I am a Victim of Deliciousness

we lose some, we win some

2011-06-30T04:18:00.002-04:00

today we had a medevac, the first in seven years. a woman was very ill and her bowel got twisted, so it was decided that her and her husband fly out.

they ordered a c-17 from honolulu and flew in our crew separately to fly down from christchurch to mcmurdo. they had to fly down in night vision goggles. i was outside when the plane was landing and it was odd to see the plane running on minimal lights. hell, it was odd to see a plane in the sky. after it landed they had to wait for the crew to cover their eyes to turn on the light trees because they have to maintain their light sensitivity in order to best utilize the goggles. after that they unloaded cargo and then those departing could board. within an hour they were refueled and took off back towards christchurch.

tomorrow is our 4th of july carnival. normally all of the proceeds go to charity, but we have decided to donate the money to the couple. they are both kiwis and since christchurch has been devastated he wont be able to work, and it is expected that she will be hospitalized for a while.

it was very sad to see two well liked and vibrant community members leave. the positive side was that we got 300 lbs of mail and 6000 lbs of freshies. tonight they put out bananas in the middle of dinner which was SO FRICKEN EXCITING I THOUGHT I WOULD PEE!

I was sniffing my banana while working video counter and one of the store girls, took a picture of us.

i really didnt think it was going to be a big deal for me to have freshies again, especially since i work in the greenhouse fairly often and we get salad about every 10 days. but when the rumors were going around that we might get a medevac and might get freshies i started thinking about fruit all of the time.

today was sad, but it was also very good indeed.

fashion show!

2011-05-07T21:43:00.000-04:00

last season our station store hosted a fashion show and it was such a huge success that they decided to run another one this season. the theme was mcmurdo's next top model. we had a plethora of talented models, but only one could win! our esteemed panel of judges couldnt decide amongst the final 6 so there was a huge fight and none of the finalists survived. theres always next year! my favorite thing was our gift bags. we were given a model sized snack (3 cheesy poofs), a box of special K, an expired disposable camera, handmade designer aluminum foil bling and a voucher for free airfare (it reads: FREE AIRFARE gift certificate, good for 1 (one). one way only, ross island to new zealand. transportation provided by airline of sponsor's choice, on date of sponsor's choice. may or may not include business-class service. expires when the USAP wants it to. no cash value.)

enter darkness

2011-05-07T21:26:00.000-04:00

slowly we lost around 20 minutes of sun a day until april 24th when the fun finally set. we took a trip to castle rock in a nodewell to view the final rise. the sun wont rise again until august. bring on the T3!

More Penguins!

2011-05-07T20:57:00.000-04:00

The Ice Rededeth

2011-04-08T19:50:00.000-04:00

Right before the last three flights left McMurdo we had a incredibly strong storm. It broke up a lot of the ice and now the sea edge has receded further back than it has been in over 15 years. In the pic below you can see how dangerously close the edge came to the road to the runway.

It was really amazing to see some of the big bergs breaking off and floating away.

The bergs took some flag markers and we heard rumors that it took a small Kiwi fuel tank. This looks like it may have stolen a toilet!

PENGUINS! (and more)

2011-02-24T19:34:00.000-05:00

These penguins are hanging out at the 'Halfway House' which is the midpoint of where our fuels lines run betwwn town and the airfield. They still haven't finished molting, which seems odd since the winter is coming!

We had an amazing storm recently and because of that the sea ice has retreated further back into Winter Quarters Bay than anyone can remember in recent history. the ice is breaking up so much that it is encroaching the halfway house and threatening the road to the Pegasus White Ice Runway. From here you can see the Halfway House in the background.

This is the Skua; very big seagulls that will steal food out of your hands or wherever you may be hiding it on your person. I think they know about the Antarctic treaty because they wont ever move out of the way and will sit in the middle of the road.

It's pretty here

Our first sunset! 2/20/11 1:51 am

3 hour tour...

2011-02-07T08:33:00.000-05:00

Because I am such an amazing wonderful employee I received a boondoggle despite only being here for a short season. I arrived at work one morning and was told to turn right around, get my ECW (extreme cold weather clothing) and head over to the MCC (movement control center) because I was getting a sleigh ride (a quick trip to the pole to deliver fuel and bring back cargo or waste). I didn't have time to be excited because I was supposed to be at the MCC in two minutes, but by the time I boarded the plane I was pretty giddy!

After getting to a specific altitude, which I believe was 28,000 feet we were invited to come to the cockpit to take pictures!

Some of the amazing things I saw from the plane:

The plane was extremely loud and freezing cold at first, but after a while it was so warm I could have hung out in a kiddy pool. Since the only thing we were bringing was fuel there was plenty of room to mill about and take pictures from the windows. I even made it back up to the cockpit a second time to take pictures.

Upon our decent I was invited back up to the cockpit for the landing. Even though we were seated and couldn't really see anything I was pleased because I have always felt that if I was in the cockpit I wouldn't be freaked out as much about flying. What can I say, I have issues?!

Right before we got off the plane we were told to take it easy because the pressure altitude was pretty high that day, however we only had 30 minutes before we needed to board the plane again.

Midway back to McMurdo we were told that weather had moved in and we were diverting to CTAM (Central Trans-Antarctic Mountains) for a few hours. Well I was as happy as a bug in a rug upon hearing that! CTAM hasn't been a field camp in decades and was only open for the season. It is also the only large field cap that has a view, thus all of the rumors I'd heard about how beautiful it was. CTAM's purpose this season was to find meteorites and fossils. This season they found 3 brand new dinosaur species and over 30,000 meteorites!

