the gecko in the sink

What's Next?

2008-10-31T23:45:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-10-26T15:19:00.002-06:00

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

2008-10-07T15:17:00.003-06:00

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...

2008-09-23T19:29:00.003-06:00

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

2008-09-10T19:04:00.004-06:00

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

2008-08-27T23:13:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-08-17T23:14:00.005-06:00

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:

2008-08-05T17:46:00.002-06:00

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

2008-07-22T19:23:00.003-06:00

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

2008-07-15T17:16:00.005-06:00

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:

2008-07-07T22:25:00.003-06:00

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

2008-06-30T17:11:00.002-06:00

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

2008-06-24T01:42:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-06-18T02:18:00.002-06:00

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

2008-06-10T22:31:00.002-06:00

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

BBQ

2008-05-26T21:03:00.004-06:00

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

2008-05-22T22:38:00.002-06:00

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...???

2008-05-22T22:31:00.003-06:00

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....

2008-05-22T22:12:00.003-06:00

...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

2008-05-06T02:14:00.010-06:00

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....

2008-04-14T05:26:00.004-06:00

...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

2008-03-31T00:47:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-03-28T05:58:00.003-06:00

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

2008-03-27T02:48:00.005-06:00

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...

2008-03-14T06:29:00.003-06:00

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

2008-03-06T05:33:00.005-07:00

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

2008-02-25T09:26:00.003-07:00

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

2008-02-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-01-25T09:54:00.001-07:00

...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

2008-01-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-01-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

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:

2008-01-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

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.

How do penguins stay warm?

2007-09-04T02:37:00.000-06:00

The very reason for my being in Antarctica isn't to take helicopter or airplane rides to remote locations. There's more to Antarctica than fixing antiquated machinery and having unique experiences. The reason we're all really here is the pursuit of knowledge. At the very heart of this pursuit is scientific research. Every discipline of science is represented here in one way or another. The ozone hole, the ocean, glaciers, rocks, meteors, ice cores, seals, fish and tiny invisible particles are all studied here with equal fervor. It's easy to forget that our main purpose here isn't to support ourselves, but rather to support this pursuit of knowledge. On the all-star line up of things being studied are penguins. They are an ideal icon for the research being done in Antarctica. They're cute, photogenic and truly representative of this special place. There are many species of penguins in the world but the most well known ones are closely associated with extremely cold environments. Humans can benefit greatly by learning how penguins survive in these extreme conditions.

So how do they do it? How can penguins survive in the brutal conditions that Antarctica dishes out? Here's what scientists have discovered about penguins: First, they have feathers. Feathers are an effective insulator. Penguin feathers aren't like feathers on other birds. Rather than being large and flat, they're short with a fine woolly, downy under-layer. Also, they overlap and give a streamlined effect in the water and have excellent wind shedding capabilities on land. Penguins can fluff their feathers when it gets extremely cold, thereby trapping more warm air and increasing their insulation. The feathers also are very effective at shedding water when the bird emerges from the water.

Feathers are great on land, but penguins spend more time in the water than they do on land so they need additional protection. Mother nature's best internal insulator is fat. Blubber keeps all warm blooded, cold water mammals operational at temperatures as cold as 25.8 degrees F (the freezing temperature of sea water).

Size also plays an important role in heat retention. The larger something is, the less surface area it will have in relation to it volume. Think of a shot glass for example. A shot glass contains a lot of glass for relatively small portion of liquid. A beer glass on the other hand holds much more liquid in relation to the amount of glass. The math goes something like this (using cubes instead of glasses):

A 1 inch cube:

Volume is 1"x1"x1" = 1 cubic inch
and the surface area is equal to 6 faces of 1 inch x 1 inch so 6 x(1x1) = 6 square inches so for every 1 cubic inch of volume, there is 6 square inches of surface area from which to lose heat.

A 3 inch cube:

Volume is 3" x 3" x 3" = 27 cubic inches
the surface area is equal to 6 faces of 3 inches x 3 inches or 6 x(3x3) or 54 square inches which is only twice the volume so that for every inch of volume, there are only 2 square inches of surface area from which to lose heat.

The take home message is that a larger body will retain more heat.

Body design also plays a key role in heat retention. Penguins flippers and feet have a lot of surface area and are subject to great amounts of heat loss, but the muscles that control these appendages are located more closely to the core of the animal. The muscles control the feet and flippers through a complex array of tendons (kind of like a marionette), minimizing blood flow and heat loss to the feet and flippers.

Besides individual mechanisms, penguins also have social mechanisms to aid their survival. They huddle together to stay warm. It's an extension of the larger body idea. Scientific calculations estimate that emperor burn half as much body fat by huddling than they would if they remained solitary. This enables them to survive the entire winter without eating.

Cuteness doesn't generate heat

The Big Red

2007-09-04T02:25:00.000-06:00

Nothing knew to post....butt I Phelt the knead to put something hear so this isit. i Have a "big red" Parka

Marsha in her Big Red

that is insulated with goose down. If goose down is such a good insulator, you've gotta wonder why geese fly south for the winter. Made you think didn't I?

Coming soon to a television near you...

2007-08-27T23:03:00.000-06:00

The South Pole Project:

In the South Pole, temperatures can drop to more than 100 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Now, witness as engineers go up against staggering odds to build a 160,000-square-foot, high-tech science facility in this frozen wasteland. Through exclusive access granted by the National Science Foundation, NGC"s cameras give viewers a glimpse of the intense danger & physical challenges of working in one of most inhospitable places on the planet.

source: The National Geographic Channel

Looks like it airs on the evening of September 6th, 12a on the 7th and again at 1pm on the 8th (I'm assuming times are EST..?)

Watch the show and see where I'll be spending February through November of '08. I've alluded to it before, but I've signed a 14 month contract. The first half of it is the normal McMurdo contract that I've been doing, the 2nd half I will be the Power Plant Mechanic at the South Pole. I'll be wintering with approximately 54 other people, completely isolated from the world for 8 months (or so)

tape it for me and send it down :)

Travel nightmare

2007-08-13T17:15:00.000-06:00

So...after all of the traveling I've done, you'd expect to hear nightmarish tales of explosive diarrhea and trips on nerve-shattering buses of death from other countries, but the fact is, my travel nightmares are usually domestic. Today, I traveled to Denver for deployment to Antarctica. I decided to rent a car rather than deal with the company provided transportation. Freedom of movement is important to me, especially since I will be confined to a fairly small space over the next 14 months (yes, 14 this time...more later). I decided to save a couple dollars and go with the low budget rental company called E-Z car rental....oh..but wait, first I had to get to Denver everything went smooth getting here until during landing I could smell something that was definitely hot or burning. I didn't put a lot of thought into it because it could easily be explained away by paint burning off of the exhaust cowling or hot brakes from landing...but the smell continued to get stronger, everyone on the plane began looking around, eyes started watering and when they opened the cabin door, there was smoke billowing into the cabin. Not being a fan of fire, I didn't hang around to see what was burning but rather got away as fast as I could. So...I went to baggage claim, got my bags and called the rental company to send a shuttle. I waited outside for the shuttle for 20 minutes at which time I thought about bailing on the rental deal. During the time I was looking up the information for the company paid shuttle, the shuttle for the rental car company showed up. I already had 30 minutes invested in it, so against better judgment I boarded the shuttle. It was a 30 minute ride in a non-air conditioned bus that had a pie box with a half-eaten pie on the floor. This wasn't a gum wrapper that somebody overlooked, but a frickin' pie box...oh and the radio was blaring some crap that I'm sure nobody was interested in. The rental lot is also long term airport parking with cars on blocks and glass busted out. The rental office looked like it was a meth lab just last week, stains on the lumpy carpet, furniture that you would normally see on a toothless crack addicts front porch..just not a pleasant atmosphere. At the rental counter there was one girl checking everyone in, now my expectation would be that since I had called for a shuttle, nearly an hour ago by this time, that they would then get the paperwork etc ready for when I show up so that it's as easy as sign a contract, pick up the keys and go. This was not the case. There were two men who were obviously employees of the rental co. seemingly grab-assing while the girl tried to get everyone's paperwork ready. It was a hard decision at this point to bail on the whole deal, but I decided that to give this rinky-dink outfit my business would be giving them my approval to be treated this way as a customer and that thinking, ultimately, drove me to walk out, catch the shuttle back to the airport and go with a name-brand rental company.

Take home message, don't rent from E-Z rental car company. EVER.!

West Texas

2007-07-18T15:12:00.000-06:00

Many unique small towns make up the Big Bend region of west Texas. Each of these towns has its own character and unique story and the sum of these towns make up a surprisingly diverse environment that quashed my preconceived notion of what west Texas would be. It's not full of rednecks in pickup-trucks but surprisingly there are a lot of very interesting people and unique culture. This isn't John Wayne's Texas, it's much funkier!

In 1971 an artist by the name of Donald Judd rented a house in Marfa as a way to escape the hustle and bustle of New York city. From this humble beginning grew the Judd foundation which now provides for the training of artists in this unlikely desert town. There is also a wonderful book store in Marfa called the Marfa Book Company. Also of note in Marfa are the Marfa Mystery Lights (more here). And don't forget the movie that put Marfa on the map, Giant was shot here.

Fort Davis is the site of an old Army fort that was originally built to protect the El Paso road from marauding bandits. Today it is a National Historic Site and worth a visit. Also in Fort Davis is the Limpia Creek hat factory. They still make cowboy hats from beaver fur and make a unique line of John Wayne commemorative hats.

Regrettably we didn't make it to Valentine, home of the famous Prada sculpture which was intentionally made to become a ruin in the face of the elements and vandals. No effort will be made to repair it from vandalism and it is a living (dying?) work of art.

We made our home base in Alpine. We stayed at the wonderful Antelope Lodge, where we met Russ. One morning out we went to La Trattoria Coffee & Juice Bar where we were treated to a large helping of local culture by our hosts Jeffro (He and Marsha had a grand time catching up on "the old days" of Austin) and an artist/music teacher in a pith helmet whose name escapes me. We enjoyed some true Texas hospitality at Alexanders Tex-Mex Grill & Cantina, whose head waiter, Matthew, provided excellent service although slightly over-the-top. At Alicia's Burrito Place we enjoyed a great meal and chatted with a group of real-estate developers who were on a horse riding vacation in the area.

The town of Marathon also has its own unique character. The photographer, James Evans, makes his home and gallery in Marathon. He moved there in the 80's with nothing, worked as a waiter in a local hotel and took pictures in his off-time. Now, he is semi-famous and the best known Big Bend photographer. Great story of pursuing your dream and having it pay off. I have a great deal of respect for people who can do that. Marathon is also home to the burnt biscuit bakery where you can find excellent early morning fare for the trip to Big Bend. There is a soda fountain for sale in town that looks like it could be a fun business to own.

One of the draws to the area is, of course, Big Bend National Park. The park lies on the border with Mexico along a bend, which is big, in the Rio Grande river. There are three distinct ecosystems in the park, each with its unique features and a visit isn't complete without exploring the desert, the river and the alpine areas of the park. I found the desert to be the most fascinating. The plants that grow there all seem to have a hostility to them, the animals are all low-slung.

Near the west entrance to the park lies the town of Terlingua and the Terlingua ghost town. The ghost town was a mercury mining camp until near the end of WWII at which time electronics started to be used instead of mercury for fuses in bombs. The mine closed and was left to deteriorate. It was eventually sold to a man who basically bought it for salvage, has changed hands a few times since and is now being restored. Terlingua was home to the world's first ever chili cook-off and is now an annual event. It's also regionally famous for 2-for-1 Monday night burgers at the Starlight Bar & Grill, an establishment whose moniker refers back to the days when it was a roof-less theater.

At the Terlingua store you can pick up a brochure that outlines a walking tour of the town. It gives a brief rundown of the history and proclaims that Terlingua is now populated by "..artists, musicians and free-thinking individuals..." By free thinking individuals I think they mean non-conformists and social dropouts. The character of Terlingua really captivated me. No internet, no cell phones, no cable TV, no instant or text messaging...means that if you with to interact with your fellow human, you have to do it the old-fashioned way, right there in person face-to-face. Every day residents and their mangy dogs gather on the porch at the Terlingua store to share libations and tell stories. I think I want to go back to Terlingua and be a short-term resident, really explore the culture that can happen only in a place 220 miles from the nearest Starbucks, 90 miles from the nearest McDonald's. A place whose sense of community, ownership and environmental stewardship extends for many miles beyond each entrance to the park with adopt-a-highway sections sponsored by the Terlingua store. A place where the locals are easy to pick out (they're the ones with dirty clothes). A place like Terlingua.

