11-25-11
Went for a ski in the snowstorm out to the ice runway. On the way back, a piston bully (snowcat type thing) passed me and out of the snow I saw a little cute penguin pop out. It was one of the Adelies. He was scared by the snowmachine and ran right towards me and almost ran right over my skis. Then he stopped a few feet away and just looked inquisitively at me. After several minutes when another van drove by, he proceeded to hop/slide his way off into the great white emptiness. It was cool to see a large bird during thanksgiving holidays!
Worked some on grad school apps, then went out to Karaoke where we stayed late into the night.
11-26-11
The storm finally blew out of here and we were left with sunny skies, but still lots of wind
Ran the turkey trot 5k in the morning. It was a pretty tough course b/c the 1st half was all uphill, and the course was on snow and ice surfaces and often straight into strong winds. You can tell the course was tough b/c I think it is the first time I've ever seen a 5k where the winner didn't break 20 minutes. I mean usually the winner is somewhere in the 16's. I ended up finishing 22nd out of 120 people with a time of 25:04 (my slowest time yet in a 5k, but not surprising considering I haven't been training and the course was pretty tough). But I was just ahead of the winning lady (Sgt. Nordike), and the fastest shuttler, though this isn't surprising as I am the 2nd youngest on the shuttle crew after 25 year old Shuttle Kristy Queen. The Kiwi army ran the race with beers, which was pretty funny, and several people dressed up. In antarctica, everything is cause to wear a costume.
After the run I got the free massage offered, and then I went for a ski with the new shuttlers Elisha and Linnah, and Linnah's partner Beth. But Beth and Linnah were pretty tired from the run, so Elisha and I ended up just going on the ski. She's got an interesting story b/c she was born in way N. Idaho and then grew up in a litle cabin in the middle of nowhere in northern montana until her parents moved to Kazakhstan for some mission work to help the people with small business stuff since they are still having trouble there moving from the communist era of the russian bloc to capitalism. She played volleyball at some tiny school in N. California, but now lives in Cour d'alene. I was telling her how I wouldn't mind living with the Franks up there this summer and she said she thought she could get me a job working for the dept. of agriculture checking for invasive mussels on boats at the lake there. It's a 3 day a week for 12 hours, plus the option to work a 1/2 day on a 4th day. sounds pretty sweet.
After the ski, I had just enough time to take a shower (i'm so busy here I hardly have time to really take any showers, plus you don't really sweat here anyways) and get dressed up for the big thanksgiving dinner. Our shuttles family (31 people when you include shuttle drivers and sig others) reserved a big table in the cafeteria, so we all sat together and had a merry old time. I haven't had an American thanksgiving in a quite a while (since Aunt Jo Stringfields dinner way back in 2009), so it all tasted extra good to me. The spread was very impressive, and I was happy to see no one else here seemed to like drumsticks besides me. A flight hadn't been able to come in b/c of weather in over a week, so there were no fresh vegetables and fruit, but everything else was great. Thank goodness they had shipped in the frozen turkeys much earlier!
After dinner we headed over to one of the bars to here a band called Condition Fun play. They are pretty hilarious b/c they take well known songs and add lyrics to them relating to the quirks of antarctica and mcmurdo: making fun of building 155 (where my dorm is and the cafeteria), singing about C-17's, ivan the terra bus, the obsession with safety, etc. They also do some of their own orginal songs as well.
After the band we headed over to the Freezing Man party, which Cassa and Sully had organized. Freezing man is antarctica's take on Burning Man. If you don't know what burning man is, I suggest you google it. I hadn't really known about it until one of my crazy bosses, Tom, from Sapidyne told us about it b/c he goes there all the time. But basically it's this huge temporary city in the middle of the nevada desert that is full of drugs, music, nudity, and art. Cassa somehow convinced me to wear these tight striped pants with no shirt and this light up disco ball that twirls to be placed over the crotch region. I was embarassed, but everyone loved it and it definitely went with the freezing man theme
11-27-11
Went to church and then the fancy brunch, and then worked a bit on grad schools stuff.
There is this hut, called Hut 10, that is fancy on the inside and looks and feels like a house from the inside. It has a kitchen and living room with nice couches, a giant flatscreen tv, a dining room table, real windows, a chandelier, and stereo system. It also has a couple of spacious bedrooms. Well, you can rent it out (for free) for special parties or gatherings, or even just if you're a couple you can rent it for the night. Our shuttles department rented it for the day today. We threw a pizza party and just kind of hung out. We watched some short films from previous antarctica film festivals, played some card games, and just hung out as one big happy shuttles family. I cam in early to help make the pizzas. After the pizza we had fresh, warm right out of the oven chocolate chip cookies. We ended up staying late into the night watching some movies on the big screen and enjoying the super nice couches.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
11-21-11
Snowed hard all day. After work, since I love being out in the snow, I went for a ski. Typically it takes me somewhere between 19 and 22 minutes to go to the ice runway and then the same time to come back (it's about 10km roundtrip) plus some rest time for a drink and dessert snack at the ice runway galley. But this time, it took me 18 minutes down (a bit of a tail wind). However, as I was resting in the galley, the storm really picked up and a huge wind came in. It took me 28 minutes to come back and would have taken me much longer if it wasn't for the fact that I knew dinner was ending soon, and I didn't want to miss it! Skate skiing is pretty exhausting, and I work up quite a sweat doing it. I usually just do the route in long underwear and a t-shirt. Everyone looks at me funny since the temp is in the single digits to low teens, but I seriously just get so hot. But I'm also known as the t-shirt guy around base, b/c now tha the temp has warmed up a bit, I just wear my snowpants, a t-shirt, and this super warm down vest I have. Most people are still bundled up in their big reds though.
Once a week they have these things called travelogues where people talk about adventures they've done. I've avoided them b/c I don't want to hear about more places I might like to visit and give me more ideas, but last night was on South America, so I decided to go watch that one.
Got 4 packages in the mail this week! 2 from mom, 1 from the bighorn, and 1 from Ildi from her camp at marble point. Thanks!
11-22-11
Two of the new girls on the shuttle team came out to volleyball last night. They're pretty intense since they played college v-ball. Elisha is quiet and seems quite cool. She's spent a lot of time travelling and has lived in places like Kazakistan. She went to some school in N. Cali, but now lives in Couer D'Alene, Idaho. Melanie is quiet loud and is always talking. She is from N. Dakota, but has been ski bumming in Steamboat for a longtime and fighting fires out of McCall, ID. One of the other new guys to the team is Matt. He spends his summers in Bali surfing.
