Visiting the neighbors at Scott Base

Today is Friday, August 16, 2011 at approximately 0950 in the morning.

After two long days at work, I’m off again.  I love my schedule.  Let’s see what has been going on…

Work – nothing much.  Lots of vehicles checking out and going to do work on the Ice Pier.  Haven’t dispatched any calls but night shift has had to deal with several power outages.

Yesterday when walking to work, I thought I heard wind chimes.  I started looking around in an attempt to figure out where the noise was coming from.  My face was stung by ice crystals and that is when I realized that the tinkling sound I was hearing was coming from ice crystals hitting my jacket.  Nice.

So after I got to work yesterday I remembered that I was scheduled to go tour Scott Base with the FD.  SWEET!  Scott Base is the Kiwi base about 3 kilometers away from us.  All of the buildings are a bright lime green.  “A” shift and I loaded up in the van and one of the other vehicles and took off to visit our neighbors.  When we arrived, I was surprised at how small the base was.  Due to the poor visibility from the van (my window was iced over) I couldn’t see the sign that stated the population was only 13.

When we entered the base, we met up with Molly, the winter fire chief for Scott Base.  Molly is his nickname.  He said there was a long story to go along with it and after 3 seasons he was still stuck with it.  I didn’t ask anything further.  I am hoping for an explanation on an American Night *more on American Nights in a bit.

Scott Base has one main building connected by indoor walkways.  Their fire alarm system is superior to ours.  There are several outlying buildings but they aren’t often used until it is full blown summer, at least from what I understand.  The main purpose of our tour was to become familiar with the hydrant locations and their style of firefighting.  Their fire department consists of basically the entire center.  No one is an actual certified firefighter, they all go through a week of training before coming down.

After our tour, we were treated to coffee, tea and snacks.  I had tea and biscuits.  Completely amazing.  Everyone there treats each other like family.  I want to move in.  Molly and I had a long talk about the Americans he has met.  He likes the people he has met from McMurdo.  I smiled.  I’m a McMurdo person.  I felt accepted.

After coming back “home” work continued to drag on.  Vehicles checked out.  I answered them.  Then the firefighters resumed their dispatch training and I got to train them on the use of run sheets/ medievac sheets/ efoot plan sheets/ noise complaints/ etc.  Then the firefighters started acting goofy out in the bay.  Thankfully I had my camera with me and was able to catch some of their antics on film, albeit digital film.

Since it was so cold outside, we decided to take a cup of hot water and toss it in the air to see if it would crystalize and evaporate.  My pictures of the attempt didn’t turn out so great.  So, logically, we decided to turn to a darker liquid to see if it would work the same and yes, coffee, when thrown in the air in -35 degree (or colder) weather, will crystalize and evaporate.  Awesomeness.  I have learned something new every day.

I’m really rambling in this post.  I think it has to do with the fact that it was really cold out last night and I experienced an “ice cream headache” without eating any ice-cream.  Talk about a weird feeling…

Ok, so after work, Renae and I caught the shuttle to Scott Base for American Night.  On American Night, we visitors have to take off our shoes to wander through their base.  We aren’t allowed to go all over, only to a few places but they want to maintain a clean environment.  I don’t blame them.  I was glad I was wearing matching socks.   They have a small common room/bar where we watched the rugby game and enjoyed a few beverages.  They have Glenlivet.  HOORAY!  We only have Dewars.  We didn’t stay too long because Renae had to work in the morning.

So yeah, that pretty much wraps it up.  I’m kinda bummed out about my pictures not uploading on here.  And I’m sorry for rambling.  I’ll probably post a more coherent post later but for now, take care.

She sees seal-ies by the seashore.

Monday, September 12, 2011

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Two blogs in one day, you lucky people you.  The main reason for the second blog post is to share my most excellent experience with you.

