Station chores

I'm still catching up on my posts. It is now a few weeks past sunset and all the pictures were taken previously.

During the winter there are no janitors or dining attendants (kitchen help). Every Monday at 4 pm is called 'House Mouse' where everyone on station breaks out into teams of four to cover janitorial duties in the station whether it be cleaning conference rooms, gym, sweeping and mopping passageways, or bathrooms. We spend one hour at this chore. 

Every 25 days we rotate into a breakfast/lunch or lunch/dinner galley help. In this capacity we wash dishes, pots and pans, clean the dining room, make juices, tea, and coffee, etc. The two cooks and one baker do not rotate through this chore. We are helping them with the daily grind of cooking for the 44 souls onboard. Sundays is a day off for everyone including the cooks. There is a leftover refrigerator and microwave oven so we fend for ourselves. The station is like a college campus with 43 roommates.

Everyone on station is also part of the Emergency Response Team which is composed of four groups: first responders (my team), firefighting, runners for gear, and medical. It is interesting that all firefighting is done with fire extinguishers only as there are no fire trucks or in-station hoses.  

In an extreme emergency (last resort) one of the wings can be sealed off from the rest of the station and has its own emergency generator, fuel supply, ice melting machine for water, food, and an emergency bag of extreme cold weather gear for each person. At this point we would wait for an emergency evacuation.

A correction to my previous post:
In my last post I said: "The power plant technician and two of the science guys have 9 winters..." I was incorrect on that. The power plant tech has 3 winters. One of the science guys is in his 9th (tied with two others for the most winters) and the other in his 7th. The record is 5 in a row. 

I recently found out that I am the 1,385th person to winter at the South Pole since the first South Pole Station was opened by the U.S. Navy in 1957. I feel very fortunate and honored to be included in this very unique club. 

Bill Spindler keeps these statistics and other interesting South Pole trivia at: http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/wo.html

Cleaning the galley dining area before dinner.

Working in the dishpit. Hobart the Sanitiser in the corner.

I do this well at home too!

"We don't need no stinking freezer!"

Right outside on the galley dock. A natural freezer. Whenever the ice cream runs out just grab another carton.

A South Pole sundog at 12:30 am.

All points north on the flagpole staff ornament.

It was a cloudy day when I walked out to work on one of the antennas. When finished I was greeted by the sun.

At this low elevation the sunlight is shimmering on the icy landscape.

Effective use of plywood sheeting.

The shadows are long these days. It's still hard to imagine that I am standing on a 2 mile thick glacier of ice.

Nothing but the freshest milk. Powered milk is mixed with water and is okay on cereal.

The growth chamber is going off.

We are having salads regularly now.

I am very impressed with the many different kinds of tasty greens

There are also a few kinds of fruit growing including cantaloupe.