Which did come first?

So these are the things that become intellectual conversation down here... Who delivers the different size animals? Is it baby storks that deliver the baby mice and then as they get older they are allowed to move up to deliver the baby puppies and elephants? Hey wait... the bigger question is who delivers baby storks??? Then again, what about baby fish? What we came up with is that pelicans are the contract workers for the storks to deliver newborn creatures of the deep. It can't really be anything else, can it?

It's been a good day or two down here. Yesterday turned out to be much busier than originally planned. After returning from Ice town in the morning I helped clean up the remnants of the Halloween Party to which I was unable to attend. It was quite the party and I can see how it's the "Party of the Year." The costumes were amazing and it sounds like everyone had a great time. After that I partook in Sunday Brunch, bought a case (24 cans-the only way they sold it) of Diet Coke for $14 which I only bought because there has been none here for months and I've been dying for something bubbly, toured Crary Lab and played in the tropical 28 degree F water of the aquarium touch tank, watched "Like Water for Chocolate" in the coffee house, went to Burger Bar for some tasty fried French fries and tots (even whipped up a little fry-sauce deliciousness), and then to the Sunday night lecture which was a father/son team of artists. There work was pretty interesting and fun to see views of places on the continent that I'll not get to visit.

Work has been busy with the usual activities and chores and another hour of drive time and pumping practice for my D/O class. I continue to get positive feedback on how I'm doing with the practical parts of the class so that feels good. I hope it continues! Eeck! I enjoyed the first Diet Coke I've had in a month and it was as delicious as I'd expected. Then again, for the price it should have been. I also had training in dispatch this afternoon so I'm guessing that more of us will start helping out in dispatch during meals and such. I got another box today of my books, videos and games so that was a pick-me-up too. Oh, and I can't forget, my first piece of flat mail with pictures of my adorable nieces and nephew. Thanks Suz! Now its down time and that often leads to goofing off. As Emily says, "Horseplay leads to hospital stay." (Of course with all the sarcasm that should be expected.) There are a couple of guys that are just too funny and I do always appreciate the laugh!

I've been in much better spirits the last few days and actually feeling downright cheery! Maybe having a roommate helps, maybe I've become more accustomed to it here, and then again, maybe it was a simple shift in attitude and perspective. Whatever it was, I'm happy to be out of my funk and enjoying this tremendous experience for what it is.

Now that it's nearly bedtime, I just realized that it was Halloween today. Other than the less than tasty looking black jello with marshmallows in the chow line in the galley I'd have forgotten altogether. Huh, whadya know. Not a single candy corn in sight...anywhere on the entire continent.

Packages!!!

I think I love K days. I ended up passing on all of the entertainment options last night and simply spending the evening in bed reading. I slept in until 10:00 am and feel more rested today than I have in weeks. I then wandered over to check my email and to my delight I had email and to my utter surprise I had packages!!! Alas, I had to wait until after lunch when the mail room and post office opened. I had three of the boxes that I'd mailed to myself and as I expected, it was a little like Christmas. I now have toiletries, my down comforter, the rest of my uniform, and other important things such as batteries for my camera and snacks. I am such a happy girl.
After quickly tearing through my boxes I went off to help prepare the gym for the big Halloween party tomorrow night. I'll be working out on the sea ice so no party for me. I do plan to go help take it all down Sunday morning in the hopes that there may be a boondoggle in it for those who help.
Now I'm at D/O class doing fire pump theory. Yahoo. Not much planned for tonight other than a little cardio workout at the Acey Deucy and watching a DVD in my room. Have I mentioned how nice it is to be able to talk again? It's nice...

Hooray for K-Day!

Finally, I'm on my first K (Kelly) day after nearly a month here. It has been nice to have a little more down time and the opportunity to sleep in. Opportunity I say because it hasn't happened yet, maybe in the morning. I'm still living with laryngitis and it's now nearing the end of day four with it. I think I may be getting little snippets of sound back, but with that is coming a sore throat. I sure hope it's not "The Crud" coming down on me!