Today, at about 1600, Pam and I decided to hike down to Hut Point.  It’s about a mile and a half hike from McMurdo.  I was supposed to go with a few fire department people early in the day but never caught up with them so I decided I would wait and go with Pam once she woke up.  It’s a very good thing that I’ve been in this field as long as I have and understand night shift sleep schedules.  Although tempted, I did not call and wake her during the middle of the day.

So she met me in the main lobby type area of 155 and we called the firehouse to let them know we would be OOPR (Out of Pager Range).  Technically, we would still be able to get pages if something was going on, but our response time would be more than the required 10 minutes.  We headed out through town, passing the two main intersections that have four way stops.  Next time I’ll have to remember to get pictures of the stop signs.  On the way back I DID remember to get a picture of the 15 MPH speed limit sign.

We trekked down the slope towards Hut Point, passing the ice pier that is under construction.  Thankfully we were able to get a contract with a Russian ice breaker so the fuel shortage that we were planning for SHOULDN’T be an issue.  The ice pier is between Hut Point and town and has to be constructed this year.  Last year was a warm year so the ice pier is going to be on first year ice.  Honestly, it makes me kind of nervous and very glad that I don’t work in that field.  We watched as the different vehicles scurried along, moving mounds of snow out of the way.  With all of the bad weather we have had lately, it’s been difficult getting this task finished.  This is Pam’s second year down here, so she was explaining the different functions and tasks that I was observing.  She also pointed out some oblong red buildings set on pallets and told me that those were the emergency shelters that will be set out along the Armitage Loop Trail and possibly the Castle Rock Loop.  Both of those are between 10 – 15 mile trails and they want to make sure that people have a place to stop and warm up if needed.

We also passed several small orange buildings that reminded me of beach shacks in the Bahamas and in the Turks and Caicos.  These are actually dive huts that are taken out on the ice.  A large hole will be drilled for divers to enter and exit the water (no I’m NOT that crazy).  Last year, Pam volunteered to help the divers exiting and entering the water.  She had to don a drysuit and go up and down the ladder leading into the water (the ice was eight feet thick) to help the divers remove their tanks when exiting.  Honestly, my hat is off to her.  I’m admittedly clumsy and I’m afraid I would fall in.

Continuing on past the huts, we had to climb up a snowy slope and I fortunately was on solid ice covered snow and Pam stepped into the fluffy snow that was about a foot deep.  It’s ok, there was solid ground underneath, we weren’t in a black flagged area, but I was amused.  I felt like Legolas walking across the snow while everyone else trudged through it.  That’s probably the only time I will compare myself to him.  We got up to Scott’s hut and outside is a seal.  Not an alive seal, one that is probably 100 years old.  It has been preserved naturally over time thanks to this lovely freezing cold weather.  Today wasn’t too bad.  By the time we left, the temp was about 12 degrees and the windchill only brought it down to 2 degrees.  Above zero.  I was wearing a pair of polypro long-johns, silk long-johns, fleece pants, sock liners and wool socks on my lower half.  Upper body clothing consisted of a quick-wik shirt, cashmere sweater and parka.  Oh and lightweight gloves and dad’s camo fleece balclava. I was quite comfortable and most of the time I kept the balclava converted into a makeshift hat.  By the time we got back to the station, I was actually sweating.  Quick-wik material is amazing.  You can’t wear cotton because if you sweat, the cotton will freeze and your core temp can drop quickly.

Now for the exciting part.  We started up the 50 yard slop to Vincent’s Cross, when I look over to the right and see something black on the ice below us.  There, down the hill, were 4 seals lounging about.  IT WAS AWESOME!  There were three big ones and one smaller one.  They were grunting and making noises and just wallowing around.  I started trying to get Pam’s attention as she was walking towards the cross.  I was speaking in what would be called a loud whisper and probably sounded like a rat on crack due to the speed at which I was talking.  She didn’t see them until she came down to me, asking me what I was saying and I just threw out my arm and squealed “SEALS!”.  I, of course, proceeded to switch out camera lenses and got down on the ground so I could balance myself.  I’ve found that I need to prop myself against something when shooting with the larger lens and I didn’t bring a tripod with me.  So I laid down on the lava rock and shale to get some better shots.  It was a tricky area because the slope, although it looked like it extended another 10 feet past where I was thanks to the snow, actually went out only 5 feet and then quickly descended according to Pam. We stayed and watched the seals roll around, flip up their hind flippers, scratch themselves with their front flippers and make their grunty seal sounds.  Oh I love them so.  I feel much like a seal during the morning hours when I don’t want to go to work.  It is not my inner penguin that I channel, it is my inner seal.

