My Blog

35,000 foot blog

Fri, 5 Nov 2010 23:46:02 -0600

It’s been a long winter, and it’s over. The last few weeks have been a madhouse of activity. I’ve spent most of it preparing my small chunk of the station for turnover with a fantastic guy who I’m sure will make a great South Pole Comms Tech.

Right now I’m on a C-17 Cargo Jet en route to Christchurch, New Zealand. This plane is big enough to play a pretty great game of ultimate.

Visitors

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 03:23:16 -0600

ARE YOU SEEING WHAT I’M SEEING!?

-Shaun

Polar Orbiting

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:16:24 -0600

Hey People!!

I’ve been doing a LOT of web dev and COMPLETELY neglected this part of the page. :-/ Sorry!

OK! So... updates! The sun is rising! To be honest, it’s been rising for quite some time, but it’s just amazing outside now. This is the view 24/7 currently, as long as the sky is clear. It’s that much more amazing after 4 months of pitch black. Also, big news! The windcovers are off! YAY!

This picture was taken on a work trip out to the radio facility, hence the antennas. Check out the photo page, I’ve added a BUNCH of new photos.

Much love from the comms shop,
Shaun

Photographers, Sunshine, Tickets, ThinkGeek, and Fraud!

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:22:09 -0600

So the picture.... I have a new second-favorite photographer, Katie S. Click on the picture to check out her site. I promise you won’t be disappointed! As for my favorite photographer, don’t worry Eliot, you’re spot is safe. I know most of you check this site for pictures from Antarctica, but when I see this one, I can’t help but smile, so I wanted to share the happy.

Back to the news about life at the Pole!

In a few days/better part of a fortnight, the window covers are coming off. We won’t see much but our reflection for a while, but soon after that! SUNSHINE! The glow on the horizon is beautiful, sunrise has started and the colors are incredible if you can catch them between storms. I’ll add some pictures of how “flippin’ amazing” (Daniel) it is outside soon. I’m going on a photo mission later today, fingers crossed for something cool!

Steffen came barreling into the shop a few days ago with a laptop and said “we need to buy our fiji tickets now!” Guess the price was really good, but all I heard when this crazy German came tearing into the shop yelling was “GET INTO THE CHOPPER!’ Anyway, I bought my tickets for Fiji, some Scoooooba gear. I’m really getting excited about the ‘After the Ice’ adventures. After 36 weeks/252 days I’m ready to split. Still another 2 months before the ‘scheduled first flight’ which is at best a guess.

Much love from the end of the world,
Shaun

Delicate Work

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:53:23 -0600

Everyone’s North from here.

Nearly 4 months ago there was a raffle at the store, every 10 dollars you spent, you got a raffle ticket. What was the prize? A RedBull. Those of you who know me, know I have a soft spot in my heart, and undoubtedly one in my teeth for this stuff. In a moment of blind luck and divine support, I won. This past weekend I cracked it open and shared it with my friend Kevin, also similarly addicted to the small blue and sliver can. It was wonderful. Truly WONDERFUL. It made me irrationally happy, or Stupid Happy as we call it in the fort. I bring this up because it helps show just how isolated this place is. Something as easy to get in the real wold as a caffeinated soda, is treasured and nearly worth its weight in gold, well gold is a bit ridiculous right now, but the classic reference fits.

To keep my mind from melting into a puddle of... um... Anyway I’ve been trying a lot to keep my mind alive and prep for school in Jan. This last month I’ve had WAYY too much fun with 8-bits. I found an old Atmel 8-bit microcontroller in the shop and holy crap is that thing fun!! It’s like programming and electronics and joy all in one little 24 pin plastic dip package! I’ve also been working a lot more on the bench repairing radios, the above picture is the transceiver board of the UHF handheld radios we use here at pole. This delicate work keeps my hands steady and lets me drift away into what I love to do, listen to music and work on electronics. Makes me feel truly transcendent, that is of course until I slip and the board arcs and catches fire. You can’t fix them all.

I’m getting all the news from friends on their way South and I can’t wait to see them! While their adventures are about to begin, I’m already well on my way to planning my post-Antarctic travels. At least 2 weeks traveling around New Zealand with my bestest buddies Hayes, Zach, Kati, and Michelle! (PRESSURE KATI AND MICHELLE!!!) Then I’m off to Fiji for 3 weeks of diving with Steffen. Cali for a few days, then back to the Fort for Christmas, then a ski trip/road trip/ski trip toVegas for the first week of Jan. Then, school. It’s hard to adventure then return to Uni. I’m excited to be back at school, but it’s going to take some serious lifestyle adjusting.

Much love from the comms shop,
Shaun

Listening To: Modest Mouse - Gravity Rides Everything

-77F and 13knots of wind

Twilight Flight Following

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:55:11 -0600

Greetings Happy People!

