ice license

I worked on a few projects while in Antarctica. My Ice License was one of them. Since we drive around so much in our shuttles department, I figured we could all use an authentic looking photo ID. So, with the help of Laura (printing out my design in color), I finally finished and laminated 21 drivers’ licenses for everyone in our office.

your antarctic adventure

If you are interested in a job in Antarctica, drop me an e-mail, visit rayjobs.com, and look for Polar jobs.

completing castle rock

I neglected to write much this week because few events have directly affected me. A ship, the American Tern, came into port. We unloaded and loaded it back up in 6 days. After watching all the delays, strikes, and frustrations over containers and ships coming for products Sweetener Supply purchased, I found it to be quite a relief that everyone here had an attitude of expediting the process. Last night we sent the cargo ship out and this morning, the Coast Guard Icebreaker departed behind it.

Our first two large groups of personnel left McMurdo last week. I assisted with the passenger transport for the first flight, on Tuesday, when two passengers boarded the plane and were then told they had been “bumped” to the next flight on Friday. They both had booked non-refundable travel for the next day and were not happy when their plans changed. A woman had to be medevaced and ended up taking more seating space than anticipated. So, J and I ended up transporting two crabby passengers the 45 minutes back to McMurdo after we took care of the flight paperwork and watch the C-17 take off.

Laura, once again left for the South Pole. This time it is for keeps. Well, I suppose, not forever, but I watched her plane until I couldn't see it anymore. It felt to terminal. I realized how much I hoped to travel with her after we left here. Now I'll explore the world by myself. I look forward to hearing about her austral winter South Pole season. There is a chance that I will be back in McMurdo again next November when she flies through back home.

After our brunch today, Lucas, Bodie, Michael, and I took another tour of the Castle Rock trail. The Rock reopened to climbers a month ago, and this was our first (and possibly last) opportunity to hike it together. Our hopes were nearly gone to get back up to this volcanic precipice, since wind, clouds, and cold weather have taken over Ross Island. In addition to weather concerns, we are only here for two more weeks before leaving The Ice!

There was some concern over the safety of climbing to the top of the rock this season. New ropes were slung around the rock to assist climbers. This rock scramble was my favorite part of the trail. There is just enough care and consideration required in each step to make it a thoughtful ascent, but not so much that I felt like I put myself in harms way. From this picture of Lucas and Michael, you will also notice the lack of snow on this rock. For a few minutes, despite dressing in 5 layers of long underwear, sweaters, jackets, and carharts, I looked up and thought we could be in a hot West Texas dessert, rather than a 17 degree day in Antarctica!

The weather is much cooler than the past weeks, we wenjoyed the time outside in the sun together for a long Sunday afternoon walk! Now we can all feel like we finally "completed" the Castle Rock Trail.

ellusive emperor

My crowning wildlife moment came today when I was doing our Pegasus weather observer shift change. The trip out to the Pegasus White Ice Runway is about 40 minutes at a reasonable (25mph) speed. We drop one person off, and pick up one person to return to McMurdo. I spotted what I thought was a penguin in the distance as we neared the airfield, but we had to stop to see it moving. As first glance, it was so small in the distance, it appeared to be another Adelie. But, Estefan, the weather observer brought some binoculars out and confirmed that the bird was the elusive emperor.

I began driving Debra back to McMurdo and she asked if I wanted to stop and take some pictures. So, we took a short walk to where the penguin was; careful not to "disturb" it's normal habits per the Antarctic Treaty. I did get some good shots of this awkward, but still elegant big bird!

This sighting was the marciano cherry on the top of a banana split at Jersey Junction (where I worked for a summer)!

