"You can do six of anything..." per Lisa Parks

     Lisa says you can do six of anything.  She was initially refering to our workouts at the gym serveral years ago however adapted the saying to everyday life.  I would always remind her of this at the most opertune times.  I am now reminding myself of the same saying.   I have about 6 months to go.  Thus far I enjoyed the summer season at the South Pole much more than the winter season.  The summer is incredibly busy with always something to do or people to do them with.  The winter season reminds me of a very slow pace life that you might find on a Carribean island when you don't have to work.  Most of you know I have a hard time sitting around for extended periods of time.  (unless it is on the boat) Except of coarse here it is covered in ice rather than sand/water and the tempertures are 80 below zero.  There are 46 other people here at the station.  I can walk the halls on our day off for hours and not run into anybody.  I tend not to be a reclusive person and like to keep busy.  It will be an interesting 6 months.  But as Lisa says you can do six of anything.

     My last blog was quite awhile ago.  As above not much happens during the winter.  From a medical standpoint that is fortunate. We have 2 trauma teams in the winter.  The second team is considered "advanced" even though none of them have any experience.  Currently I am training them how to draw blood and start IVs.  Something I last did about 20 years ago. This is Matt and Shelby practicing.  Anyway... since the last blog Ralf and I continue to operate the store on Friday evenings and have maintained our "theme nights".  The mushrooms and potatoes never took off but the lavender is beginning to grow nicely.  Still playing volleyball, a rare game of Settlers, watching a lot of movies and reading books.

     Our sunset dinner occurred on Saturday, March 20.  As usual the chefs out did themselves.  The menu was designed by Matt, our local artist.   Matt spends a lot of his free time painting and playing video games.  He is trying to teach  me to be a gamer.  So far I have made it to level II of Super Mario.  Dinner, especially desert was fabulous.  Dinner was followed by a party in the pool room, complete with disco lights, dance music...  Our next special dinner will be in June to celebrate "mid winter".  The actual sunset occurred sometime on Tuesday.  We did not get to see a green or blue flash.  A weather front moved in pretty quickly Tuesday and Wednesday so we did not get to see the fabulous colors that are usually present. (pic)  Gradually over the next several weeks it became darker, colder, and windier.  We began to see "yukimarimos".  These are little balls of snow that are blown across the landscape.  They are the size of golf balls but if you try to catch one and pick it up they just fall apart.  With all the drifting that has occurred with the winds it is pretty funny to watch people try to catch them.
     For the astronomy buffs the first 2 stars that were visible were Sirius and Canopus on March 30th.  By April 2cd we could also see Alpha Centauri and Jupiter.  At this time the sky is filled with stars.  It reminds me of sailing with Mindy and Reinhart.  When I was on night watch there were so many stars visible it was difficult to pick out the constellations.  Here at the South Pole most of you know that there is no "South Star".    The southern cross is easily visible.   Based on star maps for some reason a lot of the constellations are triangle based.  They are not quite as interesting as the northern constellation.  The amount of iridium flares down here is amazing.  They are usually every 8-9 minutes with a minus 8-9 magnitude.  We have even seen some prolonged tumbling flares.  The auroras are spectacular.  Our radios have been programed with an "aurora" channel so when one pops up an announcement is made on the aurora channel and you can go check it out.

     On April 13 around 1930 we reached an all time low, minus 100.7!!!! Several people managed to become members of the 300 club and received their commemorative patches.  To become a member of the 300 club you sit in the sauna at 200 degrees and then run outside to the geographical pole marker.  Clothing is optional however usually most people only wear their bunny boots and a gater.  I missed it due to playing volleyball.  Hopefully there will be another -100 plus so that I can earn my patch.
     Easter came up really fast and was uneventful.  Ella and I did paint ping pong balls and hid them throughout the station for people to find.  As of last week they are still turning up.  One of the things that happens as it gets dark is that all the windows are covered/blacked out to avoid light interference with some of the scientific experiments that occur during the winter.  In the galley the windows are about 3 feet by 3 feet.  We took large pieces of cardboard, painted them with various designs to cover the windows.   Matt drew me an outline of Antarctica and I filled it with one of my mazes.  The starting point is the South Pole and ending at McMurdo.   My sister would appreciate the maze as that I drew one, slightly smaller for her in college.
     Some winter over statistics that pertain to PAs/women include:  I am the 4th PA to winter over however it is noted that Heidi Lin had 5 winter seasons here.  The first PA to winter over was in 2002.  I am the 170th woman to winter over since a station was established at the South Pole in 1957.
Check out Cody's blog at www.antarcticcowboy.com  
  

Getting colder...