When we landed we were told we might not be able to deplane, but almost immediately after that the camp manager invited us to come visit, much to our delight. She greeted us very warmly and told us we were going to get a tour of the town and then snowmobile trips into the mountains! Holy crap, what! This was so unexpected and so wonderful my head nearly exploded!

Inside the shower tent:

An igloo out in Tent City (everyone sleeps in a tent)

Two of the town folk skidoo'd us up into the mountains and one of them took me down to a quartz vein to look for blue quartz. I ended up finding blue, white and rose quartz out there. SO amazing!

After we got back we met up with the flight that landed just prior to us to find out when we would be taking off. However we found out that the weather had gotten worse at McMurdo and we were going to spend the night. YAY!

Immediately the camp rallied to get us tents and sleeping gear, though luckily we only needed to build one tent because they had just lost 30 people to redeployment and were expecting almost as many Carps (carpenters) to come disassemble the camp after we left. We then joined them for dinner which was amazing and then we spent the night socializing and playing games. A few people did chip in to do dishes and help break down some of the structures.

Then we saw a fogbow!

The next morning we ate an amazing brekkie and sat in for their town meeting where we found out we might be leaving in the early afternoon if all went well. So we played some more games, socialized, and ate a wonderful lunch. I also took a bunch of pictures of their outhouses (more on that later).

At 1 o'clock we were on our way back to MacTown and arrived just in time for dinner! I still can't believe that I lucked out so well. I believe we had the longest boondoggle in history and we were the talk of the town for a few days. Lots of people were envious of our luck, but everyone was excited for us. It really couldn't have been better!

rock'n'roll antarctica style

2011-02-04T02:11:00.001-05:00

recently we had the waste barn party and i was pretty stoked to go. last season i missed both of the wastie parties because i worked nights, and now i am on days and i could not miss it. it was jam packed in the barn and the music was incredible! we had banana hogs, the muppet band, and porn spill (reunion)!

Line Handler Extraordinaire

2011-02-03T04:32:00.006-05:00

So for the past few weeks I have been volunteering as a line handler. Essentially I get paged, go to the ice pier and help tie up or release the ships that have been docking here.

Our first foray into line handling was to release the R/V Nathaniel B Palmer, although first we received a tour of the ship. I was most excited to see the galley because it was themed like a diner! It is a research vessel, so there is a lot of science going on, however its current science mission is to study ocean acidification.

After that we tied up the Oden Icebreaker then released it a few days later.

Right now we have the fuel tanker, USNS Richard G. Matthiesen. I actually missed tying it up because it was at 2 am and i slept right through the page.

These ships are pretty big and it is rather amazing that they can make it through the ice. The research vessel does have an ice rated hull, and obviously the Oden has an icea breaking rated hull, but the Matthiesen does not. Surprisingly it only has a single hull, so the ice has to be cleared out of its way so it doesn't rupture and cause an enormous spill.

first week

2011-01-18T02:14:00.009-05:00

my first week on the ice was a little overwhelming, but in a grand and fun way!

i got introduced to my new job (general assistant in the vehicle maintenance facility aka the heavy shop). the other GA that i work with, chris, is pretty cool and was very patient when showing me how to do everything. the mechanics we all cordial, which threw me off because i was expecting to get hazed. i think it helped a bit that i know two of the mechanics and a supply person... oh and the fact that i am full of awesome!

anywho, only after a couple of days it was new years eve and i attended a hut 10 party that my friend from black island threw. the food was a*maz*ing! i stuffed my face, drank a little wine and then went to Icestock to hear some good old antarctic music. I ran into everybody i knew, danced, drank my face off and then....

well i dont remember the rest, but apparently i had fun and thats what matters. not the puking for 4 hours part. nope, not at all. ;-)

i also went for a hike with sheryl and brenda on the ob hill loop. it was rather windy and i hadnt yet acclimated, so it was a bit nipply, but rather fun and we got to see some seals. of course, right when we got back to town i realized i hadnt attended an outdoor safety lecture and therefore my hike was illegal! oops!

Getting to Antarctica Videos

2011-01-01T17:29:00.003-05:00

boomerang!

2011-01-01T16:24:00.011-05:00

So on Christmas ever our flight took off from Christchurch on a C-17. Everything was good and dandy until 4.5 hours into the flight they informed us that weather was about to come in and they wouldnt let us land. So we headed back to Christchurch. boo! they sad thing was that we could see Ross Island from the plane.

After 10 hours of flying everyone was pretty sour about not making it to the Ice. I was sad because I really wanted to attend MAAG (McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery), the VMF party and have dinner with my friends.

On Christmas I met up with some of the grantees from my flight and ate at a pub, it was a pretty good time.

Then at 2 am we had the first in a series of earthquakes! It woke me out of a dead sleep and when I looked out the window I could see the power going off across the city. I flew out of bed and ran down 24 flights of stairs. We had another at 2:30, 5:30 and 8 am. After the 8 am quake I asked the travel department if I could switch to a smaller hotel. I just didnt feel safe 24 flights up and frankly my calves were killing me from running down the stairs several times.

(Damage from the September earthquake)

Right when I got to my new hotel we had a big earthquake and for the rest of the evening had smaller quakes. It was very unsettling and since I was sick and congested my equilibrium was off and I kept feeling dizzy. I ended up spending the rest of the day with some geologists from my flight and they made me feel a lot better about the quakes. Our last one was at midnight.

Unfortunately for Christchurch the series of 30 quakes was epicentered right in town and the rapid succession of them did a lot more damage than the bigger September quake. Roofs fell in, windows shattered, chimneys collapsed and because of that they kept shutting down more and more sections of the city. I will say they response teams acted very quickly.