And now some pictures:

Europe continued.....

2007-07-17T12:50:00.000-06:00

So...from Brasov we caught a train to Bucharest (the capital city of Romania). While it's not fair to make a judgment on a city based on a four hour layover, it is fair to say that the neighborhood around the train station is, in a word, gritty. We saw (several) people huffing bags of paint, bums sprawled in the street, experienced the acrid smell of urine everywhere. I did stop in a little neighborhood bar for a beer. It was poorly lit, many fixtures were in a state of disrepair, the commode in the men's room had been broken off its base but the bartender was exceptionally friendly and warm and the beer cheap and cold. Anyhow...from Bucharest, we caught another train to Sofia Bulgaria.

All roads lead to McDonald's even in Cryllic

Sofia is full of historic churches

We had reserved a hotel in Sofia via hotels.com. The address listed on hotels.com said the hotel was on Biglastr. I wrote the address down on a piece of paper and handed it to a cab driver outside of the train station, the cab driver just scratched his head and told me he didn't know of this "Biglastr"....so, we went back inside the train station, purchased a map, and tried to figure out where the hell our hotel was. I couldn't find Biglastr on the map anywhere but what I did find was...wait for it...Bigla Street. They had abbreviated but not put a space where appropriate. We stepped back out, flagged down a cab and asked to go to 30 Bigla Street and were taken there without delay. Overall, we found the people in Sofia to be very friendly even though I was fined for not having a valid bus pass (the validation machine on the bus is communist era and doesn't work too well) by a guy who was kind of an asshole. Marsha thought he may not have even been legitimate..this is a possibility, but it was a small amount of money and I didn't feel like investing negative energy into the matter, so I let it go. From Sofia, we took yet another overnight train, this one to Istanbul.

On the night train..

Ottoman paste in front of the Blue Mosque

The "wishing pigeons" of Istanbul

Improvisation at its finest

I had a negative impression of going to Istanbul. It gets a lot of bad press and a few short days before we went there were talks of a coup. Thus, I decided to not tell anyone where I was going...I didn't want anyone to needlessly worry about me, and witnessing a coup seemed like something pretty exciting anyhow! Seeing the number of Senior Citizens' tour groups that we did put any worries of a coup immediately out of mind.

Istanbul turned out to be a wonderful surprise. There are, of course, the well known tourist attractions like the Blue Mosque, The Grand Bazaar, The Golden Horn, St. Sophia, Whirling Dervishes and The Bosphorus. There is also something magical about the city. A mixture of old and new, east and west and absolutely full of the friendliest people I have ever met, anywhere (and if you have been reading this blog, you know I have been a few places). We only stayed a few days in Turkey. I had no idea how much the country had to offer and I fully intend to return to explore the greater part of the Turkey. I learned so much about myself, the world and Turks while here. Istanbul has transformed me, perhaps nearly as much as Kashmir. This is something I should have written about earlier, while it was still fresh in my mind but I was too busy living and exploring to take the time to write about it. C'est la vie.

From Istanbul, another overnight train..this time to Thessaloníki, Greece. I haven't got much to say about Thessaloníki, but in short, do you know why you have never heard of that world famous excellent Greek service? Because it sucks. Horribly. Oh...but you can buy a chipmunk in a cage if you are so inclined. The poor service also extends from the restaurants to the airlines and to top it all off, we were flying out on a day that they decided to call a strike so our plane was delayed by several hours and we were stranded in perhaps the world's most depressing airport. Next stop...Berlin.

Because it was cheap to fly to Berlin, and because we wanted to visit another country, we flew to Berlin. We spent a night in a hotel cum kindergarten (yes, you read that right) luckily, school was out and we weren't disturbed by the goings on of a school directly below our hotel room. What is the one thing you would want to see if you had only a few hours in Berlin? Why...Checkpoint Charlie of course. This historic spot along the former Berlin Wall is perhaps the most famous transfer point between east and west and was iconic of the cold war. Nowadays, you can pay a man dressed in a uniform to stamp your passport with any one of a dozen or so stamps from the communist era. I didn't go for it. Marsha did. Goodbye Berlin, Hello Doesburg, Netherlands.

In Doesburg we were privileged to spend several days/nights with Marsha's friend Julie and her family. It was a treat to spend time in this type of setting after so long living an unconventional lifestyle. We had one of our funnest days during a folk festival in Doesburg. We both went clog dancing! It was a hoot.

The professionals

The "not-so" professionals

No trip to Holland is complete without windmills

From Doesburg, we spent a day in Amsterdam, visited the red-light district and saw a few sights before flying to Edinburgh, Scotland. Scotland is exceptionally expensive but also exceptionally rich in history, natural beauty and culture. We stuck to a pretty traditional tourist itinerary with a ghost tour of Edinburgh and a bus tour of the Highlands including a monster spotting cruise on Loch Ness. Next we flew to London. The idea was to drive to Stone Henge but soon after departing we abandoned this idea due to the horrific holiday weekend traffic and opted for a day in the city. I'm left with a pretty "been there, done that" sort of feeling about London. Granted it's rife with history and culture, but for me, the crowds and the cost are too much to make me want to return. From London, we parted ways. I flew to Denver, Marsha to Houston with plans to see each other in late June or early July.

The Highlands

Edinburgh architechtureNessie revealed

The London Eye

So...that pretty much concludes what I'm going to take the time to write about Europe in this blog. I'd love to talk to you in person about it sometime over a beer!

Bionic Russ

2007-07-15T09:45:00.000-06:00

I'm taking yet another detour from finishing writing about the Europe trip, but this was just too funny and looking back, I should have written about it right after it happened because a lot is going to get missed. Anyhow, Marsha and I are in west Texas. Specifically Alpine. If you've ever seen David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" think Big Tuna, TX. The place is full of characters. First, you have the draw of the Marfa mystery lights (wiki article). We went out to see them last night. On the side of the main highway from Marfa to Alpine, there is a roadside pullout and an official viewing platform. What I saw were headlights, and that is also what the significant crowd was oooooing and awwwwing about. I'm going to have to go with the belief that what I saw wasn't the mystery lights and that the mystery lights are far more....well....mysterious than that. Somehow though, I think my belief is wrong and there actually is a place in Texas where you can pull off the side of the highway to view headlights on a perpendicular highway. I think I'm going to open up the Marfa mystery snack stand and charge $8.00 for hot dogs. Anyhow, the point of this blurb is to write about a story that my new friend Russ told us while he held us hostage in the hotel lobby. When Russ asked where I was from, I answered "Wyoming". Russ had just sold a ranch in Wyoming and figured that we were now kindred spirits. The story of how Russ and his wife decided to sell the ranch and move involved his new titanium knees. See, Russ was out feeding horses one frigid January morning when suddenly he lost his balance, fell off the hay wagon, and had to crawl 1/4 mile through a foot or more of snow back to the house, knocked on the door, only to have his wife come to the door and look right over him. She didn't see him because he was laying on the ground. Russ had to tell her to look down. As he told the story, he was clearly miffed that she hadn't immediately pulled him into the house, but rather wanted an explanation as to why he was laying in the snow. Russ' new titanium knees had, apparently, frozen in the cold and locked straight so that he couldn't walk. Russ went on for what seemed like hours telling stories. I think I'm going to try to remember to carry a notebook with me more often. Some of his stuff was comedy gold! I'm pretty sure that the the hay wagon isn't the only wagon Russ has fallen off of.

Video goodness

2007-06-29T17:36:00.000-06:00

I just got flashplayer working on my computer. I don't like windows, never have, so I run an alternative OS called Linux. It's free, it's fun and it supports my technology addiction. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass. Not only do I run Linux, but I run the 64-bit version of it. There is no 64 bit flashplayer for Linux, so I had to find a workaround...and I did! So, now that I can watch YouTube videos...I found one that those of you who haven't been to the ice can get a glimpse of what it can be like (video credit to Antz and Christine Powell):

Oh, by the way, I have decided to return for another season on The Ice. I called KBR the other day and told them I was putting off going to Iraq for at least six months. They didn't seem to mind too much.

Tipping: Just some unorganized thoughts (rant)

2007-06-29T15:48:00.000-06:00

Service workers don't deserve 20% just by virtue of being service workers. In fact, they don't deserve anything just because they have taken a job that pays less than minimum wage, this isn't my problem. In fact, I don't think they deserve 20% even if they do their job. I'm only tipping 20% if I leave happy, you've gotta really earn it to get 20%. Mediocre service deserves, at best, 10%. Less than mediocre service deserves squat. Furthermore, if your job is pulling a tap handle, you aren't entitled to $1 each time you pull it. That's not service. Want a tip? Get to know what kind of beer I'm drinking...see, I'm not a pain-in-the-ass type who asserts my individuality by ordering some stupid drink trying to see if I can stump you, I'm there to enjoy a cold beer, I'm not going to cause you any trouble and I don't expect much, but I do expect you to take a second, acknowledge my presence and get what I've asked for. If you do this, and do it consistently and well, I will reward it generously but I won't tip by the drink.....ever.

Mr. Pink approves.

Brasov (my worst post ever)

2007-06-01T20:19:00.001-06:00

The most famous building in Transylvania - the Bran castle A.K.A. Dracula's castle

After two nights in Budapest, we boarded another overnight train. This time to Brasov, Romania. Brasov had been on my radar for quite some time since it has Eastern Europe's best known ski resort nearby. I had considered going skiing there but due to a lack of snow this season, I didn't. One of my goals on this trip was to hang out someplace for long enough to really get in to the culture so we decided we would give Brasov a chance and stay here for a greater length of time than any of the other places we had been to or were going. We had booked a home stay with a man named Eugene. Eugene rents out his mother's bedroom for extra income. His mother is still alive and when he has guests, she sleeps in his room. It feels a bit odd, but the price was right and what a better way to get into the culture of a place than to stay with a local, besides if Eugene's mother didn't stay with him in his room, she may have to resort to eating alpo or something. Another generator of income for Eugene is that he offers his services as a guide/driver to tour the world famous Dracula's castle, two other lesser-known castles, and the surrounding countryside. In the interest of Eugeni Mama (that's what she called herself) we took him up on the offer of an 8+ hour tour of the aforementioned sights.

Brasov is a pretty Transylvanian town situated at the foot of the Carpathian mountains.

WTF?

Most Romanians under the age of 50 can speak English very well. Most of them over 50 can't. Eugene's mother was no exception, but the conviction with which she spoke to us in Romanian caused me to be scared to let on that I had no idea what she was saying, so I politely nodded and smiled as she spoke to me.

Eugene himself is quite the character. I am a big fan of conspiracy theories, but they have to sound at least somewhat plausible. Eugene thinks that governments have machines that can control the weather. Of course, you usually don't find out someone is whacko until you spend 8 hours in a car with them.

One day we took a pleasant hike to the seven stairs falls. There is a series of waterfalls that come down a canyon and a series of ladders and walkways up the canyon.

It's obvious that the safety inspectors haven't been around in quite a while, or maybe such things are of no concern to the Romanians. Marsha was braver than me and ascended one more ladder than I did - but she does weigh quite a bit less than me. The whole thing reminded me of something out of Indiana Jones.

I also got a haircut while in Brasov. I've never needed a translator for a haircut before. I was very pleased with the results.

More castles:

Budapest

2007-06-01T08:27:00.000-06:00

From Prague, we took an overnight train to Budapest. We had our own private sleeper car for the 9ish hour trip. Going to sleep in one country and waking up in another is a pretty neat experience.

There were far fewer tourists in Budapest than there were in Prague. Budapest is the combination of two cities. The city of Buda and the city of Pest. The two are separated by the Danube river. The Pest side, where we stayed, has a reputation for being a bit rough i.e. muggings etc. Granted we didn't go out drinking in the wee hours of the morning, but we saw nothing that even remotely resembled 'rough characters' and felt as safe as we would in Mayberry, USA. Another preconception proven unfounded.

I haven't got too much more to say about Budapest. Here are some pics:

Bridge over the Danube with a Freedom monument in the Background

Danube cruise

Parliament

The Sedlec Ossuary

2007-05-31T11:40:00.001-06:00

More commonly known as the Bone Church is probably the neatest and most unique thing I've ever seen. The cliff's notes version of how it came to be: A 15th century Bohemian king sent his holy man on a holy mission. The holy man brought back sacred soil from Golgotha and sprinkled it on the cemetery near what is now the church. Soon, word of this sacred soil spread and people were dying to get in! The black death and the Hussite wars caused even more death in the region and soon thousands of bodies were buried in the cemetery. Over the years, the original church was destroyed and new one(s) were built. The bones were excavated in this process. Something had to be done with the bones so eventually a famous Italian architect was hired and his creation is what you see here:

This chandelier allegedly has at least one bone from every body that was buried here

The other great thing about visiting the bone church was that it was our first of many train journeys. Successfully negotiating this trip independently greatly empowered us and gave us the needed confidence to continue.

