While every day at McMurdo brings new challenges (hard stuff) and opportunities (fun stuff), there are some aspects of life here that are the same each day. So let's walk through a typical day...
My alarm goes off at 6 am and I open the little blue flap that serves as a curtain in my dorm to see whether there is sun or blowing snow. On my bed is the tie-dye pillow that Bob and Stacy made for each of us – and my daughter’s llama that serves as my school’s unofficial mascot. I’m reading "The Worst Journey in the World” by Apsley Cherry-Garrard where some of the quotes I’m using come from - including today's. Thanks to Russel Clark at FALA for providing some of these quotes for me!
Ahh, sweet bed!
Breakfast goes from 5 am until 7:30 am in the galley. I try to get there by 6:30 but sometimes it is hard to get out of bed! All the meals are served in the galley. There is tons of food to choose from.
View of the galley from where we first enter.
Some people work out in the gym before breakfast, but I haven't been there yet, so it isn't a part of my daily routine! It is strange to see bare legs with tennis shoes sticking out from the big red parkas as people head to the gym.
We all meet in the lab at 7:30 am and communicate our plans for the day. There are certain areas we each have primary responsibility for, and then we help each other the best we can if there are jobs that require more than one person.
Today, Stacy and I went out onto the ice in a Pisten Bully to mark future dive-holes with flagging. Later, the drillers will make the dive holes so Stacy can continue her long-term studies of the sea floor near McMurdo Station. First we had to gas up the Pisten Bully. We drove up to the diesel, pumped our gas, and then drove off. You don’t have to pay for it at the time you use it, but each project gets billed for food, housing, equipment use, etc. This is an expensive place to work even if it seems like you are getting gas and food for "free”.
Stacy fueling the Pisten Bully
Then we drove out on the ice and used the GPS to find the correct spots to flag. It is a beautiful sunny day so I took a picture looking back at MacTown.
A nice day at McMurdo Station!
At lunch I sat with Dana. She is unique – like everyone here! That is part of what is so fun about being here and meeting people. Dana is originally from Oregon, has her degree in Literature from the University of Texas, has traveled a lot of the globe and was working in New Zealand when she applied for a job in Antarctica. This is her first year "on the ice” and she is a custodian this season. Many workers here start as custodians and then move into other positions after a season or so. The summer season is four and a half months long, and some people work the extended summer season of six months. That is a long time to be away from your friends and family, and some people here do it every single year!
I met Dana at lunch today!
After lunch, I went out on the sea ice again for awhile with Bob and Nick and Bryan. They were setting up in the jetty dive hut to test the navigation equipment for SCINI. They will be using a sonar triangulation system, so they needed to put the transducers into three different holes a set distance apart to see how it worked.
The dive hut, only partially covered in snow!
Nick and Bryan enjoy driving the Pisten Bully and we needed to carry all the gear to the dive hut. But the hut is close enough to MacTown that you can walk there when the weather is good. Marcus walked down to join the rest of the guys later and they all gave the SCINI navigation system a good test!
Bryan (left) and Nick (right) loading and driving the Pisten Bully.
The guys all made it back in time for dinner and the Saturday night festivities. There was music and other recreational activities to enjoy after a good week!
I hope you enjoyed our "typical" day at McMurdo!