The next morning we went back to the CDC and boarded our flight, we brought 25,000 lbs of beer!

our flight was completely smooth and we saw such great views of the continent!

delay

2010-12-22T13:45:00.002-05:00

i arrived in christchurch two days ago and boy was it warm! it was a nice surprise since florida had been having some unusually VERY cold weather. unfortunately i forgot that new zealand, like europe, doesnt really do air conditioning like america. it took me a while, but it got my hotel room nice and frigid!

wednesday i went to pick up my ECW and travel funds. its so nice being a returnee and knowing what you are doing. last year i was so freaked out and had no idea what to do and ended up getting a bunch of clothing that was the wrong size.

afterwords i went out to dinner at my favorite place, annies wine bar. it was so delicious! i sat outside, there was a nice breeze and there were some children playing in the courtyard. then i realized i wont see any children (age wise) for 3 months or more!

this morning i was supposed to get the airport shuttle at 5:45 am, but the hotel rang at 4 am and said we were weather delayed for 3 hours. then at 7:30 they rang again to say we were delayed 24 hours.

i am crossing everything, including my buttcheeks that we get there tomorrow. i would really rather not spend xmas in cheech, especially since i seem to be coming down with something.

off i go!

2010-12-18T19:04:00.002-05:00

so after 10 months of not working i was finally able to secure a primary contract to work in antarctica again. i applied for just about every job i could, but i did it one at a time and that really isnt the best way to go. this go around i am going to be a general assistant (GA) for the vehicle maintenance facility (VMF or heavy shop). i have several friends that currently or recently worked in the VMF and they really liked it and i fell i will as well. i know some people have wondered about why i would go outside of my career field and its pretty simple... i love antarctica.

its a wild, crazy, beautiful place that is indescribable to anyone who hasn't been there. the way of life either suits you or ruins you. many develop life long friendships both on and off the ice. sure, its cold but i like that. yes, there are no trees but the beauty there is indescribable. the only thing you can really smell is dirt, diesel, and body odor though i didnt really think about that. for the summer season the sun is out 24/7 but i dont mind that. actually i prefer it because light helps me wake up in the morning. no, you cant really leave during the summer unless you quit, get fired or have a medical emergency. everything is free unless you go to the store or the bars, but everything is cheap enough. there is plenty to do with the bars, gyms, hiking, library, dvd rental and the unending activities the recreation department coordinates. the phones and internet suck. you have to live with other people, which could be a crapshoot if you dont request a specific roomie, but it gives you a chance to meet new people and at the very least you can learn how to handle difficult situations. if you play your cards right and save your money you can travel between seasons. and it is for all of those reasons and more that i love it.

SO... tomorrow, 12/19 at 2pm i take off. i fly from orlando to dallas, LA, auckland and then arrive in christchurch at 2pm on the 21st. when i get to cheech i have the afternoon to myself. the next day i will go to the clothing distribution center (CDC) to get my extreme cold weather gear (ECW), get my laptop checked and pick up travel funds. on the 23rd i am scheduled for the military flight to the ice. i hope i make that flight because if not i could very well spend christmas alone in a foreign country.

anywho, i need to finish packing now...

please feel free to send me notes, Cinnamon Life, Fruity Pebbles, Sahale Snacks, Cholula, Jalapeño Tabasco, wacky postcards and love before February 1. keep in mind it takes three forevers for stuff to arrive.

His Imperial Majesty, Grand Poobah Zachary Hedden Esquire
McMurdo Station
PSC 469 Box 700
APO, AP 96599-1035

De plane!

2010-01-16T09:14:00.019-05:00

Finally after several months of not being able to blog I am finally able to, although it took me several hours to upload these photos.

This collection is of the runway facility, particularly the Sea Ice Runway. We are no longer using this runway and have moved to the Pegasus White Ice Runway/Skiway. The only difference is the ice... White ice is the multi-year ice that is part of the permanent ice shelf, so the Sea Ice runway would melt every year. This year they decided that they are going to make Pegasus a permanent facility to save money. The large orange building is the galley and the morgue. Yes, the morgue. The first picture is where they would wash the bodies. Luckily people don't die very often down here.

Every so often I work out at the runway facility where we serve all four meals (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and MidRats). We have to take the Lunch Box out there, which is basically a U-Haul type of truck. Because the ice is getting rough and melty we have installed Mattracks on the truck, so now it's wheels look like a tank! Unfortunately the Mattracks are not fun to drive with and we have to go super slow. Pegasus is about 14 miles from Mac Town, and it takes us about 1-1.5 hours to get there; therefore one meal requires up to three hours of driving. Sometimes it feels fruitless when you serve only 10 people for midrats, but we have contracts that require us to be there to feed the people. Sometime within the next 5 years the galley will be a permanent facility where we can prepare food on-site. Right now we transport the food back and forth bewteen the Mac Town galley.

The people we feed at the runway are Fleet Ops, who groom to runway and the road to the runway; Mac Ops and SOPP who are in charge of the weather station, dispatch and flight controls; the Fire station who are required to be there if there are planes on the field; Cargo, who unload and load the planes; the Air Force/Guard who fly the planes to New Zealand and back, AGE who supply the Air Guard and KBA with the means to fix and maintain the planes; Ken Borek Air, who fly some of the planes around the continent; and often other departments like Fuels and Shuttles.

How can you resist?

2009-11-27T05:32:00.001-05:00

Dishwasher, Explorer, Divetender, Filmstar!

2009-11-14T09:14:00.004-05:00

About a month ago I was able to go out on a boondoggle away from work. Basically a boondoggle is a morale trip that gets you out from work doing something fun and interesting. I was assigned to be a divetender for the BBC dive/film crew for their upcoming mini-series, Frozen Planet.

