That’s right, it’s that time of the year. That special time known as Autumn, when an indescribable nip creeps into the air and all the leaves change color. At least they would if we had any trees. And that “nip” is really more of a frigid blast that causes any uncovered inch of skin to cry “uncle!” and beg to be covered before frostbite sets in. But summer in McMurdo is definitely over. The constant above-freezing temperatures are a thing of the past, the weather is getting noticeably chillier, snow flurries have resumed, and dock lights are being turned on as the sun gradually gets closer to the horizon. Pretty soon we’ll have the first official sunset of 2009, and I’ll be here to see it, being scheduled to leave on the last flight of mainbody. Meanwhile, redeployment flights have started, and friends are starting to trickle away. Off they go to New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, Thailand, Borneo, Singapore, India, Nepal. Off they go to aloo gobi and naan, phad thai and panang curry, kebabs and falafal, sushi and sake, supermarkets full of whatever you want. Off they go to grass, trees, flowers, the moon and stars, night skies, rain. And here I stay. Scrubbing toilets. I do so dream of the day… February 23. Unlike last season, I’m ready for this one to end. I’m ready to go back to the hustle and bustle and CHOICES of life on the other six. But despite that, I still love this place. I had an amazing season, and (drumroll…) I’m going to apply to come back for a third season. I know, I KNOW. I swear, I’m not turning into a lifer. But I want one more regular season and (hopefully) a winter, and then I think I ‘ll be done for a while. With that, let me update you on the past few awesome weeks.
Thursday, January 22 (Workday #84): 4 bathrooms = 4 showers, 7 toilets, 4 urinals
Short workday because I got to do line handling in the morning. We had to meet at 6 a.m. to do the lines for the fuel tanker – the Lawrence H. Gianella – and were on the ice pier until lunchtime. It was a long, complicated process getting all 10 mooring lines secured, and we had three cables fail on us. It was kind of intense when they snapped. Good reminder of why we stand back, though. One of the really cool things about being down on the ice pier is that there’s open water right next to you and you can smell it. I think that’s the only natural smell I’ve ever smelled in Antarctica - the only other smells being the Galley deep fryers, food waste and sani bins, and the runway bathrooms – so it was really refreshing, and almost overwhelming. I stood there and breathed really deeply for a while. I think people thought I was nuts, but what else is new?
That night, Leigh, Jeff, and I had our radio show. We decided to do a theme and tried to get our listeners to guess what it was (like we have any listeners…), but nobody did. It was the “Last Letter Game,” where every song title has to start with the last letter of the song title before it. It was pretty fun, and we had a great playlist, but now we can’t find where we wrote it down.
Friday, January 23 (Workday #85): 7 bathrooms = 8 showers, 12 toilets, 7 urinals
Mellow day, and it was looking like it was going to be a mellow night, but then I got sequestered in the hallway by a group of people putting together an impromptu dance party. We found an out-of-the-way place where we could make some noise, had some amps and a good DJ, and even threw together a rope swing. Good times, good times.
Saturday, January 24 (Day Off #21)
Another Saturday off because I would be doing Sunday run. I slept pretty late and chilled out most of the day, but I did manage to go up to the annual Waste Barn party to see Porn Spill play. They’re a pretty entertaining band, but I’m really not too into funk, so I didn’t stay too long. Reportedly, that night there also seems to have occurred some clandestine event involving a pool of red gelatinous goop and grappling human bodies. You probably get the picture. I would flat out name the event that took place, but it seems that it is an inappropriate and amoral activity in the “new landscape” of McMurdo, and I dare not speak of it for fear of repercussions. After all, we had to prematurely bid farewell to one community member as a consequence of said inappropriate activity. Seriously? This is what it has come to? WWDD? FTG.
Sunday, January 25 (Workday #86): 6 bathrooms = 4 showers, 15 toilets, 1 urinal
Another Sunday run, my last one of the season. Jeff and I whipped it out in pretty good time. Nothing really exciting to report. Just another lazy Sunday, with a little Mad Men sprinkled in for good measure (Eli’s and my new favorite TV series).
Monday, January 26 (Workday #87): 7 bathrooms = 8 showers, 12 toilets, 7 urinals
The fuel tanker was done unloading, so we spent 8-10ish casting off the lines for it. It was really nice down on the pier, and it’s really cool to watch those ships coming and going. Plus I feel important whenever I get a page calling me to line handling and I get to drop everything else. 
The busy weeks caught up with me later, though, and I crashed right after dinner.
