New Year's Eve

It's New Year's Eve. It's sorta cool being at the fore front of the world being the first to ring the New Year. Today, thankfully, is my normal day off. I spent the day doing laundry, some errunds online, a little studying of Spanish and French. The evening brought about a pretty decent meal and an annual tradition around this time of year of Icestock. Icestock is sorta what it sounds like: a Woodstock here on the ice. Several of the "local" bands get together and play various length sets while the crowd gets drunk, battles the cold, and lets loose.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

It was, in fact, pretty damn cold (now before you ridicule me for stating the painful obviousness of the cold here in Antarctica, relatively, for the month of December that is, it had been pretty warm [20-30 F] up until the last couple days leading to and including today). When I'm remotely chilled it becomes very hard for me to play my guitar without screwing up royally. My hat goes off to everyone that played 20 to 40 minute sets up there in the cold and wind. Last year, Icestock was done on the 1st. This year was pretty enjoyable because of the fact that Icestock brought a majority of the town together and lasted well after the "ball drop". It's pretty cool to usher in the new year with several hundred people around you....

Christmas

It's Christmas here in Antarctica and my emotions are mix of deep depression and inner calm. Today, I learned of another death in my family, my Uncle Mac, that occurred on 17 Dec, my mother's birthday, about 10 minutes after I called her to wish her so. It really didn't hit me as how far away from home I was till I read in my email from my mother the she, a woman that rarely travels to far from the Mid-Atlantic flew to Alabama for his funeral and back on the 19th and I didn't find out till shortly after midnight on Christmas. If anything, I'm too blame for not staying in touch as much as I should. My thoughts of my father and my Uncle James have been floating in my head since shortly before Thanksgiving. I floated in and out of moments of social hyperactivity to moments of solidarity and extreme loneliness. On the other hand, my faith has been pulling me through. In this sometimes seemingly dark world, the Christmas story renews my faith every year. Every year, no matter how bad and how gloomy it was, the 25th always lifts me up. Listening to gospel, the spoken and written word that our lord and savior was born to die for our sins on this day, always seems to lift my spirits high...at least for a little while. For now I just have to deal with the ebb and flow of my emotions and live life one day at a time. I've learned not to fight my bouts of depression but just ride through them to the better times ahead. I look forward to the things that make me happy. I'm looking forward to spend some time in the bouldering cave tomorrow when I get off from work. I don't have many friends I call true friends down here...I mean friends I can trust with my inner-most daemons and emotions; my personal thoughts and ramblings...so I wait to see them again when I get home. I'm looking forward to climbing! To get on the side of a mountain and experience God's glory and everything he made in ways that you wouldn't be able to otherwise. For now, it's Christmas. It's a time to remember family both far away and gone from this world. To remember the good things about life. It's a time to thank God for allowing me to spend time in this place that I hold so dear in my heart to the point that I sacrifice so much back home. It's a time to relax and reflect. Happy Birthday Jesus...

Catching up...

It's been a while, I know. The medevac portion of our year is in full swing. Last week we had two back to back possibly life-threatening medevacs head north. One on our shift (B Shift), another one the next day. We haven't been as busy as we were in the beginning of the season but we're still keeping our plates full every day. Miraculously, Tanker 3, which we all thought was out of service for the rest of the season (if not indefinitely) will be back in service and in station 1 by the end of this week. Our annual MCI drill (which was supposed to be held last week but was canceled because of a serious accident (which led to one of the medevacs). Now, the element of surprise is gone and station management has resorted to just emailing us and letting us know when the drill will be held (Friday at 1330 with me being the station officer). My stress induced by the daily operations (and sometimes management) of the Antarctic Fire Department has been cured by incessant bitching and moaning to other firefighters and officers who are going through the same troubles. Now, during this time of celebration (It's [near] Christmas you know...) I'm at ease and I'm happy...somewhat....

...somewhat meaning that I'm missing my dad terribly. We (the fire department) had our Christmas party on Saturday night. A time that was suppose to be fun was spent, by me, smiling politely and waiting to leave to go back to the station (we were on duty at the time). I have a hard time partying and having a good time during holidays or days that bring back a lot of memories for me. I'm missing my family pretty terribly as well.

My plans have remained, so far, extremely dynamic. Because of my plans to go back to school and having to start the fall semester in late August, I've been looking at National Park Service positions in Alaska to take advantage of the shorter fire season. So in order for me to save enough gas to drive from home to Boise to visit my daughter and Boise to Alaska, I have to put my travel plans to Africa on hold and may be tramp around New Zealand or Australia. Haha, bummer, I know. All in the name of education though....

A 3 Day Weekend

Back in the states, I always looked forward to Mondays. Yeah, I'm that person. Monday, to me, meant a new week and new surprises. Monday also meant the start of the business day during which I could get what ever errunds in my life done with. Down here, however, Monday means a business day here at McMrudo but Sunday back home (remember, we're 18 hours ahead of the east coast). So whatever I have to take care of back home always has to wait to Tuesday. Today has been pretty fun so far. For one, I got word that 2 vehicles that were assumed to be out of service for the entire season as of last week may be coming back to us tomorrow! I suddenly feel like an ass for the rumors I've spread about those vehicles! We started the morning off with a small hazmat call in front of Building 155:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

We were called out to 155 for an "Unknown Type Spill". When we got there, the janitor who made the call showed us the "container" that was leaking which turned out to be a bottle of blue hair coloring. Any where else in the United States this would have been blown off by any respectable fire department upon identification of the product (in fact, I don't think anyone in the country would call a hazmat on an obvious bottle of hair coloring leaking on the ground). Because of the Antarctic Treaty we were actually mandated by federal law to clean it up....so that's exactly what we did:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my morning cleaning up hair care products and what not but that's part of the job. Since we did worry about run-off and turning a tedious and petty task into a major pain-in-ass task, we actually took the time and effort to build a damn and dike out of dirt and ice around the product. Our second call of the day was for a fire alarm at the same building which ended up to be an activation because of work being done on the sprinkler system. Our third "call" (more of a scheduled transport) was a transport of 2 patients out to Pegasus Air Field to be medevaced back to Christchurch. Not bad for a Monday.

Another thing I'm really excited for is the return of Red 3 from the South Pole. With Red 3 back on base it will illeviate a lot of the problems we've been having with equipment issues and staffing for our air field. About 3 weeks ago, I got to drive Red 3 into the back of an LC-130 so it could be transported the 600 some nautical miles to the south pole:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

At first, it would fit in backwards due to the fact that the fire package on the back of the rig would hit the ceiling of the plane before it leveled out off of the loading ramp. After we realized that I was told to drive out and turn it around to nose it into the aircraft:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Now I can't begin to tell you how tight of a fit it was. I had to fold in both my mirrors in order to make in the aircraft. At that point I was relying solely on one person in front of me to make sure I didn't hit anything:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

I almost had to crawl out of the windows because I could get my door open all of the way. When I got out to look at how good or bad of a job I did, I noticed that I had about 3 or 4 inches on either side of the tracks of the vehicle from the walls of the aircraft...

