BYO Water Bottle

Raytheon's latest budget cut?
This post will probably only relate to people who have already been down here.

Next year, the United States Antarctic Program will no longer be giving out as much gear as they have in the past. I assume this has to do with budget cuts, but that is speculation. I'm not sure how I really feel about it. Having been down here, I know that you don't use most of the stuff they give you. Lots of people prefer their own gear or their job simply doesn't require as much as they give you.

When I was packing for the first time, I really had no idea what to expect. Knowing that they would provide for me certainly eased my state of mind. On the list above, I use their socks regularly, but only if I am wearing my sandals. I used their sunglasses in the summer and their water bottles after my own disappeared. Of course, that is three out of four items. Who knows. I just wanted to give a heads up to my friends who are coming back down.

Polar Plunge

SPLASH into the Ross Sea of Antarctica!! (Photo by K. Folts)
Once a season, the Kiwis organize a polar plunge for anyone to attend. We aren't allowed to officially hold our own at McMurdo so many of us attend the Kiwi's event. During the summer, a number of people organize their own polar plunges where ever they can make it happen anyway. No matter how you go, the result is the same: splish, splash, EEK!


Waiting for my camera man and getting colder by the second (Photo by K. Barlow)
I used to think that all polar plunges were pretty much the same. That isn't true. In the summer in Antarctica, when you get out and the outside temperature and sun will help warm you up a little bit. In the winter, the water is usually warmer than the ambient temperature so your best bet is to get in the water in a hurry.


EEK! (Photo by K. Folts)
I've had two accidental cold water experiences in my life and neither one of them went well. My lungs felt like they collapsed and I couldn't get a breath. Someone told me that is called Diver's reflex. I don't like it and it made me worry a lot about this polar plunge. I spent most of the day trying not to psyche myself out so that I didn't end up not going. I even told someone making a movie that they could film me (to keep it PG, I kept my clothes on) so that I wouldn't back out.


The newly created 'Get me the hell out of here' swimming stroke (Photo by K. Folts)
When I got to Scott Base, a few of my friends had already plunged. Others were chatty and just slow to get moving. I had set myself on autodrive so I wouldn't start thinking and back out. I just had to strip, put a harness on, jump, and get to the hot tub. The plan worked pretty well, but the camera man had to get a set up so I had some time to sit there half naked and think about what I was doing. Eventually, he said go and in I went. After that, I don't remember much. I can remember looking up to see how deep I was and then swimming to surface, grabbing the ladder, and heading for the hot tub. Two steps towards the hot tub, I was told to hold up because I still had the harness on. It didn't even register to me because I was so much on autopilot. We had to wear shoes when we jumped because apparently your feet will get instant frost bite from walking across the ice if they are wet.


A little praying! (Photo by K. Folts)
Some people, even though they have plunged before, took their time to think about it. Raja got down to the water a couple times before she finally made it in. Kudos to her for making it in. I think if I walked away once, I'd be done. One guy has over 20 jumps though the years. I think it is pretty old hat for him. Louie managed to chug a beer before he got out of the water. A couple people actually got to 'swim with the fishes.' I didn't see the pictures, but I guess an underwater camera captures some fish right near people's heads.


Plunge! (Photo by K. Folts)
When I got to the hot tub, I had so much adrenaline and autopilot that the experience faded kind of quickly. I almost went in for a second time, but thought better of it. I warmed up, got dressed, and headed into the Scott Base bar to drink some Oregon Chai, and watch New Zealand's All Blacks crush England's Roses in rugby. Great night and I think I'll be jumping in again in the future.


Hot tub!!!!

What do we have here?

Oh what could this be for?

Grumblings

We are in the thick of winter. June and July are supposed to the hardest, most mentally challenging months. Morale can be low. Today's safety topic was Major Depression. Feelings and thoughts that have brimmed below the surface are supposed to finally be released. Just like at home, those releases can take on the civility of British tea time or the ferocity of a Mt. Erebus eruption. Luckily, I haven't seen much of either yet.