You can read the wikipedia version of the bone church by clicking here.

Prague

2007-05-31T09:47:00.000-06:00

Prague is a really beautiful city. The architecture is magnificent and the public transport is extraordinarily easy to navigate, despite the fact that the signs aren't in English.

The astronomical clock

Prague Castle

Inside the museum of communism

And, the best part of Prague was meeting Marsha there. We were kicking off a 5-week tour of Europe, mostly concentrating on eastern Europe, but getting a sampling of other parts as well.

Chamonix

2007-05-31T09:33:00.000-06:00

After Norway, I flew to Geneva, Switzerland and rode a bus to the famed French ski village of Chamonix where I stayed and skied for about 2 1/2 weeks. The place is really amazing if not a bit intimidating. Everyone who was skiing from the famed Aiguille Du Midi was outfitted with full ski-mountaineering gear, I opted out since I have no experience with such things and didn't want to spend the money on a guide to show me. Instead, I stuck to skiing on the lower part of Les Grandes Montets. It was decent skiing but the snow conditions were deteriorating. On the up side, there weren't too many people skiing so the queues for the lifts were either short or non-existent.

The Mer de glace (sea of ice)

Aiguille du midi

Norway

2007-05-31T09:05:00.000-06:00

There are no two places that contrast each other more than Oslo and Delhi. For all of Delhi's chaos, Oslo had order, for Delhi's trash, Oslo had cleanliness, for Delhi's affordability Oslo was priced out of my range. Just as a comparison, in Oslo, a combo meal at McDonalds will set you back nearly $12.00. I couch-surfed Oslo the first night there. Couch Surfing can be fun, but it's definitely a trade off. You get to stay with someone for free, learn things about the place you're in from a true local, and best of all meet someone new but on the downside is that people who host couch-surfers are usually the lonely type and will make you feel obligated to listen to things you may have no interest in. If, perchance, you couch surf with someone who has common interests, this would be great, but if you don't care to spend your evening hearing about the finer points of feline health, you may be in for a long night. The person who I couch-surfed with was very kind, generous, hospitable and friendly, and I thank her for showing me around and giving me some pointers on what to do in Oslo. One of the highlights was a visit to the Fram museum. The Fram is the ship that Roald Amundsen sailed to the McMurdo sound and launched his historic journey to become the first person to reach the South Pole.

I also went to the Viking Ship museum.

And spent a few days skiing in Lillehammer
All-in-all I enjoyed Norway. I would like to go back someday and get to the northern part to hang out with the Laplanders.

The Taj Mahal

2007-05-29T07:40:00.000-06:00

No trip to India would be complete without a visit to the Taj Mahal. But wait, back up a couple of posts: I was sick of being in India. The craziness had taken its toll on me, however, I did feel a little bit good about having learned how to play the game. The cab driver from the airport to my hotel (a few days earlier) received a tip that was larger than the cab fare. This wasn't for his superior service but rather my own celebration of learning how to play the game. India can be fun once you have it figured out. But, I really was tired of it all. On the way to the "special white man train ticket office" I was told all kinds of things about how the ticket office had closed, burnt down, under construction...everything. They do this because they would rather sell you a ticket at a higher price and get the commission. I knew better and didn't fall for it, but it gets tiresome. Anyhow, I got my train ticket for the trip to Agra and the Taj.

A musician at one of the mosques

The next morning, I got up in plenty of time to get a ride to the train station. I have a habit of leaving early for things on the off chance that something goes wrong on the way I won't be late. Today this paid off. The auto-rickshaw that I was riding in got a flat tire and one of the studs was broken off so the driver couldn't get the old tire off. He kept assuring me that it would be "just five minutes", I finally bailed on him and flagged a new ride down and got to the train station just in the nick of time.

The trains in India are just like out of the movies. People hanging out of windows and doors. Pandemonium. On the ride to Agra, I was seated next to an Indian land surveyor. It was as if I had my own personal tour guide.

Nobody can truly call themselves a traveller if they haven't used a toilet on an Indian train

On arrival to Agra, I booked a tour that would take me to the three main attractions near Agra (Fatah Pasikri (sp?), the red fort and the Taj Mahal) and have me back at the train station in time for my return trip to Delhi. It turned out to be a fast paced tour, with very little time at the attractions and a stop at the special tourist restaurant for an extremely (by Indian standards) overpriced lunch.

I'm really not motivated enough to write much more about the Taj Mahal. It's worth seeing if you ever get to that part of the world.

Delhi

2007-05-28T07:29:00.000-06:00

There isn't one adjective that can describe Delhi. If there were, it would have to be a word that combined chaos, pandemonium and mayhem. Everything about Delhi is an assault on the senses. People, cars, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, cows, dogs, monkeys everywhere. Vendors line the trash-filled streets and squawk and holler trying to pedal their wares. Cattle and dogs graze on the trash in the street. Horns, bells, shouts fill the air. Early in the morning, after the vendors and shoppers have gone home for a couple of hours, lip service is paid to cleaning up. The trash is swept to the middle of the street and lit on fire. The lingering odor of burning trash is always present.

Right outside my hotel room window, a Hindu women's prayer group started singing, every night, at about 10:30 and didn't stop until well after 2 in the morning. I wish I could add audio to this post...I have a recording of it.

India is something that I can't describe. One needs to experience it for themselves.

The scene right outside my hotel window

Holy Cow! It's McDonalds
but you won't find a Big Mac here
McChicken is the sandwich of choice

Srinagar

2007-04-29T01:11:00.000-06:00

I remained jovial and high spirited during the twelve days of Murphyisms in Gulmarg. By the 13th day, I had had enough and I wanted to get out of Kashmir - out of India and on to something more "normal". The airline had lost my booking for the flight to Srinagar, it was reasonable to think that they had lost the booking for the return as well. My package included two nights lodging in Srinagar, I couldn't imagine wanting to stay more than one, in fact, if the timing had been right, I wouldn't have stayed one night. My feelings of wanting to leave were furthered by being off-loaded at a Kashmiri carpet factory and subjected to high-pressure salesmanship. The Cliff's Notes on India: Everyone is a hustler - A cab driver will tell you your hotel is booked, burned down, closed...whatever to try to convince you to stay at a hotel where he gets commission. At the train station you will be told that the ticket office is closed so that you can be sold high price tickets where someone gets a commission. In this case, our Sr. ski guide was looking for a commission from the sale of a Kashmiri carpet. I had no interest in carpets..what the hell would I do with it? Every second I spent in the carpet factory intensified my disdain for being in India.

To my surprise, the proprietor of the Butts-Clermont house boats on Dal Lake gave me the warmest welcome I have ever received. Mr. Butts is overjoyed to see tourism returning to Kashmir. The houseboats themselves are well known amongst the world's elite. Senators, ambassadors and royalty have stayed there. Even George Harrison has stayed aboard the houseboats.

The Houseboats on Dal Lake

The water heaters are wood-fired, so your shower has to be scheduled.

Wood-fired water heater

One of the men that hangs around the houseboats is Lhasa. Lhasa operates a shikara service and take tourists to the floating market and elsewhere on Dal Lake. He also took me to the phone so I could reserve a plane ticket and to a wood carving studio so I could purchase souvenirs. Lhasa is a wonderful human being.

Lhasa's shikara

on the shikara

In the morning, Tim and I took the shikara ride to the floating market. Due to the time of year, not much was happening, but it was a peaceful ride. When we got back to the houseboat, we were served a delicious breakfast. I packed my bags and realized that I was saddened to leave this tranquil setting. These people did such a wonderful job of putting me at ease I can't imagine why I ever thought Kashmir might be dangerous or sketchy. The kindness and friendliness of the Kashmiri people is wonderful.

A bridge on the lake

A fishing village

paying the rent

A fortnight in Gulmarg, Kashmir

2007-03-26T03:50:00.000-06:00

The sheer magnitude of the avalanche which I was looking at validated my earlier fears. Four days earlier I had been skiing where this behemoth had cut its swath of destruction. It's proportions were epic. It appeared to me that the northern 1/3 of the Pir Panjal range had slid. I had arrived in Gulmarg 12 days earlier. I had been ensnared into booking a ski trip to Kashmir by the tag line "Where decent snowfall means it is measured in meters". The Gulmarg gondola also boasts being the world's highest gondola and the world's longest continuous vertical rise. All seemed like good reasons to do something unique.

The Kashmir region of India has only recently seen a return of tourist traffic. Violence has ebbed significantly since a cease-fire in 2003. My impression is that it has come a long way since, in 1999, Bill Clinton called Kashmir the most dangerous place on earth. The resentment of the Kashmiri people towards the occupying Indian army became apparent to me when my guide, Shabeer, corrected an Aussie snowboarder as he issued the customary Kashmiri greeting to some army troops. Shabeer told him "No, no it's namaste...namaste(a Hindi greeting)". There are many competing agendas in the region but currently peace prevails and many of the people I spoke to seem to concur that every tourist rupee spent is a vote for peace.

The airport in Srinagar reminded me of landing at King Fahd airport in Saudi Arabia at the start of Desert Shield. It was definitely a military airfield, commercial air traffic is the lowest priority. Security checks departing from Delhi were exhaustive. I found it peculiar that the more security I face, the less secure I feel. In New Zealand, for example, one hasn't got to take off their shoes to clear security. The outward appearance is almost lackadaisical compared to that in the U.S. But flying in New Zealand I feel unthreatened. From Delhi to Srinagar, however, the checks, searches, re-checks, frisking and hand-searching left me ill at ease.

On the ground in Kashmir, the first thing I noticed were guns and troops. Guns are everywhere. I was overjoyed when a young Kashmiri man greeted me by name and helped me through the bureaucracy of departing the airport and got me to the vehicle that would whisk me the 60Km to Gulmarg. As the vehicle departed the airport a light rain was falling. Further up the road, in Tangmarg, the rain surrendered to the lower temperature and higher altitude and became snow.

Three deep on a scooter on the way down..trying to beat the storm

By the time we reached Gulmarg, it was "bucketing" as the two Aussies who had booked the same package as I said. That was on Sunday. By Monday, nearly a meter of new snow had fallen at the base area. Ironically the windfall snow would prevent it's being skied on, at least from the top of the gondola. There are two reasons for this: One, the avalanche danger would be too high, and two, the snow storm had knocked out the electricity so we adjusted ourselves to the customs of people who don't live by the clock, we waited. When it became apparent that even if the power came back on it would be some time before we would be able to ride the gondola, even to mid-station, we decided to hike Monkey Hill which was the only option available to us under the circumstances. It was a tough hike for me despite the fact that a boot pack was well-established. The altitude of 8800 feet caused my lungs quite a bit of trouble on the relatively short hike. The short ski down made it all worth it. By that afternoon we were finally able to board the gondola for a ride to mid-station. We got three runs in before closing time. The weather at this point was clear and still.

Welcome indeed!

Clear up to my armpits and still snowing. The electricity went out again. By Tuesday morning there was so much snow that the roads to Gulmarg were closed and completely impassable and restoration of electricity was hopeless. Every couple of hours tons of snow would slide down the roofs or the hotel and nearby buildings. These "eave-alanches" appeared that they could be treacherous to any passers-by.

On Wednesday the snow had, at last, stopped falling. At least 2 meters had accumulated at the base area and estimates of nearly 3 meters at the top of the gondola. Even with electricity, and even with western-style avalanche control, it wouldn't be skiable today. The Aussies and I commiserated over a breakfast of eggs with no yellow color to them. Apparently chickens in India don't eat very well. The road was cleared which opened up the option for skiing to Tangmarg and being shuttled back to Gulmarg in a truck. We were happy to be out of the unlit hotel and enjoyed the day thoroughly.

