I Saw the Sign

24-Hour Sundial at 3 AM. Did anyone notice it goes backwards?




































































Notice the Pluralization of the Pluralization of the word 'Man'

































Sign on my dorm room door.











The "Ivan the Terra-Bus" Stop.
















Swedish Icebreaker R/V Oden in view.

There is no one under the age of 18 on Station.

Turkeys and Cribs

Merry Christmas! I'm on the tail end of my second second day off of the season. Did ya catch that? Anyhow, Christmas dinner was today and there was quite a smorgasboard, let me tell you. Shrimp, Lobster Tail, fresh peppers and carrots and asparagus. I am totally stuffed. I hope everyone at home is eating this well, frankly.
First on my list of life accomplishments: rolling three strikes in a row on the oldest bowling alley in this hemisphere:

As you might imagine for a 40 year old bowling alley that has had little to no maintenance, the lanes are a little unpredictable, but once you get used to the different slopes and slants of each lane, oooh baby, it's sweet. The other folks on the scorecard are the night Jano squad and one significant other.


Also on this week's significant happenings, Nick, Taryn and I won the contest for ballinest janitor closet on station. The prize? 2.5 hours off from work any time we feel like it. It may sound crazy, but I was almost in tears at the sight of it. Here's a carefully crafted panoramic photo of our closet, also known as the J-Crib:

Note the ballin aquarium and custom nameplate on the door. Out of view are several strands of christmas lights, a lavalamp, a pimped-out backpack vaccuum, and a solid gold mop bucket.

I am a Happy Camper (sorta)

Hey folks, I warned ya that I wouldn't wait so long between posts anymore. So I was going to bed thursday morning at about 10 AM, when the boss walks into my room and says, "Jesse? You awake?" I reply "Grmthmph. Huh? Yeah?"
She goes on, "The Chalet called; do you want to do Happy Camper tomorrow?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay, check your email when you wake up tonight for the details."
Now, being on night shift, happy camper is a real interupption of my sleep schedule. It's like if you worked all day until 8 PM, and then at 8:30 leaving for the trip, digging holes all night, building walls, setting up tents, carving out Quinseys, and finally go to bed at 10:00 the next morning.
I was exausted by the time we were ready to turn in. I had chosen to sleep in a 'Survival Trench,' also known as 'the grave that saves.' It's essentially just a hole that you cover with snow blocks to survive extreme weather. The problem with the trench was that our weather was FAR from extreme. I think the low wind chill was somewhere around 15 degrees, but after the wind died it climbed to over freezing. This was the crappy part. I got pretty soaked. I had good gear of course, so I wouldn't say that I got cold, though my feet were chilly towards morning.
The other members of my camper trip included: 2 cargo guys, 2 prep cooks, 1 shuttle driver, 1 mechanic, me and Stan, night Janos, and 2 beakers. One beaker was an exogeologist who was travelling to a tiny field camp on a cravasse filled glacier to hunt for meteorites. He was obviously the reason that we were all there. You see, us low-totem pole folks don't need this training, but anyone going on a helo or field camp or anything like that needs the survival training. So when one guy like him needs the trip, a whole bunch of us get to go as a morale trip. Anyway, it was a great time, but I am totally exausted now.
We all turned in around 10:30, a half hour after when I would normally start work. I woke up at midnight totally convinced that I had slept the whole night through. Keep in mind that the sun does shine all the time, so it coulda been any time. So I got out of bed, started to wait for everyone else to wake up. I thought it might have been like 6:00 in the morning. Finally, someone with a watch got up to use the bathroom and broke the news to me. I had slept 1.5 hours. Damn. So I wandered around for a while and finally got back to sleep around 4 AM until about 6:30. Then breakfast and a quick movie tour of my campsite. So here it is for your viewing pleasure. If your wondering why I'm not talking, did you ever hear of 'Cowboy Coffee?' Well, I took a nice chunky sip of some right before I started filming. Sorry. So I'll narrate in text:

First, me, then my grave, and then a quick pan around camp. Note the awesome Scott Tents, a truly Antarctic tent.

Anyhow, that's about all I have the juice to write. As a consolation, take this picture from the very last sunset of the year, which I believe was Oct. 22.

Seals, Penguins, and Skuas! Oh My!

I know I've been really, really lazy about this blog folks. I'm sorry, but since I switched to night shift it's been very hard to get into a computer. Now I have access to the wireless network at Crary Lab and I'll be able to keep up a lot better.
The biggest thing I have to report right now is that the fringe benefits of working at the lab are finally starting to kick in. Last week I got to go to Cape Royds, normally off limits, under the guise of a diver retrieving some instruments. Little did the paperwork know that 14 members of the Crary Science Support Staff (including the janitors) were going to 'help' Rob get the current sensors out from under the ice. As many of you don't know, Cape Royds is the historic point where Sir Ernest Shackleton set up camp for his 'Nimrod' expedition and several of his men spent the winter. It was also the headquarters of his attempt at reaching the South Pole when he got to within 100 miles, but had to turn back or die. Of course, the visiting politians stole the key to the hut, so we didn't get to go inside. But that didn't bother most of us too much, because right outside the hut is a colony of 1500 Adelie Penguins! Without further ado, here is what you all have been waiting for: pictures of penguins.
This little guy was the first penguin ever laid eyes on

Looking Stoic and Cute at the Same time?

Crary Lab Janitorial Staff aka the J-Crib (pictured in front of Bairn Glacier Shelf)

Here's a video of one little guy trying to decide when to jump.


Here's me in front of three seals.

Crary Science Support Staff

More Penguins

Just a-froliking

Taryn the Day Jano tries to win the photo contest of the Telluride Daily Planet Newspaper

The colony is protecting the eggs they have laid and the chicks that have hatched, but this dastardly skua waits for an opportune moment.

The fenced in area you see in several photos is how the research team studies the foraging habits of the animals. A known number of breeding pairs have been fenced in and implanted with RFID chips. The 'Penguin Ranch' has only one entrance and exit, and whenever an animal enters or exits, a computer reads which individual it is and the animal steps on a presice scale. This enables the beakers to figure out which penguins are eating and how much. It also gives them insight into whether the male or female does more foraging and when. Anyhow, it's about my bed time, so I'll leave you with the promise that it won't be two months before my next entry.
Take care!

Last weekend of spring.....

Dudes.
Well, it's been a while since I rapped at ya. I been awful busy either working all the time or falling asleep with a glass of the Glen Livet in hand. It's friday night and next week our population will double with new staff and plenty of scientists (hereafter referred to as beakers). We had a crazy wicked blizzard for the last couple of weeks, here is a video I took when I may or may not have been wearing a t-shirt. You guess.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1981935649327202480

Here is another one of the same blizzard, but on a different day.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7759991268774775708


After the blizzard, we had the nicest day we've had since I got here. By a stroke of luck, this was the day all of us janitors were scheduled to take a tour of some of the scientific outposts. The ring or halo around the sun is a phenomenon known as a 'Sun Dog,' but I don't really see the resemblance.

We also got to go inside the 'golf ball,' which is the main satellite dish. Here is a rather long and large video of it tracking a satellite.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=
-8138804913662948469

Anyhow, not much really to talk about. I'll just list a few pictures real quick, because it's last call right now.


Black Island and White Island

Ice Madness Sets in.....

Well, folks, I think I can say that I might just be getting used to life here on the ice. Today I jumped at the opportunity to have fresh green beans and even though they were mediocre-ly prepared they tasted like heaven nonetheless.
Today was a truly beautiful day and I tried to take some pictures around the base to quell the thirst of those who actually wanted to see pictures of where I live. So we'll start with my 'Cave,' my quarter of our 4-person room. It wasn't clean for this, but I had my camera on hand so here it is. I'm awfully proud of the set-up that came to me in a dream:
Here is my office area on top of my bed. The bed has adjustable height so I put it at top level and put my computer and stuff on top and then!











Put my hammock up underneath! Genius! If I could only get a few more inches I could put my mattress on the floor under the hammock, but until I get up to the carpenter shop and steal some 4x4 blocks, I'll just sleep in the hammock.









Well, I have a bunch more pictures, but either my computer is being stupid or blogger is being stupid, and won't let me load any more pictures. I'll get them up soon enough. But at least you get to see my badass cave. I'll write you all some letters from my elevated office.
Sarah! Send the shoes ASAP and they'll get here on first flight. But even if you're late, there'll be several planes coming in at a pretty regular intervals.
Mom! I'd love to bring your friend some sand, but keep in mind that it is illegal. That said, we ship about 2 metric tons of sand to california after me and my co-workers sweep it off the floor every year as trash! So I spose I can manage to scrape a few grains for him. The coffee bar is another name for 'Wine Bar,' we have about 6-8 wines on hand, as well as several liqeurs to mix with coffee, like amaretto, bailey's, jameson's whiskey, and peppermint schnapps for the hot chocolate. It is where I'm writing this now. It has a little more of a laid back ambiance than the other two bars. Southern Exposure is the smoking bar, it is the most like a 'real' bar that we have here, it's smelly and the bartenders are surly. Gallagher's is a lot slower (at least for now until we triple our population in Oct.) and it has the burger bar, the other place I work. That's where Bingo, Karaoke, et cetera take place. If I get the photos, that's also the place you can see me going crazy at the "beach party" we had a while back.
Well, lapotop's runnin out of juice, I better sign off while I can still post this when I get done.
Jesse

A very late update

Hi folks! Sorry, I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but I've been going nuts getting all these part-time jobs. I am now one of the elite band of Antarctic Bartenders. Hopefully that'll pan out and give me an in for a temporary job when I get back to the hemisphere. I'll let you know more about that when I actually get to work and not just train.

