What's Next?

If you've also been keeping up with The Life Nomadic, you'll know that my post-ice travel plans have changed drastically as a result of the market crash. I no longer have the means to pursue an endless winter; skiing my way from north to south. Instead, I have decided to travel primarily in South America after a brief return to the U.S.

I'm excited to have built a new website which will be dedicated to extended travel on a fixed budget. The new site is called Vagabumming - South America Budget Travel - bookmark it, get the RSS feed - just check it out and follow along there for what's going on - and if you need a slick website built - drop me a line!

Population Explosion!

The first planeload of passengers for the 08/09 summer research season arrived yesterday...increasing our population by 14 people....16 people arrive today. It's a bit weird...seeing new faces for the first time in over eight months seems like a strange concept after you get settled into a routine here where nothing ever changes.

The arriving folks did bring fruit! I don't think an orange ever tasted so good. They also brought flu vaccine. I've never been a fan of the flu shot but I went ahead and got one yesterday. I'd really rather not spend my time in Hawaii sick.

The Winterover experience

Now that the winter season at The South Pole is nearing its end, I figured some self-reflection was in order. In conversations amongst Antarctic workers much is always said about wintering on this continent. Some describe the experience as magical, others simply tolerate the long, dark night as an alternative to what their life might be like elsewhere. There are usually stories of shenanigans, debauchery and occasionally even a bit of the ultra-violence. This winter has so far been one of the quiet ones. There was a fire at McMurdo, a couple of small incidents in our own power plant at Pole, a few injuries and an almost medevac but when the season ends the stories will most likely be pretty tame in comparison to other, more eventful winters.

Antarctic lore dictates that one is forever changed by enduring the perpetual night. For my part I have pretty much dismissed the widely held and often talked about belief that conversation is reduced to monosyllabic words with a grunt here and there. I have only experienced very isolated instances of being "spaced out". I would say that perhaps I have gained an ability to truly let things that don't matter slide. This comes with great effort and is definitely a conscious decision, but the fact is, is that not much really truly matters on anything other than a very small scale. Being locked in for nine months with a group of people really drives that point home. It certainly isn't advantageous to "rock the boat" and it's definitely not worth it to nitpick at somebody else's work habits or personality traits. Things that might normally upset me about how a co-worker or fellow community member conducts his or her business are easily dismissed here. I really like that about me and am curious if I can maintain the ability to let such things slide.

It LOOKS like the sun...

This picture, taken on...I believe the 21st of September shows what looks like the sun, but I'm told it's not...at this point the sun is still just below the horizon, and what we're looking at in this photo is refracted light. Bah!...It's the sun, reflected or not it hurt my eyes to look at and warmed my heart. Today, I can see the real sun, not just its reflected likeness. Kind of a big deal after six months of not seeing it.

Winterover Picture

you can click to embiggen


Everybody say cheese! stop breathing

On Tuesday we all braved the cold and ventured just over 1/2 mile from the elevated station to have the winterover picture taken in front of this pile of waste affectionately referred to as spool-henge. Almost everyone was able to make it out.

Weather update:

We still haven't seen that magical -100(F) mark yet, despite the favorable forecast for it a week or so ago. Statistically speaking, the chances of that happening are now diminishing quite rapidly and in fact just a few days ago we set a daily record high when the temperature rose to ~ -28(F). When temps get that warm here, it usually means high winds - not good for taking a group photo so we had to wait for the winds to abate and when they did, the temps dropped back down into the negative 80s for the winterover picture. On a positive note, as you can see in the picture, the sky is getting much brighter now with brilliant colors.

The Big Chill

I've mentioned the '300 club' on here before...but in case you missed it, it basically boils down to going through 300 degrees of temperature change in a very short timespan. Tradition holds that the ambient outside air temperature must be -100(F) - I don't know what that is in cubic meters but I'm sure my Canadian readers can figure it out eh. So far this season we haven't reached that magic temperature point at all. Last year the temp got to -100 but only momentarily - not long enough for anyone to actually take part in warming up the sauna to 200 degrees and then run outside to the pole marker - naked. One of the folks from the MET department (short for meteorological I assume) made up this chart to give us an idea of the likelihood of the temp actually reaching the requisite negative century mark: (click to embiggen)



It's fairly obvious that there is still a decent chance of hitting -100 for the next couple of weeks and the current forecast looks somewhat favorable for going into negative triple digit temperature range on Saturday.

I have mixed feelings on the whole deal. It'd be neat, and if given the chance, I'd like to take part in this truly once in a lifetime experience but at the same time, running around naked and sweaty from a sauna in -100 doesn't hold a great deal of appeal...stay tuned.

Quote of the Season!

