Nowhere To Go But Up

I go a day or two without posting and the natives get restless.

Here at the South Pole we have built a brand new station, a runway for planes, several outlying buildings for research, row upon row of jamesways, a giant dome, a big golf ball, several hundred holes in the ground, a building to wait for planes to arrive, a 4 mile road, and an Olympic sized swimming pool. OK, that last one was just wishful thinking. The point is that there has been an enourmous amount of construstion here. Whenever there's construction, there's leftover stuff. There's supplies that were used and not needed. There are extra parts that are on hand for spares. There's, well, a lot of junk. The junk is neatly organized off in the distance from the station. This area is called the berms.


Almost anything you need is out on the berms. Spare anything. The trick seems to be finding it. Some people here have a magical understanding of the system used for this organization, but to me it's just like a well laid out, cold, spacious, junkyard. The fascinating thing about all of this is that it's just not lying about on the 'ground'. Instead, everything is on an elevated bit of snow. That's where the term berm came from (I actually didn't plan that sentence at all). The raised sections give the whole place the feel of an outdoor wharehouse. It's like the sort of storage that cavemen would have come up with during the ice age, only they wouldn't be storing spare ovens, pumps, ECW (well, maybe a wilderbeast skin or something), or compressed gasses.


I should note that these pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago, when we still had sunshine.

Before you think somebody had a horrible bodily function mishap, this is what it's like when soda freezes. I mentioned awhile back that we are storing our beverages in the vacant berthing area. Well, the heat wasn't too well regulated so a few bottles and cans of soda bit the dust when the temperature dropped below freezing. This was a mess of epic proportions that I was fortunate enough not to be involved in the cleaning of. The good news is that very little alcohol was affected by this incident, since alcohol freezes at a lower temperature than sodas. The discovery of the frozen drinks was made over the weekend, but I'm just getting around to mentioning it. Photo credit for this goes to Denis, I think. I found this on our common drive. My camera is still lent out.

In sports news, I managed to keep my fingers attached to the fingernails in tonight's basketball games. However, my right pinky finger got jammed in. I wince every time I type "l", "p", "enter", or """. That and a little blood on the shin was about it. No major injuries this week. We still have two people out from the previous two times we played.

Yeah, it's that time. It's sundown. Officially. Of course, the sun is still peaking above the horizon and there's plenty of light out. Like so many things at the South Pole, the sun going down takes forever. I think we'll all miss the sun after it's gone, but the consensus seems to be "Get going already" when it comes to the sunlight. Anyway, we have to draw the line somewhere and so today we celebrated the beginning of the end of the start of fall winding down. Whatever, it's an excuse to party and that's all that matters. As with any party that occurs in the middle of the week, it was pretty tame and subdued. Since I have posted party pictures before and since nothing slows down a party like a dork with a camera and since I lent my camera out, I have no pictures to offer. I will comment that the galley staff (and several extra helpers) did a great job of helping us forget temporarily where we are. We had a latin/Caribbean themed meal with some great decorations. There was a not-to-scale model of the station made of crackers, festive music, a telescope (with filter) for looking at the sun, and wonderful food. On the menu: veggie quesadillas, squid, salmon crackers, flank steak, fish, pinto beans, rice, chicken wings, fresh bread, fresh greens from the greenhouse for salad, chili potatoes, and corn. Dessert was something that I would actually make for myself at home and never imagined that I would get out in public (as public as this place is). Raw cookie dough. Covered in chocolate. When I lived in the real world, my affinity for cookie dough mixed with various other odds & ends was notorious (peanut butter, oats, butterscotch, whip cream, chocolate, you name it). Needless to say, this was a big hit with me. There was also apple strudel made by our resident German national. It was yummy, but it came after three helpings of the choco-cookie dough masterpiece, so it had to be forced down at that point.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?!?!!? No, it's the green flash!
As this posting as devolved to me rambling on about food again, I should get back to the topic of the sun going down. I'm sure some nice photos will surface of the sun behind various noteworthy buildings and landmarks here at the pole (the only landmarks are buildings, so I guess I was being redundant there). Instead of posting more of my shoddy photos, here's a link to an interesting phenomenon that occurs when the sun starts to pass below the horizon. I've had the good fortune to see a few green flashes on the afore-mentioned telescope. The green flash happens every time the sun goes down, but it just happens to linger here a little longer, offering plenty of chances to catch a glimpse.