Along with the mid-season grumblings, there are the usual grumblings that occur when people work for a large corporation. In some ways they are right, in some things they are wrong. Most of it is just grumbling for the sake of grumbling. It gets old, but there is a current grumble which might have some merit coming up.

We are on our way to the darkest day of the year - June 21. Traditionally, Mid-Winters Day is a holiday for us. However, this year it isn't. Our stateside headquarters, that only works forty hours a week, will go on a company trip to Elitch's amusement park (though it is a Saturday). However, the National Science Foundation is rumored to have dictated that we will treat it as a normal work day so we can finish out our 54 hour work week normally. Read more at Big Dead Place.

Respect gets respect. This decision and numerous others over the past year have people feeling that they are not being respected. I've heard talk about them leaving the program that has sustained them for so many years. I'm not sure how easily the Antarctica program will continue on with that much knowledge considering an exit out the nearest door. I just don't have the experience here to know if people are just grumbling or if they mean it. I do know a few long timers have already left.

My personal grumbles are a toss up between missing John and Cecilia's wedding and that the huge walk in freezers in Crary aren't filled with ice cream, a complete waste of space. Frosty boy just isn't going to cut it for three more months.


Crary walk-in freezer (photo by J. Rhemann)

Who we are by the numbers

At a recent all hands meeting, there was a demographic break down of who the men and women of McMurdo this winter are.
34 Women
91 Men

41 Live in Dorm 155, 43 Live in Dorm 208, 41 Live in Dorm 209

39.13 Average age for Women
39.87 Average age for Men
39.68 Total Average

We are from three Countries:
USA
New Zealand
Canada

Americans are from 32 Different States
26 From Colorado
9 From California
7 From Alaska

Of the 34 Women, 31 different names are represented:
2 Angela
2 Elizabeth
2 Lisa

Of the 91 Men, 61 different names are represented:
7 William
5 David
4 Robert

In February, we recieved 16,500 condoms as reported at MSNBC.
This last one is for Betty who was really concerned about the number of single people available at the beginning of winter. These are based on best guesses and limited knowledge of people:
Sex, Single then (Single now)
Men, 58 (44)
Women, 23 (10)


Step 1 to using up those condoms.

Whistling in the Dark

A fire engine lights the way to the power plant.

On Saturday, I was just looking for a nice mellow evening for the second night of my two day weekend. Instead of heading to the Red Neck party, I settled in to watch Evil Dead 2. About thirty minutes in, as the owners of the cabin in the movie were returning home, the lights and TV went out in Raja's room in 155. I assumed the building had lost power. The wind had been blowing condition 2 all day and I assumed a power line came loose. After a quick look around, I was proved very wrong.


Dark!
The entire base had lost power. The only lights were emergency lights run by generators. The Red Neck party was stopped dead in its tracks as pagers sounded from one end of the hall to the other. Those pages were followed up by ringing phones. Growing up, we just sat tight in a power outage and someone we probably never met before took care of it. Here, someone we know has to go to work.


Hanging out in the not-so-dark.
Luckily, we were hanging out with an electrician. He had a flashlight that worked like a lantern. He grabbed it from his room dropped it off for us on his way to work. I think we were one of those few rooms with a substantial amount of light. We just kept enjoying the evening as usual, but as the power outage continued, my mind began to wonder.


The weather outside during the power outage. June 8, 2008 by K. Barlow.
How long could we last if we didn't have power? The weather had been warm, but incredibly windy all week. I didn't like the idea of suddenly not having heat. Being cold isn't bad when you always have the option of going inside to warm up, being cold all the the time is a different story. Even if we didn't get the power back up, we have enough fuel, supplies, and quality shelter to probably survive for months if not years. It just wouldn't be as cozy without our luxuries like cookie day.


Working in the powerplant to restore power. June 8, 2008 by K. Barlow.
After seventy-five minutes, they got the power up and running again. I don't know the details of what happened except the new power plant's CO2 system discharged and they had to bring the old power plant back online. The responders did a great job and were soon back to making merry at the Red Neck party.