11-23-11
The storm is still here, though snowing less today. Bill took me off dispatch today to have me build a trench to bury our electrical wires we used to keep the vans warm. He said the last guy that did it, did such a poor job, and he wanted someone he knew who could do it well.
Apparently b/c of my hardwork, I was given 1st choice to decide whether I wanted to go on nights for this next period or to wait until the last period. It was a tough choice b/c this period would be a bit shorter and I would get to spend more time with my mom crush, Jen,, but in the end I decided to postpone a lot b/c I wanted to be working days during the Christmas holiday since I kind of missed Christmas 2 of the last three years being in Buddhist and Hindu countries and b/c I am having too much fun with all the activities at the moment. Also, Cassa will be working nights on the last shift so that is cool. At pickleball, Jen, told me she really wanted me to be working on her crew, but she said I probably made the best decision and since she is a mom, she always wants her kids to make the best decisions for them.
Busy night with pickleball, basketball, and pub trivia.
11-24-11
Happy Thanksgiving! B/c of schedules here, our thanksgiving celebration will be on Saturday instead.
A bit of a calm in the storm with huge flakes and no wind. Snowed about 3 inches early in the morning, but then some wind intensified and the base was put on condition 3. On my delta drive out to Happy Camper in the morning is was pretty hard to see anything but the flags they put up.
By afternoon they had evacuated the airport, since it was obvious no flights would be coming in. Since airport was evacuated, we didn't have much to do as drivers, so they let us go home almost 5 hours early! That was pretty awesome! Fran was having issues with her kiwi love interest from scott base, and she wanted to talk to someone about it, so we went out for some hot cocoa to the coffee shop to talk about it.
Cassa, Fran, Bobbick, and I spent a couple hours at the corner bar where Bill was of course pouring stiff drinks. Met a guy there, jean pierre, who has lived in estes park the past 18 years working for Mark Holler.
Since us shuttle drivers didn't have work on friday, we all headed over to the kiwi base for american night at their bar. Some guy put 600 bucks on the bar, so we had free drinks all night, so as you can imagine free drinks there, mixed with Bill's free drinks and everyone was in fine form and special ted had mde an appearance. When we got back to the american base, we decided to hit the bars there b/c Fran is converting over to night shifts so she needed to stay up late to acclimate to nights. Once at the bar there, we were apparently a riot and all the NASA guys were buying us drinks. When the bar finally closed we headed over to midrats (lunch in the middle of the night for those on nightshift) to chow down and make the people laugh there. After midrats we just kind of ran around the dorms having some fun. Special ted was definitely out in full force b/c the next day so many people came up to me commenting how hilarious we were and how I must have been having quite some fun. Rumours of special ted have gotten around the base and everyone wants to meet him now.
11-25-11
Went out with Fran for an early morning ski on the armitage loop. Couldn't see much b/c of the raging storm, but still fun nonetheless.
Snowed hard all day. After work, since I love being out in the snow, I went for a ski. Typically it takes me somewhere between 19 and 22 minutes to go to the ice runway and then the same time to come back (it's about 10km roundtrip) plus some rest time for a drink and dessert snack at the ice runway galley. But this time, it took me 18 minutes down (a bit of a tail wind). However, as I was resting in the galley, the storm really picked up and a huge wind came in. It took me 28 minutes to come back and would have taken me much longer if it wasn't for the fact that I knew dinner was ending soon, and I didn't want to miss it! Skate skiing is pretty exhausting, and I work up quite a sweat doing it. I usually just do the route in long underwear and a t-shirt. Everyone looks at me funny since the temp is in the single digits to low teens, but I seriously just get so hot. But I'm also known as the t-shirt guy around base, b/c now tha the temp has warmed up a bit, I just wear my snowpants, a t-shirt, and this super warm down vest I have. Most people are still bundled up in their big reds though.
Once a week they have these things called travelogues where people talk about adventures they've done. I've avoided them b/c I don't want to hear about more places I might like to visit and give me more ideas, but last night was on South America, so I decided to go watch that one.
Got 4 packages in the mail this week! 2 from mom, 1 from the bighorn, and 1 from Ildi from her camp at marble point. Thanks!
11-22-11
Two of the new girls on the shuttle team came out to volleyball last night. They're pretty intense since they played college v-ball. Elisha is quiet and seems quite cool. She's spent a lot of time travelling and has lived in places like Kazakistan. She went to some school in N. Cali, but now lives in Couer D'Alene, Idaho. Melanie is quiet loud and is always talking. She is from N. Dakota, but has been ski bumming in Steamboat for a longtime and fighting fires out of McCall, ID. One of the other new guys to the team is Matt. He spends his summers in Bali surfing.
11-23-11
The storm is still here, though snowing less today. Bill took me off dispatch today to have me build a trench to bury our electrical wires we used to keep the vans warm. He said the last guy that did it, did such a poor job, and he wanted someone he knew who could do it well.
Apparently b/c of my hardwork, I was given 1st choice to decide whether I wanted to go on nights for this next period or to wait until the last period. It was a tough choice b/c this period would be a bit shorter and I would get to spend more time with my mom crush, Jen,, but in the end I decided to postpone a lot b/c I wanted to be working days during the Christmas holiday since I kind of missed Christmas 2 of the last three years being in Buddhist and Hindu countries and b/c I am having too much fun with all the activities at the moment. Also, Cassa will be working nights on the last shift so that is cool. At pickleball, Jen, told me she really wanted me to be working on her crew, but she said I probably made the best decision and since she is a mom, she always wants her kids to make the best decisions for them.
Busy night with pickleball, basketball, and pub trivia.
11-24-11
Happy Thanksgiving! B/c of schedules here, our thanksgiving celebration will be on Saturday instead.
A bit of a calm in the storm with huge flakes and no wind. Snowed about 3 inches early in the morning, but then some wind intensified and the base was put on condition 3. On my delta drive out to Happy Camper in the morning is was pretty hard to see anything but the flags they put up.
By afternoon they had evacuated the airport, since it was obvious no flights would be coming in. Since airport was evacuated, we didn't have much to do as drivers, so they let us go home almost 5 hours early! That was pretty awesome! Fran was having issues with her kiwi love interest from scott base, and she wanted to talk to someone about it, so we went out for some hot cocoa to the coffee shop to talk about it.
Cassa, Fran, Bobbick, and I spent a couple hours at the corner bar where Bill was of course pouring stiff drinks. Met a guy there, jean pierre, who has lived in estes park the past 18 years working for Mark Holler.