Yesterday was a mellow day with the highlight being a fun hike up to the top of Ob Hill. It was a gorgeous day and clear incredibly far away. Diane , Andre', Emily and I decided to hit that hike before she left. Emily and I've talked about doing it several times but either she's been sick or the weather on our off days was yucky. The trail up is steepish and all volcanic scree and/or snow. At the top is the cross in memory of the Scott expedition who perished. (I know nothing about the history here, I should read up on it while I'm here.) It was gorgeous to see the 360 degree views of the mountains, McMurdo, Scott Base and the ice. We took a million pictures and had a great time laughing, gazing and just being downright goofy. On the way down we did the obligatory butt-slide down the snow slope. It was a hoot and a pretty decent slope! So much fun that we had to climb back up and do it again. Behind me you can see White Island to the left and Black Island to the right. Between the two is Minna Bluff which is nearly straight South. This is also where the storms blow in from. Behind Diane you can see the steam coming from the tip of Mt. Erebus which is an active volcano. Mt Erebus is to the North. It's amazing how you can look at the same vista and see a different view each and every time!

Last night one of our A-shift firefighters, Brian Spigel, had a party at Hut-10 for his birthday and another firefighter. It also ended up being a going away party for Emily. There was a good turn out of people and we had a great time playing games, listening to music, laughing and talking (me only whispering) and watching the clouds and colors change with the sun. It really is a gorgeous place with spectacular vistas. Although it's just ice and dirt there really are a million different colors throughout each day.

I spent this morning with Emily watching a movie in my room. The big news is that my good, good friend Emily left today to head home back to Colorado. She's been sick for the last week and a half with the flu and possible allergies to the volcanic dust that is so prolific here and has a family emergency at home. I'm so sad to see her go but understand that this is where she needs to be right now. She is one of the funniest, most happy and fun people I've ever met and she can liven up any situation with a witty comment or smile. She's a great firefighter and will be missed by all down here in MacTown. She's headed back home to Dillon, CO so we'll still be able to stay close once I return home. Anyhow I just got back from the runway to see her off. My Captain was awesome and agreed to drive me out there to say goodbye and it was a little bit teary for all of us. Travel safely Em!

I think I'll skip American Night at Scott Base for this week. Tonight I may go wander through the haunted house or I may watch the movie in the coffee house. Then again, I may just be a potato and go to bed early. Who can tell???

Can you hear me now?

Sorry for the long delay on postings. It's been a bit crazy here and I've been waiting to get some pictures onto my computer.

So since the last post my days have been a little more interesting. Saturday was chores and intentions of a good long nap. The nap never happened but I did get a little rest time with a DVD on my laptop. I was invited with some friends to go over to Scott Base's summer beach party. I had thrown a sundress into my luggage but neglected to get a pair of sandals in there. Oops! I ended up wearing the sundress over my swimsuit and my tennis shoes which I ditched at the front door. It was pretty fun and just downright crazy to think about a bunch of nutty folks wearing summer beach wear in the Antarctic windy snow!

The next day at work was Sunday which is meant to be a down day. I was scheduled out at Station Two on the Ice runway. We got out there, did truck checks and then tried to have breakfast at the Ice town galley. There was nothing really out there to eat but two day old pasta and meat sauce. What made it more tortuous was that Sunday is brunch day and we were missing Belgian waffles, fresh fruit, real eggs and the like. After a few phone calls and about an hour and a half we got them to bring us out some waffle mix and whole eggs. It took a good amount of scrounging and creativity but we were able to manage some waffles and cheesy scrambled eggs out of it. After breakfast (now lunchtime) the weather was starting to get pretty windy and so we hunkered in for a long game of risk. As the day went on the storm moved in like a lion bringing super strong winds and lots of blowing snow. The weather turned from condition 3 (the best) to condition 2 and then right to a closed runway road and then condition 1 (the worst which means total lockdown) while we were scrounging cheese toast for dinner. The storm was banging something around on the roof of the galley and it sounded like there were large slabs of plywood flying about and banging into things above us. Because of the condition 1 we knew there would be no fresh dinner brought out for us and just wanted to get back to the station before it was horrendous. (FYI: All of these pictures are from the morning after as my camera batteries didn't want to play during the big storm.) So we bundled back up in our gear and headed back in the blizzard to the station with a bathroom stop on the way. The bathroom is a separate building as is the galley and everything else out there. The wind was so strong that it nearly blew me away, literally. Coming around the corner it caught me and my Lt. had to grab me from behind with both hands and push forward with me just to get back to the firehouse. Once back in we strung the life line outside between the firehouse and bathroom so that we wouldn't get lost and not find our way back. The blizzard was such that you couldn't always see even the building next door. The firehouse had a dome on the roof that you can crawl up in and see the views out. Diane and I spent lots of time watching this incredible storm and feeling awed by the power of a category 1 storm. We dug in for the night and woke up the next morning to condition 3 but surrounded by a totally different landscape. I woke up at 7:00 am and had to rush out to the bathroom. On my way back I had to dig out the life line that had been buried in several places by the drifts. It required a shovel so it was a two-trip job. From there I began the four and a half hour job of shoveling out the doorways to buildings and digging out all five of the ARFF rigs. This was no ordinary shoveling job. In some spots the snow was taller than me. Antarctica produces the driest snow on the planet indeed. It has no moisture in it and the strong winds compress it into a solid styrofoam like snow. Although not particularly heavy, it's very compacted. It was an exhausting job indeed. Once the airfield manager allowed them to drive one vehicle out on the road to the runway which was still closed we were finally relieved by B-shift at lunchtime on Monday.