All I had to do was go out to two dive huts and help them put their gear on and help load their cameras into the water. I traveled in a Pisten Bulley with Doug and Steve, both Raytheon divers out to a place 16 miles from town called the Cape Evans Ice Wall. Along the way I saw a seal hanging out on the ice, the Erebus Ice Tongue, Big Razorback Island, Little Razorback Island, Tent Island, Inaccessible Island, Mount Erebus and a C-17 land.

I was joined by Kat, a former DA and current Jano - she's awesome btw. While at this dive hut we helped the BBC team (Kathryn, Hugh and Doug) and got lucky ehough to interact with a seal. After that we went to another dive hut near Arrival Heights to film one of the scientists, Dr. Stacy Kim, and her team loading and using her SCINI project ( http://scini1.mlml.calstate.edu/ ).

I had the best time and was completely blow away by the vistas. Of course it only made me hungry for more exploration!

Dive Office interiors:

Mount Erebus:

A seal!

Several scientists sped out on ski obiles to check out a seal that broke through the ice to give birth

Right near the base of Big Razorback Island is a field camp where seals give birth

Falling Glacier:

Big Razorback Island

Inaccessible Island:

A Pisten Bulley:

Cape Evans Wall:

Cape Evans Dive Hut:

Weddell Seal surfacing in dive hut

Cape Evans Ice Wall:

Ice Crack at the shore

Arrival Heights Dive Hut with BBC Film Crew, Dr. Stacy Kim and the SCINI Project:

Views at Arrival Heights:

Halloween on Ice

2009-11-11T06:16:00.016-05:00

Wow Halloween was fun! Cheap beer, killer costumes and fantastic friends!

Look, can you see the ONLY polar bear in the southern hemisphere?

the saddest penguin you'll ever see

i do loves me some jen gebo and nazi zombies

Raq, former DA and former student, she really is that crazy. (She's a baker now)

Naked ladies!

A BUNCH of people!

Amy Winehouse

A goddess, a doped up celebrity and a zombie. What else do you really need on Halloween?

Attack of the hungry Skua! (Yes, these birds really do attack people for food, but only if they see blue. Luckilly us DA's wear blue uniforms! WOOHOO!)

Um, I love Kristin!

Zombie attack!

I don't know what the hell he is, but it works right?

Randomness

2009-11-11T05:50:00.008-05:00

Here are some random pics from the last month or so...

This is Becca, our beloved deli cook and mom to one of my DA's. Every morning she comes in an hour early to drink coffee and wake up. On this occasion she decided to have coffee with a pumpkin scarecrow.

This is Chris, a production cook and my former roommate. He loves beer so much he get a little excited when cooks with it.

Sometimes our back dock serves as a fridge/freezer. This is Kristin trying to eat some steaming meat she put out to chill.

I can't tell if Kristin is trying to eat her quesadillas or barf on them...

Sharon, my jewcy DA, likes to growl at me. GRRR!

Okay, some background info here... Tyler, the bearded one is one of my current roomies. He loves the ladies, in particular the blonde he is getting cozy with. Her name is Jen Gebo or The Geebs. She's married and her husband is on the ice with us. EVERYONE knows about Tyler's crush on The Geebs. So much so that...

...I was Tyler for Halloween. Blue hair, glasses, beard and a shirt that states his love for The Geebs (as well as Nazi Zombies). I have to say it was friggin hilarious, but only if you knew Tyler.

I am sick as all get out right now, so I will get back to posting later.

2009-10-21T09:53:00.002-04:00

So down here on the ice we have 3 runways, Pegasus White Ice, Sea Ice, and Williams Field. THis year they are only opening two of them. Pegasus was where I landed, and will reopen in December. In the meantime we are using the Sea Ice runway, which is very close to town and is visible from my room.

In order to have planes land they have to go through a lot of preparation to get the ice drivable and landable. Our Fleet Ops team drive these things above to tackle the ice.

the often work at night

they run across these things quite often

this is the result

hasta luego Sol

2009-10-21T09:32:00.002-04:00

as of today the sun rises at 3 am and sets at 12:30 am. pretty soon there wont be any more glorious sunsets/rises, which will work out well for me since i am going to be working overnight from now on.

i love it here, its so beautiful.

Monster fighting Janos

2009-10-11T03:08:00.006-04:00

This is my friend Ned, he's awesome! Every day is the best day of his life and he is so amazing to be around. Here on the ice he is a jano (janitor), but back on green land he is a rappeling firefighter.

My friend Sue trying to kill bleach, or Ned. The outcome is unknown.

Ned trying to kill the monster in the womens bathroom on Highway 1. You really don't want to know. Seriously.

The monster was really bad.

Yes, so bad that poor Ned went into hiding.

Puddin Pops

2009-10-11T02:51:00.007-04:00

So, down here at the end of the world we have to find a variety of ways to entertain ourselves. A few weeks ago the rec department came up with a quick dodegball competition. The teams ended up being very department specific. The DA's created the Puddin Pops. With illness abound, the group changed up a bit and ended up with two cooks.

Here we have:
Sharon, Jew pop, DA and fabulous
Tyler, Otter pop, DA and my roomie
Chris, the unnamed pop, cook and my former-most-awesome roomie
Leon, Penis pop, cook and insane
Rick, Alpha pop, DA and a self proclaimed alpha male

This is another of my current roomie, Jeffe, Salsa con Queso pop

Kieffer, one of my DA's and the infamous Puddin pop

Jeremy, one of my friends on the Carp(enter) team and an amazing player

Leon (penis pop) when he was on the cooks team, Team Ramrod - hence the pornstar stache. He lost his hair to win a bet. Hair or sans hair, he still looks creepy eh?

