Driving in New Zealand

Today I rented a car. I feel this urge to get out of the city. Eventually I want to drive into the mountains for some climbing so I figured renting a car was the only way to go. I managed to pick up a Subaru Legacy for 5 days for a little over $300 Kiwi which comes out to like $160 or so. Not a bad deal at all. Instead of driving to the mountains, I drove 20 minutes east to the beaches of New Brightong and hung out for a few hours. In the past 5 months, the only "beach" I got to stand on was that on the shores of the Ross Sea. It was nice to sea the sea without any ice in it as well as feel the sand underneath my toes.

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

It makes you almost want to move there!

Being my first introduction back into driving in society, renting a car in New Zealand probably wasn't the most brilliant idea I've ever had. For one, if it's designed for a car to fit through it in New Zealand, it's small. It's going to be small. It's never going to be big. Period. This I learned very fast as I pulled out of the service garage at the rental shop. I tried not to look at the agent that rented the car to me out of fear of whatever face he was making as I thugged my way out of the garage. Then came driving on the left side of the road. I've never done this...not even by accident back in the states. For about 30 minutes striaght, I said the word "left" over and over and over again praying to God I don't make the mistake of defaulting to sub-conscious American driving. At one point while driving from Christchurch to New Brighton, I saw something that triggered some inquisitive though as I was making a right hand turn and before I knew it, I was heading for the right hand lane with several on coming cars. Luckily I had plenty of room to steer back into my intended lane of travel and I escaped injury, damage, and angry gleems of disapprovals from the other drives. I got the hang of driving on the left side of the road right away. The one thing that took me days to get use to was walking to the right side of the car to get in the drivers seat. (As of writing on 26 Feb I still have the habit of walking to the left side). It feels good to drive again and not rely on public transportation. Maybe I can do a road trip while down here...

Christchurch Night Life

Today was spent sleeping....a lot! Back in McMurdo, even on my days off when it was possible to sleep in, something always managed to wake me up: my pager with some non-important asinine message, a forked loader emptying a dumpster, a fuel truck fueling a boiler tank, my roommate getting dressed, etc. It was nice being in a pitch black room, in a comfortable bed sleeping for 10 hours straight. I woke up, took an absurdly long shower (no water restrictions in New Zealand, no sir!), then took a walk around the city. Considering today is Friday, I took a shuttle to the Clothing Distribution Center near the airport to send some things back home and pick up my climbing gear I sent from the ice via Scott Base (thanks Shaz!). I met up with a lot of other people from the ice and we attempted to make plans for the night.

Not having a cell phone and not knowing where people were staying, that proved pretty difficult if not outright futile to stick to plans we made. I ended up running into a few firefighters that were calling it a night. Being only 11 PM I continued to push on since I had slept in till about noon today. Friday nights in Christchurch, surprisingly, are dead. The bars weren't as packed as they could be. I left one bar after the last of the firefighters I had been hanging out left to walk to another one that became a favorite of mine from last season.