We just had a time change here at the South Pole. Because it's autumn here, we had to 'fall back' an hour. So everything is happening earlier than the day before, or later, I'm confused. I grew up in Indiana, which at the time wasn't observing any kind of daylight saving mind control (Indy changes their mind about the time, depending on the day of the week, mood, location, the farm report, and any other reason you can imagine). Having not grown up with it, daylight saving time makes no sense to me. It makes even less sense at the South Pole where daylight is measured in weeks & months, not hours. Anyway, to clear up any confusion about what time we're on....

We're 12 hours ahead of Reykjavik.
We're 8 1/2 hours ahead of Tehran.
We're 45 minutes behind Catham Island.
We're 16 hours ahead of Asuncion.
We're an hour and a half ahead of Adelaide.

I hope that clears things up for everyone. Things will change again on April 2 when a bunch of places change times for no apparent reason.

I don't have anything to post, other than this picture of the sun behind the golf ball.

I'll probably get razzed for this post. During the course of a conversation today, I realized that I have several desks. They belong to RPSC, some university, or, ultimately, the NSF. Even thought I don't own them, I do sit at them at various times to perform my job functions. Most of the desks are used only by me, which is why I say I have several desks. Each of my projects has it's own space(s), so there is a desk, ususally with a computer, that is available nearby for me to use. Some of the desks are standard office desks bought from some wharehouse, some are buildt here on site. Most have computers, some have more than one computer. One has no computer currently, or a chair, or enough overhead space for me to stand up (I will eventually fix two of those three problems). Some of these desks are right down the hall in this building, some are a good long walk away from here at more remote sites. Some of the desks are in spacious areas where I can spread out, some are in cramped quarters with hardly any elbow room.












I've only pictured the purely work desks that I have. I also have a desk in my bedroom. There's also several work benches in labs & darkrooms that I have at my disposal. They don't count because you have to stand to use them. Plus, I got tired of taking pictures of tables. I have been provided ample space to set a cup of hot tea. I have more desks than pens.

Tonight we played some more hoops, this time there were a few action shots. I separated two fingernails from my skin tonight, probably just from the dry air/ball/everything. I'm pretty beat up from playing guys stronger than me. I jammed my thumb again while deflecting a pass. I'm wore out from running around. I stink and it's not shower day. It beats the heck out of sitting in a chair though.

The shadows here are getting really long.


Just a few more days before the sun starts to cross below the horizon. There were some faint sundogs a couple of days ago as well. You can sort of make it out in the picture of Bob below.


I never have been very good at taking pictures of the sundogs here. Below I just clipped out most of the sun, which seemed to help.


AND, since Denis was so nice to link to me, I'm returning the favor. Of course, I posted his link back here. One of these days I need to figure out how to post important links on the side like everyone else does.

OK, I have talked about sustrugi, now here's a picture:


The sustrugi around the station isn't all that big, but it makes some interesting patterns in the snow. Usually sustrugi forms wherever there is an uneveness in the snow, such as a footprint or tower. Walking on sustrugi can be an exhausing adventure since you don't know until you step on it whether it is going to be soft (so you sink down into it) or firm (and you'll be walking on the surface). Often, the sustrugi appear overnight after we have high winds.

Speaking of high winds, we have had a couple of windy days in a row. The wind has really reduced the visibility outside. As winter (and darkness) are quickly approaching, we have to put out flag lines so that we don't get lost going from building to building. I have started the flag line from ARO to the main station, but I didn't finish before the recent winds. As you can see (barely) from this picture, the main station is in the background with the flag line started in that direction. In the foreground is the handful of flags that I was about to take out. Most of the snow along the way is too compact to just poke the flags down, mainly due to the vehicle traffic during the summer that compressed the snow. We will use an auger to drill a suitable hole for the flag poles to rest in.


