|
deadly potato posted:Currently on my second winter in McMurdo so I got into the whole contract change early. I can answer some questions or give rampant roomers as to what is going to happen here in summer. (Hint: Clusterfuck) These are some pretty awesome rumors. Last I heard the sound was still open (about a week ago). Is the wind still keeping it clear? Cause no sea-ice runway will make for a fun season too.
|
| # ? Jun 20, 2012 12:42 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2013 15:56 |
|
|
I haven't been down to the shore in a week or two but yea the bay is not frozen over. Also, pretty much all of the stuff I posted is not rumor at the moment. You probably wont have a bad season though. With a full summer contract you will get into 207/208/209 under the new housing plan, and the VMF as far as I know has no crazy drama surrounding it contract wise at the moment.
|
| # ? Jun 21, 2012 01:01 |
|
|
Uh, Pole murders, plural? What?
|
| # ? Jun 21, 2012 04:00 |
|
|
Mradyfist posted:Uh, Pole murders, plural? What? Sorry for the confusion. We were talking about this year's incident, and the one from last year when one of the polie winter overs found out his daughter was murdered back home.
|
| # ? Jun 21, 2012 06:12 |
|
|
deadly potato posted:Sorry for the confusion. We were talking about this year's incident, and the one from last year when one of the polie winter overs found out his daughter was murdered back home. Gotcha. That was probably the saddest thing imaginable. He was there over the summer as well, and when he brought in his personal laptop for us to take a look at it he had a picture of his daughter as the desktop background, and he was telling me about her (this was prior to the murder). I've got my official offer for Sysadmin at Pole now, so I'll probably sign it and send it in today. I ended up rejecting the first offer they sent me to ask for more money; I wasn't going to worry about it that much, but after they cut the 10% Pole uplift and reduced the bonus schedule, I calculated that even with the increased base pay they were offering my salary was actually going down slightly, even though I'm moving up to a supposedly higher paid position. The good news is that GHG was willing to negotiate, and they were nice and prompt in discussing the offer with me. I'm sure I'll be getting less than sysadmins were making in previous seasons, but it's now enough for me to not feel like I'm getting screwed.
|
| # ? Jun 22, 2012 15:54 |
|
|
Mradyfist, I'd like to thank you for making this thread. It inspired me to apply for an Antarctic position, and I just had my 2nd interview with GHG today. I was told I should expect an offer for a Comms Tech position at McMurdo by the end of the week! I'm super excited about the chance to spend time in one of the most remote areas on Earth. You mentioned way back when that you mailed an acoustic bass down to the pole, what did you do to ensure the cold didn't kill it on the way down? I'd like to send a guitar down, but I'm afraid it would get hosed up from the extreme temperatures.
|
| # ? Jun 27, 2012 03:56 |
|
|
Honestly, I don't think the cold that mail experiences on its way to Antarctica is all that severe - I don't know about stuff that arrives on the vessels, but things that come down via airmail are all in the interior cargo space of a C-17, which is heated. Usually the people at either end tend to be pretty protective of instruments as well, so your guitar wouldn't spend all that much time in the open air on arrival either. The extremely dry environment at McMurdo is going to affect it more, so plan on getting some humidifier snake things and keeping them wet all the time if it's an expensive/irreplaceable guitar. My bass isn't, so I just didn't worry too much about it
|
| # ? Jul 3, 2012 01:03 |
|
|
I don't know if any of you guys down in Antarctica play--and run--tabletop role-playing games, but if you do, there's a pretty great prize package up for grabs over at Kobold Quarterly, just for you: http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/announcements12828.php
|
| # ? Jul 11, 2012 20:48 |
|
|
Do they have a psychologist year round down there, or is that out of the question sort of like the dental/medical treatments?