     Well since my last blog almost everything is shut down for the season.  It is amazing how much there is to do and how just 47 people can get it done.  Six miles of runway flags and markers were removed.  Flag lines to all used outlying buildings were set up so you can find your way outside in the dark of winter. Fuel lines were emptied and removed.  Buildings moved, winterized, and shut down. Heavy equipment winterized and stored.  Massive food pull brought inside and stored.  (They closed down and turned the heat off in the wing where I used to stay for the food storage) The Jamesways Summer Camp (houses about 150 people during the summer season) cleaned and shut down.  This part, although some of the rooms were absolutely disgusting, had some advantages.  There was a lot of water left in the Jamesway's tanks and they could not be drained.  Thus we were told to head out there and take as many and as long of a shower as we wanted until the water was depleted!!!  NICE.  People also left a lot of stuff.  Everything to booze, books, clothes to tvs.  It was a nice opportunity to pick up some free stuff if you needed anything.  All the leftovers went into Skua (kind of a good will).  I anticipate that I will be able to dig up future costumes for Ralf and my Friday theme nights at the store.  But we are almost done.
     Medical is still slow.  That is a good thing especially since there are only 47 of us here.  We are taking this time to reorganize the pharmacy and writing up protocals for different procedures.  We have a brand new trauma team with only 2 returning summer members (me and John).  Training has commenced.  We have already had several training sessions and drills.   Last Saturday our drill had Derek/Shelby on a snowmobile and they ran into the fish.  (The giant fish is left over from our ice sculptures that we did around Christmas)  The snowmobile flipped on top of Shelby resulting in a broken arm and rib fractures. Derek had gotten so excited he passed out.  Our team managed everything effectively given their minimal training thus far.  I found it interesting becaue it was minus 62 degrees with a wind chill of minus 100-the coldest that I have been outside in.  When you come back inside it takes you several minutes to get all your gear off and become re acclimated to the warmth.    Oh because the fish is huge and could cause a hazard this winter by someone walking into it we are holding a raffle to determine who gets to smash it with the D6.  Not sure what that is yet but hopefully it is big, regardless everyone who want to can get to learn how to drive it and then someone will get to smash the fish.  (pic)  I have already attended snowmobile and LMC classes.  The snowmobiles are a bitch-very difficult to start in these temperatures.  Now the LMCs are a lot of fun.  Easy to start, enclosed cabin, will go anywhere.
      I think that Ralf and I bring in the highest cash flow on Friday nights at the store.  It is hard to say if that is because of our enthusiasm with various theme nights or if people are getting an earlier start for Saturday night.  Our third night in the store our theme movie was "One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest".  I dressed up as nurse Ratchet and Ralf was in a straightjacket all night.  He had the perfect catatonic look.  (pic)  Last Friday our theme was "Deliverance".  We wore our carthart overalls with bad fake teeth and straw hats accompanied by a banjo.  It was funny trying to get Ralf, who has a German accent, to talk like he was from Georgia.  This past week the theme was Men in Black.   I got to be an alien this time.  Next week-not sure yet.  Send me some ideas.
      After extensive internet research we have had minimal success with our mushroom cultures.  One of six have grown.  We will see what happens with the one and try again.  We are also attempting to grow potatoes.   We are not allowed to grow flowers however Joe found a way around that.  We are growing lavender-herb-in the clinic, and a type of sunflower.   I am learning more and more about hydroponic gardening.  Ella seems to think that is why I like the lettuce/salads because it is not grown from the soil or chemically treated.
      The latest SP incident has been the issues with the poop trap.  Apparently no one has cleaned it like they were supposed to over the last year thus for the last two days I have been walking around with a mask on however it really hasn't helped much.  It got to the point Tuesday that we had to leave the clinic because of the powerful odors and were available on radio if anybody need us.  One trap down, two to go. :(  Many of you that really know me, know that I can't stand certain odors...so it was a difficult afternoon.  (Lisa it actually got to the point that I was gagging-don't read this during lunch)
     I have mentioned food pull before but now in the winter time we also have a "booze pull".  Apparently somewhere outside there is a building full of beer, wine, liquor, and SODA, I figured out where yet.  Well before it gets really, really cold it has to be brought into the station.  There is an all call throught the station for "booze pull".  Everyone dresses in their ECW gear and forms an assembly line from outside, up a couple flights of stairs and into the building.  A piston bully/forklift brings the triwalls full of the various beverages over to the outside stairs where they are unloaded, passed from person to person up the stairs and into the building.  There they are stored in various rooms (that have been shut down) until the store is restocked.   No caffeine free diet pepsi, diet pepsi, but they do have diet coke!!!!  Better than nothing.  I will have to make sure I wear my PEPSI sweatshirt while I am drinking a diet coke.
      Volleyball keeps me occupied 2 nights a week.  However depending on how many people show up it could be a short exhausting night.  I thought playing twos at sea level was challenging, try playing twos at altitude.  I have also started playing a game called "Settlers".  It is a board game where you have to build settlements, cities, roads, bridges, city walls.  In order to do this you have to sell resources: ore, wood, sheep, wheat.....  the game is never the same but takes a long time to play just one game.  I have discovered that I should only play on weekends because they end up staying up to late during the week and I wouldn't get much sleep.
     As the sun sinks lower on the horizon it is getting colder and windier.  Over the last week the cloud cover has been almost 100% with visibility at times 50 ft.  However over the last several days the system has moved on and the shadows and colors are magnificent.  The sun should set early next week.  Hopefully the horizon will remain clear so I will get some good pictures and maybe even see the green flash.  (although down here it is appears blue)  The station has several celebratory dinners throughout the season.  The first is coming up Saturday to celebrate the sunset.
   

Winter begins...

Since my last blog I have been incredibly busy however now that the south pole station has closed it has slowed down considerably and I can catch up.
After the holidays the station was very busy. Everyone was starting to get excited about going home within the next month. Those of us that received and accepted a contract to winter over looked forward to some R & R. Most chose to spend it in New Zealand or Australia. However I was fortunate enough to get to return to the states. Actually Reinhart and I were on the same flights out. When I arrived to New Zealand about 0300 it was quiet, dark and the moon was out. It had been the first time I had seen the night sky since October. Walking from the NZ airport over to the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center) the smells were amazing-fresh greenery and flowers. I didn't need my ECW gear, only a light jacket. Keep in mind it was NZ's summer. I managed to get a couple hours sleep at the Windsor B & B before back to the airport for continued flights. However Reinhart didn't bother to sleep but went out with some others from the ice. (pic)After 6 flights to get back to NC from the South Pole I had lost track of the time zones I crossed, dates/hours that I traveled. I arrived on Saturday evening @0000. Back at the South Pole it was Sunday @ 1800 and I would be eating dinner. Never the less I was wide awake and I somewhat unpacked and eventually forced myself to go to bed. It was so nice to be in my own comfortable bed. I had 24 hours in NC and spent it visiting friends before flying to Philadelphia to visit family for several days . You know the whole time I was in the states it was raining-the first rain I had seen since October. It was great seeing family and friends and eating all my favorite foods, driving, and sleeping in my own bed. I did get to go to the movies once, but still didn't really watch and tv. After spending several days with my family in Delaware is was back to NC to tidy things up as that I would be away for the next 10-11 months. (taxes, bills, shopping-I had to buy some new clothes as that I have lost over 20 lbs). On returning to the South Pole it was a long journey...lost a day, luggage left in Australia, plane delays in New Zealand and also in McMurdo... I finally got back to the SP late Friday evening, the 29th and after a week got to see my luggage on Saturday morning. A shower and complete change of clothes never felt so good. Despite the delays I still have not gotten to spend any quality time in NZ or Australia, hopefully when I get off the ice I will be spending several weeks traveling. Let me know if you want to join me!!
Coming back to the SP was alittle weird. Everyone was moody and on edge with short tempers. Probably in anticipation of the incredible amount of work that still had to be done for station closing and getting to go home. The tension settled down after a few days and it didn't take me long to settle back in. The doc had picked up my boxes that my mom and Tom sent, full of stuff that I would need in anticipation of wintering over. The station got really busy at this point with plans for the station to close on 2/15. After this date there would not be any flights in/out of the South Pole, meaning no mail, fresh food... until some time in October. Ella, the winterover doc arrived, and spent a couple of days with us checking over the clinic with us. Larry, the summer doc, left to meet his wife and travel for several months. He was really anxious to leave. The new doc from McMurdo came up for a day-thought he could come here and do anything because he is in shape and lives at altitude. After my guided tours and hikes he was in the clinic sleeping with oxygen. (pic)
So now I am settling in with a new doc, a new schedule, and I have finally moved into my new bigger room. I have managed to snag a 18" tv and DVD/gameboy for my room. With that, more room and my iPod stereo system I am all set. (Maybe a rerigerator would be nice) The rooms even though they are slightly bigger are still like dorm rooms. Elevated bed, dressers, and a desk. However you can tell I have made it my own. (pic)
On Thursday the 11th we were informed that the station was going to close early, on Saturday the 13th instead of the 15th. OMG everyone was in a state because work wasn't completed, people weren't packed... I managed to see several friends/planes off over the next couple of days. It was very sad to see them leave and maybe it was a good thing that we didn't have more time. Saturday night Ella woke me up around 0145 for the last plane. The last 10 summer people left the station, we were now numbering 47 for the nest 10 plus months and on our own. (pics)The last several C-130's did some great really low fly bys... After the last plane left about a quarter of the station ended up in the galley with the music cranked and champange flowing. Over the next several days everyone appeared to be exhausted. Since the last plane left we have gradually settled into new routines and have begun making new friends.

