Settling Back In

I have now completed Week 3 on The Ice. I have picked up where I left off at work - 5.5 calls and 2.5 spills - the most out of all the dispatchers! The .5's are calls that I've had to share with the new dispatcher. We took those while I was training her. Work has been fun! It's kind of nice dispatching again after an eight month break. The other day I had 2 calls and was also working as ATC Ground for the 2 airfields. We had a Basler (DC-3) and a couple of Twin Otters taking off from and landing back at the Skiway at Williams Field and the FAA Challenger and C-17 flying in and out of Pegasus Field. I had to give approval of and denial for vehicles entering the runways/skiways. It was challenging as I did not/do not have a visual on either airfield. Both are about 15 miles from where I am and I'm in an office without windows! Challenging, and have my heart in my throat scary! Thankfully everyone was safe and we went without incident. I think tomorrow the tower opens for Williams Field so those planes and vehicles there will talk with air traffic control in the tower (who can see what's happing there) for movement requests on the skiway. I will only have to manage the other field where the C-17's fly into. It's always something different here on The Ice!

2015-2016 Summer Crew Antarctic Fire Department

Basler (DC-3) at Williams Field Skiway. The peak in the the background is Mt. Discovery.

View from under the wing of a Twin Otter.

I've Made It!

Finally, after an extra 3 day vacation in Christchurch, New Zealand, I've made it to McMurdo Station, Antarctica! The weather here has not been good at all. I was supposed to arrive on the Ice on October 9th but because of bad weather at McMurdo I did not arrive until October 11th late in the evening. By the time I got done with yet another orientation and got my room key and bed  linens, it was 10 pm. I got to bed at 11 and had to be at work the next morning at 7 am. Needless to say I am still a little jet lagged!

I'm on dayshift and it looks like I may be on the dayshift for the whole season. I think that's a good thing but I guess that remains to be seen! I've worked 2 shifts so far and have wreaked havoc on the fire crews. I've toned out 3 calls and have had 2 hazardous spills - one of which was one of our fire vehicles that had an active leak of foam and had leaked 10 gallons with a potential of leaking 700 gallons! Thankfully, everything turned out OK.

I met my roommate last night and she is very nice. She is a dispatcher at MacOps and is currently on the night shift. So it works out very well because when I am at work as she is sleeping and visa versa...except when I am off. I am staying out of the room and not running in and out of it so she can sleep. I have to go find somewhere to go so I hang out in a lounge as the coffee house isn't open quite yet. What is MacOps? That is the dispatch center that tracks all of the science groups.

Here are some photos of Christchurch, my room and what things look like around here at the moment.

On one of the delay days we took a bus to the mountains where there was a gondola. We didn't take the gondola up, we hiked up a trail! I made it half way and that was good enough for me!

The cathedral in Christchurch. It was damaged in the earthquake. One evening they had a food truck festival here! I had Chicken Tikka and it was fantastic! 

My room and my sleeping area. My friend Cindy gave me the blanket, sheets and bedspread. It feels more homey but my walls are still a little bare. I'm working on that.

The view out over the ice. Thankfully, today it is sunny and not as windy. Temp is -18!

Friday FunDay/Friday (Ice) Flight Day! More Like Friday (24 Hour) Flight Delay Day!

Today was the scheduled day to fly down to the Ice. As luck would have it, the flight was delayed 24 hours due to bad weather at McMurdo Station. And as luck would have it, I was notified just after I got out of the shower! What time was that you may be asking yourself? It was 4:40 am. So as I debate about going back to sleep or staying up to get breakfast, here are some photos of my afternoon in Christchurch.

The city is still recovering from 2 devastating earthquakes. The first one happened in September 2010. It was a 7.1 magnitude on the Richter Scale. It lasted 40 seconds and was felt through most of the South Island of New Zealand. the second was actually an aftershock and it occurred on February 22, 2011 at 12:51 PM. It was a 6.3 and lasted only 10 seconds but it created the most devastation damage. Buildings were already leaked from the 7.1 quake a few months before and this one caused liquefaction, which Wikipedia defines as:
" A phenomenon whereby a saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid."

The quake killed 185 people.

There is a lot of construction going on in the city center. This is where most of the damage, and loss of life, occurred. It is the area I am staying in. The people are extremely resilient and very friendly. The Kiwis are pretty special people!

There are many murals on the sides of damaged buildings to help the city look better . This is a mural of penguins and the artist made a statement about Global Warming - the penguins as well as the ice appear to be melting.

More artwork

There are many food trucks in downtown Christchurch as most of the buildings that housed restaurants were destroyed.

This is a sculpture in the "Re-Start" mall. The mall is made of shipping containers. New Zealand is a series of 2 islands and all supplies, including building supplies are shipped in these containers. 

The church that the City was named after is still in disrepair. They have build a new, smaller church about 4 blocks away. This church is a Catholic church.

Getting ready for Season 3

It is 100 degrees here in AZ still but where I'm going it is minus 3 with a minus 20 degree windchill. Yep, very soon I'll be heading back to Antarctica and McMurdo Station for my third season. 

