SKUA

Three days already since I last posted.

I haven't been crazy-busy but I have had things to occupy my time. I've gotten back into reading and have volunteered to be the librarian for a few hours per week. Last night was the outdoor safety lecture so I am now able to go out on hikes. (which I may try this weekend)

My job has me working at the powerplant at least for the next few weeks. The winter crew is finishing up their work on an upgrade project and will all be leaving in October. I'm not yet sure what I'm doing after that.

So far at work I've been doing everything from shoveling snow to bolting things to the floor to tracking down shipping containers out in the field behind the station. I have more safety training tomorrow. It seems like most of my time for these first few days is spent in training.

Work ended early today because of an "all hands" meeting were everyone on station got together to hear updates on various projects both scientific and otherwise. The meeting got out at 5:00 so we had the last half-hour of the day off.

I spent it taking a walk to Skua central: a shack filled with stuff left by people who have gone home. Skua is pronounced SKoo-AH and is named after the Antarctic version of the seagull that seems to eat anything left outdoors. Many of the veterans down here say they hardly pack anything anymore because anything they need for work is usually either issued or can be found in Skua.

I found a pair of sneekers that fit in Skua and from there I went over to the "gerbel gym" which is an old building filled with treadmills, bikes and other cardio equipment. A half an hour on the treadmill had me feeling better and I took a shower before heading off to dinner.

The food here is good heavy comfort food that warms me up after being outside. Unfortunately it also does a good job of packing weight on most people around me. I'm still hoping not to gain weight here so I will likely be making a habit of going to the gerbel gym.

With the Merino wool hat I bought in New Zealand and my pair of Carheart work overalls I'm starting to look like pictures I see of fishermen from northern maine. It's interesting to see a different me in the mirror.

I think I've seen all of the different types of door handles and latches on station. There are some interesting ones designed to be easily opened with mittens and there's no predicting which ones you'll see where or which direction they need to be moved.

Lots of new things going on here with every aspect of life if anyone wants to know about something specific let me know so I can bring it up.

Smells

The cold air here seems to kill many of the bacteria that produce smells. I'm used to air this cold carrying the smell of smoke from fireplaces but here there isn't even that.

The result is that every smell is magnified. The vanilla in kitchens, chocolate from the coco machine, or the smell of cigarettes all linger in the air.

Another feature of the dry Antarctic air is things burn really well in it. When a fire breaks out it has historically led to a total loss. This means there are strict rules on the station about smoking. There are only four places indoors where one can smoke. If anyone smokes outside they have to collect their butts under penalty of the Antarctic treaty but that is a different topic.

The previous occupant of my room didn't really respect many of the rules about fire. My room reeked of smoke when I opened the door and I noticed the smoke detector was hanging from the ceiling at an odd angle.

I exchanged the comfy chair for one in the lounge hoping the smell was trapped in the chair but it didn't help. I looked for the fresh air vents I heard hissing in the ceiling to see if they were blocked but the sound of the air seems to be coming from the light fixtures. (odd)

Today my roommate and I vacuumed the floor and found a clever way to hold the door to increase ventilation without much result. Eventually it was decided that the window must be opened. The window has two latches on it; one is about 20 years older than the other and opening the window required a lot of banging to knock the ice off of the outside and move the sash that was frozen to the sill. Despite the blast of cold air it was a welcome change and we kept it open for a good half hour to change the atmosphere.

Hopefully the stench will go away in a few days. Having a window is a coveted luxury for first-timers on the ice so we will try to make due and find some dryer sheets or something to cover the smell. (The can of "odor eraser" reeks of aerosol and is almost worse than the smoke) "Air freshener" may become use 1002 for my Dr. Bonner's Peppermint soap.

On the Ice

I am now officially in Antarctica.

The day started at 3am when I got up and made my way to the airport for a 4am check-in. After pulling on several layers of cold weather gear I went through the "bag drag" and checked 75lbs of gear. (cold weather stuff plus my luggage)

After a quick breakfast the hundred of us getting on the flight had a 5am briefing and put our carry-on bags through the X-ray before stepping through a metal detector. (amusing when you have eleventy billion snaps and zippers on four layers of clothing.) The carry-on bags were especially important since "checked" bags are shrink-wrapped onto a cargo skid where they stay until we either make it to the ice or have to turn around three days in a row. If the plane didn't make it to the ice today all we would have for the next couple of days would be what was in those carry-ons.

