More pics

This was intended to be a post about hypothermia, but as it turns out there are more lessons to learn here in McMurdo than those of cold weather and survival... Stay tuned and the hypothermia post will come soon.

Another important thing I have learned in my short time here is that static electricity really sucks. Not only does it give you a real nice shock anytime and everytime you touch something metal, but apparently it also fries electronics with ease. Case and point: A couple of days ago I sat down at my computer to plug in my Ipod and as soon as the connection was made, poof! The computer screen went black. As it turns out, static electricity (which is a never ending problem here) that had built up within me went from me straight through my Ipod and right into my USB port, effectively disabling the entire port. I now have nothing to plug my pictures into (or my Ipod for that matter) except the station computers, of which there are five of for all of us here on station.

This explains the lack of posts recently, as well as the change in topic for this blog. When I figure out how to upload my new pics I will certainly share.

The new topic will be "McMurdo: An electrician's perspective". How does that sound?

We'll start with the night flight. This might have been the most paradoxical night of my life. One description might be to say it was the most boring night of my life. Another might suggest that it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen; not to mention being witness to history in the making.

Basically, I spent seven hours sitting in a truck (so warm inside!!!) in order to witness about 3 minutes of aircraft activity. Those three minutes were amazing but was that ever a long night. A USAF C-17 (the same type that deposited us here) was attempting a nighttime landing, the first one in history on the ice, in order to test new technologies for possible future winter medi-vacs. Historically, getting hurt in the middle of winter here is a very bad idea, seeing as how there might not be transportation to a real hospital (New Zealand) available for up to seven months (worst case scenario). The United States Air Force is trying to change this by testing infrared landing lights on the runway that are not visible to the naked eye. Too bad I was not here last summer to help install these lights.

Anyways, they needed two electricians on call in case there was a problem with the infrared lights and the regular Nav-Aid lights needed to be turned back on. Of course the lights worked perfectly and I had absolutely nothing to do for seven hours but take pictures of the plane landing and subsequently taking off. It was still very much worth it, as it afforded some fantastic shots, as you can see. Most of the shots you see here were taken with my boss Shawn's camera. He has the most amazing camera ever but almost never takes pictures. I have been lucky in that he has let me run around with it quite frequently.

The first shots are of the night flight, obviously. After that you have the fish huts followed by one of the polar traverse tractors. This tractor, along with several others, will tow the fish huts you see along with several thousand gallons of fuel from McMurdo to the South Pole. Over a thousand miles at a rate of 5 mph. Can you believe that? Supposedly it takes about 70 days for a team of 11 to make it there and back. Raytheon and the NSF (National Science Foundation) swear that this is more cost effective than flying it. When you think about 11 people's wages for over two months, a reported $20,000 in food and $55,000 in fuel consumption just to get there and back, it is hard for me to imagine that is true. The project is a go October 21, so it must be... We the electricians have been wiring the fish huts for the team and were given specific instructions not to screw anything up. That is pretty much a direct quote from the boss. We can't have them losing power 500 miles from the South Pole and 500 miles from McMurdo, since there will not be an electrician on the team.

The last shots were taken from the summit of Ob Hill the second time around. Much nicer weather this time. Cold but almost no wind. A rarity!

The hypothermia post will hopefully be up soon, but I hope this holds you all over. Thanks for checking back!