Parading Through Denver

Two more days of office work! Everyone going to the Ice has to do their orientation here in Denver so friends from last year and brand new people have been trickling through our office which makes coming to work kind of fun. We have two days of orientation: a full day followed by a half day, after which they bring everyone to the airport near Kansas (Denver International Airport). My orientation will be this Sunday and Monday and there are only a few people in my group that I already know, so I anticipate meeting lots of new people.

I am currently listening to a co-worker who is interviewing an applicant over the phone for a position on the Ice. I feel for the anxiety, excitement and nervousness that is being surpressed on the other end of the line, and I must say that it is good to be an insider now, even if some wouldn't count my lone summer season as ample qualification.

Highest Point in Antarctica

What you are looking at is the highest point in Antarctica, or what used to be.
John Evans who works here at Raytheon held a lunch talk yesterday about his climb up Vinson Massif. It's 16,050ft high and through a weird set of circumstances he was the lead scientist on the first party to climb it in 1966. He said that he is much 'greener' now and would not have pulled the rock down, but back then it was perfectly acceptable to haul out the souvenir. In reality (unlike the 1967 National Geographic article indicated) the climb was not extremely hard and 'orthodontists from Ohio' are able to do it now-a-days with adventure companies. However, he also showed pictures of his climb of a neighboring peak, Tyree, which produced many gasps and head shaking from the audience.

The Mount Rushmore State

It's been a long week for me. I got back to Colorado last Wednesday and immediately took off Friday to go to South Dakota for my grandmother's funeral. It was a pretty emotional time, if not because we lost a wonderful woman, then because I have hardly been exposed to death in my life and this was the first funeral for a family member I've been to. Although it was sad to see her go, it was a great opportunity to remember her life, see everyone else the she brought into the world, and spend some time at her little house that has hardly changed over the years.


The days are evaporating and I'll be in NZ in two weeks from today. So many loose ends to take care of, and after having so much time off in the last 4 months, I find it very hard to concentrate on the tasks at hand, whether it be in the office or getting my own affairs in order.

Rolling into Colorado

Here I am in Denver again, getting geared up for another season on the Ice and starting another blog.

I left Ontario last Thursday morning and drove 2096 miles while visiting my midwest friends which made the long trip bearable (a big thank you to everyone I stayed with!). At the CO border I started counting down the mile markers until I could see the mountains (as there is nothing else to do at this point in the trip), but they sadly never appeared because of the haze. Long's Peak looked more like a muted ghost than how I remember it.

I spent this summer pinballing around, but it was well worth it. Links to pictures from Indonesia and Europe should be to the right if you're interested in what I was doing there. Indonesia was quite the cultural experience and filled with hospitable people who took us to some local events and out to see great scenery. My introduction to Europe was also great and I think I have a better idea of where to go next time (ie Germany).

I also spent a combination of 6 weeks living in Alliston, Ontario with my parents which was even better than I bargained for. There are plenty of people my age there so I went to campfires, couchfires, horseshoes, barbeques, BINGO, breakfasts, etc. I'm going to miss that town!

Other than that, being back in Colorado temporarily raises all the same questions again: 'What am I doing?', 'Do I have a plan?' 'Do I need a plan?' I'm not ready to give up engineering yet, nor am I excited to embrace it. Travel? School? Work? Volunteer? What happened to the good ole days when people had to work to live and that was that?