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

The end result. I had a blast trying to drive that thing on that C-130. All in all it took me about 30 or 45 minutes to drive it on there just right. Of course after all of that work, it's coming back here for the rest of the season.



Yesterday was spent skiing. I took a 30 minute nap after getting back from work after which I strapped on my skins and skiied all the way (About 2.5 miles) to the top of the Castle Rock hill here on Ross Island. It felt really good to get out by myself and ski for a few hours. Not bad for a "3 day" weekend...

Life At Station 2

Station 2 is the Antarctic Fire Department fire station located at Williams Ski-field. Several vehicles are stationed here:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

Red 1 is a Canadian Foremost Chieftan with a 1200 gallon foam/water fire package in the back. One of my favorite vehicles to drive and operator in our fleet, it's a 7-speed forward and 4-speed reverse manual transmission. Red 1 tops out at a wopping 7 mph (I've actually walked faster than Red 1 one day while it was "topped out"). Irregardless it holds a special place in my heart. Red 1 is out of service for probably the remainder of our season down here to to a catastrophic failure of the drive train at its articulating joint. Hopefully it will be back up and running soon!

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

Red 2 is another newer Chieftan. Almost the same as Red 1 with its differences being Red 2 has a 2 person cab versus a 4 person cab and Red 2 has an automatic transmission. Red 2 can drive a few mph faster than Red 1 but nothing to brag or write home about.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

Nodwell 3 (Nod 3 for short and it's radio designation) is another Canadian Foremost product. Nodwell 3 carries over half a ton of Purple K fire extinguishing agent (much like the dry powder found in fire extinguishers...in short the Nodwells are nothing more than big-ass fire extinguishers you can drive).

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

Nodwell 4 is almost the same as Nodwell 3 with the major difference being that Nod 4 carries 200 gallons of a foam/water mixture on top of 1250 lbs of Purple K extinguishing agent.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

Red 4 is a Ford F-550 with a Grip-Trac conversion. The fire package is a combination Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) and Purple K dry-chemical extinguishing system powered by compressed Nitrogen. Red 4 has a twin sister, Red 3, who's currently located at the South Pole Station.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

Reds 5 and 6 are the same vehicles as Reds 3 and 4 with the difference being they utilize the smaller (yet slower) Matt-Tracks in place of tires.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

Ambulance 2 I believe is an old Ford F-350. If it looks like a piece of shit thats because it is a piece of shit. For a vehicle that doesn't get as much wear and tear as the others it sure likes to break down when ever it wants. I will give it credit, however, that its managed to hold on this long. Asides from medical emergencies on this side of the McMurdo Permanent Ice Shelf (that includes Williams Ski Field, Pegasus Airfield, the road system between the airfields and New Zealand's Scott Base heading for Mcmurdo, the rugby field, and the field training sites), Ambulance 2 is used for medevacs off the continent. If the patient can tolerate or risk the 30+ minute drive from McMurdo out to Williams Field or Pegasus which is even further, Ambulance 2 will be driven into to town to pick up the patient from the clinic and then drive them out to which ever airfield they'll be leaving from. Sometimes more critical patients are flown via helicopter from McMurdo to an airfield in which case Ambulance 2 will provide "shelter" and a viable workplace for us and the flight nurses to work.



The Town

The ice town that makes up Williams Skifield is made up of various modular trailers located on skis to facilitate movement as the ice shelf moves into Ross Island (also to tow buildings to various places for maintenance.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

This is one of a couple of Air Traffic Control Towers located on the airfield. Notice the skis and the tow bar on the bottom of the building. They're actually pretty cool buildings to be in. I'll post pictures of the inside when I get some.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

This what the town looks like in a nutshell. The powerplant is a large diesel generator housed in a shipping container placed on skis. Powerlines are routed from the generator via telephone poles and the buildings themselves to all of the buildings out at the airfield. The first orange building on the right is our galley.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

This little gem is the airfield bathroom. Somehow, in the midst of the Antarctic Treaty, the "chief export" of the airfield bathroom (as my friend words it) gets plumbed down through almost 300 feet of snow and ice into the Ross Sea below. The smell emmited from the pipe down to the sea below is horrendous...even in the cold or the worst of storms.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

This is the ramp where the aircraft park with the Royal Society Mountain Range in the background. With the aircraft that are stationed at Williams Field for the season, at most you can see 7 LC-130 Hercules operated by the New York Air National Guard, 2 de Havilland Canada DHC=6 Twin Otters, and 2 Douglas DC-3 "Basslers".

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

That mountain you see is Observation Hill which is located on the back edge of town (McMurdo Station). The main part of the station is located approximately 7 miles from Williams Ski field.



For some odd reason I don't have many photos of Station 2 life in Station 2. You're not missing much though. A couch or two, a computer, a small kitchen and even smaller bunk rooms...one of which also houses the Lieutenant's office:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

If you like peace and quiet for a shift or two, Station 2 is a blessing. A little home away from home (McMurdo that is).

December!

It's finally December, my favorite time of year. This time of year always brings a smile to my face no matter what my mood. The past two Decembers/Christmases since my dad died have always brightened my mood. As a Christian, I look at this time as one to reflect on what Jesus means to me. In 18 days we celebrate his 2043rd birthday. I see this time of year as a peaceful one. As one where I try extra hard to be good unto others and help whomever I can whenever I can.

Here in McMurdo the town is a buzz over holiday festivities. I haven't been paying much attention to the REC board so I really have no idea what's happening party or even wise but emails are already circulating calling on volunteers for events to come. Summer is officially here. The speckled-brown snowy landscape has melted away to a brown backdrop painted so by the volcanic rock Ross Island is primarily made of. With the exception of the McMurdo Ice Shelf (on which I currently sit here out at Williams Ski Field), all of the ice in town on the roads and walkways have melted away. While we don't have to deal with dirty snow all over the floors in the building, we now have to deal with an absurd amount of dust which is created by the brittle volcanic rock on which the base sits. The temperatures are amazing! Who would have thought -10 C would be short-sleeve t-shirt weather!

I sit here on this lovely Saturday evening/Sunday morning enjoying my 27 hour shift out at Station 2. I've spent the shift taking care of loose ends back home as far as bills and things, continuing education for EMS, hazmat, and confined space, doing a little internet surfing on climbing, fire/rescue training, jobs, etc, and writing emails. The ebb and flow of my emotions have seemed to stabilize and I'm sincerely happy right now.

I do, however, miss my family...mostly my mother. One of the downfalls of traveling and living so far away from home is you can never anticipate how much you will miss the ones you love until you're so disconnected from them. Just reading emails from family and friends seems to help. I can't wait to travel more but at the same time I can't wait to get home either....

Catching up...

It's been a while since I've written an entry, I know. Today, back in the states, is Thanksgiving. It's been a semi-depressing time but good friends here and at home have gotten me through this. It's getting progressively warmer here in town. I've been wearing my down jacket less and less and doing a lot of work outside in nothing but a T-Shirt (well, pants to). The temperature has yet to go above 25 degrees but it still feels pretty warm. In a couple of days, most federal departments will start hiring firefighters for the 2009 fire season which I can't wait for. I'm actually really looking forward to getting back to Cedar City (primarily so I can climb Moonlight Buttress) but I've been applying to other places as well. I really have my heart set on doing at the very least one season of fire in Alaska. So far, I've applied for Smokejumper and Helitack/Helirappel crews in California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Montanna, Idaho, Utah and as of today for Engine Operator positions in Alaska, Wyoming, and Colorado. Needless to say, just the thought of the hiring process for future positions to open up have really got me excited.

This time of year, I'm missing my family terribly. I'm constantly thinking of my dad and my uncle as well as the family I have that are still alive back home. I have new friends that I'm growing real close to and at the same time I still have friends back home that I remain close to. The holidays don't seem as bad as they did last year for me but I'm still feeling a little down.

Life down here, on the other hand, gets better and better as time goes on. The mountains surrounding the base never look the same no matter how many times you look at them. I fall in love with this place more and more with each passing day. It's going to be hard to take a couple years off from here...

Anxiety, the Future, and the Now

I listen to a lot of Coldplay when I'm down or in in one of my regular funks. I really didn't notice it until recently. Sometimes (like now) I don't realize I'm in a funk until I listen to We Never Change or spies over and over again. Today is no different. The week, on the other hand, was pretty good. SAR tryouts are behind me. I still have no idea as to whether or not I made the team. I've spent a lot of my time on my computer planning around my education goals for next semester as well as the next couple of years. Nursing School is a definite...one way or the other. I'm still trying to ascertain from the National Registry of EMTs(NREMT) if I can use my Registered Nurse (RN) certification and "challenge" to test out for a NREMT-Paramedic certifications in lieu of having to take a RN to NREMT-P bridge or, heaven forbid, a complete Paramedic course. I've also toyed with the idea of doing something crazy like working towards my A.A.S. in Fire Science at the same time. Granted, loading my semester like that is going to be a bitch and a half but I think it will be worth it spending as little time "sitting still" as possible. I've been dreading the thought of sitting in a classroom having to interact with a bunch of other students for the past month or so that I have been thinking about school. I really don't know why. I think it's just the way I think and the way I live my life and not wanting to be around scores of people who revolve around the notion that life is all about getting a job you'll spend the next quarter-century at, creating a family, and settling down. I think that, then I get mad at myself for judging a whole group of people I don't know...yet I still have the anxiety of possibly having to "settle down" even if it's only for a couple years. What's worse is thinking about settling down for another couple of years after that to work on my residency or gain experience. I've been slowly teaching myself to relax and not jump to conclusions about my life in the future back home for school. So far (so far being a week or so) it has been working. I'm pretty excited to go back to school.

The weather has been pretty warm here (relatively speaking of course). It has yet to crest 20 but it has been in the high teens. I've been doing a lot of work outside in nothing more than my uniform pants, normal boxers, and a short-sleeve t-shirt. The skuas and seals are out in full force. Thursday night while waiting for a shuttle to head over to the New Zealand base, we watched a Skua attack from start to finish. We saw the 'victim' walk out of Building 155 with food in his hand. We saw the two skuas on the roof eying his food and their future meal. Realizing the ensuing hilarity none of the 7 of us said a word. Within several seconds, the skua had dive bombed the victims food, a piece of cheesecake, grab the cake in one fell swoop, and flew several yards away where it and it's amigo chowed down on their score. The entire thing was quite possibly the funniest damn thing I've seen all season. Of course now, I'm paranoid whenever I walk outside. Yes, life here is good. Despite my funks or bouts of depression, I'm having a great time and enjoying myself

Fire, The Weekend, School, Work

Today is day 3 of 5 spent away from the trials and tribulations experienced during the peak hours of the Antarctic Fire Department. On top of my normal Saturday Kelly Day I have tryouts again for the Joint Antarctic Search and Rescue Team tomorrow. Considering I didn't make it last year, I'm hoping this year will be different. The weekend has been fun for me. Friday night we had a fire and major hazardous materials incident in one of our science research facilities. I can't go into any more detail than that because the official report has yet to be released but all I can say is it was a major incident for us. Yesterday I spent my afternoon in Snow Craft and Sea Ice refresher classes. Asides from the fire on Friday the weekend has been pretty slow. I've spent a lot of it thinking about school, work, and home for after the 2009 fire season. With everything I've done in the past couple years, I'm hoping my resume proves exotic enough for the employers I'm looking at. Oh well...

The Good Life in McMurdo

Life here in McMurdo is great. The few calls we get and the circus games of vehicular issues we play keep life at the fire department exciting and fresh. Election day (which was Wednesday our time) was really exciting to follow. Because of the close quarters of our base (in comparison to any other town in the Washington Metropolitan Area) the energy in the air here was amazing. I gave up on any of the American news outlets in favor for the BBC considering that they had a constant live feed of the action back in the states rather than a website that updated every few minutes or so. I had said to a few people down here that I thought it was pretty cool to get to say that, "I was in Antarctica" when I found out that Barack Obama became our nation's first black president. At first I didn't believe it (partly because of my natural skepticism for anything sans irrefutable proof). I mean, I found out from a girl standing on a chair in our galley shouting it out. Yeah, I'm sure that seems a legitimate reason to believe but had still remained skeptical. Either way, it was pretty amazing to hear the amount of people cheering at Dinner.

The days are passing by quite pleasantly...a step up from the beginning of last season. I've been thinking about climbing a lot and what my travels when I redeploy before coming back home. I've been able to relax my mind (when I'm not at work) a lot more down here. My thoughts have ranged from skiing hills and slopes I see as I drive around Ross Island to school next fall to performing yoga while stuck on a portaledge 800 feet off the ground. I've been working out, I've been eating healthy...I've been happy....and I have McMurdo to thank for that.

Antarctic Fire Department Vehicles

There are days when I love my job, then there are days I resent the silly shit that manages to happen on a daily basis. Today, my bitches, gripes, and complaints belong with the vehicles of the Antarctic Fire Department. Somehow, when ever we get something back from the Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF), two vehicles go out of service in return. Today I've been dealing with, primarily, one of our tracked Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) vehicles, Red 2:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

We brought it in for brake, oil pressure, and other issues regarding the foam delivery system (primarily the turret) from Williams Field. To give you a brief rundown of the vehicle, it's over 20 years old. It weighs in excess of 80,000 lbs and it tops out at about 8 mph. It's over an hour ride out to Williams Skiway in Red 2 and damn near an hour and a half to two hours out to Pegasus. Today, I almost caught it on fire when I was driving it back from the VMF to the firehouse and the parking brake engaged on its own (unbeknown to me). I didn't find out till I smelled the brakes burning and I saw the plume of smoke bellowing from underneath the vehicle. Within 30 minutes of it leaving the VMF, it got picked up and brought straight back. So now, being the only person in station qualified to drive it and the only person that's familiar with the parking break problem (this is the 3rd time in the past couple weeks this has happened, I am privileged to drive this 40 ton piece of shit back out to Pegasus...at 2300 hrs. I can't even begin to imagine what else can happen to the vehicles tonight. On top of that we have 2 engines without a working pump, 1 engine with a tank that has more holes than a spaghetti strainer, a nodwell that's leaking foam, a van that just likes to die whenever it feels like, an Renegade with a broken radio, and 2 ambulances that are running on their last legs (or wheels I guess). The best part is the season has only begun...

