Lookin' out my backdoor: September 2010

Sunday, September 19, 2010

First, check this out - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39159500/from/toolbar A week ago, someone had to be flown out due to illness. Apparently it was bigger news on the outside than here. Some people didn't even know it was happening. Many people, including me, got emails asking about it. I read the on-line article about it. WOW! It was windy, but I didn't know we had a blizzard. Nor did I realize that there was just a brief window of daylight. I thought it was light at 6 when I go to breakfast. I swore it was light out at 9 on Saturday night. Unless a lot of people were hiding really, REALLY well, there were only 198 of us over the winter. Whoever wrote that article could make a fortune writing fiction. . . last week's flight wasn't difficult. The first seven Winfly flights a month earlier, now those were difficult. It was the first time pilots wearing night vision goggles landed at McMurdo with passengers. The first flight out carried a fellow with appendicitis. There wasn't any real daylight . . . but that was then. Now . . .

This was taken about 2 PM on Sept. 5. The shadows have moved back a lot since then. Winfly occurred and there are 520-some souls on station. They brought fresh fruits and vegetables which were great while they lasted. They also brought the crud. It's not great and it's lasting much longer. Nothing serious, I just hope I get over it before I leave.

The Southern Bar, a 24/7 bring-your-own-drinks lounge all winter long. A great place after work at the end of the week. My birthday was celebrated with the re-opening of the Southern Bar as, well, a regular bar. No longer BYO. Not that it cost me anything that night. I'm not sure how many whiskeys I had, but it ended with a glass of Jose Cuervo. About the time it hit my stomach, I realized what it was. A beer chaser got rid of the taste and I left before I damaged too many brain cells. And - no, there are no photos, no incriminating evidence . . . not that there was anything incriminating going on . . . that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Condition 2. This was about 8 AM and the sun WAS up!

Our weather during Winfly has been some of the worst we've experienced all year. Certainly more snow than the whole rest of the winter. If you want a good idea of what conditions can get to, go to this youtube link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz2SeEzxMuE&feature=related This Thursday, the 23rd, the first 'summer' flights begin arriving. Even more importantly, we winterovers begin leaving. A few dozen left during Winfly and now the rest of us will. It's definitely time to go. You have to stay up very late or get up way too early to see the Southern Cross constellation. The novelty of seeing the sun has worn off. Several weeks ago, before the sun topped the ridge to shine on town, I walked out to Hut Point to peak 'around the corner'. Didn't even think about looking directly at it, but I remembered pretty quick. . . .

It's too crowded. Someone is sitting in 'my seat' in the galley at break. Someone is hanging their coat on 'my hook'. There are lines. I'm almost out of decent beer, two-ply tp and whiskey. There are holes in my long johns and shirts, in most of my socks. For some of us, it's been over a year already, almost 13 months. The other day someone said they would like to go to sleep and wake up when it was time to go. I understand the feeling. Three weeks from now I will be arriving in Christchurch. While I wrote this, I went under 500 hours to go. We have computer programs to keep track of such things.

Having said that . . . I signed a job offer to return next winter, Feb. through Sept. There are some really great people down here, a number of them good friends. It would be fun to come back as a town electrician. I'll have to see exactly what I get offered.

The United States Antarctic Program. The first time you come for the adventure. The second time is for money. The third time is because your friends are here. After that it's because you don't fit anywhere else. This was my fourth trip. I've spent over three years of my life on the Ice. I believe I qualify as an OAE, Old Antarctic Explorer.

As to my trip back, first stop, about a week in Christchurch to take care of a little business and relax. You may have heard about the earthquake there. It didn't have much affect, not on the company employees, company facilities nor any of the places we generally stay. I plan to eat lots of fresh vegetables and drink some tap beer. Or was it eat some fresh vegetables and . . . Then it's off to Bali for a little over two weeks. So far I have the first seven days scheduled, six of them at a dive resort. I've got some ideas about other things to do, but will wait until I've talked with other people there. After that it's a few days in Sydney, with a trip to the fish market for mud bugs and another to the Opera House for the Symphony. Who knows what else. Then home.

I'll have my computer until I leave, but I'm not packing it with me on my travels. I've got enough just hauling my dive gear around. So if you would, hold all those great jokes, forwards and other stuff until I get back to the States. I'll see you folks in PA after Nov.9.

