6/26/16
Went for a nice ski today out along the IceSat traverse. It was a gorgeous day. Warm (17F), sunny, and little wind so that it felt hot out there
Cargo handed out our care packages today and I got some awesome stuff from Mom and Elisha! Thanks guys!
Cargo handed out our care packages today and I got some awesome stuff from Mom and Elisha! Thanks guys!
Started the intro to my thesis today...
6/27/16
DV's were supposed to arrive today from the NSF, UTMB (Univ of Texas Medical), NASA, and some other places, but they had bad weather in Kanger, so they didn't make it up today. Beautiful here though! This means we get to keep Dave and Kaija at least one more day! wohoo!
6/28/16
The DV's arrived today which of course stresses everyone out. They were doing a safety audit, medical audit, and some other things. And also the head of polar programs and some other science bigwigs were there.
Elissa and I had to give 2 tours, and I think we did a good job. Elissa told me she thought I must have been a tour guide before b/c I was very organized with my tour compared to hers which she said was very random. We had one of the NSF DV's be a pretty big jerk to us and tried to insinuate several times that he didn't think techs were needed b/c most things can be automated now. Of course they just had a snapshot of what we do, so he really had no idea. At one point he said, "what do you do? work 20 minutes a day and then ski around the rest" Definitely a jerk. But he was a jerk to others too. Elissa was pretty bothered by it, but I just shrugged it off.
Dave and Tonja (the new medic replacing Dave) got grilled pretty hard by the medical people. And everyone was quite angry after it b/c the group is upset how the DV's and NSF don't understand how the community is here. It's a small group, hand-picked out of 100's of applicants for each position. And the people are picked, not necessarily for their skills on the job, but also how they are as a person. Some of the things they said need to happen at medical was that they had to install a lock on the clinic. We use the clinic as a place to call home as it has a phone and a door that can be closed for privacy. But it also has different items in it we might need like medicine and whatever. The NSF is afraid we'll steal stuff or something, but everyone is mad b/c they say Summit is a family and that's not how we'll act. They also said medical needs to get a sexual assault, rape kit, and Plan B medicine, which again made everyone upset b/c that's not the kind of community this place is and it's a place where we all know each other well and all have each other's back and watch out for each other.
We held a whiskey party last night in the greenhouse for those leaving. I had made a card for Dave full of funny nurse memes and had everyone sign it, and we gave it to Dave at the party. Kathy had the idea that she would read what each person had written and Dave would try to guess who it was. If he got it wrong he had to take off an article of clothing. He got down to his shorts before he decided to just change to taking a drink every time he got one wrong. My message was easy to guess, and he got it b/c my was quite sentimental. Most everyone else wrote sort of funny dirty things to him based on different stories he had told. There was one other sentimental one written by a carp named Ben. We're sort of known as the wholesome ones around here. But it was a really fun party. Dave tells such great and hilarious stories, and he was on a role last night. And James brought out his bagel (stomach with the deep belly button) for all those leaving to kiss or rub. He also brought out his jar that he's filling with lint that he pulls out every night from the bagel.
Dinner was grilled salmon, pecan pie, and icecream!
6/29/16
Today we had to say goodbye to Storm (he'll be back in August), Kaija, Luke (utility tech), Robert (CU grad student), Casey (station beer brewer and very nice guy who was excited to get back to see his young son), and medic Dave.
It was pretty emotional for me this morning when they left. I like Kaija a lot. She's a good camp mom. She's being replaced by Gray, who's from Sandpoint.
And then saying goodbye to Dave. He was my very favorite. He was a good friend, but he was also amazing for the station. Everyone loved how approachable he was as a medic, which is a huge deal when you live with the medic. He was so positive and energetic. He always made you smile and laugh. He told the best stories, and he made you feel like such an important person. He's the kind of guy that instantly starts calling you Trav or T-rav and asks about your parents and brother and girlfriend and cares about things you care about. When I had something embarrassing happen, he quickly told a story much more embarrassing about himself to make me feel better. His office was in the greenhouse, which is where our main office is. So whenever you needed a laugh or smile or to complain or whatever, you could just head over to the medic room for a bit and you'd immediately be laughing and happy. So I will definitely miss that on station. I think the whole station will take a bit of a morale hit with him gone. Just such a happy, infectious, and caring guy.