Election Day

It's near mid afternoon Wednesday here in McMurdo which means it's Tuesday evening back home. That means election day! Even this far away (9,186 miles to be exact courtesy of Google Earth) people are ecstatic over the results to come. As I talk to a good friend of mine, I can't help but think how relieved I am to not be anyone close to the Washington DC Metropolitan area at the moment, yet at the same time, I feel I'm missing out on a possible momentous occasion to celebrate not only as a town or region but as a country in general within the borders of the US...if that makes any sense. It does feel good to be down here though. For one, it feels good to say that I put forth the effort to cast an absentee ballot so that my vote can count whilst I reside on the 7th continent. It also feels good to be able to say I was in Antarctica during the most historical election in our history. Today, being my day off, will be spent keeping a close eye on the polls, celebrating the end of 8 years of embarrassment, celebrating a historic election however the outcome, and celebrating democracy in general. I'll try not to get too drunk though...I have to work tomorrow.

Station 2 - Tour 2

Today is the 2nd out of 3 possible consecutive shifts for myself out here at Station 2. Considering we're doing a full 24 hour shift out here versus opening the station at 1600 in the afternoon, I spent most of the day getting my crew and one of our new Lieutenants oriented to operations here at the ski field. Fire and Rescue and Crash/Rescue operations out here can prove to be pretty complex between the military's requirements of us, our staffing, our equipment (or lack there off), and what we're responsible for. To elaborate, the United States Air Force and the Air National Guard with the aircraft they have residing here at the airfield require 6 people minimum and a certain amount of foam available for use within 2 minutes which means there are 6 people at station 2 24/7 throughout the duration of the military's presence. With the tracked vehicles we have, the agent (Compressed Air Foam and thousands of pounds of Purple K dry powder), we can take care of most aircraft emergencies. As far as structural fires are concerned here out at the airfield, we have to use equipment designed for cold-weather aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) to the best of our (and the equipment's) ability. We're also responsible for emergency medical services (EMS) out here on the airfield and most of the snow and ice roads that lead out to here, Williams Ski Field, from McMurdo Station. Both responsibilities drop our staffing if not completely take it away from our primary reason for being out here which is ARFF. Luckily, our call volume out here rarely crests 20 for the entire Austral Summer season. Anyways, today was spent familiarizing the crew with our various vehicles, the runway and ramp layout, emergency hard stand locations, airfield operations and procedures, and the "ice town" layout. Now, being 2000 hrs, we sit back watch movies and enjoy each other. Stay safe out there...

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2007-2008

SPOT Satellite Messenger

I've said in the past that like any good blogger who's spends their fair share of time outdoors I would throw up a post on pieces of gear I own that impress me so I figured I'd start with the SPOT Satellite Messenger.





I dropped the $170 for this device because 1) it was a lot cheaper than most other Personal Locating Beacons (PLB) 2) It offered check-in, tracking, and help features on top of standard 911/rescue features (unlike any other PLB on the market) and 3) I spend so much time out in the wilds by myself that I figured it was good insurance for myself and that of the minds of my friends and parents. It proved fairly accurate (which I had hoped for the price I paid) but the most impressive thing I found about it was when I tried the Check In/I'm Ok feature of the device it actually captured a satellite down here which I believe to be out of it's coverage area.:



View Larger Map

So for $170 (plus $99 for the annual subscription and $7 for worldwide rescue insurance) I thought it was well worth the money for a little piece of mind that will cover your ass most of the world over...

Life Now and Post-Winter

Last year, the Antarctic Fire Department reached some amount of normalcy when we opened Station Two out at Williams Field. Honored to do so (I can't even tell if that's sarcasm or not) I led the first shift through the inaugural opening of Station 2 for the season. Last night saw the arrival of the first 4 LC-130 Hercules for the season with more to come in the following month. As typical of station 2, it was a quiet night. Today I spend most of it preparing my resume and sending emails.

To elaborate on my process of applying for wildland jobs, there are several things I'm looking to do for next year. For the most part, I loved working for Zion Helitack. Despite a few minor differences in the beginning, in the end, I felt a lot closer to my crewmmates and leaders to the point where I miss them now. I would be more than honored to go back next summer. I figured, however, it wouldn't hurt to apply to a few places that I figure I'd enjoy. A fellow McMurdo resident who also works as a wildland firefighter during the summer gave me the advice to apply to place I would want to work in the future and not necessarily next year so that if my name kept showing up on the "cert" of people that apply, I'd be more recognizable. Like I said in my post before, I was aiming pretty high as far as positions, crews, and my qualifications are concerned. So far, I've applied to:

Boise BLM Smokejumpers

Alaska BLM Smokejumpers

Arroyo Grande Helishots

Bridgeport Interagency Helitack

McCall Smokejumperes

Missoula Smokejumpers

Region 5 Smokejumpers

Redmond Smokejumpers

West Yellowstone Smokejumpers

North Cascade Smokejumpers

Grangeville Smokejumpers

Wenatchee Valley Rapellers

Gallatin Rappel Crew


As well as Rappel/Helitack Crews in...


Mountain View, WY

Challis, ID

Hailey, ID


I haven't really thought about or planned what I'd do if I actually get a job offer with these crews but I'll play that by ear if that ever happens. For now, I'm still planning on returning to Zion. I guess for now my tentative plan for the fall is to return to DC for Nursing and/or Paramedic school for a couple years. Will see if that happens too...

Skiing!

I've been here for almost a month and I finally got out to ski today! It felt great to get out of town for a few hours. I was hoping to get some downhill in after skinning for a couple miles but by the time I had made it to the bottom of the hill we were skiing to my feet were done (keep in mind I had just bought the boots I was wearing in August). I took off with a friend and co-worker Kelly Goodick and for the entire day we enjoyed a rare windless day. The temperature was definitely cold (sub-zero out on the ice shelf) but with no wind it and constant movement, it was easily bearable. Anyways, skiing today allowed me to release a lot of stress that had been built up since almost the first day since I had been back in a controlled way. Now if I can only find a hill...