The clinic is much much slower than the summer. I have created some winter projects for myself in the clinic once things have completely settled down. Right now to keep myself busy I have volunteered for many other jobs... The first is running the store with Ralf on Friday nights. He is a lot of fun and is willing to go along with my crazy ideas. I am carding the people who try to buy alcohol, listening to the people's lungs if they want cigerettes (also giving them a hard time), and will have theme nights in the store. The first night was too busy learning the system to plan a theme however this Friday our theme is "Animal House". The movie will be playing in the background and Ralf and I will be wearing togas. Ralf being from Germany, one of two of the Ice Cube people left on station, has not seen Animal House or knew what a toga was. Greenhouse Joe and I are trying to clone and cultivate mushrooms so hopefully we will have them throughout the winter. (pics) I have also started assisting in the greenhouse harvesting and planting new stock. Believe it or not I have started eating salads. Part of the job of the winter crew is to clean the station. During the summmer about 150 people reside in the Jamesways-tent like structures outside. Apparently they don't clean them when they leave and we have to. Pretty discusting. We start that next week. We also have to do their wash all the bed linen from the Jamesways. Ella and I have been doing that. Imagine in three days washing the linen from 150 beds and repacking it for redistribution next summer. Not fun but have found some intesting sheets from "hello kitty and batman" to some awful looking plaids... The dishpit is somewhat boring but the music that you can crank up makes it go by easier. I have learned when chefs do not have to do their own dishes they dirty a lot more than necessary. Other things I hope to do over winter include exercise./volleyball, plan my travels for post ice, study for boards, read, movies, sleep, learn southern hemisphere astronomy, spanish and photography.... and hopefully keep this up to date based on satellite availabilty. I am sure with my imagination I will find lots of other things to keep me occupied through the winter as well.
Around March 21st, the sun will begin to set and we will have several days of twilight and then eventually darkness. I anticipate amazing aurora's and stars... In fact the IT guys program our radios with an "aurora" channel so that when one is visible it is announced to everyone. I guess one of the reasons they do this is that all the windows are blocked to prevent station light from going outside and interfering with the various experiments.  By the way since returning to the ice the temperatures have been steadily dropping. When I returned it was around - 30F. Today it is -51.2 F with a wind chill of -81F. The wind is at 11. knots and the barameter is 683 mb making our altitude 10504 ft. For some reason I am having a problems with pictures-I will have to figure this out.

The New Year....

Well, since 12/20/09 it has been incredibly busy. Not necessarily medical. The day after my incredible long walk we had a "mass casualty incident"-not a real one but another drill. I got to help with some of the makeup. (pics)The setting was Laura who was operating a snowmobile passed out crashing into scaffolding, knocking it down with 2 people on it, and setting fire to the recyclables. A firefighter in his rush to "help" also fell down the outside stairs. Our trauma team assembled as usual at the clinic and then proceeded outside to the incident where after assigning members of the team to various patients I got to "tag" patients. Green, yellow, red, or black. Green indicates someone that is fairly stable and can wait for treatment. Yellow and red are patients that need treatment soon and now, respectively. Black is fairly obvious... We made Laura a red even though with greater than 60% burns to her face, chest, back and arms the likelihood of survival was not very high. The drill took up pretty much the whole morning but was fun. I would like to be the one writing up the scenarios.
Over the next two days Danielle and I held 2 CPR/AED classes resulting in 19 certifications. The resci Annie arms kept falling off so we left them off. Later for the race around the world doc simulated a buried body in the snow on the race course with the Annie arms partially uncovered. He has such a great sense of humor. Everyone had 12/25/09, christmas day, off. It was a lazy day with an exceptional dinner of lobster and beef wellington, real potatoes, and I am not sure what other vegetables. Most people were somewhat dressed up-my favorite was Storm in a baby blue ruffled shirt with a matching polyester suit-reminesenst of the prom. However he kept spilling beer down the front of him every time he tried to take a picture. Spiderman (doc) made his usual appearance. (pics)Very relaxing evening with Saturday off as well. The race Around the World was held Saturday morning, the 26th and it was a beautiful day. The motor vehicles were adorned it all kinds of stuff: gladiator chariot, weather balloon, "belly up to the bar"....one vehicle was towing a platform with a stationary bike and rider behind it. (pics)I got to see some of the vehicles used in the traverse-HUGE and can haul butt. There were multiple cross country skiers, runners, and walkers (me). The winner of the race gets a "boondoggle" to McMurdo to participate in the marathon toward the end of January. Curtis won with a time of 17:17:43 on a 2.4 mile course.
Because of the christmas holidays and upcoming New Year we worked on Sunday. We scheduled blood draws and XR's to assist with testing to physically qualify people to stay the winter. I haven't taken my own XR or drawn blood in 20 years. Well that day I regained all my previous expertise. In the previous weeks our clinic had received new XR equipment with which we experimented with a cornish game hen from the kitchen. "Peter Penguin" films were sent to denver for interpretation to the amusement of the radiologists. (pic)Even though our New Year's day was on Friday we worked in anticipation of having Sat and Sun off with a "Near Years" party Sat night, the 2cd. The gym was fantastically decorated. The first band had at least a dozen members with a wide range of instruments. They played mostly folk tunes. The Violent Phlegms were next with their version of, yes you guessed it the Violent Fems. Eli (who runs the greenhouse) started out in a very nice suit but for some reason ended up stripping down to various other clothes on stage including a dress and ended up in shorts. I think I am missing something here. Between sets there was a fashion show of "wearable art". (pics) My favorite was the rope dress. Pretty cool that all the clothes were made out of stuff lying around. The third bad "Security in Noise" was the best with rock. Nevertheless, as usual I was in bed pretty early for our New Year's.
Tourists continue to visit the station. We had a group of 7 women ski from the coast arrive on the 31st. Their sponsors showed up yesterday. However so much for a relaxing weekend. One of the sponsors did not declare a prior cardiac condition. So yesterday around 1400 as he arrived in the station for his tour he became very SOB (short of breath) and dizzy. His pulse ox was about 80 (normal at sea level is @ 98-100%, new arrivals to the pole 85-90%). On exam his heart-rate was @165. EKG revealed atrial fibrillation. I was so excited. My territory!!!!! After treatment his HR slowed however his BP also dropped significantly.... requiring attempted cardioversion (shocked his heart)... A very eventful day and night. He was finally medavaced to New Zealand on the afternoon of the 2cd (just in time for our party).
With everything that happened over those few days I missed the annual event of moving the geographical South Pole. Every year on 1/1 the geographical pole is moved and replaced with a new emblem designed by the previous year's winter-over personnel. Hopefully I will get some more info and pictures of this from someone in the next couple of days. January seems to starting off with a bang. (pics)

I have walked around the world and it is beautiful....