After a while, I got up to walk up to the cross to see if I could get a better view.  Finally I have a picture of me in Antarctica doing Antarctica-y things. Pam’s toes started getting cold and we started back down towards town.  I promised the seals I’d be back.  One of them peed.  I’ll take it as a welcome invitation to return any time.  It may have thought differently but chose not to correct me.

We stopped at Scott’s Hut for a few pictures and then made our way back to town.  When we passed by the Tower of Power (not really a tower but it’s the spot where all of the information regarding ice pier clearance) I saw one of my buddies out working on some welding.  I know he’s glad to finally be working.  The weather has been too nasty lately for them to get any of the outdoor work done.  We waved.  He waved.  We continued on.

Upon returning to town, Pam and I walked over to the Firehouse to tell everyone that we saw seals.  We were shot envious looks from people who had previously walked down to Hut Point and had only seen seal poop.  After being told that seals are actually farting when they arch their backs and flip their tails in the air, we decided that we had spent enough time at work when we were off duty and headed to dinner.

I’m ready for cargo planes to come in.  I want freshies (fresh fruits and vegetables).  The roasted vegetable medley that they served tonight was TERRIBLE but the Coq au vin was excellent.  They also had lemon meringue pie that everyone was scarfing down.  I tried it.  The meringue was too sweet for me.  Since I had the sweet taste I decided to make some sweet tea.  The looks I received from several people around me were interesting.  I offered some to my surrounding dinner neighbors and they all refused.  Oh well.  Their loss.

So yes, an exciting day was had.  I’m hoping that tomorrow is just as nice because I want to spend more time watching the seals.  I know they don’t do much but it’s nice seeing other life around here.  I’m hoping that once the ice breaker comes we will also get a chance to see Orcas.  If we get reports of them, I may end up spending an entire off day at Hut Point just to see them.

Take care dear readers and have a great week.

Tori

Charcoal + a discovery of hotdogs =

“You smell of seared animal” – Lori Gravelle Antarctic Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor / Vegetarian

Today is Monday, September 12, 2011 and in honor of the memory of those who lost their lives during the tragic incidents of September 11th, 2001, the Fire Department had a cookout last night.  It was a fantastic time and several of the people around the station who do not work in this field came over to the fire house, lured in by the smell reminescint of good times in the states.  It was also one of the rare times that all 5 of the fire dispatchers were in the station at the same time.  Pictures to come later.  A group of 5 dispatchers is known as a “Murder”.  There is your daily bit of Ice trivia from Tori.

So, since Cookie Wednesday, here is what I’ve been up to. – Work, Work, Party, Freeze, Work, Freeze,  Work, Party, Sleep.  Do you notice a recurring theme here?  Let me indulge a bit on both of the above topics.

Work.  Starting on Saturday, we changed to shift work.  Prior to that, I was working 0700 to 1500 Monday – Saturday and enjoying Sundays off.  On Wednesday, the weather turned bad and we were in Condition two weather from Thursday through Saturday.  This meant no recreational travel and not a lot of work being done by the rest of the staff here.  THAT means not a lot of work going on at the fire house. 

Thursday consisted of a quiet day at work and a quiet evening at home.  Then we got a page from Pam, the dispatcher on duty, that she had gotten the first emergency dispatch of the season.  It was for a smell of fuel in one of the buildings.  Our guys got onscene and didn’t find anything wrong.  But still.  She had the first call so she has bragging rights.