|
| # ? Jul 12, 2012 00:39 |
|
|
Inkslinger posted:I don't know if any of you guys down in Antarctica play--and run--tabletop role-playing games, but if you do, there's a pretty great prize package up for grabs over at Kobold Quarterly, just for you: Huh - I haven't played any RPGs since I used to do AD&D 2nd Ed as a kid, but I very well might be interested in this. If it stays unclaimed until I get back to Pole this year I'll see if I can scrounge up some folks that want to try it. There's no psychologist on staff at Pole, although some people usually volunteer to be peer counselors. For people wintering over we get psych tested in Denver before we deploy, but otherwise there isn't really any provision for mental health on Ice as far as I know.
|
| # ? Jul 16, 2012 22:47 |
|
|
Just wanted to point out that Google StreeView has some great panoramas of neat Antarctic locations Also I just noticed this thread yesterday, but I was a polie for 3 weeks last season and may be again this season!
|
| # ? Jul 18, 2012 21:39 |
|
|
Stereotype posted:Just wanted to point out that Google StreeView has some great panoramas of neat Antarctic locations Did you come down with the carps that were handling the visitor's center? There's probably a good chance I met you at some point, especially if you needed any IT help. If you do come to Pole for a short time this season you're gonna get stuck with pretty awful housing - I believe the current plan is that we're keeping two hypertats set up in the summer camp area for overflow housing, but the head module won't be there any more so you'll get an outhouse with a U-barrel and have to walk all the way to station for running water. I'm still waiting for the Street View shots of the interior of the main station to go up, because I'm definitely standing in a hallway in one of them and I want to show it off to people on Facebook.
|
| # ? Jul 20, 2012 04:01 |
|
|
Mradyfist posted:I'm still waiting for the Street View shots of the interior of the main station to go up, because I'm definitely standing in a hallway in one of them and I want to show it off to people on Facebook. How would when know when they do? Would they be added to the existing Antarctica collection?
|
| # ? Jul 22, 2012 04:06 |
|
|
Mradyfist posted:Did you come down with the carps that were handling the visitor's center? There's probably a good chance I met you at some point, especially if you needed any IT help. If you do come to Pole for a short time this season you're gonna get stuck with pretty awful housing - I believe the current plan is that we're keeping two hypertats set up in the summer camp area for overflow housing, but the head module won't be there any more so you'll get an outhouse with a U-barrel and have to walk all the way to station for running water. I'm actually with science and was there late in the season, I was there from January 19th till Feburary 9th. Were you still around? I got to stay in the station (B pod) last year so I hope I get the swanky digs again, I'd be there late again, but not as late, like the 1st to the 21st. That's so awesome, when in the season did they come? I like to think the panoramic shot I got of the ceremonial pole was cooler than theirs too.
|
| # ? Jul 23, 2012 07:14 |
|
|
Oh, grantee then - don't worry about getting stuck in the Hypertats. Some grantees ended up in Summer Camp previously depending on their ice time and whether their PI wanted them on station, but now that it's really just overflow housing I doubt they'll toss you out there. I was at Pole for most of the summer season, I left early on Jan. 29th due to a medevac. If you stopped by the upstairs IT office attached to the computer lab, you probably ran into me.
|
| # ? Jul 23, 2012 19:57 |
|
|
Crazy small world, though I don't think we actually talked much (I'm sure we did at least once, its a small station) I did hear about you and the medevac. Hope you're doing alright! I was pretty busy getting our detector to work before you left, too bad.
|
| # ? Jul 24, 2012 07:25 |
|
|
I can't imagine the logistics required for this. "Someone needs to be evacuated from McMurdo Station in the dead of the Antarctic winter, when there is no daylight for six months." http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/world...?iref=allsearch Are there any silly injuries that can be aggravated by being at the South Pole? What sort of things do the medical staff typically deal with?
