Woopie Pickle OR International Talk Like a Pirate Day

In honor of ITLAPD (Sept. 19th) I've decided to post a photo of a vehicle sporting a Jolly Roger from yesterday.

This is one of the U.S. Army M4k forklifts known on station as a "Pickle." I got trained in operating the Vietnam-era piece of equipment last Friday and spent a good chunk of the morning moving heavy things around.
Pickles are perfect for our supply operations here because they can move over snow with their relatively big tires but bend in the middle so they can fit into tiny spaces: like the shipping containers everything comes in down here.

The last functioning Pickles in the world were brought to station around the time I was born so they need to be baybied to stay alive. This means each has its own personality and name.

Since the CASE company brought them into existence, most of the pickle names involve the word case. "BASKET CASE" and "HEAD CASE" are a couple of examples. The one in the picture is called "Que Sera Sera." I can only guess at what it did to get the name but the old Doris Day song was stuck in my head the entire time I was driving it.

Another entertaining fact is that these things don't have much of a muffler on the 30+ year old diesel engine so they are LOUD! The heat inside doesn't work either so I had to keep the hood to big red up to ward off the -20F temperature. The only option to protect my hearing was to put the ear protectors over my hood. I was warm but I felt like Mickey Mouse.

Look Closely at ye picture me harties. Ye will see the mark of Piracy upon her. Yar!

P.S. I e-mailed the guys who started ITLAPD to tell them it was being observed here in Antarctica. Apparently a few Polies were also celebrating down at the South Pole too!