The End of Season Four.

Hey everyone,

Well, I think that it's fitting that I post this when I'm back home now in regards to this post.

Overall, the season went very well.  It went by very quickly and I was very busy as well so I didn't have a chance to do any much extracurricular activities outside of Pole life this year (i.e., writing this blog).  I couldn't have a great season without a great staff to back me up.  Rolf and Jeremiah managed to return for more fun this season.  The newest member of the team was Clint.  He is another former member of the Air Force and a wine connoisseur.

I don't know how things will go with the new contractor for next season.  I might be back, I might not.  If it's the former, I'll do a better job in terms of updating the blog in the next go around.  If it's the latter, it has been fun posting here and telling the world why I'm here and what I do.

Time will tell....

If no news is good news, then late publicity is good publicity?

It's me again,

Once again, catching up on late posts has seem to bite me lately.  However, this post does bring some good news and a link too...

An all-time record high was set on Christmas with a temperature of -12.3C/9.9F, which broke the 33 year old record of -13.6C/7.5F plus snowfall was recorded by yours truly.  Full details are located here courtesy of MSNBC.
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/30/9828890-south-pole-miracle-record-heat-plus-snow-on-christmas

This calls for a celebratory drink.  Have one one me and take care.

Wait, isn't a centennial celebration is supposed to be once every hundred years?

Hi again,

Another gap between posts might mean something big is coming up, right? 

Well, this summer season so happens to be the 100th anniversary Roald Amundsen's and Robert Scott's expedition to South Pole.  We had two special events at Pole this year, the Norwegian ceremony on December 14th and the Scott ceremony on January 17th.  The December event had a lot more pomp and circumstance which included a visit from the Norwegian Prime Minister (picture with yours truly).  The January event was a little more subdued since even though Scott team did arrive at Pole, they were not as lucky on the return trip as they died 11 miles away from their next food depot.

I at least wanted to give my respects this go around for the intrepid men who made the trek under extremely cold and harsh conditions to test the limits of man and to pursue scientific endeavors.  It is remarkable that even after 100 years that same spirit lives within people in different forms today.

Eclipse...No, Twilight...no, it's New Moon...Definitely Eclipse

Greetings,

Another late add by yours truly, but us Antarctic folk were treated with a rare partial solar eclipse on the 25th of November.  It covered about 77% of the sun and the event lasted about two hours.  It was fun to see the community out and about the day before Thanksgiving taking part in the event.  A nice reward for everyone working hard during that first month of the summer season. 

Ironically enough, there was a total lunar eclipse on the other side of the world (back home) two weeks later.  So it was nice to share with the other hemisphere the beauty that these celestial bodies can give us. 

In case if I don't write again, I wish you all a wonderful holiday season!

I pity the foo' who doesn't respect Bingo!

'Sup,

Yep, that's me out there as Mr. T.  I did some volunteering at South Pole by leading the Bingo game last month.  The normal person who had done it became ill and wasn't able to participate.  So some people on the station wanted someone to lead the way and I was willing to step in.  I decided to do an 80's theme for the Bingo night and I took things up a notch.  I definitely had a lot of fun that night calling numbers and see who else dressed up.  There were also great reviews from the community as well.  It sounds like something that I might do again someday but probably not for the rest of the season.

Ta-ta!

Almost a month?

Hi again,

It's been nearly a month since I got a hold of you last.  I hope things are going well for you out there.  For me, the season has gone lightning fast, thanks to an able crew that I'm working with, plus all of the other duties that end up falling into my lap it seems over the past six weeks.  I'm handling the other responsibilities okay, but I just don't want to lose sight of why I came down here, which is to perform my primary job to the best of my capability.  I do need to catch up on station life's little tales shortly in a future post, but generally things have gone well so far and I'm mulling whether I would like to continue this past February.


Stay tuned for now and thanks for reading.

Foruth time is the charm....maybe?

Hello again,

I am back onto the frozen continent down south for another stint as supervisor in my department and I have been in McMurdo for one week already and I'm planning to go to Pole for work tomorrow. *knocks on wood.

The good thing going for me is that I have familiar faces that I'm working with this season, so the spin-up at the start should not take as long.

Meanwhile, before arriving on the ice, I did spend some time in Christchurch as things were so much different now than when I was there previously. There was a pretty nasty aftershock over there the day after I left on February and that it crippled the CBD and the usual haunts that I go down to and visit. But with downtown off limits, this did give me a chance to see some more spots around the city. For example, I caught the semifinal match of the Rugby World Cup with the All Blacks (New Zealand) and Australia over at one of the few remaining pubs in the city between the CBD and the airport. The two folks represent the match-up during the final between France and New Zealand. I enjoyed my time there and in case you haven't paid full attention over the past couple of years with the blog, New Zealand is crazy about the game of rugby.

The other shot features flying over the sea ice in the C-17 over Antarctica the day after the match, so it was a busy 24 hours with me during that stretch, but it's pretty par for the course for me now.

Sit back and enjoy more tales from me this season and take care now.

Two for the price of one-Season 3 Finale.

That was quick, huh.

Now were at the point of the end of the austral summer and the custom picture of the staff whom I worked with the past couple of months.