Each morning we take turns leading stretching. When Dave leads stretching he has us do this stretch where we move our hips back and forth provocatively while we maintain awkward/lustful eye contact with someone else in the room. It's funny and always wakes everyone up! Today he marshaled in the in the plane, which means you help it park, like the guys you see with the orange sticks at airports. He did his hula hips as he was bringing in this military plane, which was downright hilarious.
I can't remember if I mentioned that I recently found out that Dave worked at the himalaya rescue station in the Everest region for 3 months and also in South Sudan. He's definitely been to some cool places.
Hopefully I'll get to hang out with him sometime. He lives in Denver with his girlfriend and he said that all of us are welcome to come crash at his place anytime for as long as we want. He's also a volunteer ski patroller at Copper, and said he could get us free passes, which is something I'd definitely love to take him up on. His parents retired to the Coeur D'Alene area 20 years ago and he goes up there for holidays, so also a chance to see him up there. Would be fun to meet his parents b/c we heard so much about them in his stories and he also put his mom, Bev, on speaker phone several times, and she's pretty hilarious. He said he'd love to meet Elisha up in N. ID sometime and he'd love to hang out b/c he says he has lots of friends up there, but they're all 70 or older
Today since it was a nice and sunny day, we skied out on the clean air line to raise the flags marking the line, so that they don't get covered up over the winter.
Lunch today was steak stew and dinner was chicken fettuccine alfredo with mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus. More icecream and chocolate sauce for dessert.
6/27/16
DV's were supposed to arrive today from the NSF, UTMB (Univ of Texas Medical), NASA, and some other places, but they had bad weather in Kanger, so they didn't make it up today. Beautiful here though! This means we get to keep Dave and Kaija at least one more day! wohoo!
6/28/16
The DV's arrived today which of course stresses everyone out. They were doing a safety audit, medical audit, and some other things. And also the head of polar programs and some other science bigwigs were there.
Elissa and I had to give 2 tours, and I think we did a good job. Elissa told me she thought I must have been a tour guide before b/c I was very organized with my tour compared to hers which she said was very random. We had one of the NSF DV's be a pretty big jerk to us and tried to insinuate several times that he didn't think techs were needed b/c most things can be automated now. Of course they just had a snapshot of what we do, so he really had no idea. At one point he said, "what do you do? work 20 minutes a day and then ski around the rest" Definitely a jerk. But he was a jerk to others too. Elissa was pretty bothered by it, but I just shrugged it off.
Dave and Tonja (the new medic replacing Dave) got grilled pretty hard by the medical people. And everyone was quite angry after it b/c the group is upset how the DV's and NSF don't understand how the community is here. It's a small group, hand-picked out of 100's of applicants for each position. And the people are picked, not necessarily for their skills on the job, but also how they are as a person. Some of the things they said need to happen at medical was that they had to install a lock on the clinic. We use the clinic as a place to call home as it has a phone and a door that can be closed for privacy. But it also has different items in it we might need like medicine and whatever. The NSF is afraid we'll steal stuff or something, but everyone is mad b/c they say Summit is a family and that's not how we'll act. They also said medical needs to get a sexual assault, rape kit, and Plan B medicine, which again made everyone upset b/c that's not the kind of community this place is and it's a place where we all know each other well and all have each other's back and watch out for each other.
We held a whiskey party last night in the greenhouse for those leaving. I had made a card for Dave full of funny nurse memes and had everyone sign it, and we gave it to Dave at the party. Kathy had the idea that she would read what each person had written and Dave would try to guess who it was. If he got it wrong he had to take off an article of clothing. He got down to his shorts before he decided to just change to taking a drink every time he got one wrong. My message was easy to guess, and he got it b/c my was quite sentimental. Most everyone else wrote sort of funny dirty things to him based on different stories he had told. There was one other sentimental one written by a carp named Ben. We're sort of known as the wholesome ones around here. But it was a really fun party. Dave tells such great and hilarious stories, and he was on a role last night. And James brought out his bagel (stomach with the deep belly button) for all those leaving to kiss or rub. He also brought out his jar that he's filling with lint that he pulls out every night from the bagel.