So the Jano team won undefeated, however there is hope for the DA's...The 2nd dodgeballs season begins in a few weeks!

DA's in action

2009-09-23T22:34:00.007-04:00

This is just some of my staff. These folks work HARD! Right now we are at 16 including myself and another lead, Drew. When Mainbody arrives we will have another 19 DA's.

Gina and Rick. Gina is from WA and has lived in OZ. Rick is a Graphic Designer, a NYer, a cynic and an alpha male.

Monica, a PMer, an artist and licensed aesthetician. Yes, that's me behind her.

Tyler, a fellow Coloradan. I colored his hair blue and it's awesome. He's an avid marathon and cross-country runner.

Max, a Chicagoan, used to be on my morning crew, but now he is on PMs. he also hosts a weekly radio show with Sharon called Potato Radio. He knows a LOT about music and film.

Cooks, cooks, cooks

2009-09-23T22:23:00.008-04:00

I finally have a few pictures of the people I work with! Starting with the cooks:

Linda, the PM sous chef. She is from Miami, has raised pigeons and is a total badass. She also has amazing bone structure that you can't really see from this picture.

This is my awesome roomate, Chris, helping out the bakers prepare for cookie Wednesday. Chris is a production cook and is always funny, all of the time.

Head Baker Nick and the winterover baker, Josie. Nick used to work at Olga's in RI - small world eh?

Josie and Ben, baking it up!

Leon, a production cook and comepltely insane.

auroras will change your life p2

2009-09-23T22:17:00.005-04:00

this is a view from hut point looking up toward NASAs arrival heights. these are a beautiful green with indigo on the fringes.

auroras will change your life part 1

2009-09-23T22:05:00.008-04:00

i grew up in aurora colorado, and the weather there was sometimes a little wierd. i remember as a kid laying on a blanket in the backyard with my mom so we could watch the funnel clouds and tornados. often the sky would turn green just before hail, and in the summer that meant a tornado was coming. too bad it wasn't an aurora australis!

McMurdo at night

2009-09-23T21:59:00.004-04:00

this is a view of Mac Town at night from the top of the t-site. the lone pointed hill is observation (ob) hill; there is a large 8ft cross at the top that commemorates scott and his team. i climbed ob hill last week and that was some steep stuff! so steep that i decided to slide down instead of climb down.

little fluffy clouds (of doom)

2009-09-23T21:38:00.005-04:00

the beauty of antarctica blows me away every day, even on the days i dont go outside and just view it from the galley or lounge windows. each time i look outside, see a video or experience something i get misty eyed.

sometimes i feel like i am living in heaven.

this is out at hut point, and you can see the roll cage mary in the background. she is an anarctican rendition of the virgin mary.

i work to support science

2009-09-07T04:34:00.005-04:00

i work here to support science. remember that.

the video of this thing here is of a unmaned airborne vehicle (UAV) aerosonde. these vehicles fly around the Pegasus airfield and eventually make their way over the sea ice towards Terra Nova Bay (near to the italian station) taking digital photos of polynyas (high saline water pools on the ice) and other items of interest.

right now there is a contest on the station to name the two new UAVs. i submitted Tannatt William Edgeworth David because this year is the 100th anniversary of his trek to the south magnetic pole as an extended part of the Nimrod Expedition initially led by Shackelton and joined by Mawson. the older two UAVs are named Shackelton and Mawson...

for further information go to: http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/science/contenthandler.cfm?id=1769

more southern beauty

2009-09-07T04:24:00.005-04:00

yup, this place is beautiful.

we only have a few more weeks of sunrises, sunsets and darkness... about 2-3 in fact. so everytime someone tell us that there is a beautlful horizon or some nacreous clouds we all run outside to take pictures because we dont know if it will be the last opportunity we will have to see it.

the nacreous clouds or truly amazing. normally one could watch a cloud change shape over a few mintues, but here we can see them change colors. this one went from green to pink to silver.

i love it here and you ought to be jealous of me. truly. ;-)

a very confused state

2009-09-07T04:16:00.004-04:00

so it turns out that hot water does freeze faster than cold water due to the mpemba effect. however, it is a highly complicated process that doesn't always work because it needs highly specific conditions. antarctica happens to have those...

a couple of days ago it got down to -120. we had heard that the polies (people that live at the south pole station) like to throw water into the air and watch it freeze instantly, and we wanted to try it. we did with both hot and cold water of varying temperatures with mixed results - of course it was all for fun and not for scientific purposes.

all i can tell you is that it is very bizzare watching liquid immediately turn into snow. of course, nothing about this continent is less than bizzare, and thats why i love it here.

me on a very loud plane.

2009-09-04T01:32:00.002-04:00

here are a couple of pics of me on the C-17 flight from Christchurch, NZ to the Pegasus airfield in Antarctica. the first photo is right about when we boarded the plane and the second was when we were getting prepared to go outside. the dagger eyes are a tribute to my friend, Gizem, who is a crazy Turk. :-)

ok, its cold yo

2009-09-02T20:38:00.002-04:00

one of the heavy shop buildings has installed their own weather vane. apparently it sits up pretty high and directly in the wind and they record colder tmeperatures than the weatherman here posts. last night the wind chill was -120 F. this morning it was -104 F. all i can say is that its cold. so cold that we got this email this morning:

All~
Over the last couple of days or so, several people have asked me questions along the lines of "How long will it take my ears to freeze when it's like this {frikkin' cold} outside?" The following chart (below) seems to sum it all up pretty reasonably. It came from http://www.theweathernetwork.com/glossary/windchill . Similar info is also available at non-commercial sites such as http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/windchill/windchillglossary.shtml. The reference to exposed skin freezing in under 2 minutes ought to get some degree of attention since that's in the general vicinity of how long it takes to walk from 155 to the dorms, etc.

