So what do I actually do here?

It has come to my attention that I never actually said what I do down here, and how things work.

By the way, for the record...This blog is public. Anyone and everyone can read what I write, and what other people write in the comments.

So. What exactly goes on down here? Keep in mind, that just about everybody on Antarctica is here for one thing, and one things only...SCIENCE. You are either here doing science, or you are here to support the science in some capacity. I am here to make sure the planes bringing down the scientists, the other people, and the cargo for the science don't burn up too badly if they crash. I am also here to make sure no buildings in town burn up, because there are so few buildings it could make a real hardship if one does. Some of the people we have down here are chefs, dining attendants (DA) who clean the dishes and make sure the food gets out in time (quite likely the hardest job down here), electricians, shuttle drivers, heavy equipment (forklift, bulldozer, etc) operators and the mechanics who work on them, janitors (several years ago, the janitorial staff down here had a higher education level collectively than the scientists!), IT professionals, HR people, finance people...You name it, and we likely have them down here. And the scientists (down here they're called 'beakers'). Basically, everyone is here because of them, but the rest of us get to stay down here longer than they do. Usually, the beakers are here an average of 6 weeks. It's expensive to get down here and they are usually working off grants.

McMurdo itself was a Navy base until the NSF bought it years ago. Therefore, most things are still talked about in Navy terms (galley, berthing, head, etc). As you can see from most of the pictures, the buildings are mostly pre-fab metal sheeting things that were thrown together. McMurdo is the largest station on this continent. It sits at the edge of the Ross Sea Ice Shelf, on bare volcanic rock, on the Hut Point Peninsula. Just behind the station is Mt Erebus, which is an active volcano on Ross Island that stands approximately 14000ft above sea level. Above the station is Ob Hill, which is a large hill with a cross for the explorer Capt Scott (from New Zealand). From there you can see all of McMurdo. The station I am at today (Station 2) is on the annual sea ice, which starts breaking up in December. Currently we are using the Ice Runway, which can land normal wheeled planes. When this ice starts breaking up, we will move the runway to either Williams Field, which is a skiway they build for ski-equipped LC-130 (military cargo planes) or Twin Otter and Bascher ski planes, which are smaller, 6 person propeller planes, or the runway will go to Pegasus Field, which is on the permanent sea ice (never goes away) about 20 miles or so from McMurdo. That airfield will be turned into one similar to the one I am at today.

I am on 'B' shift. We have 2 shifts, each one working 24 hours on, and 24 hours off. My 'K' day is Friday, which means that even if my shift is working on a Friday, I still have the day off. When we go in in the morning (we have to be there at 0745) we gather in a circle with the off-going shift to find out any news that happened yesterday or anything that the officers need us to know. Then the off-going shift leaves and we do truck checks, making sure everything on the trucks is still working and ok. Then we do stretches and either drill or do inspections. The airfield crews leave to relieve the off-going shift crews out at the airfields. That's the way it goes till lunch, when we go to eat in shifts. After lunch we do other station duties or any other inspections or things that we need to do. Around 1600 or so we go and do PT stuff. Dinner is also done in shifts, and then after dinner is free time until we go to bed. In the morning, we are woken up by the dispatcher playing some song over the in-house radio, and we get up, get back in uniform (out of sweatpants and such), and clean the station (bathrooms, kitchen, etc).

On my off-days, I can pretty much do whatever I want. Last week I just slept most of the time. This week I plan to head to the gerbil gym after shift, then head back to the room to shower and change. By then it should be lunch, and then I'll go bouldering with some of my shift mates, then bum around till dinner. I want to take a hike up Ob Hill, and out to Hut Point as well. And I still need to take my tourist shot in front of the McMurdo Station sign.

Hope that answers any questions you all have.