Station 2 Olympics

So, as you've probably gleaned from previous posts, Station 2 is my preferred station, but it can be pretty boring. Especially on days when it is chilly and windy and there are only 3 planes due in. We didn't do much of anything, though I did do some music swapping with one of the other guys.

I suppose the trouble started after dinner. We decided to play a game, and one of the guys had gotten the game 'Scene It' for Christmas. We played 2 games, in teams of 3, splitting the difference. Then we decided we should play something else. We started with a home-made taboo/charades/icebreaker game that the Kiwi came up with. We each put the names of 4 famous people on pieces of paper, then did a Taboo like game to try to get our teams to say the person's name. After that round, we had to get our team to say the person's name by doing charades. Then it was a 20-questions kind of round where everyone else knew the name of the person on the card we picked, and we had to ask questions to figure it out.

Then it really started getting interesting. We were looking for another game to play. Randy decided to play 'Paper Bag Limbo.' All you need for this game is a paper bag and balance. The paper bag sits on the floor, and everyone takes turns trying to pick it up with your mouth. The catch is that you are on one foot. After each round, you rip off another inch or so of the paper bag. We played that one till no one could pick it up, and several people fell on their faces. Then we pulled out the kitchen table for table bouldering. Similar to bouldering on a rock (or in a gym) the object is to finish without touching the floor. In this case, finishing is going from the top of the table, going under the table, and back up to the top without touching the floor.

I would just like to say for the record that up till this point I had been a spectator only.

Our illustrious LT decided that we should do an Ice Run. This consisted of a timed run, from one door to the other of the station, doormat to doormat. The run would be done outside, so basically we were running around half the building. The catch? The run was to be done barefoot. Now, this is not a big deal for me, as I used to bring in wood for the wood stove barefoot when I was in high school. However, it wasn't quite as cold in PA as it is in Antarctica, even in the summer, under the snow was the wooden porch (as opposed to the several hundred feet of compressed snow and ice under the station), and the wooden porch was smooth, not the metal grate we use for porches and steps down here. The metal issue was by far the biggest issue for me. Well, that and the fact that I HAVE to climb pretty much every step, where as most other people can skip a few here and there on the way up and down.

After the Ice Run event, we had a breath holding contest (up till now, one or more of the people at Station 2 couldn't do some of the events), so everyone could play. Randy won that one, holding his breath for 2.56 minutes.

To combat normal boredom, we have a dart board at Station 2. This dart board became the focus of the next 2 events. First we had Blind Darts, where the contestant has a board held in front of their face, and then they have to throw 3 darts. Whoever gets the highest score wins. Needless to say, there were a lot of new holes added to the wall after this one.

Blind Darts naturally led to Dizzy Darts, similar to Blind Darts. This time, the player is spun around 3 times with their eyes closed, and then, with eyes still closed, throws the darts as quickly as possible. Again, several more holes were added to the walls, and in this case, the door and almost the fire extinguisher.

Pictures will be posted some other time, when I get the other pics from the rest of the people there.

By this time, it was about midnight, and some people settled down to watch a movie, while some went to mid-rats (dinner wasn't very good). After midrats, we finished the movie, and went to bed. By that time it was pushing 0130. Needless to say, I am very tired this morning, even though I slept pretty well (we left the hatch open for fresh air, and the door open for cross-breeze. Hench, a nice cool night to sleep, and no funky smell in the morning).

When I got back from work, I took a quick run down to Hut Point (not a long run, but a very nasty hill to go up and down), and stretched by Vince's Cross while I watched some seals try to get out of the water onto the thinner ice. Then I ran/walked back (that hill is a killer). Next shift I am back down at Station 2, having switched with Cav, who needs to be in town tomorrow to finish his pump test so he can be a driver.

Today is laundry day, and straighten up the room day. My roommate got selected to go to the South Pole station, and she leaves on Wednesday. She'll be gone till the beginning of February, so I get the room to myself for pretty much the rest of the season. Not a bad deal, though I will miss her. Not that we get to see each other a whole lot anyway, but it's the knowing that someone else is around.

I'm thinking the first thing I'm going to do when I get home is get a massage. My neck and shoulders are killing me.