Power starts to come back on.
Current temperature -14.0°C/7F.
June
Outdoor Monthly Average -13.5°C/8°F
Wind Speed Monthly Average 16kts/18mph
Monthly Peak Wind Speed 59kts/68mph

New digits, YO!

The reason my phone line went down?
As a bunch of you know, my old work number died. The new numbers are 720-568-1314 and 800-688-8606 x41314. That is my work phone and I'm currently 8 hours behind EST, but a day ahead. Their evening equals my work day.

Coming home

Slide from our last All-Hands meeting last week.
That announcement brings me a good bit of excitement and frustration. On one hand, I might be able to go to John Bain and Cecilia's wedding and that excites me to no end. If I do that, I also get to go to Cirque with my sister, playing ultimate in the fall series, play ultimate with good friends in rec leagues, and see Erik at the Great Beer Fest in Denver. Lots of good things will happen and that is great. I'll also won't get to travel, but you can't have it all.

On the other hand, that announcement frustrates me. As a lot of you know, I don't like flip-flopping decisions and I prefer certainty so I can make plans. Now, I just get to sit, wait, and wonder. Oh well. This is the way it is.

This week is a storm week. The temperature is warm, but the wind is howling. No stars. Not even footprints from an hour ago. No stars. No moon. No hills around town, just a dense looking fog, that is really blowing snow.

Long live Keens!

Keen's Newport water sandal
As anyone who has spent time with me over the past couple years can tell you, I love my Keens. I wear them almost every day. I thought for sure that the temperatures of Antarctica would put an end to that. It hasn't. Today, it is pretty warm at 3 F and I was shoveling snow for a while, but the Keens (with a thick pair of socks) got the job done. The only time I don't wear them is when I know I'll be outside for a long time.


Fire extinguishing class in my Keens! (check the inset below)


My KEENS!
When I first posted about my fire extinguisher class, I didn't think there were any pictures of me because I didn't see anyone taking pictures. However, in the weekly base review I saw this picture and recognized the footwear on the middle person as Keens. It had to be mine. Who knew that Keens could firefighting and cold weather footwear. Keen should be hiring me as a product marketer or at the very least a tester for taking their footwear to the extremes.

My weekend was a quiet one. I played Settlers of Catan (and was a point from winning), danced at a Future Fantasy party, talked on instant messenger, called Botswana, ate brunch, read, watched the Penguins lose a close game, watched The Holiday (not great), napped, and finally slept. It was good day for an unproductive one. Maybe being unproductive (i.e. restful) is productive though. All depends on your definition. Either way, I don't feel as mentally fried as I did last week. It should be a good week.

Penguins and Settlers of Catan

Dave thinks Settlers of Catan is fun!
This week has been a simple one. Hockey. Work. Settlers of Catan. Work. More hockey. Work. More Settlers of Catan. Work. Finally, great hockey with Pittsburgh finally showing up for the Stanley Cup finals in style in game 3. Last night, I watched a couple movies because I was feeling run down and tonight, I suspect I'll be finishing it off with another game of Settlers. There is a Future Fantasy party at Scott Base too, but I'm not sure I have the energy for it.


I think Penguins hockey is fun.
Watching the Stanley Cup finals down here is tough. The games are shown live around lunch time, but I am working then. I record the game to watch it that night, but I need to dodge news channels, news websites, and people who might talk about the game. I had one game spoiled for me in the galley.

I haven't really followed hockey this year. I had no idea the Penguins were finally doing well again. It is great to see. They haven't been well since my early college years. I love cheering for them again and miss watching with John, Dave, Matt, and Aaron. Those guys taught me to love hockey, specifically NHL '94 hockey (I think) on the SNES, but that also carried over to Mario, Jaromir, and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is also great to see my old city on TV so much and how excited everyone is. Nothing like it. I love Pittsburgh.


The new Empress of Catan, Deneen, celebrating her coast to coast victory with Mr. Court Jester, Dave.
Settlers of Catan is a board game. You have to collect resources to build settlements, cities, roads, and armies. If you build enough, you win. I think my favorite parts about the game are that the board is always different and everyone is in it until the end. The only problem is that our games can run a little long and I don't have the stamina for long board games. I cannot do it all night long, sorry Finn. It is no Taboo, but it is a great game all the same when played with the right people.

