Jobs on the Ice

In response to a comment on my last blog about jobs here.....

The first place to look is on the U.S. Antarctic Program website it shows all the different opportunities to come down here. If your friend isn't a Ph.D. or a renowned artist/writer her best bet for getting a job here is with one of the support companies. Raytheon Polar Services Co. (RPSC) is by far the largest.

RPSC starts posting job openings in February or March on their website:

On that website the best thing to do is apply for anything you might be qualified for. I applied for at least 10 jobs and that's pretty standard unless you're a skilled tradesperson like a plumber. (note: if you know any good plumbers, electricians or mechanics, RPSC always seems to need more of them)

The actual hiring process is long, complicated and everyone here seems to have some story about how their paperwork got lost... so if your friend wants a job she should keep following up on her application every couple of weeks.

Very few people here (aside from skilled tradespeople) get hired unless they go to one of the job fairs. Think about it, the job's at the bottom of the world so it's tough to replace people who are lazy or have severe social problems. RPSC doesn't pay to fly people to Denver Headquarters for interviews so the job fairs are really the only places supervisors get to meet the people they are hiring. A flight to Colorado may be expensive but it makes you a lot more attractive to hire. (and could get you a better job that makes up the cost of the flight in a few weeks)

Your friend will likely get a job as a member of the "377 club." It's named for the weekly wage of Janitors, Dish Washers, and General Assistants this year. There is also an internship program I don't know much about where you get paid less and have to turn in a research project. Evernone in the club is overqualified: there are a lot of Liberal Arts majors and even a rocket scientist here washing dishes. With a 54-60 hour work week and no overtime pay members of the club make less than minimum wage, but you don't have to pay for rent, food or the trip to New Zealand. (seeing your paycheck, however, is still depressing especially AFTER they take taxes out)

Jobs are competitive and you should really want to get to Antarctica and work hard. Mainly they want people with the potential to stay in the program for a few seasons who can deal with isolation and old facilities and won't want to go straight back home after they get off the plane.

If you have any more questions you and your friend can e-mail me at my Alumni.Olin.Edu address.

Playing Catch Up

It's been about two weeks since I got back from Pole and my schedule is just about back to normal. I was working when I was at the pole but my shifts were being covered by the other night operator. Since weather extended my stay from 3 to 6 days he was forced to work 6 12-hour shifts in a row. I covered some of his shifts when I got back which meant for a little over a week I wasn't doing much other than working and sleeping.

In the blur of the last two weeks one of the day-shift operators left to go to start a winter contract at Palmer station on the other side of the continent. Palmer only has 20-40 people at any given time and the area is teaming with wildlife so Palmer contracts are coveted. His leaving meant one of the winter-over operators came here a month early. She wanted to swap with me so she could work nights so I agreed. This means I've transitioned from working days to nights four times in almost a month. I can't complain since the swaps let me take this job and get to pole. I am a little tired right now, however. I have two days off coming up and I plan to take full advantage of them.

The biggest change on station is the arrival of liquid ocean. While I was at pole the first of two icebreakers came in to help clear a channel for our resupply ships. There is open water in the channel and one guy in the power plant saw whales in it this morning.

The first icebreaker is a Sweedish ship called the ODEN and the second to arrive is the U.S. Coast Guard POLAR SEA. The POLAR SEA is based out of seattle so they came with "good" coffee and some people from station stood in line after a quick tour of the ship to get a cup of Seattle's Best Coffee. (I still don't drink the stuff)

The highlight of last week was a tour of the engine room on the POLAR SEA. I managed to meet the AEO/chief engineering officer while I was aboard for the quick tour and arranged a tour for Matt the Mechanic (see link at the right) and me. The engine rooms are tight and there is a maze of passageways to climb down. I usually have a good sense of direction but I was lost pretty easily as we climbed up and down half flights of stairs and ladders onto metal gratings. At one point I realized I was standing on a solid floor and the officer told me we were standing on the keel fuel tank 25 feet below the water line.

Much like a diesel locomotive the POLAR SEA uses diesel engines to turn generators and make electricity. The electricity is then fed to electric motors that turn the giant stainless steel propellers and move the ship through the water. This set-up allows the diesels to run at their most efficient speed while the electric motors can more easily have their speed adjusted. When eight diesel locomotive engines don't have enough power the ship can switch to using gas turbines which are effectively jet engines to turn the propellers. These burn a lot more fuel but quadruple the power output of the ship, allowing it to push a 400' long hull of 3" thick steel on top of the ice. The weight of the ship then crushes the ice underneath it and opens a channel.

What I was most impressed by, though, was the equipment they had replaced. One of the electric motors needed replacing a few years ago. It is a in a 10 foot cube of a box that surrounds the propeller shaft. Since the propellers are at the bottom of the ship this 10 foot cube needed to be hoisted 7 stories out of the ship. Problem was, there was a ceiling 1 foot above it. Some contractors in port cut through 7 decks of the ship making holes in bedrooms, bathrooms and anything in the way to take that motor out. Once they had put the new motor in they welded everything back into place so there is only a small seam around the edge of what used to be a gaping hole. If I hadn't been told about it I never would have noticed. It's crazy to think how much effort goes into keeping the dozens or hundreds of aging ships the navy has running.

