More Cool Ice Links

Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory: MEVO
Antarctic Geospatial Information Center: AGIC
WIRED magazine article on ice coring project

Antarctic Stations

Here's a cool web site, with information on cutting-edge Antarctic stations: Stations

From Permafrost Land to Cube Land

Well, I'm finishing up my third week as a full-timer here in Raytheon Polar Services Corp's (RPSC's) Denver headquarters. It's quite an adjustment after living like a gypsy, roaming from the south pole to the dog park. I started looking at houses as soon as I got hired, but it's too early for that. I want to save up some cash, and get settled into my job before I make that kind of financial commitment. I asked a coworker from the ice if he knew of anyone who might be looking for a housemate. Turns out he and his wife just bought a humongous house on a golf course in Parker, not too far of a commute from work. They had intended to have housemates, so I came along just at the right time. At the moment, they are renovating another property they own after work, so I almost never see them. I have a whole floor of this 5600 square foot house to myself. The floor is set up like a "mother-in-law flat", so I even have my own kitchen. It's a really nice house, and very reasonable cost, so I'll be able to save up a ton of money over the next six months or so.

The only downside to the new arrangement is that I'm a single guy living way out in the 'burbs. Very little opportunity to meet new friends and do fun stuff. Another bummer is that poor Conan is sitting in a big, empty house for ten hours while I work. Immediately after I get home, we go to the dog park. The only decent one around is a half-hours drive from my new digs-- things are very spread out in the extreme-southeast-Denver 'burbs. I can't wait to get my own place, where Conan can play in the yard while I'm work.

In my new job, I'll probably be deploying to the ice every year, but it won't be for four or eight months like it was before. I won't have the ability to travel as freely as I did when I was unemployed, but I will get out. I deliberately sought this job out so that I wouldn't have to leave Conan with (his) family for nine months at a stretch.

I'll still post on my blog, but my life will not be quite as sexy as it was on the ice and travelling. I think I'll probably post links and pictures of different science projects that I'm involved with and hear about. The Antarctic Program is as busy as it's ever been-- there is a ton of stuff going on, on and off the ice.

Conan!

I've been back in the (mainland) states for a couple of days now. I'm spending the night in Sheridan, WY, now, after picking up my best bud in Helena. Conan has been patiently waiting for me while I've been working and traveling abroad. This our third reunion. He always is very glad to see me, but not particularly surprised. It's literally like I just left him for the weekend, and is quite happy to resume our routine of hiking around dog parks. I still have my wee house in Livingston, MT, though I haven't actually lived there in a long time. They have the BEST dog park there. Bounded by the Yellowstone river and Fleshman Creek, with nice woods. As a matter of fact, we had to stop using the park a couple of years ago because a bear took up residence in the wooded part. Nice views of the Absaroka and Crazy mountains from the park. On the way back to Colorado-- should be hangin' at the Louisville, CO dog park tomorrow.

Travelling Back to the Real World

Now I'm back in the states. My travels took me to New Zealand, Australia, Tazmania, and the big island of Hawaii. The end of my travels was a little weird. Hawaii is not really geared toward economy travel, in my estimation. The resorts are definitely not my style, so I found my own way. I stayed in hostels, but was driving a red Mustang convertible (the only rental car available with I landed there). I learned that a traveller in a hostel with a car is a very popular guy, especially in Hawaii, where you really need a car to see the sights. I travelled around the island with an Italian tourist and a Japanese woman, splitting the gas and negotiating our travel plans as we went. I dropped of Daniella at the airport a couple of days before my departure, and ended up spending my last full day on Hawaii in the company of two Japanese travellers with limited English. We ended up going down to Kalapani at night, where you can see the lava glowing from the last eruption. All in all, it was a good trip. I was dying when I realized that I lost all photographic record of my adventure, including some really cool photos from Tasmania. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to go back there again.

Photo Nightmare, Drama

I'm just now getting ready to leave Hilo after about a week on the Big Island. Most of my travels here have been very positive, with some huge exemptions. One day after arriving here, the big earthquake hit in Chile, and we were evacuated for the pending huge tsunami. Much of Hilo was wiped out by previous tsunamis, and they take it very seriously here if there is a large earthquake that might inundate the town. I was staying in a mixed (co-ed) dorm at a hostel here in Hilo when the tsunami sirens begun to wail. It was about 5:30 in the morning. A dorm-sharer got a phone call from the states that there was a huge earthquake in Chile, and there would be huge tidal waves. Shortly after that call, loud tsunami sirens went off in Hilo. I dragged out of bed and went to my rent-a-car. I drove to a spot about a hundred feet above sea level, and just waited in the car until the authorities gave the all-clear about 1:00PM. There was no tsunami at Hilo, but such a huge earthquake in Chile could have easily taken Hilo off the map if conditions were right. People were scared. I was disoriented, being awakened so early in the morning, and misplaced my main rain shell that I had been using. It wasn't particularly raining the day of the "tsunami", but I probably took it with me, just in case. We had good weather for a few days, and it wasn't until two days after the "tsunami" that I realized that I no longer had posession of my trusty jacket. Turns out I had put the SD card out of my camera in the jacket pocket, and hadn't gotten around to backing up those pictures to my laptop or hard drive.

Now, the jacket is gone, and all record of my vacation, including leaving the ice and the work I did there, is gone. I have pictures of working on the icebreaker, the fuel tanker, and the container ship, all gone. Tasmania: gone. New Zealand: yep. I guess I've learned my lesson, but it was a painful one.

Redployment, Travels

I'm in Hobart, Tasmania now. I left the ice on the 11th of February, so I've been on the road for almost two weeks now. I got to be among the first folks to fly north on the Royal New Zealand Air Force 757. It's just like a commercial airliner, but the flight attendents wore camouflage. It took a long time to get us and our luggage loaded, but once that was sorted, the flight was uneventful.
I hung around in Christchurch for a couple of days, soaking up the humidity and warmth, and hanging around with southbound and northbound ice folks. Flew to Sydney, and hung around there for a couple of days. Next was Hobart, Tazmania. I ran into a fellow traveller who had a very similar agenda to mine, and we decided to team up for a tour of Tassie. Rented a car and headed up the east coast, checking out Wineglass Bay and miles of beaches. We made our way up to Launceston, and spent the night at a great backpacker there. I've been feeling a bit off for the last couple of days-- I think I got ahold of some questionable chow at some point, and have been in distress, making it hard to go on any major adventures. Best to stay close to the facilities, if you know what I mean... I also seem to be picking up a cold. After Launceston, we drove west to Cradle Mountain, and walked around a little bit there. Yesterday was a huge driving day, and feeling lousy made it worse. I felt completely whooped when we got back to Hobart. I returned the car this morning, and I'm going to be just hanging around in town, reading in the sun. Sorry about the lack of pictures. I need to find a suitable computer where I can get them off my camera and post them.