Thursday morning was foggy, but power had been restored. We remained optimistic for an opening of the upper part of the gondola. We yo-yo'ed the lower section about three times, and then, magic happened. The upper section opened. We boarded with all the enthusiasm of....well...of skiers after a snow storm. The view from the top was like looking through a milkshake. Nothing was visible except for whiteness. A lack of visibility coupled with the reality of turning on my avalanche beacon while on an unfamiliar mountain allowed terror to posses me. This was real. I could die doing this, or worse end up paralyzed or something. The sudden, unfamiliar fear in me hampered my skiing. My technique was suddenly like that of a beginner. I couldn't see, I didn't know where the hell I was and, one of my bindings was not working properly. The snow was excellent, but I was not. On our third run, due to a continued lack of visibility, I fell, sideways, off of a 10 foot cornice. I can't recall ever being so scared in my life. I was sliding headfirst, downhill with no idea what was below me; rocks? cliffs? I was terrified! I managed to get my feet under me and arrest my descent. In the effort to get my skis back on, the binding which wasn't working failed to work again at the most critical moment. The ski took off straight down the hill without me. I'm sure that I cursed mildly. One of the Kashmiri guides insisted that I take his skis, he would take my one remaining ski and ski down on it while the other guides searched for my runaway ski. They found it, we all made it down, and I called it a day.

The gondola, in all its glory

Friday and Saturday were perfect blue-sky days. I felt like I had the mountain all to myself. For the most part, I did. There were less than 25 people skiing. Seems like a constant threat of war and the world's most unreliable gondola keep 'em away. We made fresh tracks all day, both days. I have never skied runs like this in my life. This must be what heli-skiing is like. My legs were burning, and at 13,000+ feet, my lungs weren't that happy either, but the smile on my face and the feeling of exhilaration overruled the legs and lungs. It was all worth it. Sunday would prove to be the last of my days on the gondola. Power outages, another three-day snow storm, the brobdingnagian 'lanche and mechanical problems would keep me skiing to Tangmarg or not skiing at all for the remainder of my stay in Gulmarg.

Marble floors and ski boots don't work so well together...introducing the world's first "no fall" restroom

Elsewhere in Kashmir rainfall had caused a mudslide which closed the highway from Jammu to Srinagar. Jammu is where all the food comes from. The closure lasted nearly the entire time I was in Kashmir. The restaurant was already out of mutton the first day I was there. Near the end of my stay, after being told by the hotel staff that there were no eggs, I joked to Tim (one of the Aussies) that we must have eaten all the chickens. That evening, when I ordered a chicken dish...well, you can figure out what I was told. The electricity was out more than it was on. My accomodation was, in essence, a rodent-infested freeze-box and the only thing reliable about the gondola was that it would be closed at 3:15 PM sharp. It was running less than 40% of when it should have been. In addition to the standard skiing hazards and obstacles, Gulmarg has concertina wire, downed electrical wire, rabid dogs and poo-slinging monkeys.

Poo-slinger!

The phones don't work. There is an internet connection, but it relies on electricity and a phone line...oh, and the space bar on the computer is broken. There's just no end to the hilarity that can be found in such an environment. I will always remember Kashmir with great fondness and look forward to returning.

the last few weeks

2007-03-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been a hoot! Here's a little recap of what we've been up to:
Feb 14:
bad weather delayed our flight out of McMurdo until...I don't remember, it was late. I think we finally arrived at our hotel in Christchurch (CHC) at 4 AM.
2/15:
got up at 7. got a few things ready to mail home, ate breakfast, booked a flight to Wellington. Caught a ride to the post office and picked up mail and shipped stuff home. Wandered around downtown CHC for a while. Went back to the motel, had a power nap. Went to Lytlleton for a beer and a sunset, back to the hotel where we slept very well
2/16:
flew to Wellington. Caught the bus..we were supposed to get off at the train station and catch a cab from there to the Indian embassy...missed our stop...rode the bus back, got off at the train station, hailed a cab asked to go to the embassy and were told by the cabbie that it was just up the hill, so we walked it. Got to the embassy at 1:05 or so..noticed that the sign said open "9:00 - 1:00" I was super bummed, it was Friday and now I would have to wait until Monday...we went up the elevator anyhow only to find a closed door, the feeling of despair only got worse. Marsha went to the door and pushed on it. It opened! Behind the door we saw a little Indian lady behind a cardboard sign that said "Closed", ignoring it, I asked her if I could apply for a visa. She said yes, gave me the application and told me to go eat something, fill it out, and bring it back. I was..uh...the opposite of despair. Later that day, we met George, who we would be staying with while in Wellington. He was a janitor on the ice in 04/05. He has a great place on top of Mount Victoria. We went with him that evening to experience a movie in luxury. We bought the first class seats for "The Last King of Scotland" The chairs were luxurious...that's the way to see a movie!

2/17, 2/18, 2/19 we explored around Wellington. Saw Te Papa (or something) museum..I wasn't in the right frame of mind for museuming, but while we were there, we met Dave, who worked there. He told us about some neat things to do on the north island. He told us about Taupo, Rotorua and the thing he really sold me on was the hot salt water baths near Mount Monganui (sp?), He made these pools sound like an absolute paradise. I was convinced, we were going to go. We spent a fair bit of time in the tourist information center (i-site) looking for something to do. We looked through brochures for a goodly amount of time before deciding on a segway tour. Then we spent more time waiting in line to book it, only to find out that they don't run on mondays..we were opposed to going through the decision making process again so we left with our brochures in hand. One of them was for the wellington cable car. It sounded interesting so we opted to go check it out. We got there and found out that a round trip ticket was only $4.50...we were in! We looked at where the cable car went, but we could only see to the top of a hill about 100 yards away, we waited in anticipation until it finally got to the end of the line. We boarded and then rode to the top of that hill we couldn't see past...and got out. That was it, a 100 yard cable car ride to a botanical garden. We wandered around the garden for a bit. Eventually meeting a toothpaste-sandwich, see god now crazy lady. She told us about the conspiracies that the pharmaceutical companies are involved in. Marsha admired her hat, she swapped hats with Marsha. We made up an excuse to leave and ran the hell away.

2/20
I have been trying to not be so anal about writing down confirmation numbers and things like that. After this day, I'm going back to writing that stuff down. We went to the airport to pick up our rental car. I had rented a car from National, but didn't see their desk. I looked in the phone book to try to figure out where they were. Turns out, they're the same as Europcar...who did have a desk. I walked up to the desk to announce that I was there to pick up my car. They didn't see my name on the list and asked for my confirmation number, which of course, I didn't have. I asked if there were any way I could use there computer to check my email and get it from there. This would be impossible I was told. I asked if there was anywhere in the airport that I could use a computer, again I was told no. I had the number for the company I had used to make the reservation, so I went to the pay phone and called them. They were totally useless and my frustration level skyrocketed. Marsha had been milling about, and somehow found out that there were, indeed, public computers on the second floor. We promptly went upstairs and found them. We also found out that the cards that you need to purchase to be able to use the computers were all sold out. Finally, I left the luggage and Marsha in the airport, caught a bus downtown, checked my email and came back with a confirmation number from,....AVIS..that's right, I had remembered the wrong rental company. Anyhow, we got the car and hit the road. In the town of Featherstown, there is a fell locomotive display, we stopped and checked it out. A fell locomotive uses a second steam piston to drive a horizontally mounted set of wheels that grip a horizontal rail to help pull it up hills. Neat stuff. George told us about an area called the pinnacles, about 2 hours from Wellington, so we went that way hoping to find a quaint place to call home for the night. We were dissapointed. Our map showed a couple of little towns further down the road, so we decided to go have a look around. in the town of Ngawi we saw the most impressive assortment of antique bulldozers.

They use them to put their boats in the water. We tried to find a room at the only "motel" in town, but the people who run it were out so we decided we would backtrack to someplace where we had seen lodging. We stopped by the tractor collection again to take some pictures. While there we talked to a couple who said they'd been at the seal colony. We were intrigued, so we went back to the seal colony.

It was really neat to see seals moving. We found a B & B (more of a homestay) in Featherstown. It was run by an older couple, Judy & Neel, and boasted a "Kiwi style breakfast" They had a cat named georgie. Neel called georgie an asshole, I don't remember why, but it was funny at the time. We got some excellent sleep and woke up to find out that a Kiwi style breakfast is apparently cereal and fruit. I think I know why they can't beat Australia in rugby. Nancies.

2/21
Drove to a town called Patea. It's pronounced like Philadelphia or something...everytime we would tell someone that we had stayed in..well, pronounce it like it looks, and they'd look at us like we were growing a 2nd evil head or something and correct us with..well, Philadelphia. The friggin' Maori alphabet only has about 15 letters and I'm supposed to know how the hell to pronounce everything. Anyhow, Philadelphia has some spectacular black sand beaches and cliffs. The beach was all but deserted. We caught a sunset there. Also, there is an old freezing works, which is Kiwi for meat packing plant. It's huge, but in complete shambles, the story is that the support timbers have been stolen from the buildings so they have all collapsed, but nobody has cleaned the sight up because it has asbestos and would be too costly. Wood thieves are sentenced to lung cancer in New Zealand. I like it! We stayed the night in a camper trailer which Marsha really liked, but I'm not going to be one to say she has bad taste so...the camper was great.

2/22
Long drive through beautiful rainforest on a narrow, winding road. The speed limit in NZ is 100. Everywhere, even on narrow winding roads. We got to Taupo, which sits on a beautiful caldera lake. The clarity of the water in the lake was stunning. We saw Huka Falls which is very beautiful. The water there is turquoise.

2/23 & 24
We went to Rotorua which is part Yellowstone (thermal features) and part South Dakota (tourist attractions). We went sprint car racing, lugeing (alpine slide) and best of all Zorbing (get insided a big ball full of water and roll down hill, kind of like being inside a washing machine) We stayed in a magnificent old hotel with a wonderful view and a kooky lady running it. We also drove to Mount Monganui (remember our 'friend' dave, from the wellington museum) to go to the salt water baths. Turns out, it is some indoor, pay to go thing. My Wyoming readers....think star plunge in Thermopolis. Not what I was expecting, alas it didn't turn out to be a total bust though, we went for a sunset hike up the mountain and a pitch black walk back down. It was quite beautiful.

2/25
Went to Napier with surfing in mind. Surf shops weren't easily accesible so I blew it off. We found a neat old building to stay in. We rented bikes and went for a beachside ride. Marsha had a blast!

2/26

We found out that NZ must not have ordinances preventing the remodeling of a building at 6AM. Ya, really, right across from where we were staying a construction crew started at 6 in the morning with full on sledge hammers and skil saws banging and whirring. Didn't fell like sleeping in anyhow. Drove to Paraparaumu, I think it's pronounced like Philadelphia...I dunno, I give up. On the way there, we made a toilet stop in Dannevirke. They have high tech, singing toilets. It was the craziest thing. You go inside, push a button labled "lock door" and then a voice comes on to say "You have 10 minutes" then some canned music "what the world needs now, is love, sweet love" crazy. So, when you're done, and you push the button to open the door, the toilet flushes. Those crazy Kiwis.

2/27
went to the embassy in wellington, got my visa, dropped off the rental car and got on the interislander ferry for a three hour ride across the cook strait and through the Marlborough sound to Picton. Picked up a car and drove to westport.

2/28 - 3/1
Stayed at the Hairy Lemon in Greymouth, ate Kiwi BBQ...it was cheap and filling, can't say much more for it. Went to Hokitika which is touted as a destination for some reason or another....I couldn't see much appeal. We went to Hokitika Gorge and I did find it appealing. More beautiful turquoise colored water through a gorge with a swinging bridge.

3/2
drove back to CHC
3/3
the day that never ended, after getting on an airplane at 2:30, flying an hour to Aukland, then waiting around till 7:30 then getting on an 11 hour flight to L.A., because of the int'l date line, it's only 10:00 on the morning of the 3rd. There were several int'l flights in at the same time with only one baggage carousel. Pandemonium would be an understatement. This was my reintroduction to being back in the states. After all that, Marsha and I said goodbye and I got on yet another plane to Las Vegas. In Vegas, I visited with my buddy Troy and me his family. He had to go home so I went out. Some guy started flipping me shit about my shaggy beard...calling me Jesus. We struck up a conversation. His name was Dustin and he was in Vegas with his friends Marshall and Ricky celebrating Ricky's 21st birthday. They invited me to hang out with them so I did..until 4 AM when I finally had to get some sleep.

3/4
flew to Riverton, visited with my uncle, cousin and grandmother.
3/5,6
drove to Jackson, saw my kids, skied
3/7
drove to Denver and wrote all this stuff. Man I'm tired. Sorry about the lack of proper grammar/spelling/capitilization, etc. My editor is out for the week. I left alot out, but you're probably tired of reading it anyhow.

Tomorrow I leave for Gulmarg. I'm stoked.

link

2007-03-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

this guy has time...I don't...that is all. I'll update before August (maybe)

At the end of the world's longest logistical chain..