*favorite photo: the emperor.

unusually unseen

Lauren and I came up with a list today. This is a list of things we haven't seen in four months:

* bathtub
* stars
* night
* tree
* lawnmower & grass
* compact car
* traffic light
* children
* rain
* bank
* drive-up window
* grocery store
* shaved legs (well, occasionally we see those--but not as often as you would think)
* pets
* handicapped people
* sidewalks & paved roads
* bugs (except those afids in my salad at the beginning of the season)
* lightening

I'm sure there are others that I could (and might) add, but these things we came up with in 5 minutes of downtime at work today!

vintage vehicles

While in Antarctica, people truly try to make the most out of the resources that we have on station. There is an art show, film festival, & Christmas gifts that use, and reuse, materials around town. Then there are the vehicles we drive. I assume you have seen some of the early photos of what I have been driving, but the trucks used for ship-offload are truly classic. Two of our drivers, J and Michael, will assist with the ship-offload once it docks with next years' cargo. They will drive everyday of 12 hours each day until the ship is unloaded. They are on a crew of 22 drivers who will unload around the clock. The first picture is of J driving one of the 50's model trucks they keep in good repair to keep trucking along year after year! With as few parts and products available to us, it is amazing that the VMF (Vehicle Maintainence Facility) can do such a great job of pulling things together!

I also know there is at least one John Deere fan in the blog audience who might appreciate the picture of this tractor driving around town the other day! Between the deltas, trucks, the pickles (I'll have to get a picture of one of those soon), the tractors, ski doos, tracked vehicles, vans, loaders, challengers (to pull vehicles out of the snow), forklifts, and Ivan the Terra Bus, there is little room for surprise when some new contraption pulls up along side me on the road. It all make for an interesting parking lot around lunch time!

andrea the aviator

Yesterday I finally saw the inside of the LC-130 aircraft. These are typically our intra-continental aircraft that fly to some field camps, but mostly to the South Pole. Other field camps are serviced by our Ken Borek Air fleet (smaller skier planes; like the photo in my Christmas picture with the seal) or by helicopter.

I spend a lot of time driving passengers and crew out to the 130's, but never had the opportunity to see the plane from the inside out. Yesterday, our MC1 (Mastor Controller), Kris, had me step inside and check out the cargo plane. I also spent a few minutes on the flight deck and chatted with the flight engineer who was doing the pre-flight checks. He also explained all the great ways to heat food in the aircraft: microwave or convection oven (depends whether the plane is a new or old model). If either of these goes out, there are always certain places to tuck a few morsels in around heaters and vents, too.

I missed the big action, though. Apparently 2 minutes after I stepped out of the aircraft, cargo was loading a 15,000 pound pallet into the aircraft when the "milkstool" (this is the apparatus they put underneath the tounge of the plane when they are loading it) slipped out from under the cargo door and caused the entire aircraft to do a "pop-a willie." I do not wish I were on the flight deck then, but I do wish I could have seen that!

I gave the flight engineer and Kris a note of thanks for hosting me for a few minutes. It was likely the most exciting thing that will happen for the next few days!

sweet ski-doo

I volunteered for the marathon this morning. Laura was supposed to be running, so I thought it would be fun to drop her off in the Terra Bus and watch her go, but since her weekend of R&R is now in February, I just ended up volunteering out of generosity in my heart and had a great time watching the whole event unravel.

My reward for helping out came as I drove back into town when another driver took over Ivan the Terra Bus. Richard, from the Rec Office came over on a Ski-doo and asked if I wanted to take a ride. Of course, any opportunity to do anything extra-ordinary down here is a good opportunity. And, the number of people on station who get to ride a Ski-doo down here is pretty minimal. So, I hopped on and accompanied him to fuel the machine. On the way back, he even let me drive (shhh...don't tell; it was only a few feet). Driving this machine was so much fun! I was under-dressed for riding, but we didn't go far and it was worth it!

Perhaps the most entertaining part of this adventure on the Ski-doo was getting the helmet on. Who knew this safety device was a hazard in itself. When I got it on the first time, it pushed my hat over my eyes and when we attempted removing it, I almost pulled my earring out of my ear. We finally found the buttons and took my hat off and it fit great! I can only imagine what we looked like: Richard pulling on the helmet while I braced my feet and tried to gently wiggle my head out of the black cushions.

huge honor

"I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down." - Mitch Hedberg -

My life experience grew today when I was invited to attend the Scott Base 50th Anniversary Luncheon. My invitation was by default since I, and Shuttle Char, were the drivers from McMurdo to the Base. The speakers at this even include the Prime Minister Helen Clark, Sir Edmund Hillary, Claudia McMurray, and Dr. Arden Bement. The first photo is similar to what you will find if you Google "Sir Edmund Hillary" in the news for today.

