Thursday, May 22, 2014
Friday, November 23, 2012
All Settled In
I've now been here for about 10 days and I'm feeling pretty settled in. The altitude doesn't get to me as much, though soccer is still harder than Wolverine's bones (but it's getting a little easier each time). The monotony is sinking in (which isn't necessarily a bad thing)--get up, work, eat, play soccer, play guitar, drink beer, chug lots of water, watch a movie, drink more beer, etc.
I'm writing this post while I'm waiting for some code to compile. If you don't have any programming experience, just imagine what it's like to watch grass grow but having to continuously monitor it in case the grass decides to grow sideways or something. I figure I'd take this time to describe daily life/my work down here.
First off, for those who are new to my blog or who have forgotten since last year, the South Pole is extremely cold, high, and dry. It's been warm the last few days, meaning it's only -35F or so with less than a 10 knot wind (so windchill of around -55F or so). We're also at about 9300 feet physical, but with the extreme cold, the pressure altitude can range from around 10,000 - 12,000 ft so you can go to sleep at 10,500 and wake up at 12,300. It's an extremely dry desert here (which is why my telescope is down here) so your lips, hands, nose, and any other exposed skin cracks like a waterboarded terrorist (note: I do not condone torture--I do however condone colorful metaphors). Because of this, you need to pretty much chug water constantly or you'll start getting the symptoms of dehydration. It makes drinking alcohol down here a different experience but coupled with weak beers and the effects of altitude training, your hangover can be anywhere from non-existent to Robert Downey Jr in severity.
I usually wake up anywhere between 5:30 and 9am depending on how late I was working the previous night or any altitude related insomnia. If I'm up early enough, I go to the galley to get some breakfast (served 5:30 until 8am). I usually don't make it a point to get up for breakfast just because it's so terrible. It's not really the cooks' fault but your breakfast options are eggs, bacon, sausage, and usually pancakes or pre-made waffles. Not exactly appetizing though sometimes a couple of over-easy eggs coupled with some fresh fruit can be worth it. Ugh... just thinking about breakfast right now is making me nauseous... After I wake up, I check the telescope viewer running on my computer to make sure everything is ok. We have it set up so you can remotely view things like the telescope's movements, temperatures, log and error messages, and even the weather. When things break, we have it set up to send me an email and when things REALLY break, it pages my radio. Yes, my telescope can totally call me. Though it spends its days peering at the birth of the universe, it never seems to have anything interesting to say. Provided everything is working, I plow through all my spam emails twice since they're all forwarded to my usap (US Antarctic Program) email account. I then pick up my laptop and head down the hall to the science wing--a giant room where all the experiments have lab/desk space (this is where I am right now). People walk by the hallway and peer in through the windows, sort of like we're animals at a zoo. This is of course the excuse I give for when I fling my poo at them. Then I usually start chugging through the previous day's data, making plots, making website postings to share with the collaboration, and when the satellite is up I push all this data up north. At meals, I find myself saying "Excuse me, I've gotta go push some data up north" which I realized is a pretty good euphemism for taking a dump (since all directions are north).
When I need to swap out a calibration device, refill the liquid helium tank, or if something breaks, I go out to the Dark Sector Lab (DSL) where my telescope sits. It's a 1 kilometer walk and although sometimes you can catch a ride on a snowmobile or truck, it's really a nice walk and a surprisingly good workout. Because of the low temperatures and constant windchill, you need to suit up to go outside. USAP provides you with the necessary gear although since I've gone down a few years now, I'm supplanted some of it with my own gear for comfort. I usually double up on socks but my hiking shoes are usually sufficient unless I spend more than 30-40 minutes outside stationary. I then put on a pair of lined carhartt overalls which have more pockets than a pool table. To protect my hands, I put on glove liners, then wool mittens, and then leather mittens on top of that to stop the wind. And my hands still freeze. Thanks genetics for giving me shitty circulation to my extremities. As long as it's above -40 or so and not to windy, or if I don't plan on spending too much time outside, my standard down jacket is good enough. To protect my face/head, I wear a facemask, goggles, and a knit hat. When it's windy, I'll put my hood up over this. When you're outside for a while, I recommend dancing to stay warm. With all the slick surfaces, it's a good place to learn how to moonwalk.
Recently, some of my colleagues and I have taken up body sledding down snow drifts for entertainment. Because of the constant wind, giant snow-drifts will build up around buildings and they can be rather steep. Sometimes, the snow plows and forklifts will pile up giant mounds of snow to try to keep everything flat around high traffic areas. There's one right outside the station that I've starting colloquially calling "the Murderhorn" which can be a lot of fun sledding down. Occasionally, I'll just take off sprinting and slam myself into a snow berm with an elbow drop reminiscent of the best Macho Man Randy Savage wrestling matches.
Today is Thanksgiving back home, although it's Friday here and we don't actually celebrate until tomorrow. Since the standard work week is 6 days (although us scientists don't exactly have "working hours"--our hours are 24/7), holidays are usually pushed to the closest saturday to give people a two-day weekend. Although I do wish I was home with my family, the excitement of being at the South Pole is totally worth it. This is my niece's first Thanksgiving ever! So naturally, my family has a lot to be thankful for this year.
Because it's tradition to annoyingly go around the table and say what we're thankful for this year (thanks Dad), I'll go ahead and give a short list.
I'm thankful for the healthy arriving of my wonderful niece, Lauren Lee Hunt. I'm especially thankful that I got to meet her the day she entered the world. I'm thankful that my sister and brother in law are so awesome and live so close by. I'm thankful for the relationship I have with my parents and how active and involved they are. I'm thankful for my research being more exciting than in previous years. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to be at the South Pole and I'm thankful for those who recognize the opportunity this presents and who love me while I'm gone. I'm thankful that there is a cease-fire in Gaza so my friends living in Israel can take a moment to breathe. I'm thankful that you made it to this point in this exercise in selfishness we like to call a "blog." Happy Thanksgiving, and I'll talk to you all later.
I'm writing this post while I'm waiting for some code to compile. If you don't have any programming experience, just imagine what it's like to watch grass grow but having to continuously monitor it in case the grass decides to grow sideways or something. I figure I'd take this time to describe daily life/my work down here.
First off, for those who are new to my blog or who have forgotten since last year, the South Pole is extremely cold, high, and dry. It's been warm the last few days, meaning it's only -35F or so with less than a 10 knot wind (so windchill of around -55F or so). We're also at about 9300 feet physical, but with the extreme cold, the pressure altitude can range from around 10,000 - 12,000 ft so you can go to sleep at 10,500 and wake up at 12,300. It's an extremely dry desert here (which is why my telescope is down here) so your lips, hands, nose, and any other exposed skin cracks like a waterboarded terrorist (note: I do not condone torture--I do however condone colorful metaphors). Because of this, you need to pretty much chug water constantly or you'll start getting the symptoms of dehydration. It makes drinking alcohol down here a different experience but coupled with weak beers and the effects of altitude training, your hangover can be anywhere from non-existent to Robert Downey Jr in severity.
I usually wake up anywhere between 5:30 and 9am depending on how late I was working the previous night or any altitude related insomnia. If I'm up early enough, I go to the galley to get some breakfast (served 5:30 until 8am). I usually don't make it a point to get up for breakfast just because it's so terrible. It's not really the cooks' fault but your breakfast options are eggs, bacon, sausage, and usually pancakes or pre-made waffles. Not exactly appetizing though sometimes a couple of over-easy eggs coupled with some fresh fruit can be worth it. Ugh... just thinking about breakfast right now is making me nauseous... After I wake up, I check the telescope viewer running on my computer to make sure everything is ok. We have it set up so you can remotely view things like the telescope's movements, temperatures, log and error messages, and even the weather. When things break, we have it set up to send me an email and when things REALLY break, it pages my radio. Yes, my telescope can totally call me. Though it spends its days peering at the birth of the universe, it never seems to have anything interesting to say. Provided everything is working, I plow through all my spam emails twice since they're all forwarded to my usap (US Antarctic Program) email account. I then pick up my laptop and head down the hall to the science wing--a giant room where all the experiments have lab/desk space (this is where I am right now). People walk by the hallway and peer in through the windows, sort of like we're animals at a zoo. This is of course the excuse I give for when I fling my poo at them. Then I usually start chugging through the previous day's data, making plots, making website postings to share with the collaboration, and when the satellite is up I push all this data up north. At meals, I find myself saying "Excuse me, I've gotta go push some data up north" which I realized is a pretty good euphemism for taking a dump (since all directions are north).