The moon is waning and it should be a good weekend for auroras. While I am out hiking, I'll hopefully bring back some pictures of them finally. By the way, one thing that I forgot to mention in my week - running. On Thursday, I jogged for the first time in over two months. It was only a few minutes, but man it felt good. I'm nervous I'll go out too fast and end up hurting myself again. We'll see.


Who is looking at the camera? I am. Now, trade me some coal so I can build a city.

I love it when a plan comes together.

An Australian company sent down a computer to monitor how much power we actually use down here. They will use the data they collect to help them plan a wind turbine project that will make our base more ecofriendly. I believe the Kiwis are helping pay for this as a form of paying the National Science Foundation back for letting them use our runway. Others might suggest that letting the Kiwis use our runway should be our way of paying them back because we all live in the Ross Dependency, which is the piece of Antarctica claimed as New Zealand territory.


Our shop stock to fix or replace the 500 computers we have on base.
When this computer was setup, they used Linux, serial ATA, and a 235V power source. I guess that when it was installed down here it still had an 'Australian' plug. They used a converter and plugged it into a 110V outlet. The power supply blew out and, just like Pandora's box, once you let the smoke out you can't put it back in. I believe they needed to use a transformer to change the power passing through instead of just a converter which just changed the plugs. The even easier solution would have been to switch the power supply switch from 235V to 110V. This is a common problem for international travels. We had a number of people blow their laptops out on Semester at Sea for the same reason.


The Information Technology and Communications warehoure (4 unseen rows , one for the PC Shop).
As the resident PC Tech, it was my job to come up with a way to fix it. Otherwise, the project would be set back five months. We don't have any power supplies that had serial ATA, 24 pin, and 4 pin connectors. We have some of each, but not all three connections on one power supply. I tried dropping the hard drive into another machine we had that did have serial ATA connectors. It turned on just fine, but unfortunately it was a Linux OS and the kernel panicked because the OS didn't know what to do with all the unknown devices. I wasn't comfortable enough with Linux to rebuild the kernel with confidence, so I went to plan B.

Plan B was to fix or rewire the power supply. We tried to fix it, but that didn't work so we had to rewire it. There are only three to five types of wires coming out of a power supply. We would just need to cut the connectors off the bad power supply and splice or solder the individual wires to their matching voltage wires on the working one. The working one didn't have enough wires to replace all the connectors on the old one so we chose just the most important connections to move, the three I mentioned above. I'm not comfortable with electrical wiring so I let our power plant manager James take care of it.


The new power supply.
After James did a fabulous job fixing up the power supply, I had to rebuild the case because we were a wire short. Kind of a pain, but not a big deal since we had a spare chassis parts in the shop. It was just a matter of finding the right one. Once that was done, we fired it up and the computer worked fine. Work order closed.

The fixed computer.

On the trail again

The Antarctic Yeti? (Photo by T. Morrison)
At last, work is slowing down. At last, my ankle is healing up. At last, I am on the trail hiking again. At last, our search continues and we are on the trail of the great Antarctic Yeti again.

This past Sunday, I went on my first recreational outing in over two months, a short mile and a half hike to Hut Point. We were only out for an hour, but it did so much for my spirits. I wouldn't say I was down, but I'm definitely more up now. For the past couple months, I could have been living any where that was cold. I was just moving between buildings. Getting out for a hike reminded me where I am and how beautiful this place really is.


One scientist's documented search for the Yeti as shown at the 2008 McMurdo Film Festival (Video by B. Jirsa)
I've only been to Hut Point and around the Ob Hill loop so far, but I don't think it will be too long until I'm rounding Castle Rock again too. I'm so excited. On my short hike around Ob Hill, I was fortunate enough to see auroras again. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the memory card and battery (that I found in the jacket I was wearing) to take any pictures. I'll just try to use telepathy to show you what it looked like. A green arc that stretched from Hut Point over to the Kiwi base. It looked white at first so we thought it was just clouds, but it started to move and changed color as it intensified. Great stuff and there is more coming. -28F last I checked.