The biggest honor, and perhaps highlight of my stay in Antarctica was shaking the hand of Sir Edmund Hillary and thanking him for the groundwork he laid in Antarctica for people, like myself, to be able to come here. He has accomplished much and still has goals and aspirations at 87 years old! He did not expect to be able to attend a 50th birthday party for the Base he founded in Antarctica, but seems pleased-as-punch to be here. The man is still quite witty and has great regard for the science and research that continues here.

The luncheon was a strange mix of lowly Raytheon employees, Kiwi people, military personnel, NSF and high ranking government official, along with Char and I, the shuttle drivers. Prime Minister Helen Clark consented to have her picture taken with me as well. This woman is quite approachable and "down-to-earth." I appreciate her enthusiasm for coming to Antarctica and visiting for the 50 year event.

I would attempt to write more of my thoughts, but this opportunity came about so quickly that I am still trying to figure out how little-ole-me ended up with sushi and fine New Zealand cheeses for lunch! And, I must head for bed to rest this sleepy head!

*favorite photo: me with Sir Ed.

great guests

"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." - Sir Edmund Hillary -

Today I was put on the C-17 passenger transport again. I like ths job. In my particular role, two of us head out to Pegasus; the most remote of our two airfields in a van with flight lunches. We do not drive any passengers, but we do "herd" them off and on the plane. We are required to watch out for people who might wander off toward the engines, or miss their transport vehicle back to McMurdo or Scott Base. Today, we had a particularly complicated job as we had two important people arriving.

Today's transfer was quite unusual as it carried two very high profile guests to Antarctica. The first is Sir Edmund Hillary. He made the third overland journey to the South Pole in 1958 and established Scott Base for the Kiwis in 1957. His greater accomplishment is the first successful ascent up Mt. Everest. Ironically, he used the following words in relation to this climb: "We didn't know if it was humanly possible to reach the top of Mt. Everest. And even using oxygen as we were, if we did get to the top, we weren't at all sure whether we wouldn't drop dead or something of that nature." The sad irony is that this 87 year old man was relying on oxygen for part of his flight down to The Ice today. Perhaps his attitude remains the same: he's still climbing those high "mountains" in life, even if success is not guaranteed. His presence here is an honor for everyone in Antarctica as Scott Base celebrates 50 years. The second guest, is Prime Minister Helen Clarke of New Zealand (click here for new release). While not directly involved with the Antarctic Program, her presence is an honor as well!

There was quite the to-do about these people when they landed. News cameras were in their face. They stayed on the airfield ramp for a half hour of interviews. It was a bit of a zoo, but also entertaining for Dave and I. The most difficult part of our job was to keep the folks flying home from running up and taking pictures. I felt a bit disappointed for them but we followed protocol pretty well. Everyone here hopes to get a picture with Sir Hillary and possibly an autograph on the NZ $5 bill with his face on it. For now, at least I have my photo in passing. I enjoy realizing that after all the hype, these important people are still just people!

not so new news

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.

creating confusion and future finaglings

I've come up with some analogies to life lately based on my experiences here.

One is that my head can be a lot like a bad game of pool. A couple of days ago, I racked the balls and took about 15 shots at them. Not one ball found its' way to the pockets (well, except the cue ball). I kind of feel like that is how I'm thinking about my travel plans and life right now. I have lots of thoughts banging around in my head up there, but none have put themselves away yet.

