Beginning of the End

A Hercules flight with my science replacement and a bunch of other folks got to Pole last night, and carried about half the winter crew back out with it. So, now I'm actually able to start turning the reins of my science job over to the new guy, which is a bit of a relief. I am currently scheduled for one more week at Pole, and hopefully the weather here and at McMurdo will be decent come that time. Today's flight is currently on delay due to some mechanical issue with the airplane.

With all the new folks arriving from the diseased pit of nastiness that is McMurdo Station, I'm trying to wash my hands and do everything I can to avoid getting sick on the way out. I really don't want my first days of freedom to be detracted from by any illness, let alone once I wing off to my first big destination on the voyage home.

With people showing back up in droves, I find it interesting to reflect upon how long and autonomous a winter is in this job of mine. One really must have the inherent programming to do things right on their own, and to keep doing them right day in and day out. Without societal pressures of having others supervising your work on-site, the wrong personality can end up letting too many responsibilities slide. I wish I could figure out some bellwether exam, maybe something like the Voight-Kampff test in Blade Runner, to predict whether somebody would be able to keep doing the right things (i.e. have honor) throughout an isolated mission/season/voyage like wintering here at Pole. It certainly would come in handy.

“...it takes many thousands of years of advanced technological development for a society to reduce honor to an abstract moral truism devoid of real meaning.”
~Luke Skywalker, “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye”