Nowhere To Go But Up

There are certain things that I could write about, but sometimes it's easier to let others give their points of view. Click here to find out what I do for fun down here.

I will say that I'm normally not really worried about that sort of thing, but when somebody comes at you with a sharp object in a shakey hand, a bit of concern tends to cross the mind. It all worked out in the end and I got a free sucker.

We have a couple of guys that work in our power plant full time this winter. They make sure our reading lights turn on and that our shower water warms up. Unfortunately, power consumption doesn't stop on the weekends, so there are things that need to be checked on a regular schedule each and every day down here, including 'days off'. On Sundays, the traditional one 'day off' each week for most of the station, people volunteer to go to the power plant to perform those checks which allows the regular power plant guys to relax a little.

I have been performing power plant watches this month at 6am & 8am on Sunday morning. My original idea was that it would motivate me to work out in between the two checks, but typically what I do is take a nap instead. Walking up and down the verticle tower that strangly resembles a large, upright, alcoholic beverage container just puts me in the mood for some shut eye. In any event, this morning I decided to bring along my camera.

Here are the answers to questions from my previous post, two posts ago. I was really expecting some questions about penguins, spit freezing, or how we stay warm. Instead, I got these:
___________________________________________________________________
Anonymous said...
Ok, some questions.

What, besides alcohol, is the most popular item at the station store?

What is *really* growing in the greenhouse?

How did your experiences last year change what you brought with you this year? (Or, what do new people regret not bringing with them that they wind up borrowing from others?)

How are the inevitable interpersonal conflicts handled? For lack of a better term, what kind of legal system do you guys have (being multinational and sort of military all at the same time)? If someone does something criminal, what do you do? Is there a brig and if so, who has the authority to lock a person up?

Last year, there were many interesting long-term projects, such as the 2007 Nude Calendar. Any creative projects in the works this year?

-Bridgett
7/10/2007 4:09 AM

Bridgett - The most popular item at Polemart is actually DVD rentals. After that comes alcohol, then probably candy & snacks. We sell some personal grooming items as well.
The greenhouse is *really* just growing food for us to eat, unfortunately. There is a webcam set up in there so those pesky NSF folks would notice anything strange.
Last year I really wish I had brought a robe, so I did this year. Last year I brought down way too many socks, considering that we are provided enough warm wool socks on our way down. I made up for that by not bringing enough socks this year. They don't provide workout socks and I took all of mine home and left them there.
There really is no law here, as far as I know, so it's tough to break the law. There's the Antarctic Treaty, but that doesn't seem to govern personal behaviour. I would guess that if somebody did something really out of line, they would be beaten by their peers. There is no brig, but there are carpenters who could build one.
It's a different year, different personalities, and things are handled differently. No long term project, sorry, no nude calendar.
___________________________________________________________________
north of U said...
What about the movie contest?

The 300 club?

Come on ... TELL!

You know you want to.
7/10/2007 12:59 PM

North - We have tossed around some ideas for movies, but nobody seems motivated to get it done. It's still possible we might throw together a few movies, we'll see...
The 300 Club requires -100F or lower temperatures. The coldest we've had has been about -96F.
___________________________________________________________________
Scott said...
Sounds like you should be maintaining 2 blogs. You could disguise the second one by publishing it under a secret code name such as laeN.
7/10/2007 1:08 PM

Scott - The thought has occurred to me, but I think it would be easy to see through who was behind it, even with a cleverly disguised name such as that.
___________________________________________________________________
Crystal said...
Question 1: When is the next Men of the Southpole Calendar coming out?

Question 2: Do the newbies get some kind of polie-depression when they first get there and they can't leave, right? so is it ok for them to sit in their rooms and cry all day or do you make them sit outside and scream "you're not coming in until you have fun!" or "suck it up, crybaby!" or something of the like.

Question 3: Do you have a catalog or a dictionary? and yes, I am in the third grade.

:)
Question 4: So how come married people are always trying ot get single people to get married?
7/11/2007 6:09 AM

Crystal - There will probably never be another.
The new people are told not to talk to the winterover crew. If we find them in our chairs in the galley, we make them get up and leave. If they are depressed, then that's just their way of fitting in.
I have both a catalog and a dictionary. I also have the internet.
Married couples are like Free Masons or the Elk Lodge. They want to get as many members as possible to make their life decisions seem justified.
___________________________________________________________________
Goo said...
Hey Neal. When is all of this over and you'll stop returning to the SP? What do you plan on doing next?

What do you see under your eyelids at night when it's dark and your mind is quite.

Will you please write my name in the snow somewhere, anywhere out there? And then think about me, some girl in Chicago, who would love to hide away at the bottom of the Earth, and realize just how lucky you are, and how strange all of this life is, and wonderful too.

Even if you never do it, I'll imagine you did. How amazing it would be to have my name adorn a place I shall never visit but can only imagine it through the words of a stranger.

p.s. M-A-R-I-A-M (wink)
7/12/2007 3:45 PM

Goo - I'm starting to wonder if this will ever end.
When my eyes are closed, just before falling asleep, I see vivid images of my life as I would like it to be.
Done.
___________________________________________________________________
Kieran said...
You are banned from complaining about the weather if you go to the South Pole. Sorry, but that's the law.
7/13/2007 2:14 AM

Kieran - Talking about the weather is about the most tame conversation you'll hear down here. It makes us feel normal. That's what normal people in the real world talk about all day long, right?
___________________________________________________________________
Crystal said...
you going to answer our questions or what you big tease
7/13/2007 5:09 AM

Crystal - I'm getting to that.
___________________________________________________________________
tommy said...
Neal, Please read the post I made while reading your Feb 06. Thanks.
7/13/2007 11:53 AM

Tommy - I did read it, thanks for posting. I'm glad you're reading along.

___________________________________________________________________
Al said...
Neal,
How about a walkthrough of your average work day, with pics? Perhaps from the time you get up, until the time you turn in for the evening?
7/15/2007 6:23 AM

Al - http://nowhere-to-go-but-up.blogspot.com/2006/05/twenty-four-hours-at-pole.html
___________________________________________________________________
Laurie said...
If a penguin farts and nobody is around, is it still smelly? (Is that PG?)
7/15/2007 7:00 AM

Laurie - Penguin farts don't stink in the first place.
___________________________________________________________________
WaterDon said...
Al has a good idea. A couple of years ago Jessica Dempsey with JACARA did "a day in the life" photo essay of her usual work-day. Glenn Kinoshito did something similar last year while following different people around during their daily routine.
7/16/2007 5:22 AM

WaterDon - See my reply to Al above.
___________________________________________________________________
Anonymous said...
When is this year's MEN OF THE SOUTH POLE calendar going to be released?
7/16/2007 4:41 PM

Anon - This is the most asked question on here. It's nice to know I'm liked not just for my mind, but for my body. Actually, am I even liked? I've checked around and nobody seems too interested in getting naked in front of a camera this year.
___________________________________________________________________
Annie Rhiannon said...

Can you post more pictures of yourself?

/20/2007 1:57 AM

Annie - Here ya go, it doesn't get much fresher than this....

___________________________________________________________________
Dave said...

Neal,
I have a question for your list of clean questions:
What is the purpose of the panels with the holes in them mounted at an angle in this picture of you from last year?
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1418/1932/1600/DSC_0043.jpg
Thanks,
Dave
7/20/2007 3:47 AM

Dave - That's just the building designer's idea of decoration.

bye bye bellulah said...
Do you ever feel as though you are seperate from the rest of the world? As though what you do where you are doesn't quite count because it's out of context from the 'real world'? Do you have a different view of world events/politics? Or do you take your context with you and still view it through 'at home' eyes?
7/20/2007 11:08 AM

bye bye - I am seperate from the real world, I'm at the south pole. I wouldn't say that what I do counts any less that what the average westerner's doings counts for. I don't fell like that because I don't drive a car to work or pay bills that I don't count. As for world politics, I'm just as disconnected from all of that as ever. The poor internet connection has made it hard to keep track of what Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton are up to these days.

Until I come up with something to say, here's another group photo of my wonderful south pole family. For the first time ever, I got to stand in the front during a photo. I also was getting my behind grabbed the whole time too, which is why I was smiling. Believe it or not, only a few people here this winter are left out of this photo. Nobody seems to be able to actually count all of the heads. What do you come up with?