And to everyone else - see ya whenever

Phil

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Daily news and announcements

Sometimes temperatures were listed. The season high of 23 above zero was reached while I was in camp. Since our internet connection was so slow, other important information such as the latest NFL results were posted. Educational improvement was provided by a daily word picked at random from a collection submitted by the camp population. The individual who picked the word had to use it in a sentence. This day's word was fugly. Trust me, that was an easy and relatively . . . innocent one.

Sleeping quarters

Unlike some of the other field camps, these Artic Oven tents were provided to each of us. They are quite a step up from the backpacking tents. At about 6 or 7 feet square and 5 feet high in the center, they are almost roomy. Add a folding cot and a wool blanket for a rug. I saw a couple small shelving units in one and another flamingo outside the door. One fellow had a portable solar panel charging unit hung on the side of his. I didn't see a TV antennae, however. You have to take into consideration, this was home for almost three months for some of these folks. Pretty plush for a deep field camp in Antarctica - even if the temperature was sometimes zero or lower when we were climbing into our sleeping bags.

The cores are kept in storage until there are enough to fill a cargo pallet like the one at the end of the room. The pallet is loaded on a C-130 as close to take-off as possible. The plane is actually cooled as low as possible for the flight. There is a cooler to store cores at McMurdo. From there they are loaded in a refrigerator van and onto the cargo ship. A refrigeration tech goes with them on the trip to California where they will be shipped by truck to the Denver Federal Center. The tech told me that in the past they had used two trucks, just in case one broke down. This trip there will be a truck with two separate refrigeration units in case one fails. There are over 40 projects examining the ice. Some of it is kept in cold storage in Denver as an archive.

McTown and the off-load

Don't ask me to translate McMurdoese - instead of unloading the ship, it's an off load. Instead of setting up and tearing down a camp, it's put in and take-out. Whatever, the ship is at the pier. It's been unloaded and they are slowly getting it reloaded with waste, wornout vehicles, helicopters for the out-going contractor, and - the ice cores. With a little luck, a lot more hard work and good weather, they should be in Denver within a month or so. I had a day off and it was (obviously) beautiful. I hadn't hiked up Ob Hill in a few seasons, so I climbed up and took this picture. After I got down, I remembered why I don't do that more often. Gettin' older ain't for sissies.

"How long does it take?"

From time to time, people have asked me how long it takes to get here. This time I kept track. As it so happens, I think this was the fewest flights I've ever had. For one thing, a stop for a few days of orientation in Denver has been eliminated - unfortunately. Also, in the past when we flew to Sydney, we went to Auckland, NZ and then to Christchurch. And I actually flew from Johnstown instead of Pittsburgh but that didn't eliminate a flight, just cut down on travel time. Here's the breakdown -

I left about 9:30 AM, Sept. 28
Johnstown to Dulles, about 1 hour.
Dulles to Los Angeles, about 5 hours.
Los Angeles to Sydney, about 14 hours.
Sydney to Christchurch, about 5 hours.
Christchurch to McMurdo, about 5 hours.

Including layovers, 31 hours to Sydney, 38 to Christchurch.

We arrived in Christchurch in the afternoon. The next day we received our extreme cold weather gear and sat through some orientation lectures. the next morning we took off for McMurdo about 9AM.

The total from Johnstown to McMurdo was about 80 hours.

A Solid Foundation

These are the footer pads, posts and beams that the floor sections were put on. The pads are 36" squares of 2X6's enclosed in 3/4" plywood. It was all two of us wanted to move them. The posts are sections of 12x12. The beams are 4X8's. It was all bolted together with 1/4" steel angle brackets and 1x2" x 6" lag bolts driven in with impact guns. The floor sections were 2x6's on 12" centers with 3/4" plywood top and bottom. All this for a 12' by 16' shack to house a generator that probably doesn't weight more than 1,000 lbs. Now that's some heavy duty construction.

Seal

On the way back from Canadian, we came across the desicated remains of a sizeable seal. It was the third we found between camp and the Canadian Glacier. There was at the edge of Lake Fryxell and another very close to the side of the glacier. This is miles and miles from McMurdo Sound. No one seems to have an explanation although there is a rumor that when the Navy was running this show, the helo crews might have been having some fun with the scientists by planting these. they went to a lot of trouble if that's the case. And if not, again, why are these seals up here?