While walking the semi-empty streets (it's now about 3 AM) I witnessed this one guy step (more like a alchol-induced stumble) into the street only to nearly get hit by a taxi cab. Luckily he missed because I grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him on to the sidewalk. In a heavy thickly-slurred Kiwi accent he exclaimed, "Mate, you saved me life!" Being modest and half-drunk myself I tried to debunk these outrageous claims so I could continue on my way. He grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me in the eye and said, "No, you seriously saved me life! I'm in your debt!" Before I could explain how I just kept him from getting hit by a cab driving 20 mph, he explained to me how he was a leader in a notorious New Zealand gang known as the Nomads, how people had tried to kill him in the past, blah, blah, blah, but how no one had ever tried to save his life before. After a story like that, I guess it wouldn't be too egotistical or selfish to agree with how much what I had did meant to him. At this point, two words that get hammered into firefighters minds on a regular basis started to float around in my head: Situation Awareness or SA. The man had a lot of tattoos...I meana lot...of the urban/gang persuasion as well. He also was ripped. The type of guy that could slap a person into unconsciousness. At that point, I also realized that as drunk and as muscular as he was I highly he doubt he'd notice or even remember if he were to get hit by a car. These thoughts, however, flew out the door when my SA came back as he pulled out his camera phone, took a picture of me, and started writing a dictionary long text message to someone. "I'm sending your picture to all me mates. You'll have safe passage no matter where you travel". Great, I'm now affiliated with a nationally (and maybe internationally) known gang. I prayed that he was too drunk to successfully send my picture to anyone. Anyways, he, too, was heading to the Stock Exchange (the bar I was heading to where the drink prices fluctuate much like...a stock exchange) and he insisted to by me a drink. Thinking it would be easier to get away from him if I just let him by me a drink or two, I obliged and walked with him. Once in the bar with a drink in front of me, he saw two lady friends of his and went to talk to them...after which I never saw him again. I hope he turns his life around somehow. He seemed like a good guy...when he wasn't doing...whatever gangs do in New Zealand. I finished my drink, talked to a local girl about Rugby and Cricket, then left to enjoy the sunrise over Christchurch before heading to sleep. It's amazing what happens when you stay up past 3 AM....

Off the ice!

Our flight was amazing! I didn't take pictures because I, for some reason, packed my camera in my checked luggage. We flew north on a modified Airbus 319 courtesy of the Australian Antarctic division. The lucky few of us that managed to get on board first got to sit in Business/1st class for free! Considering that was my first time in such a seat of luxuy (no pun intended) I was pretty stoked. We set down in Christchurch early in the evening, picked up our luggage, turned in our Extreme Cold-Weather Gear, recieved our hotel reservations, and headed to our respective hotels. Like probably 60% of the redeploying USAP participants had done, I requested the Hotel So which is right in the middle of the City Center of Christchurch. I was one of the luckily few that actually got it and for good reason: The rooms are very high tech and efficient. They're also extremely small: 10 ft by 10 ft to be exact:

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

From New Zealand 2009

The rooms are cheap here and the internet is free....not to mention they have a bar in the lobby and a huge lounge. A lot of us from the fire department as well as a good friend of mine that works in Environmental, Health, and Safety for RPSC, hung out well into the early morning until we staggered back to our hotels. Regardless of how drunk or rowdy we were, we couldn't help but take everything thrown at us in: the humidity, the smells, the sights and sounds, the night sky...it felt realy good to be back.

Last Night in McMurdo

Our last night was one of bonding. As cliche as that sounds, we spent the night drinking (surprisingly), playing a highly agressive and vulgar game of chess (actually several games), and just hanging out. The morning (for myself at least) was spent working whilst a C-17 was on the ground on-loading departing summer-overs like myself. I was given the afternoon to take care of my room inspection and other personal matters which would prepare me for the outside world to come. There was much tension in the fire department because of feelings between certain officers and firefighters. It felt good knowing that I wouldn't be around that for much longer. Tomorrow will bring our introduction back into civilization, vacations, and the preparations for our lives' next journeys to come. Tonight, I probably won't be able to sleep because of the excitement....

The daughter is crawling!!!

I just got word from my daughter's mother (well an email that I got a couple days ago but didn't realize till now) that my daughter just crawled for the first time! Words can't express how proud I am of her! I'm trying to figure out how to transfer the video to my blog so hopefully that will come soon!

Antarctic Sunset

The beauty of this place (I'm talking Antarctica...not necessarily McMurdo) never ceases to amaze me. And just when I think I've seen everything this side of the continent has to offer me, I get pleasantly surprised by the majesty of God's creation.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

I took these around 0200 this morning. The official sunset (the first sunset of the season that is) for this season is on the 23rd. For now, we're blessed with a show of alpen glow mountains and awe-inspiring light shows from the midnight sun. Considering I have less than 5 days left here, it makes me miss the place already...

