Pressure Ridges

So, the ice near Scott base has developed whats called pressure ridges. At first, the ice looks like gentle rolling rolling hills. When the pressure become intense, however, it is forced up, creating jagged ice scultures.






Weddell Seal. Totally disintered in interacting with humans. When they become frustrated with your presence, they will flap their flippers at you until you go away. The expectation is that you will leave before they do. After all, they are enjoying an afternoon of sunbathing.



Scott Base in the background


Observation Hill: on the other side is McMurdo station


Mt. Erebus: 12,000 foot peak, the southernmost active volcano in the world

MudMurdo

The temperatures are now reaching into the 30's and it no longer looks, or feels like I'm in Antarctica. McMurdo has been transformed from an icy dessert into a muddy mess. If you don't watch your step, that seemingly solid icy ground will reveal a foot deep underground muddy stream!

Turkey day Pics!

Stats

9 days AP

186 lbs.

783 days to go

1 Liter Black Velvet

1 first cousin once removed on the way :)

1 DA (Mandy) on her way home :(

1 bed, calling my name, yearning for me, and wrapping her tentacles around my brain

Happy Turkey Day!

Hello Family,
I miss you all so much on this, the greatest of all holidays! Have a great Turkey day!

Thought you might be interested in the menu at McMurdo for this year's Thanksgiving festivities:
1,200 lbs. of Turkey
300 lbs. of Roast Beast
2,000 dinner rolls
60 pumpkin pies
40 pecan pies
40 apple pies
1,000 pieces pumpkin cheesecake
1,000 pieces chocolate cake
4 gals. of real whipped cream
500 lbs. of mashed potatoes
300 lbs. of root vegetables
200 lbs. of Asparagus
75 lbs. of lettuce
80 lbs. of cucumbers
50 lbs. of cherry tomatoes
16 gals. of salad dressing
100 lbs. of cheese
350 lbs. of shrimp for cocktail

Sleepless in McMurdo

Its another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody, I got some money cause I just got paid. Oh how I wish I had someone to talk to, I'm in an awful way.

This is Major Tom to ground control, I'm stepping through the door, and I'm floating in a most peculiar way, and the stars look very different today, for here, am I sitting in a tin can, far above the world, planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do!

I've been thinking about my doorbell, when you gonna ring it, when you gonna ring it? I've been thinking about my doorbell, when you gonna ring it, when you gonna ring it?

mutilated lips give a kiss on the wrist of the wormlike tips of tentacles expanding in my mind, I'm fine, accepting only fesh brine, you can get another drop of this, yeah, you wish.

You take your car to work, I'll take my board, and when you're out of fuel, I'm still afloat, all along the undertow is strengthening it's hold, I never thought it would come to this, now I can never go home.

Billie Jean Is Not My Lover, She's Just A Girl Who Claims That I Am The One, But The Kid Is Not My Son, Billie Jean Is Not My Lover, She's Just A Girl Who Claims That I Am The One, But The Kid Is Not My Son

Congratulations Holly!

Oh my god! Mommy Holly! I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I wish I were there to give you a great big hug!

Stats

5'11", 185.5 lbs. I have lost 1/2 pound since I got here.

3 days AP

789 days to go! hmmm, thats a long time ):

ahhh, there's that mug that you miss so much!

What gorgeous blue eyes you have, my pretty! Need some fiber?



C'mon, baby, I know you're tired from blogging, but WAKE UP!

A Room with a View!

So,
when I got here, I was assigned to a romm with quite possibly the three least fun people in McMurdo: Off work at 5:30pm, in bed reading or watching a movie on their laptop by 7:00pm, and asleep by 8:30pm. First order of business was to move the couch and TV out of the room in order to ensure as little social contact as possible. They all walled off their respective corners of the room with spare bedding and our sparse and awkward conversations were always through a bedsheet. Needless to say, I found a new room ASAP. Since then, two other roommates have from that original have left: One because of snoring and another becasue he flew home to be with his girlfriend (who recently informed him that she was pregnant).
Anyways, I'm in a new room now, which is quite possibly the most AMAZING room in all of McMurdo. I live with two guys, Brandt and Bear, who have been coming down for several years, and have slowly accumulated ALL the ingredients for an all out batchelor pad: Projector and movie screen, surround sound speakers, prodigious DVD collection, video games and gaming systems, track lighting on a fader, a snug and cozy couch, and, last but not least, a fully stocked bar. If the nuclear holocaust hits the civilized world, no worries, I'm chilling in my dorm room, watching kung fu movies and paying halo for the next ten years.

2 days AP and I feel the GLORY!

Only 790 days to go!

Well, I just stumbled out of the bar, and to my constant surprise, it was still light out. Every time I leave the bar, I feel like I have either left the bar way too early or way too late.