After a little lunch and hot tea to try to warm up my completely chilled body, I took a pain pill for my already really sore back and meant to have a nap. As is typical for me, the nap never happened and I spent the time trying to get some pictures of my camera before the two sets of batteries I have died (The rest are in my boxes.) Another bonus is that that day, Monday, I became silent...literally. My voice just simply decided to take a sabbatical. I think it left for a warmer place. It's always something! Emily came over and we watched a movie after dinner while I waited for my new roommate to arrive. I wasn't thrilled about having one, but have been really lucky to be solo for the last 20 days. Becky from Vermont finally arrived about 11:00 pm as I was just trying to get to sleep. This is her second year down and she seemed nice in the two minutes that I chatted with her before falling asleep. Thank you Mr. Valium...

Now it's Tuesday and I'm back at work again. We did our station chores and truck checks this morning and then spent several hours doing driving time. I did my first hour of driving the engine today around town. It was fun to drive, but you have to pass by the same buildings numerous times to get a full hour in since the town is so small. It was good to drive around and do some area familiarization at the same time. All of the buildings in town are identified by a number and are in no order whatsoever. There are no street names and so you just have to memorize the building locations and number to know where to go. Afterwards my Lt. told me that I had done a really good job so that felt good. Even better was that I backed into the bay in one shot! Yay for me! Then came D/O class again and now it's down time for the evening. It's been a titch rough today what with a super miserable back and no voice whatsoever, but a good one anyhow.

Tomorrow I start my first three-day off as my Kelly day is Thursday. I'm planning on lots of R&R and hope that my voice decides to return for more time in the Antarctic. It's so frustrating not being able to talk to anyone and have them hear what I'm trying to say.
Another flight last night with lots of package and flat mail, but alas, still none for me. Grrrr, I'm starting to get really grouchy about the lack of my stuff. I sure do hope it comes soon. Finally receiving some mail and/or packages would be a huge mood lifter for me.

Fire Fire!!!

Over the last few days everything seems to have just blurred together into one big blob. Work, do laundry, eat, sleep....

