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Life in the cold

 

In the end of Summer


In the clear days of Summer, we find ourslelves living without care, in an almost ecstatic state of happiness. Long go the days, long go our plays and friendships.

Our lives seem forever, like the world around us, and but they could be, I would only ask to have the friends and family that I have gathered around me.

 
 

Cori's World
















This year, as many of you know, Cori signed on as an 'iron-worker' here at the Pole. The iron workers typically erect the steel backbone of any given structure. As you can probably imagine, working with cold metal when it's already 50 below out, is very challenging, tiring, freezing work. -Cori was very excited about it though.







This year's iron project happened to be the South Pole Telescope. This telescope, which I mentioned in 'expanding minds' blog, is on the very cutting edge of science. It uses microwaves to enable scientists to see further than ever into the universe. They're actually pretty sure it will take us to the very edge of our universe, and essentially see into the beginnings of it.






The main skeleton of the telescope was actually pre-built in Texas over the summer, so the Foremen could see how it would go together, and see what potential problems they would need to work out, before shipping it all to Antarctica. This did make the job easier, but of course, there were still minor set-backs, from things like delays in shipping and such.



The main frame of the telescope was put together by the iron crew, on schedule. The giant 'dish', that sits on top, had to be carefully calibrated by the scientists "beakers", before it could be mounted, which took awhile.



Once it came time to mount the dish, two cranes were used to pick it up, then the iron workers mounted it on, much to the anxious eyes of the beakers!



Now all that is left is the fine tuning that the scientists do. The telescope is scheduled to be up and running all Winter down here. Thanks to those tough iron workers, we may soon be re-writing our science books.



Through it all, Cori got to learn the finer points of rigging, cutting torches, and bolt torqueing. She also got to work with a great bunch of guys and gals, and had a lot of fun parties!







 
 

The Ice's End




'A brilliant sun constantly surrounds, but not a drop of melted snow will be found. -My dreams now consist of the crashing of waves, in strange exotic bays.
-Not far away, lay our port along the way; where ice meets land, and the rest of the journey, keeps on in the sand.'

 
 

South Pole




 
 

Here We Are




Well, here we are, near the end of our season here. Seems kind of funny, we just got here a little while ago, but they're alresdy talking about shipping us out. For us, it seems like it's been awhile, and we're looking forward to warm beaches, and generally humid climates again. We've had a great New year, moved the pole, Cori built a telescope, and life is well....

 
 

Mid-Season Boogie!



Well, here we are at the middle of our season. We got our first talk today about re-deployment, meaning they're thinking about flying us back soon. In some ways it seems like we just got here, and in others, it seems like we've been here for about 6 months! If you've ever watched 'Groundhog Day', starring Bill Murray, -you can have a glimpse of what it is like here come mid-season: you get up, go to work, have breaks, off work, sleep, repeat.... --Cori and I are still having a good time here, and we are....even thinking strongly about coming back for another round soon. For those of you wondering about Cori's world, since she doesn't post as much info as I do, I have some upcoming news......Well, maybe I'll save it for my next blog post. I will be having a 'Cori Only' blog posting on my next one in the next week, which will show many pictures of the incredible telescope they've been building down here, which is almost finished. They will be setting the 'Dish' in the next few days, and once she gets the pictures of it, I'll post it here! ---Besides that, I'm deeply involved in putting the siding on the wind-ward side of the new station, and quite frankly; if you could possibly think of having the full Antarctic experience with full exposure to all the elements it can dish,--siding is one of the greatest job markets to experience that! Cori could probably say the same about her experience. Besides those trivial tidbits, we are happy, and looking forward to seeing you all again sometime soon!

 
 

Air Mail!





Yesterday was an exiting day here at Pole, we got to see an air drop! These aren't common round these parts, because the last time they tried, the parachutes didn't open, and all the cargo ended up smashing all over the snow! Normally, all the cargo coming into the Pole, be it construction parts, food, or mail all arrives by the c-130 cargo plane; landing, unloading, and taking off again within 20 minutes. This time, we got a big air drop by the C-17 cargo plane. These are much larger than the 130's, but they can't land at the South Pole. The reason is because of the air. It's too thin, and they wouldn't be able to take off again. So, here's what happened: The C-17 circled a few times, then came in real low, and dumped out 5 crates, all with 4 parachutes (which did open). It was real neat to see them come flying out the back with the chutes opening, and floating lightly to the ground! Afterwards, the plane came back in real low for a fly-by, and tipped its wings too us. My crew got a good view, since we were up on the roof of the station. I took a video of the drop and fly-by, but they won't upload to this page, so here's some still shots of us all watching, and the parachutes instead. We'll show you all the video when we see you all in person!

 
 

It's beginning to look a lot like X-Mas





O.K., I know that we're at the South Pole, where it's always white, but that doesn't mean that we have Santa and the Elves running around us all the time. In fact, we all feel pretty far removed from the holiday season being down here. We go about our daily working routines, pretty much just focused on our one night off. So, we have to do little things to get us in the spirit. The iron workers of seasons past constructed a Christmas tree that now is annually placed out at the pole. - Blocks of snow of various shapes and sizes have been placed around the pole as well, for those artists who would like to create snow sculptures. - The main prize though, is our big 2 day weekend coming up! Christmas dinner is approaching, sign up sheets are around station so we can volunteer for potato peeling, pie baking, and one of three seatings for dinner. Being on the swing and night shifts, Cori and I have first pick for 3rd seating. Crazy antics usually ensue after the last seating, consisting of spontaneous dance parties, open mics, and dodge ball. Thus making it the best of all the seatings! Everyone on station also eagerly awaits the Christmas mail plane. The National Guard usually flies in one motherload of packages on the week before, to us stranded Polies! --We don't have much, but we make the most of what we have!