Since us shuttle drivers didn't have work on friday, we all headed over to the kiwi base for american night at their bar. Some guy put 600 bucks on the bar, so we had free drinks all night, so as you can imagine free drinks there, mixed with Bill's free drinks and everyone was in fine form and special ted had mde an appearance. When we got back to the american base, we decided to hit the bars there b/c Fran is converting over to night shifts so she needed to stay up late to acclimate to nights. Once at the bar there, we were apparently a riot and all the NASA guys were buying us drinks. When the bar finally closed we headed over to midrats (lunch in the middle of the night for those on nightshift) to chow down and make the people laugh there. After midrats we just kind of ran around the dorms having some fun. Special ted was definitely out in full force b/c the next day so many people came up to me commenting how hilarious we were and how I must have been having quite some fun. Rumours of special ted have gotten around the base and everyone wants to meet him now.
11-25-11
Went out with Fran for an early morning ski on the armitage loop. Couldn't see much b/c of the raging storm, but still fun nonetheless.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Skate Skiing
11-18-11
It was a gorgeous day and I rented some skate skis to go out to the ice runway. I've never actually tried skate skiing nor used the real skate skis and fancy boots. I found it to be quite fun. Definitely a hard workout, but you can go quite fast. I think it's sort of the equivalent to downhill skiing as roadbbiking is to mountain biking.
Also watched the last quarter of the broncos vs. jets game and part of the Arizona basketball game. That's one of the nice things about being here. Even though it's like I'm in a foreign country, I still get some american things like sports. And I've even on occassion stayed up late enough to watch the daily show and colber report
11-19-11
A cold snowstorm blew in today. Back to temps below zero with windchill. It snowed all day which I of course love.
After work hung out at the corner bar. I love that place b/c the old guys there, especially Bill, are just hilarious and have priceless comments.
In the evening was the Hipster popstar dance party. I don't hardly even know what a hipster is let alone how to dress as one, but Cassa helped me get outfitted for the party. Good dancing for sure
11-20-11
It snowed all night with no wind, so there was significant accumulation in the morning when I walked to Church. Deep, soft, champagne powder with bright blue skies. Made me think of skiing back home!
I talked with my mom for a couple of hours on the phone (as my roommates said, that is the longest they have ever seen me in my room and awake). After talking with her, I went out for a good ski in the fresh powder. I was signed up for a field trip to go see a plane crash out on the ice, but it got cancelled as another storm moved in, so instead I went for a hike with some friends out to hut point to watch the seals. It was gorgeous out with giant flakes gently falling (a rarity in Antarctica), but by the time we got back a raging storm was brewing. Went to the science lecture last night led by a funny swedish guy on the antifreeze and physiology of fish that allows them to live in such cold water. I got to bed pretty early and was looking forward to an 8 hour night of sleep. But one of the dryers in our building caught on fire, so we were evacuated. It was freezing sitting outside in our night clothes, but they eventually moved us into the coffee house to wait for them to get the fire out and bring us back in.
11-21-11
A slow day at work, so we spent a lot of time just chilling in the office, which is always tons of fun b/c shuttle Bill is just so hilarious, and he loves his little peanut gallery. I got sent on a special mission today: One of our vans was needing to be fixed and fixed quickly, and some lady at the vehicle maintenance place is who you have to talk to get a rush order. Bill tried and was denied, so he yelled over, "Hey Mr. Hormone, head over to the VMF with that smile of yours and tell Claudette we need that vehicle now"
It was a gorgeous day and I rented some skate skis to go out to the ice runway. I've never actually tried skate skiing nor used the real skate skis and fancy boots. I found it to be quite fun. Definitely a hard workout, but you can go quite fast. I think it's sort of the equivalent to downhill skiing as roadbbiking is to mountain biking.
Also watched the last quarter of the broncos vs. jets game and part of the Arizona basketball game. That's one of the nice things about being here. Even though it's like I'm in a foreign country, I still get some american things like sports. And I've even on occassion stayed up late enough to watch the daily show and colber report
11-19-11
A cold snowstorm blew in today. Back to temps below zero with windchill. It snowed all day which I of course love.
After work hung out at the corner bar. I love that place b/c the old guys there, especially Bill, are just hilarious and have priceless comments.
In the evening was the Hipster popstar dance party. I don't hardly even know what a hipster is let alone how to dress as one, but Cassa helped me get outfitted for the party. Good dancing for sure
11-20-11
It snowed all night with no wind, so there was significant accumulation in the morning when I walked to Church. Deep, soft, champagne powder with bright blue skies. Made me think of skiing back home!
I talked with my mom for a couple of hours on the phone (as my roommates said, that is the longest they have ever seen me in my room and awake). After talking with her, I went out for a good ski in the fresh powder. I was signed up for a field trip to go see a plane crash out on the ice, but it got cancelled as another storm moved in, so instead I went for a hike with some friends out to hut point to watch the seals. It was gorgeous out with giant flakes gently falling (a rarity in Antarctica), but by the time we got back a raging storm was brewing. Went to the science lecture last night led by a funny swedish guy on the antifreeze and physiology of fish that allows them to live in such cold water. I got to bed pretty early and was looking forward to an 8 hour night of sleep. But one of the dryers in our building caught on fire, so we were evacuated. It was freezing sitting outside in our night clothes, but they eventually moved us into the coffee house to wait for them to get the fire out and bring us back in.
11-21-11
A slow day at work, so we spent a lot of time just chilling in the office, which is always tons of fun b/c shuttle Bill is just so hilarious, and he loves his little peanut gallery. I got sent on a special mission today: One of our vans was needing to be fixed and fixed quickly, and some lady at the vehicle maintenance place is who you have to talk to get a rush order. Bill tried and was denied, so he yelled over, "Hey Mr. Hormone, head over to the VMF with that smile of yours and tell Claudette we need that vehicle now"
Monday, November 14, 2011
Dog Days of Summer
11-14-11
We lost a shuttle driver today...Brian had a bad slip out on the ice runway and hurt his knee quite bad. X-rays here showed he had chipped his patella. He got medevacced on the next flight out to Christchurch for and MRI. We're still waiting to hear if he will be coming back or not.
Went out for a little walk near the obtube to check for seals coming out of the ice. I got really lucky and heard some heavy breathing. I followed it over to a hidden hole (hidden under big chunks of ice) and saw a cute little seal poking his head out, with icicles on his whiskers, getting some air.
11-15-11
6 new drivers arrived on the C-17 today. This is our last group of new drivers, unless Brian can't come back in which they will send out for one of the alternates. Today I was training Allanah, a geologist/chemist from New Mexico.
Tonight was volleyball, and we had just an amazing set of games. It was one of those times when you have a lot of good players and the teams are evently matched and each game is intense. Typically volleball is from 7 to 8:30, but last night we played from 7 to 10:30 (the bedtime I aim for is 9!) b/c it was just so good. Missed out on spanish too, but the v-ball was just too fun.
