13:00

Sorry about our lack of posts -- blame it on post Holiday depression maybe. So, that's that - we are done with all our 2 day weekends, and back to 6 day work weeks. No, I'm not glad about it, but at the same time it's nice to get back onto my routine and fix my sleep schedule. The big excitement of our New Years Holiday (the 3rd new year we've rung in here in McMurdo) was naturally Ice Stock. It took a little bit of coaxing to get me to leave my room and hang out in the cold. My original plan was to just go to fulfill my duties as a groupie for Molly but alas a little of the Carp Sauce from Sawbucks and I was my regular excitable self. Pics (courtesy of E. Hasko) for your enjoyment:

Sawbucks home of the Carp's Special Sauce

Birdhouse's demise

Bauer, IceStock MC, the most dangerous man to have a Mic

Note Leah's amazing banner - such talent

The Mollusk on Stage

Molls, Andrew, Em and Me

The Band Lineup

Ice Family Party

2007-12-26T13:32:00.000+13:00

We spent our Christmas holiday pretty much exactly the same as Thanksgiving. We had our friends and family over for social hour where the main attraction was the release of Andrew's top secret project. We then grabbed dinner from the galley and returned home to dine. After coffee, dessert and a nap we wandered over to the BFC (my now official winter work center whoo hoo) for some live Karaoke - which was amazing. Neither of us sang, but it did get us thinking about finding a song we could sing together that would be better than, oh I mean similar to Eric & Liz's Folsom Prison Blues. We finished the weekend with our now official Sunday night Scrabble routine with Joe. Another nice 2 day weekend. Here we are with the finished product of Andy's project:

Below is our second Duluth Family Holiday photo, you may notice how similar it is to the first. Molly is missing as she spent Christmas at the Pole, we missed her, but finding a suitable replacement we all agreed on was surprisingly easy.

Truly Fuelie X-mas

2007-12-26T09:32:00.000+13:00

Sunday afternoon we kicked off our 2 day weekend with the Fuelie Christmas party. The event consisted of all things normal holiday parties have: a present exchange, a white elephant game, beer, apps, carting our department decoration to the the VMF and boat races.

Fuelie Family X-mas Photo

Our Finished Bumble

Bumble's trip to the town Holiday Party

The Race Course

Everyone enjoying Andy's idea

Andy and his boat

The Finish Line

Ice Edge

2007-12-20T15:20:00.000+13:00

Open water is approaching McMurdo -- you can see it here in the distance as seen from the ridge or Castle Rock.

Looking Forward

2007-12-18T09:14:00.001+13:00

When a kind friend of ours (who just finished his 2nd winter) heard we had sealed the winter deal he thoughtfully sent us this with the caption "what is it like to winter?"

The Abominable Snow Monster (aka: The Bumble)

2007-12-17T20:51:00.000+13:00

Each department is annually requested to prepare a decoration for the biggest station-sponsered party of the year: The Christmas One!
Last year we decorated a sled and turned it into an amazing sleigh, complete with stuffed dummies clad in fuelie clothing, with pictures of our foreman and supervisor stuck to their heads. This year neither dummy is here so we opted for a new theme: Christmas Villian. He nearly made Yukon Cornelius crap his long johns but came through in the end in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. We'll see how it turns out, but here is a glimpse of the beginnings:

--A

Winter

2007-12-17T09:28:00.000+13:00

Alright, it is settled, sorted, finalized, and in ink. We've been planning on staying the whole long 12-14 month stint since summer sometime, but it is now official. Now when I curse the sun at 10pm Andy shoots me a look as to say "In 5 months when it is totally dark I won't let you forget that" - actually I'm a bit afraid he will get a recording of me saying that. We came mentally prepared for the long haul, however, with signed contracts my perspective has changed. Just the finality of it, the certitude, the permanence. I'm anxious, excited, maybe a bit nervous, sad about what we'll miss, pumped to be done, thrilled for the experience, and impatient for mainbody to come to an end. We've already been here 4 months, it passed in a blink, I'm sure the rest will as well.

Actually, these would be the second contracts we signed pertaining to our winter here. Sure the most recent were the official ones with the money, positions and dates - but maybe the first set was the most important. Recall our GoodBye Friends post? Well, we each were signing our "Contract for your Soul - Winter 2008" that Bodie created for us. Bodie and Amy will both be returning sometime in February to spend the winter at McMurdo with us. Each contract was identical in the first half reading:

I, __________, hereby agree to the following conditions for the winter of 2008:

Intellectual property agreement: all intellectual property will slowly be sucked from your brain and become property of the NSF and Raytheon
You will agree to like the food, no matter what, you ungrateful little bitches
You will never once complain about the temperature being slightly chilly
You will spend less than four hours a day on the internet
You will exercise several times a month at least, not including dancing or fighting at the bar
You will eat in public more than once a week, EVEN over Winfly

Then the clever little Kiwi added individualized conditions such as:

Andy:

You will not become depressed during the Northern Minnesota spring run-off season
You will stop drinking coffee, you freakin tweaker
You will not pass gas in the fuels barn; we need to keep it smelling nice

Meghan:

You will go to breakfast once a week and pretend to be happy
You will not just wear your blue t-shirt
You will not think less of people who walk on "your" treadmill

And so on.....goals, it's important to have goals............

Rivers

2007-12-14T10:05:00.000+13:00

The snow is melting, the dams are breaking, and our "roads" are washing away. This is Andy's favorite time (I think) as he gets to race "boats" - oh and it's HOT - like 40 - whew, tanning weather. No joke, yesterday on my way out of the gym at lunch I saw some girl walk past in a mini skirt and a tank top --- okay 40 is still 40 - put a hat on.

Stuff from the Outside

2007-12-12T14:39:00.000+13:00

Yay for package mail! We've really been on a roll lately with packages, mostly things we've purchased online. You know just the necessities - running shoes, protein powder, dresses, yeast, and vitamins. I know I've said this before, but receiving mail here is hands down the most exciting thing, especially when you are not expecting it. So thank you thank you to all who have sent items - we could never fully express our appreciation. I'm constantly amazed every time we receive a package at how thoughtful everyone is and how well they know us. Really, each package contains our favorites: soap, toothpaste, treats, coffee, organic health foods, anything that can be eaten with chopsticks, reading material and the list goes on. X-icers/McMurdo-ites always send interesting funny items - things you know they missed and only they would think of to send. I can't wait for someone we know to move to the middle of nowhere so we can return the favor. OH, and this is not to play down postcards. We heart postcards and pictures. Actually they are the nucleus of our decorations, and saved from year to year. Here they are completely covering our loft wall.

WAIS Divide

2007-12-10T16:18:00.000+13:00

Well, I've been back in McMurdo for almost 3 weeks after spending a glorious time at WAIS Divide. I know...it took me a while to finally get around to doing a post about it. I just wanted to let the experience sink in and age a little instead of posting a hasty message filled with trivial emotion. Hows that?

So, WAIS (West Antarctic Ice Sheet) is perched at around 5800 FT and is flat, white and cold. It's home to a science camp focused on ice core drilling, for which it is a perfect place. The competing weather systems at the divide create a lot of annual snow accumulation. That adds up to big chunks for each ear to analyze. Their official purpose is "to collect a deep ice core from the flow divide in central West Antarctica in order to develop a unique series of interrelated climate, ice dynamics, and biologic records focused on understanding interactions among global earth systems". With about 40,000 years of ice to drill through I'm sure they'll have fun with that...and below is where they'll do it.

I was lucky enough to join the put-in crew, which consisted of the camp manager and assistant manager, 2 mechanics, a heavy equipment operator, and the fuels guy (me). We got a ride there in the coolest plane down here: the Basler, which is a modified DC-3 from the 40's, operated by Ken Borek Air. Here is picture of it refueling from 55 gallon drums for their return flight to McMurdo.

The snow accumulation was quite apparent upon arrival, mainly in the form of large drifts covering the entrances to all of the buildings. The cargo line and vehicles were also severely buried even though they were on a raised snow-berm. So, we did a lot of shoveling. It took us most of that first week to dig out camp, the cargo line and deal with other essentials to prepare for our 1st flight. After a few days of weather and/or mechanical delays the reinforcement flight made it in. Things happened fast with the extra help and new energy. The carps moved buildings and erected tents. My main project of raising a buried 10K fuel bladder onto a berm went well and before long we had an operating fuel system. We also had some severe weather to mix in and enjoy.

For the majority of my time there I lived on a cot in the mechanics shop with good old Don Kirkpatrick and Ben Toth. Good times in the "man cave". The weather set in as I finished with my main duties and it turned in to a daily routine of hoping for a flight and dealing with the cancellation. I mostly kept my chin up and kept busy (won in poker, drove some machines, helped drink the kitchen's cooking wine). I also had time to help dig out the 2nd bladder and get the fuel system dialed in.

The skies finally cleared and dropped out an LC-130. A 7-10 day trip ended on 3 weeks to the day. A hot shower and a cold beer hadn't been that good in a while.

Lowering your Standards

2007-12-06T08:59:00.000+13:00

Big excitement in the Bahn today - Yesterday at the food room our GA scored mixed nuts and juice boxes - both hot, desired items by fuelies. While quietly working at my desk I overheard some, dare I say career fuelies, discussing the possible age and quality of juice boxes. One ventured from the snack room to the supervisors office to check the date on the newly acquired items in the fridge - with sheer honest excitement she announced: "They just expired 2 years ago, that's fresh!" This was received with cheers as the juice boxes were tossed to all in attendance to commence ingesting.

That is normal, a completely normal conversation for this place. My first year I would have looked up, asked a question, maybe even voiced an ish or a concern for their digestive system. Nope, not anymore - now I wanted one myself, business as usual. And I'm an anal eater, compliments of my mother: no milk out of plastic, no mayonnaise, no dairy type items from an uncontrolled situation, actually no plastic, a stickler on expiration dates, no mixing of silverware, and the list goes on.

We have blue plastic cups in the galley, so help me, the nasty plastic cups with the weird texture from the hotline in grade school (which I never had to eat as my mom made my lunch and peeled my orange). I wouldn't even entertain the idea of using one my first year. I tried to drink out of them last year, but while finishing my OJ I looked at the bottom of the cup at saw the thick crusty mucus of dried milk - yak. Now, I grab them out of the rack and use without a second thought.......for the most part.

Situations/items that fall into this area are endless: so what if the Sierra Nevada or pale ale has gone bad, Coca-Cola Merry Christmas 2004, brown foam on the top of your Speights from 2003 - just wipe it off, why are they selling CD for $1, the scavenged coveted free box in front of the store of expired items, skuaing toiletries, rock hard gummy candy, powdered eggs and milk, my favorite frozen vegetable and on.....

So what? Maybe I'm a more well adjusted human being because of it, maybe before I was too anal, maybe expiration dates are for sissies, maybe when I leave this place my standards will go back up - maybe they won't.......
-m

Under the ICE

2007-12-05T09:44:00.000+13:00

No, neither of us saw or will ever see this - but it's still cool. I "stole" these pictures from the divers who put them on the station common drive. Andy has been wanting to add a section to the blog along the lines of "best stolen picture of the week" - shots of this sort would qualify.

Educational TV

2007-12-03T10:16:00.000+13:00

This is our TV. It is the first TV we have ever (willingly) had in our room or home, and boy oh boy am I glad to have it. I never knew what I was missing out on. Really, I've learned so much from the AFN (Armed Forces Network) commercials. I wish we could continue to have AFN as our cable carrier after getting off this rock so my education may continue, who needs real world commercials (sorry Amber). Here are just a few of the things I would have never learned without AFN:

NEVER shake your baby
Pay your bills
Sometimes even 2 beers is too much
Family advocacy is the answer
Don't let kids play with bags
Sexual Harassment is prohibited even at bars, that's 24/7
ALWAYS be on the lookout for terrorists
Know the rules of the road
What Power of Attorney really is
How to prepare for my PCS - a positive attitude goes a long way
OPSEC - (Operation Security)
Gambling gets you in debt
No means No, really it does, yep even if you know the person
Cowboys contact their legal office before changing State Residency
Never drink and drive
You can get hypothermia EVEN in Florida
Freedom of Speech really doesn't mean freedom of speech
How to address an envelope
Marrying a foreigner takes time, thought and lots of money
Insurance is a good thing to have
Tobacco is bad - even chewing tobacco
What snuff is made of
Don't sell blow at parties

Current McMurdo

2007-11-29T10:54:00.000+13:00

Mactown almost completely without snow - MudMurdo

The Ice Runway - which will be gone by Sunday

Team Duluth

2007-11-26T15:06:00.000+13:00

One of our many Thanksgiving toasts and our Duluth Family Holiday photo. We miss home......

We couldn't get a photo where we ALL looked normal...

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T11:07:00.000+13:00

I'm back at my desk after our much needed and anticipated 2 day weekend. Can't help but thinking of my mothers term - "domestic hangover" -- how can I be this tired after I just had the first two consecutive days off since August?? Thankfully the Fuels Bahn is calmer than usual - Erik and I are taking advantage of the quiet to ease into the week by zoning out listening to his favorite "The Floyd, Old Megs" - he might be napping.......

So what did we do with ourselves on our third thanksgiving in McMurdo? Well, it was easily our best no turkey day spent here. We kicked off the big weekend working our second jobs, Andy at the coffeehouse and myself at Southern. Neither of us woke up in time to run the Turkey Trot 5k - due to the late hours of bartending. We had a relaxing Saturday morning drinking coffee and cleaning the "house" for our company. I took a nice long run on what must have been the nicest day so far this year. Then we began hosting our friends and Duluth family for what I will count as the first holiday dinner I've hosted. Sure there was no cooking involved, no Betty Crocker in our dorm room, and I bet I didn't follow a single rule from the 1950's Better Homes and Gardens magazines - but I'm counting it nonetheless. We had cocktails and appetizers starting at 3, at 5 we made a run to galley to return with our meals, and at 7 there were several dessert runs. At one point we had just under 30 people in our large large room - it was a terrific holiday. Some pictures of the event --

Social Hour

The Meal

Leah and I "sharing" dessert

Andrew

2007-11-23T10:58:00.000+13:00

Andy is a super slacker -- But I thought you'd all like a small photo update on him:

At WAIS in front of his favorite object of photography

(right Tari?)

His feelings on being delayed yet another day at WAIS

And his current top secret project

Catch Up

2007-11-22T13:48:00.000+13:00

Alright, sorry I/we've been total slackers -- excuse - the internet is painfully slow. Andy is back and has been now for a week - he is planning on posting about his time at WAIS.....eventually. Having him back is really nice for many reasons, including sleeping with the lights off and having coffee in the morning.

The weather has been great this last week, sunny, warm, and calm. Oh, about that sun - the next sunset is February 20th. This year I don't even notice the lack of darkness - leaving the bar at midnight and putting on sunglasses seems normal......that's a bit off/weird. I've been taking advantage of the good weather to get out of the stinky, hot, humid, crawling with guard guys gerbil gym and enjoy the not so vast McMurdo trail system.

Exciting news - we have a 2 day weekend! This is our first official highly anticipated two day weekend and 5 day work week since we arrived 3 months ago. It's amazing how much shorter a 5 day work week is than a 6 - I'm wicked pumped. The only down - we both have to bartend Friday night - Andy at the Coffeehouse and myself at Southern (aka Home of the Black Lung). I'm dreading my shift - which is probably related to my last bartending experience there on Sunday night. Some oldish dude had a total little boy temper tantrum breakdown on me because he wanted to hear Journey and I didn't have it. - No, I'm not kidding though I wish I was. The story is somewhere between hilarious and really sad.....

Vehicle Excitement

2007-11-15T14:09:00.000+13:00

A new to the ice plane THE CHALLENGER and Beakers setting Mattracks on fire at 3am by overheating the transmission. Wow, what a day.

3 Skuas

2007-11-14T10:39:00.000+13:00

These large dirty scavenger birds are back, a true sign of summer. Now my walk from the galley to my dorm to peacefully roomfeed will be a bit of a battle with these pests. They wait outside 155 to swoop down on the constant stream of roomfeeders for some tasty galley food.

Another Skua -- Skua Central - the free thrift "store" a scavenger's paradise.

These 2 skuas combined gave birth to the antarctic verb skua - meaning found, acquired, second hand item for free after someone else discarded. "I skuaed it" "Nice skua"

Riggers

2007-11-12T17:18:00.000+13:00

This photo is for my Brother. Iden, these are the Riggers, whose sticker you rock on your hard hat. Could be worse jobs huh? -m

Blasting

2007-11-12T16:00:00.000+13:00

Emily has gotten in well with the fleet ops boys, aka boy's with big toys. From this she swindled a turn pushing the button for one of their blasts. She apparently did a really good job as they gave me the same opportunity last Saturday. Here I am pushing the plunger on 250 sticks of dynamite -- just a bit cooler than fireworks -

Marty the Blaster hookin it up

(and Em trying to do the same)

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Fire in the Hole

My damage

More Weather

2007-11-09T10:03:00.000+13:00

This storm system just won't go away. It has been plaguing McMurdo and hiding the sun for 8 days now. The novelty of wicked strong winds is gone, as is my irritation with flight delays/cancellations. Adjusted, stormy weather is now just the way it is. Yesterday offered hours of "decent" weather and was rumored to be the "eye of the storm" - 3 flights even managed to get to Pole. Today is back to storm system business as usual - all flights canceled, runways closed, work on hold, winds up, and visibility down. Naturally this means Andy is "stuck" at WAIS for another day. My excitement for the week: when leaving a friends dorm the other night I was stunned to open the door to a wall of white. Huh? I know my dorm is right across the alley but I can't see it, a bit unusual especially for summer but whatever carry on it's there. Upon arrival at home I checked the weather - sure enough Condition 1 in town - again super rare to call this for McMurdo especially during summer. Always pretty fun and impossible to describe.

Today Show

2007-11-08T09:28:00.000+13:00

Yes, it's true, the Today Show has been in McMurdo for the last week. No, I don't buy into the hype - however since my amazing friend Molly is a circus I have to post about the ordeal. Erik, being the stand up foreman he is, has taped all the Today Shows since little Ann Curry has been on ice and shown them in the office during our weather downtime. We've sat around criticized and laughed at the deal - but sure enough who gets the call to play the trumpet for a live recording of the Show at 3am........naturally Molly of the Circus. Molls has been rocking her nerdy band camp trumpet skills with two bands, and the drummer (Mr. Joe) in one just happens to be in with the science/IT world here - making the band known to Ann Curry - leading to the live show. Leah made an amazing "I Love Minnesota" sign with all our last names (Beizuns, Kissner, Walker, Scheidel, Stemig, Salava, Bauer) and we were planning on attending to cheer our girl on. But alas after a beer or two 3am just wasn't happening. Thankfully for the i-drive and good McMurdo community members we have video of the event:

FYI - Molly sounds better than this, she's awesome - but it was wicked cold. I'm actually a bit surprised her lips didn't freeze to that trumpet - huh weird she's at home sick now - poor little rock star.

Waiting

2007-11-07T16:06:00.000+13:00

It seems as though I am always waiting for something while here: Saturday, Sunday, a two day weekend, freshies, package mail, a day to sleep-in, cookie Wednesday, or a night without social obligations. For the last week we have had horrible weather and haven't had any flights, accelerating a common waiting game of mine. Check out my friend Laura's recent post (under Rip on the links) - this poor girl has been wintering at Pole and is stuck there, she gives a nice summary of the flight difficulties this past week. Current game of the wait is about the weather clearing enough to allow a/many planes to land - in turn bringing me something fresh for my sandwich, my package mail that has been sitting in CHCH since September, and Andy home from WAIS. The sky was clear for about 2 hours today but has gone downhill again - ish, maybe tomorrow will be the first day in a week flights go as planned........Now, I'm no meteorologist but apparently this radar doesn't look so promising.......

McMurdo is on Ross Island, the large blue outline

Woe Is Me

2007-11-06T15:32:00.001+13:00

Yesterday for lunch I ingested a sandwich consisting of:

wheat bread - no longer containing trans fats
hummus
crumbly cheese (apparently 4 year old frozen sliced cheese doesn't hold together)
green olives
cucumbers (thanks to Scott Base who apparently values fresh food more than us)

Today my sandwich consisted of:

wheat bread - still no longer containing trans fats
bad hummus
not as crumbly of cheese (4 year old frozen swiss holds up better than tasty)
green olives

2-3 weeks into Winfly I witnessed Molly eat chicken nuggets, or fingers, or some shape of low grade chicken and promptly begin crying. Now, I'm pretty sure she enjoys her daily sandwich more than I enjoy my cheese and olive sandwiches.

WAIS

2007-11-02T14:28:00.000+13:00

No, Andy is not back in McMurdo. However, they did finally manage to get a second flight in. I haven't even talked to or heard of Andy for several days now, but today these pictures appeared on the i-drive (station's common drive). So I'm guessing one of the other 5 people who went for put-in came out yesterday, which is nice so I could steal his pictures.

Boarding the Bassler on the Ice Runway in McMurdo

Aerial view of camp - Yikes, note the drifting

Andy with other camp openers

Andy with the first Herc landing in the background, also the first flight since they landed one week ago

More Halloween

2007-10-31T10:15:00.000+13:00

Just another photo of the head. Andy has the digital camera at wais - so I'm relying on photos from the i-drive. Side profile, rather creepy I think.

Anyone seen Ichabod?

2007-10-30T13:28:00.000+13:00

Yesterday while discussing Saturday's nights happenings Joe asked me "Are you really EVEN competitive with Halloween?!?" And how long have you known me, and how many costumes have we been in? -- I feel no need to answer that question. It's true this question came up because yet again no crown for this kid. Now, I'm not quite sure why this bothers me so much -- but it is almost enough to want to do another summer just for this damn contest -- all three years making the finals and no crown --grrr. I personally have some beliefs about the lack of creativity appreciation in the "judges" - as choosing them is a very political red tape deal. This year there were 3 last minute changes in the panel the day before the contest - suspicious I tell you. I could go on about this forever, but really it's just silly last minute costumes, and the party is tons of fun either way. Anyways - Rec did a really nice job decorating our "big" gym as shown below before 1,000 people tore through it.

The Headless Horseman with it's head

Clare and Leah as Luigi and Mario in front of Leah's handiwork

Joe and I on stage with our competition - I mean friends

Halloween Prep

2007-10-27T09:47:00.000+13:00

Tonight is the official kickoff to full swing Mainbody party - the Halloween Party, aka height of rutting season. It's a pretty big deal, with an unofficial parade and an official competitive costume contest. With Andy out of town I'm down my standard prop - however Joe is here giving me numerous tall person short person options. What will we be you ask? Hint - it involves a double sided cape, a pumpkin and is from a famous book. Last year Andy and I were King Kong and the Empire state building -- there was a bit of political BS with the judging -- which I'm sure everyone has heard me rant and rave about "how many people make up a group John Doe (insert station mucky muck name here)??!!" Anyways, it is not about winning, it's just for fun, I'm not competitive at all.

MJW's guidelines for a successful Halloween costume:

Must contain props to keep track of
Must contain props to lose and spend time looking for
Must make for quality bonding with partner in crime
Must not fall into clique costume -ie scantily clad something
Must require thought/skill to perform basic operations
Must make most movement awkward
Must not be purchased
Must stimulate thought in others

On other matters -- Andy called from WAIS via some fancy type of satellite phone. Sounds like he won't have the internet the whole time he is out there - so we'll all have to wait for an update until he returns. I did talk to him briefly (mostly fuels business) - sounds like he hasn't done anything but shovel until late into the night - and I guess it is cold.....shocking. There is an LC-130 scheduled to go to WAIS on Monday or Tuesday to bring more people and supplies - which will be nice.

Deep Field for Andy

2007-10-25T13:28:00.000+13:00

So Andy left McMurdo again. This time that kid is off to WAIS (West Antarctic Ice Shelf) Divide, I'm not really sure where that is but I'm positive it's much colder than here. We've had some bad weather this week so flights are pretty backed up - making Andy's Bassler flight to WAIS a lowly backup mission. He, and the other 5 people going for put in, were all too confident they wouldn't get in today - which of course meant some scrambling this morning. I don't know how long he'll be there, (10days?), or when/if he'll have internet, or if I'll manage to wake up in time for work while he is gone. Last time he was gone (Marble Point, 1 week) I slept with the lights on every night for fear of sleeping through my alarm. I'm going to brave it this time and turn the lights off, set 4 alarms, and maybe even make myself coffee.

Hopefully Andrew will get the internet soon and tell you more about his living situation, and the plane (Bassler) he got dropped off in. I know there is something cool about it as he told me, but alas I wasn't paying attention to plane dates and stats.

Delta Scharen

2007-10-23T13:56:00.000+13:00

The pride and joy of the McMurdo Fuels Department is our Delta Scharen - only the coolest vehicle on station --- I'm serious no exaggeration. Anyways, our Girl turned 21 on Saturday. What did we do for Her? Well, we through Her an appropriate birthday party down at hut 10 with decorations and a cake with 21 candles.

And here is the Old Girl all gussied up with most of the Mainbody Fuelies

(note Her party hat)

Mail Call

2007-10-22T15:03:00.001+13:00

So we received mail. No, no, not all of it.......yet. But sadly we had a casualty --- our garlic chili sauce busted and must have sat a bit to long in the NZ heat..........

Galley

2007-10-18T11:12:00.000+13:00

Here it is, the wonderful Galley - the room we spend so much of our time in. Well, not me anymore. Just going in here now practically sends me into a panic attack - especially in the morning - I won't be dining in this room again until late February. But Andrew enjoys his time in here - he hasn't been fully classified "room feeder".......yet.

-m

Blog Action Day

2007-10-15T10:47:00.000+13:00

I love this place. It is the most beautiful awe inspiring place. USAP sells Antarctica as the last pristine environment - sure there is a treaty in place to protect it's fragile environment, yes people are here for science - and a good portion of that being on the environment. There are countless studies on the atmosphere, the ozone, the changing climate, the contents of the ice, the wild life, the ancient atmosphere, and the list goes on. It is hard to live here and not be overwhelmed by the beauty - yet at the same time the impacts of humans is painfully obvious. I could go on forever about things that have happened here in the "old" days, the navy spraying fuel on the roads to keep the dust down, human waste being sent right to the ocean, the dump, and on and on. But it is in the past - so lets go with daily life pictures of the beauty mixed with human presence in a not so pristine place.

McMurdo is completely powered by 6 diesel generators

The land of 24 hour sun 6 months of the year has no solar

The windiest continent of Earth has no wind energy

Yellow flags are zones for urination on the Sea Ice

The annual fuel tanker at McMurdo's ice pier
The US program consumes an average of 6,934,063 gallons of fuel per year

Last year 4,368,194 pounds of waste was shipped off continent

This includes resale and recyclables

View from one of the 2 million gallon bulk fuel tanks
Fuel bladder in the deep field

An Emperor checking out fuel drums

Other programs here do a better job, just next door the Kiwi's at Scott Base run a very green station. McMurdo is in reality just very American.

Marble Point Pictures

2007-10-13T13:55:00.001+13:00

Outside...

A helo coming in for fuel and Marble Point Camp with Mt Erebus behind.

Inside...

A lazy Sunday, a box of freshies (ooh to the color), and me doing this...

Marble Point

2007-10-11T16:27:00.000+13:00

Part of the mainbody season is the annual opening of deep field camps. Marble Point is one of these, which is a notorious haunt for fuels operators. Marble Point lies WNW of McMurdo Station, about 50 miles across McMurdo Sound. It is, essentially, a helocopter gas station. There are dozens of science camps in the nearby valleys and the availability of fuel, here at Marble Point, allows multiple helo operations without having to return to McMurdo. With 6 bulk fuel tanks (total capacity of nearly 150,000 gallons), helocopters constantly wanting more free fuel, and friendly camp staff, its a perfect place for working holiday.

On Tuesday the 9th, coworker Emily and I joined the camp manager Crunch, cook and caretaker Dawn, and Nick the mechanic for the annual opening of the camp. We piled ourselves and loads of gear into an NSF Bell 212 helocopter and arrived shortly after at Marble Point on a clear, crisp October morning. We shoveled. We unboarded doors and windows to the handful of buildings. We loaded bags and boxes and jugs of water into the main building, while others worked on getting the generators and heaters running. We headed to the fueling area soon thereafter so we could begin our duties there. We shoveled some more. After a few hours of heating pumps, connecting hoses, fixing leaks and changing filters, we had pumps running, fuel flowing, and were officially open for the season.
--a

Goodbye Friends

2007-10-09T11:45:00.000+13:00

Last night we had our good friends, Bodie and Amy, over for their last McMurdo meal...at least for a few months. Bodie has been in McMurdo for 14 months, and today is Amy's 367 day on ice - needless to say they are overly anxious to see CHCH. Actually they were supposed to be there yesterday but to our good and their bad fortune - a broken C-17 grounded them for 24 more hours in McMurdo. So what did we have for dinner? Well our favorite/only place to eat was serving up dehydrated mashed potatoes, frozen peas, and a tempeh dish. Below are a few pictures of our fine dining experience - yes it is a little sneak peak of our room/home before the official unveiling post.....

What is that you are signing Bodie?

4 Papers, 4 People?

Why the Bubbly?

And now...such big smiles - Que Pasa?

GOODBYE BODIE AND AMY WE WILL MISS YOU!!!

Mainbody Sights

2007-10-08T10:31:00.000+13:00

Welcome Back Miss Leah!!!

She came bearing gifts - champagne and fruit!

Midnight Sunsets - Soon to be gone

Flights Cont...

2007-10-05T10:20:00.000+13:00

That flight didn't bring freshies. Nor did the following one. Maybe the one today will, or even tomorrows. Rumor has it (McMurdo is notorious for crazy rumors) a plane will not bring in fresh stuff until the 16th!? But almost more desirable is package mail. I KNOW we have packages sitting in CHCH - but when will they arrive? - package mail is the absolute lowest priority but the highest morale boost. We did get flat mail on Tuesday -- postcards and new sunglasses - delightful. OH - and Fuelie Lisa brought me an orange from the real world and we might have some fresh presents from Joe who is arriving today.

The galley is busy, the bahn is busy, the gyms are busy, the bars are busy, the phones are busy, the internet is busy, the store is busy, work is busy, and we are not yet to half capacity. But each plane brings friends back to us - for sure a new energy on station.

BTW - the home/room is getting close.
--m