Saturday night the residents of the South Pole Station were treated to yet another live music show - featuring some local bands :). While most people were totally distracted, Todd burst onto the scene and declared "You've gotta see this!"...dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, I and many other folks followed Todd out to the nearby observation deck to see this:


It is indeed sunlight....WOW...I've always been a fan of sunrise, though I've never gone outdoors in a T-shirt in minus cold as hell at 9:00 PM to look at one. I've also never been quite so excited to see one - epic! It'll take another month before the sun is fully above the horizon at which point I'll promptly curse its everpresence - but right now it's really exciting - a sign of hope! oh...I almost forgot....the quote that went along with this observance. Owing to the frigid temps and lack of cold weather gear - Todd said "Now that was worth losing a nipple over!" and, indeed it was.

In other atmospheric news I woke the other day with a pounding headache and couldn't figure out what might be causing it - I hadn't been drinking and I was very well hydrated so what could it possibly be? Here's a screen cap that I got from our "weather channel" - the barometric pressure has dropped so far that the physiological altitude is a full 2000+ feet higher than the physical altitude - that would explain the headache.

Happenings:

Just a couple of tidbits of information about what's going on at The South Pole.

Last Friday we passed a solar milestone. According to our local NOAA representatives, the sun reached 18 degrees below the horizon which is the "canonical demarcation" (whatever that is) between dark and astronomical twilight (whatever that is). The take home message is that, in theory, we should have been able to see the faintest glow of twilight on the horizon. That theory doesn't account for high winds and obscured visibility. The moon has now returned so any faint glow on the horizon will be washed out by moonlight. The moon goes away again in two weeks and then we should start to see sunlight again with full sunrise coming sometime around 21 Sep but more importantly these stupid window coverings coming off around the 1st of Sep. YAY!

As we start to think about sunrise, the reality of rising temperatures comes with it. So far this season we haven't reached -100. If we don't, this will be the 2nd year in a row and the first time in the history of record keeping that S. Pole hasn't reached that mark for two consecutive years. The significance here is that lacking the -100 degree temps there will be no 300 club again this year.

Things in the power plant are going well. We're in the middle of preventive maintenance and repairs on one of the big engines. That should be wrapped up in a couple of days. There have been no major events and I hope to keep it that way.

Encounters with mediocre cinema - at the end of the world

During the 2006/2007 Austral Summer research season, Werner Herzog came to Antarctica under the auspices of the NSF's artists and writers program. This program is a PR tool to help the good folks back home understand what their hard-earned tax dollars are paying for. Programs such as this have helped government agencies secure funding for as long as there has been a government.

Late in the 07/08 research season, a copy of Herzog's documentary, entitled "Encounters at the End of the World" made it to McMurdo for a screening - in fact, several screenings to ensure that everyone who wanted to watch it got a chance. After having become somewhat emotionally invested in the film and its quality, I was excited to finally be able to get a chance to see it. Of course after the on-ice premier the film was the centerpiece of most mealtime conversations. It took me a while to form an opinion on the film. It's sort of like when you buy something for a lot of money and you immediately realize that it's a piece of crap - but admission to that reality is undesirable so you go on telling yourself that your purchase was sound. No, I didn't enjoy the movie.

Marsha, having gone to film school and forced to endure hours of film, was a Herzog fan and was very excited that he was coming to Antarctica. On the day he arrived she went to the building where arriving passengers first go to meet him. To paraphrase, his first comments were about the sun, the warm temperatures and the ATM. He had his mind made up about what Antarctica was after only spending a few hours there. And his film reflected that.

With preconceived notions Herzog defaulted to the M.O. for which he is famous. After all, it's never been about the place for him, and he's been to some amazing places. It's always been about people - or as he said it himself "truth in cinema". He immediately sought out the egomaniacs among us. He found a community full of Kinskies and Treadwells, people who like Herzog himself completely buy into the legend of themselves. He singled these folks out, interviewed them and in typical fashion, interjected his own opinions over theirs.

I've seen a couple of reviews for "Encounters" some seem to be a bit patronizing but this one - in the Austin Chronicle is about the most accurate and best reflects this particular film. That's to say that, like the film itself, the review really doesn't say much. It's packed with a lot of words and descriptions but really has no substance.

My opinion of "Encounters" is that it came off like the family vacation slideshows you had to endure at the neighbors house when you were young. While it was refreshing to see footage of the people behind the science rather than another penguin movie - the film was, at best, a mish mash of several different ideas, none of which really made much sense and had no relationship with any other part of the movie. There just didn't seem to be a point.

Mr. Herzog was delightful to be around and surprisingly unpretentious. He did have an overall positive impact on the McMurdo community, save those who thought him invasive. He hosted a screening of Freaks, a 1932 film made by an undereducated circus performer. He also hosted a screening of his unreleased (at the time) "Rescue Dawn" which I did think was a wonderful film.

