Bright

Looking out from Cryo. Kind of looks like an alien landscape.

Sorry about not posting in a while. Things have been getting busy lately. As you can see, the sun is up, which is exciting and uplifting. And with the sun has also come weather. We've had two storms since sunrise, neither of which were bad, but made for poor visibility and lots of wind. And anytime it hasn't been storming, it has been unseasonably cold (e.g. in the -80s and -90s). Someday we'll get warm temperatures and sun at the same time. It'll be amazing.

At the beginning of this week, we had September emergency drill. Since the weather was warm enough to run vehicles, the drill was out at cryo, which was a little bit stressful for me. Lots of running around, making sure none of my equipment got damaged as the fire and medical teams wandered around trying to take care of our two casualties.

Jay, getting ready for the drill. "Intestines" made from latex glove fingers
stuffed with cooked chicken, and then covered with fake blood.

The scenario was that the LN2 plant exploded, causing a cryogen leak. Jay suffered a head injury and evisceration, while our other patient, Jim, got hit in the arm with flying debris, causing a fracture.

Fire team dragging Jay to safety, through the fog-filled
cryo building.

Other than that excitement, I've been busy at cryo, trying to get things ready to hand over to Flint once he gets here on the 27th. I did the preventative maintenance on the LN2 plant, which was a lot like changing the oil on my car, except messier since whoever designed the machine put the oil inlet in the most awkward spot possible. I finally emptied out the first LHe dewar, boiling off the last 100L or so and pumping that into the gas tanks. I'll probably start boiling off the second dewar in a week or so, since the NSF would like to pull the dewars as soon as possible, in order to make room of a new experiment.

Outside of cryo, I've been keeping busy trying to plan my vacation. I got my ticket info last week, so that has made planning a little easier. Right now, I am scheduled to leave Pole on  Nov. 2nd (1 month and 1 day away!), but since weather tends to be extremely variable this time of year, I've been told not to make any solid plans until the 15th. If I get off the ice before then, great, that'll mean time to do some hiking and rafting. After the 15th, I'll be picking up a bike in Auckland and heading down the east coast of the north island, with a 32K trail race on the 17th, which I am really looking forward to. On the 23rd, I'll head home, making it to St. Paul by the 26th, with a layover in AZ to visit my grandma.

With leaving a little more than a month away, I've realized how quickly the last eight months have past. It has been an incredible experience, and I am glad that I decided to come down here.

One of many beautiful sights at the South Pole, the early morning sun
over cryo.