I hope everyone is having a happy New Year. I know I am. The start of a new year always causes one to think about what they did during the previous year and what they wish to accomplish in the next. My New Years celebration was supposed to be themed around having fun with karma. You see, I have a friend who is particularly fussy about her coffee. It’s cute and funny and it gives me a chance to overlook my own peculiarities and make fun of hers. Her, and her boyfriend, were to be working the coffee house for New Year’s Eve. The coffee house actually serves more wine and liquor than anything else, but it is “The Coffee House” so, one should expect there to be coffee there. Now, especially on a busy night, coffee drinks (specifically espresso) take a long time to make. Add to that the tendency for people to assert their individuality by ordering a complicated coffee drink and I can have some compassion for somebody who may not want to be bothered with making coffee when it is much quicker to pour a glass of wine. But, since my friend tends to be picky I fantasized about the karmic humour that would be had by ordering copious amounts of coffee on New Year’s Eve. The couple decided to have a little fun and post faux newspaper articles about how e.coli had been discovered in the coffee machine and that coffee wouldn’t be available on NYE, all the reasonable people who are lacking in sticks up their asses thought it was funny. But that one guy in management who, apparently does have a stick up his ass, failed to find the humour and had all the signs removed and had my friends relieved of their duties as coffee house bar tenders. Yes, things have been so mellow this year that stupid shit like this makes major headlines. Unbelievable.

On another note, I have done some reflecting about the past year. Marsha and I have had an absolutely great year. We’ve travelled 3 continents, surfed in Mexico, visited no less than 3 world-heritage sites, visited ancient ruins, witnessed the beginning of a revolution and been to Antarctica – TWICE! I’ve skied in 2 countries, toured 13 (or so) western states with my kids and I’ve just done some amazing things. I am very grateful for the freedom that I have to be able to do all this stuff. Here’s to another amazing year!

All waste generated by the United States Antarctic Program must be shipped back to the U.S. 60% of all waste from here gets recycled. Last year 100% of the plastic that was used here was recycled. Personal items and clothing that people bring down and then decide they don’t want for whatever reason can be discarded in what is called Skua (named for a scavenger bird that comes here in the summer). I stopped into Skua last week and found a blonde hair dye kit. I was pretty apprehensive but decided to give it a shot. I really like it. What do you think?

Hi all,

A few updates since my last email, just to let you all know what’s
going on and to answer a few questions that I have gotten from some of
you.

first, new photos can be found at
here

there are some aurora australias (southern lights), some of the
sunrise/sunset (there really is no differentiation between the two,
just a few hours of pink in the sky and then dark again) and some
other interesting stuff from my first few days here. ‘Ivan’ the
terrabus is what I rode in from the airfield to the station. I
thought it was pretty cool. The aircraft pictures are all of C-17
globemasters, which is what I had the privelige of riding on. Much
better than a C-141. There’s also one of a firetruck outfitted with
‘mattracks’. They don’t work any better here than they did in
Yellowstone or other places, but….they still use them. Keeps
mechanics employed I ‘spose.

FRESHIES!!!
due to the fact that I’m near the end of the longest logistical chain
in the world, and things don’t grow to well here, fresh
fruits/vegetables/eggs are a rare treat. They come in on the plane
when it comes. I came during a period called WINFLY. It’s a term,
borrowed from the military, which is a bastardization of winter fly
in. Basically I am part of a skeleton crew who is here to get things
ready for “main body” which happens in October. I didn’t realize it,
but the last plane came in last friday and then left, basically
isolating me from the rest of the world. No mail, no way
out…nothing, except a few fresh greens that will be eaten soon, then
nothing until October.

Gear issue:
Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear was issued in Christchurch N.Z. on the
way down. There is lots of stuff available, but a visual of the basic
issue is <a href=”http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/greatplainsbigfootcom/detail?.dir=c2d0&.dnm=1a62.jpg&.src=ph
“>here:

the first hallmark item is what we call “big red” Its a thick, heavy,
down jacket. the specifics can be found here for all my gear junkie
friends here
it is a pretty nice parka, very cozy.

also included in the issue are “mickey mouse” boots (standard G.I. ECW
boots), expedition weight poly-pro undergarments, Wigwam heavy wool
socks, polar fleece jacket, balaclava, stocking cap, a vast
assortment of gloves and mittens, goggles, sunglasses, insulated wind
pants, insulated carharrt bib overalls, carharrt jacket, julbo
sunglasses.

