1/24/2002, Room 250,Bldg 155 - MCMURDO STATION!!!!!!!!
We stayed up late last night for mid-rats (midnight rations) and laundry and got up early this morning for chores. We emptied stoves, washed dishes, rinsed recyclables, sorted trash, turned in stinky sleep kits, and bleached pee bottles. Jamie and John get to finish these tasks with the rest of the gear and equipment when it comes in from the field later this weekend. They are staying here a few more days than the rest of us.
The next LC-130 flight to Christchurch is scheduled for tomorrow morning. We are through bag drag (see picture) which is aptly named, as it means dragging bags up a steep hill to get them weighed and carted off to the runway. They take everything we have to the runway early except our one carry-on. We got weighed too. Not fun.
Next step is to show up at 7:30 tomorrow morning to be dragged ourselves on a one hour giant (literally) bus ride to Pegasus Field, the summertime ice runway. We will have flown into or out of every runway here by the time we leave!
We are now just hoping that the fog clears for an on-time departure! Although that means ending our great adventure and journal entries... thank you all for your comments, warm wishes, and for staying tuned all these weeks!
1/24/2002, A quiet, dark corner of McMurdo
Okay, sssssh. Its nearly the end of the expedition and I've sneaked away from all the others. There's something I really had to do.
Its about time that someone had the guts to dish the real dirt, don't you think?
Have you read the posts in this journal? Are we nice people or what? Don't we all just love each other? Course we do. We're all angels arent we. Not a nasty habit amongst us.
What a load of balloney (I know I sound American, its been a long two months of indoctorination).
I've had enough so here's the truth about all your favorite ANSMET Team Members. Good and bad.
RALPH HARVEY - Team leader
Good - Should be on the stage, could make a tax demand seem hilariously funny if he wanted to. Enormously generous with it.
Bad - Hurts people's ribs through malicious application of humour.
JOHN SCHUTT - Mountaineer
Good - A legend. The man that will pull you out of a crevasse with his bare teeth.
Bad - Gives instructions using completely incomprehensible hand gestures ("You want me to do what with my skidoo?").
JAMIE PIERCE - Mountaineer
Good - Very good replacement for Ralph as expedition entertainer. Like John could pull you out of crevasse with bare teeth. Patience (he tented with me).
Bad - Britney Spears. Need I say more. Taste man, taste.
NANCY CHABOT - ANSMET First Officer
Good - Enthusiastic, energetic and fun.
Bad - Chabot weather. Duck was right (see below), I just know it was her.
MAGGIE TAYLOR - Team Member
Good - Big hearted, kind and then all of a sudden surprisingly mischievious.
Bad - hmmmm, hmmmm, hmmmmm nope can't think of anything at all.
CARI CORRIGAN - Team Member
Good - hmmmm, hmmmm.....oh alright I'll be honest. Funny, mischievious, gregarious, great sense of humour and a good sport.
Bad - Well apart from being a bit quick with the camera everytime my back was turned, nothing. Oh yes, sticks her tongue out at people when prevoked. Shocking behaviour.
LINDA MARTEL - Team Member
Good - Sweet to everyone, all the time. Quite remarkable.
Bad - Sweet to everyone, all the time. She even means it. Well I think its bad!
JUANITA RYAN - Team Member
Good - Generous, witty, smiled a alot even when the going got bad.
Bad - Reminded me of my infants (kindergarden) teacher. I had difficulty reading and she used to keep me in at play time to help me. That was really, really bad. Just know that Juanita resembled my teacher on purpose.
DUCK - Team Mascot
Good - Its like living in a Monty Python movie sometimes. Talk about humour. Not only that but he's as reliable as they come. Could pull you out of a crevasse (not with bare teeth though - probably whilst balancing a fish on his head).
Bad - Right more often than me.
BFC, MAC OPS, AIR OPS (and crews) and everyone in McMurdo - Team Members
Good - They go the extra mile in doing their jobs and ensuring that science can be done on this continent.
Bad - They haven't done a thing about keeping Nancy Chabot and her weather systems away from Antarctica.
NICOLE KIDMAN - Fantasy Team Member
Good - C'mon.
Bad - Has never even considered going out with me.
MATT GENGE - Team Member
Good - Made the ANSMET Team an even number.
Bad - Irrational fear of soap products, caused irritable bowel syndrome in all expedition members by consistently forgetting to take down the pooh tent flag, apparently suffers from blue-black colour blindness (ice - blue, meteorites - black), smug when accidentally tripping over meteorites destined for other members of the team, nicotine withdrawl went critical after 25 minutes in the field, reckless treatment of expedition equipment resulting in one member of team having a fat lump on the back of her skidoo, no dress sense, not concious before 11 am even if mobile, couldn't cook a TV dinner in a microwave, and .... was to camp organisation and efficiency what hampsters are to nuclear physics. A cute distraction.
Okay scratch cute.
So there you have it. ANSMET, nine great people and me.
1/24/2002, mens room shower, building 155, McMurdo Station
Glorious, glorious, freely running water!
On instant demand! No more little pans sitting on an Optimus stove, slowly absorbing calories!
HOT RUNNING WATER!
All over my body! And mixed with soap? Oh, what a marvelous combination!
And it can be used whenever I want! Four showers a day? Why not? I can be as clean as a cat!
Glorious, glorious plumbing!
INDOOR PLUMBING!
No more cold angry wind while I'm answering nature's call! My bare bottom stays nice and warm. Oh, what a marvelous invention!
No need to hesitate when the time has come!
Glorious, glorious washing machine!
AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINE!
Add detergent, turn it on and presto! Clean underwear! What a marvelous device!
No more wearing the same set of awful, stinky clothes for weeks at a time! I can change clothes by the hour!
How great civilization is! I love my fellow man, especially if he or she is in the plumbers' union!
1/24/2002, McMurdo still
The Terra Bus is the monster of a people carrier. A red coach with wheels taller than a person and all the acceleration of an arthritic slug. This morning at 7.30 we all clambered into the belly of the beast to be transported over to Willy's field to catch our LC130 North. Half way to Scott Base MCC came on the radio to say the flight is delayed till 14.00 because of bad weather. A groan echoed round the bus. The Ops room casually told the driver she could turn around and come back to McMurdo. She grinned madly. The road was about as wide as "Ivan" the Terra Bus and it has a turning circle of around 200 yards. She then performed one of the most impressive three point turns in transport history.
The flight is delayed because of the low cloud that often hangs over the Ross Sea. Its not that we can't take off, you can take off in virtually any weather in an LC130. Problem is if anything goes wrong it would be kind of nice to be able to land again somewhere closer than Christchurch.
You can and should never be too carefull in the Antarctic. Something goes wrong here there's very little room for error. It was the same in the field. We were perfectly safe as long as nothing went wrong. For example, even in the worst of weather you can stay warm given the right clothes. You can run, jump, do aerobics, sing at the top of your lungs, what ever is your thing. As long as you've the energy, staying warm is a state of mind. Fall down a crevasse and suddenly everything changes. That's where John and Jamie come into their own. As field guides they're in the risk limitation business, recognising the things that could go wrong before they happen. They're good at what they do. Air Ops do the same thing. If they say its not safe to fly you can be disappointed, you can be frustrated but you should feel a little safer. For now all we can do is wait.
