Must be the South Pole! The horizon is 7 flat miles out in every direction, but things have been so busy since I got here that I haven't had much time for horizon-gazing. After several days of weather delays and one boomerang out of McMurdo, by the time they got us in here we had to hit the ground running. Everybody wants to get going fast since the summer season is so limited, and almost everybody needs to use a computer. We've had all kinds of excitement like a surprise power outage, when we discovered that our UPSs don't work any more; satellite problems; dying servers; all kinds of things. Of course we've been able to fix everything :). I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the system while still doing the routine work and hand-holding with users. We're getting more and more folks with no computer experience walking in with a full digital camera in one hand and a manual still in its shrink-wrap in the other. Patience, humility, compassion. I've got a new rule: if anybody asks me a computer question at a party or on a Saturday night, I answer in Swahili.
I'd better wrap this up since we've got a Trauma Team meeting...um.... now. There are some neat things going on: the new station is coming along, with some hiccups (the engineers insist that it's settling, not sinking) and there are some neat science projects happening. Then there's the visiting Girl Scout, last seen leaving the store with a bottle of Absolut...anybody seen her this morning? I'll write again soon.
Nafurahi kukuona!
Kwaheri,
-Sarah