Friday night was karaoke night at one of the bars.  When I arrived I specifically told my roommate not to let me sing.  She didn’t listen to me.  Instead, she and one of the firefighters said “With your southern accent (I have an accent apparently) I bet you can sing any country song you want.”  Ok – I don’t like country music.  I tend to stay away from it.  But they managed to convince me that singing a song by the Dixie Chicks was an excellent idea.  So I did.  And surprisingly, the place didn’t empty. 

Saturday was my first day on shift.  0700 – 1900.  It made for a very long day since I was used to getting off at 1500 and going home for a nap on nasty weather days.  The weather on Friday night and early Saturday morning was cold and nasty.  The windchill had brought the weather down to -47 degrees so when I made my 150 yard walk to work (uphill) my ears felt like little icicles.  The only other footprints in the snow were those of my supervisor who normally arrives at work 15 – 20 minutes before I do.  I found it odd, however, that I saw the footprints track back down and disappear once they got just past building 142 (Medical).  I thought perhaps she had forgotten something so I didn’t think anything else of it, until I got to the door. 

The door to enter the firehouse has a large lever style handle (as do most other exterior doors around here).  What I found odd was that, instead of being at regular door handle height, I had to reach down almost to my knees to open up the door.  That is when I realized how much snow had drifted in front of the entrance to the firehouse.  I had to use extreme caution stepping down into the bay over three feet of snow, but I managed to get into work successfully.  Shortly after 10am, I had to attend an EOC meeting just to observe things and learn more about EOC activations down here.  Luckily, I’ve had some previous experience with EOC activities so I knew a lot of what the different terminology meant.  *Another fun fact, a snow storm with hurricane force winds is called a Herbie.

After the meeting, we fought our way through the storm and went to lunch.  By the time I arrived back at the station, the wind had stopped blowing and the firefighters had shoveled away most of the snow drifts blocking the entrances.  At about 1500, I started feeling tired so Lori covered the silent radios and phones for me.  I walked outside of the back of the firehouse and got my first clear view of Ob Hill and thought to myself “I’m gonna need to go to the gym more before trying to hike up that.”  The rest of my shift went by fairly quickly and I FINALLY got to dispatch a call!  It only took two weeks.  I recieved a report of smoke coming from a washing machine in HoCal (Building 166 – dorm room “Hotel California”.  No true emergency, all ended well and the rest of my shift went by quickly.

Saturday night was interesting.  There was a scheduled “Dance off” at one of the bars.  It was a themed party and everyone had an amazing time.  Saturday night also marked the first time I have fallen since coming down here.  I have to say that I fell quite gracefully and fell in front of a large group of people who didn’t realize that I had actually fallen down, they just thought I decided to sit on the snow.  When they asked me what I was doing I told them that I was just getting a closer look.  I thought it sounded like a good excuse.  They believed me.  After a while of hanging out at Gallaghers, I went with one of the guys over to Southern to shoot pool… I thought I was doing a decent job until I heard someone ask him why he was playing so poorly.  His response “It’s not fair if I don’t play down to the level of other people.”  My game MUST improve.  Something else to throw onto the bucket list.

Sunday marked my first day off in this set of off days.  I honestly did not do much other then make a few calls to family and friends.  If I didn’t call you, don’t worry, I will.  Sunday was also a rather dreary day outside, so I spent most of the day around building 155 (my home).  I hopped over to the coffee house for a bit and had a mocha (only a dollar, I’ll never be able to justify purchases at Starbucks again) and then came back for a nap.  After I woke up, I headed to the firehouse for our cookout.  Apparently, Captain Pahl and Captain Fleuette were given an unearthed box of hamburgers and hotdogs from the warehouse.  I don’t know where they managed to find charcoal but the cooking aromas drew people in from far and wide.  It was amazing.

One of the bakers also made a cake for us.  I have been good at avoiding the bakery area of the cafeteria, but I couldn’t resist the temptation.  It was amazing.  The frosting was a tad too sweet for me (a good thing in my opinion) but the cake part of it was absolutely perfect.  We had a good time hanging out, the guys played basketball in the bay and people who work for other departments were given tours of the station.  Also, pictures of the station to come.