7 days left...

A week from now, I'll be leaving McMurdo. The only difference this year being that I know I won't be coming back next season (at least for the next year or two). I'm sorta bummed about that. The Antarctic Fire Department hired on a new chief this year after our last one quit. He seems like a great guy and an amazing leader and I really want to be a part of the department next year to see where he takes it. Alas, school (for the first time in a few years) comes first. Anyways, the South Pole is due to close in a couple days for the winter which means Williams Field will be closing soon as well. Usually, at this time of year, every department is scrambling to get ready for the winter before their staff is whittled to nothing. The fire department is no different. We have an entire station's worth of stuff to bring in from Williams Field once it closes. We have several vehicles that need to be driven into town, winterized, and parked (somewhere) outside of station 1. We have our own personal matters to deal with as well. Having our baggage palletized for transport as cargo by the military (also known down here as "Bag Drag"). We have room inspections, town "debts" to take care of (library books, DVDs, gear rentals, etc). With a week to do it in, everyone is busy. Another thing that this time of year is notorious for is the partying that happens. Usually there are a couple dumb-asses out of the population that end up doing something so grotesquely stupid in the name of end-of-season partying that they end up getting reprimanded (or even fired) and the rest of us have to listen to our supervisors or station management belittle us on how we should be more "morally responsible". It's already happened and I'm sure that's not the last time.

The closer and closer we get to our redeployment dates, the more I think about my daughter, my family, and my friends. I'm ready for the spring and summer. I'm ready to see the people I've been missing for 5 months. I'm ready to move on for the time being...r

Relaxing by the Ross Sea

Immediately after shift change this morning, I went to my room to pack the rest of the stuff I needed to ship northwards (to Christchurch). The last day for packaged mail from McMurdo to head north was Jan 31st. Luckily, with the help of my good Kiwi friend, Shaz, I was able to take advantage of Scott Base's 16 Feb deadline to "Guard Mail" a couple boxes north. Now that everything I needed shipped out of here has in fact been shipped, I can breath a lot easier.

After lunch, I decided to join a bunch of people from my shift on a walk out to Hut Point to look for seals that have been seen playing in the area. While hanging out on the point it self, we realized that the annual ice had melted enough to the point where there was an actual "beach" making up a shoreline on the Ross Sea! We decided to walk down to the shore and wait for our flippered friend to show his face. Soon after we made it down to the shore, we completely forgot about the seal and just took in the scenery.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

A lot of thoughts and feelings started going through my head while standing there on the shore. For one, a feeling of calmness flowed over me. I forgot about all of the trivial things in my life and at work and just stared at the mountains across the sea. Nothing that screamed "Raytheon" or "USAP", just nature at it's finest. After a little bit, it really soaked into me that I was in Antarctica and I was actually standing at the edge of the Ross Sea! Weird, I know, considering this is 4 months into my second season at McMurdo and something like this had to tell me I'm actually in Antarctica. Another thing that really made me smile was the salty smell of the sea once I got closer to the shore. For months, I've been devoid of smells outside when I'm trying to take in the environment. It was really refreshing to smell that smell as the wind blew it towards us. On top of all that, we did, in fact, get to see the one seal we kept coming to visit. I wish I had photos of him but I was with people who did. He would hang out by one of the ice drifts for a little bit then dive back under the water for 20 minutes or so and play. We also saw sea spiders, starfish, sea urchins, and small jelly-fish (keep in mind in near freezing water) all in the water and tidal pools by the shore. It's hard for me to explain unless you all were there next to me seeing and experiencing what I was at the time. Just simply being there killed days if not weeks of stress out of my body. Today was probably one of my favorite days of the season, if not the year...