When I need to swap out a calibration device, refill the liquid helium tank, or if something breaks, I go out to the Dark Sector Lab (DSL) where my telescope sits. It's a 1 kilometer walk and although sometimes you can catch a ride on a snowmobile or truck, it's really a nice walk and a surprisingly good workout. Because of the low temperatures and constant windchill, you need to suit up to go outside. USAP provides you with the necessary gear although since I've gone down a few years now, I'm supplanted some of it with my own gear for comfort. I usually double up on socks but my hiking shoes are usually sufficient unless I spend more than 30-40 minutes outside stationary. I then put on a pair of lined carhartt overalls which have more pockets than a pool table. To protect my hands, I put on glove liners, then wool mittens, and then leather mittens on top of that to stop the wind. And my hands still freeze. Thanks genetics for giving me shitty circulation to my extremities. As long as it's above -40 or so and not to windy, or if I don't plan on spending too much time outside, my standard down jacket is good enough. To protect my face/head, I wear a facemask, goggles, and a knit hat. When it's windy, I'll put my hood up over this. When you're outside for a while, I recommend dancing to stay warm. With all the slick surfaces, it's a good place to learn how to moonwalk.
Recently, some of my colleagues and I have taken up body sledding down snow drifts for entertainment. Because of the constant wind, giant snow-drifts will build up around buildings and they can be rather steep. Sometimes, the snow plows and forklifts will pile up giant mounds of snow to try to keep everything flat around high traffic areas. There's one right outside the station that I've starting colloquially calling "the Murderhorn" which can be a lot of fun sledding down. Occasionally, I'll just take off sprinting and slam myself into a snow berm with an elbow drop reminiscent of the best Macho Man Randy Savage wrestling matches.
Today is Thanksgiving back home, although it's Friday here and we don't actually celebrate until tomorrow. Since the standard work week is 6 days (although us scientists don't exactly have "working hours"--our hours are 24/7), holidays are usually pushed to the closest saturday to give people a two-day weekend. Although I do wish I was home with my family, the excitement of being at the South Pole is totally worth it. This is my niece's first Thanksgiving ever! So naturally, my family has a lot to be thankful for this year.
Because it's tradition to annoyingly go around the table and say what we're thankful for this year (thanks Dad), I'll go ahead and give a short list.
I'm thankful for the healthy arriving of my wonderful niece, Lauren Lee Hunt. I'm especially thankful that I got to meet her the day she entered the world. I'm thankful that my sister and brother in law are so awesome and live so close by. I'm thankful for the relationship I have with my parents and how active and involved they are. I'm thankful for my research being more exciting than in previous years. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to be at the South Pole and I'm thankful for those who recognize the opportunity this presents and who love me while I'm gone. I'm thankful that there is a cease-fire in Gaza so my friends living in Israel can take a moment to breathe. I'm thankful that you made it to this point in this exercise in selfishness we like to call a "blog." Happy Thanksgiving, and I'll talk to you all later.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Back in Antarctica
 |
| in the belly of the C-17 en route to McMurdo |
My stay in Chch was only one night and I arrived in McMurdo, Antarctica on monday. Due to my seniority I was put up in a room with only 2 other roommates. Usually us transients get packed like sardines into whatever room doesn't currently violate the fire code. I went for my traditional hike out to Discovery point to observe the seals. I always take pictures but they never can quite capture the sheer awe-inspiring beauty of the ice shelf. Mt. Erebus looms ominously behind you, its constant bellowing of smoke painting the otherwise crystal sky. Below you, a handful of enormous seals sun themselves on the frozen waves, somehow thriving in the desolation. Then ice for miles, broken by the dark seemingly impenetrable mountains in the distance. All the while, an unceasing sun does its best to warm against the constant breeze. I try to stay out there until I can't feel my fingers to soak it all in. At 18 F, it wasn't too bad (I realize how ridiculous that sounds). Later, there was a science mixer at the Crary lab. Being a transient in McMurdo is a very lonely experience. At this point McMurdo has been open for about 2 months so the cliques have formed and they aren't interested in taking in any temporary members. I recognized a few people from previous seasons but I spent most of my time staring out of the telescope at the mountains in the distance. At one point someone recognized me from my performance at New Year's last year and we started talking about music, etc. Later on a band called Condition Fun played. Their name is a play on the weather conditions at McMurdo where condition one is clear, condition two is bad weather, and condition three is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. They sang parodies of pop songs where all the lyrics dealt with life in Antarctica. It was very funny and quite catchy. Luckily, my flight to Pole was on schedule and I left the next day.
I arrived at Pole warmed by my big red and supplemented with excitement. When your destination is Pole, McMurdo is a hell-hole and Pole is Shangri-la. I hear McMurdo is an awesome place to be but its sort of reminiscent of that weird town from Twin Peaks. Pole, on the other hand, is like a space station on some alien world. The McMurdo crowd tends to be more outdoorsy adventurers but Pole is full of more sci-fi people. I got out of the LC-130 and once I caught my breath (due to the extreme cold) I passed by my friend Molly from last year who was directing traffic on the runway. I gave her a big bear hug and then proceeded towards the station. I was greeted by my group as well as a few other people who I've known from previous deployments. Arriving at Pole is a really amazing experience full of so much love and excitement. One of the winter-overs for SPT who incidentally was a grad student on BICEP1 was leaving so I stuck around a little while to say bye to her. After 15 minutes or so I was too cold and hungry so I went inside and found my room. Because this is my 4th deployment (and because I'm a grantee, not a contractor) I was given one of the "big" rooms. It's about 3 feet wider than the other rooms but it actually makes a really big difference. I've even got a window with a view. Usually the windows just point towards the other berthing wings but my berthing is on the end so I have a clear view of the endless horizon.
This deployment so far has just been spectacular. Everything from my room, to the group down here, to my responsibilities has just been fantastic. I'm the only BICEP2 person deployed and although there are 4 other people from the collaboration, they are all SPUD specific so the telescope is entirely mine! I do the cryo refills, cycle the refrigerator, modify the schedules, run the schedules, analyze the data, and send all the data up north. If I were any more productive, I would be powering the station!
 |
| Doing a cryo fill out at the lab. Safety first, y'all. |
Well, I'm off to play soccer. Hopefully it will go easier than on wednesday (my second day here) which damn near kicked my ass.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Back in the Enn Zed
Well, it's that time of year again. Time for me to head back to Antarctica. I arrived in New Zealand this morning after 3 flights, ~15 hours. I'm back in Christchurch which is an absolute wreck. Two years ago (and six days after I left) Chch was hit with a massive earthquake which damaged many of the buildings downtown and killed around 150 people. When they were rebuilding, about a year later, another massive quake struck. Now all the buildings that were being fixed have been demolished and downtown is essentially non-existent. It's very sad. I really loved coming to Chch. It was a very manageable, friendly city with some truly excellent bars and restaurants. Now it's just a bunch of thrown together strip malls and rubble. I feel bad for those who this is their first deployment. I'm fortunate in that I got to experience the real Chch before it was leveled.
I've been up now for about 36+ hours and I'm preparing to go to bed (it's 7:15pm here but I'll try to hold out as long as possible). I had a really great time so far today. I walked along one of the main streets towards the remnants of downtown until I was met with a promise of great beer from a chalkboard sign on a sidewalk. That promise was not honored. New Zealand beer is weak. Most are 4% with some pushing 5.3%. I tried the beer with the most amount of adjectives describing its flavor (usually the most you'll find are some combination of pale, crisp, and lager). It was a black lager promising hints of coffee, chocolate, and rich malts. It tasted like watered down murphy's. Where I come from, if you have the balls to make a black lager, you make it 8% and unforgettable. And then you dry-hop it.
Naturally, I had the green-shelled mussels for dinner. They are gigantic and so sweet. They came in a delicious garlic cream sauce with some bread to sop up the left-overs. Very delicious. While there, I overheard someone reading a paper talking about Jeb Bush v Hilary Clinton in 2016 and we struck up a conversations. It turned out he was an ex-pat who worked with the DoD fixing our C-130s for polar operations. I drank and philosophized with him, his british wife, a few local Kiwis, and all the bartenders. They were locals and apparently ran the joint. It was a lot of fun especially since there were only 3 USAP people on my flight (including me) and I didn't know either of the others. I actually hope our flight leaves on time since it would be dreadful to be stuck in this flattened husk of a city without anyone I know. If all goes as planned, we should leave monday.