     It has been a busy and hectic couple of weeks.  However this morning (12/20/09) I took the time to walk around the world and it was quiet and beautiful.  The temperature was about 20 below zero without much wind or clouds in the sky.  The sun in the south west about 23 degrees above the horizon. The were a couple people out running and cross country skiing.  Every year at the South Pole a "race around the world" is held on the day after Christmas.  This year the coarse is set 2.4 miles and starts at the geographical South Pole.  You are encouraged to dress extravagently but warm.  You can walk, run, cross country, bike, drive.....once you complete the coarse you get a T-shirt.  Naturally I have signed up but I plan to walk.  I would consider cross country skiing however there aren't any cross country ski tracks and I have am not very adept at it yet.
     Our Christmas day will be like everyone else on this Friday, 12/25/09, in contrast to our Thanksgiving which was held on the weekend after.  This week instead of our usual Sunday off we get Friday and Saturday off but work on sunday.  Our extravagent Christmas dinner will be held on Friday evening-I have heard through the grapevine it will be Beef Wellington.  I hope to spend a very quiet weekend given the past couple of weeks.
     The last couple of weeks have run together with all the visitors.  Our lead physician from Denver and McMurdo joined us for several days.  During this time we adm over 200 H1N1 vacinations 8 gall bladder ultrasounds to physically qualify the people wintering over, another 2 kidney stone medavacs that luckily I didn't have to return to McMurdo.  Our lab tech guy also joined us for a week to check, calibrate all our equipment, install new xr epuipment and computers, as well as our dentist for a few days.  Incredibly busy with all these people.  I have held some CPR/AED review classes as well as our trauma team training sessions.  In addition to the company visitors we had "tourists" from all over.  Canada, Japan, China, England, Russia....  they usually flew in from Patriot Base and might spend a day or two.  The "tourists" have to camp out near their plane and provide their own bathroom facilities and food.  They are allowed to come into the station for a tour and a visit to the company store.  We are instructed that we can't feed the tourists or offer them the use of our facilities.  However if they have a medical emergancy we are allowed to assist them.  Like last night.... a plane arrived yesturday with 9 tourists.  3 of which were planning on parachuting.  This hasn't been done at the South Pole since around 1997 when 4 of the 5 parachutists died (not sure about the # of deaths).  At the South Pole it is difficult to have ground perception when you are jumping and apparently their altimeter equipment was not working properly.  Anyway the 3 jumpers on Saturday did fine.  However one of the pilots was not-possibly acute appendisitis.  They left in the middle of the night after buying fuel from us and  the pilot receiving treatment from me and doc. 
     This past week we also had a C17 do a food drop.  The plane drops down to about a 1000 ft and lets lose cargo pallets attached to parachutes.  Each pallet weighs @ 1000 lbs.  This year was uneventfull however last year apparently some of the chutes didn't open.  The pallets created about 4 foot craters and had to be dug out.  Several were broken and contained flour and potato chips.  According to the Antarctic treaty all spills have to be cleaned up.  I can't imagine trying to clean up a flour spill in Antarctica. 
            Tomorrow is our summer solstice and the sun will be at it's highest @ 24 degrees above the horizon.  The sun circles us 24 hours a day and will gradually decline in height until sunset sometime in March.  Within the last 2 weeks I have completed the paperwork and signed the contract to stay through the winter season.  Temperatures can reach 100 below.  Should be interesting.  Discovering the southern constellations, southern lights..... I will need to re-watch the old movie "The Thing".
    
        

Update on the Dome and Thanksgiving at the South Pole

     The "Dome" was built in the early 70's by Navy Seabees to replace the original South Pole Station (built in 1956-57) and has housed support personel and sciencetists since its inception until the early 2000's when the current station was built.  Some of the people currently stationed at the pole have stories about living/working in the dome.  It initially arrived in crates of precut aluminum pieces.  The dome measures app. 164 ft. in diameter and 52 ft. high and has to be dug out every summer from drifting snow.  It is somewhat difficult to see in the pic to the left but you can see how the snow "drifts" and piles up based on the snow behind the red tower.
In my earlier blog I mentioned the "food pull".  Since the new elevated Amundson-Scott station was completed the dome has been used a food storage area.  Probably the largest freezer in the world. I have talked about the "past expiration dates" on just about everything down here but it was also interesting to see on the different food containers the reccommended freezing temperatures.  I never saw any package that reccommended freezing temps 30-100 below 0.  Amazingly the stuff is not freezer burnt.

Within the past week they had the biggest food pull ever.  All the food from the dome was moved into one of the tunnels that lead to the dome.  Dismatling and removal of the dome begins this week in accordance to the Antarctic Treaty.  The treaty requires that a minimum of human footprints be left on the most remote and undeveloped continent of our planet.  Here are some pic of the empty dome.  A big difference from the pictures on the last blog.

    The "last food pull" from the dome took place right before Thanksgiving.  Here at the Pole the days tend to run into each other and you obviously can't tell the difference between the specific seasons.  Like... the christmas decorations going up, grocery specials on turkeys (etc.), buying Christmas trees.  Thanksgiving is always on the 4th Thursday of November-this year the 26th.  However at the South Pole rather than disrupt the work week we work Monday Friday and have 2 days off-Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday, the 28th would be our Thanksgiving. The chefs in the galley definitely try to make things special.  There are sign up sheets in the galley for which seating for dinner you would like, volunteers for peeling potatoes, making pies, doing dishes, wine steward, setting up tables.....  I signed up for peeling potatoes (love my real potatoes) and making pies.  However prior to signing up for the potato peeling I had to check out their potato peelers.  I am a little picky about my knifes and potato peeler.  At home I have a Cutco peeler-best one you could ever have. Beaver, one of the chefs in the kitchen provided me with my own high-end potato peeler. through.Lots of people showed up on Thursday evening to peel/cut up the potatoes (as well as beets, peppers) and we had it all done in less than an hour.   On Friday night instead of playing volleyball I made pies.  Lots of people showed up for this as well.  Our team made about 20 pumpkin pies.  Others were involved in wrapping brie in pastry, cutting up bread for stuffing, and making pecan pies.   Saturday was a lazy day although I did assist with napkin folding, setting up tables, and place settings.  The first dinner seating was at 4 PM, mine was for 6 PM with appetizers at 530.  Everything was great.  They even had a "fire" playing on the scroll, live music, candles on the tables, and Pepsi Max (not diet pepsi-caffine free but would do in a pinch).  Pics include Beaver, chef, enjoying his shrimp, Kristin loosening her belt, Cav., Kristen, Corey (firefighters).  The meal was incredible and for the first time here I felt I ate too much.  After the meal I spent the evening watching several movies.

Sunday the 29th was just as relaxing as Saturday-it was great to have 2 days off in a row.