Heading North

The "Ultra-Dangerous Power Plant Recovery Team" in front of a Soviet-Built MI-8 "hip" Helocopter. Right to Left: McMurdo Electrician Mick, McMurdo Operator Adam 2 (me), McMurdo Mechanic Matt and Adam 1 the South Pole Mechanic

There are a lot of differences between McMurdo and Pole. Size is the most obvious difference since Pole has a max population of 250 to McMurdo's 1200. The landscape here is flat instead of seeing the coastal mountains. The differences cut deeper into the culture here. the scientists and support staff, for example, interact a lot more here than up at MacTown. Scientists at Pole stay on station all season where at McMurdo the scientists are mostly only down for six weeks and will usually head out to the field after a couple of days in town.

Another noticable difference, however, is the station-wide intercom. Having one main building and an intercom adds to the sense of unity at Pole. In my mind the building feels a little more like "South Pole High" than "McMurdo Community College" but the people are definately more fun and accepting than at your average high school. Of those who choose to spend the nine-month winter here about 1/3 return. The main reason given is usually "the people" and after a week of seeing all the smiles here I can definately tell why.

Planes usually take off from McMurdo heading to the Pole in the morning. The sit "on deck" here for about a half hour with their engines running while the cargo and fuel they are carrying to the station are unloaded then head back to the coast in the afternoon. I've been delayed here at Pole for the past three days because the weather in McMurdo hasn't allowed the flights coming to Pole to take off. The extra time gave me a chance to walk into the old dome that was built as the U.S. station back in the 1970's. The old dome is just used as food storage now and will likely be demolished in the next couple of years. The Navy Construction Batalion (CB or SeaBees) that built it would like to have it reassembled at their museum in San Diego. So the next time I stand under the dome may be in California.

Yesterday we had "The 2007 South Pole International Air Show." A flight of American/Canadian helocopters came in and was met a couple of hours later by a flight of Russian helocopters. For the first time ever there were four "helos on deck" at the South Pole. It is the official policy of the National Science Foundation that the United States Antarctic Program does not support private adventurers in their expeditions but that didn't mean a few of us couldn't come out from the station to greet the crews and welcome them to the South Pole.

This morning I was down in the power plant when a call came in over the intercom "South Pole: We have an inbound flight from McMurdo off-deck at 08:30 expected here at 11:30 carrying DV's. All outbound pax should be on deck at 11:30." Which means I just got my ticket home. The "DVs'" are Distinguished Visitors, in this case it's a congressional delegation and some higher-ups from the National Science Foundation. I don't know who the congressmen/women are but if I'll be getting on the plane they're getting off so I'll let you know if I recognize them.

When the Power Plant Goes South

Me at the South Pole carrying the flag of the Green Mountain Boys and the Vermont Republic which is still flown by the Vermont National Guard

I made it to the Pole!

It took a pipe exploding and a flood of antifreeze but I made it.

Last week some maintenance was being done on one of the exhaust gas heat exchangers that pull heat from the hot generator exhaust so it can be used to heat the station. The exchanger needed to be put offline for a while while some checks could be run on it. Unfortunately (according to the mechanic) the engineer running the check didn't ask the mechanic about how to properly cut off the flow of exhaust and check to make sure it had been cut off. When the coolant flow was cut off the still-flowing exhaust continued to heat the coolant in the exchanger. The coolant trapped inside the exchanger was heated to 5 times it's normal temperature, overwhelmed the safety valves and caused a seam between 3" pipes to let go.

This meant the 2300 gallon coolant loop that carries heat to the station from the generators and their exhaust could now pour into the power plant (which is below the rest of the station) Some of the coolant landed on the running generator and was burned/boiled into smoke/steam that filled the power plant. The generator was shut down but the smoke detectors cut off fuel to the power plant preventing another generator from starting so the lights on station went out until the backup generators came online. Only about half of the coolant did pour out before it could be valved off but the damage was done.

Some of us from the McMurdo power plant have come down south to help out. The generator was a little sticky with antifreeze in the air filters but otherwise OK, the main casualty was the control electronics for two of the generators. The cabinets which are only designed to protect electronics against dust and curious fingers got drenched with antifreeze and some made it inside. In a battle between electronics and antifreeze, antifreeze usually wins. For most of the past week I have been helping the electrician carefully remove electronic components wire by wire and replace them. Since it is the South Pole parts are a little hard to come by but one generator (which didn't get hit with coolant) was already down for routine maintenance so we could borrow some parts from that one until the replacements come down in a couple of weeks.

By the time I head out today the station will be in about the same operating condition that it was
before this whole mess happened. I've been up to my elbows in antifreeze soaked electronics for a few days but I haven't stopped smiling since I got here. The electricians and mechanics have appreciated the help and are calling me "the engineer who has a clue." Considering an engineer has been given the blamed for this whole mess it's probably the biggest compliment they could give me.