Shiver me timbers

It has been exactly two weeks and a day since I arrived here in Antarctica. It feels like it has been about 5 months and 23 days since I arrived. I think this is due, in large part, to the long 6 day work weeks we have. Right now the McMurdo community is in somewhat of an uproar. The station manager told everyone a while ago that we were going to have a two day weekend next weekend. Everyone was super stoked, especially the winterovers. A two day weekend is a huge deal for everyone. The extra day off really feels more like an extra week off for people here. Last Saturday, we had an all-hands meeting (everyone required to attend) at the end of the work day. The station manager started the meeting by telling everyone that the two day weekend has been revoked. Apparently, there is still too much stuff to get done before the rest of the people get here, and he thinks that having everyone work an extra day will really help the cause. This is why people are pissed here. It is like handing a starving person a roasted turkey and then right before they bite into it, yanking it away from them. Nobody knows why he told people they would have the day off when there was still a chance it may not happen. But, people are dealing with it and work goes on. There is an increased amount of complaining and griping, which is normally very high anyway, going on in the cafeteria and other common areas.

The weather here has been pretty chilly. The sun is starting to stay up longer and longer each day, but it hasn't seemed to warm up the temperature a whole lot. Yesterday, I took advantage of my day off and went on a hike with some other folks. We walked on what is called the Castle Rock loop which is about 7.5 miles long. It loops up out of McMurdo station and up past Castle Rock (one of the few rock formations close by) then along the sea ice and through the New Zealand base(Scott base) before returning into McMurdo. It was a pretty good hike. The scenery was beautiful. For a while we walked straight towards Mt. Erebus which is an active volcano. We could see smoke drifting up out of the top. Before we left for the hike, we had to check out with the firehouse here, so they can keep track of people and know where they are if the weather turns bad...worse. When we checked in they told us that the wind chill on the hike was -50 degrees F. Just before we left the Search and rescue team had to go out and get a kid who was on the same trail because he got hypothermia. We decided to go anyway. It was worth it. The hike took about 5 hours. The pictures are above. The first one is the sun setting as we came back into town. The second is an "apple" it is a little hut that has emergency survival gear in it in case people need it along the trail. The fourth is of Mt. Erebus the active volcano (the peak on the left). The fifth is a Castle Rock explorer. The sixth is Castle Rock in the foreground and Mt. Erebus in the background. *One of the pictures was taken in New Zealand, not Antarctica. See if you can guess which one.

Other Things

* My roommate is most likely a vampire. Almost all signs point to yes. He sleeps when the sun is out and is out and about all night. Also he is super pale like you would expect a vampire to be. The only thing that doesn't add up is that he has two giant tubs of garlic in some kind of oil stored in the refrigerator in our room. I'm considering touching him with a cross when he is sleeping just to see what happens. It's pretty Bizzarro!

*We had prime rib and shrimp last night for dinner. It was actually pretty good. Tomorrow is Mexican/cookie day (Mexican food and fresh baked cookies), a favourite of most. Some people aren't happy because that usually happens on Wednesdays not Tuesdays, we'll see how it goes.

* Scientists here are referred to as "Beakers". Like the muppets character.

* 300 club. At the south pole when it is at least -100 degrees outside, they turn up the sauna to 200 degrees, sit in it for a while then run outside and make a loop around the pole, with nothing but boots and a gator over their faces.

Last

*Everyone here recieved an official email from the station manager here that read "The Masticator is hungry, but not as thirst. Please feed him solids…….meaning send your poop down the tube!" The masticator is a machine at the waste water treatment plant. People are calling for more "freshies"

Enjoy the fall colors back home.