   Since Thanksgiving it has been relatively quiet in the station and the clinic (except for emergency drills).  However I did have another medavac.  I accompanied  a patient back to McMurdo with O2 sats in the 60's.  Fortunately he never developed pulmonary edema and I got to spend app 24 hours in McMurdo with the chance to catch up with Susan, Mia, Caesar, Eric, the folks from the McMurdo clinic, and Reinhart.  Luckily on arriving back to McMurdo it did not take long for me to re acclimate to the altitude.  I got to sit in the flight deck again on the return C130 flight from McMurdo-it was really clear this time and I got to re-appreciate the vast magnitude of Antarctica.

Sinus problems at the SP

     Well it is Sunday again, my day off, but you never really have a day off.  Last week in regards to the clinic was essentially uneventful except for fire alarms going off, thankfully all false alarms.  Apparently some of the fire alarms are very easy to set off-like toast or hamburgers burning, carrying too much stuff and accidently hitting the alarm on the wall.  Once the fire alarms are set off they have to repressurize the sprinkler system and water is limited so I only got to take one shower last week instead of my usual two showers a week.  Let me tell you my hair doesn't do well showering only twice a week.  It gets pretty greasy.  The hat that Kathyrn and Trish gave me has been very useful.  More about showers-the hot water and pressure is great but you can't really enjoy it because you are only allowed 2 minutes/shower.  It is based on the honor system and no one is "watching" or "timing" you but you must be very organized to pull this off.  In our bathroom-share it with multiple other girls-there are 3 sinks with mirrors, 3 stalls, and 2 showers.  On one wall there are cubby holes that each of us can leave our stuff in-like toothpaste/brush, soap, shampoo... so that we don't have to cart it back and forth from our rooms.  Everyone is assigned a "house mouse" day.  This is your day to assist with daily chores such as cleaning halls, common areas, bathrooms... Mine is on Monday and I get to clean our bathroom.  On the wall there is a list of what and how to do everything.  You are allowed an hour from your work day to fulfill your house mouse duties.  I figure by the end of the season I will be able to do it in an hour but now it takes me longer than that so I usually start on Sunday.  It is interesting because there is someone assigned to clean everyday.  I think we have the cleanest bathroom in the station, probably the world since it is thoroughly cleaned everyday.  The boys bathrooms are similar but not as well kept in my opinion.  You may ask why I know what the boy's bathrooms look like...   Well part of my job is to distribute the free condoms to all the bathrooms.  My first week here I can't tell you how many boxes of "Durex" condoms I unpacked.  Before I opened them and separated them into individual packs you have to check the expiration date.  Besides medications, the condoms are the only things that have not passed their expiration date.  No ice babies here.  Once separated I place ample supplies in all the bathrooms and keep a monthly check on the stashes.
     Thursday was a great day.  My sinus finally cleared.  My brother, Bill, and others who have sinus problems will appreciate this...  I woke up as usual @ 0530 and while brushing my teeth I could feel it-that big ball of mucus that has been clinging to the inside of my sinuses.  After multiple attempts at getting it out-you know the noise that guys usually do to get a big lugey(sp?)out, which I hate but have learned how to do out of necessity-it was expelled.  I have never been so proud:) If I was thinking, I would of saved it in a specimen cup and use it to explain to people this is what is blocking your sinuses at the south pole, or taken a picture to post on the blog.  But I didn't think of those things, I was just so relieved at how much better I immediately felt.  I will spare you guys of the actual description of what came out of my sinuses.
     Thursday was also Veteran’s day for us and there was a commemorative ceremony at the geographical South Pole.  I remained in the clinic as that the fire alarm from the burnt hamburgers was going off.  The doc was able to participate and described it as moving but short as that it was really cold and windy outside.         

     Since finally feeling back to myself I finally went outside on Friday.  There was a 40 year celebration of the first women at the South Pole with a group picture at the ceremonial South Pole marker.  Most of the women on station made it out to the ceremonial South Pole.  Again very cold and windy.  Saturday I volunteered for ": food pull".  All the station's food is currently stored in the "dome".  See the picture to the right-all those snow covered boxes contain our food.  The chefs plan the following week's menu and make a list of all the food items that they need.  Thano (also on my trauma team) is in charge and asks for volunteers by writing a creative poem and sending a pleading email for assistance to everyone on station.  To get to the dome you done your ECW gear, and exit the station thru the "beer can".  The beer can is a stairwell-I counted 93 stairs but I think I missed one-from the station.  It also has a freight elevator that is used for bringing stuff up or down.  They won't let people on there which retrospectively is probably a good thing since it broke last week with the hamburger buns on it (supposed to be used for the hamburgers that burnt and set the fire alarms off on Thursday).  I think it was finally repaired a couple of days later.  Anyway, you exit the station thru the beer can (very cold like a refrigerator and covered in frost), through some tunnels, a short walk outside and you are at the dome.  Inside the dome the "floor" is unevenly packed snow and there are pallets, shelves, and boxes everywhere.  Thano met us here and handed each of us a clipboard with a piece of paper on it and a sharpie.  He explained on the clipboard was a map of the dome where items generally were and on the sheet of paper was the list of food we had to "pull" for next week.  Of course on my second day outside I ended up with the meat stuff in the farthest corner of the dome.  It was like a scavenger hunt trying to find all the stuff and then bring it back to the dome entrance where it was packed in a box that was sitting on a pallet that once filled would be transported back thru the tunnels and into the beer can's freight elevator and back into the station.  I made it 3/4 of the way thru my list when most people were finishing up.  I finally requested some guy help as that I was drawing the line at carrying a 70 lb pork roast and 135 lbs of ham.  After about 2 hours I was exhausted.  After returning to the clinic and shedding my ECW gear the fire alarm went off again and I had to put my ECW gear back on.  Thankfully it was a false alarm so I told the doc I was taking a break and eating lunch.  Just a note, I did take my camera however I discovered that I really need to put the camera in my long underwear or something so the battery doesn’t/t deplete and the camera freeze up so at this time my pictures are limited.  Although, I was told that my eyelashes were very pretty all frosted over-I guess kind of like really thick mascara at some point I'll get pictures.
      Despite my exhaustion from earlier I did find the strength to play some volleyball Friday night.  I am definitely out of shape at 10,000 ft but it was fun.  There are some hard core players here and I am looking forward to getting my volleyball skills back up to par.  I may have to ask someone to send me my knee pads.
Post volleyball I got to take my only shower of last week.  I thought about making it a 4 minute shower since I missed my earlier shower last week, but I didn't.
     Saturday was uneventful; however in the afternoon we had a patient with 104.5 degree temperature....pneumonia and spent the afternoon treating them. The patient spent the night in the clinic where we have two hospital beds for just such a situation.  Sunday morning, the patient is fine, temperature below 99.
I will add the pictures when I get a chance to download them.

