Flying solo

Well, Monday the first major bunch of winterovers finally departed, and with them was my predecessor, Jason. The week working solo has been just fine, but I'm definitely still getting myself up to speed and acquainted with the ins and outs of the Cusp Tech position. I think probably the best tool I have here is the calendar in MS Outlook, because without it I think keeping track of every little report, email, and sundry duty would be a lot harder.

The Team 2 fire brigade work is also consuming a lot of my time, as I try to get myself in a position to have constructive training sessions/meetings for other T2 members that have just as much training as I do. I foresee this position probably taking up as much time as my science work, particularly here in the early stages when our team (and the other 3 emergency response teams) has to do the bulk of its learning about how to do its job safely and in coordination with all the other teams and groups on station. It's quite a time investment for a volunteer position.

Last week I did two calibrations for one of our instruments, which is on top of the ARO. It's definitely a bit different doing that job in -90F wind chill than in the warmer climes of Southern California (pic 1 below). Sunday we had our science support "family photo", with the outgoing and incoming science techs and Al (pic 2 below). One of the last Cusp Techy things Jason and I did was to change out a tube in one of the photometers mounted on the roof of the station. It was actually a lot of fun getting to do some hands-on work, and the view from on top of the station was pretty sweet (pic 3 below).

Juggling act

Well, the last few days have had me taking over most of the responsibility for the Cusp Tech position. I'm feeling more confident about the daily activities, but am still apprehensive about troubleshooting when something major breaks. Weather allowing, Jason will be out of here tomorrow, and I'll be on my own until this time next year. The daily checks for the Aurora Tech position are straightforward, so I'm not worried about that either.

There was a lot of activity in the last several days for the Fire Brigade (a.k.a. Team 2), of which I'm now the designated lead. We had the gear turn-in for most of the outgoing fire fighters, and got gear for those new Team 2 people that have already arrived. Yesterday we had our turnover drill, which was intended to be a chance for the new team to do their thing responding to a fire alarm while the experienced folks from the previous season are there to observe and critique. I was really worried about how it would go, and pretty much didn't sleep Friday night. But, when the time came, our team and the others came together and did a pretty good job for as inexperienced as we are. As we were sitting in the galley sharing comments about how the drill had gone the fire alarm went off again for real. We geared back up and once the location of the problem was found, responded once again. It turned out to be nothing major, but was actually a great opportunity to immediately put into effect lessons we'd just learned from the drill.

The weather has been relatively cold here the past few days. Yesterday I was doing my checks out on the roof of ARO in -90F and below wind chill. I think a lot of the winterovers are worried their flights tomorrow may be delayed due to the cold. I'm going to help man the aircraft fire fighting rig for the two flights of the day that are carrying passengers, so that should be interesting.

Many hats, and not because of the cold

Well, the training frenzy continues unabated. Jason and I did get to do a cool walk out into the Clean Air Sector to inspect some of our projects' antennae and electronics vaults, which are mostly buried at varying depths down in the snow. It was a lot of fun to get out there away from the noise of the station and have nothing but sastrugi (low, wind-carved snowdrifts) stretch off as far as the eye could see. We took along a GPS receiver and got coordinates for some of the equipment. Even though the plateau is drifting 10 meters or so per year, it should still help us to locate some of the projects should they need servicing.

Outside of work... Well, there's not been much outside of work the last few days. The winterovers are ready to leave, and flights bringing in new people keep getting cancelled for one reason or another. Transition periods between seasons are always stressful on all involved. Jason told me yesterday that he didn't feel like he had a handle on the CUSP Tech job until a month after the station closed for winter, after he'd worked here all summer. Zoinks!

Reins now in my hands

Well, the learning continues unabated here at Pole. I've been granted the reins of the position by my predecessor, Jason, and am thoroughly going through the pangs of performance anxiety. I wish I could have gotten more training in while still in the U.S., at the very least so project personnel would have met me and perhaps have more confidence in me. It's got to be hard for every new person that comes into this job, because they're always going to be compared to their predecessor's performance at the end of the season when they knew the most and had the most experience. On top of this I still have a lot to learn about being a fire brigade leader, which is daunting as well.