Today was the first day it went above freezing. A whopping 34F. It's crazy, 34 degrees right now feels so incredibly warm. It's easy to just walk around in jeans and a t-shirt and still be warm. Probably in part b/c the air is dry and the sun intense, a lot like Colorado. But not expected to be above freezing the rest of the week.
11-16-11
Busy day after work. Pickleball, basketball, and trivia, led by Dan.
11-17-11
They want to build this bridge outside our building that goes over some fuel pipes so that it is safer and we don't slip on the pipes. Right now though it's all covered in snow, but the kiwis who are supposed to build the bridge are leaving soon, so it needs to be done before the snow all melts. Shuttle Bill sent out some of the new folks to go dig it out, but after 15 minutes he came in over the radio, and said "nah, it's not gonna work, we'll have to hope mother nature helps" But in the afternoon, he came into the office and said, "Hey junior, grab and pick and a shovel and get out there" He sent me out for an hour b/c I had driving to do, but then after an hour he came out and told me he got someone to cover my next 2 and a half hours of ice runway shuttle. By the end of the day I was pretty exhausted, but I had managed to clear out most of the huge drifts and snow around the pipe.
Went to the coffee shop for an open mic night that had some pretty good bands and musicians.
We lost a shuttle driver today...Brian had a bad slip out on the ice runway and hurt his knee quite bad. X-rays here showed he had chipped his patella. He got medevacced on the next flight out to Christchurch for and MRI. We're still waiting to hear if he will be coming back or not.
Went out for a little walk near the obtube to check for seals coming out of the ice. I got really lucky and heard some heavy breathing. I followed it over to a hidden hole (hidden under big chunks of ice) and saw a cute little seal poking his head out, with icicles on his whiskers, getting some air.
11-15-11
6 new drivers arrived on the C-17 today. This is our last group of new drivers, unless Brian can't come back in which they will send out for one of the alternates. Today I was training Allanah, a geologist/chemist from New Mexico.
Tonight was volleyball, and we had just an amazing set of games. It was one of those times when you have a lot of good players and the teams are evently matched and each game is intense. Typically volleball is from 7 to 8:30, but last night we played from 7 to 10:30 (the bedtime I aim for is 9!) b/c it was just so good. Missed out on spanish too, but the v-ball was just too fun.
Today was the first day it went above freezing. A whopping 34F. It's crazy, 34 degrees right now feels so incredibly warm. It's easy to just walk around in jeans and a t-shirt and still be warm. Probably in part b/c the air is dry and the sun intense, a lot like Colorado. But not expected to be above freezing the rest of the week.
11-16-11
Busy day after work. Pickleball, basketball, and trivia, led by Dan.
11-17-11
They want to build this bridge outside our building that goes over some fuel pipes so that it is safer and we don't slip on the pipes. Right now though it's all covered in snow, but the kiwis who are supposed to build the bridge are leaving soon, so it needs to be done before the snow all melts. Shuttle Bill sent out some of the new folks to go dig it out, but after 15 minutes he came in over the radio, and said "nah, it's not gonna work, we'll have to hope mother nature helps" But in the afternoon, he came into the office and said, "Hey junior, grab and pick and a shovel and get out there" He sent me out for an hour b/c I had driving to do, but then after an hour he came out and told me he got someone to cover my next 2 and a half hours of ice runway shuttle. By the end of the day I was pretty exhausted, but I had managed to clear out most of the huge drifts and snow around the pipe.
Went to the coffee shop for an open mic night that had some pretty good bands and musicians.
Friday, November 11, 2011
11-10-11
Had "date" night with Cassa. We went and hung out at the ob tube for about an hour. We heard the seals with their cool calls, but didn't see any swimming around. But saw lots of cool jellies. After dinner, we hit up Southern (one of 2 bars here) and played some foosball and shuffleboard. Then we headed over to Scott Base for American night with Jeff and Stephanie (the ones from evergreen)and stayed there until the bar closed, having a good time joking about some of the funny long-term shuttle drivers here (Jeff used to also be a shuttler). After scott base we had a few more beers with Bobbick and some kiwis up in our dorm lounge.
She was asking me how I woo-ed the bighorn. I said I wasn't sure, b/c I'm not really good at that kind of thing. But Cassa made my week when she said that I am "the bright spot of her day everyday" and that I always make her smile. That made me feel really good. Cassa is really fun and we have a good time together. She reminds me a lot of a hippier Jacque Prudhomme.
11/11/11
I had the day off, so I worked on my Florida essay and did a lit review of ant-plant mutualisms as well as some laundry. I went with Tim (one of my good friends here that likes to be as active as me...he does all the hikes and pickleball, basketball, and volleyball. He's a janitor down here, from Wisconsin but after college he spent a lot of time living in central america and west africa) to the Obtube. We had an awesome experience on this visit b/c a seal swam right up to the viewing window and then swam past the little tube we were in.
I finally met Ildi!! We finally decided to just arrange a meeting, so we planned to meet at the coffee shop. It's a really cool place where they serve hot beverages, hot alcholic beverages, and wine (no beer allowed). They have an attached movie theatre and they place some good music and comfortable chairs abound. So we met for a hot cocoa. She's super sweet and nice and very funny and positive. She was so thankful for all the help I gave her with planning indonesia and was thinking I helped her more than she helped me, which is not the case. But she was so excited that I told her about the place to see orangutans in kalimantan b/c the other places she had tried they didn't see them.
After hot chocolate with Ildi, I played some cards with Tim and other Tim (his roommate).
One of my firefighter roommates, Eric, got shipped to the South Pole, but he was quickly replaced by Austin, another firefighter from Virginia.
11-12-11
Because Raytheon is obsessed with safety and b/c we had gone 30 days without an accident we had a special dinner. Fancy steaks and crab legs with our supervisors acting as waiters giving us refills and taking our trays.
The food has continued to be amazing down here. Everyone says it's so much better than previous years. It's always a treat and they keep it really diverse. We've had such things as indian dishes (complete with nan and rotis and lassis) from several regions of India, malay food, several thai dishes, chinese, mongolian, different mexican variations, korean, japanese, peruvian, tons of tasty seafood, greek, vietnamese, italian, spanish, morrocan, kenyan, and more. And b/c they say protein is key to keeping you warm, there meat is always plentiful with quite a lot of steak even. I try to avoid the deserts, but they always look extremely tasty. At breakfast they always have a waffles bar, egg bar, and full omelete bar.