    

Finally, the South Pole......back to McMurdo... and the South Pole

     Well where did I leave off...  I believe it was Tuesday evening the 27th of October and I had been updating my blog at the coffeehouse and spending some time with friends.  Since then it has been a whirlwind.   Wednesday morning, the 28th started off as usual, a busy day at the McMurdo hospital and following the "scroll" to tell you when flights were leaving/coming.  Around 1100 I found out I had 45  minutes to pack up my stuff and dress in full ECW gear (again) to hopefully fly to the South Pole.  At this late date the C130's were in and I wouldn't have to fly in a unpressurized Bassler.  (Not sure if I really wanted to do that but it would have been an experience having to fly with oxygen). We met at building 140 (where Mia and Susan work) and shuttles actually transported us out to the ice runway where a C130 waited for us.  Over 40 of us boarded the plane and took off around 1230 for the South Pole.

This is inside the C130, we didn't have time for pictures before getting on the plane cause everyone was in such a hurry to get going.  The seats in the C130 are lined up against the outer wall of the plane so you are facing inwards toward all the cargo. Each of us have been living out of one of those orange bags that you can see in the pic for the last week or so and probably the next several weeks until cargo flights begin to the SP that will bring our luggage.  The flight was about 3 hours.  Once they reached cruising altitude we were able to get up and walk around.  There were some small windows on either side of the plane and some larger square windows on the rear doors.  Thank goodness there really wasn't any cloud cover because the views were absolutely breathtaking.  The untouched landscape of rock, ice, and snow is indescribable.   It is amazing that people actually crossed all this in the early 1900's to reach the South Pole.  It is so unlike ski slopes, mountain ranges, or glaciers that I have flown over before and leaves  me with a sense of awe and insignificance similar to the feelings I get when I look out into space and contemplate the universe.





   We landed sometime around 1530.  The C130 lands on skies on a runway about 200 yards from the Amundson-Scott station.  Prior to getting off the plane we had to make sure we were really bundled up because with the wind chill the temperature was about minus 70 degrees farenheit.  Again,  my glass frosted over immediately and ended up in my pocket.




























 Lots of people came out to greet us and help with bags.  Thank god for the help.... between my sinuses, being out of shape and the altitude (around 10,000 ft) the 200 yd walk to the station was tiresome.   This is me arriving at the South Pole with the C130 in the background.

After arriving at the station we had a brief orientation about everything from safety to waste. Apparently up to 65% of stuff is recycled-higher than any state.  Dr. Legault met me and thankfully helped me with my bag and finding my room.  Just walking up a flight of steps will set your heart racing and you will become short of breath.  (Reminds me of me and Lisa Parks arriving at Mamouth for skiing)  Most people when they get here their O2 sats are in the mid 80's and resting heart rates in the upper 90's to low 100'sdespite whatever shape you are in. This can last anywhere from a day or two to several weeks.  For those of you that aren't medical a normal oxygen saturation should be 97-100%, heart rates vary with the individual but most average resting heart rates aren't that fast.  Within the first week here I could walk up a flight of stairs and my heart rate would be in the 120s and I would have to stop and rest. (again sinus problems aren't helping).  The doc tells everyone to move slow, rest, and hydrate, Hydrate, and HYDRATE.

     Anyway here is a picture of my room as I opened the door.  It is not very big.  I have a raised twin bed with a 3 drawer dresser underneath and an area to store my "orange bag" (and future luggage when it gets here), a small desk to the left of the bed (with desk light, phone, computer jack), reading lamp above bed, and small armoire at the end of the bed. This is also a  chair that you can use to get on the bed but you have to be careful because it is wheeled.   I do have a window that overlooks the area in between two of the stations "arms". There is a blind on the window but it doesn't block the 24 hour sun- the nicely custom fitted cardboard does this nicely. My room is really small and you better not leave anything on the floor because you will definitely trip over it as there is no avoiding it.  It did not take me long to unpack my 1 orange bag and make my bed with the scratchy linen provided. It took me all of 15 minutes to do all that so I set off to exploring the station.  (Thankfully my mom is sending me some egyptian cotton sheets.  The room is also incredibly dry and hot-I have  my thermostat set @ 55.  I finally have the humidifier that I had bought and had my sister send down in September-this was a great relief.  It is a blue penguin and sits on my desk by my bed puffing cold water vapor through its beak.)

    The first place I headed to was the South Pole clinic where I will be working.  The sign on the door already reflected my name.  There I met Ella and Jude.  Ella, from NY, has been here a year.  Jude from NZ wintered over.  Training begins.....
More about that later....

     I had a brief tour of the station and it is laid out just like the website that I provided earlier in this blog.    This is a good website for up to date news.  http://www.southpolestation.com/   My room is on the second floor in second arm from the left facing the first arm.  The clinic windows overlook the ceremonial South Pole.  Just walking around was tiresome.  It wasn't long before it was time to eat:) The cafeteria is alot smaller than McMurdo but the food is much better. Our head chef is named James Brown, hosts the bingo night (hasn't started yet but I figured I can learn how to play bingo), and looks like Johnny Depp.  Here is a picture of the "scroll" in the cafeteria on the evening of our arrival.
    The first couple of nights I had difficulty sleeping-most people do.  My sinus have improved but I am now left with the usual residual cough.  The doc won't let me exercise or go outside yet.  Despite that I have been plenty busy.  Turnover with Ella and Jude wasn't long enough.  Thursday, Oct 29th, my first full day was met with multiple alarms going off all over the station around noon.  They were all false alarms.  However at the South Pole you have to take care of yourself-there is no ambulance, rescue squad, fire dept......  There are organized teams.  Team 1 is the command team that secures the area, team 2 is the fire control team, team 3 helps with transportation, equipment, and fills in wherever needed.  Team 4 is my team, the trauma team.  Every time an alarm goes off the teams are supposed to "muster" at specific places.  Our muster point is the clinic, unless that part of the building is off limits then we go to the gym where there is a second emergency stash that we can access.  All this is leading somewhere....   Despite the multiple false alarms and activations of the teams Thursday @ noon, we had an emergency training drill at 1430 inside the station.  The incoming teams observed the outgoing teams as to how emergencies were handled.  We did this not only on Thursday afternoon but Fri and Saturday as well.  Not a whole lot of time to "turnover".