After the cookout, Pam and I went to Gallaghers to see what was going on.  Since Monday marks the first day of work on the “town” schedule, most people don’t go out on Sunday night so the place was pretty empty.  After chatting with a few people, we went to the Coffeehouse where I learned how to play Yahtzee.  It was a pretty relaxing day.

Again, today is Monday, September 12, 2011 and it is my second day off.  The weather is gorgeous.  It is 8 degrees with a windchill of -10.  Later on, I plan on going down to Hut Point with Pam since the group I was going to go with this morning is no where to be seen.  Hopefully we will see new and interesting things and I’ll add pictures of those later as well. 

Hope you all are doing well.

xoxo – Tori

Cookie Wednesday and an update!

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Greetings! So Wednesdays in McMurdo are known as Cookie Wednesdays.  Why, you might be asking… It’s because Wednesdays the Galley lays out trays and trays of cookies.  Normally they’re warm melting delicious cookies (so I hear)… ok I’m lying.  I’ve had 3.  They’re amazing.  I will stay away from the bakery area today at lunch and will refuse any cookies should any of the fire fighters attempt to bring some to me.

…although I wouldn’t want to appear rude.

So – here is what has been going on since my last post.

The weekend – everyone in Antarctica works hard and plays harder.  Saturday night the second bar (Southern Exposure) opened and we hung out there for a while.  They haven’t been open since and I’m really hoping I can locate someone there soon because I’m missing a coat.  I still have big red, but my black ski coat that I bought before coming down here is missing.  I’m going to have to make “missing” posters.

So this week has been pretty good.  We’ve been working the radios more, but still no 911 calls.  A lot of what I do is telephone operator type duties.  I transfer a lot of phone calls, give out a lot of numbers, oh and monitor 7 different radios without the use of a CAD system and we don’t use headsets.  It’s a whole lot different from GB911.  Oh and still no 911 calls.  😦

Yesterday I saw a few Nacreous clouds.  HAPPY TORI INDEED!!!  Nacreous clouds are also called mother of pearl clouds.  They’re gorgeous.  Towards the end of Winfly, there are hopefully going to be scores of them.

Update from when I started this post about 5 hours ago, I managed to avoid the cookies.

But fun stuff occurred today!  We went to Crary Lab – Building 001 (If you’re looking on the webcam, it’s the big white/silver multi level building.  Basically, it’s what we’re all doing down here.  We support the lab.  Science is our bread and butter in Antarctica.  Being part of the fire department has its definite perks.  We were allowed to follow the fire fighters on their inspection of Crary and go see all kinds of cool stuff.  They have a small touch tank which is really nifty.  For those of you who know me, I am a fish and fish tank fanatic.   So we did a lot of “oohing” and “ahhing”.

Mail call – Antarctica style

Ok, so since the last of the Winfly planes comes in tonight, we have actually started receiving mail.  All mail goes to building 140 and then several volunteers help divide it.  The fire department regularly volunteers people and is able to bring all of the mail to the firehouse instead of making all of the fire dept employees wait for their packages and letters.  It’s a great thing because I got the two packages I sent myself and a letter from my parents.  🙂

Getting mail in Antarctica is a big thing.  It’s kind of like Christmas, especially if you know something is coming.  It’s like a surprise part if you weren’t expecting anything.

Along the lines of mail, the next outgoing mail that will leave Antarctica will be going out in October-ish.  So it should be November-ish by the time you get your letters or postcards or cards that I send you (if you sent me your address :))

I know this is a really short post but I thought I’d let you all know WHY I haven’t sent y’all anything.  Planes are very picky about flying around here… for some strange reason…

September Antarctica update

“Winfly is the best time of year to come down here” – Lori Gravelle AFD Dispatch Supervisor

 I whole heartedly agree with my supervisor.  Now that I am able to actually get out and stretch my legs by seeing the sites that McMurdo has to offer. 