He also found time to play a role in this masterpiece - originally shot for the 2007 McMurdo Film Festival and featuring not only Werner Herzog but also 2/3 of the crew on the other film being shot that same season - Ice People. Without further adieu - the Internet premier of Chickenman:

Global Warming - I don't know and neither do you

Wherever I go, as soon as I mention that I work in Antarctica, people always immediately assume that I'm a researcher of some sort. Perhaps it's the 'mad scientist' look that I have adopted - or rather defaulted to out of a lack of caring. People also always assume, even after I set them straight that I'm no researcher, that I'm some sort of global warming expert. Even though the election and the economy have top billing right now in the news headlines, global warming lurks right below the surface. For all the articles that have been written and all the stories that have been broadcast, I remain rather skeptical. I'm not skeptical that the polar icecaps are shrinking - they are, there is quantifiable proof that that is happening, though there are isolated instances of advancing glaciers. I'm also a firm believer that the inhabitants of earth should strive to reduce our carbon emissions - it certainly can't hurt. What I am skeptical about (I'm sure I'll be the unpopular one now...being paid by science's dime and all)...erhem, what I am skeptical about is what science really knows. Policy in the U.S. has been steered by scientific "fact" in the past - then when a shift in policy is needed, the "facts" are either disproved or otherwise discredited. The most glaring example being eugenics which was a popular notion in the late 1800's and well into the 20th century. Scientific facts were stated to bolster the movement and eventually the Supreme Court of the U.S. even upheld laws that favored eugenics as being constitutional - all based on scientific evidence. When the time came to attack Adolf Hitler though, we had to paint him as villainous as possible - we'd seem like quite the hypocrites if we attacked him for his own eugenics program while still practicing our own.

Remember the periodic table of elements that you had to memorize in high school science class? Since 1994 six new elements have been discovered. What sort of an impact does this have on previous science? There used to be 9 planets in our solar system, then 10, now 8. Here Charlie Brown, kick this football, I swear I'll hold in place THIS time.

From the April 28th, 1975 edition of Newsweek:

A survey completed last year by Dr. Murray Mitchell of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reveals a drop of half a degree in average ground temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere between 1945 and 1968. According to George Kukla of Columbia University, satellite photos indicated a sudden, large increase in Northern Hemisphere snow cover in the winter of 1971-72. And a study released last month by two NOAA scientists notes that the amount of sunshine reaching the ground in the continental U.S. diminished by 1.3% between 1964 and 1972.

To the layman, the relatively small changes in temperature and sunshine can be highly misleading. Reid Bryson of the University of Wisconsin points out that the Earth’s average temperature during the great Ice Ages was only about seven degrees lower than during its warmest eras – and that the present decline has taken the planet about a sixth of the way toward the Ice Age average. Others regard the cooling as a reversion to the “little ice age” conditions that brought bitter winters to much of Europe and northern America between 1600 and 1900 – years when the Thames used to freeze so solidly that Londoners roasted oxen on the ice and when iceboats sailed the Hudson River almost as far south as New York City.

Back to the melting polar icecaps - the time that humans have lived on earth only represents a tiny fraction of the time the earth has existed. The time that we have been keeping records of temperature on earth is but a tiny fraction of the time humans have existed. We can certainly show a warming trend based on 200 years of data(regional warming & land use warming are huge contributors to this), but we have absolutely no clue on a larger time scale. That said, there is evidence that vast expanses of the earth have periodically been covered in ice. This ice melts. The smaller the ice sheets get, the faster they melt. Same thing happens when you put an ice cube in a glass of water - it melts faster as it gets smaller. Are the shrinking polar icecaps really something to be alarmed about? Species are losing habitat as a result and could likely become extinct. Tragic, sure, but over 90% of all species that have ever existed on earth are now extinct. This is the nature of things. It seems to me that evolution's main goal is to create life that adapts to and then consumes its environment. Of course then it seems that the evolutionary process will destroy itself at some point - and maybe it will.

Cynical as it may seem, my opinion is that science will prove what science is paid to prove. Currently there's a lot of funding for global warming - but the NSF's budget is being cut so severely that I may have to hitchhike home; I have to wonder if "global warming" will fall out of vogue.

Purty Lights:

One of our own was featured at Space Weather for his superior efforts as a shutterbug. On July 5th there was an outstanding Aurora display and Dana was there to capture in on - well, not film, but the digital equivalent. The featured photo (shamelessly hotlinked):

Jupiter looms brightly in the sky above the South Pole Telescope during this magnificent Auroral display

I don't understand all the science behind it all, but the article at space weather explains that these auroras were fueled by the interplanetary magnetic field tipping south which opened a crack in earth's magnetosphere and allowed solar wind to pour in - sure is pretty. I guess before I came down, I aspired to take some photos of my own of the aurora Australis - and I have managed a few, but when temps are below -70 the idea is much less appealing not to mention that cameras operate at quite a bit less than peak efficiency in those temps. Fingers used to press shutter release buttons don't fare much better.