Wind Chill Range Rating Impact
~0 to Minus 9 Low Minor increase in discomfort

Minus 10 to -24 Moderate Uncomfortable
~Bared skin feels cold
~Danger of hypothermia if outdoors for extended periods

Minus 25 to -44 Cold Danger of skin freezing (frostbite)
~Remember that the average person's skin begins to freeze at a wind chill of -25
~Examine face, fingers, toes, ears and nose for numbness or whiteness
~Threat of hypothermia if outdoors for extended periods

Minus 45 to -59 Extreme Exposed skin may freeze in mere minutes
~Examine face, fingers, toes, ears and nose for numbness or whiteness
~Severe danger of hypothermia if outdoors for long periods
~Be prepared to end outdoor activities early or cancel them completely

Minus 60 or colder DANGER!
~HIGH RISK! Conditions outside are hazardous
~Skin left uncovered may freeze in under 2 minutes
~If possible stay indoors

other peoples antarctic photos

2009-09-02T20:23:00.007-04:00

when we landed it was in condition 2 weather. this is my plane before we deplaned.

my friend Ned took some amazing pics. he is also the nicest and most positive person i have ever met. he rappels from helicopters to put out forest fires for his real job. here he is a jano (janitor).

a woman named Holly took a few pictures of the Royal Societies (Trans-Antarctic Mountians)

nacreous clouds

week 2

2009-09-02T19:39:00.008-04:00

so going back a bit...Christchurch was pretty amazing.

seeing the southern alps in the distance reminded me of home which helped ease the stress of several long flights.

they have a little river there called avon and i really wanted to go punting, but i completely spaced it out. i will be doing it when i redeploy in feb/march. ill also do the lord of the rings tour, however dorky that may seem.

i live here now. it still amazes me every single day. this is the 'southern' tip of ross island, and island that is bigger than the last state i lived in (RI) and has upwards of 1,500 people and 500,000 penguins (no we do not eat them, nor will i likely see one).

tonight i will be visiting the kiwi base again, scott base, which is about 3.6 miles away if they lift condition 2*. they currently have 27 people on station and will max out at 350 during the summer. i went there last thursday for American night and had a blast. their gift shop hadnt be replenished, and kiwis are not as fat as Americans, so their sizes in clothing were small. im hoping to pick up some good swag while im there as well as kick some butt in darts. last week i beat my friend/employee kieffer in two games of cricket, and then on saturday at gallaghers (one of the McMurdo bars). although their station is small, its fairly new and pretty nice, plus they take credit cards and US money in the gift shop and at the bar. i love kiwis!

*the weather here has three conditions: condition 3 is normal antarctican weather (good visibility and low winds), condition 2 is pretty crappy (low visibility, pretty windy and -75 F to -99 F with the windchill and travel is restricted to only going from buildings within the station); condition 1 is horrible with almost no visibility, temps colder than -100 F and leaving any building is prohibited.

i have arrived

2009-08-24T03:15:00.006-04:00

after one other delay we were finally cleared to fly to McMurdo on Saturday (Friday for North Americans).

i got on at 2 am on Saturday so I could meet the shuttle to the CDC in the lobby at 3 am. at the CDC we had to put on our ECW gear and weigh our luggage before heading to the USAP customs area. they weighed our bags as well as ourselves. the we went to the antarctic visitors centre for breakfast before heading back to the CDC to watch a video on what to expect flight wise and upon landing.

we then went through a metal detector which went off on all but 4 people (because of our gear) and then boarded the plane. we had to wait about 40 minutes before taking off because the flight computers werent working. of course i dozed off and woke up thinking we were already in the air because the engines were so loud. C-17s are cargo planes, so there isnt any insulation, and the seats are actually loaded in like a pallet of cargo would be. i sat sidways which was very odd during take off and landing.

both the take off and landing were smooth, and the whole flight was pretty smooth. oh yeah, and loud. like the kind of loud that makes you go deaf if you take out your ear plugs.

the benefit of flying the plane is the amount of space you have to walk around. the wierd part was not having any windows other than the exit peepholes, so you werent certain of your orientation.

about 30 minutes before we landed i got up to look out the window and i was able to sea the sea ice and its cracks. it was AMAZING.

our flight landing with mount erebus in the background

we landed at pegasus airfield in a windy -42 F and boarded ivan the terra bus, which is a large ice land rover thingamajig that travels at about 30 mph. after our mile ride we finally got into mcmurdo and went directly to the galley for a briefing. this gave them ample time to unload our luggage at the post office.

after getting our keys and linens we went to pick up our luggae and were privvy to the most spectacular sight ever...nacreous clouds. evil little buggars, but beautiful none-the-less. i could have stayed out all night staring at them if the wind chill wasnt at a brisk -62F.

i really cant believe i am here at the bottom of the world. there arent words that can describe how i feel, and i can only say that i am thankful and excited for what is to come!

post script: i must admit that i have borrowed these photos from some fellow antarcticans because i can not use my computer to upload anything as of yet. i have to have it approved by IT before i can do anything. so thank you wally and cathy!

delayed

2009-08-20T11:50:00.002-04:00

yesterday all of winfly was supposed to leave the hotels for the CDC at 3:15 am, but we got a call at 2:45 am saying that our flight was delayed due to weather. we later found out that there was a storm at mcmurdo with 100+ mph winds!

at 8 am we took off for the travel office to pick up our per diem and shuttle vouchers. around noon i took off with a few other NANA employees for "burgers, bowling and beer" and had a blast!

i am still adjusting to the time difference (+18 hours) so i took a nap. for dinner i went out with three of the chefs and a RSPC contractor to the most amazing place for dinner, Annie's Wine Bar http://www.annieswinebar.co.nz/ . it was slightly outside of the city center and in the courtyard of what looked like hogwarts - so beautiful and striking. walking inside i was blown away! the dining room was warm and cozy and the staff was super friendly.

right before we ordered i saw another NANA employee come in and sit alone. i expect that on the ice we will all be one big family, so i invited him over to have dinner with us which turned out to be great since we all got to hear his interesting story of being a rappelling fireman for the US dept of forestry. one of the great things about this adventure is getting to meet so many interesting people who come from every state in the union and all walks of life. since what we are doing isnt the most usual of things, we each have our own unique story as to how we came across this opportunity and why we want to do it.

anywho, on to dinner...

their wine book had the labels with hand written notes instead of a simple typed out price list. this was really handy and so much better to made a decision with since i had never eaten there before. we all shared a bowl of new zealand green lipped mussels in a tomato/chipotle/cilantro sauce that was simply divine and sopped up the sauce with some slices of rye bread made fresh on-site. i ended up with their goat cheese & artichoke homemade ravioli which was set atop a manuka smoked tomato finished with lemon cream sauce and toasted pistachios. the manuka is a type of bush that grows here which is highly scented and imbued a nice flavor into the tomatoes. i thought the cream sauce was going to be heavy, but it was very light and refreshing. the pasta was perfectly tender, these were seriously the best ravioli's i have ever had - ever.

after dinner (and some great conversation) we walked back into the city center to our respective hotels. i decided to get to bed early since we had to be out for a 3 am shuttle. however, at 2:45 am i received another call that our flight was delayed for another 24 hours.

its 4:30 am right now and after i get some more sleep i am going to go out to the local wildlife sanctuary and feed some of the unique animals of this region. i might also head to the beach, which i hear is breathtaking!

denver, LA, sydney, christchurch

2009-08-18T15:57:00.003-04:00

(please excuse my spelling and writing issues - i am still a bit off from the flight and time difference)

so i have finally arrived in new zealand! i was lucky enough to get isle seats on all of the flight down here, so that made the long trek so much better for me.

if you dont already know, i have a terrible fear of flying. traveling this far on three flights was not something i was looking forward to. however, all of the flights were pretty good, especially the qanats flight from LA to sydney.

denver to LA was a bit bumpy getting over the rockies, but it was smooth after that. when we arrived we had a 4.5 hour layover in the international terminal. since there are so many of us going in for winfly we were able to keep ourselves entertained.

the flight to sydney was about 14 hours and was pretty wobbly, somewhat like a train ride on old rails. qantas offered us dinner then a snack pack and some socks for comfort. we also had our on tv screen to watch movies and tv shows on demand - there was enough material to watch for a month! at some point we had breakfast and they also gave us hot towels to help ourselfves get refreshed.

the flight to christchurch was totally smooth until it was time to land, and that was not fun at all. it was horribly turbulent, but it was a quick landing, so i didnt have time to freak out.

after landing the USAP (United States Antarctic Program) had shuttle drivers available for us and they delivered us to our respective hotels. i am staying at the hotel SO. pretty modern - it took me 5 minutes to figure out how to turn the lights on...

unfortunately i took a 4 hour nap that screwed up my sleep schedule. i ended up staying awake until 11 pm and woke up at 4 am kiwi time.

last night i went to dinner at strawberry fare and had a delicious duck confit. i forgot my camera since i was so out of it, but i do promise to get some pictures soon.

the kiwis are VERY nice. i cant wait to explore this country more after i return in march.

now i am off to the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center) to pick up my uniforms and ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear. i also have to resubmit my laptop for inspection since i didnt already have an anti-virus program installed.

Antarctica Travel Itinerary

2009-08-15T01:02:00.002-04:00

Zachary’s Antarctica Itinerary
Mountain Standard Time

Thursday August 13, 2009 - Sunday August 16, 2009

*Thursday August 13, 2009 - After 4 pm - Check in to Staybridge Suites in Lone Tree, CO

*Daily – Depart for Raytheon Polar Services at 7 am

*Friday August 14, 2009 (7:30 am - 4:30 pm) – Supervisor training, food service job expectation orientation, HR training, receive per diem

*Saturday August 15, 2009 - (7:30 am - 5 pm) - ServSafe training, expense reports, accessing money in the Ice, program overview, ethics/discrimination/benefits/evaluation training, “What to expect next?” & travel overview, submit laptop computer for screening

*Sunday August 16, 2009 - (7:30 am - noon) - Safety and environmental training

Sunday August 16, 2009

*4:30 pm - Depart Denver, CO via American Airlines flight 1519

*6:45 pm - Arrive in Los Angeles, CA

*11:30 pm - Depart Los Angeles, CA via American Airlines/Qantas Airways flight 7364

Monday August 17th, 2009

*2:15 pm - Arrive in Sydney, Australia

*3:15 pm - Depart Sydney, Australia via Qantas Airways flight 7345

*6:15 pm - Arrive in Christchurch, New Zealand

*Check in to Hotel So

Tuesday August 18th, 2009

*6:30 am - Depart for Clothing Distribution Center via shuttle

*Try on and receive Extreme Cold Weather Clothing and work uniform

*Submit luggage for weight restriction evaluation

Wednesday August 19th, 2009

*(Time TBD upon arrival in New Zealand) Depart for McMurdo Station via US Air Force Airlift: C-17 Globemaster III (Operation Deep Freeze)

Antarctica

2009-08-15T00:29:00.002-04:00

so after many months of not posting i will soon be starting up again.

i am moving to antarctica to work in food service for 7 months at mcmurdo station and i will be documenting the entire experience here. including the general experience of being there i also hope to cover some history, food & exploration, and antarctic culture.

please leave comments and requests!

spring sure is tasty!