Despite our drills, trying to learn the clinic, and seeing patients we actually had some "real" emergencies that we had to respond to.  Since I have arrived we have medavac'd 3 people back to McMurdo for treatment.  One patient despite being here for over a week developed HAPE:  high altitude pulmonary edema.  O2 sats were in the 60's!!!!!   In addition to the usual treatment for pulmonary edema (O2, diuretics-make you pee) we used a Gamow Bag.  This device is pretty cool-for you divers it is like the opposite of the decompression chamber.   You place the patient in the bag with a oxygen/pulse monitor and inflate in to @103 mmHg.   By doing this you can reduce a person's altitude 3-6000 ft, increasing the surrounding "pressure" helps force the fluid from the lungs back into the tissues and restoring normal O2 saturations.  (simple explanation).  Thursday, Nov 5th, the third emergent patient I actually had to accompany back to McMurdo on a C130 for stabilization/treatment.  This allowed me to visit some friends in McMurdo:  Susan, Cesear,  friends from the hospital,and old roommates...  The next day, Friday, I flew back to the South Pole to restart my acclimatization all over again.  I again flew back on a C130 however this time the flight crew let me sit up in the cockpit.  This was really cool.  It reminded me of space camp with all the checklists, switches, protocols.....  The only bad part was that Antarctica was hidden beneath clouds.
    Ella and Jude, the two previous docs, had left on Tuesday.  Thus now it is Sunday for me (Saturday for you guys), my day off and I am finally updating the blog.  This afternoon I will probably be back in the clinic sorting/organizing the pharmacy, figuring out a training schedule for Team 4 ....  I am learning a lot and have a lot to learn.  But exciting....

HAPPY 82'd BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!

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.

Still McMurdo... (a running commentary)

Got some great pictures of the sunset on Saturday, 10/17/09 @ 2230 on the way back from the Coffehouse.   This looks across the Ross ice shelf.  Despite going to bed early I woke up on Sun with my sinuses kicking my but so I took a walk around town with Susan.  It is Susan's first time down although you would think she had been here before with all her knowledge.  She is employed as a shuttle driver and gets to drive some pretty cool vehicles, go to interesting places and meat all sorts of people.  Here she is above with "Ivan the terrible".
Post the walk I napped but still felt miserable.  I did make it to the Sunday night science lecture.  The BBC is down here filming for the 2011 "Frozen Planet" (a takeoff from the "Planet Earth" series).  Great film clips and behind the scenes reporting.  There are science lectures 1-2 times per week.
     Monday I happened to eat lunch with the president of PADI, Drew Richardson, and a bunch of divers.  One is a champion free diver, she can dive 200 ft and hold her breath up to 6.5 minutes with an established heartrate of 12.  Amazing.  They are here testing some regulators and other equipment.  Of course I asked if I could try diving in Antarctica and they just looked at me like I was crazy.  I did sign up to be a "tender" for their dives.  As of today (Thurs) I haven't heard anything yet.

   "Pork chop" and I attended a science lecture Wedesday evening about the snow/ice of Antarctica.  Walking to the lecture in high winds, at -60 degrees was different.    Antarctica has a system that describes severe weather conditions.  So far this past week it has been a "3", meaning visibility clear, no restrictions on driving/hiking....  However on the evening of the lecture the Scott base, and everything just outside of McMurdo was a "1", meaning stay put, no driving, walking/hiking..... until further notice.  But McMurdo remained a "2", which obviously is between 1 and 3. 
     The lecture was very interesting, although alittle dry.  I was sitting in the second row with a guy diagonally behind me to the right in the third row-through out the lecture he provided a running commentary of his approval.  Distracting to say the least.  However the 4th row also had the advantage of not only the audio but the visual affects of this gentleman.
     There is also a movie house here, it is joined to the coffeehouse.   They usually start around 1930 or so.  I tried to sit through Moulin Rouge one night and left because I was falling asleep.  It is strange to walk outside at 2100 and still see the sky brightly lit.
     Thursday and Friday were uneventful.  However the last sunset for the summer Antarctica season took place around 0100  and the last sunrise took place around 0200 Friday.  No I did't get up to watch however I will try to post some pictures later obtain from someone who did.  I like my sleep and am still battling resdiual sinus problems.  Friday, my friend Reinhart arrived, and after seeing his office and talking to his wife Mindy we had dinner.  He went off bar hopping with some friends from last year while I washed clothes and tried to prepare for my flight to the South Pole Saturday morning.
     It it is Saturday morning as I am typing this, our flight has been delayed to later in the morning.  Hopefully the next broadcast will be coming from the South Pole:)

Housing at McMurdo....

    Simply put... it is a freshman dormitory with ages ranging from 18 to 80.  But all acting like they are 20.  And yes there is an 80 year old gentleman here.  I am not sure what his job responsibilities are yet but I am assured he is incredibly healthy.

     I have been placed in Building 155 which is usually designated for transsitional people.  However I was placed in a room with 3 other women that are permanent summer guests.  We have 2 metal bunk beds, 4 metal amioares, 4 metal small something or other that resembles a filing cabinet, 1 desk, 1 chair, 1 refrigerator (dorm size), and 10 inch (maybe) screen tv and 4 peoples stuff.  The room I figure is perfectly square, about 14'x14'.  It has 2 doors on opposite walls.  One door is blocked by the desk and chair.  On the front of the blocked door is a sign that gives directions to the other door.  The "other door" leads into a "suite".  The suite is about 8'x10' and has 3 other rooms connected to it.  The suite contains a couch and matching chair-both badly stained, what looks like some wood supporting cushions making another couch, dresser (empty), coffee table, amiorare (full of stuff including a coconut shell bra).  There is a coat rack that cannot support all the people living in the rooms connected to the suite.  On the coffee table is a vase with fake flowers, a odor eater thing. a register book from people that have visited our suite 240 including some vague sexual exploits of a girl named Chelsea, and beer bottles.  There are Christmas lights all over the place-most work, and artwork remains hung from previous guests.  Up until the "bag and drag" my luggage stayed in the suite because there wasn't any space in our room.
     The three other rooms that ajoin our suited our filled with guys.  I haven't been quite sure who actually lives in them with so many people visiting our suite.  I am scared to look in these rooms to see what they are like.  Morgan, one of the guys-really nice, drinks "pork chops" almost every night.  He expleained that his beer has the equivalent protein of a pork chop.  I did check his beer and it does not have the equivilent amount of protein of a pork chop.  So we now call him "pork chop".  A couple of the guys smoke, and of course I give them a hard time about it.  I have got one of them so jumpy that he hides his cigarette if he sees me coming.  THANK GOODNESS there is no smoking inside and building-even the "bars".  The age range in our suite ranges from the mid 20's to the mid 60's and includes first timers, like me, and seasoned vets.
   Susan is one of my roommates.  I traveled with her from Denver... all the way here.  When we arrived our greeting was not neccessarily one of enthusastic welcome by our new companions.  This is understandable given the size of our room.  I think they have finally accepted us however Susan is hoping to find a better living arrangement and I will be shipping out one day.  One of our roommates is a chef and has traveled extensively at the age of 26.  She is always giving us a heads up to what is good and what isn't.  As well as bringing the good stuff back to the room.  The other is a DA, dining assistant, that is also working reccreation.  We don't see much of her.  All four of us have different hours and makes it very difficult to get any good rest.  I have taken to sleeping with earplugs and an eyemask, despite the fact that we don't have any windows.  I am supposed to have my own room at the South Pole-can't wait to get some good sleep but we will see...

The food at McMurdo...

