Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today was just like yesterday. Actually it was nicer weather; pretty sunny all day today and we had a great sunset yesterday, a nice sunrise today and a half-way decent sunset this evening. I set up a stand-up desk! I’m not super enthused by the work-spaces in this room ; nothing is really a goodContinue reading “October 15th-Day 10 of “The Commute””

Yesterday was a “fun” day here in quarantine. I decided to run a marathon. Problem is, there is no running or exercising allowed during the scheduled outdoor time. So. I decided to do it entirely within my room. I started by measuring the length of the room – about 28 feet (assuming my phone chargingContinue reading “October 13th – Day 8 of “The Commute””

Yes that’s right. From October 9th I time-traveled straight through October 10th right into October 11th! Another great sunrise over the South Pacific (though I didn’t get any good photos, the colors were really nice and separated and I got the full rainbow ROYGBIV)! We landed in Christchurch around 7am, and boy do these KiwisContinue reading “October 11th – Day 6 of “The Commute””

Short entry here; testing my automatic posting to Facebook, and just confirming I’m a go for travel (Negative COVID test results). This is the 2nd leg of the trip and I will be transporting to the airport around 1830 for a 2200 flight; should be about 14 hours to Christchurch, arriving at 7AM on MondayContinue reading “October 9th – Day 5 of “The Commute””

I can’t believe it’s Friday already! Time flies when you’re having fun. We took our PCR COVID test on Thursday, hoping to hear back from the company about results late tonight/ tomorrow morning. We will be getting ready for departure to NZ tomorrow evening; with staggered checkouts from the hotel and staggered transport to theContinue reading “October 8th – Day 4 of “The Commute””

Today I begin another journey South. This one is not for a full winter-over, but I figured I would keep the blog going and give a little insight to the current COVID-era operations. First thing to note about this year is the restricted summer crew at South Pole. Because of COVID precautions, the United StatesContinue reading “October 5th – Day 1 of “The Commute””

Weather: No idea. Who cares… Warmish. 60s maybe. Cloudy Landed in LAX today. Tonight I fly Santa Air back to IAD where I will arrive at 6am. Just in time for festivities back home in MD. It’s certainly weird being thrown back into COVID world when I have had literally zero exposure to it before.Continue reading “Dec 24th – Day 1 Back in the States”

Weather: Balmy, 30F positive! Calm winds and overcast. Living the dream in McMurdo… been here for 12 days now. Weather delays, runway delays and crew turnover delays are the story of our escape from McM. As conditions warm for the summer here, the runway has deteriorated into a skiway, and so the US Antarctic ProgramContinue reading “Dec 21st – Day 355 on Ice”

Weather: Warm, variable skies. Temps got up to -5F yesterday! That’s damn warm! But windy, with winds around 20knts. Skies cleared up today. Well. Later today I am expected to do my ‘Bag Drag’ – where anyone leaving on a flight has to bring their bags to be weighed before the flight. This makes theContinue reading “Dec 8th – Day 342 on Ice”

Weather: Clear and calm up until yesterday. Now windy with plenty of blowing snow. Temperatures are warm, around -20F. Summer turnover is wrapping up at SPT, and we’ve completed most of our critical summer maintenance. Soon we will be fully beginning uninterrupted Summer observations (and by we, I mean the new winterovers, not me!). WeContinue reading “Dec 3rd – Day 337 on Ice”