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A note from tomorrow

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Sat, 2011-10-15 07:22
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Ice Man
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Hello to everyone back in the states on the east coast. Its 1am on Sunday here at McMurdo Station in Antarctica and I wanted to write a message (while waiting for my laundry to finish) letting people know how things are down here near the bottom of the planet. I wish I was at the South Pole so i can say that the World really does revolve around me.
Life here is like a mixture between summer camp and college. They have dorm rooms for all the people working here at McMurdo station. Some people are lucky to have 1 or two to a room. Others...like us first year or General Assistant employees have 3 roomates. One of my 3 roomates is a day sleeper (someone who works the night shift). My roomates are a bunch of old guys who snore alot so I'm having to try to go to sleep before them so I can actually stay asleep.
My job here at McMurdo is a General Assistant for the Plumbing department. I spent most of this week installing Heating pipes and air ducts to the buildings that do the Long Duration Balloon launches. These massive balloons are sent way up in the air to record weather, temp, and other sciency stuff for a long period of time. Occasionally our plumbing department gets called to fix some leaks through out the station but the hardest part so far is going out in -15 degree weather when its windy to the LDB (Long Duration Balloon) site which is 10 miles out in the middle of an ice field. Did I mention that on a clear day you can get a great view of the world's most southern active volcano. Not Lava spewing active but you can see smoke coming out of the top. There is pleanty of stuff to do here when I'm not working; they have a aerobics gym and a weight gym, a library, a basketball court, pleanty of hiking trails, a couple bars, a coffee house, and the computer lab is always open 24/7. Antartica is a very dry place, and I mean dry as in your hands get dry and cracked easily from the lack of moisture in the air, the only plus side to this is an open bag of chips doesn't go stale for a long time. A place like this requires you to stay hydrated constantly.
If you have any questions about Antarctica let me know.

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Advisor - Dad Cord Sepello

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Thu, 2011-10-27 10:23
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BlakeHG
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Thanks Cord!!

Hey Cord!,
Thanks for the update! Please Kepp updating us like this its cool! I dont think many people have been checking the site so I am going to remind everyone and see if they have seen this post. I could also be completly wrong. haha be safe. we are going to fall fest this weekend!

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PMC,

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Sat, 2011-10-29 16:03
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Ice Man
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Its -2 degrees with a -24 wind chill today

McMurdo had their Halloween party last night. Everyone was in some crazy costume. The party was held inside the Big Gym. Which is basically where they have the indoor basketball court. If you can imagine how some people dress in costume, imagine seeing them do a 400 yard dash during a -25 degree wind chill. There was a group from the Science Cargo department that dressed as Captain Planet and the Planeteers (a TV cartoon from 1990-1996). They have a DJ with a laptop set up which makes sense. Its a lot easier to bring here then a big black crate. Yeah, that’s right, I said it.
I seem to have most of my free time on Sunday (my day off) so that’s when I am typing this letter.
I saw about 20 seals at a distance yesterday. They were hanging out by Scott Base, the home of the New Zealand scientist. This base is about a mile away from McMurdo Station. The New Zealand’s or Kiwi's do not allow Americans to trespass on their station which means I couldn't get any close photos of those seals. Only on Thursday nights will the Kiwis allow us to go on their station to hang out and drink. They are a little crazy over there after the All Black won the Rugby finals. Is it fair that we allow the Kiwis to visit our base whenever but they have issues with us visiting their station? Not sure what they are working on. Even people here have restricted access to the NASA building on our own station. During my time here I've done plumbing work in the Power Plant, the Waste Water Treatment Plant, the Vehicle Maintenance Facility, the Science lab, the military dorms, the womens bathrooms, the Ice Runway, Southern Exposure Bar, Galagher's Club/Bar, and the Long Duration Balloon Site. I'm enjoying all the traveling around the station that I get to do. I'm glad I picked that instead of the Vehicle Maintenance Facility because there isn't any traveling around the station involved with that job. Plus I get to drive a raised up pickup truck on 24s. At speeds up to 40mph on the ice. I'm Flyin'
The hard part about having a roomate that sleeps during the day is waiting for him to wake up around 7pm so I can go into the room and get changed to work out in the aerobics gym aka the Gerbil Gym. I'm trying to do that as often as I can, the food here could kill me. Running to the gerbil gym in a t-shirt and shorts in -10 degree weather isn't as bad as it sounds. But after the workout and I'm all hot and sweaty when I run back outside into the cold my entire body steams which looks pretty cool to people walking by.
I'm thinking of joining the P90X classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays but they also have Sign Language classes on Tuesdays the same time as the P90X class. All these activities to do and they overlap.
Hope everyone is doing well and having a successful term. Keep me updated on what you guys are up to.

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