     Fortunately I am temporarily living in building 155 which also houses the cafeteria at McMurdo.  So I could technically eat my breakfast in my pajamas and not have to dress out in my ECW gear just to go to the cafeteria before work.   All meals are provided with your choice of whole/skim milk, coffee, tea, water (hydrate, Hydrate, and HYDRATE) and various juices.  One thing I have noticed down here is that everything is past the "expiration date"-  I mean in some cases WAY PAST.    One guy was telling us about a candy bar he received as part of  "happy camper" (more on that later) was dated 1995!   At most meals there is a huge bowel full of expired candy bars for the taking.  As that it is way too cold down here to host any bugs, vermin.... most people will keep food in their rooms without any difficulty.  Although I have also heard a story about a shipment of "freshies" a couple of years ago that brought in a bunch of flies and they had a hard time getting rid of them.  "Freshies"  are fresh vegtables, fruits....people seem to go crazy over lettace.  Personally I can't stand lettace but the fresh vegtables and fruit are nice.  Stuff also doesn't seem to go stale here. 
    Meals are provided 4 times a day.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner and around 0000 for those that work the night shift.  I haven't stayed up to midnight yet to check out those offerings Of course breakfast is my favorite-you can't go wrong there.  In addition to your pastries/breads, cereal, hot bar and fruit bar they usually have a fresh egg or waffle grill (sometimes whip cream is available). Lunch always has a sandwich bar where a wrap or sandwich can be made with whatever choices are available.  Always something hot, today was Philly cheese steak, roasted potatoes, green beans.  They usually have a fair to pretty good vegatarian selection, accordding to Mia (who is vegatarian).  Dinner has been everything from chicken/pork to beef products with vegtables.  "Freshies" when available are always included.  Now the good stuff.... deserts:).  today they had tappica pudding, chocolate chip brownies with non-dairy whipped topping and defrosted strawberries.  Their deserts range from jello (usually green) to fancy cakes or pies.  I have learned there are special days, like "cookie day": every Wednesday, "burger day" or "pizza day".  On Sunday mornings they have a "brunch" that starts at 1000 in addition to their usual breakfast that everyone looks forward too.  (Especially since most people have the day off on Sunday and are just getting up from the night before).
     Just to let you know their pancakes are not as good as Tex and Shirley's at Friendly Shopping Center.  Their french toast does not equal Cracker Barrel's.   I miss the pancakes, pocorn, real mashed potatoes, filet/baked potatoes, cheese nachos, and caffine free diet pepsi but am surviving. As picky as I am I have become very familiar with Cherrios, although some Captain Crunch or Alpha bets would be great.   I don't think I have gained any weight as that my clothes still fit.  I have met a couple of people who have already gained 5-7 pounds over the last week.  I do need to get to the gerbil gym more often then maybe I can enjoy an extra desert or second helping of .....

McMurdo

     On the night of the 12th I didn't get much sleep.  I am not sure why.  It could of been that I was washing clothes until at least 2230 and repacking to keep the 2 bags I was allowed under 70 lbs apiece/figuring out my "boomerang bag", or it could of been the darn blue mood light under the bed that I couldn't firgure out how to turn off until about 0300.  As most people know I love the early morning stuff but not without sleep.  At 0515 we were picked up in shuttles to take us back to the CDC.   There we had to put on all our ECW gear, rearrange some of our bags, weigh in, eat breakfast, hear another saftey lecture, and finally depart @ 0830.  This plane was huge, a C-17.  Lots of cargo (including a catipillar)... Most of us were seated along the outer wall of the plane with about 30 of us sitting in rows in the middle of the plane.  Earplugs are definately reccomended.
     Once at cruising altitude we were able to walk around, although there wasn't much to see. We had been provided with a "box" lunch and told to hydrate, Hydrate, and HYDRATE.  I pealed off the lettuce on the ham and cheese sandwich, ate the chips and drank lots of water.  They let people spend 5-10 minutes in the cockpit to check things out-really cool, but certainly not the shuttle.

     Once we were over Antarctica the views out the little window (1 on each side in the rear of the plane), were breathtaking.  Diffuse white with occasional breaks in the ice allowing you to see the ocean.  Unfortunately, there were not any visible whales, seals, or penquins. As we approached the actual continent you were able to see mountains completely covered in white.  Without any perspective it was difficult to estimate hieghts.  We had to re don our ECW gear as that is was getting colder and colder in the plane and in preparation of landing.  Our landing was smoother than the commercial aircrafts but with a much longer runway (ice).  I can't wait to see a plane land on ice-that will be interesting.

Debarking the plane was met with a cold dry breeze.  If I remember corectly the Temp was @ -20 degrees or so.  Taking gloves off to take pictures wasn't too bad but you could definately get the idea how miserable you could be for an extended period of time without your ECW.  We walked from the plane to awaiting shuttles which bumpily transported us to McMurdo Station.  It is not much to look at as it is located on alot of volcanic ash/rock and is very bland/run down appearing.  We were dropped off at Building 155 where we had another saftey meeting and then recieved our room key.  It was fun watching people great each other-friends, family, or a person's relief from the winter.  I was fortunate that Dr. Legaut found me and helped me sort through all the information, get my bags and take them to my room.  There we chatted for awhile.. I don't remember much about the chat as that I was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep.  However, Susan, Kristan and I went to another safety lecture on hiking outside.  All of us were exhausted.
     The next day I reported to the clinic to begin my training at 0730.  Met alot of people and didn't remember everyone's names at first.  Since beginning my training I have learned alot about positioning and taking X-rays.  the set up at McMurdo is pretty nice.  I am also learning stuff about the paperwork involved....  Soon will start doing labs.  Lots of people have the "crud" as they call it-basically URI/sinus problems.  I have no idea what the equipment is like at the South Pole.
As usual I had superhigh ambitions for Wedsday evening however by 1500, after the South Pole lecture my sinuses caught up with me.  I didn't go to the gym, attend the science lecture/movie, or make the trivia night.  I went to sleep.  I will do a separate entry about the McMurdo clinic.

      Thursday and Friday were much of the same, However after lots of sudafed, saline nasel spray and sleep I began exploring.  Thursday evening a bunch of us caught the first shuttle over to Scott's base, operated by New Zealanders, otherwise known as kiwis.  The kiwi is their national bird.  Their base is not far from McMurdo.  Their base is relatively small compared to the town of McMurdo and only opened to Americans on Thursday evenings.  According to the people that drink their bar is really nice and the beer really cheap.  They have great views of the Ross ice shelf, apparently they get alot of seals in January. Friday I finally hit the "gerbil gym" after work.  This area has several treadmills, ellipticals, bike.....At McMurdo we can take 4 showers a week.  Nice.
     Saturday was another day at the clinic.  currently I am sitting in the "Coffeehouse" where I can hook up to the internet via a telephone line.  Internet access is somewhat difficult to come by as that open computers are hard to get to during reasonable hours.  It is also a lot slower than I am used to.   Also just got word, after the 3rd attempt to the SP was canceled today, there will be 2 attempts on Monday and Tuesday.  I should be set to go to the SP on Tuesday, weather permitting.