Tuesday, January 27 (Workday #88 ): 6 bathrooms = 8 showers, 12 toilets, 5 urinals
We had a “baby shower” for Chad at the Coffee House in the morning. It was more of a going away party, since he’s leaving soon in order to make it home for the birth, but we made it baby themed and gave him a storybook for Agustus that we collaborated on. I went out to the ice runway for the last time this season. Crazy how things are winding down…
Wednesday, January 28 (Workday #89): no bathrooms
All I did in my dorm that day was trash and vacuuming because at 9:30 I got to go get ready for my HELICOPTER RIDE TO MARBLE POINT!!! Yep, that’s right. I got a helo ride!!!!!!! There was some linoleum flooring out at Marble Point that needed to be sealed and waxed, and I was part of the 3-person work crew that got to go. We had a stopoff at Lake Bonney on the way, which means that instead of just flying across the sound, we got to fly up the Dry Valleys for a ways. It was really, really incredible. We were flying over the tops of massive glaciers flowing through huge valleys below us, and on either side were mountain ridges with glaciers spilling through every single gap, like sugar glaze poured over the top of chocolate dumplings, oozing into every gap and crevice. Okay, cheesy simile, I know, but it really was AWESOME! Out at Marble Point, we couldn’t do any work until after dinner (since the floor we had to work on included the kitchen), so we had a few hours to hike. Now I’ve walked on the actual continent of Antarctica! We wandered down to the beach, where I finally – after almost two full seasons – did the polar plunge! We removed cumbersome garments, stood on a sand spit, used our anti-skua flagpoles to push some skim ice out of the way, and in we dove! Just a day at the beach, you know. 
After that, we walked up to the glacier face (you can hear it dripping and crackling!) and then it was time for dinner. Karen is an amazing cook (especially from an end-of-the-season-in-McMurdo dining viewpoint), and we had marinated steaks cooked on a charcoal barbeque. Mmmmmm, that smokey, barbeque taste. After dinner we did the floor, and when we finished around 11 p.m. we decided to go for another hike to the Bay of Sails to check out all the icebergs. Beautiful, and a little eerie. They just went on as far as the eye could see in the frozen ocean. We made it back around 1 and watched Die Hard With a Vengence until we passed out. Aaaaahhhh, what a day.
Thursday, January 29 (Workday #90): 2 bathrooms = 3 toilets, 2 urinals
We weren’t leaving until 1 p.m., so we got to sleep in late. We had a little time before lunch, so we walked up to the glacier again and checked out all the little lakes. There were tons of skuas flying around and landing on the lakes. It was a bright, clear day and the glacier and Mt Erubus were perfectly reflected off the surface of the lakes (it’s weird seeing completely unfrozen bodies of water). We had a nice hearty stew for lunch and Karen’s famous cookies – batch was a gooey-centered double chocolate variety, mmmmmmm. We had a pretty quick helo ride across the sound – we flew over the Oden chugging away keeping the channel open – and then it was back to work. All I had to do was Gallgher’s, which was good because I was exhausted. Ecstatic about the trip, but really, really exhausted.
We had our weekly radio show again that night, and I woke up from my nap just in time. Our theme that night was “songs about substances.” In other words, drugs and alcohol. We didn’t make listeners guess the theme that week, but we did bait them with free drink offers for calling in and requesting according to the theme. We got one taker. We hung out at Southern for a bit after the radio show – in some interesting costume get-ups courtesy of Sparky – and then I stopped by Hut 10 for the “Amy Wine-Hands” party. People were already pretty gone by the time I got there, so I didn’t stay long, but was pretty funny.
Friday, January 30 (Workday #91): 7 bathrooms = 8 showers, 12 toilets, 7 urinals
Regular run. Nothing spec, except Jeff left for Chch for a few days to get PQ’d for winter. Gonna be rough without him around…
Saturday, January 31 (Workday #92): 6 bathrooms = 8 showers, 11 toilets, 6 urinals
FEMC got cut out (sorry guys) as I had to clean Hut 10 after the DVs left, and there was an All-Hands Meeting in the afternoon. The only topic of discussion was the aforementioned “new landscape” of McMurdo, the incident involving the red gelatinous substance, and the termination of an employee therein. Oh, that’s right, it was also mentioned that some people were in trouble for an instance of nudity at the pole while taking their hero shots. Apparently, longstanding Antarctic traditions are no longer acceptable. The polar plunge will probably be next to go…
We had our housing Hut 10 Beach Party that night, complete with an Antarctica Swimsuit Calendar photo shoot. Way fun.
Sunday, February 1 (Day Off #22)
Chiiiiilllll.
Monday, Feburary 2 (Work Day #93): 8 bathrooms = 10 showers, 14 toilets, 7 urinals
Regular run plus an extra bathroom.
Tuesday, February 3 (Work Day #94): 5 bathrooms = 8 showers, 9 toilets, 5 urinals
I had to get up at 2 a.m. to go do the lines for the supply vessel – the American Tern. It was freezing down on the ice pier, and way too early to be out and about, so not quite as fun of a line handling experience as before. But there were some seals swimming around in the open water, so that was a plus, as was the lighting, with the sun getting lower on the horizon and the rays getting longer. Pretty, but COLD.