End of Season Rant

It's Sunday 08 Feb and I have 11 days left in Antarctica. I'm ready to get back to civilization for a little while. A lot of the things we take for granted I'm ready to experience again: colors, smells, humidity, grass, plants, mammals with legs, stars, night! It's been too long without them. I've also been ready to get away from the clutches in which Raytheon as me (as well as everyone else) ensnared. For 5 months I've stared at mountains across the Ross Sea (as well as on Ross Island itself), I've read climbing, skiing, and snorkeling magazines, I've talked to friends that are enjoying their lives throughout the world doing the things that they (and I) love, and I've surfed the internet into the far reaches of third-world countries websites just to get a taste of adventure somewhere else. My friend, Heather is traveling around SE asia doing nothing but climbing, yoga on the beach, and living the good life. I, at one point, was seriously thinking about rendezvousing somewhere to climb for a week or so with her but now with my financial situation I won't be able to. My friend Sitka whom I'm visiting in Australia in a few weeks is dying for me to take her out climbing. My friend Dan is already climbing in Zion which has me aching to hit up some of the big walls there. While flying over the Transantarctic Mountains, I was looking at every ridge, peak, and glacier for anything that resembled a line that could be climbed or skied. My mind is crazy right now with things I'd like to do but there only so much time I can do it in this year and I'm still under two weeks away from getting out of this place.

The season is definitely winding down. It's getting colder and colder every day. The sun is dancing towards the horizon practicing for it's winter retreat. Today, I think the sun actually made it behind the Royal Society range. The first sunset of the year is only a couple weeks away. I'm ready for a break from traveling. I'm ready to start (and finish) school. At the same time, I can't wait to be able to come back down here again. Antarctica is definitely on the business end of a love/hate relationship. I was excited at the beginning of the season and (no surprise) I'm now ready to get the hell out of here. Oh well, 11 days to go...

South Pole!

While on shift the other day, I got the word that I was being offered a trip to the South Pole for an hour or so (better known down here as a "Sleigh Ride") in the morning (Saturday 07 Feb). Despite the sudden warning and not much time to prepare I was pretty stoked! I had said for a while that I had no desire to do any type of discernible tour down there but going down for a day or so would be pretty neat. So in the later part of the evening, I drove our ambulance over to my room to pick up some extra cold weather gear in preparation for the next day.

In the morning, I left shift early for the MCC (Movement Control Center) to board our shuttle heading out to Williams Field. For the first time since I've been down here (both this year and last), I went to Williams Field as a passenger and not an employee working out there. We went straight from our shuttle van to board the plane (an LC-130). Within 30 minutes of grabbing our seats, we where in the air heading south. Now for the past two years, I could always see the mainland of Antarctica from a far (the Royal Society Range for instance) but I had never flown over it let a lone set foot on it. Our flight path took us straight over the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) which took my breath away. My seat in the bell of the 130 was right in front of one of the emergency exits that had a view port in the door it self so I didn't have to move much to get a good view:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Eventually our small group got to go up on the flight deck one at a time to get an even better view of the TAM:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Our flight from McMurdo was just shy of 3 hours. When we started our decent we were told to be prepared for the temperature outside (-40s) and not to overly exert ourselves considering the pole sits at an altitude of about 10,000 feet (note: because of the density of the atmosphere at the pole in comparison to equitorial atmospheres, the pole's "10,000" feet of elevation actually "feels" like 13 or 14,000 feet elevation). Anyways, when we touched down on the ground we were rushed pretty quickly considering we only had about 30 to 45 minutes to spare on the ground. One of my friends and a firefighter at the pole grabbed me from the rest of the group and [literallly] ran me from the flight line to the poles, and from the poles throughout the rest of the base.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

The cerimonial South Pole is the big ball surrounded by all of the flags of the 16? original nations that signed the Antarctic Treaty. About 100 feet away was the actually Geographical South Pole. That's right, 90 degrees S Latitude. I wish I had more time than what was alloted for that trip because I really wanted to soak in the fact that I was literally standing at the bottom of the world. I sorta wish it were night so I could see the entire sky spin around me. I went straight from the pole(s) into the elevated station:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

The dome that at one point housed the old station and it's buildings is still used to day for storage and the occasional party or two (so I hear). I really had wanted to take a peak inside that thing but I didn't have the time to do so:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

The inside of the station was very impressive. I wish I had more photos but the batteries in my camera died. Myself and my friend rushed through the first and second floors of the station, the ice tunnels that carry water and sewage away from the station (into what I haven't the slightest damned idea), and to the post office so I could get my passport stamped. While nearing the end of my impromptu tour, I got the word that my chariot awaited to fly me back to McMurdo.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Hoping that I'd get another chance to visit the pole in the future, I passed opportunities for photos to get back on the plane to get home in time for dinner. Our flight back with a much hoped for tail wind took only 2 hours. I landed on the ground and realize that I had just been to the South Pole but I hadn't really taken it in yet. Hopefully next time, I'll be able to spend more than 30 minutes there.

Ship Off-Load Operations

Vessel off-load is a pain in the ass for everyone. Work centers are juggling their normal day to day operations as well as having to provide staffing for specific tasks that they excel at. A lot of the town is "fenced" off to keep pedestrian traffic out for safety reasons. Anywhere that you can fit a 20 or 40 foot cargo container has been commandeered for just that reason. The town is busy and, at times, chaotic. Luckily this only goes on for no more than 10 days or so.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Let me explain Vessel Off/on-load operations down here a little bit more. Most everything down here (food, heavy equipment, vehicles, machines, etc) arrives down here by a boat. A container ship to be exact. So far for the past several years, it's been the American Tern that has provided this critical support to the United States Antarctic Program. Because this is such a serious matter (supply 80% to 90% of cargo and equipment down here), the base goes through a lot of temporary changes for close to two weeks. One, the area right behind building 155 and in front of most of the dorms on base, the same area that is used as the primary shuttle pick-up and drop-off site, gets blocked off to the public entirely so it can be used as a container staging area. Two, the United States Naval Cargo Handling and Port Group (NAVCHAPS) provides over 70 personnel to help off-load cargo from the ship. Three, the Kiwi Army provides close to 30 personnel to assist with cargo off-load by driving the tractor-trailers that transport the containers from the pier, to their staging point, and, eventually, to their final "resting place" till they get loaded back on in later seasons. The later two changes are pretty major in the fact that all those personnel arriving at McMurdo are a huge impact on the base. Tensions usually get high as there are run-ins between towns folk, Kiwi Army, and the US Navy. Anyways, three, the bars get shut down and all liquor sales on base cease. This includes beer and wine in the store. Now this doesn't preclude anyone from drinking, they just can't buy liquor while ship off load is going on. All in all, it's a pretty tense and chaotic week or so while the ship is in town. Last year, it took 10 days to off-load about 600 containers and on-load 400 or so. Hopefully it will take about the same time, if not less.

A Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday. Before you wish me happy birthday let me make it known that I really don't like to celebrate my birthday. Reasons being are for a time when I feel like disclosing them. The point is, I really despise celebrating my birthday. I went out of my way to ensure that no one found out when my birthday was. A friend of mine [my ex-girlfriend] down here knows my birthday pretty well because it was the day we first met last season. She swore up and down that she would not let me go my birthday without everyone knowing and she was pretty right. I had done a good job until she told one person within the fire department. Consequently, the entire department found out from that person and, to my surprise, I didn't find this out till about 2 days before hand. At first, I was pretty upset with my friend. Really upset to be honest. I seriously felt like I had been betrayed. Near the end of the day, I traded those feelings in for those of honor because of the friends I made within the department.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

