Well okay, so I've got a bit part in a zero-budget horror flick as a zombie with detachable eyeballs, but my character is crucial: I chase the heroine through the old power plant and knock her out by throwing one of my eyes at her. Also, I'm a Key Grip! I held a flashlight to light one of the scenes. We're low on makeup so I used Marmite for my eye sockets. Phew, shower night. The director is a lunatic carpenter who was one of my first friends in McMurdo way back when. At the start of the summer he came up with the idea of having a South Pole Film Festival; looks like we'll have several entries. Films are encouraged to be 5mins or less. The festival will be mid-Jan, coming up soon. Telluride next!
We've already been through our first winter-over controversy: after 2 medevacs for gallstones in 3 years, the NSF decided to ultrasound us all. We got kinda mad because all of us made moderate to serious life adjustments to be here, eg quitting jobs, renting out houses, selling furniture, etc. The NSF of course wanted to treat an NPQ (Not Physically Qualified) in November, when we're all here, the same as an NPQ in July, before most of us quit jobs, sold houses, etc. The language in all the communications to us was very harsh and disrespectful: you have no rights, you will be NPQ'd for any level of symptoms including teensy weensy gallstones or even inflammation, you will not receive compensation, etc etc. Of course I'm sure it was all written by lawyers but it just did not help our mood. Anyway we've all been scanned now and the only one who's been turned up is a young guy, well my age, with about a dozen gallstones ranging up to a centimeter in diameter. Whoo! Okay, no more arguments. He's a scientist with no alternate lined up to take his place, so he's going to try to get out of here, get surgery, and get back for winter. It'll be tight.
Otherwise we're shaping up well for the winter. There are still plenty of people to come in yet, did I mention that this will be the biggest winter ever? They're looking to have 70+ people on station and knock out a lot of work on the new digs. So we still could have some total yoyos show up, but so far everybody who's here seems like good people to spend time with. I'm still hanging out with summer friends too of course, but knowing I'm in it for the long haul changes the perspective.
I won't write much about Thanksgiving because I've written about Thanksgiving here before. The new galley doesn't quite have the coziness of the old galley, but it is nice not to have to maneuver around the ceiling posts all the time. Same amazing food, same good friends. That's the important part.
It's been a quiet year for non-goverment visitors so far. We had one private pilot who took off from NZ to here with a stiff headwind, made it here and circled the Pole, then ran out of fuel on the way back so he had to land at McMurdo which doesn't have the right kind of fuel for his plane. I think they worked it out eventually but it sounds sketchy to me. We're scheduled to have a private helicopter (!) land here for a little while tomorrow morning.
What else to say? The job is a blast, and my IT co-workers are goofy and funny AND competent. Right now I have 3 brothers. Two of them will go away at the end of summer and someone I haven't met will come in to work with me, but he's been here before and knows the job. Things are looking pretty good from here.
Hope you're all well,
-Sarah
ps - [Later] Helicopter folks are pretty cool, check them out if you're curious: www.polarfirst.com. They might run out of money in Jan before they get to the North Pole but at least they made it here.