Wildland Jobs: The Beginning

With November rearing it's lovely face in less than 45 minutes the time has begun to think about summer employment for the fire season. The only positions that really enticed to apply for where the Fairbanks, AK and the Boise, ID smokejumper positions. Now, I really don't want to hear the "You can do anything!" or "You'll so get the job!" from those of you that are optimistic no matter what because apply for the GS-5 position is aiming pretty high for me and what I'm qualified to do. I mean, this is beyond high...this is pretty much aiming out of the park. I figured, however, that at this stage in my life, anything can happen and it wouldn't hurt not to apply. Anyways, I learned from last years application bonanza how not to recreate those mistakes I made so this year should be much smoother. As of right now, I am undoubtedly returning to Zion Helitack but I am keeping my options open for those extraordinary positions and opportunities that may arise.

Stressful Day and a Welcome Weekend

The day's been pretty stressful. Between Myself and another Lieutenant in class (with me still running things while in class), anything that could go wrong, did. Between last minute cargo coming into the station, juggling more tasks than I thought possible for us, and apparatus crapping out on us, I was ready to pull what little hair I have out of my head. I'm glad it's 6 and, for the most part, the day is done. The chaos of the everyday operations of the place, however, does keep life interesting and exciting down here.

Anyways, I've been trying to get out to Castle Rock to ski but because of various logistical reasons haven't been able to get out that way. A fellow firefighter is willing and excited to go tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to get out and come up with photos. More opportunities to get out are starting to surface with the warming of summer. Between that and everything that has been happening in the firehouse, it's looking to be a good season...

First Skua!

I don't know about other days before today but today I saw the first skua of the season! That means that summer is right around the corner. I'll try to snag a photo of one shortly....

Antarctic Happenings

We've made it a week without injuring or sending home another firefighter. That, my friends, makes it a good week. It's been prettying interesting so far this past week. There's been a lot of activity at Pegasus Airfield recently. The last C-17 that had landed here on Monday had a malfunctioning computer that grounded it out at the airfield for a few days. Fortunately we weren't forced to spend the night out at the airfield to babysit it while parts were found and delivered to McMurdo from New Zealand. Today, a Kiwi P-3 Orion, the same 4 engine turbo-prop used in wildland firefighting as heavy air tankers, brought down the replacement computer for the brokedown C-17. The Bassler and the two Twin Otters operated by Kenn Borek Air, Ltd have been hanging out at Pegasus while Williams Field is in preparation to open at the end of this week. Monday saw the arrival of the Italian Passengeres heading over to their base in Terra Nova Bay. This week also marks the arrival of a South African C-130 That may be heading over to Davis Station, run by the Australians, for a Medevac almost 3 weeks in the making. As it was put to me by some of the more senior members in the McMurdo community, a major undertaking like this medevac for one person usually brings other bases/countries out of the woodwork who are looking for medical evacuations for their own people. So speaking along the terms of rumors, it looks like the Russians (after a fire that killed one person and severely burnt two others) are looking to medevac a couple people and maybe the Chinese but as of right now that's highly speculated considering the source of that information. It's amazing how many different countries we work with down here. Hopefully it will stay this interesting for the rest of the season considering it's only the beginning...

McMurdo - Friends and Family

I've been heinously slacking in the journal entry department and for that I apologize. Certainly a lot has happened since my last post on the 14th and it's had me on one of my regular emotional rollercoasters that both plague my life and describe and make up all that is me. Last week, one of our firefighters, a subordinate of mine and someone with whom I was becoming pretty good friends, was injured when his leg was run over by a matt-tracked vehicle. It was a hard time for a lot of us...especially thsoe that had worked with him over winfly. He was medevaced the next day and I believe by now he's bearing weight on it and is walking around. Within a week later we were medevacing another firefighter out for a serious illness. So far the more serious medevacs have been within the fire department which has taken a toll on us both mentall and administratively. On the positive side of things, I've definitely renewed my love for the place. Like I said before, when I first got here, I was inundated by a wave of relief. Not so much relief from traveling but more relief to be back home. I settled back into a normal routine of things. With Station 2 opening up on Tuesday and everyone getting up to speed and in their own routines, life is a lot less chaotic for a turn of, shockingly, organization and efficiency. I've made a lot of good friends and have rekindled old friendships. I've been thinking about my family a lot. This month mark's the one year anniversary of my uncle James Pittman passing away. This month is also my parents annivesary...the second one my mother (and I) have had to experience since he passed away in 2006. With the friends I've made here, I wouldn't have been able to stay sane and keep smiling.

Week One

It's been nearly a week since I've been back and I've been inundated with nothing but managerial tasks that have me catching up with the rest of the firefighters that have been here for a month or longer at a ridiculous rate. I'm slowly picking up where I left off as far as ideas and projects within the firehouse. At the same time, I'm taking on new responsibilities and forging new personal and professional relationships...both in and outside of the firehouse. This year has proved to be a hell of a lot warmer than last year. We've been averaging daily temperatures around 0 degrees plus or minus 5 degrees or so. I've been walking around in a normal ball cap and sometimes even a short sleeve T-Shirt. There seems to be a little more tension amongst people this year than last, however. Because of an apparently crappy win-fly season, there seems to be a lot of resentment from the winter-overs and winfly folks towards the summer employees...more so than last year. Hopefully this will all subside by the time Halloween comes around.

While I was away from Antarctica, I was constantly thinking about the place. I have certain "photos" engraved in my memory (some forever) but they don't compare to the real thing; actually seeing those images rather than imagining them in some lesser mental format.









It's not as cold as one would think by the looks of these pictures. With the proper clothing and acclimatization you'd be amazed what you're body can comfortably tolerate. Surprisingly I didn't take my first photo till about two days after I had gotten down here. I promise though I'll post up more as the season progresses. Everyone stay safe...

McMurdo Station

After 7 days in transit I finally made it to McMurdo. This time no shock from the cold air, no awe-inspiring moments that freeze you in place...just complete and utter relief. As I described it to a friend, not so much relief to be out of Christchurch but a relief from society. I also felt like I hadn't left the place. Riding back from Pegasus Airfield back into town just felt like I had been on an extended "boondoggle". The first thing I was able to notice through the frosted windows of the delta we were riding was the radar dome that sits above town. It was great familiar site. At first I didn't know why until I started to see the ice pier, the chain-link orca sculpture at the intersection of the transition road and the ice pier road, and the dorm rooms. Then it finally hit me, that warm feeling that brough ease to mind and smile to my face: the feeling of being home. For now, I'm pretty busy with trying to get squared away so more will come. Hell, I'm amazed I found the time to sit down in front of a computer...but I couldn't wait to share how great it feels to be back here at McMurdo Station.

Boomeranged

As figured, the second I get comfortable with the possibility of actually arriving in McMurdo we get boomeranged back to Christchurch. We made it to a point within 30 minutes of McMurdo when the decision was made to turn around. I didn't find out until a few hours after I got back to Christchurch that the weather down at Pegasus Field was actually condition 2 which explains the 9 hour joyride we got to experience this morning. So now, we sit and wait to try again for tomorrow. We're scheduled to fly out at 1000 tomorrow morning (which had been bumped up from 8) so hopefully I'll be eating dinner in Building 155 tomorrow evening. We'll see...