I had a pretty chill saturday night. Went to the coffee shop to listen to a live fiddler and then played a bit of shuffleboard at one of the bars with Nate, Brian, and Bobbick before going to bed
11-13-11
Had a pretty busy day. Intermittently worked on my grad essays. I did the Crary Lab tour which was cool and made me want to be one of the geologists here. Played some dodgeball and then some basketball. I led a Scott's Hut tour for some people, and watched the 2nd half of the BSU game. Also went to the Sunday night Science Lecture.
I've been a little disappointed with the science aspect down here so far. I had been hoping that it would be easy to volunteer down here with some projects especially since I have 2 days off. Well b/c of rules and regs witht he NSF it's hard to sign up to volunteer on projects, especially as a first year, so you have to get to be friends with scientists and get "unofficially" invited to help them. This means that you kind of have to schmooze with the scientists, and I am not good at that. And it usually seems that when they're in my van they're quite pre-occupied with things and I haven't gotten very positive results when I've mentioned my background and my interest in volunteering. The one group that I have become good friends with are Wentao and Zhibin, the ones doing laser research in near space. They are from China but work for CU, so we connected there. They love so much that I travelled in China. However, their research is WAY over my head. The gal that gave us our lab tour today is the lab supervisor for all of Crary. Beverly is about my age and she mentioned in her speel that she has a masters in earth and environmental science and that "she likes the big picture" This is kind of similar to me and she has a job I would find interesting b/c she is dealing with a whole lot of cool projects down here. I hope that maybe I can snag her for a quick talk to just ask her some questions regarding my grad school decision.
Had "date" night with Cassa. We went and hung out at the ob tube for about an hour. We heard the seals with their cool calls, but didn't see any swimming around. But saw lots of cool jellies. After dinner, we hit up Southern (one of 2 bars here) and played some foosball and shuffleboard. Then we headed over to Scott Base for American night with Jeff and Stephanie (the ones from evergreen)and stayed there until the bar closed, having a good time joking about some of the funny long-term shuttle drivers here (Jeff used to also be a shuttler). After scott base we had a few more beers with Bobbick and some kiwis up in our dorm lounge.
She was asking me how I woo-ed the bighorn. I said I wasn't sure, b/c I'm not really good at that kind of thing. But Cassa made my week when she said that I am "the bright spot of her day everyday" and that I always make her smile. That made me feel really good. Cassa is really fun and we have a good time together. She reminds me a lot of a hippier Jacque Prudhomme.
11/11/11
I had the day off, so I worked on my Florida essay and did a lit review of ant-plant mutualisms as well as some laundry. I went with Tim (one of my good friends here that likes to be as active as me...he does all the hikes and pickleball, basketball, and volleyball. He's a janitor down here, from Wisconsin but after college he spent a lot of time living in central america and west africa) to the Obtube. We had an awesome experience on this visit b/c a seal swam right up to the viewing window and then swam past the little tube we were in.
I finally met Ildi!! We finally decided to just arrange a meeting, so we planned to meet at the coffee shop. It's a really cool place where they serve hot beverages, hot alcholic beverages, and wine (no beer allowed). They have an attached movie theatre and they place some good music and comfortable chairs abound. So we met for a hot cocoa. She's super sweet and nice and very funny and positive. She was so thankful for all the help I gave her with planning indonesia and was thinking I helped her more than she helped me, which is not the case. But she was so excited that I told her about the place to see orangutans in kalimantan b/c the other places she had tried they didn't see them.
After hot chocolate with Ildi, I played some cards with Tim and other Tim (his roommate).
One of my firefighter roommates, Eric, got shipped to the South Pole, but he was quickly replaced by Austin, another firefighter from Virginia.
11-12-11
Because Raytheon is obsessed with safety and b/c we had gone 30 days without an accident we had a special dinner. Fancy steaks and crab legs with our supervisors acting as waiters giving us refills and taking our trays.
The food has continued to be amazing down here. Everyone says it's so much better than previous years. It's always a treat and they keep it really diverse. We've had such things as indian dishes (complete with nan and rotis and lassis) from several regions of India, malay food, several thai dishes, chinese, mongolian, different mexican variations, korean, japanese, peruvian, tons of tasty seafood, greek, vietnamese, italian, spanish, morrocan, kenyan, and more. And b/c they say protein is key to keeping you warm, there meat is always plentiful with quite a lot of steak even. I try to avoid the deserts, but they always look extremely tasty. At breakfast they always have a waffles bar, egg bar, and full omelete bar.
I had a pretty chill saturday night. Went to the coffee shop to listen to a live fiddler and then played a bit of shuffleboard at one of the bars with Nate, Brian, and Bobbick before going to bed
11-13-11
Had a pretty busy day. Intermittently worked on my grad essays. I did the Crary Lab tour which was cool and made me want to be one of the geologists here. Played some dodgeball and then some basketball. I led a Scott's Hut tour for some people, and watched the 2nd half of the BSU game. Also went to the Sunday night Science Lecture.
I've been a little disappointed with the science aspect down here so far. I had been hoping that it would be easy to volunteer down here with some projects especially since I have 2 days off. Well b/c of rules and regs witht he NSF it's hard to sign up to volunteer on projects, especially as a first year, so you have to get to be friends with scientists and get "unofficially" invited to help them. This means that you kind of have to schmooze with the scientists, and I am not good at that. And it usually seems that when they're in my van they're quite pre-occupied with things and I haven't gotten very positive results when I've mentioned my background and my interest in volunteering. The one group that I have become good friends with are Wentao and Zhibin, the ones doing laser research in near space. They are from China but work for CU, so we connected there. They love so much that I travelled in China. However, their research is WAY over my head. The gal that gave us our lab tour today is the lab supervisor for all of Crary. Beverly is about my age and she mentioned in her speel that she has a masters in earth and environmental science and that "she likes the big picture" This is kind of similar to me and she has a job I would find interesting b/c she is dealing with a whole lot of cool projects down here. I hope that maybe I can snag her for a quick talk to just ask her some questions regarding my grad school decision.
Monday, November 7, 2011
As things are kind of settling into a routine here of work, activities, and play, I probably won't be writing daily in the blog. Maybe kind of a weekly thing with interesting stuff that happens over the week. So keep checking even if you haven't heard anything for a while b/c that just means the norm is going on.
11-7-11
Because of a high cross wind, one of the hercules (LC-130's) had to land out in the emergency landing area way out on the ice sheet. I was the driver picked to take the delta out there to get the passengers and crew. It was pretty sweet b/c it was just this plane that landed way out in the middle of nowhere with nothing else around. The pilot told me that when they landed they only had about 10 minutes worth of fuel left. Pretty crazy.
11-8-11
Some Italians flew into today on an airbus before being helicoptered off to their base. I was in charge of keeping them in order while waiting for the choppers and shuttling them around. They're a very happy and jovial bunch. We didn't share much of the same words, but they were quite excited and threw out a big cheer when I showed them where they could get coffee.