I am very excited to get to Pole this year. I have friends already down there and as this is my fourth trip I sort of feel like a high-school senior. I've paid my dues, done my time, and now I'm the old fart who knows everything about the inner workings of the place. I'll even get you the answers to friday's geography test. This will also be my first deployment single which isn't to say I'm excited for the prospects (you know, the 3 women down there) but that my previous girlfriend had a tendency to stress me out to the point that I couldn't eat for the first week or so every time I deployed. So I'm looking forward to a much smoother psychological transition.
I'm starting to fade and my thoughts are becoming less coherent. I'll just end with this: ketchup does not belong on a falafel. Other than that, it was delicious. That and Kathmandu is having a 70% off of cold weather gear sale so hopefully they are open on sundays (unlike most of the stores in this damn country--it's shocking that they can sustain an economy).
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Some pics
Barn dance bar. Can I get you a beer?
Me putting up a mirror on top of the telescope
This was the craziest sundog I've ever seen.
The Case of the Stolen Birthday Beers
Yesterday (in my time zone) was my birthday. It started out well enough in that all the problems of the week had since been fixed and things were progressing. In NZ, I had bought three beers that I planned to drink on my birthday, a North Coast Old Rasputin, a Green Flash West Coast IPA, and a Bear Republic Racer 5. All excellent beers and I had been looking forward to enjoying them since I first got on the ice.
So friday night, after dinner, I go into my room and grab the beers. I open the Old Rasputin and put the other two in the leftover fridge in the galley. I sit in the galley with some friends and colleagues and enjoy my beer. Also on friday night, but no less important, was the Barn Dance. I promised I would bartend during the dance so I headed down to set up the bar. After 15 or so minutes, I went back upstairs to grab my other beers but much to my dismay they were gone. Vanished. I looked around the fridge, moving aside the old roast beef and mac n cheese but alas, it was apparent that some vile creature had absconded with my beers. I frantically retrace my steps, warning all that I meet that there is a beer bandit on the loose. I go to the B1 lounge, which I like to describe: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." They had not seen my beer, and they were disgusted that someone would take them. I walked out to summer camp and the smokers lounge. I interrupted the replay of the Steelers game. Tebow couldn't save whoever stole my beer.
Eventually, I was convinced to let it go--after all, there's nowhere the thief can go--so I went back to the Barn Dance and continued to bartend. It was actually a great time. They had a live band with a fiddle, banjo, guitar, and bass. The fiddle player, Ed, is really amazing. It was so much fun to listen to and really made me forget about the beer bandit.
I ended up having a fun birthday despite the thievery.
The next day, I got a call that my beers have been spotted sitting in the hallway across from the greenhouse. They left a note, although I don't know why they didn't reclaim the beers for me, but eventually the perpetrator got the note and returned the beers. She gave me guff about putting things in public spaces. I didn't expect I would have to lock down everything I leave around station, but good point beer thief. Real showing of character, taking things that clearly aren't yours just because they are in a public space and unlabeled. I think I'll walk around station taking things that clearly don't belong to me and then blaming others for enabling my kleptomania. See that hat, I like it. I'll take it even though I didn't bring it down here or buy it in the store. That lounge chair in the tv lounge? I think it would look better in my room. I'll take it because it's in a public space and not labeled. I'm still so friggin mad. I'm glad I got the beers back, but who steals beer? Honestly?
So friday night, after dinner, I go into my room and grab the beers. I open the Old Rasputin and put the other two in the leftover fridge in the galley. I sit in the galley with some friends and colleagues and enjoy my beer. Also on friday night, but no less important, was the Barn Dance. I promised I would bartend during the dance so I headed down to set up the bar. After 15 or so minutes, I went back upstairs to grab my other beers but much to my dismay they were gone. Vanished. I looked around the fridge, moving aside the old roast beef and mac n cheese but alas, it was apparent that some vile creature had absconded with my beers. I frantically retrace my steps, warning all that I meet that there is a beer bandit on the loose. I go to the B1 lounge, which I like to describe: "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." They had not seen my beer, and they were disgusted that someone would take them. I walked out to summer camp and the smokers lounge. I interrupted the replay of the Steelers game. Tebow couldn't save whoever stole my beer.
Eventually, I was convinced to let it go--after all, there's nowhere the thief can go--so I went back to the Barn Dance and continued to bartend. It was actually a great time. They had a live band with a fiddle, banjo, guitar, and bass. The fiddle player, Ed, is really amazing. It was so much fun to listen to and really made me forget about the beer bandit.
I ended up having a fun birthday despite the thievery.
The next day, I got a call that my beers have been spotted sitting in the hallway across from the greenhouse. They left a note, although I don't know why they didn't reclaim the beers for me, but eventually the perpetrator got the note and returned the beers. She gave me guff about putting things in public spaces. I didn't expect I would have to lock down everything I leave around station, but good point beer thief. Real showing of character, taking things that clearly aren't yours just because they are in a public space and unlabeled. I think I'll walk around station taking things that clearly don't belong to me and then blaming others for enabling my kleptomania. See that hat, I like it. I'll take it even though I didn't bring it down here or buy it in the store. That lounge chair in the tv lounge? I think it would look better in my room. I'll take it because it's in a public space and not labeled. I'm still so friggin mad. I'm glad I got the beers back, but who steals beer? Honestly?
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Some pics from New Year's
Pic of me with Daniel in the background.
Really cool pic of Daniel.
Jon on drums.
Race Around the World Pictures
The starting line at the Race Around the World.
towards the end of the race. Note the weather.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New Year's
An Epic shot of me and the drummer from the show. This one shows up on the monitors in the galley from time to time.
This was my first New Year's at the Pole. The previous two years I was here either just before or just after. I was really looking forward to it.
My band had been slated to play last out of 4 bands. I was happy with that since I knew that people would probably trickle in up until midnight. Actually, it turned out many people were just waiting for my band to play. I ran into them in one of the lounges and they asked me what time I was playing and said they would make sure to come down for that.
First off, ego aside, all the bands were excellent. It was really a lot of fun. Now, with my ego fully engaged, we kicked a lot of ass. My new nickname around station is "Rock Star".
The first band was a folky/bluegrass band. I felt kind of bad for them because by the time they went on there wasn't a large crowd. They were really great (as expected). Up next was a funk cover band. They played "Higher Ground" (Chili peppers version) and the "Superfly" theme song that really stood out.
The next band was a classic rock cover band. They played some Doors and Van Morrison, etc. It was great but they had a really long set and I was getting antsy to play.
Next up was us. First off, all the other bands were 6, 7, or 8 pieces and we were just three dudes. I felt under qualified to play. We opened with a bluesy Gov't Mule song and the crowd really started going. We then played a really funky jam on a riff that Daniel (the bass player) put together. They crowd REALLY liked that one. Then we played some Hendrix (Hey Joe and Red House). Next was Jeremy by Pearl Jam. That was a fun song since it's so much fun to sing. Next we did another jam, kind of Rage Against the Machine style. The jams were really tight--much credit to Jon (on drums) for holding it all together. Finally, we played Sober by Tool. Everyone seemed to really love it.
At this point, it was nearly midnight so we got off the stage to ring in the new year. Earlier in the day, I had helped convince a bag-piper to play Auld Lang Sine so he played the song with a Saxophonist. Afterwards people were asking us to keep playing, so we got back on stage and played some of our less prepared and more jammy songs. Eventually, it was time to join the party so we took our bows (with sombreros that somehow made their way to our heads) and handed it over to the DJ.
For the party, many people dressed up in crazy costumes. Lots of bright colored wigs, wacky 80's clothes, etc. Some of the people intentionally changed into crazier costumes for my band's set. There was even a giant penguin costume (naturally). I just wore my dinosaur knit cap. Nothing too crazy. New Year's is also fun because that's when the fancy Scotch comes out.