Also, I am working several hours a week at the Burger Bar, the only place in town to get a bite to eat not made in the (in)famous Galley. To any Galley employees that may be reading: the food is wonderful and I wouldn't change it if I could. Eric, Tilleman, et al ex-Pingrees, I have one word: Vegilene. The other night I cooked Burgers for two hours on a night that just happened to be especially appetizing at the Galley, and I made 42 dollars in tips. Not to mention the minimum wage added to my paycheck! Awesome gig, but it does give me nightmares of my old days working at Wendy's. It's a big responsibility to cook the only food that people actually have to pay money for around here. Also, the deep fryer is small and has only two baskets, but I serve three different types of fried potatoes. Small Seasoned Curlies!

Don't have any new pictures. I have to find a way to keep my camera battery warm, it keeps running out of juice when it gets too cold. Some of my friends have some pics, I'll get them soon. There was an awesome sunset today, and it was also the first time the actual glowing orb has been visible from in town; it is very rare that the sky is not totally obsured by clouds. I ran out to get a picture, but realized I left the battery on the charger. So I sat there and stared at it for a while, and all of a sudden I sensed a presence behind me. This is also a rare thing, because the giant red parka, hereafter to be reffered to as 'Big Red,' is very hard to hear and obstructs all peripheral vision. It turns out that for about 6 minutes I had been being filmed for an upcoming documentary on life at McMurdo, and they thought I looked interesting standing there and looking at the sun and the Royal Society Mountains.
Actually, since I started writing that paragraph, I'm now being filmed as we speak! I guess sitting here and writing a blog is just as film-worthy..... Maybe it's the glass of wine in my hand that intrests them more. That's much more representative of the lifestyle.

We got our official buildings to clean for the next month, until the next plane gets in and brings more janitors. I got the worst dorm, of course, the one I live in. Since it is the dorm that all of the low-tier employees live in, I have to clean up puke on a regular basis. I also have a bunch of firefighters for neighbors, and one of my co-workers has already been sexually almost-assaulted by one of them. He's young, and since there's no drinking age here he was a little crazy. I think he might be going home on the next flight, but I shouldn't fuel the rumor mill...... Also I clean the weight room, the bowling alley, and the craft/ceramics room, which are all the same building. And Mac Ops, which is where all air traffic, weather, and military support forces are taking place. That's a nice building, but the J-closets are about the size of my pants' waist line. I think in October, though, I may change and clean Crary Lab, the building that is described as "The reason we are all down here." I hope so, because it is the building most similar to the ones I was cleaning at CSU, and that is where anything interesting goes down.

Everyone who wants to send me stuff, I have started thinking of a wish list!

• Janet! Scratch the coffee, I got some in 'Skua,' which is the exchange system for things people don't want to take off the ice, and think other people can use. It is also a scavenging Antarctic bird. I also skuaed a french press, so I'm all set. And the bar I'm going to tend is the coffee bar, which it turns out is a somewhat misleading name.....
• Will! You can send Porno, and dried fruit is awesome. But by the time you get any food to me, we're already going to have freshies, and I probably won't want anything. Candy would be nice, there's a limited selection here.
• Things to hang on my wall. Everyone take a cool picture of yourself and send it to me.
• Emily-- you should send me some yarn and some knitting needles, Adam and Erin (my new best friends!) need some, and since you got that lucrative job at Lambspun, I think you are best equipped to do it. See if Will or anybody will put them in the package they're sending.
  
• CD-R's. I need to pirate some music.
• I need an extra pair of shoes. If anyone goes up to sierra trading post, get me a pair of 9.5's to 10's of anything. It doesn't have to be espescially warm or anything. One dude just wore crocs all winter, and he still has 10 toes. Just tennis shoes or something. I'll pay ya back when I get back or I'll send you something nice for christmas or something.

Thats about all I have to say about my life down here. As a closing note, I want to offer my love to the Pile family. Austin, I consider you a brother, I wish I could be there with you. Phoebe, we will miss you.