The Winter is OVER!! Well, not for us... we still have a long way to go, but McMurdo is done! Good for them. They’re all excited now with several hundred new faces, nearly 2 tons of mail, and seemingly endless freshies (fruit and veggies). We’re all a little jealous here at pole, but we know that in a few weeks the excitement from the new faces will wear off, and ‘somebody will be sitting in my spot.’ You’ve got to love winter-overs.

Here at pole we’ve breeched twilight, or at least reached the level where the direction of the sun, below the horizon, is distinguishable. Currently a storm is approaching so our time admiring the horizon and stars is going to be short lived. Around sunrise and sunset there are normally fairly powerful storms, however ‘normally’ may be exaggerated by the fact that people want it to be clear to see the sunrise and the green flash.

‘Angry August’ didn’t get its nickname for nothing. It’s been an interesting few weeks. The easiest, and most internet-appropriate way to say it (even people in Antarctica can read this!) is that people have stopped pretending to be nice. This is of course with some notable exceptions, Michelle is still desperately trying to hold the happy together, and Sue never pretended. Sue’s blog is the kind of the thing you really want to read, but is locked out for just that reason.

My mind is really getting blaha. Light depravation is taking it’s toll, also known as T3 Polar Syndrome. I’ve been trying to keep my mind active working on different project, but its effects are becoming apparent. The best way to describe it is to imagine staying up for several days, cognitive function is impaired leading to slow speech, memory loss, trouble with simple tasks, shot tempers and aggression, simple and sometimes dangerous mistakes, trouble sleeping, and my personal favorite people get mega giggly about really, truly stupid things.

Only a few weeks left until we can take the cardboard window covers off, should be an exciting day. The thought of this approaching day has started a contagious, and dangerous line around station. “We’re almost done!” Aww, poor FNGs, they just don’t get it. Some of the old-timers (5,6+ winters) call this their favorite time of year, watching the spirits SOAR and then plummet when they realize that we’re still a LONG way out. Guess when you’ve been here that long, if you don’t have a twisted sense of humor it was all for not.

Warm wishes from a cold place,
Shaun

Listening To - Morcheeba - Big Calm

Currently -80 with 16 knots of wind

Black Hole with Junk in Foreground - Daniel Luongvan

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:28:54 -0600

Outside has been quite nasty, so here’s an awesome picture taken by our SPT winterover Daniel Luongvan. He’s an astrophotography buff.

Last night was the screening of the 48 hour film festival. We set up a bar down outside the gym and I tended serving Strawberry Daiquiris, Margaritas, and Coronas. Just because it’s -90 outside doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy tropical drinks!

It’s definitely July with people getting ‘right up in each others business’ or to quote MTV, “when people stop acting nice and start getting REAL.” It’s mostly over nothing, but at this point in the winter you find the people who are, just at their core, jerks.

I’m just stupid happy right now though!! My bestest buddies Hayes and Zach have plane tickets to New Zealand so I’m meeting up with them on November 15th in Christchurch, and then on the 29th I’m flying to Fiji with Steffen for 3 weeks of adventuring and scuba diving! WAHOOO. Basically all I can think about right now. :-D

Much love from the South Pole,
Shaun

48 Hour Film Festival

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:21:09 -0600

Here’s what happens to a Mtn Dew can that sat outside at -80 for a bit too long. The funny thing is the can didn’t rupture, it just distended.

Every winter there’s a giant winter film festival in Antarctica. It follows the rules of most 48 hour film festivals where your given 5 props or actions that need to be in the movie, and then in 48 hours you write, film, and edit your movie. This upcoming weekend is the showing of all the stations movies.

I’m realizing that I’m not taking may good, or even any photos so I’m gunna get on that for your viewing pleasure.

Much love from the Earth’s end,
-Shaun

The Darkness

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:58:17 -0600

The sun is long set, and the adventures/winter shenanigans have begun.

This picture is of a LMC, a tracked vehicle capable of operating in extremely cold temperatures. This photo was taken while I was out with one of our materials people, Nate, picking up some flooring for a touch up job being done in the station. During the winter we have several light sensitive experiments monitoring the sky for auroras, so all of our outdoor activities must be done with as little light as possible. This means red lights on all vehicles, headlamps, and building exterior lights.

We’ve all been keeping very active, with tons of events and parties happening almost every day. There’s a group that watches The Room, a terrible, terrible movie, every wednesday night with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

As for me, I’ve been spending most of my time getting ready to head back to school, and spending boatloads of time reading up on strange things that get stuck in my mind. We are in the middle of a pretty crazy storm system so I’ll try and post some video of the winter-wonderland outside.

Much love from the comms shop,
Shaun

CRASH!

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:25:39 -0600

Sometime between when this photo was taken and the next time I got to my computer, my hard drive failed!! LAME. Can’t exactly get a new one from new-egg. I was able to get one out of an old external hard drive I brought with me. So I’m back online, and luckily I lost almost nothing. Still though, a hard drive failure 7 months after buying a computer ?! Lame.

Stand by for Polar News!!