Then, life is also like the transition between land and sea that I drive through to get out to our Willie Field and Pegasus airports. There are some huge lakes in the ice (bigger than the picture I am posting). They are actually puddles, but the bottom is not visible. This is disconcerting; considering we drive over the Ross Sea. So, when driving through these puddles, we can either stop, or plow through. A drivers initial reaction is to stop before arriving at the puddle, but we can't make our journey if we stop for apparent danger. The next thought is to drive real slow in case something happens, but that may leave the vehicle stranded at the bottom of the puddle. So, the third option is to proceed with caution through the obstacle and keep up the momentum to push out of it. I guess that is how I ended up in Antarctica. I saw an opportunity that was scary and proceeded with caution and have been plowing through it hoping to exit this place with momentum to keep living life with the energy and faith I found in this cold place.

So, with that being said, I intend to give you an idea of what my general, unplanned idea is for the next few months:

February 24: My redeployment date. This is the date I am scheduled to leave Antarctica. If weather is bad, or there are mechanical issues, our plane will be delayed. The season could also be extended as late as March 3 and since I am scheduled on the last flight out, I will stay if they decide we need to stretch summer in McMurdo an extra week.

Because we could end up leaving Antarctica as late as March, I cannot make plans to leave New Zealand until then. I do intend to spend two to three weeks in New Zealand. I will be flying out with friends who I hope to travel with on the South Island for awhile before heading to Auckland to explore New Zealand's North Island with my Kiwi friends, Kirrin and Jeremy, who live there.

After my time in New Zealand, I will be headed to Sydney, Australia. I intend to spend a couple days in the city and then getting out for a couple weeks in the southeastern side of the continent. This should put me into the first week of April.

From Sydney, I will board another plane to Honolulu to spend 2-3 days in Hawaii. I cannot say I am particularly excited about making a trip there, but if I'm headed over the islands anyway, I may as well tick that difficult state off the list of 50. Sydney and Honolulu come at a grand total with visa fees and taxes to $270NZ (which should be around $190USD). I can't beat that!

After a short stint in Hawaii, I will complete my travels and return to O'Hare. Back in the Chicago area, I hope to catch up with friends, sort through my belongings, take care of taxes, and attend a wedding in honor of Lexi and Matt.

With the intention of returning to The Ice next year, I will be relocating to Washington State this summer and hopefully finding a job there as well. This entire grand plan will be completed by May, although, dates and times remain to be determined.

So, if you know of anyone who has some extra space to transport a few boxes from Illinois to Washington, let me know. Or, if you know of anyone who needs a summer employee on the west coast, drop me a line!

redeployment and resupply

I have my redeployment date. February 24 I am chalked in to leave the continent. This must be taken with a flexible attitude, as the date could be pushed back; as late as March 3 if our season is extended. Or, with weather or mechanical problems, the flight could be further delayed. At least this date is a start for making travel plans and such. I requested this date as I hoped to watch the station closeout for winter and find myself on the last flight out.

In other news, the Swedish Icebreaker Ship, the Oden, is visible as it wanders towards McMurdo to resupply the station for next summer season. When ship off-load begins, the town runs full-steam, 24 hours a day, and the place dries out (by "dry out," I mean, there are no liquor sales & it's dry and dusty all over the place).

The volcanic ash dust around town is overwhelming. Today I taxied people around who just wanted a reprieve from the wind and dust. Fleet Ops actually send out a water truck to water all our dirt roads in town. It's amazing how much that helps! Our airfield was closed today with a Condition 2 (or worse) storm. My last shuttle run nearly forced me to get stuck in the snow. The Cargo folks and myself enjoyed slipping and sliding 6 of the miles back to town on our snow road.

midnight madness

New Years brought McMurdo another two day weekend. I cannot begin to tell you how nice it is to recuperate for more than 24 hours. This week will also begin our third (and last) shuttles rotation. The first, was my 17:30 to 05:30 shift. I am finishing my 05:30 to 17:30 rotation and moving into a 06:30 to 18:30 schedule.

But beyond the functionality of our work schedule, a large number of activities are scheduled to entertain us over the holiday weekend. There was a toga party, a fuel tanker party, two morning brunches in a row, Icestock, a Hut 10 Christmas party for our shuttles crew and another New Years party at Scott Base.

