we lose some, we win some

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!

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

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!

PENGUINS! (and more)

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

rock'n'roll antarctica style

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)!

first week

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!

delay

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!

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!

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.