SNAFU a go-go!

November 4, 2007
SNAFU
Yes that’s right folks, situation normal all fucked up. And here on the frozen end of the world one would like to think that things would be run a bit more efficiently, but add the government or this contractor to the operation and one gets a ridiculous, bordering on the insane methodology of dealing with small problems. Safety is the number one thing we are told repeatedly as getting injured badly requires a medivac trip to New Zealand, a 7 hour flight on the C130. One wants to then assume that safety is the first priority, but I have found several things that could not be done correctly due to lack of parts, small parts, equipment and tools. I have also "stumbled" upon safety irregularities but to report stuff seems to be put on the hot spot, one person likened the experience as being under some sort of criminal scrutiny. Rumor has it that one gets to do this reporting and filling out of endless paperwork on your time off. Since there is little of that, one day off a week, lots goes unreported.

Case in point, there is this out of compliance ladder to a trap door in a building and there was a work order to replace the ladder with an aluminum one. My friend spent the entire morning getting the materials together to fix it and at lunch found out he needed a different kind of order, which had been issued, but not marked on the order. So after lunch he found the real order and looked at the job, but to use what is on site would require the trap door to be removed and a railing put around the opening to make it "safe". But that is not what’s in the order. Now the whole thing has to wait for approval on high, a job that could have been done in one or two days is now going to take 4 or five weeks, and that’s if any parts needed can get flown in or come on the ship that arrives in February. If it comes on the 09 ship then it will get fixed some time in 09. Meanwhile, the thing remains "unsafe". Yes your tax dollars at work folks! My dear brother in law, I think of you and your work in improving efficiency. I can see why you would not want to deal with government operations, it isn’t about fixing the problems, it’s about creating work for the minions!

So in my first week, they medivaced out 2 or 3 folks. The first was a young lady who was issued a ladder for her bunk bed, but they had no bolts on site. This is a safety issue if ever there was one. She was alone in her shared room climbing in the bunk Saturday night, rather early as she was on an early shift and the ladder fell off. She fell and hit her head on a desk and was found unconscious on the floor. No one knew how long she was there. Word has it that she has a severe case of amnesia and is still in the hospital in Christchurch. Another guy cut of a chunk of his hand on a table saw. Rumor has it that a third was shipped in from Pole who was really sick and needed hospitalization. That’s just the first week. They say that the worse time for this stuff is in January. We’ll see.

One would think it might be too cold for viruses. Not so, the flu was going around big time. I got a shot and have been ok so far, but when it hits, one goes into quarantine. That means one is stuck in the room and food is brought in. I am not sure if that means the roomie is also, but my room resembles a Siberian prison cell with a view (except it is warm, unlike the common bathroom). I would loose it for sure! We had an interesting weather day yesterday; with the wind chill it was colder than Pole, -18, wc -49. Yeah. Walking was interesting. Not too bad with the wind at one’s back, but I work at the bottom of a hill and the wind was in my face. I bummed rides from workers in trucks so it worked out. Today is better and I think at -5 wc -20..

Took my first trip to the kiwi base 2 miles away. This is very rocky, hilly, volcanic terrain. Took a shuttle as it was damn windy then too although the walk is a pleasant one over, coming back is mostly uphill. Anyway I was struck by how well thought out and organized the kiwis are. The bar is a bit too pristine; at least the bars at McMurdo have some character to them. But Scott Base is very well built. One gets around almost the entire base without going outside under difficult weather conditions. This was figured out a long time ago in Minnesota and other places, they are called malls and skyways! Anyway this is the perfect place to practice for colonization for life on other planets and the moon. That’s what is happening at Pole.

McMurdo started out as a temporary military outpost and it seems like someone threw some stones up in the air, where they landed was where stuff got built. It’s not unlike old Boston that was built around the cow trails. There are some really nice modern buildings; they are all about the science which is the reason for being her in the first place. There are about 200 scientists here doing work. So the question is how many worker bees does it take to replace a light bulb for one scientist and other equations of that variation. Apparently a lot. You do the math. There are about 1,000 people here in station. At my first all hands meeting we were informed that accidents have been reduced and things are running more "efficiently". Yikes.

The bar scene is pretty wild and crazy. My favorite is the coffee house and wine bar; it reminds me of the dome, that’s Deer Lake Charlie’s in northern Minnesota. It was the old navy officers club. Gallagher’s is where they have most of the wild bands, (yes improv bands, not organized long time bands, they do a pretty good job.) Last night was 70 and 80’s night. And it gets very hot and sweaty and very crowded. They close at 11 on work nights, 1 on Saturday nights. The Southern reminds me of the Neighborhood Tavern, Effie, MN in atmosphere. Have yet to get to the corner bar, can’t do everything in the first week. But at least I made it though. The food is pretty good, they get freshies (fresh fruit) in on every flight and there are 2-3 in each week not including the returns on the medivacs.