2007-02-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

...that's a phrase from my resume. In the context that I use it in, it sounds very impressive, but the truth of the matter is, it can also be very comical.

Every year a re-supply vessel brings all the supplies down that will be needed during the next year's science season. Food, construction materials, machinery, parts, science equipment, liquor...basically everything that one can imagine. Due to the beauracracy of getting items down here, it takes approximately two years from the time an item is ordered until it actually gets here. During that two years, the order is heavily scrutinized and tough questions are asked which establish whether the item is actually needed, can the item be substituted, is there already something on station that could be used instead...The idea is a sound one and the procurement process is designed to maximize your tax dollars. Sounds great right? Well...in some cases it isn't great. Someone's job is to ensure there is enough bedding on station to support the approximately 1100 people that the station can hold. This person apparently decided to order new comforters. Through the process of scrutinization, a less expensive alternative was found to the comforters that were ordered, so they were purchased and shipped instead.....so after two years a container full of comforters finally arrived and was promptly put back on the ship to be sent back. Why do you suppose they won't work? Because they are 'dry clean only', and we haven't got any one-hour martinizers.

Napkins were ordered from New Zealand, but they don't fit our USA napkin dispensers

Nasty old mattresses were replaced with new ones, but they were 'single' mattresses and the bed frames on station are 'twin' so they slide around while you're trying to sleep....the comedy of errors goes on an on.

Pics from Pole

2007-01-15T02:48:00.000-07:00

The South Pole

South Pole Station

The only way out is north

2007-01-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Since man has been coming to Antarctica, the ultimate destination has always been the south pole. Early explorers endured the most extreme hardships. Some lost everything along the way. They endured frost-bite, unbearably cold temperatures, some of the fiercest winds on the planet. My hardship, the crust on my sandwich was a tad bit hard. I probably won't go down in history books for my efforts in conquering stale sandwiches, but I am at the South Pole. When I first started thinking about coming to Antarctica, I fantasized about getting an opportunity to visit “Pole” as it's called by the locals. It was unreasonable to think that I would get to come my first season, but the opportunity arose this season and I jumped at the chance. I only found out a few days ago that I would be coming, I had to tie up some loose ends before departing McMurdo so I really didn't have too much time to get excited about the whole affair. I first started to feel the excitement the night before I came. I woke at about 3A.M and wasn't able to go back to sleep due to the excitement. The flight down was an uneventful 3 hours on a ski-equipped C-130. On the way down, I took an opportunity to look out the window. I was reminded the vastness of this continent. It's amazing how easy it is to forget about the rest of the continent when you're at McMurdo. The feeling I got when I stepped off the plane at Pole was on of exhilaration. I feel extremely honored and privileged to be in this otherworldly place. I received a very warm welcome from the operations manager here. I spent the rest of the day settling into my room and trying to learn my way around the 60,000 sq. foot elevated station.

I intend on getting some pics posted on the blog over the course of the next few days. Until then, here are some tidbits of information:

The current station was completed during the 2005/2006 austral summer.

Conservation is for real here. All water comes from melting snow, which burns a great deal of fuel (at about $16/gallon by the time it gets here). Only 2 showers, lasting 2 minutes each are allowed.

T-shirt design

2007-01-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

I couldn't bear the fact that my life is so empty that my "Happy New Year" post was STILL the most recent post clear up until the middle of January. That is akin to leaving the Christmas lights up until Valentine's day. In light of that, I felt obligated to post something..anything so here it is. In November I designed a T-shirt for my work center. I was pretty proud of my wit. I took orders from the guys at work and placed the order. They turned out really good and I was amazed at the satisfaction derived from seeing something that I had designed being worn by residents of the community. Here are some pics of the design.

Happy New Year!!!

2006-12-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a happy New Year. I know I am. The start of a new year always causes one to think about what they did during the previous year and what they wish to accomplish in the next. My New Years celebration was supposed to be themed around having fun with karma. You see, I have a friend who is particularly fussy about her coffee. It's cute and funny and it gives me a chance to overlook my own peculiarities and make fun of hers. Her, and her boyfriend, were to be working the coffee house for New Year's Eve. The coffee house actually serves more wine and liquor than anything else, but it is "The Coffee House" so, one should expect there to be coffee there. Now, especially on a busy night, coffee drinks (specifically espresso) take a long time to make. Add to that the tendency for people to assert their individuality by ordering a complicated coffee drink and I can have some compassion for somebody who may not want to be bothered with making coffee when it is much quicker to pour a glass of wine. But, since my friend tends to be picky I fantasized about the karmic humour that would be had by ordering copious amounts of coffee on New Year's Eve. The couple decided to have a little fun and post faux newspaper articles about how e.coli had been discovered in the coffee machine and that coffee wouldn't be available on NYE, all the reasonable people who are lacking in sticks up their asses thought it was funny. But that one guy in management who, apparently does have a stick up his ass, failed to find the humour and had all the signs removed and had my friends relieved of their duties as coffee house bar tenders. Yes, things have been so mellow this year that stupid shit like this makes major headlines. Unbelievable.

On another note, I have done some reflecting about the past year. Marsha and I have had an absolutely great year. We've travelled 3 continents, surfed in Mexico, visited no less than 3 world-heritage sites, visited ancient ruins, witnessed the beginning of a revolution and been to Antarctica - TWICE! I've skied in 2 countries, toured 13 (or so) western states with my kids and I've just done some amazing things. I am very grateful for the freedom that I have to be able to do all this stuff. Here's to another amazing year!

Destination Gulmarg

2006-12-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

I'm calling it the Global ody-ski for world peace, it's a bit of self-aggrandizement surrounding my vacation plans. But, here's the plan: I will depart the ice sometime on or about 14 February and spend a couple of weeks kicking around in New Zealand. I need enough time there to process an Indian Visa. Marsha and I will be together for this leg of the journey. Our plans are pretty open but I want to give surfing another shot and want to tour around a bit with her. I'll leave on March 3rd for the U.S. I'll only be passing through the states very briefly. I'll make a quick stopover in Vegas to see a friend whom I haven't seen in years and am eager to catch up with. From there to Riverton, WY where I'll pick up my skis and my Suburban, drive to Jackson, see the boys and then drive to Denver from where I'll depart for Kashmir on March 8th. My trip will take me from Denver to D.C. to Munich to Delhi where I'll spend a night then on to Srinigar, the capital city of Kashmir. From there, it's land transportation to Gulmarg the site of a single gondola that has a vertical rise of 1330 metres (~4300 vert. feet!) that's a greater vertical rise than anything in North America! The gondola, in its 2nd year of full operations, only sees about 50 skiers/day. To say that I am excited about this trip is a bit understated. Currently, I have a hotel booked there for 2 weeks but my plane ticket is one-way and I have no obligations to be anywhere else. Ahhh...the benefits of being homeless. So, I'm not sure where I'll be going after Kashmir, but Chamonix (in France) is high on my list. Skiing in Transylvania has an appeal due to its low cost, or possibly St. Anton, Zermatt....the list goes on. I'll just follow the snow. When the skiing peters out, I plan on meeting Marsha somewhere in Europe to tour around a bit, especially eastern Europe. From there I plan on flying directly to Buenos Aires and on to Barlioche in Patagonia for some Austral-skiing before returning to work....either back to Antarctica or somewhere else. Anyhow, that's it. I would enjoy seeing you along the way.

Of course, this is all subject to change :)

Have a great day!

Couple of random notes...

2006-12-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

Myself and the guys I work with took a trip to Cape Evans a few weeks ago. It was a great trip out of town as well as a good bonding experience. This time, I drove the newest, most reliable piece of equipment, that's the "Elephant Man" on the right. We also took 3 Pisten Bullys and 2 Tucker snow cats. We were out until almost 1 A.M. We saw seals and toured an historic hut that was built in the early 1900's by one of the first expeditions.

Havin' a BLAST. Yesterday, I witnessed the launch of this season's most impressive baloon payload. It's called BLAST - an acronym for Balloon Borne, Large apeture, Submillimeter Telescope. In a nutshell, its job is to detect star-forming regions.

Why come to Antarctica...?

2006-12-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, some observations from friends of mine who were here under the auspices of the National Science Foundation have been causing me to think. The rhetorical question was asked "Why would you be here if you're confined to town?" To answer that, first, nobody is really confined to town. Even the people who work in the dining facility get out every once in a while. The larger answer though, is that we're here for the experience. Just like you are. My experience won't be less rich because I didn't spend time in a field camp. My experience will be richer though because you have.

What I'm trying to get at is that your success depends on my success and I am emotionally invested in your project before you even hit the ice. Do you think your transportation just happens? Do you think your gear just arrives? Do you think your meals magically appear? To do whatever it is that you came here to do, you need transportation, quarters, food, gear and various other stuff. We make it happen. Maybe you haven't noticed, but there isn't an auto parts store nearby. You probably have noticed that the equipment you are driving around in is used. During a great part of the austral summer, it doesn't seem too cold at McMurdo, but try holding onto a hunk of metal that is 30 degrees farenheit. Believe me, it's cold! Knowing that I have overcome adversity, knowing that I have had to make do without fills me with a sense of pride.

Yes, we envy you. We want to get out and experience Antarctica but please don't pity me for not spending my time here exclusively in a field camp. I take a great deal of pride knowing that I, in the face of great adversity, have contributed to the furtherance of human knowledge. Phrases like "I can't do that without parts" have been replaced by "I'll think of another way to do the job". Thanks to the kitchen staff, the housing staff, logistics, fuels, waste, IT, firehouse, cargo, ATO and all the other departments, without whom I couldn't do my job and without whom my entire experience in Antarctica might not be as rich.

May contain peanuts...

2006-12-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

So what's up with everyone's food allergies? I made some crack the other day about seeing signs for "gluten-free" this and that and got a very stern response from a bystander about how people have allergies. There are peanut allergies. You can't send latex balloons to school because of latex allergies. I have a cousin who has a soy allergy - damn good thing she's not lactose intolerant as well. I think that the pussification of America may have gone beyond being politically correct and may now encompass every facet of our being. And on that, what's up with workplace "sensitivity" type training. I'm told that if my actions, words or pictures that I view offend someone in my workplace then I must change my behavior. I have three words for someone who finds my stuff offensive: "Deal with it you moronic, worthless piece of spineless trash"

So....everyone who comes to Antarctica signs an offer letter that states their wages. It is also made very clear to anyone wanting to work here that they will be expected to work 54 hours per week. If you can't be happy working for that amount of pay and for those hours, then don't sign up - simple! Also, there was a question asked at today's "all hands meeting" about televisions and why there isn't a television in every dorm room. Seriously, did you come here to watch fucking tv?

I had a bit of an emotional meltdown a few weeks ago. Some tough questions came up, and in the end, I am a better person and know more about myself for confronting those questions. As a result of this I now know that, as I get closer to my 40th birthday, that my big aspiration in life is to be a ski bum. That's it, I'm not going to be the one to cure cancer or solve world hunger or promote world peace. I simply want to ski.

O.K. enough of my drivel. Have a good one!

Pointless Babbling

2006-10-16T11:36:00.000-06:00

After the disaster of the Black Island traverse, I've been kept on a short leash so I haven't got any new adventures to report on but out of an overwhelming feeling of obligation to my readers (mom) I feel the need to write about something so here goes... Tucked in the many nooks and crannies of McMurdo you can find lots of things that you wouldn't normally see outside of a mental institution. For example, insane people, boxes upon boxes of paper products and powdered bleach. I guess they try to save on weight when they ship it down but it's really a drag when washing your whites because there aren't instructions on how to mix it for a non-institutional load of laundry. Such is life here.

Last Saturday I was privileged to attend the annual 70's disco themed party. Marsha commented that it was strange that this is part of our lifestyle. She's right, along with world travel and eating dinner amongst some of the best and brightest that the world has to offer, we go to parties where people put on some sort of wig and dance to awful music. Disco music is something that most of us tried to forget, why are we memoralizing it here? Why not a 70's Lynrd Skynrd party or something? I've also come to accept the fact that guys here, especially those who work at the fire department, love to dress up in drag. Didn't Salman Rushdie or someone say that in a society that hasn't got enough females that the males will assume the role? I dunno...I find it disturbing yet humorous. Here are a couple of pics. A big thanks to Sylvestre Guidi for immortalizing these precious moments.

Marsha gets jiggy!