Today, a few people from the SPUD telescope are leaving but a whole bunch more get in. It will be pretty lively around here this week. Our "bosses" get in this week as well as the last BICEP2 grad student, Justus, who I'm really looking forward to seeing.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
That Two Day Weekend
Saturday morning was the Race Around the World, a christmas tradition. It was only a 2.3 mile run but the weather was so terrible that it was very difficult. I really struggle with the altitude when it comes to aerobic exercise. I'm not designed for this. My lungs can't get enough oxygen. It's so cold out that you really have to wear something to cover your face or else risk damaging your lungs but then it's even harder to breathe. I started out the race fine, but about .25 mi in, we hit some really soft snow and the effort of trudging through it really wore me out. The rest of the race was spent gasping for air. It was really a miserable experience. I hate distance running to begin with, but add to that sub-freezing temperatures and 20mph winds and it was just the worst. Thankfully, towards the end of the race, when I was contemplating what it would be like to just drop dead, a friend of mine caught up to me and we raced to the finish. It made it slightly more fun. I would classify the race as worse than going to the dentist but better than being stabbed in an alley. Congrats to Jamie Tolan who won the race. He's a grad student on our sister telescope, SPUD or Keck (depending on where you are).
After the race, everyone gathered in the galley for brunch. I was too cold and too nauseous to eat but it was nice to see everyone out and about. After a little while, I grabbed some food, and then a bunch of us decided to hit the sauna. That was definitely the best idea possibly ever created by man. It goes 1) sauna after race around the world 2) go to the moon 3) the internet 4) sliced bread. Whatever damage I may have done to my lungs was definitely soothed by the 210 degree sauna. Naturally, after 10 or so minutes, you have to run outside. We call that "the cycle." After 4 or so cycles, I was ready for a shower.
Later that night was the famous Christmas dinner. The galley is decorated with strings of hanging lights and there is a christmas tree in the corner. There are also a few menorahs, for those interested. Dinner was beef wellington, lobster tails, white truffle mashed potatoes, baked root vegetables, and about 1000 different kinds of desserts. There were also appetizers before the meal. They had shrimp cocktails, seared scallops, baked brie, some duck dish, and spiced cider. There are three settings for christmas dinner. I volunteered to help with the second seating which meant I walked around pouring the wine. It was actually a lot of fun. I made sure that no glass went empty. I also helped serve desserts and bus the tables. I was part of the third seating, so after I finished, it was time to eat. The food was incredible. Best lobster ever. I made sure to take advantage of the wine stewards, having inside information on the job. The best part about the third seating is that there isn't a time limit. The other seatings were only an hour to make room for the next group but since this was the last, we had infinite time. I sat with a bunch of telescopers. One of the PI's from SPT was there and he was a lot of fun to talk to. He's up at Berkeley and I wouldn't mind working for him next.
After dinner came the traditional post-holiday dance party. It was a lot of fun. So many of us comment that we wouldn't be caught dead listening or dancing to most of the crap that was played normally, but down at the pole, it's all about just having fun. The dance party continued late into the night but I went to bed relatively early since I had to do a cryo transfer the following morning. That definitely put a damper on the evening, but it's what I'm here for.
After the race, everyone gathered in the galley for brunch. I was too cold and too nauseous to eat but it was nice to see everyone out and about. After a little while, I grabbed some food, and then a bunch of us decided to hit the sauna. That was definitely the best idea possibly ever created by man. It goes 1) sauna after race around the world 2) go to the moon 3) the internet 4) sliced bread. Whatever damage I may have done to my lungs was definitely soothed by the 210 degree sauna. Naturally, after 10 or so minutes, you have to run outside. We call that "the cycle." After 4 or so cycles, I was ready for a shower.
Later that night was the famous Christmas dinner. The galley is decorated with strings of hanging lights and there is a christmas tree in the corner. There are also a few menorahs, for those interested. Dinner was beef wellington, lobster tails, white truffle mashed potatoes, baked root vegetables, and about 1000 different kinds of desserts. There were also appetizers before the meal. They had shrimp cocktails, seared scallops, baked brie, some duck dish, and spiced cider. There are three settings for christmas dinner. I volunteered to help with the second seating which meant I walked around pouring the wine. It was actually a lot of fun. I made sure that no glass went empty. I also helped serve desserts and bus the tables. I was part of the third seating, so after I finished, it was time to eat. The food was incredible. Best lobster ever. I made sure to take advantage of the wine stewards, having inside information on the job. The best part about the third seating is that there isn't a time limit. The other seatings were only an hour to make room for the next group but since this was the last, we had infinite time. I sat with a bunch of telescopers. One of the PI's from SPT was there and he was a lot of fun to talk to. He's up at Berkeley and I wouldn't mind working for him next.
After dinner came the traditional post-holiday dance party. It was a lot of fun. So many of us comment that we wouldn't be caught dead listening or dancing to most of the crap that was played normally, but down at the pole, it's all about just having fun. The dance party continued late into the night but I went to bed relatively early since I had to do a cryo transfer the following morning. That definitely put a damper on the evening, but it's what I'm here for.
Friday, December 23, 2011
This week
The past few days have been fairly quiet. Weather has been really bad at McMurdo so we haven't have many flights come in. This means that I won't get my crate of testing equipment until after christmas.
This week is christmas, or as I like to call it, "that two day weekend." Every year for "that two day weekend," there's a race called "The Race Around the World." I've never been here for it but I always wanted to do it. I think everyone who runs in it gets a free t-shirt. It's a short race, only about 2.3 miles, but I'm not looking forward to it. I hate running distances longer than half a mile or so. The stereotypical polie archetype is that of a marathon runner, so I'm probably going to get my butt kicked. The cold combined with the altitude and low pressure make running here extremely difficult. You start breathing heavily but can't get enough oxygen so it feels a little bit like you're dying. So that's probably what will happen tomorrow--I'll finish the race, then roll over and die.
Tonight, I volunteered to help out in the kitchen peeling potatoes, etc. I wanted to do it so that the people celebrating christmas don't have to worry about it but apparently I'm being a grinch for volunteering, according to two people I was talking to about it. I think they're being dumb. I also volunteered to pour wine during one of the dinner seatings. After christmas will probably be a big party but I'll have to take it easy since I'll have to do a cryo-fill early the next morning. That will not be fun.
The past few days have been fun, although nothing really remarkable happened. I've been sitting around drinking beer or wine with different people and we've just been discussing everything from science to the environment to travel to cars, etc. It's been fun. Of course, I've been staying up way too late drinking and talking, so my past few mornings have been less fun. But at some point, you really need a day or two where you stay up way too late and have a few too many beers. It's good for the soul.
I've been practicing with my band for New Year's. We've gotten almost all of our songs down. We're really trying to be a more rocking band than usual. Most bands down here are classic rock cover bands or folk/bluegrass bands. Those are fun, but after the last open mic night it was apparent that people really wanted to rock out--so we intend to fit that niche.
This week is christmas, or as I like to call it, "that two day weekend." Every year for "that two day weekend," there's a race called "The Race Around the World." I've never been here for it but I always wanted to do it. I think everyone who runs in it gets a free t-shirt. It's a short race, only about 2.3 miles, but I'm not looking forward to it. I hate running distances longer than half a mile or so. The stereotypical polie archetype is that of a marathon runner, so I'm probably going to get my butt kicked. The cold combined with the altitude and low pressure make running here extremely difficult. You start breathing heavily but can't get enough oxygen so it feels a little bit like you're dying. So that's probably what will happen tomorrow--I'll finish the race, then roll over and die.
Tonight, I volunteered to help out in the kitchen peeling potatoes, etc. I wanted to do it so that the people celebrating christmas don't have to worry about it but apparently I'm being a grinch for volunteering, according to two people I was talking to about it. I think they're being dumb. I also volunteered to pour wine during one of the dinner seatings. After christmas will probably be a big party but I'll have to take it easy since I'll have to do a cryo-fill early the next morning. That will not be fun.
The past few days have been fun, although nothing really remarkable happened. I've been sitting around drinking beer or wine with different people and we've just been discussing everything from science to the environment to travel to cars, etc. It's been fun. Of course, I've been staying up way too late drinking and talking, so my past few mornings have been less fun. But at some point, you really need a day or two where you stay up way too late and have a few too many beers. It's good for the soul.
I've been practicing with my band for New Year's. We've gotten almost all of our songs down. We're really trying to be a more rocking band than usual. Most bands down here are classic rock cover bands or folk/bluegrass bands. Those are fun, but after the last open mic night it was apparent that people really wanted to rock out--so we intend to fit that niche.
Monday, December 19, 2011
I love scotch, scotchy scotch scotch
To quote Ron Burgundy...
On Friday, we got a new supply of "liquids," meaning booze at the station. Whenever we get a resupply of stuff for the store (or sometimes for the kitchen), they usually make an announcement asking for volunteers to help unload the cargo. Well at lunch, I was talking to one of the people who helped unload the new "liquid" and she said she saw a few bottles of Laphroig being unloaded. The alcohol policy is as follows: each person can buy either 2 six packs of beer, 2 bottles of wine, or one bottle of liquor each day (a lot per day, I know). With this, prices are pretty much fixed. Cheap beer is usually $5 for a six pack. This would be things like Coors Light. "Good" beer is usually no more than $6 or $6.50 per six pack. This would be beer like Dos Equis. I'm actually impressed that they even have Dos Equis this year. We usually have the choice of watered down crappy New Zealand beer like Speights or watered down crappy American beer like Coors or Corona. You'd probably have to pay me to drink those. Anyway, the liquor is $30 no matter what, which means if you buy Jack Daniels, it's a rip off but if you get Laphroig, it's a steal. Because of this, really good bottles of liquor don't last long in the store. So having been tipped off to the nice scotch at the store, I lined up 10 minutes early to make sure to get a bottle. There were about five bottles of Laphroig and I'm pretty sure that the first five people in the store bought all five bottles. A lot of people who arrived just after the store opened were very disappointed to see the scotch gone.
I was very happy to get this bottle. It's a very very good scotch and for some reason scotch seems to taste better down here. There's nothing quite as relaxing as watching a movie and drinking a glass of scotch after a long day down here. The scotch came in handy as Saturday was James Brown Bingo. Last year was the first time I went to James Brown Bingo and it is quite the experience. The head chef, James Brown, always dresses up in some elaborate costume and then it's just Bingo as normal, except James Brown is a character and as the MC, makes it very interesting. I described it some last year, so I won't go into too much detail but this year his costume was that of a Viking with Norwegian flags painted on his face (in honor of our guests the previous week). James Brown Bingo is as fun as you want it to be. On the surface, you're playing Bingo (which is ok) and James Brown takes forever to call out the numbers. He always waits for the audience to call out numbers and then says yes or no but doesn't really say the number himself for a while. So it's really a test of patience. You can either succumb to the mind numbing boredom, or you can have a couple more drinks and start yelling our numbers or jokes or just random crap. This is really what makes James Brown Bingo so much fun--it's all the tables yelling out hilarious comments because we're all so frustrated with how long it is taking. The prizes are pretty good, too. They start small, like a mag-light flashlight or a gift certificate to a restaurant in Christchurch and then get bigger, like a gift certificate for some hot springs in NZ and eventually a $100 gift certificate to Kathmandu (a NZ REI type store). I actually came close to winning the Kathmandu gift certificate. The final Bingo game is blackout, where you have to have all your numbers on your board called. I had only one number left when the person won. It was a fun game this time around, and I got to share and enjoy the scotch I had purchased so it was a good time.
Eventually, a bunch of us telescope people, as well as some of the younger station worker all got together and had some beers and just talked about standard South Pole things--science, world travel, music, etc. It was a good night. The following day, I had two plans: 1) go to brunch and 2) play soccer. It was a successful day. Soccer was a lot of fun, as usual. It was fairly tiring as I'm still not quite acclimated to the altitude here. Hopefully by next week I will be back to ~100% or at least what my 100% is at this altitude.
On Friday, we got a new supply of "liquids," meaning booze at the station. Whenever we get a resupply of stuff for the store (or sometimes for the kitchen), they usually make an announcement asking for volunteers to help unload the cargo. Well at lunch, I was talking to one of the people who helped unload the new "liquid" and she said she saw a few bottles of Laphroig being unloaded. The alcohol policy is as follows: each person can buy either 2 six packs of beer, 2 bottles of wine, or one bottle of liquor each day (a lot per day, I know). With this, prices are pretty much fixed. Cheap beer is usually $5 for a six pack. This would be things like Coors Light. "Good" beer is usually no more than $6 or $6.50 per six pack. This would be beer like Dos Equis. I'm actually impressed that they even have Dos Equis this year. We usually have the choice of watered down crappy New Zealand beer like Speights or watered down crappy American beer like Coors or Corona. You'd probably have to pay me to drink those. Anyway, the liquor is $30 no matter what, which means if you buy Jack Daniels, it's a rip off but if you get Laphroig, it's a steal. Because of this, really good bottles of liquor don't last long in the store. So having been tipped off to the nice scotch at the store, I lined up 10 minutes early to make sure to get a bottle. There were about five bottles of Laphroig and I'm pretty sure that the first five people in the store bought all five bottles. A lot of people who arrived just after the store opened were very disappointed to see the scotch gone.
I was very happy to get this bottle. It's a very very good scotch and for some reason scotch seems to taste better down here. There's nothing quite as relaxing as watching a movie and drinking a glass of scotch after a long day down here. The scotch came in handy as Saturday was James Brown Bingo. Last year was the first time I went to James Brown Bingo and it is quite the experience. The head chef, James Brown, always dresses up in some elaborate costume and then it's just Bingo as normal, except James Brown is a character and as the MC, makes it very interesting. I described it some last year, so I won't go into too much detail but this year his costume was that of a Viking with Norwegian flags painted on his face (in honor of our guests the previous week). James Brown Bingo is as fun as you want it to be. On the surface, you're playing Bingo (which is ok) and James Brown takes forever to call out the numbers. He always waits for the audience to call out numbers and then says yes or no but doesn't really say the number himself for a while. So it's really a test of patience. You can either succumb to the mind numbing boredom, or you can have a couple more drinks and start yelling our numbers or jokes or just random crap. This is really what makes James Brown Bingo so much fun--it's all the tables yelling out hilarious comments because we're all so frustrated with how long it is taking. The prizes are pretty good, too. They start small, like a mag-light flashlight or a gift certificate to a restaurant in Christchurch and then get bigger, like a gift certificate for some hot springs in NZ and eventually a $100 gift certificate to Kathmandu (a NZ REI type store). I actually came close to winning the Kathmandu gift certificate. The final Bingo game is blackout, where you have to have all your numbers on your board called. I had only one number left when the person won. It was a fun game this time around, and I got to share and enjoy the scotch I had purchased so it was a good time.
Eventually, a bunch of us telescope people, as well as some of the younger station worker all got together and had some beers and just talked about standard South Pole things--science, world travel, music, etc. It was a good night. The following day, I had two plans: 1) go to brunch and 2) play soccer. It was a successful day. Soccer was a lot of fun, as usual. It was fairly tiring as I'm still not quite acclimated to the altitude here. Hopefully by next week I will be back to ~100% or at least what my 100% is at this altitude.
First night by myself, first problem with the telescope
Randol, the other BICEP2 grad student down here, left on thursday which meant I was in charge of the telescope. Every three days, we need to refill the liquid helium tank and cycle the fridge. It just so happened that friday was the first time I would have to refill the helium. Liquid Helium, like all cryogens, is very dangerous if not handled properly. If it contacts your skin, it will burn it badly. If too much of it is released into the air around you, you will asphyxiate immediately. If you aren't careful about the container it is in, it will form an ice plug, pressure will build, and it will explode. Fortunately, I don't think there's ever been a death attributed to liquid helium so the procedures to deal with it are very safe and very proven. Still, it always makes me nervous the first time I have to deal with it--especially filling the telescope because if I get an ice plug, we lose a lot of time (and Helium which is in short supply) trying to un-plug it. The other major concern is that the telescope will run out of helium sooner than expected and then it warms up and again, you'll lose time and helium to cool it back down.
So my first night with the telescope, I watched the helium level as it slowly ticked down, figuring I should have more than enough to last until the morning. I go to bed at around 12:30 and at 2am, my radio starts going off that there is trouble with BICEP2. I look at the viewer on my computer that shows what all the thermometers are reading, mount position, helium level, etc. and they are all reading zero. I then check my email for the auto-generated message to see what happened. Apparently, the alarm for low liquid helium was triggered. The problem is that we should have had plenty to last the night and with everything reading zero, I had no idea what was going on. So I threw on some clothes and ECW gear and ran out to the telescope. I was nauseas from the effort but I pulled it together and checked the instruments. Again, everything was reading zero so I took a manual reading from the LHe level meter and it was reading what I was expecting. With that, I was much more relaxed. I power cycled some of the monitoring programs that we run and once everything was back online, everything was reading out normal. Thus, in the end, there was really nothing wrong. I babysat the telescope for about an hour and then went back to the station. At that point, I could maybe get 3-4 hours of sleep before having to go back out the following morning to refill the helium, cycle the fridge, and start the next schedule. Everything went off without a hitch but it made me panic for just a little bit. It was a helluva way to start my time as the responsible party down here. Since then, everything has been fine. This morning I did another fill and fridge cycle and now I'm waiting to queue up another schedule. All is well.
So my first night with the telescope, I watched the helium level as it slowly ticked down, figuring I should have more than enough to last until the morning. I go to bed at around 12:30 and at 2am, my radio starts going off that there is trouble with BICEP2. I look at the viewer on my computer that shows what all the thermometers are reading, mount position, helium level, etc. and they are all reading zero. I then check my email for the auto-generated message to see what happened. Apparently, the alarm for low liquid helium was triggered. The problem is that we should have had plenty to last the night and with everything reading zero, I had no idea what was going on. So I threw on some clothes and ECW gear and ran out to the telescope. I was nauseas from the effort but I pulled it together and checked the instruments. Again, everything was reading zero so I took a manual reading from the LHe level meter and it was reading what I was expecting. With that, I was much more relaxed. I power cycled some of the monitoring programs that we run and once everything was back online, everything was reading out normal. Thus, in the end, there was really nothing wrong. I babysat the telescope for about an hour and then went back to the station. At that point, I could maybe get 3-4 hours of sleep before having to go back out the following morning to refill the helium, cycle the fridge, and start the next schedule. Everything went off without a hitch but it made me panic for just a little bit. It was a helluva way to start my time as the responsible party down here. Since then, everything has been fine. This morning I did another fill and fridge cycle and now I'm waiting to queue up another schedule. All is well.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Some Pics
Here's a good shot of what Antarctica looks like. Taken by Scott Hut by McMurdo. Those are some Weddel seals sunning themselves on the frozen ocean.
A pic at the airstrip outside of McMurdo. Mt. Erebus is in the background.
My lab. Randol is working on the computer.
Here's a picture of my band playing on Open Mic night. Daniel from IT is on bass and Jon from the greenhouse is on drums. It was a blast!
Here's a picture of all of us with the Prime Minister of Norway. From left to right: (top row) Brad Benson (post-doc on SPT), Jamie Tolan (grad student on KECK), Prime Minister of Norway (Prime Minister of Norway), Jamie Bock (JPL scientist, PI on BICEP2 and KECK), Me (duh), Colin Bischoff (post-doc on KECK), (bottom row) Hien Nguyen (JPL scientist), Chin Lin Wong (grad student on KECK), Sarah Stokes (grad student on KECK), Grant Teply (grad student on KECK), Chris Sheehy (grad student on KECK), Randol Aikin (Grad Student on BICEP2) in the front.
Here's a shot of my ice-beard. I'll get a better one going later in the season (both bigger beard and more ice). Note my hand-made monster hat from the OB farmer's market. Thanks to Sara for buying it for me.
I'm a crazy person.
The Prime Minister of Norway giving a speech by the Ceremonial Pole to mark the Centenary of the expedition to the south pole.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Prime Minister of Norway's Visit
On Tuesday, the telescope needed a cryo-fill and a fridge cycle. That's where we refill the tank of liquid helium and then cycle the fridge to get down to 0.25K. The cryo-fill is always a little nerve-wrecking since if you screw it up, you could literally blow up the telescope--but you'd have to REALLY screw it up. The first one is always the hardest. The next ones should be no problem. Before starting our next observing schedule, we did a star pointing schedule. Now usually, I don't talk about work stuff because it's usually a) really specific and won't mean anything and b) kind of boring but this was kind of a lot of fun. On the telescope, we also have an optical camera that looks at stars so we run a schedule that peaks up on a star and we can see the star on a small tv screen we have. We also pipe the images into our control software so when we look at one of the stars, we open up a picture of it in our software. You then take your mouse and click on the center of the star which makes the telescope move a little bit until the star is in the center of the screen. You then tell the telescope that this is the center and repeat for the next star. You do this for about 7 stars and then rotate the angle of the telescope and do it again. It was kind of like a game. After it gets all the information, it uses this to calculate where the telescope is pointing which we then apply in our analysis software.
It was just neat to really have a hands on experience with the telescope, especially when it was in such a tight feedback loop. I'll have to do this about once a week, so it hopefully will remain fun and not become tedious for a while.
Later on that day, the Prime Minister of Norway, who is visiting to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first successful expedition to the South Pole by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, came by the Dark Sector Lab for a tour of our telescope (and the SPT telescope). This is only the 2nd head of state to ever come to the South Pole, so as you can imagine, it's a fairly exciting place to be right now. We could tell that the PM was coming since out in the distance, we saw a bunch of people skiing. Clearly Norwegians. On the way in, all us grad students went downstairs and greeted the guests. So I got to shake the Prime Minister's hand and say "Hello! I'm Jon Kaufman. Welcome to our lab!" We set the lab up with posters and slide-shows showing off all our cool science. Our P.I. from JPL gave a short talk about our science and we toured the PM around. Afterwards, we got some pictures of all of us with the PM. It was really cool to give a science lecture to someone who can actually make decisions to benefit the scientific community. Because of the anniversary, there are about 100 tourists who have flown, driven, and skied in to the Pole. It's a really happening place to be right now. Y'all should come on down.
It was just neat to really have a hands on experience with the telescope, especially when it was in such a tight feedback loop. I'll have to do this about once a week, so it hopefully will remain fun and not become tedious for a while.
Later on that day, the Prime Minister of Norway, who is visiting to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first successful expedition to the South Pole by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, came by the Dark Sector Lab for a tour of our telescope (and the SPT telescope). This is only the 2nd head of state to ever come to the South Pole, so as you can imagine, it's a fairly exciting place to be right now. We could tell that the PM was coming since out in the distance, we saw a bunch of people skiing. Clearly Norwegians. On the way in, all us grad students went downstairs and greeted the guests. So I got to shake the Prime Minister's hand and say "Hello! I'm Jon Kaufman. Welcome to our lab!" We set the lab up with posters and slide-shows showing off all our cool science. Our P.I. from JPL gave a short talk about our science and we toured the PM around. Afterwards, we got some pictures of all of us with the PM. It was really cool to give a science lecture to someone who can actually make decisions to benefit the scientific community. Because of the anniversary, there are about 100 tourists who have flown, driven, and skied in to the Pole. It's a really happening place to be right now. Y'all should come on down.
Open Mic Night
On Saturday night was the Open Mic. It was in the Summer Camp Lounge which is a dirty old Jamesway out in the Summer Camp area where parties are usually held. There were a few solo acts and a couple of bands. I decided that I would play some of my acoustic stuff as well as with my band which I haven't done before. As usual, all the acts were really great. The girl who put on the whole thing always sings some country/folk songs and has an amazing voice. The first band did sort of a folky/bluegrass thing, which sounded really great. My usual bass player down here, Daniel, went up and played keyboards and sang (first time he did that in public) with a fiddle player and a guitarist. They played some bright eyes songs which sounded great! The second band up played some covers like Hotel California and some Bon Jovi. It was fun to listen to. Later, my "band" went up. I say "band" since we only practiced once. It was myself, Daniel on bass, and then Jon from the Greenhouse on drums. Daniel and I have been playing together for a while so we were able to put the songs together quickly and Jon is a quality drummer so he was able to just dive right in. We played a Gov't Mule song, then Hey Joe, then Red House (both the Hendrix ones). The crowd really seemed to enjoy it. We definitely sounded much better than we were expecting and we all had such a blast up there. A few more acts went up and then at the end of the night, everyone wanted us to play some more so we got back up on stage and just started jamming. We picked up my friend Timon on keyboards so that added some to it too. We hadn't had anything prepared so we just started taking requests from the audience and surprisingly, we were able to play a lot of them. We did stuff from Metallica to the Violent Femmes, Guns N Roses, Bob Marley, etc. it was really a lot of fun. Eventually, we ran out of gas at around 2:30 am and decided to call it a night. The funny thing is that most of the party that stayed until the end were what's called "beakers," or the science people. The station people (carps, heavy machinery operators, etc) usually poke fun at us beakers but we were able to party way harder than them.
It was so much fun to play down here, as it always is. This year though, I should be able to play the big New Year's Eve party. A lot of people are really looking forward to my band playing that.
