*I write these posts offline and then add them to the site, so if some information is redundant, oops*
What’s goin’ on? How’s everyone’s life going? Mine is going fairly well, all things considered. I’ve been living the life down here at McMurdo Station for about two solid weeks now and time is beginning to pick up speed. I cannot believe that tomorrow is already going to be Thursday. Now that the new has worn off allow me to give you a breakdown on how life is shaping up for me. It pretty much boils down to two categories: when I’m working and when I’m not working.
Work:
My job title is General Assistant on the Heat Trace Project. General Assistants are the hardest working, most versatile and most unskilled laborers on station. In other words, we do the grunt work. Cool huh? Well…that all depends on how you look at it. Since I’m down here for the adventure (not the money) and since this is just a phase in my life I guess it’s pretty cool. As a GA I get the glorious opportunity to do a wide range of basic labor tasks; so far I’ve shoveled snow, used an acetylene torch to burn off rusty bolts, demo sections of the heat trace pipeline, help survey the line, and move around a bunch of crap. One cool aspect of my position is I get to help the plumbers and electricians on the heat trace line so it’s been highly educational. I now know a plethora of dirty jokes, hillbilly phrases (Ex: “It’s like a dollar waiting on a dime here” ??), and some technical information as well.
What is heat trace, you ask? Well, in extremely cold environments it isn’t feasible to run below ground sewer and water lines because they will freeze. In lieu of this, those crafty engineers the world over invented a system of above ground piping that is insulated and heated via electric wire called heat trace. From the inside out, the pipe makeup is something like this: Water line, electrical wire, about 5” of insulation and an aluminum outer shell. As long as this system is working properly a facility will be supplied with running water with minimal maintenance. When it fails, shit, you got some major problems.
In an effort to stay ahead of the game we are going through every one of these lines and fixing any problems that we find. We have two major goals with this fix: first is to update all the wiring on station and second is to replace the bad pipes we find. As buildings have been added to the post so has heat trace. We have three circuits in operation: 120v, 208v, and 277 volt. For the luddites out there, this is a messed up pain in the ass setup. When all is said and done we will have run all new 277 volt wiring. Also, some of this line is decades old and some pipes have succumb to heavy corrosion, so we will replace the bad sections of piping and go about our merry way. Our mission over the summer season is to fix the first three phases (which are the most crucial/messed up) of this 10 phase project. Oh, and on station there is about 6 miles of this pipeline.
Here’s the kicker. This project was a late addition to the season. Some economic stimulus package money came our way and the organization had to scramble this up to spend those funds. None of our materials are here. We do not have the wiring. We do not have our pipes. We don’t even have our tools. We’ve had to beg and borrow from other shops for the most basic of tools to survey the lines and our materials are something like a month out. We do have one commodity in abundance and that is people for the job. We’ve got 6 GA’s, a bunch of electricians and plumbers and other various project positions and everyone seems competent and cool. So, despite the setbacks, I think we still have the opportunity to finish our sections on time. And I’m here too, so you know we’re goin’ to turn and burn on this puppy.
When all is said and done on this project, we will have added reliability to the heat trace line, improved energy savings, and given everyone a warm and fuzzy feeling inside on a job well done.
That, right there, is what I dedicate 54+ hours of my week to. (I say 54+ because I’ve been having dreams about this damn project. That should count as working, right?)
Not Work:
Station life is good. We’ve got a lot going for us here. The TV has 5 channels and regularly shows football games and movies. We have a respectable library. We have a gym full of weights, one full of treadmills, one for basketball, and a mini rock climbing wall. We have yoga class. We have other workout classes. We have a church. We have a convenience store that sells booze and Cheez-its. There are three bars here: Gallagher’s, Southern Exposure, and The Coffee House. The latter makes a mean Latte with Bushmill’s Irish whiskey that I am often sipping on when I write these posts. There are also hiking trails and cross country skiing.
One of the coolest activities is the science lectures the various grantees put on. I’ve seen a neat one on SCINI, a super cool underwater remotely operated vehicle. There was also a cool one on logistics of the South Pole traverse that the station uses to deliver fuel and other essential goods to the Pole via land. The coolest one yet has to the Frozen Planet lecture put on by the BBC. I’m sure you all have seen the Planet Earth documentary series, right? You know, the finest nature show EVER. (You better see it if you haven’t or I won’t talk to you anymore) Well, the BBC is down here, right now, filming Frozen Planet! This will be a seven part series on the polar regions of the world due out in 2011. I’ve seen some snippets of footage and it looks damn good.
These science lectures are phenomenal. They remind me that I am currently a part of something big: some of the world’s most premier scientific research. I may be a simple labor boy, but without me and the other 1,000 people running support down here all those programs would be dead in the water. That right there makes an appeal to my sense of grandeur and I know that 20 years from now, no matter how awesome or miserable this experience turns out to be, I’ll look back upon it with pride. I did THIS.
Let’s wrap it up on a high note, shall well? I know this post got windy but its chalk full of good stuff. Best of luck to all of you in the coming weeks; I’ll keep you posted.
That “I’ll keep you posted” was kind of catchy. Perhaps that should be my tagline?? Hahaha. See ya.
The town of Lyttleton
The town of Lyttelton...
The island of Otamahua
...And more of Lyttelton
The cross next to the Cathedral
The town of Sumner
The town of LyttletonWell, it’s official. I am now a resident of McMurdo base, Antarctica. On Wednesday morning we boarded an Air Force C-17 for the final leg of the journey. Flying down there makes you feel like a big deal. You’re strapped into a jump seat, dressed in the official USAP red parka and full cold weather gear and you’re riding down with essential supplies and equipment.
So far McMurdo is pretty badass. The food is really good, my bed is fairly comfortable, the people are nice and there is actually a lot of stuff to do down here. We have three bars down here, there are hiking trails, cross country skiing, science lectures, yoga, a ball sports gym, weight room, pseudo Movie Theater and much more. Do keep in mind that we’re all here to work, but it’s nice having a variety of things to do after the job is done. As far as my work goes, I am a General Assistant for the heat trace project. I’ll get more in depth to the details of my work at a later date, but my basic job description is indentured servant.
The weather has been pretty nice. When I got off the plane it was 10 degrees out with no wind. It wasn’t long before I was sweating in my heavy cold weather gear. I guess yesterday was kind of cold, with the wind chill factored in we were hitting as low as -40 degrees but if you wear the proper clothing and keep your skin covered it is quite manageable. I can already tell I’m acclimating to the conditions. If you like getting sunburned this is the place to be as well. It is imperative to wear sun block or you will crispy up in no time due to the intensity of the UV rays.
This first week has been spent getting settled into base life and job. Tomorrow I have training that’ll allow me to venture off base to places like observation hill and I’ll have a few more recreational things to do. Speaking of rec. classes: I’m thinking about doing yoga. Is this a good idea or a bad idea? It is something to do and it’ll probably be good for my muscles, which get quite the workout on the job. Well, time and internet bandwidth are limited here. I’ll have plenty more to write about how things are going here in a short time.
I hope everyone back home is having a good time ‘cause I sure am!
The SO:
The Hotel I’ve been put up in for my stay is the Hotel So and it is hip as hell. Everything is white or made from glass and hardwood, with clean lines and organic shaping. The room is tiny, yet remains a high level of functionality. Just check out the video I posted of the room, you’ll see it’s a trip.
Transportation:
Getting around Christchurch is a piece of cake. The bus system is quite extensive and there are routes that travel to some of the more outlying regions like Lyttelton. Rental cars and campers can all be rented on the cheap and there is also a tram and a railway system as well. The kiwis also love their cars. I’ve seen scads of badass Land Cruisers and Land Rovers decked out with fog lights and brush bars and such. There’s also a metric buttload of Subaru WRX’s and Legacies and most of ‘em have been riced out a bit. I also saw a low of neat autos we can’t get stateside, my favorite being the Toyota Hilux. The Hilux is basically the overseas equivalent to the Tacoma, only it is not so damn big and you can get them equipped with a diesel engine (I think you can get diesel in damn near everything over here) which makes the Hilux way badass. There are also a bunch of cool trucks we can’t get stateside either: Toyota Prados, Nissan Patrols and Pajeros, and Land Rover D110’s. All of which get the Dan O seal of awesomeness.
Sightseeing:
After getting all checked in on our first full day, a couple of us hopped on the bus out to Sumner to check out the coast. All I can say is “Wow”. What a beautiful blend of mountains and pristine clear waters. Although it is early spring here in NZ, I can tell that once the waters warm up this is alive with surfing, boating, swimming, sailing, you name it. Just check out the pics.
On my second full day I took the bus out to Lyttelton, a small port town tucked into the mountains on the other side from Christchurch. The bay is actually a volcanic crater from eons ago, making for rugged hills all around town. If a genie popped out of a bottle and gave me three wishes, one of them would be to live here. The town is small yet close to a big city, quiet, there are some interesting bars and with ships coming into port, always an influx of characters. I got passed on the street by a gaggle of crazy Russians that almost got hit by a truck because they looked the wrong way when crossing.
After checking out Lyttelton I went back towards CHC and hopped on a Gondola up the Crater rim hiked along the various trails up there for about 3 hours. Lucky for me, whilst in the backcountry area I got to see some sheep! I took a picture of an especially noisy one and named him Bart.
I just downloaded Google Picasa and I’m definitely going to have some time on the flight down so I should FINALLY get some sweet pics posted. Cheers for now. I hope everyone back home is living their lives to the fullest. Hugs and kisses.
Hello ladies and gents. There’s no way I can compile my New Zealand experience in one post, but allow me to get a healthy portion of it down your gullet…
I flew in on the A380 to Sydney, which has a very nice connecting terminal, and hopped on a Boeing 767 for the three hour leg of my journey to Christchurch. This puts my flight time up to about 23 hours (mind you I have another 5 hour flight to McMurdo).
Christchurch is AMAZING! It’s the biggest city on the south island and it is home to about 380,000 people.
The people: I love ‘em. Everyone is ridiculously friendly. I’ve had one bartender comp me a few drinks, I’ve had another hook me up on price, and one more comp us games of pool. Everyone has been very helpful offering directions and tips on places to go, etc.
The food: Soo good that I am overlooking the fact it’s kind of expensive. On my first day here I ate at this hole in the wall Japanese place and had the best spicy beef teriyaki ever. The meat was cooked to perfection, the sauce was well balanced in flavor, and the rice was…well, how can you eff that up?? For lunch yesterday and today I picked up a hunk of cheese and a bread of some sort. Yesterday it was Havarti and a garlic/herb bread, today it was some aged Gouda and a fluffy croissant. Last night I ate at the WhatBar, the hotel’s in house-joint, and had this amazing Cajun chicken breast with greens, a fancy mashed potato thingy, and this spicy tomato saucy thing on the chicken. Now tonight I’m goin’ to really pull out the stops. There are a McDonalds, KFC and Burger King about a block away. I plan on putting on my American flag hat, Mountain Dew t-shirt, sweatpants and crocs to hit the town!!
…Mmmm, all this talk of food has made my tummy growl. I think dinnertime is now. Stay tuned! I will soon post part two of Dan’s commentary on the Hotel So, transportation, and some sight-seeing. Wooo!
Hey everyone! I write this post to you in jubilation. The flight into LA was scenic; the Rockies were beautiful from 30k feet and I got to see a chunk of the Grand Canyon. Sorry, I didn’t think to snap a picture of the canyon. Maybe I’ll get it on the return trip home. This upcoming LA to Sydney leg will represent a number of firsts for me. It’s the first time I’ve been on a flight over 5 hours, the first time I’ve flown overseas, and the first time I’ll travel on an Airbus A380 Superjumbo jet. Allow me to dork out for a minute on the A380. She’s the largest and one of the newest commercial aircraft in service today. She’s been manufactured with superlight composites and alloys, cruises at 570 MPH, she’s about 50% quieter than a 747, and the Qantas liner I’ll be riding is configured to carry 450 passengers. All in all, a first rate aircraft.
The next time you hear from me I’ll be on the other side of the world doin’ what I do best: being Dan.
P.S. I hope the in flight meals are good.
*Update* I’m ten hours into the flight and all I can say is A380 = bitchin’. This plane and my current experience with Qantas air has been above and beyond my expectations. The in-flight dinner was good! I had the chicken in a brown reduction sauce, with penne noodles and a side of mixed veggies. After dinner, the attendant brought me a cute little cup of hot cocoa with a big, fluffy marshmallow in it. The seats in economy are fairly spacious and recline an adequate amount of distance. The flight attendants are friendly and host a wonderfully congenial Aussie accent. I lucked out and have two great people in my row. The first is a property manager from Las Vegas and the second is the facilities engineer down at McMurdo, so I’ll be seeing him frequently over the next few months. The A380 is also incredibly smooth and quiet. She’s to air travel what the Titanic was supposed to be to ocean liners. Now that I’ve made that claim, we’re probably going to crash into the Pacific!
Most badass of all is the LED touch screen entertainment center built into the seat. This little doohickey is loaded with over 100 movies (I watched Terminator: Salvation), TV shows like Top Gear, The Office and Mythbusters, radio stations, a Lonely Planet guide to key cities across the world, news channels, games and innumerable other features. The coolest features are the flight path function that shows our aircraft’s real-time position in our journey and there is also a closed-circuit camera built into the tail that gives the passenger an above aircraft view of the flight in progress. Totally bad ass.
Oh, and in the morning the attendants hand out hot towels to help get the juices flowing again.
Music tidbit: I bought the new Air album, Love 2, before I left. It’s good.
Alright folks! This is it. Travel day. I am sitting at Denver Int’l Airport patiently waiting to fly leg one of my journey to The Ice: Denver to Los Angeles. From there I will have a frickin’ long ass flight to Sydney, then onto Christchurch (where I’ll layover for 2 days), THEN finally to McMurdo Station. As long as things go accordingly and the weather holds, I’ll be hitting The Ice 5 days from today.
Sadly, the start of my journey has been troublesome. I left my phone on the bus, bye-bye phone, and the ice in my drink at lunch settled while I was drinking and I slopped some pop on my shirt. Despite these setbacks, I shall push forth with my travels.
Two other notables:
Simon and Garfunkel makes some pretty good traveling music. I’m currently listening to “I am a Rock” which makes me feel like a badass for some reason and the song “Hazy Shade of Winter” will be quite fitting for my journey to The Ice
I like the women in Colorado. Granted I’ve only been in Denver, but in my 3 days here I’ve seen some pretty attractive women walking around with technical soft shells and cool Osprey/Patagonia/Dakine bags. Now ladies, I care about much more than how she looks, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, and that somewhere for me is outdoorsy lookin’ women!
Cheers!
