November

Halloween has passed. We look forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's down here on the ice. My Kelley day was this week so I got to enjoy 3 days off from work. I'm still waiting for the rest of my packages to get here and I just found out that one of the more important items I ordered (my station boots) where shipped to my house versus down here so I'm pretty upset about that. I applied for the lieutenant's position that opened up within our department after several people voiced their approval and I'm actually excited for the process. So far this month is looking pretty interesting. SAR tryouts will happen sometime in the next 2 weeks. The deadline for the applications was yesterday. The interviews for the lieutenant's position are suppose to take place shortly after the job announcement closes which is tomorrow. I'm scheduled to take Snowcraft I (aka Happy Camper School) which is a 2 day course on living and surviving out on the ice using stoves, tents, and a variety of snow structures. They teach us throughout the day and leave us to our wits and skills to survive an Antarctic "night" out on the continent. Considering that takes place on the 14^th, hopefully my camera will be here by then. On top of all that, I may get to go to a Sea Ice class that goes over the dynamics of Sea Ice and driving over it and what not. Like I said, November is looking pretty interesting right now.

I emailed the crew supervisor for Zion National Park Helitatck's module requesting information about the crew and whatnot. He was pretty friendly and more than helpful. He was also eager to hear from me by phone should I have any other questions. Even though I'm still in Antarctica, it's that time of year to apply for fire jobs for next summer. Zion is at my top pick right now. If I don't land a job with Zion, a Hotshot crew someone would be my next step. The supervisor I talked to told me that the job announcement opens up in mid December so that's one thing to tack to the list of what December may hold for me. For now, it's November and I have a lot to do as it is.s