11-9-11
Some pickleball and basketball this evening. A group from the NYANG (new york air national guard--the ones who fly the LC-130s and C-17's around here) stopped by. A bunch of tall black guys. We thought we were going to get dominated, but we held our own.
Shuttle Bill told us a funny joke that I thought was worth repeating.
In the line of people waiting to get into heaven is a shuttle driver (shuttle bill) and a priest. It is the priest's turn next and he approaches St. Peter. St. Peter says, "you have live a very good and pious life, giving your life to God for over 40 years. You shall be rewarded." He pointed through the pearly gates to a nice cottage with a small tract of land and said, "This shall be yours" Next in line was Shuttle Bill. St. Peter said, "you have lived a fairly decent life. A bit heavy on the swearing and too much fun with the ladies, but you shall be rewarded" He pointed throught the pearly gates towards a huge palace overlooking a lake with maidens waving from the windo. "This shall be yours" St. Peter said. The priest couldn't help but overhear. He went up to St. Peter and said, "I don't mean to question God's judgement, but how can this man get the beautiful palace when I get but a mere cottage even though I served the Lord and His people for all my life"
St. Peter answered, "Well Father, when you gave sermons, people slept, when shuttle bill drove, people prayed"
11-7-11
Because of a high cross wind, one of the hercules (LC-130's) had to land out in the emergency landing area way out on the ice sheet. I was the driver picked to take the delta out there to get the passengers and crew. It was pretty sweet b/c it was just this plane that landed way out in the middle of nowhere with nothing else around. The pilot told me that when they landed they only had about 10 minutes worth of fuel left. Pretty crazy.
11-8-11
Some Italians flew into today on an airbus before being helicoptered off to their base. I was in charge of keeping them in order while waiting for the choppers and shuttling them around. They're a very happy and jovial bunch. We didn't share much of the same words, but they were quite excited and threw out a big cheer when I showed them where they could get coffee.
11-9-11
Some pickleball and basketball this evening. A group from the NYANG (new york air national guard--the ones who fly the LC-130s and C-17's around here) stopped by. A bunch of tall black guys. We thought we were going to get dominated, but we held our own.
Shuttle Bill told us a funny joke that I thought was worth repeating.
In the line of people waiting to get into heaven is a shuttle driver (shuttle bill) and a priest. It is the priest's turn next and he approaches St. Peter. St. Peter says, "you have live a very good and pious life, giving your life to God for over 40 years. You shall be rewarded." He pointed through the pearly gates to a nice cottage with a small tract of land and said, "This shall be yours" Next in line was Shuttle Bill. St. Peter said, "you have lived a fairly decent life. A bit heavy on the swearing and too much fun with the ladies, but you shall be rewarded" He pointed throught the pearly gates towards a huge palace overlooking a lake with maidens waving from the windo. "This shall be yours" St. Peter said. The priest couldn't help but overhear. He went up to St. Peter and said, "I don't mean to question God's judgement, but how can this man get the beautiful palace when I get but a mere cottage even though I served the Lord and His people for all my life"
St. Peter answered, "Well Father, when you gave sermons, people slept, when shuttle bill drove, people prayed"
Sunday, November 6, 2011
11-07-11
On Sunday after church, I met up with Ginny and Anne for the oh so tasty fancy brunch and then we headed out for a ski. We did the armitage loop this time, the last of the trails, that are currently open, that I hadn't done. It's mostly out on the sea ice and takes you at it's halfway point past scott base. It's the kind of xc ski trail I figure my parents would like. Nice and flat. Saw lots of seals along the way, including 3 pups. It was pretty windy on the way out, wind at our faces, but the wind really picked up on the way back, which made it fun b/c the wind was pushing so hard it was like skiing downhill.
I attempted some work on my Florida grad school essay in the very nice library we have here and then attended the Sunday Science lecture which was given by some guy studying sea level rise and change in the ocean temperatures specifically at a glacier in greenland and the PIG (Pine island glacier) here.
Someone told me today about the Ice before Christ event that happens here. It's where you have a cocktail with ice in it that is more than 2000 years old that they have taken up from an ice core
On Sunday after church, I met up with Ginny and Anne for the oh so tasty fancy brunch and then we headed out for a ski. We did the armitage loop this time, the last of the trails, that are currently open, that I hadn't done. It's mostly out on the sea ice and takes you at it's halfway point past scott base. It's the kind of xc ski trail I figure my parents would like. Nice and flat. Saw lots of seals along the way, including 3 pups. It was pretty windy on the way out, wind at our faces, but the wind really picked up on the way back, which made it fun b/c the wind was pushing so hard it was like skiing downhill.
I attempted some work on my Florida grad school essay in the very nice library we have here and then attended the Sunday Science lecture which was given by some guy studying sea level rise and change in the ocean temperatures specifically at a glacier in greenland and the PIG (Pine island glacier) here.
Someone told me today about the Ice before Christ event that happens here. It's where you have a cocktail with ice in it that is more than 2000 years old that they have taken up from an ice core
Saturday, November 5, 2011
laid back saturday
11-4-11
In the evening I made another visit to the corner bar. It's fun, and they always get me rum and cokes, which is cool. And they like to say how young and studly and how many ladies I can get, so it makes me laugh and blush.
11-5-11
Hung out with Cassa a bit this evening and visited the corner bar with her where I got my specially modified headphones that Bill's mafia equipped for me. They did some splicing and soldering and added on about 6 feet extension to them. My roommate loves them, which is good and means he'll use them so I can sleep in peace. But now I'm down a pair of headphones. But they're pretty cheap to buy on amazon. Cassa is one of my favorites on the shuttles crew. She's very friendly and bubbly and open. She's the one that drives the turtle bus across the country and is working on her masters in geography.
I went to a craft fair this evening. Some pretty incredible and creative artists down here. I really liked some stuff and ended up doing a bit more Christmas shopping. It's funny b/c the a bit older ladies all think I'm so cute b/c I talk a lot about my mom and she has sent me some packages and then I was doing some more Christmas shopping for her.
Ildi had invited me to a surprise birthday party for one of her friends, but I've been battling a cold (the crud they call it down here) and want to get over it, so I didn't go. They also had the big homecoming dance party tonight. Everyone was getting all dressed up fancy and some in cool costumes. I went with Cassa to the costume place to pick out a fancy dress with her so she's match her date's burgundy blazer. It sounded like a lot of fun, but I didn't have a date, plus the whole sick thing, so I'm not going. I want to try and get better, plus Anne and Ginny invited me for another ski tomorrow so I want to be feeling good.