Crossed Fingers....still in NZ

Today is something like our 6th last day in Christchurch before we're suppose to fly out tomorrow morning. For some reason people are more optimistic over the possibility of the first flight actually making it down to McMurdo. I'll believe that when I that C-17 sitting on the ramp in front of the USAP hangar at the airport. It's been getting annoying, actually, listening to everyone ask the same questions and getting their hopes up only to realize that forces unbeknown to us keep delaying our flights. I can't bitch too much because I was one of those people up until 3 or 4 days ago when I came to the realization that I'll get down there when I get down there. Anyways, the first flight [supposedly] left at 0900 this morning. Us on the 2nd flight have to check out of our hotels by 2200 tonight to get ready to fly down at an absurd 0200 Wednesday morning. At first I was sorta dreading having an entire day with not much really to do after I unpack. I really just want to get to work to be honest. I figure I'll have plenty of time to work so I might as well enjoy the day. For now, I'm still in New Zealand. I'm not even going to pack until 2100 tonight so that I know for a fact that my flight will actually be leaving on time. In other words, my fingers are crossed.

Still in Christchurch...

Well, I was hoping to be sharing with you stories about reunions 9 months in the making and snow-swept scenery as well as absurd bitter cold...but I've spent the past 4 days in Christchurch and not in McMurdo like I was suppose be. As a matter of fact the first flight (I'm the second) hasn't even left Christchurch yet. Supposedly, there is an epic storm that keeps plaguing McMurdo and the skies in between us that hasn't allowed any of the prior attempts at getting down there to succeed. So now...we wait. Because of this situation, there are about 300 Americans running rampant around Christchurch running out of constructive things to do. Because of the back up, we keep filling up all of the hotels in town and we keep having to move hotels every couple of days. Between that and waking up early in the morning to receive our per diem money, this entire situation is becoming a huge pain in the ass. On the brighter side, I'm enjoying a paid vacation in Christchurch, NZ without having to pay for a single thing! Oh well...no ice stories yet but hopefully they will come....soon, I hope.

Weather Delays and Christchurch...

Our fears for the day were confirmed when we were informed that our flight for Thursday was canceled. As a matter of fact, the weather in McMurdo is so bad that the group of people slated to fly down on Tuesday were boomeranged back to Christchurch today (Wednesday) and it doesn't look like they'll be leaving tomorrow. Because of this situation, we all have to leave our hotels and await new reservations tomorrow when we pick up our per diem from the USAP Clothing Distribution Center. Some people see this as a blessing to receive more time to hang around New Zealand. Myself and a few others just want to get down there and start working.

Anyways, today was spent receiving my Extreme Cold Weather gear and walking around Christchurch. The city is a lot of fun. Friendly people, a DC-ish vibe (sorta like Georgetown or Adams Morgan minus the rich Abercrombie snobs, crime, and homeless people), and really clean, pedestrian friendly streets. The nights here have been spent at a couple of different bars around the area including a bar called Bailey's which boasts a lot of USAP paraphernalia and offers USAP Participant's discounted drinks. It even has slots from which I won $100 tonight. The one thing I truly value about being in another country is the opportunity to talk with other people about their opinions and views on the US. I talked a couple older Aussies about our current financial situation and the upcoming elections. Talking to people from other countries about our problems and hearing them talk in incredibly specific details about said issues only reinforces the fact that our world is entirely too small for our national issues not to affect other countries. Like my new found Australian friend said, "When Wall Street sneezes, the entire world catches a cold..."

I'm praying we get down to McMurdo soon. If there's anything I hate more about traveling, it's being in transit. Christchurch is a cool place but I can't wait to get home...even if it is a home I'll only be living in for 5 months...

Denver and New Zealand Finally!!!

It's weird thinking that after today I won't see the United States for almost 6 months. It's also a blessing in a way. I've always thought it was a relief getting away from the politics and other issues currently plaguing our country and reading up on them while I'm 9,000 miles away. I spent my evening after the first part of my orientation with my friend at a concert outside of Ft Collins, CO. I got back to my hotel around 4 AM on the day I had 3 hours of OSHA training and 20 hours of flying and waiting to get to New Zealand. Thank God I was able to use my time spent flying for sleeping. I was out before we left the ground in Denver and I woke up as we were on final for LAX. On our 13 hour trans-Pacific flight I slept for about 7 hours. We arrived at Auckland sometime around 0545 this morning. Despite what one would think, New Zealand Customs and Immigration is a pain in the ass to get through. Well, immigrations is pretty easy. You give them your passport and (for us Raytheon employees) your request for a 9 month visa to last you for your deployment, they stamp your passport, and you move on. The hard part is making it through Bio-security. Because I had been hiking through dirt with my hiking boots (as inquired on your New Zealand Customs Entry Card given to you on the flight) I had to step aside into the Bio Security inspection area, dig through my pack and show them that my boots were in fact clean irregardless of the fact that I had told them I washed them. A friend of mine actually had to have his boots washed by the inspectors before he was allowed to continue on. As if that wasn't a pain enough, Raytheon, in all of it's infinite wisdom, scheduled me for a flight from Auckland to Christchurch with an hour and 5 minutes to get my baggage, get through immigrations and customs, get through biosecurity, walk 15 minutes from the international terminal at Auckland International Aiport, wait in a line of 15 people to check in for my flight, wait in another line to pay for my excess baggage, and then make it through the security screening to get to the gate where my plane was waiting...literally waiting for me. They were calling my name over the intercom after they had made the final boarding call for my flight as I was walking up to the gate.

Now I'm in Christchurch and it feels good to put all of that behind me. The only thing I have left to do is pick up my cold weather gear tomorrow, organize my stuff so that I can fly with the alloted weigth I'm allowed and prepare myself for a 5 hour flight and 4 months down on the ice...

Last Night in VA - First Day of Orientation - Denver

My last night in the DC area was spent, surprisingly, at the firehouse. I left there and said my goodbyes early in the morning only to run around and take care of last minute errudns and pack...considering I hadn't truly "packed" at all over the pst week when I had been telling people I had. I've come to the conclusion that I've found a niche in life...at least for now. I managed to pack for 5-6 months away from home, fly across the country wih no hassle, and start a new (sorta) job without skipping a beat what so ever. It feel really good to be on my way to McMurdo. I ran into a lof of old friends from the last Austral Summer...a lot of whom I didn't expect to be returning. There are a lot of changes with Raytheon Polar Services Company and the United States Antarctic Program. I mean, a lot of changes. For the most part, I don't forsee them ruining my time spent down at McMurdo this season...oh well, 5 days to go before my deployment...