Dinner was grilled salmon, pecan pie, and icecream!
6/29/16
Today we had to say goodbye to Storm (he'll be back in August), Kaija, Luke (utility tech), Robert (CU grad student), Casey (station beer brewer and very nice guy who was excited to get back to see his young son), and medic Dave.
It was pretty emotional for me this morning when they left. I like Kaija a lot. She's a good camp mom. She's being replaced by Gray, who's from Sandpoint.
And then saying goodbye to Dave. He was my very favorite. He was a good friend, but he was also amazing for the station. Everyone loved how approachable he was as a medic, which is a huge deal when you live with the medic. He was so positive and energetic. He always made you smile and laugh. He told the best stories, and he made you feel like such an important person. He's the kind of guy that instantly starts calling you Trav or T-rav and asks about your parents and brother and girlfriend and cares about things you care about. When I had something embarrassing happen, he quickly told a story much more embarrassing about himself to make me feel better. His office was in the greenhouse, which is where our main office is. So whenever you needed a laugh or smile or to complain or whatever, you could just head over to the medic room for a bit and you'd immediately be laughing and happy. So I will definitely miss that on station. I think the whole station will take a bit of a morale hit with him gone. Just such a happy, infectious, and caring guy.
Each morning we take turns leading stretching. When Dave leads stretching he has us do this stretch where we move our hips back and forth provocatively while we maintain awkward/lustful eye contact with someone else in the room. It's funny and always wakes everyone up! Today he marshaled in the in the plane, which means you help it park, like the guys you see with the orange sticks at airports. He did his hula hips as he was bringing in this military plane, which was downright hilarious.
I can't remember if I mentioned that I recently found out that Dave worked at the himalaya rescue station in the Everest region for 3 months and also in South Sudan. He's definitely been to some cool places.
Hopefully I'll get to hang out with him sometime. He lives in Denver with his girlfriend and he said that all of us are welcome to come crash at his place anytime for as long as we want. He's also a volunteer ski patroller at Copper, and said he could get us free passes, which is something I'd definitely love to take him up on. His parents retired to the Coeur D'Alene area 20 years ago and he goes up there for holidays, so also a chance to see him up there. Would be fun to meet his parents b/c we heard so much about them in his stories and he also put his mom, Bev, on speaker phone several times, and she's pretty hilarious. He said he'd love to meet Elisha up in N. ID sometime and he'd love to hang out b/c he says he has lots of friends up there, but they're all 70 or older
Today since it was a nice and sunny day, we skied out on the clean air line to raise the flags marking the line, so that they don't get covered up over the winter.
Lunch today was steak stew and dinner was chicken fettuccine alfredo with mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus. More icecream and chocolate sauce for dessert.
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| launching a radiosonde weather balloon |
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| care packages from Mom and Elisha |
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| Out on my ski |
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| Cori and Elisha made me this |
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| Mom and Elisha sent me some photos to hang in my office and some cards too |
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| Elisha sent a Colorado Flag postcard, which I added to the tech wall |
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| Elissa up on the roof checking the radiometers |
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| The Reg Guy drawer has a new addition...Kit Kats |
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| Pictures and things Elisha sent me hung up in my room |
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| Kaija and Dave, two of my favorite people, walking out to the plane to leave Summit |
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| Elisha and her cousin, Cori, made me a hat with a beard on it since I can't really grow a beard |
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| Kaija snuck this sweet note into our office the day she left |
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| when the 2 bathrooms in the living quarters are shut off due to plumbing issues, there is a long wait to use the outhouse |
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| The PFS crews. Front Row (L to R) Hannah (IceCaps Tech), Thano (field camp assistant and my roommate), Elissa (PFS Tech), Andrew (Cargo), James (Heavy Equipment Operator), Back Row (L to R): Me (NOAA Tech), Kaija (Station Manager), Kathy (Chef), Nate (Mechanic), Dave (Medic), Storm (Heavy Equipment Operator) |
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| climbing the greenhouse tower to check out weather instruments |