My Old Years Day was consumed by activities. I found myself out at Icestock early. This peculiar Antarctic event is held outside (I panorama-ed some pictures together) and features bands from around station, a chili cook-off, and some fabulous “art.” Of course, my favorite part had to be the Sawbucks; appropriately staffed by the carpentry shop. I enjoyed a nice cup of free coffee in a real Starbucks cup with Erik (he’s a general assistant, GA, and one of the very first people I met in my hotel in Denver).

I went for a run to Scott Base, but only made it to the top of their hill before I had to turn back because of wind and dust. I have to say, it was one of the most miserable runs ever! I was grateful for my balaclava to save me from inhaling the volcanic dust, but it did not keep me from getting blown across the road as I ran back into town! Last night the storm finally made its’ way into McMurdo. We had a nice fresh thin layer of snow this morning when it was over. I noticed today, we are getting some more flurries. After living such a dusty, muddy existence for the last few weeks, the new snow is a welcome sight!

For New Years, our shuttles crew had our Christmas party with gift exchange. Kris (our supervisor) and Megan (night senior) whipped up a delicious Greek feast for us all and we had a gift exchange. Then we had movies, games, and a midnight champagne toast. The festivities were quiet, but that is how I usually celebrate the turn of the year.

So, it is a new year; a fresh start to an ambiguously marked time, or year, in history. A lot will change for me in the next months to the end of next year. I will see many new places and hope for new faces, too! I have neglected to determine any resolutions, although, I hope to exercise more consistently. I wouldn’t know where to start with a resolution for an unplanned future. I am determined to have a great deal of faith in God’s provision, and a few unique adventures in the coming year!

“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.” – Jude 1:24-25 -

realizing reality

I try to write my blog entries about the fun, exciting, and good things that happen here, but sometimes things don’t go so well, either. I wrote this before Christmas, but it seemed like too much of a downer for the holiday. Life still has it’s dull moments and frustrations on this fascinating continent.

This morning, I woke up with a sore throat and I felt pretty tired. I have what we call “The Crud.” It is a generic term for any sort of cold or sickness. Being sick here is never healthy for anyone because we are always using the same facilities. Our housing and dining crews aggressively clean common areas to give us the best shot at staying healthy while we are here.

Then there are things going on around station like the norovirus which is highly contagious. If you catch it, you are promptly quarantined. It comes from an outbreak in Christchurch. That disease certainly prompts one to stay away from folks arriving from New Zealand!

I’ve also lost some new friends two days ago. The first rotation of Kiwi Cargo left for New Zealand and with them, was my new friend, Kirrin. I do hope to see her in Auckland when I return. One of our shuttles drivers, Rick, is also headed home after the New Year. It is sad to watch people leave when I just started to know them!

This morning on Willie Field Taxi, I was around for the medevac flight of a 74 year old Swedish woman who broke a femur about a cruiseship. She was helo-ed to McMurdo and put on a flight to New Zealand. However, this flight didn’t get off the ground due to another medivac who needed to fly north today, as well. So, as I write this in my van, the crew I am picking up is assisting in loading her back into the ambulance to McMurdo. They will try again later today with two medivacs. Getting hurt while in Antarctica can pose some big logistics issues. The estimated cost of the Swedish woman’s medivac was in the range of $150k US.

And, every time we see a cute little penguin, or some of the slithering seal, we usually have to remind ourself that these poor little creatures have wandered too far from home. While they make for good pictures, the penguins are usually sick or disoriented. The seal we saw out at Willie Field was quite a distance from any open water. It's fascinating to understand the cycle of life and death as it works in front of our face down here. But, it still makes me want to help these creatures find their home again!

Don't get me wrong, I'm having a fabulous time in Antarctica. But, sometimes there is a bluntly honest and real part of life that deserves to be reported as well!

cheer

Going into work today put me in the Christmas spirit of helping others. I arrived at work and immediately was assigned to help in the mail room, sorting the boxes and cards and letters that came in on the C-17 from New Zealand yesterday. I happily sorted through the letters and found 3 Christmas cards addressed to me! All this mail was the last shipment of goodies to make it here before the holiday.