Friends

Today was spent visiting and hanging out friends. The afternoon was spent at a good friend of mine's house for his birthday. I met him at the firehouse and we've known each other since 2002. He's currently in Naval flight school so I definitely don't see him as much as I would other friends from the firehouse. At his party were several other really good mutual friends with whom it was awesome to be able to hang out with outside of the firehouse. Most importantly, I was able to hang out with one of my best friends, Christine Jefferies, who I gave a ride to said party. It was good to hang out with her just the two of us to talk about our problems and new found joys in our life. I feel I don't have as many people as I use to throughout the summer to talk to in that fashion. I left my friend's party in the evening to hang out with 2 of my best friends I've known since elementary school. There's nothing like people you've known since your childhood. You definitely share a special bond that you won't be able to recreate with people you meet after you turn 18. It was pretty cool to just sit and chill and be bored together...just like in elementary, middle, and high school. I even got a chance to talk to someone I use to be really good friends with in high school that lives around the corner from me. I sometimes forget how good I have it here at home with the friends I've made and kept....

Back at the Firehouse

I can't begin to tell you how great it feels to be back at structural firefighting. A season of wildland can be mentally draining sometimes. It's a near blessing to retreat to the comparatively simplicity of structural firefighting. I ran as the officer on engine 6 Wednesday night, my first night back:





I was surprised that our station officer actually put me up in the front seat being my first night back but I wasn't really worried that I had forgotten anything so I just did what I was told. Asides from an uneventful roll-over accident and listening to a triple shooting take place in a neighboring fire department's first due, it was a slow night. Tonight was no different. We haven't turned a wheel and I doubt we will.

It was good to see all the people I had been missing again. There are a lot of new faces around the firehouse but the old ones are still there as well. The one thing that sucks about going back to McMurdo is the fact that I'm leaving my family (both at home and at the firehouse) again for several months.

The Drive Home

I made it home early yesterday evening after 3 days of driving. I stopped in Denver (Well, Ft Collins, really) and crashed at a friends place after a leisurely drive from Cedar City then pushed it across the rest of the United States. Nebraska sucks ass. I'll just throw that out there. I'll never drive across the midwest on I-80 again. It didn't dawn on me how weird it felt to be back until at night when I could taste the humidity in the air again. It did feel good, however, to be back. The drive back was very uneventful. Monday I drove from Ft Collins to Peoria, IL:


View Larger Map

The next day, Peoria to home:


View Larger Map

Anyways, it's good to be back. Now, I count down the nine days till I leave home again for McMurdo....

Last Day at Work and Goodbyes

While at Bryce Canyon National Park working on the Puma Rx Burn, it was decided by my management that for the sake of simplicity regarding the logistics of getting me back to Cedar City from Bryce Canyon, I came back home on Thursday instead of Friday evening with the intention of handing my gear in Friday afternoon. After some saw work and a few other tasks, we had lunch at a decent restaurant instead of out of an MRE, I said my goodbyes to my crew mates that were staying there through the weekend and drove back home. Friday, I handed my gear in and took care of a lot of federal paperwork which made that day my official last day with Zion Helitack (at least for this season). I emailed the Board of Directors back at Ashburn to terminate my Leave of Absence on Tuesday considering I may do the crazy and run duty the night of the day I get back (I doubt my mother will be to happy with that). There are a lot of people I want to say goodbye to here but they're all out and about around the area and I doubt I'll see all of them. Asides from climbing in Cedar Canyon with my roommate, I didn't do a whole lot during these two days.

Never Forget....

For the past 7 years, I've constantly received a barrage of email and text forwards from friends and strangers "reminding" (or at least attempting to) me to never forget September 11, 2001. Coincidentally, none of them were firefighters. I can probably speak for every firefighter, EMT, police officer, and any other public safety official when I say that we don't need reminders. When you lose that many of your own brothers in an incident such as the planes crashing into the WTC towers, you'll never forget it. It's impossible. I thank those that do have the foresight to send me those forwards...I definitely haven't forgotten. For the rest of you, however, don't you forget either.

Wildflowers by Tom Petty

My roommate Karleen's fascination with this song has made listen to it to the point where I started actually hearing what was being sung. At this point in my life, the song makes a lot of sense to me and I'm feeling more and more that I can relate to what Tom's singing. Anyways...

Wildflowers
by Tom Petty

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free
Run away, find you a lover
Go away somewhere bright and new
I have seen no other
Who compares with you
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free
Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide
You deserve the deepest of cover
You belong in that home by and by
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worry
You belong somewhere you feel free
You belong somewhere you feel free

WMI WEMT Quotes...

As I sit here sans stitches on my day off trying to earn some CE credits towards my EMT certification, I can't help but reflect back upon the valuable lessons I learned whilst in Yosemite taking my Wilderness EMT class. These are actual quotes from students and instructors in my class courtesy of the fabulous Haley Bercot...



"In emergencies, as in life, you have two choices: spread calm or spread chaos."

"NEVER perform CPR on Frozen people. It could break their frozen little hearts."

"WMI does not recommend peeing on any wounds in any situations."

"Let's say the situation is extreme, hopeless, no help around . . . can we, ya know, cauterize wounds?"

"if you want to survive to the age of 25, be female . . . or surround yourself with females who make good decisions."

"There are two reasons why that patient's treatment would be delayed. First of all, his respiratory rate is under 30, he's got a radial pulse, and he's following verbal commands. Second of all, he's trapped underneath a steel beam and we're not going to be able to get to him any time soon anyway."

"Sometimes you get pregnant ladies who are nice and in good health; other times you get crack hos who didn't even know they were pregnant."
"Is crack ho a mecial term then?"

"9am in the morning after a night of heavy drinking is not the best time to ask for an anal massage."

"Yeah, I think having lots of sex and spending lots of time outdoors counts as self actualization."

"If I ever faint as a result of 'baring down' for a bowel movement, feel free to shoot me."

"oh ha ha that's humerus"

"What type of EMT do you want to be?"

Every State Line by Ani Difranco

I'm not going to go too deep into my reasoning for picking the lyrics of this particular song to post purely for the fact that I really don't like to talk about politics (as well as my opinions on current politics) in a public forum. Anyways, last night I happened to watch Spike Lee's When The Levees Broke which opened up several emotions and feelings that had subsided since Katrina. I didn't finish the entire film because I had to go to bed but I had been thinking about that movie most of the day. This morning, I stumbled across this Ani Difranco song that has stuck around in my head and emotions for most of the day. I know the song doesn't have a whole lot to do with Katrina but it does have something to do with a lot I think is wrong with our country...