Antarctic Treaty Meeting
Each year the 46 (?) member nations of the Antarctic treaty have a meeting to discuss the future of the treaty and compliance of the same. Lots of interesting topics are discussed. Of special interest to me is the United States' management plan of the South Pole Station. I intended on summarizing it here, but - well, maybe it isn't so interesting after all. If you can navigate the site you can find it here or, for a better look at it, check out Bill's unofficial South Pole Station web site.

News From Around the Solar System

If you've been reading here, you know that at the South Pole Station we recently marked the passing of solstice with a mid-winter celebration. This same occasion was observed by at least 18 other scientific research stations in Antarctica none of whom ate as well as we did! A few days later the Phoenix Mars Mission observed the solstice on Mars. A former South Pole winterover is a member of the Phoenix Mars Mission and he arranged a conference call between mission headquarters and the South Pole Station in honor of the mission's success and in observance of the two solstices (solsticii? [speel check says nyet]).

Antarctica's connection with the U.S. space program and space programs from elsewhere in the world is much broader than conference calls and celebratory exchanges of electronic messages. The Dry Valleys near McMurdo have been compared to the surface of Mars and NASA has taken great interest in the Dry Valleys and studies there have aided in the exploration of Mars.

Antarctica's vast ice sheets provide an ideal environment for collecting meteorites. NASA paid very close attention to the construction of the new elevated station at the South Pole as all construction materials had to be able to fit inside a military C-130 aircraft and flown to the site. NASA reckons they can use this as a model for constructing future space stations.

The European Space Agency hopes to glean experience and knowledge from research at the Concordia Research Station. The agency recognizes that a small team of people who are completely unreachable and must deal autonomously with any situation that arises can provide much insight in how similar situations would be dealt with in space. Environmental factors which are present at the research station are also present in space such as prolonged isolation and exposure to darkness and confinement.

I'm wondering when they'll start taking generator mechanics into space and where do I sign up!?

Polar T3 Syndrome

Locally, I make lots of jokes about "getting the dumb...must be the T3"...I use it as an excuse for just about everything. It's a great excuse for...well, just about everything really. But what is it? There really are no solid conclusions - the jury seems to be still out, maybe that's because someone can still see a way to milk money out of doing studies, or maybe the suspected causes don't have a large enough study group. Maybe there simply aren't enough people affected by it worldwide to be able to market some magic panacea so nobody is really interested in it beyond the occasional research grant.

The people who are supposed to know and understand things believe that Polar T3 syndrome is caused by the body's overconsumption of the T3 hormone (produced by the thyroid) in an attempt to keep warm. The muscles consume the hormone, the brain isn't left with any, or at least not enough to perform at its normal levels. Anyone who understands how hypothermia works knows that the body shifts to "keep core warm" mode at the first sign that a body is exposed to the cold, the core is kept warm at the expense of the extremities and the brain (confusion is a symptom of hypothermia). But does cold make you stupid or are you stupid to be in the cold in the first place?

Thyroid function is also closely related to the much wider known SAD or seasonal affective disorder. It is thought that light, or the lack of, has more to do with SAD than cold but it seems obvious that the two conditions are closely related and that notion is affirmed by the requirement of undergoing a psychiatric evaluation to be allowed to even spend a winter in Antarctica.

For my part...I notice that my speeling has gone all to hell, though I spend very little time exposed to the cold. People around me seem stupider than normal too...often pausing during conversation while they search for a word. Is it T3? SAD? Something undefined yet very common to most if not all Antarctic winterovers? Locally we just say "toasty" - a catch all phrase that might mean irritable, fatigued or bear reference to the 1000 yard stare. Myself, and the station as a whole however seem to be in pretty high spirits and I would not describe myself as toasty at least not at this point. Check back on me in August.

Rock 'n Pole!

In what will surely be yet another occasion of 59 wankers and me dressing up in silly costumes and will also probably involve ill placed bodily excrement of some kind, the mid winter celebration at The South Pole is fast approaching.

This Friday, June 20th, we will be marking the occasion of the (southern) winter solstice which also means only three months until sunrise and less than five months remaining until enjoying some much missed verdure.

We will be celebrating with what else - a meal that I'm sure I won't be able to shower with enough praise to do it justice. The second day of celebrations promises a concert of epic proportions. I haven't seen a list of the full line up yet, but at least one band that performed at Polestock will be performing for the mid winter concert and one debut guitar player will be showing us what he's learned since February when he first picked up a guitar.