Gone South for the Winter

Technically I am not an "empty nester", my 2 adult children are currently living at home. I am no longer feeling the need to chaperon, chauffeur, cook and clean (the 4 C's as I call it). If fifty is the new thirty, then I am ready to go! I have decided to see as much of the planet as I can afford. I started with the hardest place, Antarctica. I got a job at McMurdo Station on Ross Island.

People say what was it like? Big, white, far away, like being on another planet. Parts were fabulous, parts were horrible. I met the greatest people there, all with a stories of their own. I wrote to many people each week with a different theme. I was asked to publish some of them and so here it is. The above picture of me was taken on a trip to Cape Evans. We rode in a delta and that thing over my shoulder is an ice slug, a Weddell seal. Here's my first communique:

Greetings from the bottom of the Earth

Hello to all, what an experience getting here! I had window seats for the entire trip with the exception of the C17 military transport to McMurdo. I flew right over the fires in California. They were very bright at the nighttime take off from LAX. I got an entire row to myself on the trip to New Zealand, so I got a good night's rest for being on a plane! I am still adjusting to the time though but I think it was an easier transition than going east to Europe or Africa.

New Zealand is great, in the height of spring and all flowers and gardens were in their finest. It smelled good too. The houses are all neat and tidy, no slums to speak of and the streets of Christchurch are very clean. They do drive on the opposite side of the road from the US so it takes a bit to get used to crossing streets. Had only a short time there, the Y is a nice place to stay. We flew out on the 26th to the ice. Flying in the C17 was neat, but weird not to be able to see or have a sense of where one is on take of and landing. The flight was over a lot of ocean, I have included what it looked like flying over the continent. Antarctica is larger than the lower 48 in the USA. There are lots of mountains and glaciers easily visible from the C17. Landed on the sea ice where the ice is about 7 feet thick, obviously enough to hold the weight of the enormous plane.

The day I landed was the nicest one they've had down here for some time, it was a balmy 1 above and no wind. I traveled south with lots of "polies", folks shipping out to Pole. They are still here in town (McMurdo), so it's pretty crowded. Speaking of crowded, my room is a glorified broom closet, albeit one with a great view of Mt. Discovery, one of the three largest mountains in the area. It's pretty warm in the all the buildings. The food is not too bad, although the milk is made (pretty well) from powder. All the buildings have the equivalent to an air lock, much like being in space or what living on another planet might be like.

Last night was the first of what I am told are many big parties. It was the annual Halloween party, and it was jammed packed. They get pretty creative with the costumes! As it got hotter and hotter with the wild dancing in the old gymnasium (which was dark except for the special lighting), when ever anyone opened the doors, bright light would spill in as well as huge amounts of condensation and the effect was to make the whole place become enveloped in fog, like dry ice effects on a very large scale. Just about everyone has those red coats called big red, locating yours own is interesting. Hundreds are hung or thrown on the floor and they are almost identical. Everyone has their name on a Velcro strip so that you know who is who outside and which one is yours inside. Really have to remember exactly where you dropped it. I did lose a mitten though, I will try to retrieve it later today. Sunglasses are required at all times outside, even at 3 AM.

I have an office to myself, and it's bigger than my room, overlooks all the action out on the runway and later in the season, the dock for the icebreakers and, fuel ship and freighter. I thought maybe I'd move in there! There is lots to do, I am helping with the conversion of the power, water and waste water treatment plants to a new system of accounting for time worked, work orders and maintenance schedules. Its the life link for the base, if the power goes out, we are screwed! I am getting a hepatitis vaccine to work there although I will not be doing anything with the plant contents.

I also hope to be taking a winter survival course way out on the bay, which is frozen to a depth of 20 feet. I will have to sleep outside and learn to survive on the survival kit all are issued when leaving the base in any vehicle. I am hoping to put it off a long as possible so that it will be warmer. It's really the wind that gets one here. I will sleep in either a tent or an igloo that I will build. My "travel mate" Karen who I met in Denver is one of the survival instructors. She is an experienced mountain climber and instructor who works at Denali in Alaska. We've hit it off pretty well.

There is lots to do here, 3 or 4 bars, workout places, movies, a library, a store, where I already spent money, a funky bowling alley with humans as pin setters like in the old 'n timey days, and as I have yet to discover, outside activities. I hope to get out for a hike today, it is sunny, but too windy for skiing at the moment. it's 2, wc -35, spring weather for sure! Lots damn colder at Pole, like -65. Sun is up all the time, there are dark covers for the windows, it’s an adjustment.

It’s been kind of hard to get on the sleep schedule when it is light all the time, they provide a shade for the window but it really is not enough to stop the light. The sun is directly outside the window and it gets hot! I brought a fan with me, I am a fan addict and the white noise is good. The walls in this building are thin as paper, and I am definitely the oldest woman in the building. I share a bathroom with 22 other young women, 2 sinks, 2 stalls, 2 showers. Interesting. Privacy is fleeting at best. Modesty is highly overrated!

What a different world!

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