We crammed ourselves into a couple of busses before being driven out to the C-17 transport jet. Just before getting on the jet I was handed a big bag of food and a pair of earplugs. There had to be enough food in the bag to last me for 10 hours in case the flight needed to turn around and head back.

The inside of the jet looked huge since there wasn't any division between the cargo and the bolted-in seats. I took a seat with my back to the airplane's outer wall and spent a good amount of the flight looking up at the wiring and ductwork clearly visible 20 feet over my head.

An interesting side-effect of not having a ceiling is there is no place for oxygen masks to drop from. A portable oxygen system was stowed under the seats in a green pouch. It was effectively an oxygen canister attached to a plastic hood. Something seemed funny to me that if I couldn't breathe the Air Force would expect me to pull a plastic bag over my head. The life jacket was a little more useful during the flight since it doubled as a lower lumbar support in my seat-back.

Landing was scary. Not because I thought the plane would crash but because I was afraid we would have to turn back. The pilot got on the intercom and told us all that the approach wasn't looking good so we would have to go around a few times or possibly boomerang back. I wasn't sure if I dreaded the idea of spending another five hours on that flight or having to get up the next day at 3 again more.

The plane touched down a couple of times before it finally landed. Without windows in the back it wasn't clear if we had landed or not. I kept hearing and feeling the wheels hit only to feel myself pushed around by the plane accelerating and climbing a few seconds later. I wasn't really able to relax until the door opened letting in a blast of sub-zero Antarctic air.

The cold air was welcome since I had been sweating in my gear. A short walk later I was on a bus heading toward McMurdo Station. A couple more briefings and lunch were all that separated me from moving in to my new home.

CDC

I spent the morning at the Clothing Distribution Center (not the Center for Disease Control) where I was issued 42lbs of extreme cold weather gear. It all amounts to about two sets of clothing that would be warm enough for me to go skiing back in VT at -30 without flinching.

After an 8am briefing I walked into a basketball court-sized room and picked up two large army duffel bags which, instead of being colored the usual olive drab green were bright safety orange. The next couple of hours were an exercise in checking zippers, snaps and buttons to make sure they all fit and then putting on layer after layer to make sure I could still move in my insulated Carheart bib overalls.

I traded in my pair of white "bunny boots" for a bigger and more comfortable pair of "Baffin" boots. Most of the veterans tell me the bunny boots are generally only worn twice: on the way in and on the way out. They are solid rubber impregnated with Thinsulate and double the size of my feet. I felt like Goofy while wearing them. Since they are so air tight there is a valve to let the pressure out of them so they don't pop on the plane and anyone who wears them for more than a couple of hours gets wet feet from the sweat that can't escape. The new boots are a little less watertight but hopefully they will keep me comfortable while it's cold outside. By the time the weather gets warm enough for there to be puddles of water around I will be able to wear the waterproof gore-TEX steel-toed boots I was issued back in Colorado.

No major other changes to my gear except getting a larger hat for my freakishly big head. I also got an extra pair of polypropylene longjohns to supplement the set I brought from home and the one I bought yesterday. Hopefully this will all keep me nice and warm on the ice.

I'm in an internet cafe across the square from the Christchurch Cathedral. (which I think was the source of the city's name) The rest of the day is probably going to be walking about and enjoying the unseasonably warm temperature of 40 degrees. It's actually quite nice out with a lot of sun and barely any wind. Like most places in New Zealand there isn't central heat so there isn't much of a shock in temperature when one goes outside. I may even get some tea and sit outside for a while reading to get my body clock used to the time zone.

The 14 hours of sleep I got last night did me well and I'm feeling much better. It'll probably be an early night tonight too since I have to meet my ride to the airport at 3:30 am. With any luck the weather will be good, my plane will be able to land and by this time tomorrow I will be in Antarctica.

Christchurch

I made it to Christchurch today in one piece. The flights were uneventful other than a little iced tea spilled on me by a flight attendant. (it soaked the poor guy next to me 20 minutes into the 12-hour flight)

It felt good to see the skyline of Auckland again on my way in this morning. Walking around the city and shopping for a hat felt surreal, almost like a dream because I knew where shops and streets were even though it's hard to believe I was here before.

The dream metaphor could also have something to do with my not having slept much since Tuesday. (it's Thursday afternoon now) I'm trying to stay awake long enough so I can sleep though the night.

Safety Training

I'm in the hotel lobby waiting for the 7am shuttle to bring me to my second day of orientation. I think I'm getting used to the local time because getting up at 10 til 6 was harder today than yesterday.

