Still McMurdo......

     Well, Saturday was a long day of getting dressed in our ECW gear, dragging our carry on bags up the hill, waiting, flight delay, undressing, and restarting the process over and over again.  Thus no flights made it out on Saturday to the South Pole:(  so I am still here at McMurdo.   With all the delays I didn't even get to work in the clinic but I did get lots of rest in between all the delays. 
     With all the "rest" that I got Saturday I was full of energy for Saturday night.    Good thing as that there was alot going on around town.  After a visit to the gerbil gym and dinner I was able to see the new Warren Miller film "Dynasty" Saturday evening.   I thought this year's movie was better than last years but I do miss Warren Miller's narration skills.  In recent years the Greensboro Ski and Outing Club has hosted this event at a local theatre.  Hopefully they will be doing this again this year although I won't make it.  At intermission they usually have door prizes and a raffle.  We also had some door prizes that were donated by various business in Christchurch, New Zealand.  I actually won a Thai dinner in Christchurch-good thing in doesn't expire until December '10.  Would anyone like to join me?:) 
     Following the Warren Miller Film I had been invited to a "carp" party and made it there in time to hear the last 2 bands.   I got there aound 2200 and it was packed.  The guy who had told me about the party had a diet pepsi waiting for me:)  My first one in a couple of weeks.  With the previous rest and the caffine I closed the party down around 0100 and ended up reading til about 0200.  Great party although I personally could of done without seeing the last band's lead singer in a fish-net tank top, although their music was pretty good. Apparently  the carpenter shop throws about 4 parties a season.  They spend the day building a stage to host the bands that have been put together down here on the ice.   I am not sure where they get all the beer from but there were lots of beer can towers being built.  Kersey, our dentist, would smash a beer can and toss it across the room knocking down the towers.  (She reminds me of my sister's friend Pam who was doing the same thing at Octoberfest in Delaware).  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures as that they don't allow cameras into the party. (something to do with the NSF).
     Sunday brunch at 1000 was great.  Lots of fresh fruit, belguin waffles with whiped cream..... It was cold and windy so no hiking but spent the day with my friend "Shuttle Susan" driving around the town and visited the New Zealand Scott base. Otherwise a pretty lazy day.  Sunday night's science lecture revolved around the South Pole transverse.  Instead of flying fuel, cargo, and supplies to the SP there is a "traverse" where 8-10 people take approximately 30 days to drive heavy equipment pulling fuel.... across the Ross ice shelf, "swamp" to the SP.  Apparently saves alot of money.  They stay at the SP for about a week and then come back to Mc Murdo with waste and cargo.  During the travels they stop for lunch and routinely to check the load.  At night they sleep in alittle house that they pull behind them.  I can't imagine taking 25-30 days to drive around 1000 miles across ice pulling stuff.  I would go crazy despite itunes or books on tape.  It is interesting how they find and elimate craveses that could potentially cause problems.   They use a type of sonar ultrasound that leads the pack and when the math/physics states that the ice bridge can't hold their weight they just blow it up and fill it in and keep on going. Pretty cool.  (obviously a very simple explanation).

     Monday and Tuesday were spent waiting for flights while working at the clinic.  After work on Monday the hospital staff had a private tour of Scott Hut.  Scott's Hut was built in 1911 by the British Antarctic Expedition led by Ralph Scott.  In this 50' by 25' hut 25 men lived just prior to setting out for the South Pole.  Unfortunately no one survived.  The hut was later used by Shackleton in 1915.  In 1917 the hut was preserved with allot of artifacts.  Currently a hut has been built around the original hut to preserve the hut.  Before entering the hut you have to listen to the warnings about anthrax and asbestosis that exist in the hut.  Using a flashlight you can see some of the stuff left over from those early days.  As you approach the outside the wind is really blowing on the point, so much so that my glasses frosted over.  Just outside the door is a dead seal from the early 1900's.  Inside the door is a bunch of preserved seal meat and bones with a musty odor that permeates throughout the hut.  As you walk through the hut it is hard to imagine 25 men living in these quarters and in Antarctic conditions.  Not far from the hut is a cross that was erected, however this cross represents the men lost with Shackleton's party.  There is a cross erected in memory of Scott on "obs hill", that overlooks McMurdo.  (As that all my gear has been packed up and inaccessible for the last week I have not been able to hike up there yet.  I might be able to find some shoes in skua.)
Thus it is Tuesday night and I am sitting in the CoffeeHouse with Susan, Mia, Cesear, and Dan updating my blog and waiting for the flights to commence to the South Pole.  Tomorrow night is a lecture by our lead doc, Ken Iserson, about decomposing bodies-a perfect Halloween theme.