I will admit things have been different with me being in charge for a whole season. At first, I thought the whole world was going to crash on me, when in reality that very seldom if at all occurred. This helps when I have a solid staff behind me. There may have been some growing pains as expected, but we all pulled together and created some South Pole weather magic out there.

From the left, we have Dale back for another season and this time he plans to stay at Pole longer than me, i.e., he's wintering. Next, we have Jeremiah, a newcomer but he has helped out things a lot in the Met office with his experience at other places around the world. On the far right, we have Rolf. He worked at one of the field camps last year and has decided to give Pole a go-around this year. He provided assistance in different ways, yet improved on operations just the same. I give my thanks to these three for a job well done and I hope that they get the rest the get after the season, especially Dale since he won't finish until November.

Take care everyone until next time.

Young Minds that want to learn.

Hi,

Things have gotten so busy for me that I'm about three weeks overdue with my last update.

What I wanted to explain this go around was how along with my regular job, that I have been explaining schoolchildren around the world by various means what I do at the South Pole. Thus far, I've answered some questions for a co-worker's sister, contributed to a Wiki Page (http://januaryweather.wikispaces.com) and shot some video for a local teacher that I know.

It's always a good feeling that there are students out there who are curious about your work, so I did what I could to provide the answers that were needed. It may have taken more time that I would have liked, but I did what I needed to do to help fuel the minds for the next generation. With any luck, some of them might even make it down to the ice themselves.

A somewhat short post.

Hey,

I've just been super crazy busy over the past two weeks trying to be the responsible one. A lot of paperwork, reports and reviews have been on my docket. The only relief so far has been a party that our department hosted. It took some time to put it together, but it turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone on station. Here's a toast to you and myself that things slow down just a touch before the end of the season.

Merry Chris...Happy Hanna...uh. Festivus!

Hello everyone,

I guess I saved the best entry of the year for last (or so I think), but I want to wish you all the best during this time of year, whichever holiday that you celebrate. As for my Chirstmas, vindication feels good as I recovered from some breathing troubles last year and I did great in the Race Around the World. I finished a 2.1 mile trek in 19:28. Overall the run went well and I've been thinking doing something more with the running side. A couple people I've ran into think I have that runner's build, but I've never really tried to do anything about it. I did five miles on a treadmill earlier in the month and one of the goals that I'm looking to do before I depart this world is a marathon. After the 5 mile stationary trek in high altitude, I think that a half marathon isn't out of the question. So in the meantime, I better eat my Wheaties, vitamins and say my prayers.

I hope that 2011 goes as good if not better for you than 2010.

Peace

*pant, *pant. I'm...still around.

Greetings,

It has been some time since I've been back. Even though things have been generally quiet, that means that I had more time to take care of pressing matters around the office among other things. The Met crew and I have been adjusting to our work life fine; some things to work out here and there but generally fine.

After Thanksgiving weekend (which went great), I had one of my new experiences as a manager...Manager's Cook Day. Traditionally, we say thank you to the kitchen staff who prepared our Thanksgiving dinner by giving them the day off the week after. At that time, a lot of the managers from other departments chip in and prepare meals for that day. I was part of the Science and IT group for lunch which consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. I helped out on the vegetables and fries. I had a lot of fun and people seemed to enjoy what we were able to do for one day.

The spirit of volunteerism still burns bright. Take care everyone!

Breaking News!!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post to bring to you this update. The Death Claw, yes the Death Claw has been spotted at the South Pole. This Claw has been known to bring visibilities down to a quarter of a mile and wind speeds as high as 40 mph. The Death Claw has ruined a number of rescue flights to the South Pole, leaving our hearty Polies to fend for themselves for a couple of days. We can only pray that the perpetual winds and whiteouts have not robbed everyone of their sanity, especially the winterovers who were due to leave about a week ago. Snow drifts have been known to reach four feet high in narrow spaces. There is no escape! So please, take extra care. Bar your doors and steer clear of the clutches of the Death Claw!!

Okay, maybe not the best H.G. Wells impression, but an austral spring storm the likes of which that hasn't been around for about 20 years needs to exaggerated...uh, I mean explained. At least we have blue skies for now and things are getting back to normal after a hectic first part of the week.

Transitioning back to Pole and to work.

Salutations,

I arrived at South Pole to take on my added role a couple of days ago. I stayed in McMurdo a little longer than I would have liked, but I'm glad to get going to Pole and get down to business. Right now, I'm in the process of turnover with the winter overs so that I can remember how to do my job and transition smoothly.

While I was staying in McMurdo, I decided to take on Ob Hill again just so that I could get my head clear that day and get some exercise. I hiked the hill two years ago, but they didn't have wind turbines on one of the neighboring hills. After thinking about it, seeing those turbines on the seventh continent reminds me of my job position. The transition from fossil fuels to greener forms of energy and me going from Met to Senior Met has some parallels to it.

If they take care of the energy transition here, they could do it anywhere. Also I feel that I would do a good enough job with the added responsibilities if the transition goes well. So far it has been, but other things on station are making things a little more difficult. On that note, things should be more exciting when I get my two new workers down here sometime next week. Expect an update then.

