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.
Showing posts with label about: me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label about: me. Show all posts
3/6/08
A big shout out to the fiscally irresponsible
So...went ahead and did my taxes today...knowing that I have a refund coming, I can't believe I procrastinated this long. I did need to put forth some effort to gather some of the required documents, but it turned out being much easier than I had thought. Anyhow, my refund is now on the way, but I digress. The real point of this post is to thank the millions of Americans who just had to keep up with the Joneses and buy houses which they didn't really have the means to pay for. Because of this, there is apparently a "mortgage crisis" in America and the government has decided to introduce an economic stimulus program. What this means is that myself and many other Americans are going to get a $600 check, which we are probably expected to use to buy lead infused crap from wal-mart with to stimulate the economy. It's kind of a joke, $600 really doesn't go far but for my part, I'm promptly depositing it in a savings account in New Zealand (paying in excess of 10%), and with the interest earned on that $600 by the time I get off this godforsaken hunk of ice it will have accrued enough interest that I can use that interest to purchase a cigar* which was rolled on the thighs of a 15 year old Cuban virgin. My fiscally irresponsible contemporaries will probably already have thrown away the broken piece of whatever they bought with their check by that time. While I do appreciate the check, that's not really what the "thank you" is for. The thank you is for the extension in unemployment insurance. Seems because you can't pay your mortgage, my unemployment insurance benefits can be extended for 26 weeks BEYOND when they would normally run out. I will be taking advantage of this. Takes me back to my trip a few years ago....living on the beach in a demi-mansion with two housekeepers, a gardner a poolboy and a cook..all the while, collecting unemployment (hey, nobody wants to hire someone who's just going to quit on them in a few weeks to go back to Antarctica)...ah the good life. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
Will work for ski pass!
*I don't really get what the big deal is about Cuban cigars, but I can get 'em(well, not today but..) and you can't so neener neener
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
1/5/08
What I've been up to:
So...an update on where I am, what I've been doing and where I'm going.
There hasn't been much activity on here since September; partly because I've been extremely busy. Work has been very hectic and I've managed to fill my free time up with things other than writing/blogging/surfing. I have weekly Spanish group, sports leagues, a Wednesday night radio show with Marsha (we DJ a show called uncommon ground which revolves around our distaste for each others musical interests), going to travelogues, hosting a travelogue, teaching juggling and practicing juggling. Also, it seems like less of an adventure being here this time. Nothing is new, fresh and exciting so I don't feel compelled to write about it. That is about to change, however. On Monday, I am scheduled to go to WAIS. WAIS stands for West Antarctic Ice Sheet, it's a deep field camp and I will be there for two weeks (give or take) filling in for the camp mechanic who is currently gone. Very soon after that I will be off to Pole for the winter (provided I pass the psych eval and don't bail out at the last minute). I'm actually getting very excited about being there for the winter.
The Russia gig is starting to lose its appeal. The process for getting a security clearance has become arduous and that is compounded by my being in Antarctica. One step of the process is submitting a set of fingerprints and there is no fingerprint ink or law enforcement here and I'm running out of time. If I don't manage to get it done in the next few weeks, then mail will stop moving until I leave in November. Also, much of the contact information that I have provided in the questionnaire for people who can verify my employment and residence here will have changed so I will have to fill the questionnaire out again. Anyhow, I am starting to think of alternate plans if I don't get my security clearance done. Taking a year off to chase snow and surf is very high on that list.
I haven't taken many pictures this year, but if you want to see some good ice pics check out Aeon Jones on Flickr.
That's about it for now. Maybe I will be inspired by something at WAIS or Pole to write about.
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.
12/31/06
Happy New Year!!!
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!
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!
9/22/06
Will goes blonde...
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?
8/23/06
third archival email
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
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
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
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
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
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
7/13/06
finally got it figured out!
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...
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...
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