A couple of days ago we did have a structure fire on my shift (A shift). Now let me clarify structure. Most back yard sheds are larger that this particular structure. It was a generator building out at Willy Field that it appears hadn't been properly dewinterized. Basically there was still plastic and duct tape covering the opening of the fresh air intake (I think). Not much of a structure, but there were open flames that got into the wall spaces. It was mostly put out by extinguishers by the time my ARFF vehicle, Red 5, arrived on scene. It was a speedy response, say about 50 minutes. The story goes something like this. "Station One stand by for tones... Respond to Williams Field for a generator fire. Smoke is coming through the roof of the building." Willy field is a packed snow runway that isn't yet open. Everyone kind of froze for a second because it's not a typical response for this time of year. We had to grab a crew of six, drive out to the Sea Ice runway in the van, Scat 1, to get into the two ARFF vehicles, Red 2 & 5, drive back through McMurdo town, past Scott Base, out onto the ice transition and out to Willy Field. The Captain and another FF had gone to Scott Base to pick up smoke machine and got the tone right there. They headed straight out and were there long before the rest of us, but all they had in their truck was an extinguisher. When I arrived I stepped out of the truck and thought, "Oh yeah, that smells like fire!" At that time is was still smoldering and in a few spots reigniting. We pulled the rubber hose from Red 5 to foam a couple of the areas and as the foam was switched on the hose broke under the tank right where it connects. I'm up on a ladder waiting for agent and I turn around to see a huge pool of foam gushing out into the rear of and underneath Red 5. Needless to say, I was able to get a small amount of the foam that was in the line without pressure to tinkle on the smoldering areas. After that we tore into walls doing salvage and checking for unseen extension. It was sort of a cluster, but still great fun to get a little dirty and play in the ash.

From there we came back for a quick ten minute lunch and then out to the Sea Ice runway for a standby. As Red 5 was now out of service we had to use one of the ancient beasts, Red 4. This thing is such a POS and I'm certain is one of the original Navy apparatus out here. It was terrible. I know that I've complained about being cold down here but this was the worst ever. There are hardly any seals left around the doors and the wind and cold blow through it like broth through a sieve. I was so far beyond misery and had passed the shivering stage of hypothermia. Never have I been so cold. Andre who was sitting in front of me thought is would be great fun to take pictures while he was getting in and out of the truck and rolling down windows to take pictures of the outdoors. I truly thought I might kill him.

The next morning we had a grease fire in the galley, but got cancelled before entering the building. Two fires in one day. Yeehaw!

It was American night at Scott Base again on Thursday (every Thursday) so we went en mass to hang with the Kiwi's for the evening. Good fun was had by all and I got a super large t-shirt (the only size they had) from the New Zealand Fire Service.

Yesterday was pretty much all busy work at the firehouse. After the ARFF vehicle had supposedly been repaired we had to go to the poo plant (aka waste water treatment plant) to pick up thirty buckets of foam to refill the tank. In searching for the foam we came across the "cake room" where the clean poo all ends up. No smell whatsoever and big bins with little sprouts growing out of the poo. Odd indeed. It seemed that the Caff system on the vehicle was still leaking and in trying to figure out what the trouble was had several major spills and explosive sprays of AFFF to clean up each time. Very soapy like and not the easiest thing to mop up. It turns out that there is one specific way that all the valves and things have to be turned on and off in a certain order. There was no one down here who knew the inner workings of this vehicle as it's very different than the other ARFF vehicles. After two days, lots of analysis and phone calls to the manufacturer and I'd guess about 15 buckets of foam down the drain they seem to have it figured out.

I also took it upon myself to try to detox SCAT 1 which has reeked of poo. Not real poo, but Petroseal (animal protein foam) that got spilled outside on the ground and then tracked into the van. Emily joined me in scrubbing by hand the entire interior; floors and all, with bleach and water. It was pretty wretched but we survived and came out of it with a little Chlorine poisoning and a much better smelling Scat. Chief was super happy as it's primarily her Chief-mobile. Poo free is good.

Today has been like most of the others. Go to the mall, do laundry, computer work, and such. Emily has really sick with the flu and I'm not feeling super great myself. I hope that it passes me by soon and I start to have a little more energy again. Have I mentioned how heavy the air is here at sea level? Even though it does have more oxygen it's much more work to breathe. Then again, it might have something to do with the wind too. It's weird.

Nothin much

Nothing too much going on the last couple of days. Yesterday was my first full day off with no dive tending and I took it really mellow. After shift change, I worked out, had brunch, went to the mall (okay, just the store, but we like to call it the mall) and did some Christmas shopping, watched the movie, "Tommy Boy" in the coffee house, had dinner, went to a science lecture about the Icebergs and their effects on the Ross Island. One of them (B15) that calved off in 2003 is larger than the state of Connecticut, and could provide every person on the planet with a ten pound bag of ice cubes every day for the seventy five years. And that is just one iceberg! Do we really have a drought? It sounds more like a dispersion problem to me. Not so much of a global warming issue down here on the south end of the earth! After the lecture we played pool for a while and then I was off to bed.