I walked into our training room to find my name sprawled across the whiteout board. At first I was slightly annoyed but this soon gave way when I was told they were cooking me a cake in the evening. I really didn't want them too but my friends Justin and Kelly made me an upside down pineapple cake with strawberries and whip cream on top. What was even more spectacular than the cake was the nachos with cheese and salsa made from fresh vegetables from our greenhouse! Although this may not sound that spectacular to those of you who have never lived or worked in Antarctica this is a pretty big deal considering we get fresh food once ever few months. Salsa, one of my favorites, is something you don't see among those "freshies" we Antarcticans have come to call such food. The day felt really good in the end when I realized how great of friends these people were. The next day brought more birthday cheer because we were now celebrating my birthday back in the states (because of our time difference (18 hours ahead of EST) it was 1 Feb in McMurdo and 31 Jan back home. This time since we were off-duty, we actually went to the bar to have a few drinks. I've said it before, one of the primary reasons I work down here is the friendships you forge irregardless of how far you live from the people you work with. The friends I've made over the past 5 months are the best presents I can ever receive.

My Birthday Eve and Navchaps

It's Friday, 30 January. Tomorrow I turn 24 years old. As my friend, Justin puts it, sometime tomorrow I'll be making my 24th revolution around the sun. Kinda interesting when you think about it that way. To be honest, I'm not looking forward to my birthday. I don't really want to talk about it but I just don't like celebrating my birthday. Today is also the arrival day for the US Navy Cargo Handling and Port [NAVCHAP] Battalion #1 out of Williamsburg, VA. The Navchaps are a feared group of sailors whose sole job every summer down here is to unload the container vessel that comes down and provides the town 80% of it's resources and to load the vessel back up with crap that is to be thrown away, sold or "retroed", or just "dissapeared". Horror stories have been floating around for years about Navchaps breaking into rooms and stealing things from poor, unsuspecting McMurdoans weeks before they redeploy back into the real world. Rumors go around that these men and women are the fuck-ups of the Navy: cast outs on their last leg before court-martial or dishonorable discharge. A lot of them are harden human beings. Several have gang tattoos. Having a healthy distrust in rumors and social stereotyping, as well as being severely drunk, I decided to buddy up and talk to several of them. Not a single one of them came off as seasoned Antarctic veterans had described in their wanton stories of horror and despair. A lot of them were interested in where I was from and what I did down here. One of the officers' father had worked down here as a firefighter back in the 70's! Some how, probably from one of the other firefighters I was with, they found out that my birthday was 24 hours in the coming and decided to take me back to the part of building 155 they'd be occupying throughout the duration of vessel offload. I continued to drink and party with them till midrats [midnight rations] time. After meeting several new and interesting people as well as filling my stomach, I stumbled the 500 yds back to my room to sleep and get ready for work...

Royal Society Range and Vessel Operations

The one thing I love about McMurdo Station it the look out to the west over the Royal Society Range in the evening.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Because of our proximity to the [South] pole the sun down here does more of a traverse of the sky versus a more conventional rising and setting as seen closer to equatorial regions of the Earth. Hence, our 24 hour sunlight and our picture show out to the west. I'll attempt to put up some better pictures. Every day shortly before I go to bed, I take a look out to the west. No matter how many times I look through the season the Royal Society never looks the same. The glaciers trickling down their mountains, the snow-covered peaks thrusting through the clouds, the alpen glow that lasts for more than 7 hours, it's like a page out of some auto-biographical Reinhold Messner story. No matter how stressful my day is though, there isn't a place in McMurdo or Williams Field where I can't get away from my world and look 70 miles across the Ross Sea to those beautiful mountains over yonder. In me they invoke intrigue and inner tranquility. They invoke an urge to climb to see McMurdo from their view point. With their glaciers shining bright, basking in the midnight sun, it's as if God himself is shining down upon the Royal Societies beckoning those who gaze upon his creations of beauty and ruggedness. Well, that calling is definitely strong...

