Friday, October 8, 2010

Friday, October 08, 2010

McMurdo Station, Antarctica

 

Somewhat busy week. I had Sunday off and was generally unproductive. I did laundry, though.

 

Took my first "9-1-1" call on Monday which ended up being a dud. The call came in from Scott Base and was just a lady asking if the flight to McMurdo landed. This was at 2pm. The flight had been put on a 24-hour delay at 9am. The best we could figure is that the person called Scott Base from New Zealand and they transferred the caller to us on the 9-1-1 line accidentally, instead of the non-emergency line. What we couldn't figure out is why Scott Base couldn't tell them that an Antarctic flight from their own country was cancelled.

 

On the plus side, I think everything (or most of it) is starting to sink in at work. Tomorrow will be my last day in training, and I'll be flying solo on Monday. Our 4th dispatcher's PQ status came in too late for the 15 October flight, so I'm going to be on days for about the next 3 weeks instead of 2. Then, I should transition to the swing shift and, ultimately, night shift.

 

I witnessed Condition One weather for my first time on Wednesday. It was never officially declared on station, but there was about an hour or so where we couldn't see the ARFF truck that was parked right outside the kitchen window. I can now officially say I've been to Antarctica. There was also a Happy Camper school that was trying to get picked up to come back in to town during it, too. They ended up sending a Delta and a van out to get them. I think it took the vehicles about an hour to get out there -- they were inching along and actually drove past the pick-up point. It was a cluster. But, the trucks finally got there, picked the folks up, and brought them back.

 

I also went to Scott Base last night for "American Night." They host it every Thursday and we're all invited to peruse their gift shop (I bought some postcards and a stuffed penguin which I have named Winston) and hang out in their bar. The bar was rather crowded, so I didn't stay very long.

 

I think I might try to find a group to hike Ob Hill this weekend.