This photo even made it to a Washington Post blog, where the author describes it as "a photograph that claims to be shot in Antarctica." Dear Washington Post - trust me, it was shot in Antarctica.
I always knew he was destined for fame.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Occupy Antarctica
I'm a little behind the curve here, but I just found out that a photo of John with some of his mates has gone viral. Google "Occupy Antarctica" and you'll see what I mean. That's John in the sunglasses (but you probably knew that already).
This photo even made it to a Washington Post blog, where the author describes it as "a photograph that claims to be shot in Antarctica." Dear Washington Post - trust me, it was shot in Antarctica.
I always knew he was destined for fame.
This photo even made it to a Washington Post blog, where the author describes it as "a photograph that claims to be shot in Antarctica." Dear Washington Post - trust me, it was shot in Antarctica.
I always knew he was destined for fame.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Long days are coming
The days are getting long in McMurdo. As of today, the sun rises around 4:30 AM and sets around 11:00 PM. In about ten days, the sun will no longer disappear below the horizon - it's perpetual daylight.
John's now on the morning shift which he reports is much better - he finishes his shift at 4:00 PM and has more options for activities.
The mainbody flights have started, according to the Antarctic Sun newsletter, which is when the science people and the rest of the support staff start arriving. This will bring McMurdo up to its full complement of people: around 1,200. John was part of the first group out this season (the Winfly).
John's now on the morning shift which he reports is much better - he finishes his shift at 4:00 PM and has more options for activities.
The mainbody flights have started, according to the Antarctic Sun newsletter, which is when the science people and the rest of the support staff start arriving. This will bring McMurdo up to its full complement of people: around 1,200. John was part of the first group out this season (the Winfly).
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Life in McMurdo (short documentary)
While browsing around on YouTube, looking for Antarctica-related stuff, I ran across the following short (8 minute) documentary about life in McMurdo, made about a year ago. You get a pretty good idea of some aspects of life down there, as well as a chance to see the sort of folks who choose to do this.
There are several shots of the cafeteria and kitchen (where John's working), as well as shots of the grounds. Enjoy.
There are several shots of the cafeteria and kitchen (where John's working), as well as shots of the grounds. Enjoy.
A quick update
I talked to John a couple of time yesterday (thank you again, Google Voice).
The weather has been a bit stormy, according to him. The change of the seasons are stormy here, too, but where as we get rain, they get blizzard-like conditions. Since he spends most of his time inside, that's not a big deal. Just for fun, here's some storm footage someone shot several years back just to give a little flavor. Again - this is not what John saw.
He's been on the later shift (working the galley and washing dishes) from 10 AM to 8 PM, but is trying to get on the morning shift which ends at 4 PM, so he'll have more time to hang out with some of his buds in the evening.
There's quite a bit of programming in the evenings - lectures and what-not - that's available to anyone who's interested. I gather there's entertainment as well (movies, etc). So far he hasn't done a lot of that, but an earlier shift would make that more of a possibility.
Right now he said there's around 400 people at McMurdo. The winter crew is only about 100 people but by mid-October there will be closer to 1,200 there. Another 17 staff for the food service will be arriving as part of the Mainbody (John was part of the Winfly: the earliest group to return after winter).
In addition to his regular duties, John's been picking up a little work at the local rental shop, which is also managed by his employer, NANA Services. Since he's worked as a bartender in Toronto, he's also looking at picking up some hours behind the bar at the local watering hole.
The room he's in now is a suite (they live in dormitory-style housing). The rooms don't have internet access, but there are publicly available computers in some common area that are on the internet, although some sites are blocked - such as YouTube; this is probably a bandwidth issue. If he gets his computer scanned, he can get on the internet using it, though the blocked site would still be unavailable. Facebook must not be blocked because I see occasional updates from him there.
So that's the news from the coldest continent on earth. More when I hear it.
The weather has been a bit stormy, according to him. The change of the seasons are stormy here, too, but where as we get rain, they get blizzard-like conditions. Since he spends most of his time inside, that's not a big deal. Just for fun, here's some storm footage someone shot several years back just to give a little flavor. Again - this is not what John saw.
He's been on the later shift (working the galley and washing dishes) from 10 AM to 8 PM, but is trying to get on the morning shift which ends at 4 PM, so he'll have more time to hang out with some of his buds in the evening.
There's quite a bit of programming in the evenings - lectures and what-not - that's available to anyone who's interested. I gather there's entertainment as well (movies, etc). So far he hasn't done a lot of that, but an earlier shift would make that more of a possibility.
Right now he said there's around 400 people at McMurdo. The winter crew is only about 100 people but by mid-October there will be closer to 1,200 there. Another 17 staff for the food service will be arriving as part of the Mainbody (John was part of the Winfly: the earliest group to return after winter).
In addition to his regular duties, John's been picking up a little work at the local rental shop, which is also managed by his employer, NANA Services. Since he's worked as a bartender in Toronto, he's also looking at picking up some hours behind the bar at the local watering hole.