It was so much fun to play down here, as it always is. This year though, I should be able to play the big New Year's Eve party. A lot of people are really looking forward to my band playing that.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
First Few Days
It's Saturday here, and I arrived on Tuesday. It's been fairly laid back the past few days (as it is supposed to be). Because of the altitude, you really want to give it 4-7 days before you start doing anything too taxing. I'm able to get up and down stairs now without feeling like I'm going to pass out, so that's good.
I've spent most of the week doing turnover work with the current BICEP2 grad student. It's mostly just an information dump and changing some settings on the computers. It's all mostly set up and I've seen just about everything that I'll need to do once it's just me. This morning, we did a refill of the liquid helium tanks. That's probably the hardest thing that I'll have to do, but I've done it dozens of times before. In my free time (which is ample since my crate hasn't arrived yet) I've been watching movies in the lounge or playing foosball and darts with the other Polies. The station is abuzz since the centennial anniversary of the discovery of the south pole is coming up this week and for it, the Prime Minister of Norway is coming down so some Norwegian reporters, etc. have started trickling in. Hopefully, when the Prime Minister comes down, he'll take a tour of the telescopes so I'll get to meet him. I think it would be cool to have a photo with the Prime Minister of Norway at the south pole hanging on my wall.
This weekend will be a lot of fun. Tonight is an open mic night so I'll play some acoustic stuff and then I got the band back together, so we'll rock out again. I've gotten a lot of comments from random Polies about the band last year, so I think they're excited to hear us play again. One of the cargo supervisors said she heard guitar playing coming from the band room and said to the other people "I bet I know who that is..." Tomorrow will be the first soccer match that I'll play in. I tried a little on Wednesday but could only last about 5 minutes before I thought my lungs were going to jump out of my throat and kick me in the nuts.
It's been fun, but the more bored I am down here, the more I'm aware of the distance and isolation. Luckily, the "holy crap, I'm at the south frickin pole!" feeling gets me past the down times and work and physical activity will be picking up in the next couple of weeks.
I've spent most of the week doing turnover work with the current BICEP2 grad student. It's mostly just an information dump and changing some settings on the computers. It's all mostly set up and I've seen just about everything that I'll need to do once it's just me. This morning, we did a refill of the liquid helium tanks. That's probably the hardest thing that I'll have to do, but I've done it dozens of times before. In my free time (which is ample since my crate hasn't arrived yet) I've been watching movies in the lounge or playing foosball and darts with the other Polies. The station is abuzz since the centennial anniversary of the discovery of the south pole is coming up this week and for it, the Prime Minister of Norway is coming down so some Norwegian reporters, etc. have started trickling in. Hopefully, when the Prime Minister comes down, he'll take a tour of the telescopes so I'll get to meet him. I think it would be cool to have a photo with the Prime Minister of Norway at the south pole hanging on my wall.
This weekend will be a lot of fun. Tonight is an open mic night so I'll play some acoustic stuff and then I got the band back together, so we'll rock out again. I've gotten a lot of comments from random Polies about the band last year, so I think they're excited to hear us play again. One of the cargo supervisors said she heard guitar playing coming from the band room and said to the other people "I bet I know who that is..." Tomorrow will be the first soccer match that I'll play in. I tried a little on Wednesday but could only last about 5 minutes before I thought my lungs were going to jump out of my throat and kick me in the nuts.
It's been fun, but the more bored I am down here, the more I'm aware of the distance and isolation. Luckily, the "holy crap, I'm at the south frickin pole!" feeling gets me past the down times and work and physical activity will be picking up in the next couple of weeks.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Arrival at the South Pole
We all met at building 140 in McMurdo to drop off our bags and get weighed. We then boarded the Delta to head out to Pegasus field. The Delta, is a giant orange truck with tires probably 4 or 5 feet in diameter. We all get shoved into and locked in the back, which is covered in graffiti and stickers from previous years. I like the Deltas, they make me feel like I'm actually in a harsh environment. The ride to Pegasus takes about an hour and is usually fairly bumpy. Supposedly the day before our shuttle driver had gotten air in the Delta. The ride ended up being fairly smooth and we made it to the field without any problems. At the field, there wasn't a shuttle to take us to the plane (which wasn't ready yet anyway) so we stayed in the galley nearby. Since the weather was so much better, we decided to walk around and take some pictures. Mt. Erebus was covered in snow and spectacular. The Royal Society Mountains have many more features and really look like they came from some artist's imagination. It's an amazing view. It was also relatively warm (around freezing) and with the sun shining, the snow was fairly soft. This could only mean one thing: snowball fight. A few of us got together and started winging snowballs at each other. It was a good way to pass the time. Eventually, we tired of getting pelted and went back in the galley for some cheesecake. One of the people traveling with us was former Air Force and current EMT at Denali in Alaska. He was telling stories about how he lives off grid, how small his town is, and how he survived no less than six air-crashes. It's definitely a certain class of people that are attracted to Antarctica.
The flight was late by about an hour since it took longer than expected for the flight crew to get out to the runway but once we loaded up, we were soon on our way. The LC-130 we were on was completely stuffed with cargo. I've never been on a Pole flight with this much cargo. Naturally, it took a looooong time on the runway to take off and it was only after our second attempt that we actually got off the ground. Later in the day, I was talking to someone who left earlier in the day who said the plane took 13 tries before it actually took off. Supposedly, they are way behind on cargo shipments due to weather and Thanksgiving so they are packing these flights full to the brim. The flight was great, as it always is with the Hercs. It's very, very loud but very smooth and the air force let's you get up and walk around. I went up into the cockpit and took some pictures and just generally hung out around the plane. One of the SPT grad students was allowed to sit in the cockpit as we landed! I was so jealous. Apparently, all she did was offer to give a tour of the telescope to the crewmen and they said "you seem cool, do you want to sit in the cockpit as we land?" That's crazy! We always give the airmen tours of the telescopes. This wasn't anything special!
We landed at pole about 3 hours after taking off on the snow runway--another smooth landing with the skis down, deplaned and headed towards the station. There were a lot of people out to meet us since the entire PAX (passengers) list was either SPT or BICEP2 (me) which was so much fun. You walk up and everyone gives you a big hug and says "welcome to Pole!" It really makes you feel good to have arrived. There were more people than I thought down here for our sister telescope, SPUD (or Keck depending on what part of the world you live) and it's all people I've either worked with for years or at least known for a while so it's a good group of people that I'm happy to be spending time with.
After I got into the station and changed, I met up with some of the guys to watch a cheesy 80's movie (The Delta Force starring Chuck Norris). I stayed up long enough to chug a couple of bottles of water and then headed off to bed. Sleeping wasn't too difficult, although the altitude was hitting me pretty hard. I've been taking Diamox, which is a medicine to prevent altitude sickness. The main side-effect, well actually the main intended effect is that it makes you have to pee every couple of hours. So naturally, I woke up in the middle of the night having to pee like my life depended on it. Unfortunately, my room is at a certain point of the station where the closest bathroom is up a couple flights of stairs. So by the time I got to the bathroom, the effort of putting on my clothes and climbing the stairs made me almost pass out. I was able to sit down and rest until it passed but it made it very difficult to get back to sleep. It's a strange experience--Diamox essentially triggers your breathing reflex so you do it more, so you're very aware that you're taking frequent, huge breaths. Eventually, I fell back asleep until morning. In the morning, I grabbed a quick breakfast and then headed out to the Dark Sector Lab. To get to DSL, you have to cross the skiway (where the planes land) and just when I got to the skiway, the crossing beacon went on signaling that the runway was closed. A small twin-otter aircraft took off and the did a few circles in the air. Twenty minutes later, the beacon was still on. At this point, there were a few other people waiting at the crossing beacon and we were all wondering what the heck was going on. Eventually, we saw a Bassler aircraft off in the distance coming in for a landing. Finally (after about a half hour of sitting in -20 F temperatures), the beacon was turned off. Fortunately, a Pisten Bully was waiting as well so we were able to catch a ride out to the lab.
I'll head back to station in a couple of hours to grab some lunch and then probably take it easy for the rest of the day. The altitude is hitting me harder than normal this year.