One of the guys who makes electricity while I sleep, and is also wields a mean axe in the band ReTardis (among others?) is coordinating a live feed. You can get all the details at The Frozen Desert

Added an RSS feed

up there at the top of the page.....links to articles at The Life Nomadic World Travel, Worldwide Jobs, Nomadic Lifestyle

BBQ

I cross-posted this at the other site...some of the slick features don't work here...

It's 70 below, we won't see the sun for another three months, but damn it, it's Memorial Day and we're Americans. We're having a barbecue!

O.K....it's been edited - not doing it twice - so visit my other site World Travel, Worldwide Jobs, Nomadic Lifestyle to read the article in its entirety.

And don't forget Unique Baby Gifts for...well, it should be self-explanatory!

New site

Wow...three posts in one day...that's like my monthly quota or something.

Anyhow, I've been working on a new site. It seems a bit odd that I won't take the time to keep this blog updated, yet, I take on a whole new project.... The idea behind the new site is to generate revenue, so I will have better motivation to work on it and with a broader audience can write more freely (maybe..). The subject matter is overseas jobs and travel - two things I'm learning more and more about.

Personal "what's going on in my life" type posts will still go here - and hopefully I'll have more of that to write about once I get off this hunk of ice - anyhow, if you enjoy my writing and want to read more of what I have to write about check out the new site The Life Nomadic

To anyone who is reading this - if you have experience either working overseas or with travel and you want to help out - there are forum moderator positions open.

What's in your inbox...???

In the spirit of this post I bring you yet another item from my inbox concerning drunken use of the bathroom:

Gentlemen,



Apparently there is some confusion as to where feces and urine belong. I was under the impression that it was universally understood that they belong in the toilet and not on the seat or the wall surrounding the urinal. I guess this isn’t so as the stall in A1 2nd floor is crapped on almost daily and the other bathrooms are randomly hit. Please have the common courtesy to make it in the toilet and if you are unable to do this at least clean up after your nasty ass. For all the drunks that can’t aim, take a seat.



Thank You

Name “straight shooter” Removed

So...what's in your inbox? Do you get hilarious or inflammatory email at work? I used to just delete 'em, but I've decided to start posting them and take the piss out - further discussions can be had in this forum

Smoke on the water....

...or at least on the floor of the power plant. Yesterday right before my shift in the power plant, a cooling hose on one of the generators developed a leak, allowing about 30 gallons of hot, pressurized coolant to escape. Station-wide announcements went out for all SCBA (fire fighting gear) teams to respond. The leak was stopped with much haste, the generator load transfered to another generator and the space ventilated. Some kind souls stayed behind to help clean up - and I made a repair to the afflicted engine. From crisis to normal in less than 3 hours - it was an impressive effort on everyone's part.

Earn between 11.7% and 73.17% on your economic stimulus check

It's May! The federal government announced that economic stimulus checks will start to go out this month. If you filed a tax return and aren't filthy rich, you will be getting one of these. The amount varies based on filing status and number of children, but for the single person it is $600 and that is the amount I will use to calculate the gains I am writing about. If you were entitled to a refund and had it direct deposited, this check will also be direct deposited to the same account as your refund. In most other cases the check will be mailed to the address you listed on your return.

Now, $600 isn't a lot. In fact, it's so insignificant that you should have no problem tying most of it up for awhile to earn some monstrous gains. The first step you should take is to find a referral to an ING savings account there are several links here and open up a savings account, link that account to whatever account your stimulus check was deposited in. ING is currently offering a sign-up bonus of $25 for opening an account with $250 or more (you MUST have the referral to get the bonus).*UPDATE* Here's a link to an E*Trade account that offers a $25 bonus for opening and funding their "Complete Savings" account. The minimum to open is $1 and no referral is needed. That's it, welcome to a 4.17% return on your money, and there's more!

Prosper, a peer lending site, is offering a $25 bonus for opening an account and lending $50 to a borrower (I think you can get a sign up bonus for being a borrower also). Simply link your prosper account to your new ING account to fund the loan. You'll also receive interest on the $50 that you loan. Prosper is currently boasting returns in excess of 8%, which I won't count in my return calculations as it isn't a given. After these two steps, you have earned $50 on your $600 a gain of 8.3%.

