Chapter closes

Last night we had a station photograph taken with the last sections of the Dome still standing. The rest of the structure had already been removed, including digging out the footings. I guess what's strange is that it isn't all that strange not having that big metal bubble here. Perhaps seeing it before and after discretely, without all the weeks of intermediate deconstruction, would be more jarring.

The BBC was back here yesterday, including Sir David Attenborough, to do more filming for Frozen Planet. They even used their nifty steady-cam mount on a Twin Otter to do overflight shots of the station. It's too bad this TV series doesn't come out forever.

More winterovers have arrived on-station, including a couple guys that were here over winter 2008 like I was. It's interesting to see them all cleaned up now, versus how shaggy/unshorn they were when I last saw them. I wish I could still do the whole long hair and beard thing, but alas... Other folks have already taken off on R&R in New Zealand, and I hope they're all having a lovely time. Given my druthers, I'd be there surfing, but I'm not. That's OK, though, I'm where I need to be.

"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."
~Robert E. Howard, The Tower of the Elephant
“Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; While others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.”
~Herodotus