After I helped out in the mail room, I tromped over to the galley to spend a few hours helping out with holiday preparations. I fully expected to wash pots, or chop onions, but instead, I helped unload the cheese into the fridge, and then decorated cookies with Tia.

Laura also arrived back to McMurdo today. I had a hunch she was on a flight that J picked up, and I told him to pass her off to me at Willie Field, so I could drive her back to town (now that the runway has moved, it's a 1/2 hour ride back to the station.

The holidays are nearly here. (Shuttle "Tex" even got this AC Adapter powered traveling lighted Christmas tree from his mom - too bad it doesn't get dark here)! Today at the store, the bubbly beverages sold out before I went to dinner. I got my bottle of wine to contribute for Christmas dinner!

As you prepare for your celebration:

"Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness
for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see the salvation sent from God. The Lord has spoken!” - Isaiah 40:3-5 -

losing laura

Today was a sad day. After spending a brief evening with Laura last night (picture at left), I woke up early for work and sat down with her for a last 10 minutes together at breakfast. Nothing like snarfing oatmeal and fruit and saying good-bye when I am still trying to comprehend “morning” and focusing on getting to work on time!

I went to work as the Willie Field Taxi this morning. Basically, this means I sit in a van until lunch and bring flight crew from the Air National Guard from our little Willie Town to the ramp where their aircraft are staged. This morning, I brought the crew for Laura’s South Pole flight, P042, all the way from McMurdo to the airfield (a 7 mile commute at 25 mph) and buttered them up real good so that I could get a good seat for her in the plane. As it turns out, they offered up a spot on the flight deck. I casually said, “Yea, I think she’d really like that!”

I also made sure she was on the best LC-130 that the Guard has to offer. It was Skier 90 (these planes land and take off on skies, rather than tires). This is one of the newest planes down here and the plane is heated; the best of the fleet of six down here. Actually, I have no say on what plane they fly; even the flight crew is at the mercy of “higher ups.”

In any case, I watched her transport to the plane and her take off, and later heard an announcement from MacOps over the radio that she had safely arrived at the South Pole.

So, Laura will be the facilities engineer down at the South Pole Station until next November. She will be back for Christmas and a week in January for R&R.

cynical ice life

First of all, I must say that in a follow-up article and in an e-mail conversation with me, Miguel Llanos, the MSNBC reporter with the bad attitude, has begun redeeming himself. He prompted quite the dialogue in McMurdo over the past 2 days!

Second, Congratulations to Laura, who has just signed a winter-over contract at the South Pole. She may leave as early as December 14 from here! Brrr...and wow, it's going to be dark! Better she than I!

Since taking on the dayshift I've had more opportunities to drive the big vehicles. I prefer vans, but the Deltas and Terra Bus are a unique experience all their own. I've become accustomed to adopting a cynical attitude with some of my passengers. One morning, I took Ivan the Terra Bus out on an LDB (Long Distance Balloon) run. This picture is of the LDB facility out on the sea ice. This group of folks includes quite a large number of important scientist who head out the direction of Willie Field. They like puncuality and they like to get to their workplace quickly. In fact, they time each run and try to tell the drivers to go faster to beat the existing speed records. On this particular morning, I was still waking up and in no mood to take any jabbing from my passengers, so after they were all loaded and ready to go, I gave a speech: "Good morning, my name is Andrea and this is my first LDB run with Ivan. I've heard y'all are a wiley bunch. So, at the first mention regarding my speed, or the time it takes to get there, I will drop the Terra Bus into the next lowest gear, and that is how fast we will get there. Feel free to test the system. It will only take one day for you to know how serious I am." I did not hear a peep from anyone, so when we arrived, I followed it up with, "I had Ivan's peddle to the metal on Willie Field Road. Thank you for your abundant patience. I'll give a good report back to the shuttles office." This was greeted with some clapping and a lot of laughing. And, it was memorable. Some of those passengers have mentioned the trip since.

