dantarctica

Due to some extenuating circumstances, I spent about 3 months at McMurdo Station on Ross IslandANTARCTICA. During that time I attempted to write my first blog to capture what I was experiencing, please enjoy those posts below.

quick aside: I am not being elusive about the “extenuating circumstances” it is just that I have outlined them in embarrassingly gruesome details on a post from the archived blog: antarctica:

I have changed sites and largely abandoned that blog, but I’ve pulled along the content ever since. In this most recent endeavor, I have even gone through to clean up the links to photos and attempted to use higher resolution photos that I had not posted previously. I, mainly, left everything untouched (even some blatant typos) but did update a few thing here and there so it is not exactly the same, but pretty darn close.

I took a picture of myself every day because one of the things I was doing was not cutting my hair or beard. I’ve probably had a dozen beards since then, but that was my first. It is chronicled here:

different world

Run of the mill utility truck (with “mattracks” instead of wheels) And this is what moms drive their kids to soccer practice in. Those are 40" tires and a ridiculous lift!

fatty

I am getting FAT! A common question is “what is the food like” and well, an accurate answer would be plentiful. I am eating more than I ever have and not exercising at all.

quick update

I finally updated my mug shot picture, but I am in the lounge and my hair is matted down because I wear a hat all day because it’s cold. But you get the picture (no pun intended…ok, maybe a little intended).

!!!ANTARCTICA!!!

I am in Antarctica! It is hard to believe, even for me. It is unlike anything you could imagine. I am in temporary housing so my settle-in period might be a little extended…but who cares, I am in Ant-f-ing-arctica!

I made it!

Well, yesterday(s) was one hell of a day! But I have been in Christchurch, NZ for almost a whole day now and it is awesome. My flight to the ice has been postponed a day so I will be here all day tomorrow too.

the longest day

I am about to begin the longest day of my life. It has the potential to be pretty brutal and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous about it.

on my way

Well, I made it to CO for the first leg of my trip. So it begins.

travel itinerary

Well I finally got it and I think it’s pretty official now, I’m going to Antarctica! I leave on November 10, 2009 and return on March 22, 2010. Both dates are a little later than I initially thought (and planned for), but I am very excited.

fortune cookie

While cleaning up recently I found this from fortune cookie I got the week before I found out about Antarctica. Fortune cookies rarely contain actual fortunes anymore so it was doubly odd to get one that was a fortune, and somewhat accurate…

PQ'd

I found out this morning that I am Physically Qualified (PQ) for my summer deployment. Now I am waiting to hear from the travel folks…