Between my rotating work and sleep schedule and the constant daylight, the demarkation of time into days, weeks, and months has become arbitrary. I've decided to adopt my own calender. It is no longer Tuesday. It is no longer November. It is not even the year of our Lord 2006. It is simply 2 days AP. I arrived in Antarctica 34 days BP, and I will leave Antarctica sometime between 93 days AP and 103 days AP. All I can say is that living in the time AP is a whole different world. The dark days of BP are over: the ice is shimmering and the skua's are singing. But I wonder, 'If a man dies BP, has he really been to Antarctica, has he really been given a chance at salvation?'

It was back to work today after my glorious, yes glorious in EVERY sense of the word, two days off.

The DA's are starting a waste reduction program at McMurdo. We weigh food waste at the end of each meal and then set goals for reducing our waste. Every time you leave the galley with a clean plate, you get a gold star!

I'm also planning a decompression meeting for all the burners down here. Our ideas are pretty big! . . . we'll see how many of them Uncle Ray shoots down.

Marie, I got your letter yesterday! My first mail in Antarctica! Thank you SOOOOOOO much. Its really nice to hear form home when you feel so far away. Good luck hunting! hopefully you have already shot bambi in the heart, and ripped through her soft baby flesh with your insatiable canines! Save me some jerky!

hmmm, is that black dot in the distance moving?

McMurdo is infested with cute, fuzzy, waddling creatures this year. Apprently its worse than ever. Not sure what they are, so I attatched some pictures. Unfortunately, I was not present for the photographing of these specific creatures, but i saw one just like them, albeit a bit smaller, this morning on a ski to Scott Base!

Safety Meeting!

Well, I'm on break right now, but I have a safety meeting in a few minutes. Oh, glorious safety meetings!
As I walk in to the main building, there is a giant sign towering over the main entrance that states, in red block letters set to a bright yellow background, "Safety is no accident". Man, I hope someone was paid really well to come up that clever pearl of wisdom. In fact, I know someone was paid really well, becasue the money has to go somewhere, and its certainly not going into my paycheck!
Anyways, off to my safety meeting. Maybe we'll get a half hour presentation on ergonomic mopping, or if we're lucky, they'll teach us 'team lifting' skills!

Overdue Update

Friends and Family!
I miss you so much! I've been gone a month, and it feels like I've been away so long. News of Yuker games and Mercer trips is making me homesick.
Speaking of news . . . how bout them dems, eh! The house AND the Senate! As Napolean Dynamite would say, "vote for me and all your wildest dreams will come true". Well, I'm a believer. Going into the election, I had grown quite cynical, with the view that, even if the democrates won congress, they lacked the vision, unity, and leadership to get anything done. Now I'm more hopeful. At the least, the executive branch will be faced with a balance, and Iraq will be encountered from a more realistic viewpoint.
The Democratic party now appears to be a mixed bag, with pro gun and pro lifers getting elected. Dare I say, the possibility for bipartisanship? Oh, silly naive Evan. Grow up. Hope and politics do not mix.
Bummed to see Russ isn't running for prez. Now 1/4 of my t-shirts make no sense. Furthermore, my christmas present for Marie has become null and void. Marie, do you still want it?
As far as my sanity, I'm hanging in there. I'm still in transition period. So many new people is overwhelming, intense. Add to that sleep deprivation, 24 hour sunlight, 60 hours of salvation per week, three roommates in box, and the most desolate environment on earth, and you've got a recipe for a pretty intense state of mind.
But things are going well. You'll notice i posted some pics of me volunteering for the rive team and taking a trip on a Delta to One of Scott's huts near Cape Evans. So I'm getting out as much as I can, which is essential.
The toughest part of the job is hearing about the awesome things people are doing and seeing, and having to grit my teeth and act happy for them as I remain chained to the galley.
I've met quite a few burning man veterans on the ice. On Monday, we're having whats called a decompression meeting. Burners have these meetings all throughout the world all year long to keep the spirit alive in their indiviudal communities. I'm really excited to meet all the antartic burners, and reminisce. Can't wait for Green Man '07!
Talk to y'all soon!
my electronic love, sent the world round

Suggestions, Please!

Well, I haven't gone insane, yet. And I had such high hopes! I mean, I've got almost a month of ice time now, and few signs of delusion, hallucination, depression, or mania, little if any psychosis, and absolutley no breaks from reality. I beginning to wonder, if I haven't driven myself to insanity yet, what more do I have to do . . . Any suggestions?

Dive Tending, Arrival Point

These pics are from when I volunteered to be a dive tender for the dive team. Basically, 'dive tending' involves hauling incredibly heavy gear, dressing the diver, helping lift the diver out of the water after they come back to the surface, and undressing the diver. Some pics are mine, some pics were taken by the diver, Rob Robbins. Something tells me you will be able to distinguish the two.

Cape Evans Pictures