|
| # ? Aug 8, 2012 19:04 |
|
|
c355n4 posted:I can't imagine the logistics required for this. Honestly, I don't think a rescue flight into McMurdo right now is all that big of a deal, I don't know off the top of my head when Winfly is starting this year but it's certainly coming up in the next week or two. For reference, a quick search tells me they started Winfly on Aug. 13th in 2010; they can technically do mid-winter evacs from MCM if they really need to. And note that section where they talk about the "American researcher" who had a stroke at Pole - not a researcher, and she was actually just flown out on the first plane that was scheduled as normal anyway. The doctors at Pole and McMurdo tend to see a lot of strains and sprains, if I remember my safety lecture from last year correctly. People work 6-day weeks and some jobs are intensely physical, plus despite Raytheon being conscious of safety to the point of being obsessed there are still plenty of departments with a mentality that encourages people to overexert themselves. The crazy dryness at Pole tends to really mess up your skin, and I usually start to get bleeding knuckles half-way through the season even if I apply lotion fairly regularly. Lots of people have problems with the altitude as well, and we usually have someone go home from altitude sickness each season. It can mess with how your body heals other injuries too, so cuts and scrapes take a lot longer to disappear there. Also, I broke my zygomatic arch playing indoor soccer there, which probably wouldn't have happened anywhere else; that's more just me, though.
|
| # ? Aug 8, 2012 23:55 |
|
|
Major update! The day we've all been waiting for is here - Street View pics of the interior of the station! Here's a link. That's me, on the left. I think I was trying to lean back and look casual while waiting for the photographer to do his thing, but instead I just look like I'm falling over or something. This is a good reminder that I should really buy my own coat to take down this year, I look ridiculous with big red on and regular pants/shoes, like a mushroom or something. Pretty sure the person standing next to me was my girlfriend at the time, we were on our way home from work if I remember correctly. Feel free to take a tour, and ask me any questions you want! I'm a little bummed that they didn't bother getting a shot from the computer lab area, but it's pretty sweet that they covered the galley, comms, and even caught a view of the band room!
|
| # ? Aug 9, 2012 17:46 |
|
|
That's a lot of Tide. 
|
| # ? Aug 9, 2012 22:54 |
|
|
Hipster_Doofus posted:That's a lot of Tide. I'll bet that out on the berms we've got enough Tide to last the station for 5 years. That's just how South Pole rolls, we stock in bulk. Here are some highlights: The emergency power plant, or as some people know it "the shortcut to more berthing areas" This dude's my boss. Not sure what he was doing out on the cargo deck, I think he staged this shot. Previous pole markers, I was around for the two on the bottom right. The band room! Probably where I spend the majority of my recreational time. Off to the left is a display of one of the DOMs that make up the neutrino telescope. Comms! My first season I walked in here and saw that stuffed dog, and totally thought it was a real dog for a second. These are photos and descriptions of the three people who have died at Pole since the permanent station was established. I printed out this poster. It ended up being a huge pain in the rear end, for a whole bunch of reasons. The B1 lounge, also know as Ice Cube lounge from the seasons when we had a ton of Ice Cube drillers on station who would take the place over every night. The computer lab! My office is just in on the left. The coat rack there is for IT ONLY, don't let anybody tell you otherwise. This whole wall is dedicated to the winterover photos that are taken each year. It's pretty awesome to talk to some of the old-timers who are still deploying each year, they usually have crazy stories about all the people who were with them during their winter. Pretty soon I'll be in the next photo. Straight out these windows are the ceremonial and geographic poles, so when tourists pay $40,000 to get their picture taken at the pole and hold up weird things, we can have a cookie and a cup of coffee and laugh at them. I want to go back, the real world sucks.
|
| # ? Aug 10, 2012 00:56 |
|
|
Mradyfist posted:I'll bet that out on the berms we've got enough Tide to last the station for 5 years. That's just how South Pole rolls, we stock in bulk. Thanks for posting the links for these; they're awesome. I envy your Arctic experience. Keep living the dream!
|
| # ? Aug 10, 2012 01:16 |
|
|
How do you go about to privately visit Antarctica?
|
| # ? Aug 10, 2012 12:51 |
|
|
Mradyfist posted:
Even somewhere as remote as Antarctica cannot get away from cubicles. That is depressing as hell.
|
| # ? Aug 10, 2012 22:47 |
|
|
jabro posted:Even somewhere as remote as Antarctica cannot get away from cubicles. That is depressing as hell. Yeah, not a huge fan of the cubes myself, but honestly there really aren't that many of them. The computer lab has maybe 16 cubes plus the IT office (which is sort of a cube, but high-walled and a proper locking door) and then the science lab has a few cube-y things in more of an open-floor layout, but that's pretty much it. Plus, there are people with desk jobs there, and not enough room to give them all real offices; what else can you do?
|
| # ? Aug 10, 2012 23:29 |
|
|
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=amun...6,0.000661&z=17 Heh. Apparently, signs are meant to be ignored on all 7 continents!
|
| # ? Aug 11, 2012 09:22 |
|
|
79of96 posted:How do you go about to privately visit Antarctica? Boat trip from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic peninsula is the only real option. They're quite expensive and that's before you have to pay for flying to literally the end of the world to get on board. I went on this beauty, the Europa:  She's the only tall ship that goes to Antarctica and you feel a little like Shackleton on board. Small yachts also make the trip but you'd have to be used to rough sailing to survive going through the Drake Passage which has the worst seas in the world. On the larger expedition ships there's a good chance you'll get seasick too but they do the trip in about two days. My trip back took four days through force 9 winds and I was considering jumping overboard at day 3.
|
| # ? Aug 11, 2012 13:17 |
|
|
For tourism you could always check out some ALE flights - http://www.antarctic-logistics.com/experiences_b.html For my money though, I think I'd rather take a boat. Some of ALE's packages are probably pretty interesting, but I still have a hard time believing they're worth the money. I definitely wouldn't pay $42K to fly to South Pole, I love the place but I don't think the scenery is all that interesting unless you spend a lot of time there and the weather does something cool.
|
| # ? Aug 11, 2012 18:36 |
|
|
c355n4 posted:I can't imagine the logistics required for this. This year's medevac was simple as can be. The road the the airfield was ready, the airfield was set up, and we were just 2 weeks from inbound flights. Also since they caught the inflamed appendix early the dude just walked onto the plane. Last year however it was mid winter. The roads were under 3 feet of snow, the airfield was not set up, and the patient critical (also inflamed appendix). It took 2 weeks of 24 hours shifts by fleet ops and AGE to get everything ready. We lucked out with good weather that day, and got the patient out in the nick of time. We were told later that if we had been delayed by just 12 hours she would have died. In other news the first flight if winfly is probably gonna be delayed.....sweet
|
| # ? Aug 19, 2012 10:02 |
|
|
How difficult would it be to have even a small OR and a surgeon down there? It seems like appendixes are the big issue. Or you could just try to follow Leonid Rogozov's example.
|
| # ? Aug 19, 2012 14:55 |
|
|
I think the difficulty over the winter is that there simply aren't a lot of qualified surgeons jumping at the bit to stay in the Antarctic for that amount of time. I'm not privy to hiring procedures for the doctors who do deploy, but I'd assume that anybody with surgical experience has an advantage. Still, they need to also be in good physical health themselves, good psychological health, and be an appropriate personality for living in a small community for an extended period of time.
|
| # ? Aug 19, 2012 16:04 |
|
|
Mradyfist posted:I think the difficulty over the winter is that there simply aren't a lot of qualified surgeons jumping at the bit to stay in the Antarctic for that amount of time. I'm not privy to hiring procedures for the doctors who do deploy, but I'd assume that anybody with surgical experience has an advantage. Still, they need to also be in good physical health themselves, good psychological health, and be an appropriate personality for living in a small community for an extended period of time. Also, might have something with a lack of work, too. How often would a surgeon be needed? Once or twice at the max during their stay? Surgery is something very delicate and seems to me is something a surgeon would need almost constant work or their skills would deteriorate.
|
| # ? Aug 19, 2012 20:46 |
|
|
I don't think it would be that hard to find a surgeon to do it for the right price. I'm guessing it doesn't make sense from a cost-benefit perspective to pay a couple hundred thousand per year for someone who would very rarely do anything.