2009-04-14T23:23:00.001-04:00

this is what happens when you use chemicals to grow your plants

OR

when two strawberries make sweet love

you decide

nicks on broadway

2009-04-05T09:25:00.003-04:00

last night i headed off to julians to have a burger and a hard cider, but as i pulled up i saw the line out the door and that the bar (where i sit) was full. i thought about staying and waiting, but with the weather being so soggy lately, i didnt really feel like standing outside.

so i drove off down the road to nicks. id only been once before for breakfast and really enjoyed myself, so i figured id try it again. boy was i ever glad i did!

i still really wanted a cider so i ordered an organic cider from normandy, etienne dupont cidre bouché fermier. not as strong as i had hoped, not like a beer at all. instead it was more like a wine, sharp and sweet with some quite complicated flavors, a delicate nose and tiny champagne like bubbles.

i ordered the chefs tasting menu which was three courses, but i ended up with four. the first was a golden potato and cauliflower soup with olive oil and crème frâiche, which was quite perfect. i could have had a bowl of that and been done for the evening.

next i had a spring asparagus and chicken risotto. the asparagus flavor was very dominant and the asparagus tips were perfectly crunchy. unfortunately i was a tad too salty, but i think that might have been because i was drinking the sweet cider.

the 3rd course was a slow braised pork atop parsnip purée with brandy jus. the sauce and the parsnips were perfection and the pork came with fried skin which made me melt. the pork itself was very dry, but well flavored.

the final course was hereford beef with english peas and mushrooms with what i think was a red wine sauce and smoked salt. with this i had gearys london stout from maine. this was by far the best dish and it seemed as if chef derek wagner knew i was going to order that particular beer. the beef was cooked perfectly and the smoked salt complimented the mushrooms and the sauce perfectly. the smoked salt also added to the chocolate and coffee flavors of the beer which really blew me away. the english peas were quite large and sweet and really lightened the heavy flavors of the dish.

by the time i was done i was so full i thought i might pop! everything was quite tasty and i left completely satisfied. im very glad that i decided against julians and stopped in to dine at nicks! my only regret is that i didnt take any pictures of the food. the plating was quite simple, but eye appealing nonetheless.

its true, i cant help it!

2009-03-11T20:47:00.000-04:00

pamplemousse

2009-03-10T22:01:00.004-04:00

Oh my goodness, I can't even begin to express how much I love the deliciousness of grapefruit.

My grandmothers neighbor has a grapefruit tree, and to my benefit he isn't able to eat them. When I was living in Florida I would pick to grapefruit off of his tree each morning for breakfast. Sometimes, rather often actually, I would have another grapefruit or two throughout the day. I love them so much! Sometimes while driving to work I would even stop by a nearby house and snatch a few kumquats off of the bush next to their mailbox. Thankfully I never got caught, Floridians don't like you to steal their fruit - even if they won't eat it.

Recently my grandmother has been in a citrus giving mood and has sent me three boxes of his grapefruit! WOO HOO! In total I have received about 100 grapefruit. Each of which have been utterly divine. These have such a robust flavor, slightly sweet, very tart and mildly spicy. Did I mention that I won't share? My grandmother has tried to get me to give a few away, but I wont - not these gems!

I did, however, give away a few of the mini Honeybells she sent to me. By mini I do mean the size of a large navel orange. Apparently the large variety of this orange are the size of a large grapefruit. Sweet as could be, slightly floral and insanely juicy! They were a perfect snack, and I just had to share them with my coworkers.

I haven't had a citrus fruit I haven't enjoyed, and there are quite a few I still would like to try. Most specifically the finger lime. Supposedly the caviar of the citrus world.

To me, eating citrus is like eating sunshine. There isn't a mood so foul that a nice quality orange can't fix. Nary an odor fetid enough that can outshine the bright scent of a lemon. During the bleak winter months it is so refreshing to have a seasonal fruit that reminds you of the summer yet to come.

Hmm, tonight was especially cold so I think it's time for another couple of delicious pink grapefruit!

you cant have your mcrib and eat it too - if youre me

2009-01-11T03:03:00.008-05:00

it figures...my first post and its about mac d's. :-)

when i arrived in colorado for a glorious and much needed winter break i ranted to my best friend about how i had been craving a mcrib sandwich for quite some time. later that evening i saw on the interweb that the mcrib was going to be re-retired at the end of 08. i thought, "well damnit, just my luck. i didnt even know it was even around."

a few days later my friend and i were at mac d's getting her a morning coffee and much to my surprise i saw the giant applique sign in the window for the mcrib. i squealed like a mechanically separated pork product at the thought of having a saucy bbq laden mcrib accompanied by a cold nuclear orange drink. the little kid in me was doing cartwheels!

three weeks later i still hadnt gotten around to getting that delicious little sandwich, but i figured that once i got back to rhode island i would grab one during my lunch hour. normally i try to avoid mac d's, but my coworkers are fat kids for french fries, so i knew i could easily make a guilt-free food run.

nope. didnt happen. not a chance jack. they arent selling them here, just as they werent seeling my favorite sweet tea at the mac d's in colorado. by the way, why would they sell sweet tea to the yanks, but not out west? its just plain rude not to share!

my gramma would say that its all a conspiracy against old people, but as i am merely thirty i doubt that is the case.

then what happens? i read this: http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/209/what_the_fuck_is_a_mcrib.php

lord help me if i start having saucy love dreams!