Just guess

Yea, there's a Basler headed our direction today, but not from McMurdo full of eager beaver replacements for us at Pole. This is actually the second Basler to come down to the Ice, and is just stopping through here briefly to refuel before wining off for McMurdo. The situation would almost be comical at this point, if it weren't for all the hassle this delay will cause folks trying to readjust travel plans or transitions to new jobs off-Ice.

Speaking of travel, I'm still doing my best to make up my mind about travel plans, not that I'm going anywhere anytime soon. If I were a samurai, I'd be a failure in that regard.

"In the words of the ancients,
one should make his decision within the space of seven breaths.
It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit
to break through to the other side."
~Yamamoto Tsunetomo, The Hagakure

So it begins...or continues to not begin

Yup, the Basler was canceled for us at Pole here today because of bad weather in McMurdo. If this lasts long enough for the good weather here to fail then get nice in McMurdo, we'll have the first volley of "weather pong" delaying redeployment. It should be noted that a lot of this situation was due to budget shortfalls. I'm sure The Powers That Be have made every possible sacrifice to ensure that the people in the field aren't carrying the lion's share of the burden that financial challenge might entail...

I've got until Monday to decide about ditching Oz/SE Asia for the Atlantic, but will probably opt not to further complicate my life by trying to cancel and readjust my travel plans. Besides, I've really been looking forward to bagging my 32nd to 36th countries and 6th continent for my travel resume.

“I know not how to defeat others; I know only how to win over myself.”
~Yaju Munenori, Sword Instructor to the Tokugawa Shogunate

ARRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Decisions, decisions... Having pretty much just finished making all my plans for this trip to NZ, Oz, and SE Asia, why-oh why-did I have to finally get notice today of an opening on the Stad Amsterdam for a 19-day trans-Atlantic voyage from the Canary Islands to St. Martin in the Caribbean?!?!?!

I'm still here at Pole doing the work thing until any of my replacements eventually show up. Allegedly the new Aurora Tech will be in tomorrow, but the other two come in later.

I wonder if I can get a charge number in my time card for "weeping and gnashing of teeth"...

non-optimal schedules

Well, despite having loads of people planning the station opening sequence all winter, things aren't really working out so smoothly now we're actually in the process. The Basler crews got down here and then had to take two full days off flights. Then, there's days this week where Pole isn't the primary destination for the Basler. I guess we're an alternate destination for the flights should the weather at Siple Dome or WAIS Divide be inclement. It seems strange to prioritize opening field camps, where there were no winter crews, when you've got a major station like Pole with 57 winterovers that might like to leave after 9-13 months (or longer in some cases) on the Ice. Rumors are rampant here, and you just have to let them slide off you. Flight changes seemed to be happening nearly hourly yesterday, so who knows what the next few days will pan out to be like.

Regardless, the prospect of having a delayed return to the World is turning out to be quite a bummer.

Summer folk here

Sixteen souls joined the station yesterday. I didn't meet the plane since I was doing the usual daily checks. It's going to be the same case today. I really wish I had a psychology or sociology degree to bounce all this station opening stuff off of; it'd be good at least to identify whatever phobias and neuroses are bouncing around in my own head.

We just got word that the next Basler has taken off from McMurdo, so in about 4 hours we'll have another 16 or so new folk rattling around the station. The weather is clear and gorgeous today, so they shouldn't have any problem on this end of things. I think the Met folks have a good forecast for the next couple days at least, but there's unfortunately not another Basler scheduled to come to Pole until Thursday. Oh well, I'd just like my guys to whom I have to turn over my duties to show up on time.

We (Sunday Select Cinema) showed Dr. No last night, and I keep having images off all these tropical rivers on Jamaica running through my head. I guess some of those scenes were at Ocho Rios, which would be cool to visit sometime.

How about this afternoon?

Look, boss, the plane(s)!

Well, we had some visitors fly by yesterday afternoon. Some FAA guys and whatever other important folks buzzed the ski-way here at Pole allegedly doing some sort of verification of the air transport infrastructure. They came in at less than 100 feet off the deck, and we couldn't see them until they flew through the exhaust plume of the power plant. They did about 4-5 passes of the ski-way before winging back off to McMurdo. I can't say I really see the utility of this flight to Pole, but I'm sure the folks on the plane had a fun time.



Hey, as I was writing this we had the Basler arrive at Pole. Happy coincidence, though it was actually a bit underwhelming. I'm finding it hard to get excited about the station opening back up again, particularly with all my concerns about my professional career's future looming large back in the World. Regardless of my personal baggage, here are some pics of the event:

Psyche!

Well, we were supposed to see the Basler (turboprop-equipped DC-3) and Twin Otter aircraft today, but weather apparently intervened. And here I was, all ready to post a picture or two of something new on the blog... Oh well, I've got loads of work still to finish before they let me get on with this trip I've got in the works.

I actually got notification that my flights had been booked yesterday, so I went ahead and made a good number of the reservations I'll need for the trip itself. I still think it's going to be really interesting to get home after all this time on New Year's Eve. I'll probably have been underway for some ridiculous length of time, and will just fall asleep in the car on the way home from Wichita, but who knows what might be shaking in my sleepy little hometown on the range?

I keep getting words of commiseration from folks that are looking or know other people who are looking for jobs. It doesn't seem to be a great time to be unemployed and trying to remedy the situation. Why did all you folks on the outside have to go and mess up the economy so badly while we were down here toiling away on the Ice? That wasn't very polite of you. I guess the upshot of the situation is that if I can't find another job straight away then I might be able to talk myself into taking another trip to bag my 7th continent: Africa!

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.
~Mark Twain