I can dance if I want to

This guy'll be sorry when his senate campaign is derailed by this picture

Lip service is still being paid to safety here. We've all worked places where that happens, but here's how it works here. In the coffee house, there's a space where they show movies from time to time. Last season this space was lit with Christmas lights. They're just about perfect for when you want to go to the restroom without stepping all over the bodies strewn about. Well, this year they have been removed because they are a fire hazard. I now have to feel my way through a maze of sweaty rednecks (well...only on Dolly Parton marathon days) to get to the restroom because Cletus and Lerlean wrapped three tons of conductive material around a tree that nobody has bothered to water since Halloween and they done burnt up the trailer park one Christmas. Meanwhile, my employer is perfectly o.k. with taking someone with two or three year's worth of experience driving their mother's escort and putting them behind the wheel of a ten ton articulated cargo truck and driving up and down an icy 12% grade all day. I feel safer already.

I have a long-standing philosophy about picking up girls at the gym. I have always felt that women who go to the gym may very well be interested in being picked up but it ain't by any man who's there. However, my mind may have been changed. First, you have to consider what some of these girls wear. A baggy pair of shorts and T-shirt are adequate workout wear but when some girl wears a form fitting tight outfit it becomes difficult to not ogle. Lately, the girls who are lacking the form to have form-fitting clothing seem to be trying to compensate by veiling themselves in a cloud of toxic gas smelling perfume. I guess if my eyes are burning from this haze that emanates from you, I can't possibly be disgusted by your haggard looks. I can't help but wonder if we've received a plane load of Eau du Seahag.

Well, that's about all I have for now. I must excuse myself to go snort some powdered bleach to try to rid my nostrils of this stench.

Will goes blonde...

2006-09-22T00:23:00.000-06:00

All waste generated by the United States Antarctic Program must be shipped back to the U.S. 60% of all waste from here gets recycled. Last year 100% of the plastic that was used here was recycled. Personal items and clothing that people bring down and then decide they don't want for whatever reason can be discarded in what is called Skua (named for a scavenger bird that comes here in the summer). I stopped into Skua last week and found a blonde hair dye kit. I was pretty apprehensive but decided to give it a shot. I really like it. What do you think?

Fun at mealtime...

2006-09-20T22:12:00.000-06:00

...One of the neater things about the culture at McMurdo is the mealtime conversation. Marsha and myself have been trying to break from our safe routine of sitting with the same people every day. We have been branching out and meeting some new people at mealtime. It has been very rewarding. Today however, we sat with our normal group of people. The conversation was rich in talk of world travel. We compared notes with our friend Holly on travel in Australia. We discussed travel in Europe with the group. It's not every day or in every place that you can have conversations such as that with your co-workers. The conversation took a turn for the worse. Somehow or another we got on the subject of Dan Savage. Dan Savage writes a syndicated sex-advice column. As a reaction to Senator Rick Santorum's condemnation of homosexuality, Mr. Savage challenged his listners to come up with a sex-related definition of the word "santorum" as a satirical form of political protest for the express purpose of "memorializ[ing] the Santorum scandal […] by attaching his name to a sex act that would make his big, white teeth fall out of his big, empty head". I won't print the winning word and definition here, it is certainly not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach nor is it safe for minors. If you insist, you can find it here. Lunch turned out to be a wonderfully fun experience with my friends!

vomit

2006-09-14T22:19:00.000-06:00

Life in Antarctica has its ugly side too...the following is a cut 'n paste from an email from the station manager:

Current station policy holds all individuals responsible for their actions with regard to alcohol consumption. This includes those who consume too much alcohol and vomit in the common areas of living quarters. This has occurred on three separate occasions this past week in the second floor men's bathroom [both galley and lounge side] of Building 155. Regrettably, the persons responsible for these actions did not clean up after themselves.

Let me be clear, if you vomit inside of a building, you are responsible for cleaning up after yourself. In the dorm areas, on each floor there are buckets, mops, etc. in the janitor's closet. There is hot water from the sink and cleaning products available to help you with this task.

More importantly, each individual needs to assess their alcohol tolerance and learn to moderate their consumption accordingly. If you are going to consume alcohol, pay attention to factors such as rest, when you last ate, and if you are recovering from a cold or flu. These factors may reduce your body's ability to process the alcohol in your system. If you believe your consumption habits are out of control, their are resources on station to help you.

Please join me in promoting responsible alcohol use. If you make a poor decision, step forward and take responsibility for correcting that decision.

Richard's take on the Black Island traverse

2006-09-12T20:55:00.000-06:00

Richard's take on the trip

18,600 pounds of pure joy...

2006-09-01T00:18:00.000-06:00

...Properly called a Nodwell. It's a 1982 model of a tracked vehicle manufactured my Canadian Foremost. I am to drive this calamitous contraption 60 miles across the Ross Ice Shelf from McMurdo Station to Black Island Antarctica. I'm a heavy equipment mechanic tasked with repairing the two generators at Black Island that are down. There are other problems with other systems on the station also. Six other people will be going on the traverse (any overland trip here is referred to as a traverse) with me. We are taking a total of four vehicles. Three of them being Pisten Bullys and the fourth being the aforementioned Nodwell. The Nodwell was brought into the United States Antarctic Program back in the days when each piece of equipment had a unique name. The Nodwell's name is T-Rex. Pisten Bully is a German made ski groomer type of vehicle. It's name is a reference to the French/Italian term “piste”. The Pisten Bully is a great vehicle for its intended purpose but that purpose wasn't to transport scientists and equipment across Antarctica. Despite the snow and ice, this place isn't Squaw Valley.

A Pisten Bully

Black Island gets its name because it is mostly snow and ice free. The katabolic winds here are treacherous and Black Island bears the brunt of their force, scrubbing the island clean of any accumulated snow and ice. The plan was to leave on Monday at 7:15 AM. But high winds in the forecast caused a 24 hour delay to our trip. This worked in my favor as I have a great deal of tasking on my plate and really need to get it done. During the delay our manifest increased by three people as a film crew wishes to go along for the ride. On Tuesday I checked my email at 6:15 to see if we were a go. An email outage prevented anyone from being notified so everyone prepared for going. For my part, this involves starting T-Rex which is no small task considering there isn't indoor parking for vehicles. Think about how hard it is to start your car when it's cold outside and multiply that by ten. The temperatures are colder, the wind is fiercer and the equipment is older. I also had to load a few “do not freeze” items on T-Rex and gather my personal belongings for the trip. After the preparation I went to the dining facility for breakfast. It was there that I eventually found out that the traverse was postponed another 24 hours. I wondered how Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen were able to do what the did without the benefit of weather forecasters and email.

By Tuesday evening our manifest had grown by another person. This time a cook and friend of mine from former trips into the Antarctic hinterlands. It was a relief to know that I wouldn't have to rely on boil-in-the-bag type backpacker food. As the day went on, I realized that my luggage for the trip was getting heavier as I kept thinking of items that might be good to have along. As time would soon tell, this was a good thing.

Wednesday morning I received notice that the traverse was a go. I went to the shop, started T-Rex, loaded some last minute items then went to the galley to meet the rest of the traverse crew. We did some last minute planning, gathered the last of the gear that we would need and departed. I feel it necessary to mention at this point that T-Rex is somewhat of an underdog. The traverse leader commented that the machine probably wouldn't make it as far as “KOA” (a shelter about half way between McMurdo and Black Island). When we got to KOA we made a point of radioing back to McMurdo to let everyone know that we had, indeed, made it that far. Very soon after passing KOA we entered what is called the dead zone, so-called because there is no radio communication back to McMurdo from anywhere in the dead zone. It's really pretty ominous. If anything happens while you're there, you're on your own until somebody at McMurdo decides to do something about it. The trip through the dead zone is about an hour long and went by uneventfully. On the other side of it, we promptly checked back in with McMurdo. Soon after our scheduled radio check in, something went horribly awry with T-Rex. I felt something give and heard an atrocious noise from the undercarriage. I brought the machine to a stop and opened my door. Dave, my supervisor and passenger, asked me “What's wrong? Do you smell something hot?”

As I was looking down at the ice, I replied “That thing that I step on to get in and out is gone” The thing that I was referring to was the left side track. It had broken and was laying about 50 feet behind us. “What do we do now?” I thought to myself hopelessly.

Self Laying Track Vehicle Photo: Anthony "Antz" Powell

Dave and I were under great pressure to get this right. It didn't take long for the film crew to get set up and start filming.

The decision making process went into full swing with Dave and myself not wasting any time conferring about what to do or how to do it but rather fiercely attacking the problem at hand. I was able to back T-Rex up mostly straight onto its own track. We used one of the Pisten Bullys to pull the track sideways ever so slightly as I backed T-Rex up. Next, we had to get the other half of the track over top of the drive assembly. We put a few of the grousers over the drive sprocket and engaged the transmission of the machine and it pulled its own track over. That maneuver concluded the easy part. In order to complete the repairs, we would have to come up with material to mend the break and we would need to get enough slack in the track to bolt the two ends together. Fortunately for us, the break had happened in a previous patch. We could simply remove both halves of the patch and use the longer piece to go back in place and bolt less of it to the existing track. T-Rex has an air compressor and I was well equipped to deal with any situation. I got an air impact wrench and an air hose from my tool kit and spent a good bit of time unbolting six track grousers. That done, we only had to figure out how best to re-use the old section of track patch and get slack in the track. The track is tensioned by a cylinder packed with grease. Dave and I are both experienced mechanics. By experienced, I mean that we both know the consequences of removing a fitting that has grease under pressure behind it and neither of us was willing to take a face-full of frozen, pressurized grease. We also had no way of putting grease back in the cylinder once the pressure was off. It was getting late and dark and the decision was made for us to ride in the Pisten Bully back to camp, get some rest and come up with a plan to finish the repairs to T-Rex.

That night, I slept in the bunkhouse at Black Island. The bunkhouse is a building that I would come to know, like many before me, as “the night train”When the wind starts blowing the bunkhouse creaks and sways. The low rumbling and gentle rocking resemble the feeling and sound of being aboard a train. When the winds are calm, the night train is unbearably hot, especially in the top bunk that I was in. When the wind picks up to about 40 knots the temperature drops to comfortable when the wind is harder than that, the bottom bunks are, apparently, unbearably frigid.

After a night of insufficient sleep I woke to the howling of winds in excess of 40 knots. The short 50 yard walk to the main building was grueling. There was no chance of going out to complete the repairs on T-Rex in weather such as this so I opted to work on what I was here for, the generators. The first generator that I worked on proved to be a relatively easy fix. Engine vibration had shaken a wire loose on the starter and I was able to fix it by crimping the wire on tighter. The other generator is a victim of being near the end of the earth's longest logistical chain. Absent proper parts to repair things, equipment gets cobbled together by whatever means available to make them work. This is just a fact of life in Antarctica. Unfortunately when these types of repairs are made they make little, if any, sense to the next person to come along. After a series of such repairs it becomes impossible to make the equipment work like it's supposed to again. In the end, the second generator was not repaired and will have to be completed on another trip.

The next day I woke in a puddle of sweat. A calm night in the night train was indicative of calm winds. Dave and I spent a few hours cleaning snow out of Pisten Bullys and getting two of them started. We needed one to venture back to T-Rex and wanted a second one running in case something happened and we needed help. Due to all of this, we got a late start. We arrived at T-Rex at 12:30 PM and made a decision to return to camp no later than 4:30 so that we wouldn't have to try to find our way back in the dark. The road is marked by bamboo poles that are supposed to have flags on them, but the flags have all been violently ripped off by the high winds. Trying to navigate this route in the dark, under whiteout conditions would be extremely difficult as we would later find out. Soon after we arrived at T-Rex the wind picked up. Ambient temperatures were a brisk -22 F. Wind chills were off the chart. Dave commented “I have been this cold before, but never so quickly”.

We took frequent breaks and kept an eye on one another to avoid cold-weather injuries such as frostbite. The work was painfully slow. Fine motor skills become severely diminished when all one thinks about is how cold they are. Skills are further diminished by the necessity of wearing gloves. Touching frozen metal with bare hands in these temperatures instantly produces a sensation much like a burn. As 4:30 approached and then passed we hadn't accomplished much. By 5:30 we were close enough to having the track back together that it was extremely difficult to quit now, but in the interest of our survival we stopped and headed back to camp. The drive back took twice as long as normal due to the inferior visibility. By the time we returned to camp, our stress levels were elevated and a drink was in order.

