Friday, December 18, 2009

The Lowdown

Wednesday we had an airdrop of supplies from a C-17. I had to work, and didn't go out to watch the drop, but did get to see the "fly-by" (almost) of the station that the plane performed afterward.

The top of the Dome has begun to be "deconstructed":

A group of parachutists visiting Pole before doing their drop, which will be far away from the station itself. The last time skydiving was done here it did not got so well. I'll let you research that on your own. All the icy menhir have been distributed beside the station so folks can play sculptor with them.

We had a power outage a few days ago, which was a beast to recover my projects from. That day of work ended up lasting from 5:30 AM to 10:15 PM by the time it was all said and done. Last night I managed to really relax and had a great time just hanging out with friends playing video games and watching rugby. What a difference a day makes!

I'll have an abundant supply of uninterrupted days here at Pole over the coming 11 months, since I just notified my employer I will not be accepting R&R in New Zealand next month. It is not what I wanted to do, but it was what that robotic side of my personality and conscience compelled me to do. It's one big, mean robot with nasty pincher claws, my conscience is, so it's usually best to just do as it says, despite the cost.

“Be still my heart; thou hast known worse than this.”
~Homer

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
~Gandhi

2 comments:

Neal said...

Aw man, going to NZ is one of the few perks of deploying to that side of the continent!

EthanG said...

So, the grass is greener in west Antarctica? I'll get to visit NZ again, but will just have to wait until redeployment next November.

You doing Palmer again, or going to take a break from it?