 Today was by far the best day I’ve had while on the ice.  It was clear, cold and beautiful at sunrise and sunset.  I also got a chance to do some call taking, which made me feel more useful than I have all week.  While I’ve enjoyed being a trainee, it’s about time that I’ve been able to be useful at work.  Every time the phone has rung (or is it rang?) I have tried to jump to answer it.  We went over a lot today, including plane emergency calls.  Now, I’ve been a part of several disaster drills at work and actual events involving plane problems, but down here it is a possibility (actually more like a probability) that there will be plane emergencies.  Last season there were apparently several calls…weekly.

I was also given the task of transferring Chief Guzman (the head honcho of the fire department) to different phone lines.  He called several times as a test to see if we were 1) answering the phones correctly and 2) knew how to transfer calls.  I am proud to say that I passed this impromptu test with flying colors.

At the end of the work day, Captain Fleuette took several of us out for area familiarization in the FD van – Scat1.  The tour about town went fairly quickly overall and afterwards, we were able to go out and do our own thing.  After work, Renae and I came back to our dorm and changed for our after work activities.  She decided to head to the “gerbil gym” (affectionately nicknamed due to the treadmills, elipticals, etc) and I headed  out to take some pictures of somewhere other than the back of building 155. 

I headed to the Chapel of the Snows (thanks in part to suggestions from Lori and Pam).  Inside of the chapel, there are bay windows overlooking the Royal Society Mountain Range.  The shots in the Gallery from my last post are from both inside and outside of the chapel.  The chapel is open 24 hours a day and is mostly used for yoga…  During the summer, we’ll have a few priests and chaplains who will hold services there on Sundays and Midnight Mass.  I grew up Catholic, so I WILL be attending midnight mass in Antarctica. 

After hanging out around the chapel, I walked over behind building 209 (dorm rooms) where the McMurdo Station Antarctica sign is located.  I didn’t have a chance to switch out camera lenses to attempt to get a good picture of the sign, but I did have a better view of Shackleton’s Hut as well as Roll Cage Mary.  Take the time to read about both of them on Wikipedia.  Sunday, Pam and I plan on hiking down to the hut to check out the outside.  We aren’t allowed in the hut unless we’re on a guided tour.  They don’t want people destroying historic artifacts.  I don’t blame them.   

Tonight is the first clear night since we’ve been here.  There is a crescent moon and I’ve actually seen two stars.  I’m hoping that I get to see a few more before daylight consumes all 24 hours of the day in October.  It’s about 7pm local time and I don’t plan on staying up too late, despite the invitations to Gallagher’s with a bunch of the department personnel.  I find myself going to bed early down here and I generally wake up around 5am. 

Hope everyone in the northern hemisphere is doing well.  I’m happily content here at Hoth.  Oh – please email me your addresses at victoriatparker@gmail.com if you want a postcard.  I should be sending some out early next week.  If you need or want my mailing address, it’s in my second post.  I think.

 

Best wishes to you all –

Tori

Day Four – Condition Two!

Greetings from the cold cold south!

Today we hit condition two weather.

 

From Wikipedia –

Condition 2

Windspeed of 48 to 55 knots (55 to 63 miles per hour)

Visibility 1/4 of a mile to 100 feet (402 to 30 meters)

Wind chill of -75 °F (-60 °C) to −100 °F (−73 °C)

Description: Unpleasant conditions; outside travel is permitted but not recommended.

 

What does this mean for a girl from south Georgia?  IT’S FRIGGIN COLD!!! But so cool.  I love it here.  Really I do.  If I hadn’t made promises to return at the end of the summer season, I would consider a winter contract.  I say that now, but it’s only been four days.  I’m hoping that I still feel the same way towards the end of the season.