There are about 75 of us here for orientation. Between half and 2/3 have been down before. about 1/3 are women. My roommate grew up in Mexico and there are a couple of people wh have Asian heritage but aside from that we are a pretty white bunch.

What there isn't in genetic diversity there is in geographic diversity. So far I've met people from Oregon, Michigan, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada and California to name a few. Most people do seem to live in the cooler lattitudes of the U.S. when they aren't on the ice. Wonder why? :)

Yesterday started off pretty well when I was handed $100 cash as travel money. Right after that I was directed to the parking lot where there was a truckload of boots. I got fitted with some insulated steel toe boots and went on to standing in all sorts of lines for Human Resources. From there we were greeted by the new head of the Raytheon Polar Program and after lunch we had a 4.5 hour safety class. It was pretty similar to most of the lab safety classes I've had before but this guy was a little more energetic and understanding than Bobby McC. He at least recognized that it would be a good idea to give us 10 minute breaks every hour.

I went for a swim when I got back to the hotel, had Mongolian Barbeque with my roommate for dinner and went with him while he bought a new camera. After that I went out with a couple a few years out of college who have worked in Alaska and are going down to wash dishes and heard a few good stories.

Bus is here now so I'm off to training, then the airport, and then New Zealand.

Denver, CO

There wasn't much sleeping on my part last night.

I had been packing for a few days so I was confident I had everything but I had trouble sleeping. It was like trying to sleep before the first day of school

I checked in just before 7 for my 8:20 flight and was through security about 15 minutes later. My parents had driven me to the airport and were waiting on the other side of the glass to see me off. There was a bizarre feeling of being on display while I ate a Pop Tart from my bag. (feeding time at the zoo?)

The rest of the trip was uneventful until I got to Colorado where an airport shuttles driving made me fear for my life more than any airplane turbulence ever has.

I've been checked into my hotel since 2 central time so most of the afternoon has been spent watching the discovery channel and more or less being a vegetable since I got up at quarter 'til some ungodly hour this morning. I'm trying to stay awake long enough to be able to sleep through the night before my 6:30am breakfast tomorrow.

Dale Ernheart, the airport shuttle driver, told me there were 45 people coming in today to attend Raytheon training tomorrow. So far I've only met one: they guy fresh out of the NAVY who I'm sharing a suite with. If he's any indication of things to come it should be a good time. :)

Farewell Boston

Music: The Weakerthans "Our Retired Explorer" (thanks to Debbie C)

It's been a while since I've done nine hours of driving in one day. I had a meeting in Boston yesterday afternoon so I managed a quick stop at Olin on the way down and caught up with a few Olin people. (I guess I can say Alumni)

The kind people in Admission gave me a stuffed penguin so if I still have some room left in my bag he may be posing in front of the places I visit while I am gone.

Even with all the summer students gone there was still not nearly enough time to see everyone at Olin and catch up properly with them before I headed off. As poor of a substitute this is for anyone I missed I hope you all have a great semester and a great time while I am on the Ice.

Send me your address if you want me to mail you a post card from you know where :)

Reality has hit...I'm going to Antarctica

A week ago I posted my car on Craig's List. By the end of the week I had sold it and was running around to get all the paperwork done and by Friday I had cashed the check, delivered the car, taken off the plates and handed over the keys. I sold it to a really nice couple in Burlington who work on international development projects. They were replacing an older Toyota they had donated to an awesome organization that fixes old cars and give them to families in need called the Good News Garage.

My mother was volunteering in Burlington that day so I walked from the buyer's house to get a ride home. On the walk it hit me that I was really about to leave. The last time I sold my car was just before I left for New Zealand so I guess I've gotten used to "not having a car" meaning I am about to go for a flight over the Pacific. Living in the woods and not having a car also means I get reminded that I don't have a car anytime I want to go anywhere.

Yesterday I fixed a broken paper shredder that had been dropped off at the thrift store where Mom volunteers so I spent the afternoon having an Enron party with old bank statements and notes from school. I'm still cleaning and re-cleaning my room but with just a few days before I leave the only thing I really have to do is pack my gear for the Ice. My departure finally seems close enough to start packing.

I'm ready to go. I've had a relatively relaxing summer and enjoyed the time I've had outside but it's time to move on. It's hard not to live in the past when I'm living at home. As great as Vermont is, I'm ready to get on with my life.