The ANG (Air National Guard) takes an unusual amount of patience at times, too. Most of the crew pick ups go without incident, but there was the introductory run I did a week into my work here when I was using the restroom facility on the Ice Runway, radioing the Mission Controller about a crew pick up. I walked outside no more than 2 minutes later to find that the crew had already walked off the flight ramp, found my van, and drove it all around Ice Town to pick up their own crew and baggage. I receieved a personal apology from the Commander the next day.

A week or so ago, I loaded a flight crew into my van. Four of the Guard were smoking prior to the shuttle back and buried their cigarettes in the snow. Now, down here on the Ice, leaving anything on the ground is an original Antarctic sin. So, I noted that fact when they got in my van and the attitude they exuded made for an awkwardly silent ride back into town. They compared the pollution of their cigarettes to that of my van. I was so incensed after their comments that I couldn't come up with any sly come-backs at the time. However, the following day, I had an exceptionally great crew pick up. On the trip back to McMurdo I candidly mentioned the incident to these folks. They looked back at their planes and commented on how much pollution the planes they fly create in comparison to my van. I told this crew that next time there was a littering situation, I would have the offenders chew their cigarettes out of the ice before getting in the van. In regards to my van pollution, I would pull the keys and start walking back to town. They could follow if they wanted with all their flight gear on their backs. This crew assured me the litterbugs would experience plenty of prodding that evening.

Most of the time, I do my best to run a tight agenda. And, most of the time, people respect the job and the ride. However, once the rules are bent, people will press until they are broken. I am in favor of arriving at the other end of the rule on a straight line down here. No exceptions, just a flexible personality. Other women, especially, in the office are finding that to be the best way to operate.

great days, part II: cape evans events

Cape Evans is a point about 15 miles from McMurdo where Scott (one of the first Antarctic explorers set up a hut to act as a staging area for some of his various intra-continental missions. Most people have to sign up on a sheet and hope they are able to make the cut for the trip as only about 40 people can go per trip. This is a pretty popular Delta Trip since there are few organized tours of the hut. Our shuttles group (after rescheduling twice) was able to secure a time with the Chalet to take a Delta for our staff only.

We all crawled into the back of the Delta and began the trek out on the Sea Ice. The 15 mile trip takes about 1.5 hours to complete one way. The evening was amazingly warm and the sun was out. Our group enjoyed spending this time all together for the first time this season in the back of that vehicle – even with the bumps as big as they were (most of our Deltas have cracks in the back windows from people who didn’t wear there seat belts and were throw into them over a bump).

Our first stop was for a little Adelie penguin. The more peculiar sight was probably the group of 18 of us huddled around in a semi-circle waiting for the little guy to wander into our camera lenses. Unfortunately, this little fella was on his way to die. He was wandering alone, separated from his group, or sick. Life and death here among the Antarctic organisms is a harsh, but very real concept as we, humans, are not allowed to interfere with “nature.”

Our second stop along side the road was to view a monstrosity of a Weddell Seal laying right next to the ice road. Amazingly, this big mammal, did a most-unbelievable back flip for us when we were standing around it taking pictures. The hole he came up was about 15 feet from where he lay and only about 2 feet wide! It’s amazing that these creatures can use a place so small to crawl up. They are known to knaw their way to the surface through the ice if they have to. God certainly created a strange one in this species!

We finally made it to Cape Evans. I experienced, perhaps, the most quiet of all quiets on earth. There were still a few people talking, but everything was still. Every now and then, a skua would squawk, but there was no noise; no loaders, no generators, no buzz and hum of society. Simple stillness like I’ve never seen or heard before!

Near the hut there are glaciers that roll off of Mt Erebus which seemed to signify a true arrival to Antarctica. This picture of me is my excitement at beholding the Continent as it had appeared in my mind for years until I came here.