If at any time during the winter we can't see from one flag to another, we are not supposed to continue on. We can't use normal flashlights due to the light-sensitive equipment at ARO. We can use flashlights with a red filter, but they won't be of much use during high winds. In general, visibility won't be a problem during the winter, even with no moonlight. Anyone who has walked outside at night when there's lots of snow on the ground knows that it is usually pretty easy to see. The snow will reflect so much light, even without moonlight, that it shouldn't be hard to get around. Of course the trick will be letting your eyes adjust before wandering around too much.

Rather than post something new, I have updated a couple of older posts. I have added an extra link to the posting about the new bar. Also, I finally found a picture of the Sloth, which I added here.

Since this is such a short posting, I'll use the extra space to promote another winter-over's blog.

When I made the post about how dry it is here, I failed to mention a couple of the other obvious problems we have to contend with here: the nose & the skin.

I was playing basketball last night for the first time in the new gym (it's halfway open for use), when a couple of us started gushing blood. It wasn't caused by an elbow to the chin or the ball being slammed in anyone's face, but by the dry air. The skin on my finger got so dry while playing hoops that it just split open. I taped it up and kept going, but it occured to me that unlike the pros who use talcum powder to keep their hands dry, I was going to have to moisturize before playing to keep my hands from splitting in two. Most everyone here has problems keeping their skin from drying out. On top of that, when you do get a cut (or your skin just splits open) it takes forever for it to heal up. The FEMC folks (fuels, electricians, mechanics, carpenters....or something like that) really have it bad. Their hands are usually gnarled up to the point of blistering. I've always had dry spots on particular parts of my hands (and feet and....), but now the dryness has grown larger and formed colonies. I try to put on some hand cream as often as I can, but then I find I'm stuck in a room unable to open the doorknob (or I have to use the computer, or put on gloves, or something else that renders the act useless).

The other problem with the dryness are the issues caused to the nose. This totally un-humid atmosphere is havoc on the nose. I usually wake up unable to breath through my nose and waste a couple of tissue before I get to the point that I don't feel like I'm suffocating. I feel like I'm fairly certain that I create about 12 oz of boogers each day. Based on the waste cans in the bathroom and other people's activities, I'm not alone on this. The dry air has turned us all into booger machines. My waste can in my room is almost entirely used for tissue disposal. Blowing your nose everyday inevitably leads to bloody noses. Actually, for me it's gotten to the point that I'm tickled if it's not just a bloody mess every time I blow my nose. About once a week I spontaneously start bleeding out the nose for no apparent reason (maybe I'm thinking too hard).

Between the cracks in my skin and leaky nose, I think I lose plenty of blood down here. No iron buildup in my system. I really thought long and hard about posting pictures on these subjects, but I decided that 1a) my dry skin isn't as impressive as some people I've seen 1b) nobody was going to let me photograph their bleedy spots and 2) photographing my heap of boogery/bloody/funky tissue piling up in my trash can was just not what people needed to see when they'r eating their corn flakes. So, I decided to post a self-photo of the positive benefits of the dry air: my 'fro is extra bushy!