|
| # ? Aug 19, 2012 21:05 |
|
|
You don't necessarily have to be a surgeon to perform surgery, whats the medical staff on site like? I find that most often the refusal of doctors not specifically qualified to perform procedures does not come from their incompetence or lack of self-belief, but rather the need to protect doctors, both from the result of failure (psychological) and litigation. Take the case of Leonid Rogozov, he did what was necessary with the skillset he had (partial surgical training). Wouldn't it just be easier to have everyone going to the pole have their appendix removed?
|
| # ? Aug 19, 2012 21:16 |
|
|
Bensa posted:You don't necessarily have to be a surgeon to perform surgery, whats the medical staff on site like? I find that most often the refusal of doctors not specifically qualified to perform procedures does not come from their incompetence or lack of self-belief, but rather the need to protect doctors, both from the result of failure (psychological) and litigation. So what exactly are you proposing? Sending non-surgeons to the pole with the task of performing surgery if needed? That would be horribly irresponsible. quote:Wouldn't it just be easier to have everyone going to the pole have their appendix removed? What do we do with the folks who have complications from a surgery they didn't need?
|
| # ? Aug 19, 2012 22:01 |
|
|
I'm saying that if they have experienced medical staff, though not specifically qualified for the task, they could perform surgery in emergencies. Sending non-qualified people specifically to do the task is idiotic, but if they're not willing to front the cost for a surgeon, a GP will do in a pinch. They're taking huge risks with things like this:deadly potato posted:Last year however it was mid winter. The roads were under 3 feet of snow, the airfield was not set up, and the patient critical (also inflamed appendix). It took 2 weeks of 24 hours shifts by fleet ops and AGE to get everything ready. We lucked out with good weather that day, and got the patient out in the nick of time. We were told later that if we had been delayed by just 12 hours she would have died. Removing an appendix is not the most complex of surgical operations. But compare the mortality rate of not taking care of it in the short term in comparison to much more complex surgery in the case of most cancers. In these types of cases it would make sense for the operation to occur on site if immediate evac isn't available, performed by non-surgeons. I will restate that the biggest hurdle to this is not the ability of doctors, but rather the medical system which tries to shield practitioners from the effects of failure. If a doctor could successfully perform self-surgery 50 years ago, without the help of a video link or consulting specialists, whats stopping us now? This isn't the case of Jerri Nielsen, this is appendicitis.
|
| # ? Aug 20, 2012 09:18 |
|
|
What's the cooking situation like down there? Could I get a job as a cook? How hard is it to sneak weed to the base? I mean I would find a way but how hard would I have to work.
|
| # ? Aug 21, 2012 01:14 |
|
|
I'll be down there December 14th through January 10th if everything goes to plan. Also I just got my service medal and ribbon and certificate! The streetview of the station is pretty sweet too, looks just how I remember it.
|
| # ? Aug 24, 2012 06:16 |
|
|
Stereotype posted:I'll be down there December 14th through January 10th if everything goes to plan. Also I just got my service medal and ribbon and certificate! You hit the sweet spot man, you get to cover the best set of parties! Although Halloween might end up being really awesome this year at Pole, since the first Herc flight theoretically will come in just before. I finally got ticketed for my flight to Denver for the psych test and fire school! poo poo is getting real, I just have two more weeks of dicking around in Portland before I go back to making a living. Everybody has told me that fire school is a huge amount of fun though, and I'm really looking forward to hanging out in Denver with per diems and meeting a bunch of the people that I'm going to spend the next year of my life with. I hope they're not all assholes...
|
| # ? Sep 11, 2012 04:35 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2013 15:56 |
|
|
Mradyfist posted:Everybody has told me that fire school is a huge amount of fun though, and I'm really looking forward to hanging out in Denver with per diems and meeting a bunch of the people that I'm going to spend the next year of my life with. As a licensed fire fighter/smoke diver I can say it's hard, challenging, and great fun. (if it's anything like the education I got)
|
| # ? Sep 11, 2012 14:41 |
|
