No Running in the Hallways!

Another two day weekend evaporated. A great time though. Friday was pretty low key. We found Katie in the berms in just a few minutes, so our drill didn't last too long and I for one, didn't get too cold. A long town meeting followed, which is fun just for the novelty of having everyone in one room, even if we are bickering about how to wash the dishes.

Saturday was the BF5K race. A different type of race to say the least and some crazy costumes. I think they only tracked the finish time for Noah, the first place runner, and at the sign up we each received beer and cigarettes.

Tough to run around corners and upstairs and on real ground instead of a conveyor belt, epecially when people are losing pop cans, water, and trash from their costumes along the way. I finished in a bit over 32 minutes, a bit slower than I wanted, but it was a lot harder than I thought. I went as 'The Station Walls'. The wig was a lot hotter than the paint.

After the race I showered off all the paint, hopped in the sauna and then spent 8 hours straight talking in the galley. So, not much was accomplished, but it was a nice Saturday. Sunday followed on a similar note, starting with a teeny tiny church service, then watching Steve Padin's interview on 20/20 for Earth Day a while back. He also made it onto the Daily Show since Diane Sawyer slipped in an accidental insinuation. More movies, and then made quesadillas with homemade tortilla for dinner, which nearly fed everyone on station.

Auroras have been coming out more often with more intensity. I'll try to get out and take a picture soon or else borrow someone elses good pictures. It's crazy how much difference the moon can make. Last week it was impossible for me not to trip all over myself whenever I was outside, but now you can see the snow quite well.

Catch Up

I spent this week bumping into walls and saying things backwards. I don't know what was going on. Probably a combination of lack of sleep and way too much coffee. But the last two weeks have flown by so fast and we've got 2 days off again!

New things to do are still cropping up though. We've been doing a little '300 club practice'. Sitting in the sauna and then seeing how long we can last out on the porch. 3:30 is all I can handle so far, but it's been so windy and that makes such a huge difference. My calves are always the first to start freezing. Which reminds me that there have been a lot of frostbite around station lately: noses, necks, cheeks, fingers, and even someone's stomach (don't ask, don't tell). I froze a bit of my toe walking to Cryo in regular shoes, but that's all so far. It's dark as ever, but the temperature is actual up the last week, since it was flirting with -100F last week.

We played some ultimate frisbee in the gym. This was much funner than expected and quite active, but we played on a Friday night, and most people save their shower for Saturday...

Also had a women's night of poker for anyone who wanted to learn, taught by BFK (Big "Friendly" Kevin). There was record amounts of estrogen in the "2.0 Smoking Facility". We even played with pink cards.

I'm into the movie groove lately. I watched 3 movies last Sunday with some other people, and I have a DVD player in my room now and I'm hooked on the "Arrested Development" series. I'm trying not to get too lazy, but did take 5 days off of working out.

Another two day weekend is finally up next. We have a Search and Rescue Drill tomorrow after lunch where someone will get "lost" outside and we have to get organized and go look for them. We've got 45 minutes to track them down. I accidently spilled the beans about who it was at lunch today, but I think most people still don't know. And then it's off to the races on Saturday... the BF5K that is, a strange mix of a 5k run, the station hallways, costumes, and in usual South Pole style, a lot of drinking. Basically a bunch of people are running 18 laps down the hall either individually or on a team and everyone who participates must have a sponser who will drink a "beverage of choice" every three laps they complete, and everyone must wear a costume. It seems like some creative ideas are coming. I love races, so I'm running alone and trying to do it under 30 minutes. (I'd shoot for less, but there are 36 flights of stairs involved as well and we're at 11,000ft pressure). My sponser is Michael, one of the cooks, and he should have no trouble 'keeping up with me'. Don't worry, pictures to follow on this one.

Ahh yes, and a happy, happy birthday today to my little sis! Here is a picture of her eating cat in China:

Easter

Oh yeah, I forgot to add about Easter weekend:

Saturday night started out with the Long and Skinny party which is a sort of tradition each winter where everyone hangs out in one of the hallways. It was hosted in my hallway, so I served up some martinis in my room, and it was fun to hang out somewhere besides the galley and get to show off our rooms for once.

For Easter, I got up bright at early at 10:00am, which is highly unusual, for a brief Easter service. I pushed for us to sing a song, but it backfired, because I ended up singing alone, and if you know me, that is not good.

Also, an Easter tradition (besides getting Cadbury creme eggs from Mom... hey, you really fell through this year) is making a Peeps Cake with Bri. We both successfully made cakes, although thousands of miles apart. Francie, one of the cooks helped me out, but all I had to work with was Valentine and Snowmen Peeps, which aren't the same, nor as fresh.

Auroras... Barely

I guess you can tell who is going on their first winter here, because we're jumping out of our skin at the sight of whispy tails of faint green light that's been coming up every once in a while. I saw my first ones last night coming out of SPT. At first I thought it was steam coming out of ICL, until I realized they don't have a boiler out there, and then it started slowing moving across the sky, converging and diverging and sometimes looking a tad on the green side. Unfortunately it was tough to walk all the way back to station sideways, but I was pretty captivated and can't imagine them lighting up the entire sky.

This week was one long week with plenty of work to go around. I walked out to the science (dark) sector about 6-7 times, which was nice for a change, but the last day or two it's been windy so it loses its novelty when your face mask gets all hard and crusty and your skin is burning.

We had another 'ladies' night this evening which was really fun. We indulged in a bunch of girly stuff and I painted my toenails for the first time in a long, long time. I messed up my sleep schedule once again last night when some of us tried to do taxes, but after some missing forms (like my w2) and spotty internet, we just sat around and talked past midnight instead. Which leads me into this evening and my 1:00am workout I'm about to go do.

Pre-Easter Eggs

Well, the sun might have gone down, but the moon has come up, which was nearly as incredible. The sun's light still follows around the horizon, but the moon's been stealing the show. Although last night, the the horizon cleared up and the sky was quite orange.

Moon over SPT.

The moon over station. The 'cross' the moon forms is a rarity, as the atmosphere has to be just so.

Still not sure if this is a joke or not, but we all got invited to the kitchen to oil eggs. The oil forms an airtight seal so the eggs won't spoil and refridgerated, will last for months. I've never heard of this before, but I've never tried to make an omelet 9 months after I buy eggs either:

Katie and Francie excerising extreme caution:

Jason and Lynette's matching plaid. Jason's purple plaid pants really completed the look:

Emrys being pouty... probably because he broke more eggs than I did:


Have a good Easter weekend everyone.