If you haven't got a paypal account go get one here. Link your paypal account to your new ING account, then go to worldwinner, create a new account, sign in, upgrade to a cash player, fund your account with $20 (paypal via your ING account). They'll instantly double your initial deposit. You can withdraw your cash back to your paypal account at any time and move it back to your ING account. Gain so far: $70 (11.7%)

Now, admittedly, this is quite a bit of work for $70, but it will all take less than an hour. An hour that you're probably on the clock for anyhow, and a guaranteed rate of return like that just can't be beat. A quick search can probably turn up a few more sign up bonuses. Here's one that won't cost you anything to sign up for and pays $25 (is due to expire May 15th, 2008, but has been extended before)



If you take advantage of all of these offers your gain will now be $95. If you are a frequent traveler to Hawaii - or even a not-so frequent traveler, but live in a Hawaiian Airlines gateway city on the mainland, here's a way to get a round-trip ticket to Hawaii and one inter-island ticket for $100. First go to Hawaiian Air and sign up for a frequent flier account. Then get and use the Bank of Hawaii Hawaiian Airlines visa card and use it once for a bonus of 20,000 miles ($50 annual fee) do the same thing for the Bank of America Hawaiian Airlines visa for 20,000 more miles (another $50 annual fee). By following these steps, you have earned 40,000 miles on Hawaiian Airlines. Enough for one R/T from the mainland (35,000 miles) and one inter-island flight (5,000 miles) or enough for eight inter-island flights. These are both good deals for certain people. I just did a quick search, a flight from Las Vegas to Kona is ~450 each way. It's hard to quantify the value of frequent flier miles, but free frequent flier miles.com - an expert on miles and their value values them at 1.6 cents each, valuing these 40,000 miles at $640. I also recently priced a three-leg island hopping airfare at $204 or 15,000 miles, which would value these miles at $544 total dollars - so let's go with that - you get $544 dollars worth of something for $100 dollars (only $5 of it was your own money)...you could figure a gain here of $439 on your original $600 or 73.17%. Warren Buffet and George Soros are trembling with fear!

You've got to be kidding me....

...since there isn't much Antarctic news, I figure I'd post this tidbit.

One thing I've learned is that the primary ingredient for success is courage. You just have to be willing to put whatever it is you have out there. Marsha often reminds me that 90% of success is just showing up. Without further adieu here it is:

Here's a link to the product sales page: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000QGCKPG/thingamababy-20

Somebody actually found a market for this crap! I just have to say, you have no right to bitch about high gas prices, foreclosures or anything else related to the economy if you're spending your money on crap like this. And chances are, you are...think about it.

mostly just a test post

Mosque Musician
Originally uploaded by m0loch

From my flickr account. I really like this photo and I've been doing a lot of work to it in GIMP (the Linux equivalent of photoshop)

Halfway there!

So...someone on the ice made a spreadsheet called "the donut of misery", probably for one of those stupid "fun with excel" classes or something. Lots of people used it, I never paid much attention. This last season, I was shown a cuter version of the same thing called "penguin timer"...it's really kind of silly too. Anyhow, it provides a countdown of sorts for when one is leaving the ice. I have now surpassed the halfway point...It's all downhill from here.

Sunset and Dinner

This post is about a week overdue...I guess it's a good thing that I'm too busy to be posting all the time. Anyhow, sunset, being only a once per year event is sort of a big deal. There's quite a bit of science behind when the sun will actually set. Many variables including how tall the observer is, what the atmosphere is doing...many other things play a role in when the sun will actually not be visible anymore. The only constant is the time of the equinox - that time when both poles see exactly half of the sun...barring any atmospheric impact and assuming a perfectly spherical earth. Theoretically, from that point it would take about 16 hours for the sun to disappear below the horizon...but that is without the aforementioned variables. The short story here is that "sunset" is a moving target. This year, thick cloud cover set in and so the sunset was mostly obscured and the sun mostly sneaked out of sight unnoticed. A couple of people got pictures during some rare breaks in the clouds...they're not mine to post here, so I won't.

The occasion of sunset is somewhat of a holiday here and as is the case with any holiday, it was marked with a hearty meal, copious libations and a festive mood. Some people dressed up for the celebration, others, including myself, just put on a clean T-shirt that didn't have the word "fuck" on it anywhere (quite a challenge to find) The meal itself was remarkable. There were several choices including lobster and tenderloin, which was awfully hard to pass up in favor of grilled salmon with boysenberry gastric served on a bed of wild mushroom and quinoa pilaf. It was delicious! Harsh continent indeed.

No card tables here - kids get to sit at the "grown-up" tables

Dinner show?

Oh, the only thing missing was my darling, wonderful girlfriend - Marsha

Water, water everywhere, but not a thing to shower with...

My friend Ken told me I remind him of the character in "Lord of War" played by Nicolas Cage and allegedly inspired by the real life Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout who was recently arrested in Thailand. Having been mildly interested in the story of this person, and also having some sort of unexplained fascination with prison life, hearing this story sparked some sort of interest in reading prison stories...specifically stories from Thai prisons. My search led me to a book which I will have to add to my "must read" list titled "The Damage Done" about an Aussie heroin dealer who got caught in Thailand and spent 12 years in prison there. It also took me to a Thai prison blog, where I read one person's account of what is allegedly the worst prison system on earth. I chortled heartily when I read what seemed like a complaint about the shower:

"The water is turned on for 2.5 minutes for you to wet your entire body. Then it is turned off while you then soap yourself quickly. Then the water is turned back on for another 2.5 minutes for you to wash off the soap. You have to be quick because you don’t get a second chance."


