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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Back on the Ice

On July 31, I left Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, Micronesia. On August 24, I landed at Pegasus Runway, McMurdo Station, Antarctica. In between I went through Honolulu, Johnstown and Denver. Wonder how many frequent flier miles I have ? So here I am, back in Antarctica. It was around -30 when we arrived. Yesterday morning, Aug. 29, it was up to a balmy -7. Pretty good for this neighborhood, this time of year. Today I didn't check the temperature, but it's definitely blustery out there. There were about 150 people that wintered over. Some left, but the majority didn't. Another 300+ of us just dropped in on them. Quite a shock to the system, I'm sure. I haven't counted how many, but there are a lot of faces I recognize from my trips to Pole and Palmer. Can't put names to all of them. It seems pretty common to see someone, recognize them, speak your name and then say something like, "Oh yeah, '05 - '06 at Pole! What are you doing this time?" And all in all, everyone is pretty congenial - even if the winterovers are a little 'toasted'. We're constantly meeting new folks, even if I can't remember all the names. There are five electricians left from the winter and four of us FNG's (as in F....... New Guys). Those of us that just got here spent several days in Denver for orientation and training. So far down here, we've had a couple more orientation and training sessions, primarily, how to recreate outdoors without dieing and how to drive a jacked-up, always-in-four-wheel-drive pickup with oversize tires in/on snow and ice. Upcoming training includes how to wear a safety harness in construction, how to live out of a tent on the harshest continent and the dangers of working on the sea ice and how to avoid/survive them. I've been teamed up with one of the winterovers, Chad, who's getting me familiar with the station while we work on small projects and repairs. Not too much work outside - yet. This time of year is called the Winfly season, as in Winter Fly-in. The last of the passenger flights was Friday. There won't be anymore - other than one cargo flight - until early October. Most of us were brought in to begin getting ready for the 'main body' that's coming. At the height of summer, that main body will number about 1,200 people running around. That doesn't include all the Polies passing through and I'm not sure whether that includes the people who go to the field camps. After 15 months of shorts and t-shirts, now I'm wandering around in about 15 pounds of coat, bibs, boots and miscellaneous clothing. It takes some getting used to. Also after 15 months of the food on Kwaj, this stuff is lookin' pretty good. Maybe not as good as Pole was, but still, pretty good. They've got me hooked just with the fresh bread and baked goods at every meal. Despite the clothing weight and the cold temps, I'll need to begin working out again and be very careful about my intake. I may have put on a pound or two already. Here at McTown, there is a lot of demand for, and not a lot of accessibility to, Internet connections. For the time being, I'm checking my email at the public kiosk or on one of the shop computers. For the blog, I expect I'll bring my computer here to the shop and plug in on a Sunday morning as I am now. So . . . here we go again . . . a new job . . . a somewhat new place . . . new scenery and new photos. Time will tell what else will be new . . . . Later . . . .