One of these days I'll get around to answering the questions from my last post. Keep adding more until then. My problem isn't laziness (which indeed exists) or that I'm too busy (which I pretend to be a rampant problem for me), but rather we are having severe internet shortages here. Normally we have about 11.5 hours of internet each day provided by three different satellites zooming around in space. Those satellites are named MARISAT, TDRS, and GOES, in order of appearance. The first and third of those share the same dish for communication with us at pole. Last week that dish quit working correctly. Without going into more detail than that, I'll just say we have lost the beginning and end of our internet. That means limited usage for awhile (forever?). Until then, me posting on here is going to be a bit scarce. I know, I know, that will be hard for you all to accept, but you have to be strong. Be strong little warrior, be strong.

The past two weeks it has been pretty miserable outside. There have been high winds and low temperatures, even by south pole standards, meaning that walking around outside has been a bit of a chore. First of all, the sustrugi grow faster than they can be mowed down by our grooming equipment. Walking over hardened sustrugi is about like walking across a staircase that has fallen over on it's side. If you were to follow me outside, and actually be able to see me, you would view me take a few steps, trip over an unseen sustrugi, stumble, catch my fall, nearly twist and ankle, get my balance, curse, walk a few more steps and repeat the whole process. Second of all, when the windchill is below -160F, with wind penetrating the best ECW (extreme cold weather gear), the desire to walk headlong into the wind diminishes significantly. Goggles freeze over here so you are left with thinking about whether it's better to have your eyelids freeze, or the eyeballs. Eventually your eyelashes freeze together so the debate is over. Thirdly, there's the visibility. Not much to see with no sun anyway, but the high winds stir up ice particles into the air and make it so that you can't tell what sort of surface you're walking on and there are no visual cues as to where you're heading. Plus your eyelids or goggles are frozen over anyway so it probably doesn't matter.

Then, for the last two days, the wind has stopped. The air was completely still today but noticeably cooler, with the rule of thumb being high winds = high temps and vise versa. Machines don't like the cold, but humans don't like the wind. With a clear skies we were treated to a wonderful view of the landscape around us that has been sculpted by the winds. When you can actually see them, rather than trip over them, sustrugi are a magnificent sight. It's like somebody came through a Japanese zen garden and raked designs all over the place. My walk to work involved my normal habit of checking out the sky for aurora, and for the first time in weeks I was rewarded with a little show of swaying green. I saw a shooting star, my third of the season. There was some forlorn satellite beeping it's way across the horizon. The milky way was crystal clear. There were perfect views of the Magellanic clouds and the Southern Cross. Compared to when there are high winds and clouds obscuring the sky, this is like the difference between an old black and white television and a spanking new HDTV. There was enough glow in the sky and lack of wind in my face to make my way easily around the sustrugi snow sculptures. I'll take weather conditions like today over anything the past few weeks have had to offer anytime.

Between now and awhile from now there seems to be a gap of time where there's nothing much worth blogging about happening here. Anyone who knows enough about my blog can tell that I'm giving the G, at best PG, version of the story here at the south pole (for those of you playing along in countries outside the USA, we have a movie rating system as such: G=kiddie film, PG or PG-13=teenager & older, R=adult, X or NC-17=porn). I leave rumors, scandals, and people's personal lives out of this. I focus on myself mostly because I know the most about myself, and I know how much can be shared on the topic (and I'm incredibly vain). So, there's stories, just not stories to tell. There are things going on, just nothing to talk about. There is news, but nothing newsworthy. You get the idea. So my mission to you my blogging loyal and those just passing by, is to ask me some questions about it all. I'm sure I've covered most topics in my previous posts over a year and a half down here, but sometimes I get surprised by new questions and I really don't expect everyone to go back and read every last word I've written. Feel free to ask anything, just keep in mind the bit leading up to this that says keep it PG rated.

Just outside the station is a small room reserved for smoking. It's not a bar, our bar was torn down earlier this season to make way for a new logistics facility (progress), but rather just a box used to keep smokers warm while they do thier thing. The smoking facility, as I have been instructed to call it, is outside the main entrance to the station on the skiway side, commonly referred to as Destination Alpha. The smoking facility comes fully equipped with a few chairs, a table, two couches, a television, and even a bathroom. The bathroom is just an outhouse that has been scooted up next to the door to the smoking facility. Because of this, there isn't a good seal around the doorway which allows snow to blow inside. The bathroom is also not heated at all and you can actually feel the wind blowing up through the toilet from the outside, which is never warmer than about -40.