The third Basler flight finally arrived here yesterday, and the station population is up to 99. Rumor has it that the Polies that got to go out to Cape Evans this past week got to see a bunch of wildlife, which definitely wasn't the case when my group took the trip.

I've started studying some Russian while away from work, and am having a pretty successful time picking up the pronunciation of the letters in the Cyrillic alphabet. I'll be happy when the rest of my gear arrives and I can start using my Rosetta Stone software to learn more. That, and my workout clothes so I can finally start making use of the gymnasium.

Climbing the learning curve

Yesterday was most people's day of, but the science techs have something to do every day of the year here. Jason and I walked out to the Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO), and the weather felt absolutely boiling compared to the day before. It was still -49 deg. F, but there was no wind. Later, I ran through the checks of the electronics in the CUSP rack in the elevated station's lab, which went (already) a lot smoother than the day previous. I think the daily stuff will be easier to get a handle on, but the things done weekly, every two weeks, monthly, etc. that I don't get as much practice at will necessarily take longer to reach a comfortable level of familiarity.

The food has been great, and I am definitely enjoying getting to know folks around the station. We should be getting another couple flights of people in today, so the station's population will continue to swell from its current number of 83. It will be really nice when the LC-130s start flying, and I can get the rest of my gear. I had to raid the second-hand clothes in the skua boxes outside to augment my wardrobe a couple days ago. I was very happy to find some running shoes, so I didn't have to continue wearing my big insulated FDX boots all the time.

At the Pole, at last

Our flight on the Basler went off without a hitch. We did end up flying through some clouds over the mountains (sometimes not very much above those mountains...), so views were obscured for a fair portion of the flight before we hit the Flat White of the plateau.

Upon arrival, it really was nice to have been here before. I didn't have to ask where to go or try to digest this new environment all at once. Pretty quickly I was intercepted by the current science techs, and we hung out in the lab catching up and talking with our supervisor, Al. Jason, the tech I'm taking over for, gave me a quick introduction to the daily checks of the equipment we have in the elevated station.

Part of the reason we flew in early was to give the new people on station some time to get up to speed without pushing themselves too hard. With no chance of medevac, that's even more important. I felt pretty tired yesterday, and had a fairly gnarly headache by the time I went to bed at 1900. But, I'd slept very poorly the night before, and figured this was probably the culprit. I managed to sleep about 12 hours, with trips to the bathroom about every 90 minutes. The altitude medicine I'm taking has the unfortunate side-effect of making you have to urinate quite copiously and frequently. I woke up this morning feeling much better, still a bit tired, but very much more comfortable.

Training will continue today, and I'm looking forward to getting up to speed on my new job/identity as a science tech.

Flight (hopefully) & pictures at last

Well, I had a nice day working at the BFC again. I set up, inspected, sorted, and disassembled 57 cots today, which was a great mind-numbing way to pass the day. The weather was beautiful again, but the wind really put an edge to the coolness. I can't get in the mindset that this is cold, per se, given what I will be subjected to in short order.

The first Basler flight to Pole got off the ground and successfully deposited the new season's cargo of Polies today. I'm slated for the flight tomorrow, weather permitting. Word filtering back from those on the first flight said that the views were beautiful, but we'll need some sort of scraper to keep our windows cleared of frost. We'll have to wear oxygen masks since the plane isn't pressurized, and the bathroom facilities are in a word, limited. Flight time is about 4 hours from here to the Pole.

This evening I walked over to Scott Base, New Zealand's base a bit over a mile from McMurdo, which was a first for me. Thursday night is "American Night" at their bar, and lots of people also pay visits to their store. Personally, I wasn't interested in alcohol or more junk to lug around in my computer's courier bag (my only baggage due to flight weight restrictions), but I successfully got yet another stamp in my passport. The wind was really strong on the way over, particularly in the valley between Ob Hill and Crater Hill. It acts sort of like a venturi and accelerates any wind blowing through it. It was neat to see the insides of Scott Base, but I didn't stay too long.

After many promises and much fanfare, here are pictures from the flight down from Christchurch, last weekend's trip to Cape Evans and Scott's hut, and McMurdo. Enjoy!