I went around the world and all I got was a shirt.

Merry Christmas everyone,

As the title states, I did the traditional race around the world on Thursday. I wasn't in any elite shape or anything like that, but I kept a steady pace, didn't stop to walk and finished the 2.3 mile (3.7 km) track under 25 minutes (unofficially). It was a long day for me overall spanning 21.5 hours, which included getting ready for Christmas dinner by doing laundry and showering, a nine-hour shift, the race and finally, picture taking and chatting it up with one of my old roommates from McMurdo before he got sent home.

Also, I have a picture of an upper-air sounding (just to let you know that I actually DO work around here). The data on this chart comes from our radiosondes during our bi-daily balloon launches. Since I'm on night shift now, this is the first thing that I do on shift. This graph tells us what the temperature, moisture, and winds are above us are and that information is used to help us forecast the weather in this nearly isolated environment. For the next two weeks or so, I will be responsible for the 1200 UTC sounding. For past soundings for the Pole and anywhere else in the world, use this link which I like: http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html

I hope you have a wonderful holiday, whichever you celebrate.

Peace.

A Bit of Night Shift Nonsense/Thinking of back home.

For those of who say that it's cold where I'm staying, think again for those living in Denver.

12/15/2008 1000 UTC (3:00 am MST) Temperatures:

-25.8 C/-14.4 F South Pole
-27.8 C/-18.0 F Denver International Airport

So there, for one hour at least I can say that I'm not at the coldest spot.

Other news from me is that I'm debating whether or not I want to submit something for the Pole Art Show at the galley on Sunday. Still have some work to do with that and other things....

Even though I'm doing well, I have to think of life after the Pole, since I'm halfway through my contract now. I'll be sure to keep an open mind about the future and stare at the Christmas decorations that were recently put up in our office.

December Update

Hello again,

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth yet. I'm still around and things are still going fine. Now I'm on the night shift and I'm still trying to adjust to the changes. At least I have the day off today. As far as the job goes, there have been some growing pains at first when it comes to observing and record taking, but like everything else, with enough practice I'm getting the routine down. It's been kind of busy the past couple of days since the meteorology coordinator is coming to Pole on Tuesday, so we have to get everything in order for his one day visit.

The Thanksgiving party was great last week. However, I think that sangrita and me are not going to be good friends anytime soon. Clothes shopping has gotten a little better with a slightly wider selection, but I'm so much a slacker that it maybe too late to get what I need to get off to everybody...

I hope that you are all safe and happy now. I'll keep you updated, per usual.

Cheers.