I keep running outside to see if there are any nacreous clouds in the mornings and in the evenings, but I’ve been told they should be good towards the last two weeks of Winfly.  I really hope they are.  I’ve also been running out late at night in an attempt to see the southern lights.  No luck yet.  Today, before the weather hit, I was walking over to lunch from the firehouse and could see the mountain range off in the distance for the first time and I was thinking “It is a gorgeous day!”…

Today I get to attend the outdoor awareness lecture over at Crary Lab.  I’m excited about this for two reasons.  1)  I will get to venture out from the “city”.  2) I get to go into Crary Lab where all of the research that goes on down here is completed.  The part of me that wanted to be a marine biologist when I was younger is still there.  I love the sea.

So the condition two weather meant a couple of things at work.  It meant more vehicles started checking in with us and recreational travel was halted.  But it also meant when I asked one of the FFs to go take my camera out and go take some pictures for me, my boss looked at me and said “You can go out and play!”  So we did.  Not for long, but we walked around in it for a bit.  Pretty soon I will have to give into the urge to go fling myself into a pile of snow that is located outside of the medical building, which is located across from building 155 (where I live).

Hope everyone at home is doing well.

Love-Tori

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Better late than never

I know it’s late but right now I’ve been CRAZY busy with work and still getting settled in. I’ll do better in than never.

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

 

Today was my first full day at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.  Started out today with a quick step outside to check out the weather (at 530am) and I ran into David from the power plant.  Since this is his third season on the Ice, I asked him when would be a good time to see the nacreous clouds.  He told me that they are best seen, this time of year, around 4pm.  He told me that they would best be seen in front of building 155 (my home, the galley, the art room, the EVERYTHING building) and he knew of some really good places to see them but before that, I would have to go to the outdoor awareness and safety talk.  That’s the plan for tomorrow evening, after I get off work and after dinner. 

 

After I spoke with him, I came back to my room and attempted to sleep a few more hours.  Brunch wasn’t until 10 and I didn’t have to go to the “dirt tour” until 12 so I thought I could sleep in.  My current roommates started stirring around 645 so I just ended up staying awake and talking to them.  I say they’re my current roommates because I expect to switch rooms on Monday, August 29, 2011.  For some strange reason, Renae and I were not put in the same room.  I like my current roommates but Renae and I are going to be doing shift work, working the same hours, so we’ll be able to relate to each others’ schedules pretty well.  The girls I have in my room now, one is a DA (Dining assistant) and she doesn’t know what schedule she’ll be on and the other is one of the housing staff who will be working the normal 7:30 to 5:30 schedule that most of the “town” keeps to. 

 

Brunch was pretty good.  The galley is set up buffet style with several different food bars to choose from.  Today’s breakfast had somewhat of a mexican theme along with the standard (well, what I presume is standard) Sunday omelet line and waffle line.

 

After breakfast was the “dirt tour” which is a quick walking tour around McMurdo.  We didn’t hit all of the areas but we were shown the main places we need to know.  He did show us where the Ob Hill (Observation Hill) trail is as well as the Hut Trail.  I’m looking forward to hiking those once I get my outdoor safety clearance awareness thing… Our tour guide, Mike, had icicles beginning to form on his mustache after about 5 minutes, and by the end of the tour, he had a few full blown icicles.  It was kind of crazy.  Of course, me being on the uphill slope of having the crud with a runny nose, was kind of entertaining too.  I won’t go into detail but so far, no snotsicle pictures have been taken of me.

 

After the tour, Renae and I had to report to work at the Firehouse to start learning the ropes.  Basically, this is going to be a lot of telephone operator type duties along with contacting “utility” departments.  It won’t be bad or too hectic.  Definitely no worse than a 2-10 shift on a training day at GB-911.  We were only at the station for a few hours, then we were released to do whatever we wished for the rest of the day.  I took a few more pictures and came back to the room to write.  A few of the firefighters were talking about going to Gallagher’s (One of the bars) tonight but I don’t think I’m going to join them.  Work starts at 7am tomorrow and I’m sure it is going to be a very busy day.

e future. I promise.