Trav's Travels: February 2018

2/10/18

I don't know if I've written about Vorna yet. Mitch gets cold in his little office, so Elisha got him a little space heater that is called the "Vornado". She nicknamed it Vorna and started calling it his girlfriend. Everyone in the office has been getting a kick out of it, and of course Mitch loves to say things like "If I push the right buttons I can really turn Vorna on" or "Vorna knows how to make me hot" Since today was supposed to be Mitch's last day in the office (turns out not true b/c of flight delays), Elisha dressed Vorna up with a wig, face, and tiny hands, which was pretty funny. Marci took some good pictures, which are included here, and I am going to use them to make a valentine that will go up on the McMurdo TV scroll.

Tonight was a night of many parties. The janos were hosting McMurdo Prom, the field party group was hosting a party to thank everyone for their support and my boss was hosting Slow Song Saturday. Elisha and I first went to the field party, but we never made it to the Prom b/c the Slow Song Saturday was so good. It was downstairs in the science support center and it was a bunch of power ballads, mostly from the 70's and 80's. It was the kinds of songs that everyone knew and everyone at the party (it was small, ~15-20 people) sang at the top of their lungs. It was the kinds of songs that I learned listening to KOSI 101 with my mom and the songs that were played over and over at karaoke booths in the Philippines. Songs my brother would absolutely love. It was the kind of party that my brother, yosh, sherman, and lucas would have just had the best time at. During the especially good songs, everyone would circle up, and we'd sway back and forth in a circle, singing as loud as we could

2/11/18
We spent our day off having a long brunch and working on travel plans and resumes. We also watched some olympics on the TV, and of course walked out to hut point. We've been going everyday out to hut point at lunch or after work (or both) to look for whales and penguins. We've been having lots of luck seeing whales and penguins. And now there are 3 adelies motling right on the point, so you can walk up to within feet of them.

2/13/18
We attended bedtime stories in the coffee house. I'd been wanting to go to this Tuesday night event all year, but this was the first time I was able to find time. Tonight was love-themed and people read short stories/poems, including prose written by the readers themselves.

2/16/18
I was flying on the plane to Antarctica during the totality solar eclipse that happened last August. Today we were treated to a partial solar eclipse, which was cool. We also walked twice out on the obhill loop (lunch and after dinner) because it was such a nice day. We saw 4 emperors each time. Such regal birds.

The C-17 is broken (hard break supposedly), so despite good weather, there have been no flights open. This from the McM station manager today:

From the panicked looks on people’s faces, to the Kleenex box taped on the wall next to the flight manifests, I have deduced that there is some stress about redeployment flights. I am here to talk you redeploying folks off the ledge.
Yes, the C-17 is broken. It’s true. It’s headed back to Hawaii without you. But never fear, we have both the 757 and a replacement C-17 on the way. Here’s the current plan:
SATURDAY – The 757 will take 120+ pax (depending on pax and bag weight). This will include everyone who was due to leave today (or earlier), plus a lot that were scheduled for tomorrow. Some of the folks who were scheduled for tomorrow will slide to Sunday.
SUNDAY – We should have a new C-17. It should arrive in CHC early Sunday morning, and the crew who is standing by (in CHC) will jump on and bring it down. Expect an 0900 launch from CHC.
MONDAY – The 757 and C-17 should both fly as currently scheduled.
And we’re back on track.
Julie GrundbergMcMurdo Area Manager, Antarctic Support Contract (ASC)
Currently deployed to McMurdo StationMcMurdo extension: 2486 Pager: 655

2/20/18
First sunset (at 1:20am)

2/21/18
Delayed today. Delays are common returning home, but what is uncommon is this delay is caused by a cyclone in NZ, not bad weather here in Antarctica