Hut Point at night (photo by W. Tinus)

Home and Good Energy.

My living room!
For some reason, I've had a real good energy coming my way the past two days while in or approaching my room. That might be because my room is fabulous, but I think it has to do more with outside factors. I suspect it is the amount of physical activity I'm doing combined with not feeling behind at work. I'm getting excited about Antarctica again (yes, that also means I'm hiking again).


My bedroom.
The first good vibrations I felt were unfortunately not from someone sending me love from home via my pager. They were felt while sitting in the farthest chair away in this picture. I had just wrapped up an hour of Ashtanga Yoga followed by a hour of bowling. I put up a not so dominant 156 and my team ended up losing, but someone said my technique was as smooth as Orel Hershiser's swing. That has to count for something. Anyway, I got home and cooked some Thai peanut noodles in a box that I think my sister sent down. I put on Adam Sandler's Click and ate 'to go' food out of a box. It felt just like a night back in Colorado where I'd played ultimate late or been out playing with friends and was just trying to scarf a quick dinner before bed. I really liked it. You could argue I'm not here to experience Colorado things and that is true, but it was still nice to feel a taste of home. It's a good place that I miss and look forward to returning to.


My kitchen and sink area.
The second time I felt good energy was while I was on my way home tonight. Talie, unfortunately, had to bail on me for a hike so I was just going home to kill some time until my old roommates birthday party. It is hard to describe, but a wave of joy came over me on the walk. Maybe I was feeling love, maybe I was just excited to be here again. It is hard to say, but it was a good pure feeling that I haven't felt enough since I sprained my ankle. I'm smiling just thinking about it, but that could also be the music from Pam's home music library that I'm enjoying while I write this. Pam, it does work in my stereo.


The home entertainment system (books and video).
Finally, I'd like to dedicate this post to my brother Tait and sister Jen. They sprung for a great tripod for me for Christmas. It was working great for some tasks, but I had been a little frustrated because I didn't think it was tall enough for outside work here (kneeling or laying down on the ground here makes you cold in a hurry). Tonight while using it to take pictures of my room, I found out the tripod goes twice as tall as I thought. I probably should have read the directions that are still stashed in my closet. I think I assumed that because it was so light weight, it didn't have hidden ways to make it taller. Yeah for surprises and yeah for Tait and Jen.


The view and Betty's well built box.

Fire extinguisher training

Fire! (photo by Dave Br.)
Last week, I attended fire training. We spent about an hour in the classroom before heading outside to see my first fire close up in almost a year. It was weird to see a fire that wasn't coming out of a match, lighter, or stove down here up close. It put up a huge plumes of black smoke that you could see from pretty faraway.


P.A.S.S. - Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep. (photo by Dave Br.)
The hands on training was pretty simple. Get bundled up in full bunker gear. Check your extinguisher and go PASS. We took on the fuel based fire in teams of two. I think was the first time I've ever used an extinguisher. I can't remember if I used one as a kid or not. We certainly could have used one for all the times my brother and I lit stuff on fire. The extinguisher might have been particularly useful when we let the gas can on fire, but for some reason throwing it across the lawn also seemed to do the trick. It also left some polka dot spots to remind of us the fun. It wasn't like the model rockets that just went in the garbage after they failed in flight and blew up. Perhaps, that was my early training to work at Lockheed Martin Space Systems where they still build rockets, but they don't blow nearly as many up anymore. Videos from the early years show them struggling to learn.


Tragedy averted. Fire smote. (photo by Dave Br.)
Putting the fire out definitely wasn't as much fun as making fire. Maybe, it was because we were destroying something instead of creating it. Who doesn't like building fire? Back in Colorado, we all love it, but some people love it so much they might push you out of the way to get first dibs (ahem, Allie). I can't wait to get back to camping and building a little fire. I'm tentatively looking to go camping in New Zealand before I head out for my next adventures, but everything is still up in the air.


William T in bunker gear. (photo by Dave Br.)

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.