This morning at work we did a mutual aid drill with the folks at Scott Base. That was pretty fun and interesting to see how they operate. Their fire brigade doesn't wear fire boots (just whatever shoes they have on) and their coats are woolen. Funny, eh? Inspections, very detailed inventory checks and cleaning each compartment on the engines, tanker and ambulances and now we are doing area familiarization training. I've yet to have a day at work that allows us to just sit and chill. So busy we are. Cleaning and a couple of calls this afternoon. These are my days.
The other day we were the handyman and furniture moving crew. We took off the panels on the chapel bell tower and moved seven armoire closets from the second floor of one building to the second floor of another building. Yes, we are community helpers indeed!

I miss you all and would sure love to be hearing from all of you at home about what's going on there. Oh, and if someone could have a Venti nonfat one-pump pumpkin spice latte for me?!

Great Scott!

The last couple of days have been okay. Work on Thursday was really busy again and so cold riding backwards in the open cab of the tanker. My hands, face and feet get so icy that they never really unfreeze the whole shift. Our plane landing was really lengthy as they had two small structures to remove after the eight pallets of cargo. It took forever to get the structures off the plane. It was kind of entertaining though watching them try over and over to make a building that was way too big to remove fit out the way they were trying. After many tries they had it free and after five and a half hours we were finally back at the firehouse at 10:30pm.

This morning (Friday) I ran home, changed into my ECW and went out to dive tend again. Today we went out to Cape Evans and surrounding area. It was about an hour and a half ride in the little "PistonBully" and more bumpy than the back of a school bus. Once we arrived at Cape Evans we checked out Scott's Hut and area and oogled the first seal that we've seen. We were able to get pretty close (about 30ft) to him as he just layed around on the ice. He didn't seemed phased at all by our presence. Emily and I both managed to fall knee deep through the snow out on the sea ice and land flat on our bellies. Quite graceful, but not too unusual. When the sea ice gets old and crappy, it gets the Antarctic version of potholes where the salt is leached out of the ice and leaves pockets of fresh water. I have to say it was a bit scary as it was a huge wide and long strip of snow on the ice and I wasn't sure how far down I'd go!
Before departing to the dive site we had to stop for a quick pee on the sea ice. Crude perhaps, but really the only place to go in the middle of nowhere.
--Side note-- The cold does a funny thing to your body. Pretty much anytime I go outside I feel like I have to go to the bathroom. They say that the cold tightens up your kidneys and causes this reaction in a mild state of hypothermia. I'm sure I'm living constantly in this state!
Here are a few of the pictures that the divers took down below. This was a spot where the land mass, a cliff wall falling into the sea, meets the glacier. Gorgeous pictures of the sea life and a seal. Diver Rob said the seal was swimming past the hole but he never popped up for us. Apparently, if you didn't enter and exit to an icy white environment you'd think you were in a tropical diving locale. They all agree it's the best spot that any of them have ever dived.

Once home again, welcomed some new firefighter friends, had dinner, had a good much needed stress-relieving workout, did laundry and then watched a movie in bed. It was a rough day, but I made it through mostly unscathed.

Hut, hut...

Another day of dive tending; early, short, and uneventful. Back just in time for some lunch. No breakfast on work mornings so I was getting the grumbly tummy. Lucky day for me as it was grilled cheese lunch day! Yahoo! There is an unwritten requirement for tomato soup to accompany the grilled cheese but alas, it was foul soup smelling a lot like dog food. Blech.

Took a walk out Hut Point to see Scott's Storage Hut and Vince's Cross. The hut was pretty cool. Weird to think that it's been there as a monument for so long. The views from Hut Point were awesome, but the wind was bitterly cold and I'm pretty sure that even hours later my face is still frozen. I can see how Vince might have died out there! ;-)
A game of dodge ball came next and now I'm off for a good long cardio workout. After dinner I think I may go play "Settle in to your room" bingo. There are some pretty sweet prizes for the taking! It may also be a good night for a coffee house visit or a quiet night in with a movie. Who knows what the evening will bring.