Benefits of being here during the winter

Well hello all. I am back in my room right now, on one of my (many) days off. Having every other day down here is the benefit of being a firefighter. Normally back home we would work a schedule at over 3,4 or 5 days we would work 1 and then have either 2, 3 or the next 4 days off, this is all due to working 24 hours a day. Down here we do not have that “luxury” but we still have some benefits. Case in point, today (and Monday for that matter), I had the benefit of going into the hot tub for 2 hours. Normally we can only reserve it for an hour at a time but if you go in groups then each person can get an hour to themselves which means longer for everyone.

Anyways, as I am walking to the Firehouse, which is 20 feet from the hot tub, I see people walking around town either going to or from a work assignment and I am thankful for having my schedule. I am dressed in my “big red” with a t-shirt and a pair of jeans on along with my sneakers and a bag around my shoulders to carry my towel and my beverages for the hot tub. I go into the firehouse and see the people working in the bay to overhaul our heating system. Of course I say hi to them all and they ask why I am back since it is my day off, they know this since they begin work at 730am and I leave work about 815am after we have our shift change meeting and “bs” with everyone. I say with a snicker “I’m ‘rubber ducking it’ today.” They all give that “I wish I was you right now” look since they know the rubber duck, yes just like when you were a kid and played with one in the tub, is attached to the hot tub key ring as to not lose the key in the snow.

I also take advantage of working at the firehouse and go to my bunk room to change into my swim shorts / workout short and with just my t-shirt, sneakers and workout shorts on I briskly jog over the 20 feet to the hot tub where I relax with some beverages, music and non-work related conversation. Since for the most part the Firehouse and the Power Plant operators are the only ones that don’t work “town schedule” (Monday to Saturday 730am to 530pm) the hot tub is relatively free most days before 6pm. This is nice since it gets chemically treated in the morning about 7 am or maybe the night before if it isn’t in use before the wonderful UT foreman racks out for the evening. So it is usually nice and clean and germ free, an added benefit.

Lately we have been getting more people to join us in the hot tub either before or after our scheduled times. It is nice to have people from different work centers come and join so we don’t talk about the same topics. The conversations inevitably turn into “war stories”, “triumphs” or work bitching. Which is all well and good but they have their place, which is not in the hot tub since it is relaxing time.

Everyone once in an while someone will knock on the door to see who is in there since they can hear the music on the outside. The conversation usually goes like “Hey what up? Not much ‘just chilling, relaxing and acting all cool. You know shooting some b-ball outside of the school.’ How long you going to be here? Until 4 or so (or 5 or 6 which ever is correct). Cool mind if I join? Not at all come on back and join.” Then there is the inevitable meeting / passing / random person coming up in the galley / hallway / computer kiosk that asks if we are “tubing” it this morning / afternoon. Which the answer is usually yes or maybe an inquisitive you want to? But either way it is nice to be here and have some things that are different or specifically saved for winter. It gives the 198 winter-overs, the biggest in 3 years, something to be elitists about. Apparently this year it is going to be a big winfly season with 200 more scientist and grantees coming down. So the hot tub and all the extra amenities will all disappear, a week early this year, as to not give the impression that we have "luxuries" that they don't have during the summer. Where as winfly is usually the influx of trades people to help; open the dorms and buildings, get the vehicles up and running, and compile all the gear that is going to get used during the summer. But this year is it the 260ish winfly people like normal plus 200+ scientist and grantees. (FYI grantees are the unpaid scientist / videographers / photographers / random people in general that get sponsored by their respective universities and the NSF to come down and work on experiments.)

About these pictures:
So right down the road, literally, is Scott Base which is considered “foreign soil” since it is under the control of New Zealand. They are the ones that maintain the wind turbines (picture #2) that help to offset the power used by both bases. Apparently McMurdo’s power plant helps to power Scott Base. So when the wind is whipping, read above about 10 knots, it gives enough power to completely supply Scott Base and help offset McMurdo’s own power consumption. This is a good thing since we aren’t using diesel / JP-8 (jet fuel) / AN-8 (winterized {Antarctic} JP-8) to power the town which is a normally what is used to make electricity and water. Heat is comes from the diesel thru boilers or thru the waste heat loop around town that comes from the cooling of the 2 generators. So anyways about the sign, currently there are 14 bodies (13 plus a really short person hence a 13 ½) that reside at Scott Base during the winter. This picture was taken the same day that we did fire watch stand by for them so they could take there winter-over picture up at the wind turbines. It is A-shift, my shift, minus Virginia. It was here “Kelly Day.”

Hope you enjoyed.

From a nice calm and surprisingly warm (+7 degrees Fahrenheit) Wednesday

Stay Frosty!
-C

Group Photos

Helloooo All,

I know it has been a few weeks, almost a month, since my last update but I have been busy. Well to tell you the truth I haven’t been busy but I have been to busy to finish writing the 5 posts that I have started. I get typing and then something comes up and I don’t finish, or I rush and it doesn’t accurately portray what I am trying to describe. So I have decided to go over them and revise what I have to make a good solid few posts. Plus my friend Phil McCully mentioned me in his blog so I have to kick my arse into high gear to get this updated.

So since this is more of a teaser than an update I will be showing and telling about my fellow McMurdoians. We have been taking pictures all over town for the yearbook, Mother’s day and our individual department photos. So this is more of a get to know my fellow Americans, and some Kiwi, than anything else. I do have to give credit where it is due, since the photos are not saved on the common drive anymore, and I do not have access to my laptop currently. I am going to be borrowing pictures that are already posted by my fellow McMurdoians. So please visit the page of a fellow McMurdoian Marika at http://ilostabetdotgov.wordpress.com/ which is truly a wonderful blog or my friends on facebook under the “Ice Cube” friend group.

My Fellow Firefighters
So here is a good picture of the different shifts. On the left you have A-Shift of which I am a proud member of. On the right you have B-Shift which they are all proud members of. And then in the front you have the Station Captain, John Cassidy, on the left and our wonderful and talented dispatcher Bethany Barfield on the right. For B-Shift starting at the bottom is their Lieutenant Mark Bucher, FF Corey Adler, FF Grant Hanson, FF & D/O Rob Weidman and last but certainly not least FF & D/O Megan Branson. Now Megan and Rob are both my personal photographers so you may already recognize them. Now onto A-Shift again starting at the bottom is Lieutenant Shayne Dombrowski, FF & D/O Virginia Price, FF & D/O Scott Beu, FF Peter McHargue and last but of course not least, not in my mind anyways, FF & D/O Corey Walsh who I do have to say is a stunningly good looking person.

F.E.M.C.-Facilities Engineering Mechanical and Construction
These groups of people are the ones that take care of and maintain everything on station except for vehicles and computers, which means they are the biggest group on station by far during this winter. They are plumbers, electricians, carpenters, engineers, boiler mechanics, and UT (universal technicians) that I get to call at 1, 2, 3 or 4 am when I am covering dispatch when a variety of alarms go off. They are the ones that brave the -50 degree weather to make sure the local watering hole (Gallagher’s) is still nice and toasty when the low temperature alarm goes off, like it just did.

Galley
I would think that just by the name it would explain it. But for those who do not know, there are the people who cook our delicious food and maintain the entire cutlery that goes along with it. They have by far one of the least appreciated jobs on station. In fact they are so under staffed that every weekend 4-6 community members have to “volunteer” in the dish pit to clean dishes and pots so 1 member of the Galley staff can have the day off.

Janos
The Janos are the housing staff that clean up the public spaces in McMurdo. Many are former Galley staff that liked it so much that they came back. They are also the people that do the laundry that is left over from the summer and make the bed packs so when the summer people come back they have clean sheets to sleep on. They also have one of the least appreciated jobs on station.

Carp Shop
These are the guys that are carpenters on station. They, like most others jobs this winter, are always under staffed and overbook on projects. They also assemble two of the best bands on station.

B.F.C.-Berg Field Center a.k.a. Building Full of Chicks
They are the individuals that are tasked with cleaning, maintaining and preparing all the field camp equipment for the summer researchers. They are also charge with maintaining the hiking trails in and around McMurdo both summer and winter.

Heat Trace
They have one of the worst jobs, I think, on station. All the piping that runs from building to building is wrapped with heat conduction to keep it all warm. Well they are in the process of rewiring all of it. So they are outside 90% of the day. A good solid thanks to all you heat tracers.

**Note** Heavy Shop Picture doesn't feel like loading today so I will work on it.

The Heavy ShopThese guys and gals are the ones that fix our equipment. Big and small, light and heavy, snow covered or sea water soaked they take care of it all. They work on everything from pickups to Caterpillar D-9 earth moving, or rather snow moving, dozers. I know that we, the fire department, have tasked them with fixing our Engines multiple times this winter and with probably more to come. They are also the group that graciously gives up there work center once a month for a horseshoe tournament

Now I know that I am missing some departments like supply, Human Resources, Finance, the Store, Safety and IT but I could not, even remotely, find a picture of them. This last picture is of the fire department again. We took it outside, obviously, but since we needed a head shot type picture we went with the first one.

More updates to come this week, I promise!

Stay Frosty
-C