Saturday proved to be another calm day. Temperatures were considerably warmer and the wind hadn't blown overnight. Pisten Bullys started with ease and didn't require any shoveling out. We arrived at T-Rex at 9:30 AM and had it back together by 11:00 AM. I drove it back towards camp and parked it about 20 minutes away to avoid driving the fragile track across the abrasive volcanic rock of Black Island. By the time we got back to camp, the wind was starting to pick up. Before this night was up, the winds would peak at 97mph. I slept on the floor of the main building that night as getting to the bunkhouse was impossible due to the high winds.

T-Rex was in need of fuel if we were to drive it home. By noon on Sunday the winds had subsided enough to facilitate taking some fuel to T-Rex. We made two trips with six 5-gallon cans. We filled the machine with fuel and pumped the tensioning cylinder up with grease. After the second trip we crossed our fingers and hoped for all to go well the next day so that we could return to McMurdo.

Monday morning was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The sky was displaying a magnificent array of colors that are only possible here. The air was silent, crisp and clean. The weather forecast was favorable so the decision was made for seven of us to return to McMurdo in two vehicles. T-Rex and a Pisten Bully. We departed at about 10 AM drove for an uneventful five hours back to McMurdo.

Every moment that I spent on the ice-shelf was pure misery. The constant drone of T-Rex's engine, the bitter cold, the stinging of ice crystals and volcanic pebbles hitting my face, my eyeballs freezing shut, every moment of it was agonizing and grueling. Sharing this with another person formed a bond that can't be formed anywhere else. This is why I am here. This is the Antarctica that I came here to experience. We completed the traverse without help from anyone. We proved to be completely self-sufficient under impossible circumstances. I was able to take great pride in the smallest of victories such as getting a bolt through a hole in T-Rex's track. Such accomplishments are taken for granted in normal circumstances but Antarctica is far from normal and accomplishments here are always grandiose.

Upon my return to McMurdo I took my first shower in six days and was welcomed back by my peers in much the same fashion that celebrities are welcomed. For the second time in less than a month I have returned to McMurdo and felt at home.

Oh..and sometimes just like in the movies, the underdog wins!

Snotsickle: A Self-Portrait

Trip to Black Island...the prep..

2006-08-29T17:55:00.000-06:00

So..there's a generator (or three) at Black Island that is in need of repair. I am gearing up to go take care of it. Today, I got to hear someone whine about how they don't get to go because they haven't had happy camper. I'm thinking the guy could have fulfilled the obligations of his contract last year, rather than leaving after six weeks and he could have gotten happy camper then and would be ready to go this year. Also, all these fuckers who complain about not getting to go out can pound sand in their ass. Where are they all at when I'm working on Sunday? Where are they while I'm working past quitting time out in the cold, working through break and eating sack lunch or sometimes not getting lunch at all? Cease the whining boys and take some initiative to do something.

Anyhow, I'll report more on the trip as it progresses

pictures

2006-08-26T15:40:00.000-06:00

pics of Marsha and myself!

seventh archival post

2006-08-26T01:47:00.000-06:00

Season Two: The Adventure.....Repeats

Hi All,
I've found myself once again in Antarctica. The feeling I had as I
got here was one I hadn't expected. The bonds I formed last year have
proven to have lasted during the off season. When I got here, I had
an overwhelming feeling of home. It only makes sense. Since last
February, the longest I've stayed in the same place was three weeks in
Mexico. Even there, I made the occasional side trip. So knowing that
I'll be staying put for six months is kind of nice. The connections
that I made here last year are akin to those that one makes in a
foxhole. Sharing the experience of a harsh continent with a small
group of people really cements a relationship.

Contrary to what some of you may believe, I had not fallen off the
face of the earth. Here's a summary of what I've been doing since
last February:

One week in Tasmania. Gorgeous contemporary small cities, pristine
beaches, stunningly beautiful world heritage rain forests.

One week on the mainland of Australia. Sydney, the Blue Mountains,
Uluru. Friendly people, dramatic coastlines, far too vast and diverse
to explore in a week.

About 30 days skiing and seeing the kids in Jackson Hole. Epic powder
days, party nights

Quick road trip to Whistler, B.C. Stayed a night in a Yurt, had a
wonderful time skiing with Cody and Kegan. Diagnosed with a salivary
gland infection which put a damper on my good times.

Back to Jackson Hole for a few days where I learned that competent
Canadian "Infection" translates into inept American "Cancer"...no
worries, the Canadian diagnoses was the proper one.

Three week surf vacation to Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca (pronounced
wah-ha-ca)Mexico. Monstrous, bone-crushing waves, friendly people,
squalor. Took a side trip to Oaxaca city, saw the amazing ruins of
Monte Alban. Saw the beginning of an uprising in Oaxaca city. Drank
some really good Mezcal. Took a side trip to San Cristobal de las
Casas in Chiapas, Mexico, home of the Zapatista uprising of 1994 and
still the base for an active post-modern revolution.

One month water park tour of 12 western states with Cody & Kegan.

One week of Boy Scout camp with Cody.

One week of school in Denver. It was for work and covered everything
I will need to know about the Cat 950G Series II loader

Three days of school in Reno, NV on the Pisten Bully. It's a ski
groomer type vehicle that we use in Antarctica to transport scientists
around.

That takes me up to when I left again for Antarctica. The journey was
long and agonizing but the reward for dealing with that is that I am
once again in this beautiful and unique place. I intend on
chronicling the journey down in a later email. I am also working on
putting a blog together. I hate those things, but it might work well
for me as I can keep an archive of all the stuff I have written.

That's all I have time for right now. I'll write more later. I hope
this finds all of you doing well. I hope to hear from you all soon.

Later,
Will

2006-08-25T15:05:00.000-06:00

This is just a photo I put here to test upload of photos. It's of auroras at the South Pole. I didn't take the picture, never even been to the pole.

sixth archival post...The Boondoggle

2006-08-23T04:41:00.000-06:00

"I will light the match this morning so I won't be alone."

Pearl Jam – Indifference

A boondoggle is defined locally as any trip off-station. Boondoggles
are highly coveted by the population at McMurdo. We're all here for a
chance to find the Antarctica that we came here to see.

McMurdo station is on Ross Island. It's not on the mainland of
Antarctica. When I was presented with the opportunity to go on a
boondoggle to a station located on the mainland, I jumped at it. My
destination was Marble Point, a remote outpost that provides
logistical support for research on the continent. The generator on
the station was down and my job was to get it running again. My
reward for my efforts was an experience so powerfully spiritual that I
fear my words won't do it justice.

I arrived by helicopter, was greeted by Crunch, the station manager
and briefed on the problems the generator was having. It turned out
to be a relatively simple, albeit time-consuming fix. Long story
short; Will said "Let there be light!" and there was light.

The next day I took full advantage of where I was. I went for a walk.
Shortly after breakfast, I loaded my pockets with various
calorie-laden foods that were available, grabbed a radio and embarked.
I had walked less than 15 minutes when I suddenly felt completely
alone. By alone, I mean it was easy to believe that I was the only
person in the entirety of the universe. The emptiness of Antarctica
enveloped me. I couldn't see, hear, feel, taste or smell any sign of
any living thing other than myself. This is the kind of emptiness and
loneliness that I had only envisioned in one of my favorite childhood
dreams. The only connection I had to the real world, the only thing
that made this experience real, was the song going through my head;
something by Green Day, "…I walk these lonely streets……I walk
alone……"

The destination was Hogback Hill. I had scouted it out on the map. I
pride myself on my map reading and land navigation skills. One of the
things that I have always preached to Cody is to check the information
on the map to see what units of measurement are being used.
Case-in-point I read the hilltop to be 734 feet high, in reality, it
was 734 meters. I was humbled to think that I was that tired climbing
a 700-foot hill. On my ascent, I noticed that it was so quiet that I
could hear my own heartbeat. I heard it! It sounded like when you
listen to an unborn baby's heartbeat through a stethoscope. The only
sign of life was my own heartbeat. Lacking any outside validation,
the beat of my heart was the only proof I had that I was alive, that I
even existed in the otherworldly empty vastness that I was now
surrounded by.

I walked along the base of a glacier. The crunching of snow was like
thousands of microscopic caverns collapsing in a thunderous roar under
the weight of my boots. Like the report of a shotgun, the sounds of
the glacier cracking ripped through the flesh of silence. The
cacophony of dripping water sounded like a shower that the earth was
taking. Chaos theory started to make sense to me when I contemplated
the melting glacier before me. The ice towered above me for hundreds
of feet. The heat of the sun was randomly releasing molecules of
water that had been frozen for countless millennia. Some would
evaporate and blow northward to the ocean, others would refreeze only
to be locked again in ice for countless more millennia. I was there
to witness their re-emergence and their random dissemination.
Something senseless made sense. A landscape devoid of life caused me
to feel more alive than ever.

The hike ended eight hours after it had started. I arrived safely
back at the station. Tired, yet somehow refreshed. Self-aware and
ALIVE! Grateful for the chance to experience what I thought
Antarctica was.

Hi all! It's been a long time since any of you have heard from me.
Nothing much new has been going on aside from my weekend retreat
described above. I did get some new pictures up, mostly from my trip
to Marble Point. There are some of the landscape and some that bring
things to light that nobody probably ever thinks of (read the signs).
The pictures can be found at:
here
kudos to anyone who gets the reference in this picture

(UNLESS is spelled in rocks, in case you can't make it out-my rock
writing sucks almost as much as my handwriting). Something that I had
the privelige of seeing a presentation on tonight was the American
Women's Expedition. Four women set out to ski across the continent.
They abandoned their expedition upon reaching the South Pole, but it
was a remarkable story nonetheless. Here is the best info I could
find on it:
I was impressed. You should be too!

That's about all I have in my world. I hope all of you are doing well.

Later,
Will

fifth archival post..Survivor: Antarctica

2006-08-23T04:39:00.000-06:00

Outdoor Survival School AKA Happy Camper.

There are advantages to camping out in Antarctica. They are:
1) The outhouse doesn't stink.
2) There are no bears.
3) There are no rodents.
4) If you forget your insect repellent, no worries!
Other than that, I wouldn't recommend the experience unless you wish
to gain a new yardstick by which to measure future misery. The number
I have to quantify my own suffering is –43 degrees Fahrenheit. 10
other people and I spent the night out in that extreme of a
temperature without the benefit of external heat sources. We all made
it mostly unscathed. My experience caused me to abandon 4 of my 5
senses. The only thing one knows in these conditions is cold.
Nothing else matters. One must reach deep to find the fortitude with
which to simply ignore the pain and force oneself to do what must be
done to generate heat.

The training course started off, benignly enough, with classroom
discussion on cold weather injuries and their prevention/treatment,
then moved to the operation of cook-stoves and various shelters that
one may encounter on the frozen continent. We then went afield, were
dropped off with some tents and tools and built camp. By the time the
tents were up and the protective wall was built, the sun just began to
dip behind the ridge to our north. Then it was time for me to
discover what NASA has known for quite some time. O-rings have a
propensity to fail in extreme cold conditions. One of the cook-stoves
that my tent-mate and I were using sprang a leak, spraying pressurized
fuel directly into its own flame. Not being one to think of fire as
friendly, I was mildly annoyed by this. The problem was complicated
by not having an effective means to extinguish a fire. Water was
available, but thanks to Joseph Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez, I know
what petroleum products do on water, so I thought better of trying to
build a scale model of Prince William Sound amidst the conflagration.
The next logical method would be to smother the fire, but at the
behest of the course instructors, I had only brought clothing of
modern synthetic fabrics. The mantra goes something like "Cotton
kills." In this case cotton sure would have been a lifesaver. Then I
noticed my wool socks lying in a heap on the floor. I tried my best
to put out the fire with them, but they just weren't big enough. At
about that time, I remembered that I had brought a wool blanket with
me. I pulled it out of the bag and did my best to wrap the flaming
stove up in it. I heard my tent-mate returning. Very calmly I asked
him to hold the door to the tent open. I explained that we had a
minor disaster and I needed to dispose of it before it became
unmanageable. Not knowing what to expect, he did as I requested only
to be rudely met by a ball of flame masquerading as a wool blanket.
His reaction was rather lewd but we succeeded in averting a
large-scale disaster.

The remainder of the night was mostly uneventful, albeit very cold.
As has become the norm when I camp out, my feet were cold all night,
preventing me from getting much sleep at all, but considering the
temperature, I did relatively well. My results were in-line with
those of my peers so I declared a victory on that front. The point of
the night out was to survive, not necessarily to be comfortable.