In the evening I made another visit to the corner bar. It's fun, and they always get me rum and cokes, which is cool. And they like to say how young and studly and how many ladies I can get, so it makes me laugh and blush.
11-5-11
Hung out with Cassa a bit this evening and visited the corner bar with her where I got my specially modified headphones that Bill's mafia equipped for me. They did some splicing and soldering and added on about 6 feet extension to them. My roommate loves them, which is good and means he'll use them so I can sleep in peace. But now I'm down a pair of headphones. But they're pretty cheap to buy on amazon. Cassa is one of my favorites on the shuttles crew. She's very friendly and bubbly and open. She's the one that drives the turtle bus across the country and is working on her masters in geography.
I went to a craft fair this evening. Some pretty incredible and creative artists down here. I really liked some stuff and ended up doing a bit more Christmas shopping. It's funny b/c the a bit older ladies all think I'm so cute b/c I talk a lot about my mom and she has sent me some packages and then I was doing some more Christmas shopping for her.
Ildi had invited me to a surprise birthday party for one of her friends, but I've been battling a cold (the crud they call it down here) and want to get over it, so I didn't go. They also had the big homecoming dance party tonight. Everyone was getting all dressed up fancy and some in cool costumes. I went with Cassa to the costume place to pick out a fancy dress with her so she's match her date's burgundy blazer. It sounded like a lot of fun, but I didn't have a date, plus the whole sick thing, so I'm not going. I want to try and get better, plus Anne and Ginny invited me for another ski tomorrow so I want to be feeling good.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Day off!
11-4-11
A much needed day off. I slept in a little bit (till 7am) and then attended a tour guide training for the huts (like shackleton and scott's huts), so that I can take people on tours there. One of the main reasons I am doing it is hoping to get a helicopter ride out of it. There are three main huts in the area that they normally visit, but this year b/c of bad sea ice (last year was the first year the whole ross sea melted out, so all ice this year is completely new and no old ice like years past)2 of the huts that are pretty far away are not safe to go to via deltas. Sadly, this means the common people from McMurdo (like myself) won't be able to do the cool trip out to those huts. But they still will be doing about 20 trips by helicopter out there for scientists and distinguished visitors, so I am hoping that maybe I could get picked for one of those. If not, it's pretty cool to be a guide. I visited discovery hut today on our training (scott's orginal hut). It's pretty cool inside and there are still cut up seals and tons of other stuff inside b/c the cold weather preserves everything so nothing really decays. An interesting fact about these huts is that they are the only builings on a continent in which the very fist dwellings are still standing. On all other continents, of course, the original structures are long gone.
Did some laundry today and then headed off for the walk to Scott Base to do some Christmas shopping. There were a whole bunch of seals down in the ice pressure ridges (where the ice is lifting up into cool jagged chunks at the transition between sea and land) today. After getting some Christmas gifts, I did an absolutely gorgeous hike on the ob hill circuit trail. Not a cloud in the sky today and pretty warm (18F with 0F windchill), so it was really nice. Great views towards the mountains and out across the sea ice and down to the ice runway.
I forgot to mention that yesterday I had to take some fuelies out to Pegasus, the place they will build the new ice runway (on permanent ice field once the sea ice gets too thin). The road wasn't well maintained yet b/c no one is really driving out there. So there was tons of powder on this huge flat area with no obstacles anywhere around at all. It reminded me of, and perhaps this is where they film these sorts of things, those seemingly fake car commercials where you have some jeep or truck just hauling it through deep snow. I just stepped on the gas (thought I was only going 30mph as the max speed limit anywhere on this continent is 25, but I needed a little extra to carry momentum), and plowed and swerved through the snow. Pretty fun!
A much needed day off. I slept in a little bit (till 7am) and then attended a tour guide training for the huts (like shackleton and scott's huts), so that I can take people on tours there. One of the main reasons I am doing it is hoping to get a helicopter ride out of it. There are three main huts in the area that they normally visit, but this year b/c of bad sea ice (last year was the first year the whole ross sea melted out, so all ice this year is completely new and no old ice like years past)2 of the huts that are pretty far away are not safe to go to via deltas. Sadly, this means the common people from McMurdo (like myself) won't be able to do the cool trip out to those huts. But they still will be doing about 20 trips by helicopter out there for scientists and distinguished visitors, so I am hoping that maybe I could get picked for one of those. If not, it's pretty cool to be a guide. I visited discovery hut today on our training (scott's orginal hut). It's pretty cool inside and there are still cut up seals and tons of other stuff inside b/c the cold weather preserves everything so nothing really decays. An interesting fact about these huts is that they are the only builings on a continent in which the very fist dwellings are still standing. On all other continents, of course, the original structures are long gone.
Did some laundry today and then headed off for the walk to Scott Base to do some Christmas shopping. There were a whole bunch of seals down in the ice pressure ridges (where the ice is lifting up into cool jagged chunks at the transition between sea and land) today. After getting some Christmas gifts, I did an absolutely gorgeous hike on the ob hill circuit trail. Not a cloud in the sky today and pretty warm (18F with 0F windchill), so it was really nice. Great views towards the mountains and out across the sea ice and down to the ice runway.
I forgot to mention that yesterday I had to take some fuelies out to Pegasus, the place they will build the new ice runway (on permanent ice field once the sea ice gets too thin). The road wasn't well maintained yet b/c no one is really driving out there. So there was tons of powder on this huge flat area with no obstacles anywhere around at all. It reminded me of, and perhaps this is where they film these sorts of things, those seemingly fake car commercials where you have some jeep or truck just hauling it through deep snow. I just stepped on the gas (thought I was only going 30mph as the max speed limit anywhere on this continent is 25, but I needed a little extra to carry momentum), and plowed and swerved through the snow. Pretty fun!
The Corner Bar
11-3-11
I have been having a bit of an issue with my one roommate who likes to stay up til 11:30 watching shoot 'em up movies pretty loud. B/c I have the early shifts, I'm trying to go to bed by 9, which creates kind of a problem for sleeping. He said he would agree to wear headphones, but the headphones we have aren't long enough to reach from the tv to the little couch we have. I was asking around to see if someone knew of a department here that would have a headphone extension cord. They all said just ask shuttle Bill b/c he knows people and has his little mafia since he's been around for so long down here. So I asked him and sure enough he brought in some guy, and said "you didn't see this". I handed over my headphones and so we'll see what happens if he's able to do something.