Every State Line
by Ani Difranco


I got pulled over in west Texas
So they could look inside my car
He said are you an American citizen
I said
Yes sir
So far
They made sure I wasn't smuggling
Someone in from Mexico
Someone willing to settle for America
'Cause there's nowhere else to go

And every state line
There's a new set of laws
And every police man
Comes equipped with extended claws
There's a thousand shades of white
And a thousand shades of black
But the same rule always applies
Smile pretty, and watch your back

I broke down in Louisiana
And I had to thumb a ride
Got in the first car that pulled over
You can't be picky in the middle of the night
He said
Baby, do you like to fool around
Baby, do you like to be touched
I said
Maybe some other time
Fuck you very much

And every state line
There's a new set of laws
And every police man
Comes equipped with extended claws
There's a thousand shades of white
And a thousand shades of black
But the same rule always applies
Smile pretty, and watch your back

I'm in the middle of Alabama
They stare at me where ever I go
I don't think they like my haircut
I don't think they like my clothes
I can't wait to get back to New York City
Where at least when I walk down the street
Nobody ever hesitates to tell me exactly what they think of me

And every state line
There's a new set of laws
And every police man
Comes equipped with extended claws
There's a thousand shades of white
And a thousand shades of black
But the same rule always applies
Smile pretty, and watch your back

A little town in Pennsylvania
There was snow on the ground
A parked in an empty lot
Where there was no one else around
But I guess I was taking up too much space
As I was trying to get some sleep
'Cause an officer came by anyway
And told me I had to leave

And every state line
There's a new set of laws
And every police man
Comes equipped with extended claws
There's a thousand shades of white
And a thousand shades of black
But the same rule always applies

Ticketed!

As I found out last year, one of the most exciting things about the Raytheon deployment process is getting the email stating that your travel itinerary has been prepared. As I was sitting here working and hanging out at the St George Municipal Airport (we're helping out with the shuttle of some scientists to a remote field spot just inside the Grand Canyon's National Park Boundary), I got the email from Raytheon with my travel itinerary which states I leave home (from Regan Airport and not Dulles) on the 26th of this month. Usually, when you get to this point in the deployment process you're pretty much done. All one has to do now is, well, deploy. The issuance of your itinerary definitely brings one closure knowing that there exists a definite date as to when you leave your home. So now I know I have only 10 days to see family, friends, run at the firehouse, pack, take care of somethings for post-Antarctic travels, and get some climbing in before I head south. The deployment process is almost over for me. The hard parts out of the way but my travels (again) are just beginning...

The Future

10 days are left till I drive home. It dawned on me last night that next week was my final week here in Utah for the rest of the season. Throughout the day, people have asked me if I was excited to get home or if I was excited to be going back to Antarctica. I really wasn't until the barrage of questions which drove the concept about the Austral Summer being so close hit me.

I had been hounding the travel department at Raytheon regarding my ticketing for my travels over the past few days. It wasn't until yesterday that I learned that my request to Captain Pahl to bump my deployment to an earlier day had actually been answered and approved. So instead of leaving 4 October I'm leaving on 2 October which puts me leaving Dulles around the 26th or so...which means even less time at home, probably 10 or 9 days. Either way, I'm still pretty excited knowing that by the 30th of this month I'll be in Christchurch, NZ.

As I said several times, I'm excited to get home but I'm sorta sad I won't be spending as much time at home as I had hoped. I'm still planning on taking next fall, spring, and summer off to work on my EMT-Intermediate and possibly my Paramedic. So far, unless something better comes a long, I definitely plan on going back down to McMurdo during the 2010-2011 Austral Summer. Surprisingly, despite how much I enjoy traveling and changing the seasons up, I'm looking forward to the stability that next fall will bring. Oh well. It's all in the future right now...

Skiing and Days Off

Day 2 of possibly 4 off from work. I find myself with an urge to go skiing somewhere. It may just be doing research on skiing around Christchurch and my approaching deployment down to McMurdo that's got me excited for some skiing and skinning. I picked up my skis from the ski shop where I had my bindings installed. As cold as its been here in Cedar City, one can only think that there's snow somewhere around Utah at 10, 11, and 12,0000 ft elevation. I haven't been able to do as much as I wanted to this "weekend" on account of my finger. I can't climb nor play my guitar (big bummer). I can, however, hike, read, and surf the internet so the day(s) haven't been wasted too much. Oh well. 13 days left in Utah, 32 till I'm back in McMurdo

Getting Ready to Move On

As my day at work draws near its end, I can't help but think about the 15 days I have left in Utah. Two weeks from tomorrow I'll be driving home to Great Falls, VA. I've been thinking about home a lot the past few days. I've been thinking about how I miss my mother and how I miss Ashburn. The Ashburn Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department, of which I've been a member since December of 2002, has gone through a lot of heartship and a lot of change in the past 12 months...most of for which I've been either across the country or out of the country all together. I received an email today stating that there are talks of an engine heading down to assist with with Hurricane Gustav. I want nothing more than to be there along side whoever steps up to help staff that engine heading down but I won't be home in time. After the summer wildland fire season next year, I'm planning on taking 2 semesters off to work on my Paramedic. I'm starting to really long for next fall.

I'm waiting till I get home before I start counting down till my 4 Oct deployment date down to the ice because at 34 days it's still depressing knowing I have that long to wait before I'm back in the place I love so much. For now, I'm enjoying my last couple of weeks here as well as preparing for adventures and academics to come...

Lots of fire....for two days

Irregardless of my injury, I was called by my boss around 2030 and was told of a fire near Bryce Canyon National Park. The unfortunate thing about it was that I had to be at the air center at 0430...that's right, 4:30 in the AM. We began working on the Straight Wildfire Use Fire around 0600. The entire day was actually pretty exciting. A lot of backburning and a lot of line digging. I preferred the burning over the line digging (asides for other obvious reasons) because of my finger (I had to put a splint on because I could feel my stitches tugging when I moved my finger). Because of my disability I was primarily carrying a driptorch for most of the day setting back fires. Nightfall came and a lot of things went wrong with the incident's management. With another burn plan going on separate from ours, the sole trail that provided access (as well as egress back to our vehicles) for our entire division got burned over. While we hiked all the way around the fire (as night fell) we realized the gravity of our situation as we were walking amongst burning snags and unburned fuel below us: We managed to survive the night as well as a few hours in the morning only to head to Toquerville, UT for a running 20 acre fire. After a couple hour drive back towards Toquerville and Cedar City, we made it to the fire and were almost put to work immediately but we had to wait for a few retardant lines to be put in by the heavy tanker working our fire:




For 2 days of solid firefighting, these two fires have probably been the most fire I've seen all season...

Stitches

In the tradistion of everything that is me, I managed to start of the first houer of the firdt day of my tourr at work with a scrench (paert scewtdriver and paert wrench used on chainsaws) almost a 1/2 inch into my finger. Thinking I was ok, I managed to go 5 minutes beforw realizing the gravity of my situation and driving myself to the ER for stitches and a lovely workman's comp claim.




As minor as the injury was, I went back to work on what my doctor called "modified" duty not necessarily "light" duty. At first I didn't think it was a big of a problem than it turned out to be by the end of the day until I realized how much of a pain in the ass it was to type with a bandage that doubles the width of your finger. You'd be amazed how much you take advantage of having two index fingers...