Getting out of my sleeping bag was the hardest thing that I did during
the entire ordeal. Going from being relatively warm to excruciatingly
painfully cold was very difficult. Forcing my feet into frozen,
rock-solid boots was pure torture. I spent about 30 minutes just
walking around to try to generate body heat. Eventually the activity
worked. We broke camp and returned to McMurdo in time for lunch. I
did suffer minor frostbite on the tip of my nose and the very tips of
two fingers on my right hand. The investment I made in physical
suffering will pay psychological dividends in knowing I can endure in
horribly adverse conditions. I am thankful for the newfound respect
that I have for the explorers of the heroic age who endured these
conditions for what must have seemed like forever.

My camera didn't work for very long in the cold. I did get a couple
of pictures. I'll get them up soon.

Have a great day everyone!
Will

fourth archival posting...Antarctic Shenanigans

2006-08-23T04:38:00.000-06:00

Hi all,
first, new pictures can be found at
here
there are some of the shop I work in, some of the wild equipement that
I work on and a few of our bowling party.

Over the past couple of weeks, not alot new has happened. The
recreational opportunities here prove to be widely varied and always
interesting. Last Wednesday there was an 'open mic night' at the
coffehouse (It's really a wine bar that serves coffee as an aside).
The event was definitely entertaining. Kyle sung songs about
hermaphrodites, gerbil in your butt, and a drunken friend groping him
inappropriately, basically, he made lyrical mincemeat from sacred
cows.

Last Thursday I saw the sun for the first time since I got here. We
have had daylight every day, but McMurdo is nestled behind some hills
so this was the first time I had actually seen the sun. The periods
of daylight are getting longer and longer. I'm becoming concerned how
my sleep will be effected once the sun is up 24 hours per day. Since
I got here, I have been sleeping better than I have in several years
and I attribute that mostly to the darkness.

Since it had been several years since I've worked as a mechanic, I
forgot how nice it is to hear phrases such as "Your nuts are in my
hand" from another male, and for that to be totally ok in the context
of being a mechanic. I'm starting to get used to taking all day to do
a task that would normally take about 20 minutes. For example, to go
air up a flat tire, one has to have an air compressor, but since it
has sat outside in the cold, it needs to be warmed up prior to
starting it. This involves starting a Herman Nelson heater. Now, of
course, the last person to use it left it out of fuel so you have to
go to the fuel pump to get fuel. So..you finally get the heater
started, it takes 15 minutes of heat on the air compressor to start
it. The heater gets left on because the flat tire also has to be
heated before it will take air. On a big piece of equipment this
process can take 30 minutes before you can even start pumping air into
it, during which time the unloader on the air compressor has frozen,
rendering it inoperable..and on it goes..thus, at the end of the day,
when you see the loader you worked all day on to get air in the tire
out working, you can actually go home with a sense of pride for taking
all day to do it, and that nagging feeling like you forgot
something..like putting fuel in the heater. Such is a day in the life
of an Antarctic mechanic.

It's time for me to go. I hope this finds all of you in good health.
I look forward to hearing from any of you who have time to send a
quick note.

Later,
Will

third archival email

2006-08-23T04:37:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

A few updates since my last email, just to let you all know what's
going on and to answer a few questions that I have gotten from some of
you.

first, new photos can be found at
here

there are some aurora australias (southern lights), some of the
sunrise/sunset (there really is no differentiation between the two,
just a few hours of pink in the sky and then dark again) and some
other interesting stuff from my first few days here. 'Ivan' the
terrabus is what I rode in from the airfield to the station. I
thought it was pretty cool. The aircraft pictures are all of C-17
globemasters, which is what I had the privelige of riding on. Much
better than a C-141. There's also one of a firetruck outfitted with
'mattracks'. They don't work any better here than they did in
Yellowstone or other places, but....they still use them. Keeps
mechanics employed I 'spose.

FRESHIES!!!
due to the fact that I'm near the end of the longest logistical chain
in the world, and things don't grow to well here, fresh
fruits/vegetables/eggs are a rare treat. They come in on the plane
when it comes. I came during a period called WINFLY. It's a term,
borrowed from the military, which is a bastardization of winter fly
in. Basically I am part of a skeleton crew who is here to get things
ready for "main body" which happens in October. I didn't realize it,
but the last plane came in last friday and then left, basically
isolating me from the rest of the world. No mail, no way
out...nothing, except a few fresh greens that will be eaten soon, then
nothing until October.

Gear issue:
Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear was issued in Christchurch N.Z. on the
way down. There is lots of stuff available, but a visual of the basic
issue is here:

the first hallmark item is what we call "big red" Its a thick, heavy,
down jacket. the specifics can be found here for all my gear junkie
friends here
it is a pretty nice parka, very cozy.

also included in the issue are "mickey mouse" boots (standard G.I. ECW
boots), expedition weight poly-pro undergarments, Wigwam heavy wool
socks, polar fleece jacket, balaclava, stocking cap, a vast
assortment of gloves and mittens, goggles, sunglasses, insulated wind
pants, insulated carharrt bib overalls, carharrt jacket, julbo
sunglasses.

I have moved to a different room so I don't have to share with the
Andrew the cross-dresser and his girlfriend.

The water in the toilet/sink/whatever doesn't spin any differently in
the southern hemisphere than in the northern. That was all just an
urban legend, and I'm pissed about it! The legend is based on the
coriolis effect..if you're bored and wanna read up on in it..here ya
go
There have been some scientific questions thrown my way, currently,
there are no science lectures being presented so I am unable to ask
questions, but they will start in October and I intend on going and
asking. I want to learn as much as I can while I'm here.

We run on New Zealand Standard Time, which is 18 hours ahead of
Mountain DST. Currently we only get a few hours of light each day but
soon it will be light all the time so time really isn't relevant.

No special shots were required to come here (except tetanus). There
isn't a problem with malaria, etc. No mosquitos to spread it I guess.

Day to day life is pretty 'normal'. My schedule just changed a bit, I
will be working five 11 hour days and then get 2 days off. I'm not
sure what I will do with myself for two days, but I guess I will
figure it out. The job itself isn't too unlike any other job, just
that it's in Antarctica. The commute is the worst of it. I walk 3
minutes, uphill, into the most brutal headwind you could possibly
imagine. Some days the wind chill has been -80 degrees. It's
painfully cold. I work both inside and outside. Outside work really
isn't that bad. Over the years people have engineered ways to keep
the misery to a minimum. Inside work is actually worse. Bringing a
frozen piece of equipment into the shop and then crawling under it to
fix it usually results in getting a shower of ice cold greasy water.
Food is still good. The kitchen does an amazing job given their
limited resources and the demands of institutional style cooking.

Well...that's about it for now. Keep those emails coming folks! It
gives me something to do.

Later,
Will

Second archival posting

2006-08-23T04:26:00.000-06:00

Hi All,
Alot of you have inquired as to how the deal with my roomate and
women's shoes turned out. Here's the scoop, the guy who the housing
department had paired me up with had moved his girlfriend into his
room with him without notifying the housing department, so when he
came home to find me moving in, he was quite shocked, but we had a
good laugh about it when I mentioned that I was concerned about who
might wear the shoes. He works in the shop with me, so his new
nickname is now 'Andrew the cross dresser'

Some of you weren't able to view the pics I sent, some apparently have
file size limits on your inbox, I won't be attaching any more pics in
emails, rather, they will be posted to a yahoo photo album. The two I
sent last time can be found at:
here
I'll let everyone know when new pics are posted.

So, most of what I've been doing so far has been safety type training.
The normal boring crap that one would expect. That and heaps of
paperwork. I have most of that behind me and had a mostly full day of
work today. I worked outside most of the day getting two pieces of
equipment started. It was a balmy -14 with a windchill of about
-40...not too bad by Antarctic standards, but pretty freakin'
miserable still. Getting something started in those conditions is
pretty tough. All of the shop service trucks are equipped with Herman
Nelson heaters (The military style forced air type), so you put the
heater hose in the engine compartment, put tarps around to hold the
heat and wait for everything to heat up enough to start...Not too
tough, it just takes along time to get anything done. My gear seems
to be decent enough at keeping me warm, no complaints there.

I live in the same building that has the dining hall and the beer
store, life is good! The aerobics gym is a short walk from where I
live, I've been getting there in the mornings.

The food is excellent. We've had things like salmon/spinach salad,
mediterranean cous-cous, pad thai, pork stir-fry, and many other good
meals. There's even an ice-cream machine of all things. The tool
room at the shop has thermoses, so if you have to go out, you can take
coffee or other hot items with you. All in all, I'm pretty happy so
far.

If anything exciting happens, I'll make sure to send a mass email out.
Until then, Later all. I hope you're all staying warm!

Will

1st archival post

2006-08-23T04:24:00.000-06:00

I'm putting together some archives of emails I sent out from my very first season in Antarctica. Here's the first email I sent out after getting to "the ice"

I'm safely in Antarctica after a long day.

I haven't met my roomate yet, but it would appear that there are
women's shoes in my room...? Did someone make a mistake or did I just
encounter good fortune? Do I live with a TV?

More later, I need a shower and rest...
Will

Chronological Log of the month-long roadtrip

2006-07-14T09:35:00.000-06:00

June 9 Picked up the kids at their mother's, camped out at Gros Ventre campground GTNP

June 10 Cody rock-climbed w/boy scouts. Camped out @ Lizard Creek, GTNP, had s'mores! :)

June 11 Camped at Bridge Bay YNP. Attended the ranger program on the Nez Perce indians

June 12 Camped at Bridge Bay YNP. Went on a ranger-led hike at Indian Pond to Storm Point, attended ranger led program on the fires of 1988.

June 13 Went to Riverton via Cody. climbed rocks at a rest area along the way. Stayed at great grandma's house

June 14 Went to Sinks Canyon and fed the fish, visited Russell (cousin)

June 15 Drove to Colorado. Climbed rocks at Split Rock. Went to RMNP. Drove over trail ridge road. Camped out in RMNP. Got snowed on.

June 16 Panned for gold at Argo gold mine. Saw the dinosaur footprints at Morrison. Went to my dad's house.

June 17 Went to waterworld and Chuck E. Cheese's

June 18 Went to Casa Bonita for dinner, had homemade peanut butter pie for dinner

June 19 Barn Party with Brenn Hill headlining

June 20 Left Colorado. visited Capulin Volcano National Monument

June 21 Arrived Austin, TX. Met up w/Marsha. Went to the bat bridge at sunset and Cody and Marsha saw the bats while Kegan and I went to the restroom. Went to Toy Joy (awesome toy store)

June 22 Schlitterbahn!!

June 23 Barton Springs, panic mode @ whole foods, Book People and sunset from Mt. Bonnell.

June 24 San Antonio River Walk and The Alamo

June 25 Galveston Island. Kegan got to swim in the ocean for the very first time. Saw the historic district called "The Strand"

June 26 Went to Marsha's mom's house. Saw an alligator. Picked up Marsha's dog (Fergus). Started driving towards Wisconsin

June 27 Drove across Oklahoma. Thankfully it didn't take long. Stopped in Joplin, MO (along historic Route 66) saw the movie "Cars" which romanticized Route 66.

June 28 visited the St. Louis Arch. Arrived Wisconsin Dells.

June 29 Noah's Ark waterpark!!

June 30 House on the Rock, arrived @ Brian's house

July 1 Relax

July 2 Cave Point in Lake Michigan

July 3 Party!

July 4 BBQ with friends of Brians. Cody & Kegan went to fireworks

July 5 start home. stayed the night in Worthington, MN

July 6 Wall Drug. Started having fuel pump trouble with my truck. Spent the night in Wall, SD

July 7 Devil's Tower camped for the night in Red Lodge, MT

July 8 YNP. Firehole Canyon swimming hole was closed :( :( :( BASTARDS! Fuel pump broke for good *&%$^@@#!!! :(:(:( Towed the truck to West Yellowstone, MT

July 9 removed fuel pump from truck. no auto parts stores open (Sunday) rented a car. Drove to I.F. got a fuel pump there, took kids back to their mother's, drove back to West Yellowstone, replaced fuel pump.

July 10 Drove to Jackson. End of journey

finally got it figured out!

2006-07-13T21:48:00.000-06:00

O.K. more notes to myself, I have hesitated in writing much here because I had trouble figuring it out...I dunno, but it works now!

Tomorrow, or sometime, I will write up about the road trip I took with my kids...maybe first I should write a long introduction post about who I am and stuff...

Road Trip: Completed!!!

2006-07-13T21:37:00.000-06:00

My kids and I just got back from a roadtrip that traversed 12 states, 4 national parks, 3 national monuments, 3 waterparks, 2 time zones, 1 break down and 0 speeding tickets.