The refueling tanker is gone and for a week or so there is a little peace. The Oden left to break up the channel more in preparation for the American Tern inbound with several hundred cargo containers full of stuff to let us survive life down here till next February and container vessel. After vessel off load, it's smooth sailing till I redeploy.

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Note the Royal Society Range in the background!

The Refueling Vessel Arrives!

The USNS Lawrence H. Gianella has arrived at McMurdo to supply us with a year's worth of fuel. To be honest it's quite impressive how fuel down here works. Everything down here runs off of two types of fuel: JP-8 and MOGAS aka Motor Gasoline. JP-8 is one of the standard jet fuels used to day by aircraft worldwide. JP-8, like in the US military, down here is used in anything that has a diesel engine which, for McMurdo, is about 85% of the vehicles. MOGAS is used in a few vehicles such as light pick up trucks or 4-stroke small engines and the such. JP-8 is also used as the fuel for all of aircraft down here. McMurdo Station has the ability to store millions of gallons of JP-8 and MOGAS as you can see here on the left hand side of the picture (look for the grey and silver fuel tanks along the road that goes through the pass):

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

All of that fuel comes in from a fuel tanker once a year. Hence, the purpose of the Gianella being in town:

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

From Antarctica - Austral Summer 2008 - 2009

Amazingly, the tanker offload only takes 40 hours of continuous operation (40 hours to offload several million gallons of fuel!). The Oden hangs around the entire time waiting to break ice as it needs to. More pics to come!

Reality and Hose Testing

Regardless of how "relative" one can characterize the temperature down here, every once in a while, mother nature reminds you of the stark, bitter reality that you are, in fact, in Antarctica. It's obvious that the temps are on the decline as we move into fall and, eventually, winter. Today my legs got pretty cold for being outside only for a few hours. Insignificant to you, yes. To me, I know it's pretty damn cold out when my legs are getting cold. As of right now, the temps are probably in the high teens (nothing compared to the states right now) yet after a few weeks of summer and "warm" temps, the teens feel like that initial slap fall gives you to remind you of the inevitable cold of winter.

Today we worked on the annual chore and pain-in-the-ass that is hose testing. Every fire department that adheres to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)is required to pressure test all of the hose they posses in their department. Luckily, we only have a couple miles of hose here to test. Ashburn, on the other hand, has several miles of hose to test which usually takes a month or so to complete. I can tell you all now that there is no bigger bane to a firefighter's existence than testing hose. Thank God this shit is almost over.

I now work towards packing up some stuff to send back home and to send to Christchurch to await for my arrival. I recently booked a flight from Christchurch to Sydney, Australia for less than $130 which I'm pretty stoked about. I've never been to Australia. Even though I'm only looking to spend a week there, it still should be a lot of fun....

Inaguration Day

I'm pretty upset that I won't be able to make the inauguration next week. I can't even imagine how packed the city is going to be. The chaos of traffic, parking, hotels, millions of people, etc, and I want to be there for it! All of the fire departments in the metropolitan area are preparing, too, should something bad happen on a mass casualty scale. I know it's morbid but it's something in this day and age that we all need to think about. Loudoun County is going as far as to have all of the companies announce their staffing for each shifts, put extra Mass Casualty Incident equipment on their units, and a few other tasks to prepare. Again, being in my nature as a firefighter, I wish I were there for that. More importantly, I want to be there for that moment when Barack addresses not only our country but our world (which is a concept foreign to our country that what we do impacts a majority of the human population on this planet...but that's for another post all together). I want to be able to tell my daughter that I was there for that moment. I want to be able to say I was a part of that particular moment in history. Oh well, at least I get to watch it.

One month...

I have something like 30 days left before I redeploy from McMurdo Station. At this point, I'm definitely counting down the days till I can get out of here. Last year was the same way at this time of year. I was ready to get the hell out of Antarctica but at the same time I couldn't wait to apply for next season which I was able to do while still down here last year. Unfortunately, I won't be able to come back down next season because of school. I definitely plan on returning in the future though. It's hard to explain unless you've spent an [enjoyable] season down here. It attaches to you. No matter how far away you get. I'll be 9,000 miles away from this place when I get back home and I'll still feel it beckoning me.

In order to salvage my "vacation", a word very foreign to me, I've decided to try to make it to one of the Pacific Islands, maybe the Cook Islands even. It's pretty far fetched but I'm definitely going to look into it when I get into Christchurch. Whether I do it or not, I'll just be glad to get away from McMurdo for a while. I really can't wait to get back home to see my family either. Oh well, one month...

The Future and Working in Antarctica

This time of the Austral Summer season everyone is thinking about the future. Despite our benefits we are, in fact, temporary seasonal employees (well, most of us). I've had to drastically change my travel plans in order to save money for work out west. As of now, I have my heart set on Zion, again, Grand Canyon doing Search and Rescue, or Alaska. I'm looking at the first two a lot more because it allows me to travel and visit friends and, more importantly, my daughter. I haven't heard anything yet as far as job offers in those areas (I've received one from the United States Forest Service as an Engine Operator in Wyoming) so I haven't made any concrete plans yet.

I'm constantly thinking about school in the Fall. For some reason, I've been second guessing my decisions a lot. I know this is something I want to do but will I really have the time in life to balance this and all the other things I want to do in life. I dunno. I'm going to go through it but I'm afraid I may my Nursing license lapse in favor for other jobs. We'll see.

For my shift at least, tension within the fire department is a little high. The Antarctic Fire Department is unique in the fact that it is managed by a coporate entity (Raytheon) versus a governmental entity (i.e. a County Board of Directors or a City Mayor's Office). For all of us, this is hard to adjust to. Corporate Goals versus Government goals are quite different. Without going into detail, a lot of things we try to get done in the way(s) we only know how are met with resistance with the upper echelon of the department and Raytheon. Because of that, the stress felt where the upper management meets the lower management is felt all the way down the chain to the lowest firefighter. On the positive side of all of that, that stress felt by all as brought us closer together....a lot closer than I/we were with anyone last year. I can say that I have yet to spend an evening alone this season because of what a tight knit group we have become as a fire department and not just separate A and B shifts.

I tell a lot of people I come down here for the people I meet more than the job I work. The fire department is fun but in the end it sometimes turns out to be another job with job-like hassles. This year and last, I've made some really good friends...hopefully friends for life. I've made friends from all over the country as well as other countries. In the end, we can say that we all share a common bond of surviving working in Antarctica which a vast majority of the world cannot.

New Year's Day

Being able to say I celebrated New Year's in Antarctica is pretty damn cool. I spent the night (and morning) with hundreds of drunk scientist and support workers (me being one of them) on the coldest, windiest, driest continent in the world. There is a building here on base known as hut 10 (each building here on base along with a name(s) has a designated number which is used quited often to identify it...hut 10, for some reason unknown to me, does not have a name so it's just referred by it's number) that is used as a party place which you can rent out no more than 1 day/night a month if you wanted to.







The firehouse managed to snag Hut 10, a 1-story rambler...the only residential looking building on base, for both Christmas and New Year's eve. After going to midrats (midnight rations...the night shift "lunch") I headed over there to finish partying up the night with all of the off-duty firefighters and as well as almost the entire 109th New York Air National Guard Airwing. I left at about 3 knowing we had shift change at 1100 the next day. A very fun night indeed.

With the holidays behind me, I'm in a better mood. It's the time of year where everyone's talking about inbound vessels, redeployment back into civilization, and summer jobs (Borealis Summer). Today is spent recuperating from the night before. The entire shift is in one state or another of being hungover. It's probably even safe to say that the entire town is feeling the same way too. As a matter of fact, the town, before I left to head out to Williams Field was dead...almost deserted. Everyone, I assume, was probably recuperating as well. Oh well. Happy New Year's.