I have found that one of the biggest problems with the extreme cold here at the South Pole isn't necessarily staying warm. Enough extreme cold weather gear (ECW) is available to keep you pretty toasty in pretty horrible weather. The problem arises when you actually want to do something in your gear. Think of the movie, A Christmas Story, when Randy gets sent outside with too much clothing on. Remaining functional while staying warm is tricky. Fortunately for me, my outside work is minimal during the winter (I hope). I just have to deal with the walk to ARO each day, which is just long enough that I need full gear on. I experimented today with some of the gear I haven't used much of, just to see how it would go. As it turned out, I stayed a little warmer, but my comfort level went down significantly. Plus, the time it took to get all of the gear on and off is immense. Maybe my wardrobe time will improve with practice. As I dismantled my ECW earlier today, I started to inventory what I was wearing for the first time: 3 pairs of gloves (bear claws, mittens, liner gloves), two pairs of socks, boot liners, boots, neoprene head cover, neck gaiter, knit cap, googles, three pair of long underwear, one pair of short underwear, wind resistant bib overalls, undershirt (not shown), sweatshirt, and coat & hood.
I think it's safe to say that I need to continue experimenting to find the correct combination that I'll use this winter. The bear claws rendered my hands totally useless (but they were warm) and the neoprene head cover was a bit too restrictive.

On a totally different subject, I found this article about visiting Antarctica as a tourist:

In many of the pictures of the station that I have posted in the past, you will notice the big silver tower to the east side of the new elevated station. For some bizarre reason, this structure has earned the nickname "Beer Can". If I can track down the history of that name, I'll be sure to let you know. Some of you may have wondered what the heck is in the Beer Can. The obvious answer of "beer!" is sadly wrong. Not only is the Beer Can not full of something as glorious as beer, it's actually a place of very un-glorious stairs, frigid temperatures, and rampant drab interior design. Even though the Beer Can is home to the only elevator in the new station, the elevator is for cargo only. Therefore, the stairs are the primary way to get outside on the Northeast side of the building. The bottom of the Beer Can actually connects to an underground non-secret passage that leads to the old dome and heavy shop (where our automobiles are worked on, not whatever you were thinking). The Beer Can has a couple of windows that provide lighting during the summer months and corrigated metal insulation to insure there's no hope of staying toasty while you are traversing the stairs.

Sundays at the South Pole are days of rest. At least, they're days of rest for the people who get days off (carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc.). I don't get days off because science never rests. I wouldn't trade my schedule for the other guys because I know they physically work harder than me most of the time and they have to be up by a certain time. Anyway, Sunday is the day off for most people here, including the galley staff. That means it's fend for yourself all day long. I usually sleep in a bit later (especially after last night's festivities), but I still have to do most of my normal job duties. I managed to have some cereal for breakfast, get mostly done with my job stuff (which actually included physical labor, ironically, since it's a day of rest), then I caught a nap right through lunch time, woke up not hungry, worked out, showered, realized that I was now hungry, and went in search of food.

Fortunately, there is usually somebody volunteering to make food on Sundays and today we had chicken kiev, chicken cordon bleu, and crepes prepared by a real Frenchman. Throw in the veggies, baked potatoes, and leftover dessert, and it didn't really seem like we were fending for ourselves. I rolled into the galley around 5pm and loaded up a plate of food. I had some key lime pie then finished work. Afterwards I headed back to my room to watch a movie (Reefer Madness, which was listed as a comedy in our store. Quaint is a better way to describe it.) while my laundry was finishing up. After the movie I had the urge to eat again. I wanted something sweet, but the cookies had all long since been eaten by the time I checked out the galley again. Instead I decided to have another bowl of cereal. This time I didn't mess with the healthy, fiber-laden stuff. I found the biggest bowl and loaded it full of coco-crisps. It took 4 cups to fill up the bowl. I came back to my room, ate my cereal, and played on the internet.


I realize that a disproportionate number of my posts deal with food. That is due to the fact that food down here is so vital. We tell time by our meals, what's for dinner is a source of conversation, and by golly, the food here is pretty darn good. Food is not only our source of energy, but it's also the source of variety in colors, tastes, smells, and seating arrangements. Having it prepared, free, six days a week is a huge bonus. I've been spoiled for most of the past two years because I haven't had to make my own food and the food I've eaten has been really good. I was on the hook for two meals today and I mustered up two bowls of cereal. It puts into perspective all of the wonderful food that I have had for free that I haven't always done a good job of complimenting on. I'm working on that.