The room he's in now is a suite (they live in dormitory-style housing). The rooms don't have internet access, but there are publicly available computers in some common area that are on the internet, although some sites are blocked - such as YouTube; this is probably a bandwidth issue. If he gets his computer scanned, he can get on the internet using it, though the blocked site would still be unavailable. Facebook must not be blocked because I see occasional updates from him there.
So that's the news from the coldest continent on earth. More when I hear it.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Thank you, Google Voice!
John called the other day from McMurdo - and it didn't cost him anything!
The week before he had me set up a Google Voice account for him (entrusting me to his gmail account) with very explicit instructions: it had to have a Denver area code. I needed to do it because Google could tell from *his* IP address that he was accessing the Google site from a non-US location and wouldn't let him do the setup. Normally when people at McMurdo make phone calls they are routed through Denver (Raytheon Polar Services' headquarters) and they use calling cards to make calls from there. By getting a Denver area code on Google Voice, the call to it is a local (non-toll) call. There is a very informative post that explains in detail how to do this, which probably documents what is tribal knowledge among everyone on the ice.
The weather is beginning to warm up as they move into spring. The highs have been above zero, (today's high was 25 degrees), which is almost bearable. Now that he's done the safety orientation, John can go out to the marked trails. He said they go sledding (I would imagine it's not hard to find lots of good sledding runs there) and he was considering getting some skis.
Work: he's been alternating between dining hall duty and washing dishes, putting in 10 hour shifts, 6 days a week. It sounds like there may be other assignments he can take on as well -- I'm waiting to hear more. One thing about John: he's never been afraid of hard work.
The week before he had me set up a Google Voice account for him (entrusting me to his gmail account) with very explicit instructions: it had to have a Denver area code. I needed to do it because Google could tell from *his* IP address that he was accessing the Google site from a non-US location and wouldn't let him do the setup. Normally when people at McMurdo make phone calls they are routed through Denver (Raytheon Polar Services' headquarters) and they use calling cards to make calls from there. By getting a Denver area code on Google Voice, the call to it is a local (non-toll) call. There is a very informative post that explains in detail how to do this, which probably documents what is tribal knowledge among everyone on the ice.
The weather is beginning to warm up as they move into spring. The highs have been above zero, (today's high was 25 degrees), which is almost bearable. Now that he's done the safety orientation, John can go out to the marked trails. He said they go sledding (I would imagine it's not hard to find lots of good sledding runs there) and he was considering getting some skis.
Work: he's been alternating between dining hall duty and washing dishes, putting in 10 hour shifts, 6 days a week. It sounds like there may be other assignments he can take on as well -- I'm waiting to hear more. One thing about John: he's never been afraid of hard work.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
On the ice...at last
I got a quick email from John today- it's his one day off.
So he's been at McMurdo for five days (or six...the International Dateline plays hob with my ability to keep track). He was part of the Winfly (Winter Flight - the flights to McMurdo after the end of the winter season, before the MainBody arrives).
His work schedule is 10 AM to 8 PM, six days a week. He'll be working the dining hall (so he said) but I gather duties are flexible - people do what needs to be done. His assignments will rotate so he'll never do any one thing longer than two hours at a stretch. Once the full complement of residents arrive in October I suspect work life will develop more of a routine.
There are some established trails set up outside but one has to go through a safety lecture before being authorized to venture outside. John completed one of those one evening and is waiting for the weather to clear up a bit before venturing out.
Living accommodations are dormitory style. John has a roommate and speculates he may get another once more people start arriving. Today, on his day off, he was going to do laundry and get a hair cut.
By the way, I ran across a glossary of Antarctica slang, which looks to be a few years old. Don't know how much is current but what's there is pretty amusing.
So he's been at McMurdo for five days (or six...the International Dateline plays hob with my ability to keep track). He was part of the Winfly (Winter Flight - the flights to McMurdo after the end of the winter season, before the MainBody arrives).
His work schedule is 10 AM to 8 PM, six days a week. He'll be working the dining hall (so he said) but I gather duties are flexible - people do what needs to be done. His assignments will rotate so he'll never do any one thing longer than two hours at a stretch. Once the full complement of residents arrive in October I suspect work life will develop more of a routine.
There are some established trails set up outside but one has to go through a safety lecture before being authorized to venture outside. John completed one of those one evening and is waiting for the weather to clear up a bit before venturing out.
Living accommodations are dormitory style. John has a roommate and speculates he may get another once more people start arriving. Today, on his day off, he was going to do laundry and get a hair cut.
By the way, I ran across a glossary of Antarctica slang, which looks to be a few years old. Don't know how much is current but what's there is pretty amusing.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Penguin has landed!
Got up this morning at around 7 and as is my habit, grabbed my iPad to check email and Facebook. Lo and behold, John has changed his profile photo to this:
It was about midnight there but I noticed him on Google Talk and had a quick chat session with him. They landed at McMurdo around 4 PM (local time). He reports the flight was good, other than the fact that one of his new suitcases got cracked.
We didn't chat for a long time; he starts work tomorrow at 10 AM, and it sounds like they have fairly long work days. His travel day was long -- their shuttle to the airport picked them up at 3:15 AM. I'm hoping for a long email once he's got his bearings.
I suspect the next couple of days will be jarringly weird.
Good luck, John!
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