I have moved to a different room so I don’t have to share with the
Andrew the cross-dresser and his girlfriend.

The water in the toilet/sink/whatever doesn’t spin any differently in
the southern hemisphere than in the northern. That was all just an
urban legend, and I’m pissed about it! The legend is based on the
coriolis effect..if you’re bored and wanna read up on in it..here ya
go
There have been some scientific questions thrown my way, currently,
there are no science lectures being presented so I am unable to ask
questions, but they will start in October and I intend on going and
asking. I want to learn as much as I can while I’m here.

We run on New Zealand Standard Time, which is 18 hours ahead of
Mountain DST. Currently we only get a few hours of light each day but
soon it will be light all the time so time really isn’t relevant.

No special shots were required to come here (except tetanus). There
isn’t a problem with malaria, etc. No mosquitos to spread it I guess.

Day to day life is pretty ‘normal’. My schedule just changed a bit, I
will be working five 11 hour days and then get 2 days off. I’m not
sure what I will do with myself for two days, but I guess I will
figure it out. The job itself isn’t too unlike any other job, just
that it’s in Antarctica. The commute is the worst of it. I walk 3
minutes, uphill, into the most brutal headwind you could possibly
imagine. Some days the wind chill has been -80 degrees. It’s
painfully cold. I work both inside and outside. Outside work really
isn’t that bad. Over the years people have engineered ways to keep
the misery to a minimum. Inside work is actually worse. Bringing a
frozen piece of equipment into the shop and then crawling under it to
fix it usually results in getting a shower of ice cold greasy water.
Food is still good. The kitchen does an amazing job given their
limited resources and the demands of institutional style cooking.

Well…that’s about it for now. Keep those emails coming folks! It
gives me something to do.

Later,
Will

Hi All,
Alot of you have inquired as to how the deal with my roomate and
women’s shoes turned out. Here’s the scoop, the guy who the housing
department had paired me up with had moved his girlfriend into his
room with him without notifying the housing department, so when he
came home to find me moving in, he was quite shocked, but we had a
good laugh about it when I mentioned that I was concerned about who
might wear the shoes. He works in the shop with me, so his new
nickname is now ‘Andrew the cross dresser’

Some of you weren’t able to view the pics I sent, some apparently have
file size limits on your inbox, I won’t be attaching any more pics in
emails, rather, they will be posted to a yahoo photo album. The two I
sent last time can be found at:
here
I’ll let everyone know when new pics are posted.

So, most of what I’ve been doing so far has been safety type training.
The normal boring crap that one would expect. That and heaps of
paperwork. I have most of that behind me and had a mostly full day of
work today. I worked outside most of the day getting two pieces of
equipment started. It was a balmy -14 with a windchill of about
-40…not too bad by Antarctic standards, but pretty freakin’
miserable still. Getting something started in those conditions is
pretty tough. All of the shop service trucks are equipped with Herman
Nelson heaters (The military style forced air type), so you put the
heater hose in the engine compartment, put tarps around to hold the
heat and wait for everything to heat up enough to start…Not too
tough, it just takes along time to get anything done. My gear seems
to be decent enough at keeping me warm, no complaints there.

I live in the same building that has the dining hall and the beer
store, life is good! The aerobics gym is a short walk from where I
live, I’ve been getting there in the mornings.

The food is excellent. We’ve had things like salmon/spinach salad,
mediterranean cous-cous, pad thai, pork stir-fry, and many other good
meals. There’s even an ice-cream machine of all things. The tool
room at the shop has thermoses, so if you have to go out, you can take
coffee or other hot items with you. All in all, I’m pretty happy so
far.

If anything exciting happens, I’ll make sure to send a mass email out.
Until then, Later all. I hope you’re all staying warm!

Will

I’m putting together some archives of emails I sent out from my very first season in Antarctica. Here’s the first email I sent out after getting to “the ice”