The flight was late by about an hour since it took longer than expected for the flight crew to get out to the runway but once we loaded up, we were soon on our way. The LC-130 we were on was completely stuffed with cargo. I've never been on a Pole flight with this much cargo. Naturally, it took a looooong time on the runway to take off and it was only after our second attempt that we actually got off the ground. Later in the day, I was talking to someone who left earlier in the day who said the plane took 13 tries before it actually took off. Supposedly, they are way behind on cargo shipments due to weather and Thanksgiving so they are packing these flights full to the brim. The flight was great, as it always is with the Hercs. It's very, very loud but very smooth and the air force let's you get up and walk around. I went up into the cockpit and took some pictures and just generally hung out around the plane. One of the SPT grad students was allowed to sit in the cockpit as we landed! I was so jealous. Apparently, all she did was offer to give a tour of the telescope to the crewmen and they said "you seem cool, do you want to sit in the cockpit as we land?" That's crazy! We always give the airmen tours of the telescopes. This wasn't anything special!
We landed at pole about 3 hours after taking off on the snow runway--another smooth landing with the skis down, deplaned and headed towards the station. There were a lot of people out to meet us since the entire PAX (passengers) list was either SPT or BICEP2 (me) which was so much fun. You walk up and everyone gives you a big hug and says "welcome to Pole!" It really makes you feel good to have arrived. There were more people than I thought down here for our sister telescope, SPUD (or Keck depending on what part of the world you live) and it's all people I've either worked with for years or at least known for a while so it's a good group of people that I'm happy to be spending time with.
After I got into the station and changed, I met up with some of the guys to watch a cheesy 80's movie (The Delta Force starring Chuck Norris). I stayed up long enough to chug a couple of bottles of water and then headed off to bed. Sleeping wasn't too difficult, although the altitude was hitting me pretty hard. I've been taking Diamox, which is a medicine to prevent altitude sickness. The main side-effect, well actually the main intended effect is that it makes you have to pee every couple of hours. So naturally, I woke up in the middle of the night having to pee like my life depended on it. Unfortunately, my room is at a certain point of the station where the closest bathroom is up a couple flights of stairs. So by the time I got to the bathroom, the effort of putting on my clothes and climbing the stairs made me almost pass out. I was able to sit down and rest until it passed but it made it very difficult to get back to sleep. It's a strange experience--Diamox essentially triggers your breathing reflex so you do it more, so you're very aware that you're taking frequent, huge breaths. Eventually, I fell back asleep until morning. In the morning, I grabbed a quick breakfast and then headed out to the Dark Sector Lab. To get to DSL, you have to cross the skiway (where the planes land) and just when I got to the skiway, the crossing beacon went on signaling that the runway was closed. A small twin-otter aircraft took off and the did a few circles in the air. Twenty minutes later, the beacon was still on. At this point, there were a few other people waiting at the crossing beacon and we were all wondering what the heck was going on. Eventually, we saw a Bassler aircraft off in the distance coming in for a landing. Finally (after about a half hour of sitting in -20 F temperatures), the beacon was turned off. Fortunately, a Pisten Bully was waiting as well so we were able to catch a ride out to the lab.
I'll head back to station in a couple of hours to grab some lunch and then probably take it easy for the rest of the day. The altitude is hitting me harder than normal this year.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Mactown
For those of you who followed my blog last year, you'll remember my disdain for mcmurdo, and it has not waned over the year. I would probably hate to be stationed here. It's like being in a tiny town in America except you have no privacy. The room I was assigned was small and sleeps three. I got the top bunk (which gets unbelievably hot at night). It seems like my roommates have schedules such that there is always somebody sleeping in the room so I can't spend any time in there. It's also so small and full of their stuff that I don't even have room to put my bags down. I just threw everything in a pile in the corner of the room. Because of this, I couldn't even change into comfortable clothes until after dinner. I can't wait to move on to pole (today, if everything goes as planned).
To pass the time, I went out to Scott Hut (as I do every day, every year I'm here). There were some Weddel seals sunning themselves on the ice and a Skua keeping watch. The food has been surprisingly good. Even at the welcome lecture, they commented that the food was better this year than in previous years. It's amazing, they started making the food with flavor and spices! Lunch was a grilled cheese and hummus sandwich with fresh salad with a beet and mushroom salad, as well as minestrone soup. Dinner had this excellent curried eggplant with Israeli couscous as well as salad and a black eyed pea stew. Obviously, these are just the vegetarian options. I think there was also beef short ribs and chicken stew, both of which looked good.
After dinner, I went to the store and bought some water bottles and patches, as per usual and a six pack of beer. I met up with the SPT people in the coffee shop where we had some wine and beer and traded stories from previous deployments. I drank just enough to get me tired, then used that to fall asleep quickly in the hot room. I slept ok except waking up in the middle of the night to my roommate's loud snoring. I haven't met the guy yet, but I know already that he snores, talks, breathes loudly, and makes weird noises in his sleep. So there's a good ice-breaker if I actually meet him...
It's been a boring morning. I got up at 7 to catch breakfast, which isn't really a good idea. Breakfast is always pretty bad, but I thought "maybe they improved it this year." Nope. So I've been in the library on my laptop all morning, passing the time until lunch. I'll probably take another walk out the Scott Hut since I don't really have any other options to entertain myself.
If all goes as planned, I'll be at pole tonight!
To pass the time, I went out to Scott Hut (as I do every day, every year I'm here). There were some Weddel seals sunning themselves on the ice and a Skua keeping watch. The food has been surprisingly good. Even at the welcome lecture, they commented that the food was better this year than in previous years. It's amazing, they started making the food with flavor and spices! Lunch was a grilled cheese and hummus sandwich with fresh salad with a beet and mushroom salad, as well as minestrone soup. Dinner had this excellent curried eggplant with Israeli couscous as well as salad and a black eyed pea stew. Obviously, these are just the vegetarian options. I think there was also beef short ribs and chicken stew, both of which looked good.
After dinner, I went to the store and bought some water bottles and patches, as per usual and a six pack of beer. I met up with the SPT people in the coffee shop where we had some wine and beer and traded stories from previous deployments. I drank just enough to get me tired, then used that to fall asleep quickly in the hot room. I slept ok except waking up in the middle of the night to my roommate's loud snoring. I haven't met the guy yet, but I know already that he snores, talks, breathes loudly, and makes weird noises in his sleep. So there's a good ice-breaker if I actually meet him...
It's been a boring morning. I got up at 7 to catch breakfast, which isn't really a good idea. Breakfast is always pretty bad, but I thought "maybe they improved it this year." Nope. So I've been in the library on my laptop all morning, passing the time until lunch. I'll probably take another walk out the Scott Hut since I don't really have any other options to entertain myself.
If all goes as planned, I'll be at pole tonight!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Back in McMurdo
Got to the airport without any problems at 2:30 and put all my bags together and ECW gear on. The flight left around 5 am and landed around 10 am. The C-17s are incredible machines. There were a few turbulent spots but mostly, it was so smooth that it felt like we were still on the ground. I sat on the side of the plane, as usual (infinite leg room). To make it super comfortable, you take the giant red parka and pull the hood through a strap behind you so the jacket stays up on its own. Then you wrap yourself in the jacket and it's like sitting in a warm red hug the entire time. I sort of dozed off but mostly just toyed around with the iPad. Midway through the flight, I tackled the bag lunch they gave us. It was pretty bad, but at least there was plenty of it! I then got to go up into the cockpit, which is really cool. It's such a shame that kids can't do that on planes anymore. It's really an inspiring view.
Supposedly, the reason our flight was so early is because they had to pick up a bunch of penguins and fly them back the CHC in time for them to catch a flight back to the US. I then heard a rumor that they are actually going to SeaWorld in San Diego, so when I get back, remind me to complain that they made me get out of bed early.
We landed in Pegasus field which is about an hour's drive from Mactown but the snow roads were very soft so we just crawled along. It took probably 1:30. Finally we got to mactown and were whisked away into a stupid meeting that was completely useless for us Polies since it talked about living in McMurdo.
I've gotta go get dinner so I'll try to post more later.
Supposedly, the reason our flight was so early is because they had to pick up a bunch of penguins and fly them back the CHC in time for them to catch a flight back to the US. I then heard a rumor that they are actually going to SeaWorld in San Diego, so when I get back, remind me to complain that they made me get out of bed early.
We landed in Pegasus field which is about an hour's drive from Mactown but the snow roads were very soft so we just crawled along. It took probably 1:30. Finally we got to mactown and were whisked away into a stupid meeting that was completely useless for us Polies since it talked about living in McMurdo.
I've gotta go get dinner so I'll try to post more later.
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