It was absolutely beautiful the first two weeks after I arrived. Lots of sun with almost cloudless blue skies and temperatures into the upper 30's. Unfortunately, it didn't last.
The following week was more like today. Actually, it was worse, with higher winds and frequent snows. The worst part of it was the postponed flights. A shortage of fresh fruits, vegetables and eggs. There were other inconveniences. No mail, the store ran out of red wine, but nothing life threatening.
The worst thing was the effect on schedules. Science projects and work schedules are very tight and intricate. There are only so many planes and helicopters and crews can only fly so many hours. The schedule for the project I'm working with, PIG - more on the name later - was set back from Nov. 28 to Dec. 7. Except . . . more weather delays. I think they are going to try again tomorrow, Dec. 12. Until the first flight goes out, the remaining ones won't be assigned a date. I'm on flight five, right after a cargo-only flight, right before the helicopters get shipped.
Still, time is going quickly for me. There's a lot happening. As always, holidays are celebrated on Saturdays so a couple weeks ago we had a two-day weekend for Thanksgiving.
About 100 people participated in the Turkey Trot, a 5k race, on Saturday morning. That was followed in the afternoon by three seatings for Thanksgiving dinner to accommodate the 1,000 or so people on station.
Several times before I left, I was asked about the male/female ratio around here. A week or so ago, I saw some figures. There were about 270 women on station. This is a very sexually integrated operation with women in any and all positions. They work in medical, in the carp shop, driving heavy equipment, administration, fuels, cargo and supply, at all levels.
We're waiting to get to the camps, but we aren't sitting around. There's a lot to be done.
This time of year, the sea ice is getting too thin to support aircraft. From about Oct. until Dec. the runway is on the sea ice, close to town. In years past it was right in front of town, a few minutes away. This year it's farther back toward the more permanent ice shelf. Apparently the sea ice isn't as thick as in the past.
Many of the airfield structures are trailers on skis which are towed to the Pegasus airfield on the ice shelf about 19 miles from town by tractors. A few are soft-sided structures. Jamesways like this were used in the past, but better, modern shelters called ractents are being used as the Jamesways are phased out.
This is the interior of the larger tent. The wiring is all heavy duty, multi-conductor electrical cord. I've spent the majority of my time assembling and installing these wiring harnesses. This is what's used at the field camps, both the ractents and the wiring systems.