I find it amusing to read posts on Facebook about the weather being cold at home. Today the low was -58 with winds gusting at 30+ knots. Makes for a bit of a chilly day. I find that I am growing accustomed to it. Today when I went outside, I was in jeans, boots, long-sleeve shirt and jacket. A few weeks ago when it was the same temperature, I had to wear 2 sets of long-johns under my jeans and a long-john shirt under my regular shirt, along with a sweater, gloves, jacket and hat. It’s amazing how the human body can adapt to adverse weather conditions. Last night, one of the FD captains was walking around in shorts, long-sleeve shirt and sandals. Really? Sandals? To me, that was a bit extreme.
The past several days have gone by rather quickly. At work, we’ve had some interesting situations (of course none of them occur when I’m on duty). The EOC had to be activated and then there was a situation at the hazardous waste building. No one was hurt at the latter incident, but the first incident made for our first actual medical call since we’ve been down here. So back to my previous paragraph, the human body adapts to colder temps HOWEVER it is important to still use common sense. I was outside less than 20 feet away from a building in warmer wear clothing, not miles from shelter. I shall digress.
At work we’ve been getting new furniture. Having been in this field for a while, I know how beat up dispatch furniture can get. Listening to my supervisor talk about the trials and tribulations of getting new furniture makes my heart go out to her. I know what it is like to want to improve the work place environment. There are so many things to consider down here though. Number one, we’re working with a very limited budget. Number two, we’re working with very limited space. Number three, we have certain pieces of equipment that can’t be updated at this time due to costs and such. Number four, the dry and cold of this place make it difficult to get just any sort of furniture. The ordering of the furniture occurred way before my time. The room was spec’d out and there was 1/8th of an inch of “wiggle room” for the new stuff. Once it was discovered that the new furniture was here, it was brought to the fire house and all of the snow was removed from it. Yes, the snow was on the furniture due to basically poor shipping from the company. That was strike one. THEN it was discovered that the furniture they shipped to us was the incorrect furniture. The stuff they shipped was stuff they had previously told my supervisor wouldn’t work down here. It’s not wood, it’s not particle board. The furniture is made of compressed paper. It looks nice but Lori fears that it won’t hold up for more than 5 years.
Other than work, I’ve hiked down to Hut Point again with my friend Autumn. She was in the original room I was placed in. She works in housing. Super sweet girl. We saw 6 seals and actually watched one of them work it’s way through a hole in the ice to join its buddies. Someone asked me how seals moved around since their flippers are so small. Well now I can answer that question. Picture a several hundred pound inch worm. Imagine it inching its way forward about 5 feet and then rolling in the direction it wants to “turn” then it goes back to inching its way forward again. We watched this seal flop and roll around until she (I’m assuming it is a she) got into the perfect position to catch some rays and hang out with the girls. The reason I think the other ones were girls is because we saw the stomach of one of them moving and babies are due within the next month! Hooray! Needless to say, I’m going to be on baby seal watch (I wasn’t there for all of my US friends having babies, I’m gonna be there for the birth of one of the natives’ babes).
Also, I’m including pictures of the sundog. If you don’t know what it is, it’s… (from wikipedia)
A sun dog or sundog (scientific name parhelion, plural parhelia, from Greek parēlion (παρήλιον) from παρά (beside) + ἥλιος (sun), “beside the sun”; also called a mock sun[citation needed] or a phantom sun[citation needed]) is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.[1]
Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low.
So, things are going well overall. I still love it here. Enjoy the pictures!
Victoria In Victorialand 