24 Hours of Daylight
Mike�s a welder. I never knew welding was such a needed skill, but I guess it is. He�s been all over the country on special jobs, and he�s in Antarctica now, welding. He wanted to travel to some exotic places. I�d say this one achieves that goal, and all because welders are needed.
To even be able to go to Antarctica, you have to pass mental and physical tests and be willing to commit to six months or one year. You have to decide how long you�ll stay beforehand, which I think is a major decision. What if you sign up for a year and end up going crazy? I guess that�s why the mental tests, huh? Mike decided on six months once he passed all the tests and finally decided that yes, he would go.
He is down there during the �summer,� so he doesn�t have to endure the 24 hour nights, just the 24 hour days. He said it already seems like dusk all night long and that they are gaining 20 minutes of daylight each day. Even for summer, it�s cold as hell, as is to be expected. The high so far has been 20�F; the low -35�F, though there was a -104�F wind chill. I would never make it.
Interestingly enough, there was someone at McMurdo participating in BookCrossing. It didn�t seem to catch on though. There were only three releases with the last one being June 24th. No catches. Maybe people are too busy working to read.
Mike did get to go in the underwater observation tube. I searched for some pictures from it and of it, but they are hard to find. Those sites do have some neat pictures. Mike said he didn�t get to see any seals, but people often do.
The kids are thrilled about him being there. Hammy sent him some email. He has web access and an email address, but we can�t send mail to him. Mail can obviously go out though. I guess incoming mail isn�t reliable enough to do, not like I�d be reliable enough to do it anyway. We hope to incorporate some of the information we get from Mike into the kids� school projects. Even I�m learning stuff.
I know I certainly won�t ever get to Antarctica, not that I wanted to. It�s neat to know someone who did. I like learning new things, and it�s always good for getting a �cool� out of people. It�s good for getting a �cool� out of me too, and I don�t have to endure any of the real cool that goes with being there, which is a very good thing, because I really don�t like cold at all. I�d be bitching all the time, and someone would end up burying me in a snowfield.
Two years ago
Stupid, stupid, stupid - "Me. Money. Receipts. Organization. Nervous breakdown."
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One Year Ago Today:
