Terror in smurfville!

Terror in smurfville!
This season we have had a couple all hands safety meetings. Little did we realize that the all hands safety meetings are really just a way to channel the Oracle of Delphi to Antarctica. After we had our first meeting on accidents, two bull dozers broke through the ice near the smurf shack later that day. On the way to assist them, a haglund vehicle rolled on its side. Luckily, there were no major injuries.

On Monday, we had another all hands safety meeting to talk about the dangers of fire on base. It was the usual type of safety meeting that wasn't that exciting. After this more recent safety meeting, a call came into the firehouse around 10:30am that the smurf shack had caught fire. The smurf shack is used as a warming hut at the runways. It has a heater, couch, chairs, computer, microwave, hot water heater, and a few other amenities.


The smurf shack.
The fire was over fifteen miles from town, but once it got going we had no problem seeing it. Unfortunately, because Antarctica is so dry anytime something lights on fire it goes up quickly.


The smurf shack fire from town.
As expected, the smurf shack was a total loss. We are already receiving daily safety messages about fire danger. I just took a fire extinguisher class. Hopefully, that won't come in handy later this year. It was pretty neat though. That might be my first time ever using a real fire extinguisher. I'm curious what more this season has in store or us, but I guess I can just wait for the next all hands safety meeting to find out.

I'll be curious to find out why the shack went up. Historically, most of our fires seem to be caused by bad electrical wiring, but I might go with arson for this one. The computer tech had a work order out there and might have wanted a quick way to get it taken care of.


The disappearing smurf hut, now you see it, now you don't.

Separation Anxiety

A recent letter to my boss:
"I am unable to end my leave of absence next week as originally planned. My sincere apologies for the late notice. I was offered the opportunity to stay the winter in Antarctica and have taken it with some reluctance. This rare life-changing opportunity was too special for me to pass up.

My original hope was that I would be able to come down here and then return to your group. However, it looks like I won't be able to return until October due to the unavailability of flights during the winter months. Since I do not know the exact date of my return, I am reluctant to extend my leave for the full year because I may or may not be able to meet that date. Therefore, I am proposing that I separate from the company until I return to Denver for good.

It was truly a pleasure to work for you. I enjoyed it and hope to do so again.
-Brody"

With that short letter earlier this week, I entered uncharted territory in my life. I was supposed to be returning to my full time job in Denver this week. Instead, I've left the relative security of full time employment. I could consider Antarctica as a full time job with a specific end at which point I'd find another full time job. However, it doesn't feel that way. It feels wide open.

I consider Colorado my home, but I don't need to go directly there. I had a conversation a friend last week: when they leave here, they are deciding whether to buy a house or to go climb Mt. Everest. What an amazing choice?!? The American Dream or My Dream. That is the choice. What is my dream?

Some people work here for half the year and don't work the rest of the year. Some loaf. Some volunteer. Some explore. Some take contract jobs near their homes so they can see their family and friends. I have all of these options and more. I considered coming back down here next summer after a short break, but that possibility doesn't look as good anymore. I want to hike the Appalachian Trail. I want to bike across the USA. I can't do those things until spring in the United States. I'm considering living at a ski resort for the winter before doing one of those things, probably in Summit county so I can be near my friends in Colorado.

Of course, there is also a world I've been wanting to explore for years. I want to walk among the temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia and visit Adriana's Bottle Beach, Thailand. I want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and visit Cabrini in Botswana. I want to swim along the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. I want to take Craig's suggestion and bike Mt. Haleakala, Hawaii. I want to hike Torres del Paine, Chile or the great walks of New Zealand. I want to sleep in the ice hotel in Sweden. I wan to mountain bike the White Rim and Moab, UT with Lindsay. I'd love to touch the tens of thousands of non-stinging jellyfish of Palau. I want to be amazed by the ruins in Petra, Jordan. I want to explore the natural and cultural beauties of this world we share with so many others.

I also enjoy my life in Colorado and want to go back to it and the great people I spent it with. When there was an abundance of work, I loved my job, the people I worked with, and its location. I even found a way to use public transit. It worked for me and it wasn't just a habit. It was a great way of life and became home in ways that Baltimore never did.

I don't know what I am going to do yet, but I have infinite choices. The only reason for my unhappiness is me.


The rising moon over Mt. Discovery (photo by William T.)

The Story of Another Winterover PC Tech

"Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it." from Reason in Common Sense by George Santayana

---

This story may be a bit biased since it was written by the PC tech's girlfriend.

Friday, May 07, 2004
As most of us already know, one of the evacuees on the recent McMurdo medevac did not want to be evacuated. Here is the perspective of one of his friends:

"As the sole PC tech in McMurdo (we have roughly 600 PCs in town), [C] had literally hundreds of PCs to move to warm storage for buildings that were closing, and about 50 work orders in his queue that stacked up in a week's time. Instead of seeking help from other staff in IT, he tried to do it all himself, worked about 18 hours a day and slept no more than about 30 minutes at a time. He started drinking to help him sleep, which was a bad idea in the end. After about 10 days of this, he had a sleep-deprived bout of paranoia, well honestly, he lost his shit one day, thought there was a camera in his smoke detector, and pulled it off the ceiling, which triggered an alarm to the firehouse. So he went to medical for some sleep aids. I'm not sure exactly what the Doc gave him to sleep, but I went to see him while he was still sleeping and the Doc told me, after one visit with [C], "I'm certain that he's either schizophrenic or bi-polar and will need to be on medication for the rest of his life." I've spent a lot of time with [C] on and off the ice and he's never had anything even remotely resembling a psychotic episode before.

"Upon waking, he was given Haldol, a drug given to schizophrenics with myriad side effects that range from Parkinson-like symptoms (that can be permanent), to insomnia and drooling. (Haloperidol is the actual drug name). None of these side effects were discussed with [C], in fact, they didn't even tell him what they were giving him. At first he didn't ask because he was groggy from sleeping for almost 2 days and trying to be a good little patient. But he started acting very strange, doing the "thorazine shuffle" (I'm sure you've seen 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest'), having a hard time keeping his thoughts organized, and he just wasn't himself. So he asked about the meds, and when the Doc told him what she'd given him, he wanted to stop taking them. She said if he didn't comply with treatment, he'd need to be medevac'd out. He spit the pills out, but later ate them anyway because he didn't want to leave. He was all screwed up again, so he stopped taking the Haldol and was back to normal in a couple of days. He was sleeping normally, getting caught up with work, drinking less, and back to the same old [C] I've known for years. The Doc was still talking medevac. [C] talked to the RPSC and NSF Station managers, Dr. Nicoletti, Dr. Shemenski, and let everyone know he wanted to stay, that he felt better, that he would quit drinking if that's what it took for him to stay. She set up a video teleconference with a psychiatrist in Texas, I actually sat in on it at his request. At the end of their conversation the psychiatrist said that he saw no indication that [C] was schizophrenic or bi-polar and saw no need for a medevac.



If you feel like something is dying to get out of your head, it just might be a skua trying to get in.

Open House!

A tropical paradise in Antarctica? Caesar's room says yes.
This past weekend there was a lot going on all over base. Friday night, I got to roll my own sushi for the first time ever! Fabulous! Cathy had nori and was able to get the galley to give her some fresh veggies. We had tuna, cucumbers, carrot, mushrooms, sprouts, Japanese egg something, rice, and wasabi goodness. Great stuff, especially when B-Nelson showed us you can use a Ziploc back to roll sushi just as well as the official wooden rollers.

After sushi, I headed over to the 2nd floor of 208 for an open house. I thought I had a neat room. I have nothing. Some of the people over there have been coming down for years and know how to do it up right. I'm sharing these so my you can truly understand that we aren't necessarily roughing it.


Genevieve's foyer and walk in closet to the right.


More of Genevieve's room. So cozy! Her bed (unseen to the right) doubles as a couch.
Genevieve's room isn't set up for larger social gatherings, but just about perfect for tea time for two or three. Tons of great tea, good lights, great rambling conversation, and lots of music I don't know.


Lee's room is a little more down to earth, but still a dream for those in the summer.
Lee's room is a little more pragmatic. At the end of the season, you hear a lot of people complain about having to undo their rooms. If they didn't put so much into them, they wouldn't have so much to do. However, try explaining that to whiners. Lee went with a classic theme that a lot of people do - queen size bed tied together with a cargo strap and a couch probably commandeered from a lounge. It's good stuff. Simple.


Shawn and Shandra's living room. (Their bed room is their second room).


Shawn and Shandra's kitchen area.
Shawn and Shandra have a ridiculous room. I've never seen a couch as nice as theirs on base. The other chairs in their room are nice too and I've never seem the like of them either, but the couch is better than them. Simply amazing. They have two fridges in their kitchen and probably more glassware than I have in my old place in Colorado.


Bethany's sitting area.


Bethany's sleeping area.
Bethany's room is pretty simply set up, but works really well with the great lighting she found. While looking at these pictures, keep in mind that all of these rooms are the same size. Couples might be able to setup in two rooms that share a bathroom so they have a sleeping area and living area, but I'm just amazed at the different possibilities for identical rooms. Its college dorms for kids with aesthetics and resources.


Tom's living room.


Kim's living room.
Those aren't real plants in Kim's room, but they look good enough at a glance. We miss greenery. So many people head back to the Christchurch botanical gardens and just lay in them for hours. I'm sure I'll do the same. I'm pretty sure we could fully stock a crafts store with fake plants and flowers if we pooled our resources.


What could they be watching in Antz' room?


Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith on the big screen in Antz' room.

Antz normally has two rooms to work with, but I guess he only has one these year and made it go far. It is a technological marvel that he crammed all that stuff in there. I've seen a few other projectors in rooms down here, but none that looked as good. I think he just has a few years more experience in the audio-visual arts. He is an incredible photographer ( http://www.antarcticimages.com/ ).

There were a couple other rooms on display, but I didn't get pictures. I think one of my favorite had a small dining room table with benches. I think they use it in the summer as well and never eat in the overcrowded galley. It must be nice to have a great spot like that to get away to in the summer. I was in a 4-pack so there was no getting away.

The rest of my monthly two day weekend was filled out with sleep, watching the Star Trek movie series, playing Settlers of Cattan, playing risk, Oregon Chai, homemade brunch, and Deadwood. Lots of being lazy is what it comes to, I think. Other people found themselves doing country line dancing in Gallagher's or going out skiing and snowboarding at the Kiwi ski hill. Great stuff all around. I can't wait for our next two day weekend because I'll be a little more mobile again and can get out and play. Oh yeah, how could I forget?!? We also had more auroras and while I still didn't get any pictures, I figured out why I wasn't. Next time they come out, I should be ready.

Old school

Windows 98 SE updates.
For the most part, we have the latest and greatest technology down here. When we order it, it is usually new and by the time we get it, it is a year old. However, once we get it, we seem to hold on to it forever. This seems especially true of the scientific equipment. They don't want to change the way they collect their data because that might throw off their results. Sometimes, it is just too costly to replace things. We end up with some very old equipment.

Some of you might remember I was working on a key card system over the summer. The machine was from 1994, I think. The software was from 1996. Scrounging parts to make the machine work was more than a little trying. I think after a eight painful days of missteps and bad parts, we finally got it working properly. We simply had to change the way we work. An old PC Tech was telling me that they used to open and fix power supplies when they broke. Now, we usually have enough spare parts that we can just replace them.

Last week, I spent a few days building a computer to run Windows 98, my least favorite operating system. It was terrible and on my personal computer I held out on Windows 95 until 2000 came out. Anyway, after a few days I got the machine set up, but I can't believe how far things have come. Bootable CDs to do installs of instead of floppies. Generic drivers that usually work with devices even if they don't work 100%. General functionality. Everything. While having to go through the ordeal of setting the machine up, I also found an old copy of Windows 3.1 (pictured below).



Windows 3.1 on 5.25" floppies.

It's cold and misty

Hoarfrost on a chain.
For the past couple days, it has been cold and misty. A few people just traversed out to Black Island. It only took them three hours on the new Black Island road. Apparently, they couldn't see any real picturesque views because it was so clouded in. The wonderful thing though is that the mist causes hoarfrost, which is a solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air as a crystal.


Hoarfrost on a mountain bike (photo by K. Klassy)

A little taste of home, a little taste of wine.

Jude as Napoleon (Bonaparte or Dynamite?).
Most people down here work on the town schedule which is 7:30am-5:30pm, Monday-Saturday. We get a one hour lunch, 2 fifteen minute breaks, and a thirty minute stretch break with every department making their own small deviations. From the summer, my shop allows me to roll all my breaks into one big lunch time break which I needed to get my runs in for the marathon. With such a long work week, our one day off per week is precious. Sometimes, we have open mic nights, live music, parties, but last weekend we had a rare event, a wine tasting in our library.


Liz and Wade discussing the finer points of the wine she is serving?


Talie and James.
We had five wines of which I know nothing about, servers, ambiance, people, actual glassware, and yummy snacks as well. As with all events over the winter, they have to be organized by individuals from the community because we no longer have a recreational staff. Lisa organized this event by volunteering her own time and money for the wine. She also recruited a few fabulous volunteers to serve, set-up, break down, and play music.


B-Nelson and Jen played music most of the night.


Liz serving wine.
I believe $8 got you a glass of each of the five wines as well as many munchies as you could consume. You were given a glass and a paper for the servers to mark that you had already sampled their wine. Chocolate covered raised, chocolate covered nuts, breads, cheeses, olives, regular chocolates, and who knows what else were at your palette's disposal.


Our station manager, Don, also worked as a server.


Bodie serving up his wine with a smile.
One of the nicest things about this event was that every one cleaned up for a chance. More often than not, we see everyone dressed up in overalls, carhart's, and some other dirty type of clothes. The only way you'll see someone out of those clothes is if they are at the gym or done for the day.


Genevieve serving up wine to Will


A little carnage
This past weekend, I don't know of any major events that went on. I heard there were a couple small events, but nothing that the entire station was invited to. That was just fine with me. I had an exhausting week and needed to lay low. I played cribbage with friends and then got to bed early which let me get up early and hit reload my Internet web browser every ten minutes to see updates on En Sabah Nur, the University of Pittsburgh men's ultimate team. They were at the regional tournament this weekend. If they placed top two, they'd advance to nationals again!

They were the favored team to win this weekend. Unfortunately, they lost in the semifinals, but worked their way up through the backdoor bracket to get the 2nd spot anyway. They'll be heading out to Boulder, CO on May 20th to compete with sixteen other teams for the national title ( http://college2008.upa.org/ ). I'm really bummed I won't be out there for it and seeing them play this year was one of the big reasons I considered not wintering over.


B-Nelson playing every song he knows.

One last sunrise and one last sunset

Our last sunrise.
Through a complete fluke, I got the chance to head out to Pegasus to catch the final sunrise and sunset. Someone had pulled one of my computers out of the smurf shack that they need for another month. They were going to put it back by themselves in the morning, but I assured them that I didn't mind the extra trip. I would just have to take it after lunch when the last sun happened to be rising and falling instead of the morning. Yeah for luck!


The sun peaking lighting up the sky behind Ross , Tent, and Inaccessible Islands.


Sunrise.
As far as our naked eye could tell, the highest the sun got was when it was behind Inaccessible and Tent Islands around 1pm. After that, it just seemed to move across the horizon for a little while before slipping away at 1:12pm.


Sunset!


Goodbye, sun. It's been fun!
When I saw the sun go down, I think this was the first time where I mentally gulped. It was really sinking in that it is going to be dark, really dark. We'll have ambient light that carries really well across the ice for the next couple weeks, but by the end of May it should be dark. In early August, we should return to that ambient light and then we should get a sunrise on August 19th at 12:09pm. When I type that, it seems really far away. May, June, July, August. Four months. 120 days. It might be time to get out the penguin timer, but recalibrate to be a sunrise timer. You never know what you have until you lose it, right? Whoever thought I'd lose the sun!


Light to the Northwest.
That night, the light was still sitting on the horizon. I'm not sure if I've been here too long or just never noticed this back home, but it looks very well lit to the North. It looks like they have plenty of light. It makes me think of a scene from a movie where the dark/light side of the moon is rotating and there is a clear transition. I'm struggling to put words to it and I'm not sure the picture will do it justice.


Me! (photo by K. Klassy)
I just talked to skua #2 and it completely made my day!

2nd to last sunset - April 22

These pictures are from K. Barlow. His department took a field trip out to Pegasus because nothing was visible from town. The best part of nature's light show was obscured by Mt. Erebus in town. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a work excuse to make it out there. It looked spectacular.


The Boys at Pegasus (photo by K. Barlow)


One last look . . . (photo by K. Barlow)


Sunset. (photo by K. Barlow)

Last full sunset - April 21

BIV (blue, indigo, violet) over the Ross Ice Shelf.
A few days ago on April 21, I saw the last full sun dip below the horizon. We had a couple sunsets after this, but the sun never came fully above the horizon on those days. They were still beautiful, but different. I'll have pictures of those up soon. For many people, this was their last sunset because the final two sunsets weren't visible from town.


The last full sun dipping behind the horizon.


I'm going to miss my sunny friend.
I live off sunshine. Every day over the winter in Colorado, I would cut out at lunch to run or bike so I could get my fill. Driving to work in the dark and coming back in the dark without playing in the sunshine just doesn't cut it. I'm really curious how this winter will effect me. A lot of people have full spectrum bulbs to get some fake sunlight, but I don't know if it will be the same. Just in case, I'm doing my morning reading in a light room that they have set up to give everyone the full spectrum light they need.


Pegasus Field and Mt. Erebus move into another night.


Going, going, gone . . .

Some numbers

A few people have been asking for numbers on a few things, so here you go.

Winter population 125
Men 91 (wild speculation says 79 of these men are single)
Women 34 (wild speculation says 21 of these women are single) These numbers support one of my favorite Antarctic phrases that describes a woman's chance of getting a man: "The odds are good, but the goods are odd." I'm sure that phrase is probably used in engineering environments everywhere, but I first heard it when I came here.

Current temperature: -9F
Temperature with the windchill: -44F at Pegasus, brr!
South Pole: -90F.

Sunrise today: 11:52pm
Sunset today: 2:11pm
Today was the last day we saw the full sun. For the next few days, it rides the horizon and then it is gone. We'll have sunlight on the horizon for another few weeks though.

Days until we leave: Unknown, should be between 120-150.

Number of work orders in my queue: 19.

Freshies!!

Fresh fruits and vegetables!!
Whenever a plane comes in, it brings fresh vegetables. This is the highlight of flights for many of the people on base. For the first few days after the flight, you can see people leaving the galley with plates and bowls stocked high with fruits and vegetables. I don't know if I don't eat that many, but I hadn't really started missing freshies, as we like to call them, yet. I'm sure if we didn't get a resupply, I would have been missing them by August though.


Heated freshies on Scott base hill.
When the plane lands, it is immediately unloaded. The freshies are put in a millvan for the fifteen mile journey to base. The freshies won't last that long in this cold so a heating engine is hooked up to the millvan via a hose. In the picture above, you can see the hose coming out of the top of the millvan. In front of that engine, is the mail pallet! Thanks for sour patch kids, Reese's pieces, and odor ammunition Jay!


OH NO, stuck freshies!!
The road up from Scott Base is really steep. The challengers could not make it up the hill with the freshies. They kept slipping. Eventually, they brought fines (loose dirt) to spread out where the vehicles were slipping. Once they got that done, the challengers made it up the hill. Lucky for us, the freshies were heated.


Louie would like you to know that he isn't responsible for getting the freshies stuck. He has no idea why they are stuck.
When the freshies finally arrived, about ten volunteers helped off load them. They brought them in on huge pallets. We tore them down as fast as possible and filled up the freshie box. At first look, it seemed like we only had bananas.


Unloading the pallet.


Shane, a cook, checks out the his latest ingredients.
For whatever reason, New Zealand sends almost all of our freshies in banana boxes. They have apparently done this for years and no one that I talked to knows why. It is just the way it is. We label everything on its way into storage so that anyone looking to make a frosty boy banana split doesn't get confused and end up with pumpkin. Ick. Pumpkin flavored ice cream? Maybe. Pumpkin in my ice cream, I'll have to pass even if it is fake ice cream.


Just another side of the freshie box.
I was told that they should be able to make the freshies last until August. That should make this winter a pretty easy one. Normally, they run out with a couple months to go. We even got a bunch of oiled eggs that should last most of the winter. I'm pretty excited about that. I've never been a fan of the preserved Bag O'Eggs.


Caesar is not so fresh in the freshie box after working too many long days (10?) in a row.
By the way, this past flight was our last until August/September. There was some confusion about the last flight of summer/mainbody being the last flight until winter ends. My miscommunication. The last flight of summer/mainbody is normally the last flight until August, however, this year they had an extended season for the first time where they had one last flight which just left. I'm still not reeling from the effects of being stuck here whether I like it or not. I'll take that as a good sign.

I do know that I really miss Colorado right now. A little bit is the activities and fabulous weather that I'm missing, but most of it is the people that I do those activities with. I've been hearing from some a little less, but it has more to do with it being so long since I saw their smiles with a twinkle in the their eye.


The last of the freshies.