My bags are mostly packed. Even though the airlines allow two 50 lbs. bags, I am limited to a total of 85 lbs. for my Ice Flight. I had my bags mostly packed and I was below the 85 lbs. limit when the Fire Chief called to tell me he was FedExing my uniforms to my house. Usually I receive my uniforms when I arrive on the Ice but not this year I guess.  So I've had to rethink what I need to take with me. The good thing is is that if I'm over the weight limit, there is a US postal facility at the CDC (Clothing Distribution Center) in Christchurch, NZ. I can ship my remaining items! 

My job on the Ice will be the same job I've done in the past - Fire Dispatcher. So I will be working 12 hour shifts answering 911 and other phone calls and dispatching the Fire Department on Fire and EMS calls. 

The adventure is about to begin. My fingers are crossed that all goes well! 

3 Days and a Wake Up!

I will (hopefully) be leaving McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica in 3 days and a wake up...or Friday, February 27th. I say hopefully because we've had 4 scheduled C-17 flights and 3 of them have been delayed a day each because of weather. The weather is turning towards the winter-type with howling winds and blowing snow. Today's flight has a 24 hour delay because of the winds and the ice fog. The temp with the windchill is -7 right now at 1400 hours. Yesterday morning on my way to work it was actually dark enough with the clouds that I saw a light on for the parking area between buildings! Also yesterday evening I saw another minke whale but again, I didn't get any pictures. Rumour has it that there are 2 Adelie penguins melting down by the power plant so I'm thinking about putting my Big Red on and taking a walk down there.

I have had an amazing summer down here! It was so much better than my first summer here. I have made some wonderful friends that I will have for a lifetime. I have done and seen so many different things this time around that I will remember forever. I worked with a great group of people in dispatch as well as with the fire department. But I am missing my friends and family back home and can't wait to see them again!

Wednesday is my last day of work down here but more significantly, it is my last time dispatching on the radio. It's kind of surreal. By Saturday, I will officially be retired. YIKES!! Here's some photos of our dispatch group this summer.

In Our Job Shirts In Front of Engine 1

In Our Big Reds, L to Right Me, My Roommate, Tasha, My 2nd Work Husband, Wes, Danielle and our Supervisor, Lori

Me in Front of the Scott Base Sign Last Thursday Evening

Soon...Very Soon!

The Summer season is winding down here at McMurdo Station. All of the ships have completed their assignments and have departed our Ice Pier. Scientists, research students and workers are starting to head off the island via the C-17, Airbus or Kiwi 757. I have 2 weeks exactly before I get to leave.

The weather is also beginning to change towards Winter. We had a huge storm last weekend that closed both airfields down and trapped our firefighters at Williams Field for 3 days as it was Condition 1 out there on the ice. In town we had Condition 2 most of the time. The storm started on Friday and didn't leave our area until late Tuesday. We had winds well over 50 kts and snow. It ended up blowing all of the ice out and exposing the frigid waters of McMurdo Sound. We have seen some Minke, Beluga and Orca whales here but I haven't been able to get any pictures as they have been too far away. The sun is lower in the sky and our first sunset since October 18th will be February 20th at 01:48 AM. I will not see it as I'm still working dayshift and will be sleeping at that time. We have more cloudy days than sunny days.

There is a fishing vessel stuck in the ice down here about 900 miles from here. We had an EOC activation because of it. The Polar Star is on it's way to rescue them as well as a New Zealand fishing vessel. Read about it here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/66096627/us-icebreaker-talleys-ship-on-antarctic-rescue-mission

Below are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.

During the storm Friday, February 6, 2015

The fuel tanker, Maersk Perry backing out from the Ice Pier on Tuesday, February 10, 2015
The Polar Star is waiting in the distance to escort the tanker.

SAUSAGEFEST at Lunch! My favorite meal here!

Myself and 3 Italians from Mario Zucchelli base.

Vessel Offload and Other Things

This week marked the arrival of the supply ship. It is known around here as "Vessel Offload". There's trucks, forklifts, mil vans and all other kinds of big, heavy equipment all over the place around here with WAY too many people. It is a very dangerous situation to be in here. They have set up "snow fences" to keep us out of the way of things. We have a certain way to go when we walk out of our dorms to walk to get food, the coffee house, the gym, etc. Most of the town is now on 24 hour 12 hour shifts to get everything off loaded and then to load the ship with millions full of garbage. People get very tired working long shifts with heavy equipment. The chance of something catastrophic happening is very real. Because it's so dangerous they have closed the bars which is a really good thing. So far (knock on wood) nothing has happened.

Ocean Giant Cargo Ship

Twin Ships-USCG Polar Star and the Ocean Giant

A couple of days ago I went on a hike. I did Ob Hill Loop, a 2.5 mile trail around Ob Hill. We had beautiful weather and it really didn't hurt until after the hike! I went a couple of my firefighter friends. Afterwards we went for hot chocolate and a muffin! Then they had band practice so I tagged along. I played the drums for the first time in about 20 years! I was a little rusty but it was fun!

Me on Ob Hill Loop

Dan and Sissy On the Ob Hill Loop

The next day was my birthday. I was working when the lady at Rec called me and told me that she and my boss arranged for me to take a snowmobile ride that evening for my birthday! I had so much fun! Of course I paid for it the next day, but it was totally worth it!!

Me In Front of the Active Volcano, Mt. Erebus

Aboard My Ride