And from what I gather, this is part of the daily routine. I just can't muster up any sympathy for him. Antarctica contains 70% of the earth's freshwater and 90% of the earth's ice. The B-15 iceberg alone, which made news in 2005, contains more than 1000 trillion gallons of water. That is an amount completely unfathomable to me, but by the estimation of leading glaciologists familiar with B-15, that is enough water to cover all of the land on earth with .5 inches of water - or 5 inches of water on all of the agricultural land on earth. And B-15 is but a sliver of the total mass of ice on the continent. Here at the South Pole, the ice is two miles thick and goes on for as far as the eye can see in all directions. The point I'm driving at here is that there's a hell of a lot of water in this "desert". Unfortunately, that water is locked in ice, and it takes heat to get it. It costs a great deal of money to generate the heat required to melt ice. Therefore, every person on station is limited to two two-minute showers per week. Believe me when I say that a two minute shower is very much less than satisfying.

My heart bleeds for you Mr. Thai Prisoner.

A big shout out to the fiscally irresponsible

So...went ahead and did my taxes today...knowing that I have a refund coming, I can't believe I procrastinated this long. I did need to put forth some effort to gather some of the required documents, but it turned out being much easier than I had thought. Anyhow, my refund is now on the way, but I digress. The real point of this post is to thank the millions of Americans who just had to keep up with the Joneses and buy houses which they didn't really have the means to pay for. Because of this, there is apparently a "mortgage crisis" in America and the government has decided to introduce an economic stimulus program. What this means is that myself and many other Americans are going to get a $600 check, which we are probably expected to use to buy lead infused crap from wal-mart with to stimulate the economy. It's kind of a joke, $600 really doesn't go far but for my part, I'm promptly depositing it in a savings account in New Zealand (paying in excess of 10%), and with the interest earned on that $600 by the time I get off this godforsaken hunk of ice it will have accrued enough interest that I can use that interest to purchase a cigar* which was rolled on the thighs of a 15 year old Cuban virgin. My fiscally irresponsible contemporaries will probably already have thrown away the broken piece of whatever they bought with their check by that time. While I do appreciate the check, that's not really what the "thank you" is for. The thank you is for the extension in unemployment insurance. Seems because you can't pay your mortgage, my unemployment insurance benefits can be extended for 26 weeks BEYOND when they would normally run out. I will be taking advantage of this. Takes me back to my trip a few years ago....living on the beach in a demi-mansion with two housekeepers, a gardner a poolboy and a cook..all the while, collecting unemployment (hey, nobody wants to hire someone who's just going to quit on them in a few weeks to go back to Antarctica)...ah the good life. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Will work for ski pass!

*I don't really get what the big deal is about Cuban cigars, but I can get 'em(well, not today but..) and you can't so neener neener

The Power Plant

I just thought I'd put a few pictures of the South Pole power plant on here and include some technical specs and a quick rundown of what it is, exactly, that I'm doing here. The plant consists of three Caterpillar 3512B generators with a nameplate rating of 1015kW (derated to 750kW for altitude). These engines are twin turbocharged, aftercooled, mechanical/electronic unit fuel injected. They have a 6.7" bore and a 7.5" stroke with a total displacement of 3158 cubic inches (51.8L).

Here is one of the 3512B generators

There is also a Caterpillar 3406 ("peaker") in the plant. Normally, only one of the big engines is running, and if demand goes above 675kW for one hour, the "peaker" will start to carry part of the load. With one running, one can be in backup mode and the other down for maintenance..which is where I come in. Myself and two other people provide 24 hour/day coverage in the plant and perform any preventive or corrective maintenance on the engines. We also perform checks of the engines and heating systems every two hours. The engine coolant is routed through a heat exchanger which provides heat to the station, so we keep an eye on all of the engine cooling/station heating systems in addition to electricity production.

Inside the Power Plant

Pictured above and below are the individual "heat rejection skids" for the engines and various other station heating piping

Below is the switchgear for one of the generators, each one has its own and there is a master controller in the "control room" (of all places)

Pole

Well, I've been at the South Pole for about a week now and settling in. The physical elevation here is 9,300 ft, add to that the effect of being at the end of the earth...all the air is forced towards the equator by the spinning of the earth, and the physiological elevation can be quite high...currently floating around the 10,900 ft. mark. I've been short of breath and I had a maddening headache for the first day or so that I was here, but I'm feeling fairly well now. I'm really excited about the new job. Something about being around big engines excites me. I am working midnight to 8 am (or 10 am some days) and will be just about the only person on nights after Friday. Friday is the last day for flights out of here until late October or early November...so if I can just hang on until Friday...they can't even fire me :) When I got here, it was -45 and has gotten colder, that's probably the warmest I will see until I leave.