I was still under the impression that I had to be at work at 7:30, so I showed up to the meeting with very little and interrupted sleep, sat through the half-hour morning meeting, only to find out that we don’t have to be to work until 10 if we do line handling in the middle of the night. That would have been nice to know earlier… Went home and slept for a couple more hours and picked up the day at mid-morning stretch break. Had a sore throat all day, real fun. Didn’t have to do Gallgher’s since the bars are closed during vessel offload. I got to spend those two hours helping in laundry instead, which is pretty fun since Caitlin’s cool and the gossip is the best. Plus, a UT was changing the air filters, and we got majorly dusted out, so for health and safety reasons, we had to adjourn to the dock where we sat in the sun and ate leftover chocolate chip cookie dough. Yeeeeaaaaaah.
Wednesday, February 4 (Workday #95): 5 bathrooms = 8 showers, 9 toilets, 5 urinals
Still no Gallgher’s (or Southern for more social purposes…). Throat was still sore, and my left tonsil’s been swollen for the last week. Great. At least they had sour cream out for Mexican day lunch (yay!), so there was something good. Oh, yeah, and Jeff got back from Chch. Guess that was good, too. To celebrate Jeff’s return, Leigh made some awesome bloody marys in the 240 suite. I couldn’t super-partake as I still wasn’t feeling top notch, but I couldn’t resist one…
Thursday, February 5 (Workday #96): 5 bathrooms = 8 showers, 9 toilets, 5 urinals
Sparky did an awesome morning safety meeting on laughing clubs. Definitely different. There was morning coffee at the Coffee House, so I got some espresso (good day). Then we did Richard Simmons “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” at stretch break. Quite the stimulating day. I napped after dinner until the radio show. We had no theme that time, but still fun. My computer has started seriously freaking out and shutting itself down whenever it pleases – I think it’s in its death throws. After the radio show, Jeff and I hung out in the Galley with Eli for a bit, and Eli (of course) brought us around to a great, deep topic of conversation: “We are science fiction.” Oh boy, oh boy.
Friday, February 6 (Workday #97): 4 bathrooms = 6 showers, 7 toilets, 3 urinals
Justin’s trying to learn all the jano areas so he can be a lead next year, so he came and did one of my dorm bathrooms for me. SWEET. Tired all day, even though we did morning coffee again. Passed out after dinner, woke up to go watch The Iron Giant, but it was postponed. Hunt out in the Galley with Eli for a snack, then we went and watched The Count of Monte Cristo in MMI.
Quote of the Day: “The cover’s falling off my green brain. I need some tape to stabalize the spine. Green brain surgery!” – me
Saturday, February 7 (Workday #98 ): 5 bathrooms = 8 showers, 9 toilets, 5 urinals
Froze my butt off helping the store for half the day with unloading and checking-in boxes of stuff from vessel. Did some Mad Men with Leigh and Eli after dinner, then I showered and got dressed for the BFC’s Black & White party. I was all excited about it because it was such a fun time last year, but this year it was a dry event, so everybody’s dancing was slightly more awkward, and the music just wasn’t good. We got some good sessions in the photo booth, but I left after not too long and spent most of the night hanging out in Caitlin and Ezra’s room in HoCal. We sampled some 12yr scotch, danced the polka in front of the near sunset, and had a great time, all without getting too drunk, i.e. no hangover the next day. Perfect!
Sunday, February 8 (Day Off #23)
Lazy day (hey, I went to bed at 3:30 in the morning!), and then we finally watched The Iron Giant that night. MAN. That’s such a good movie.
Monday, February 9 (Workday #99): 3 bathrooms = 4 showers, 5 toilets, 3 urinals
I had a ridiculous night/morning attempting to line handle. We were supposed to show up at 3:00 a.m., and I couldn’t really sleep before hand, so I decided I’d just stay up until it was time to go. Well, I made the mistake of sitting down and passed out for 45 minutes. I woke up at 3:15 and freaked, thinking I’d missed the shuttle to the ice pier since there was no page telling me it had been postponed. I threw on my ECW and practically ran down to the pier, only to find a bunch of NavCHPs and no line handlers. Hmmm… I paged Aaron, and it turns out that when they’d met at 3, it was postponed until 5 a.m., but no page was sent out. Thanks, guys. By the time I walked back to 155, it was 4 a.m. so I had less than an hour before I had to report back. Couldn’t sleep. I went down again at 5:00 a.m., and we were postponed again, with the assurance that we’d get a page 15 minutes before they wanted us to report. Jeez… I went back to bed, and even though we didn’t actually pull on any lines, I took advantage of the “report to work at 10 if you’ve line handled in the night” rule, just to get a little sleep. I picked up the day at stretch break, and ended up actually doing the lines at 1:45. Pretty quick and easy. Can’t believe the vessel’s already done and gone. Now all that’s left to do is send everybody home and it’s another mainbody season done and over. Where does the time go?
