I gave myself a name in volleyball in McMurdo. I was "on" the team to win the league this year. I quote the word "on" because, I played a grand total of 4 games, or so, since I worked the night shift at the beginning of the season and had a hard time making a lot of games. Laura was also on this team, but since departing for the South Pole, she hasn't been able to participate much.
The weather has been real warm lately. We experienced 40 degree days and about 10 days now of temperatures above freezing. This make strolling outside somewhat pleasant, but you can imagine what it does to our snow roads. No one on station is allowed to take light vehicles onto the sea ice now. This means that our shuttles in the Deltas and the Terra Bus take on more passengers and we have to run our big vehicles 24 hours a day. I am a pro at driving
Ivan the Terra Bus now. Even though I would rather drive a van, there is something powerful about driving one of the biggest buses in the world and largest vehicle on the continent! I tell people that I've finally got Ivan under control.
If the weather continues to stay warm (which likely will not happen) and we run short on vehicles, our shuttles supervisor, Kris, is taking a bit of initiative and training us with piston bullies. I had this training yesterday and I had a great time! I did not expect to be a tracked vehicle driver. These are the limousines of McMurdo. They are clean, and look technologically advanced in the drivers' seat (especially next to the Deltas we drive). Because the Piston Bullies are used in the field, they come complete with a satellite phone, as well!
The next picture is of the Scott Base Road as I was heading back into McMurdo from Scott Base. In front of me to the left is Ob Hill. The road winds around the side of Ross Island with a significant drop off to the left of the road before stretching through the saddle to the right of Ob Hill and into town. This is one road that I do not care to fall asleep on. If two big vehicles are crossing in certain places, one will have to pull over and wait for the other to avoid crowding each other out.
The last photo is of some pools that are forming as a result of the pressure ridges rising and falling. If you open the picture up, you'll notice a bunch of black spots on the edge of these pools. These dots are seals and are also a good indication that the pools are, indeed, open water (not just puddles on the surface of the ice) where the seals manage to pull through to the surface.
I gave myself a name in volleyball in McMurdo. I was "on" the team to win the league this year. I quote the word "on" because, I played a grand total of 4 games, or so, since I worked the night shift at the beginning of the season and had a hard time making a lot of games. Laura was also on this team, but since departing for the South Pole, she hasn't been able to participate much.
The weather has been real warm lately. We experienced 40 degree days and about 10 days now of temperatures above freezing. This make strolling outside somewhat pleasant, but you can imagine what it does to our snow roads. No one on station is allowed to take light vehicles onto the sea ice now. This means that our shuttles in the Deltas and the Terra Bus take on more passengers and we have to run our big vehicles 24 hours a day. I am a pro at driving Ivan the Terra Bus now. Even though I would rather drive a van, there is something powerful about driving one of the biggest buses in the world and largest vehicle on the continent! I tell people that I've finally got Ivan under control.
The next picture is of the Scott Base Road as I was heading back into McMurdo from Scott Base. In front of me to the left is Ob Hill. The road winds around the side of Ross Island with a significant drop off to the left of the road before stretching through the saddle to the right of Ob Hill and into town. This is one road that I do not care to fall asleep on. If two big vehicles are crossing in certain places, one will have to pull over and wait for the other to avoid crowding each other out.
The last photo is of some pools that are forming as a result of the pressure ridges rising and falling. If you open the picture up, you'll notice a bunch of black spots on the edge of these pools. These dots are seals and are also a good indication that the pools are, indeed, open water (not just puddles on the surface of the ice) where the seals manage to pull through to the surface.
1 comment:
Hey, that's MY team! And I miss the next tournament this weekend again! I guess it's a chance for you REALLY make a name for yourself.
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