More to follow

And on the 12th day...

...I was finally reunited with my underwear. WAIS divide turned out to be an exceptionally cool field camp filled with wonderful people. The ice-coring drill rig was super impressive, the food remarkable (just about the best piece of salmon I've ever eaten)...A nice break from the daily grind here. I feel very fortunate to have gotten to go.

A couple shots of the drill arch

Infinity:

Camp

Seven days, one underwear

Today looks like it'll be the day. Good weather here, good weather there. In other news:

Pimp my 5-ton:


A couple of the folks from the shop took a truck that looked like this:


And made it look like this:










Then they parked it at the MAAG (McMurdo alternative art gathering).

I thought this statement of taking the piss out of the rules was absolutely brilliant (maybe you have to be here)



Then there was my entry. It's "ant art" (look closely)




For me, this was the highlight of the show. A custom chopper mobile:

WX CX

WX CX is some sort of shorthand for weather cancellation. I've been a victim of WX CX for five days now. Sunday I bag-dragged for my flight to WAIS...it's a process that everyone that flies via fixed wing aircraft goes through here in Antarctica. It involves packing ones clothing/gear whatever you will need for the trip and dropping it off with the cargo folks to be palletized and shipped to your destination. Now since I plan on being gone for two weeks I packed all of my underwear (about a weeks worth really) in my bags. Because I have been weather delayed since Sunday, I also have the same underwear as I did then.

Day one of WX CX transport was supposed to be at 09:00 so I slept in and didn't bother going to work. The flight was canceled by 08:00 so I sauntered on into work. My work clothes, etc were packed of course so I had to make due with what I had.

Day two transport was at 09:00, then moved to 15:30 and eventually canceled.

Day three the weather got wicked bad in McMurdo (previous weather problems were at destination). We had a full on storm with high winds and copious (for here) amounts of snow. Flight times were listed as "TBD" and eventually canceled.



However, this wasn't all bad as this was the day that the psych eval team was here so I was able to get that done for winter. It was rather ordealish. I may write about it later but to get a glimpse of what it's all about check out big dead place. You can do a text search on that page (try ctrl-f with most browsers) for "winter psyche eval" It's hilarious. Anyhow, I emerged with less than a warm fuzzy feeling about getting the 'nod' to winter over. It appears that I'm a wee bit outside the lines of what voodoo science sees as "normal".

Day four: All flights canceled. Laundry where I proudly used a full size washer to wash a pair of socks and a pair of underwear.

Day five: Transport at 17:30, eventually changed to "TBD" then "indefinite weather delay" then finally WX CX which is where I am now with time to post.

A little bit about WAIS - in a nutshell it is a deep ice core project. Samples are being taken to collect data on environmental change over the last ~100,000 years. You can read more about it here.

What I've been up to:

So...an update on where I am, what I've been doing and where I'm going.

There hasn't been much activity on here since September; partly because I've been extremely busy. Work has been very hectic and I've managed to fill my free time up with things other than writing/blogging/surfing. I have weekly Spanish group, sports leagues, a Wednesday night radio show with Marsha (we DJ a show called uncommon ground which revolves around our distaste for each others musical interests), going to travelogues, hosting a travelogue, teaching juggling and practicing juggling. Also, it seems like less of an adventure being here this time. Nothing is new, fresh and exciting so I don't feel compelled to write about it. That is about to change, however. On Monday, I am scheduled to go to WAIS. WAIS stands for West Antarctic Ice Sheet, it's a deep field camp and I will be there for two weeks (give or take) filling in for the camp mechanic who is currently gone. Very soon after that I will be off to Pole for the winter (provided I pass the psych eval and don't bail out at the last minute). I'm actually getting very excited about being there for the winter.

The Russia gig is starting to lose its appeal. The process for getting a security clearance has become arduous and that is compounded by my being in Antarctica. One step of the process is submitting a set of fingerprints and there is no fingerprint ink or law enforcement here and I'm running out of time. If I don't manage to get it done in the next few weeks, then mail will stop moving until I leave in November. Also, much of the contact information that I have provided in the questionnaire for people who can verify my employment and residence here will have changed so I will have to fill the questionnaire out again. Anyhow, I am starting to think of alternate plans if I don't get my security clearance done. Taking a year off to chase snow and surf is very high on that list.

I haven't taken many pictures this year, but if you want to see some good ice pics check out Aeon Jones on Flickr.

That's about it for now. Maybe I will be inspired by something at WAIS or Pole to write about.