The hut was a pretty fascinating place to visit. As someone put it after we toured through the building, “it is the most amazing museum I’ve ever been in.” The huts in Antarctica are protected by the Antarctic Heritage Trust, managed by the Kiwis. Each hut is how it was. Very little has been touched. The Terra Nova hut we visited on Friday evening (named for the ship it was transported on) is complete with horse stables, seal blubber and penguin eggs that are nearly 100 years old. A real dead penguin is still laid out, frozen, on Scott’s table where it was brought in.

And, there is a reminder nearly everywhere humans have been on this continent of the sobriety of the environment we live in. Plenty of people have died in efforts to explore this white place and they are by no means the last to perish by the harsh conditions here. One of Scott’s last journal entry, March 22-23 “…no fuel and one or two of food left – must be near end. Have decided it shall be natural – we shall march…and die in our tracks.” And, his last entry on March 29: “Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have shared the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale…”

After a fascinating visit and playing in the snow, we loaded back up in the Delta and began our trek back to McMurdo. The only problem, was that in the course of the evening, under the bright sun, the snow had softened and our vehicle got stuck. Not just once, but twice. The first time, after more than an hour, our crew had sufficiently dug the huge tires out and we were able to back around the tracks on the road to get back on the top of the snow. The second time our tires sunk in the snow, we were so stuck that we called Fleet Ops to send the Challenger out to pull us forward, but were told that Fleet Ops was off for the holiday. So, we began a massive shoveling campaign. Marty pulled out the food rations from the back and began to make hot chocolate! I decided to help him, so we got the stove going, added a bit of water to our humongous pot and then added snow to melt. The two of us felt like the morale troop of the trip! However, we had just gotten our water boiling when the rest of the group had finally released the Delta from the snow. We arrived home at 01:30, roughly 3 hours later than expected. Fleet Ops had finally found people to pull us out with not only one Challenger, but 2 such vehicles and sent them out to meet us even though we had canceled the request. They wanted to be there in case we got stuck again, I suppose. Since I was transitioning, I had been up more than 33 hours, with only bits of naps here and there. Bed was a welcome sight that night!

Our trip was the closest we might come to a real Antarctic adventure. We were thrilled it happened on such a beautiful warm day, when we rarely needed our Big Reds! We had an amazing time getting to know each other and watching the group dynamics unfold. I work with some fun folks!

"The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it." –Carl Becker-

great days, part I: end of nights

A few fun and exciting little things have taken place in the last couple days and I plan to write a few blog entries detailing some of the greater (and lesser) events!

Starting with the lesser:
Wednesday night I worked my last night shift. As of Monday morning, my working hours will be 05:30 to 17:30. The thought is a bit overwhelming since I’ll be awake with over 800 people, rather than about 100 at a time. The number of vehicle checks and maintenance that we do will drop, but the amount of driving increase! I’m finding a bit of disappointment in that I won’t get to see some of my new friends from ATO (Antarctic Terminal Operations), but there will be a whole crew of new people in my department to meet, I suppose!

Another fun and exciting thing that happened Thursday morning after I got off my last night shift was my run. I didn’t use a treadmill; it was actually still a balmy 25 degrees, so I was able to make use of the ice runway road to jog out to Ice Town and back! I can’t express how happily I ran along the ice and snow, thinking that I’d never done anything quite so peculiar to get exercise before!

I also received a package from REI with some new sock liners, a mouth gaurd with a snowflake on it and Laura’s Christmas present! It is so fun to pick up a package with all sorts of treasures inside!

And, I have another exciting package arriving soon, too! Part of being a participant in the USAP (United States Antarctic Program) is that various companies will offer us promotional deals on their products. We typically have to contact the company, let them know what we are doing and supporting, and then wait for the company to confirm our employment. I ordered my first pair of boots from Keen as the gear issued boots are a bit like water bottles for your feet; sucking the moisture out of them, so you can slosh around in the shoes! I know this is a “cheap thrill” but I received a better than 50% discount on these shoes!

I know these are small joys, but they are part of what keep life exciting and rolling along here! The warm weather in itself seems to insight some excitement among people. Big Red gets bulky and just leaving him behind is a welcome relief!