Until then, toodles.

What? You're back for more!?

Hello everyone,

It's about that time of the year when my thoughts turn south, in a good way of course. I've returned to Antarctica and have resumed my weather duties at the South Pole. This time, I would be in charge of said weather duties and it would be a case of same duties as before, just more responsibilities that go along with them as well as making sure everyone else does what they are supposed to do.

That said, I will be the good soldier and not bash or throw anyone or any department under the bus on this page. I will do my best to focus on the ups and downs and learning experiences that I encounter.

Before chilling in McMurdo, I was in Christchurch, NZ for a couple of days, the first since an earthquake rocked the Canterbury region last month. I did see some off what nature's wrath can offer. While I have experienced some rumblers in my time in Reno, NV, this was clearly the first time that I have been in a spot where a 7 had hit in a very recent time. Even though this is a bad sight of a building being scaffolded and taken down, Christchurch had done a good job getting things back together and still it's a wonderful place to visit.

With that, I'll leave for now and hope to bring to you more tales from the ice in the near future.

End of of another season and wrap-up.

It's that time again, to say our good-byes for one part of our lives and say hello to the new adventures ahead. I finished my second summer season at the South Pole and I will say that it went very well. The last couple of weeks may have been hectic with us being short-handed for a while and the rest of the swing shift crew in the other departments essentially working night due to the flight schedule. All in all, we made it and everybody can move on to the next phase in their objectives.

As for myself I'm relieved that I back and that I can sit back and enjoy myself for a little while. But before then, a brief introduction to the people that I worked with this year. Tim (left) was our supervisor and will be wintering after a second effort. We also have Molly (second from right) our lieutenant from the Air Guard and Dale (right), a former Air Force meteorologist who likes good beer and Nebraska football.

On my way back, I finally caught my first penguin on camera while waiting to board the C-17 at McMurdo. This is rare for me since there is no wildlife at the Pole, so I'm lucky to have a good shot of it.

Happy trails everyone and I'll hope to see you again soon.

A chance to be a hero...?

Greetings,

Weather certainly has been a challenge for me ever since I moved to swing shift. It has been up to me to observe and forecast the weather at the South Pole so that we could make our evening flights.

On Monday, fog rolled in to the Pole and we had a number of distinguished visitors (DVs-reporters) who needed to get back to McMurdo Station. I needed a minimum of 1 mile visibility in order for the plane to arrive safely. The plane circled around about 20 miles away for about an hour before it tried to land. I did an observation that had the one mile visibility. However, 5 minutes later, the visibility dropped to a 1/2 a mile. I was getting nervous that the Air Guard would be unhappy with me. They tried twice to land in the low clouds and the fog, but they missed the approach. They turned around and headed back to McMurdo so they wouldn't run out of fuel. Of course, 15 minutes after they turned around, the visibility was 3 miles and better conditions to land the plane.

Overall, the reporters spent the night at the South Pole, which most of them were not terribly disappointed about it. We all have our 'what if' moments once in a while. This would have been one of those times.

On one of our clearer days, there were some awesome halo shots. This happens when ice crystals race across the sky and when they get hit by the sun's rays at the right angles, we get to see some of these halos that are pictured here.

I hope you enjoy my story and pictures today. Until next time....

A Dash to the Finish Line with a staggered start.

Greetings,

Now that the holidays are over, it is time to push the nose to the grindstone and finish the season strong. I'm on the move to swing shift in the next two days and I feel that I'm ready to do another 6 week stretch.

The Christmas and New Year's holidays were fun with not much work that I had to take care of, so it was nice for a couple of weeks with that. Also, I have to decide where to go for my time off and I'm no better off finding a location that I was when I started this year. Hopefully things will change in the next couple of weeks.

I'll do my best to keep things updated, but like life at the Pole, things can change.

Take care until next time.

December Catch-up and Holiday Time.

Howdy,

It's been one busy month, this December. So much so that I've had another drought on this blog.

One bit of new involving my days in Nevada was that an article that I'm a co-author on did get published. I'm excited for that. Now, if I had the time and the resources to finish the article that I'm the lead author on...

Also, our Meteorology Department was awarded a safety medal for working so safely on the station. I believe that this accomplishment was mentioned in an Iowa news station somewhere, I think Sioux City. As for the South Pole itself, it has been warmer than normal, but yet there have been plenty of clear to partly cloudy days, which is a little unusual with this combination.

Christmas has come and gone, but I still want to make sure that you and your loved ones enjoy your holiday season.

Until next time.

Time to stop and smell the....glycol??

Hello again,

I hope things are going well for you wherever you are reading this. I just want to take some time to remind you to enjoy life a little bit, take advantage of what's around you and don't wrap yourself up in a myriad of mini-tasks. I maybe feeling that way with things on station and things that I have yet to begun. So, instead of rushing off to other odd tasks after work, it would be better to have a good conversation with some friends or plain not just worry about the world for a while. That's the little bit of wisdom that I have to share.

FYI, glycol is the coolant that is used at the Pole to make sure nothing mechancial freezes. Have a rose on me, everyone.