This posting is not a reference to my physical frame, though the title would be appropriate. The upper berthing area in the old dome is about to become a historical footnote. The buildings inside the dome are slated to be demolished this winter (gotta give 64 people something to do when it's dark and cold). Tonight was the going away party for the upper berthing area, which has provided the site for a mountain of memories to past winter-over crews. Upon arrival to the party it was obvious why it was called "long & skinny". Being held in the hallway of the berthing area, there was only a long, skinny corridor in which to mingle. Each of the rooms was setup with a different theme and accompanying beverage. There was music, food, and well, it was a party so it had all of the normal party stuff. Pictures speak a thousand words...

There was a write-up in today's Denver Post about my blog. The edition went out before the columnist, Al, could get a response from me. It turns out that it focuses on my posting about the opening of the South Pole Bar, which was made after I had visited and partaken in a few libations. Needless to say what got printed isn't my best piece of writing. Nonetheless, Al had praise for my writing. Coming from a professional writer, I consider that a compliment (not that the rest of you don't recognize good writing when you see it, I appreciate all of the feedback I get).

When you walk into the lobby of RPSC in Centennial you notice a large sign promising that Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, coldest, highest, coldest, driest, coldest, deadest, coldest, poorest, coldest place on earth (well, something like that). Did I mention coldest? One of the more suprising trivia facts about the south pole is that it's a desert. There's water in every direction as far as the eye can see, but nothing to drink. It's so cold here (have I mentioned the coldness already?) that any moisture in the air freezes and becomes one with the continent. One of the many shocking side effects of the dry air is static electricity <---blatent pun. Everywhere I go down here there are electrons that need to go somewhere else and they're using me to get there. It doesn't help that the fabric of choice is often wool and there is an abundance of metal surfaces. I've been zapped by the normal culprits, such as door handles & water fountains, but it's when you get it in the least suspicious places places that it really bothers me. Today I was trying to decide among dessert choices and when I reached for the silk chocolate pie I was nearly put into cardiac arrest by a lightening bolt from the dessert tray. The worst part was that people were walking by as I started dancing around and cursing at the desserts. "A little early in the season to be losing it already", I could imagine them saying. I was also shocked by the punch dispenser, gym equipment, my MP3 player (my own electronics are turning on me), a table, the water fountain, 6 different door knobs, and my clothing....while wearing rubber-soled boots. That all was just today. I get a little electrocution every day, but today seemed a little more intense than most.

Why can't the dryness be more like the windiness and make something constructive?

This morning I got to wake up at 3am and make a trip to the meteor radar shack. The shack is so called because it looks like this:


It's a pretty unremarkable place to visit other than it's a very long walk from the main station. Our radar technician has to visit that area daily, so I'm not complaining. The building our radar tech goes to looks like this though:


Isn't that just cooler than the wooden box I get to go to? Both buildings are essentially really big antennea. Most of the meteor radar antennea is buried under the snow below the shack, but that doesn't affect it's performance at all. The meteor radar shack is tracking meteors as they enter the earth's atmosphere. There was a small glitch with the hardware so I had to go out and debug it. I had to speak with the researcher back in Boulder, so that's why I went at 3am, during satellite coverage. It makes for a long day when you start at three in the morning. The meteor radar shack has heat, phone service, the internet, snacks, tools, emergency water, and even art.....but no bathroom. It's a twenty minute walk back to the station if you hustle. The temperature outside this morning was below -60F with windchill below -100F.

In an effort to share as much about the south pole as possible, here is a link to Robert's website, who is a fellow winter-over. Actually, it's not just any winter-over, it's the guy who has been down here half a dozen winters. Just think about that. There are convicted murderers who haven't done as much time as Robert. Robert is teaching us all astronomy this winter and occaisionally some German.

It seems that this season (maybe it's always like this) about half of the people staying for the winter have never been to the south pole before. The other half have been here for very large portions of their lives. There's not too many people who have just been here for a summer then are coming back for a full season. There seems to be no middle ground.