Bill also invited me to the corner bar last night. It's a sort of invite only kind of place. It's in the same dorm building as me and it's these two guys who have a huge room (like an RA room in college) and have been coming down here forever. They have lots of couches, cool decorations and lights and a fridge full of beer. They also bring lots of alocohol bottles down so you can make cocktails. It's all at no charge if you get invited with the exception of if you swear, you have to put in a dollar for every swear word you say, so I would imagine they make some money as the night goes on and people drink more. It was a really cool and chill place. When I was there, it was just me, shuttle bill, and 4 other guys all shooting the breeze. A pretty funny crowd.
Went for a hike last night as well as spanish class. Met an interesting guy doing some sort of near-space high atmosphere experiments using big balloons. He's from the U of Arizona, but he has some collaborators from Johnny Hopkins.
I have been having a bit of an issue with my one roommate who likes to stay up til 11:30 watching shoot 'em up movies pretty loud. B/c I have the early shifts, I'm trying to go to bed by 9, which creates kind of a problem for sleeping. He said he would agree to wear headphones, but the headphones we have aren't long enough to reach from the tv to the little couch we have. I was asking around to see if someone knew of a department here that would have a headphone extension cord. They all said just ask shuttle Bill b/c he knows people and has his little mafia since he's been around for so long down here. So I asked him and sure enough he brought in some guy, and said "you didn't see this". I handed over my headphones and so we'll see what happens if he's able to do something.
Bill also invited me to the corner bar last night. It's a sort of invite only kind of place. It's in the same dorm building as me and it's these two guys who have a huge room (like an RA room in college) and have been coming down here forever. They have lots of couches, cool decorations and lights and a fridge full of beer. They also bring lots of alocohol bottles down so you can make cocktails. It's all at no charge if you get invited with the exception of if you swear, you have to put in a dollar for every swear word you say, so I would imagine they make some money as the night goes on and people drink more. It was a really cool and chill place. When I was there, it was just me, shuttle bill, and 4 other guys all shooting the breeze. A pretty funny crowd.
Went for a hike last night as well as spanish class. Met an interesting guy doing some sort of near-space high atmosphere experiments using big balloons. He's from the U of Arizona, but he has some collaborators from Johnny Hopkins.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Skuas have arrived
11/1/11
I joined the volleyball league tonight. It was a lot of fun b/c it ended up being kiwis vs americans, which made things interesting. Turns out the kiwis should stick to sports with their feet...
Had spanish class tonight and our lesson was talking about home. Apparently most people in the group are homesick. Not me, having too much fun.
11-2-11
The big storm had passed and it was gorgeous. We reached a high of 16F today. It feels so warm. The road out to the ice runway was treacherous (read fun) b/c of all the giant snow drifts. B/c so many flights had been cancelled the days before, they sent out a bunch of flights today which meant we were really busy, so we all ended up working a 13 hour shift, so I had a very, very busy day. Went to pickleball (went undefeated in 6 games) after scarfing down a quick dinner and then to open basketball.
One of our supervisory senior operators, Jen, went to the pickleball and basketball. I think I have a mom crush on her. She is so sweet and so nice and so positive and on top of it all, she's great at sports. She's always there when you need any help.
When I got to work in the morning there was a package waiting for me. When I opened it, there was a hand knitted wool hat inside and a nice message from Ildi saying she was sorry we hadn't met up yet, so she made me a hat. She is so sweet!
Saw the first Skua today. They are migratory birds that come down here for the summer. Kind of weird to see such a vibrant piece of life other than people. The only other signs of life have been the fat, immobile seals, and 1 penguin.
11-3-11
We had a seal get stuck on the ice runway road today. B/c of all the snow and drifting, there are big, steep snow berms on either side of the road from the plows. The poor guy got stuck in between and couldn't get all that blubber out.
Got another package from mom today!
Just so you guys know if I am not in as much contact as I would like, it's just b/c I'm very busy here. Just think of this: There are 24 hours in the day and 12 is for working and 8 for sleeping, which is 20, leaving 4 hours left. 1 hour is for dinner (they are very social), 1 hour is for getting ready in the morning, eating breakfast, and arriving 15 minutes early as is required for shuttle drivers. So that leaves 2 hours left. I average 1 hour of social/educational thing per night plus 1 hour of sports per night (though it is not uncommon I do a total of 3 hours), so that puts me at 0 hours left. But there are always some random things and the internet to do, so that means that I drop my sleep down to 6 or 7 hours. So that's why I'm not contacting you as much as I had while I was on the 10 hour days. But I do get 2 complete days off, so that is nice!
I joined the volleyball league tonight. It was a lot of fun b/c it ended up being kiwis vs americans, which made things interesting. Turns out the kiwis should stick to sports with their feet...
Had spanish class tonight and our lesson was talking about home. Apparently most people in the group are homesick. Not me, having too much fun.
11-2-11
The big storm had passed and it was gorgeous. We reached a high of 16F today. It feels so warm. The road out to the ice runway was treacherous (read fun) b/c of all the giant snow drifts. B/c so many flights had been cancelled the days before, they sent out a bunch of flights today which meant we were really busy, so we all ended up working a 13 hour shift, so I had a very, very busy day. Went to pickleball (went undefeated in 6 games) after scarfing down a quick dinner and then to open basketball.
One of our supervisory senior operators, Jen, went to the pickleball and basketball. I think I have a mom crush on her. She is so sweet and so nice and so positive and on top of it all, she's great at sports. She's always there when you need any help.
When I got to work in the morning there was a package waiting for me. When I opened it, there was a hand knitted wool hat inside and a nice message from Ildi saying she was sorry we hadn't met up yet, so she made me a hat. She is so sweet!
Saw the first Skua today. They are migratory birds that come down here for the summer. Kind of weird to see such a vibrant piece of life other than people. The only other signs of life have been the fat, immobile seals, and 1 penguin.
11-3-11
We had a seal get stuck on the ice runway road today. B/c of all the snow and drifting, there are big, steep snow berms on either side of the road from the plows. The poor guy got stuck in between and couldn't get all that blubber out.
Got another package from mom today!
Just so you guys know if I am not in as much contact as I would like, it's just b/c I'm very busy here. Just think of this: There are 24 hours in the day and 12 is for working and 8 for sleeping, which is 20, leaving 4 hours left. 1 hour is for dinner (they are very social), 1 hour is for getting ready in the morning, eating breakfast, and arriving 15 minutes early as is required for shuttle drivers. So that leaves 2 hours left. I average 1 hour of social/educational thing per night plus 1 hour of sports per night (though it is not uncommon I do a total of 3 hours), so that puts me at 0 hours left. But there are always some random things and the internet to do, so that means that I drop my sleep down to 6 or 7 hours. So that's why I'm not contacting you as much as I had while I was on the 10 hour days. But I do get 2 complete days off, so that is nice!
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