oh, bama

greetings!

it's been awhile since my last entry... i have been devoting my little bits of interweb time to applying for jobs for next season down here.  the count down has begun and i am due to fly from here through mactown to christchurch on feb. 4th. this leaves little time to do so many things!!! i played pub trivia for the 1st time all season on weds. night and we won the over all booty aka a 6 pack of beer.  just an example of 1 of the many activities that i feel like i must experience before the season ends... we had the privilege of seeing the inauguration speech tonight in the galley, they flew it in from mactown...such a breath of fresh air!!! we took a photo at he pole and submitted it to various news outlets to show our support and excitement for the new era that is our time! otherwise, there's been lots of finishing work to be done and everyone is scattered to and fro in order to complete all the loose ends of the season.  it's getting quite cold again and the shadows are growing longer by the moment.  many of the workers here are not due to fly out until mid feb. but our crew is the 1st to dept. because we are not on a specific project,  and they need to fill planes earlier than later, the last possible flight is feb. 15th (weather permitting).  we (the GA's) are excited to get a jump start in NZ before all the other antarcticans flee for the winter! i will be spending a few days in christchurch with my pal trudy lyn and then i have no plans!! there will be many folks filtering in as the days progress and i have spoken with many friends about travel adventures, mostly i am interested in circling the island and then heading back to the states.  the exciting thing is that the exchange rate is almost 2 kiwi to the dollar, this will help in my endeavor to see the south island! i am currently most excited about an art project i'm doing with my pal moose (who has been pictured several times in the blog).  we have collected discarded electrical conduit and have cut it down to create giant windchimes that we will hang from other scrap metal we've collected to create a Calder-esque mobile out of the chimes. we will hang this assembly in some arches that are at the "edge of the world" (end of the station) that have also been discarded.  a found art sculpture and installation!!! mobiles and windchimes and trash...it doesn't get any better!! i will try to get photos up of the process soon, it's been a blast so far- our next step is tuning the individual chimes, this will be a challenge, but so fun!! besides that, everyone is just figuring out what do due post-ice... it's so exciting to know that you will be on vacation at the same time as your friends...it's the perfect reward after working 60 hrs a week for 4 months!!! i will endeavor to write more soon, until then, i hope you are all having a lovely day and staying warm!! take care!! karengrace*

fun times

me on my snow sculpture...

the starfish lounge

robert and his head
cricket and danimal

at their trailer

superhero dance party-

viking warrior princess, 

capt.camo, and mirror mangreetings!

work has been keeping me busy and my social calendar has really begun to fill as the season draws to a close, still so much to do and so many people to hang out with!  the prince of monaco visited us yesterday, he said we served him the best hamburger in antarctica! it is really getting cold again, with the wind chill it's close to -50 already! i have been working with the engineers in one of the newly constructed buildings to test and balance all the electrical devices and the ventilation system... i've been reading blueprints and using new devices for the calibrations, pretty cool!  i went to my redeployment meeting earlier this week.  i am due to fly straight through on feb 4th.  that means the only thing i'll do in mactown is change planes, although i have offered my services to unload the freighter that is due to arrive there in feb.  currently we are making flight and accommodation  decisions.  i am not sure what will be going on once i reach NZ, still talking to people here and coordinating post ice plans! also, we have all been struggling with 'raycats' which is raytheon's internal application site.  they have opened up next seasons jobs for us early, but this site is truly one of the most complicated i've ever encountered... it's been quite the topic of conversation in these parts!! i have not yet submitted any applications, haven't been able to catch the internet window in quite awhile.  i am off to work, i hope this finds you all healthy and happy and still enjoying '09!! take care, kgrace  

so fine in '09

greetings!

so far '09 has been a joy! this is a photo from our very successful dinner sat. night, these are the salads, and brian (a surprise appearance- stuck here on his way to set camp for some scientists), cargo patty and me.  the meal was a blast to create and the chefs enjoyed it!  IT'S SNOWING!!! this is a very rare occurrence here at the pole, and i'm driving the shuttle van today! anyway, we served scallops wrapped in non-rancid bacon and tapenade and chevre spread with crustini as the apps.  the salad consisted of black beans, edemame, roasted red peppers, mandarin oranges, candied walnuts and a lively citrus vin. the main course had a twice baked potato, marinated and grilled asparagus, and for the meat eaters we served chicken oscar with a bearnaise sauce and for the vegetarians we served sundried tomato and spinach polenta that we grilled and served atop a cauliflower and carrot puree.  desert was verinakes, which are dumplings made with perogie dough and stuffed with apricots, walnuts and gran marinier, then sauteed in butter and spices and served over ice cream with shaved dark chocolate and crystallized ginger.  this whole meal was created with frozen foods, we still have no freshies, although the word on the street is that we may be getting some today!!!  everyone is starting to make their plans for what to do after the ice, counting the days... i hope this entry finds you all enjoying your day- i'm going to enjoy the snow storm!! take care! karen grace

happy '09!

greetings and salutations in 2009!

i hope the year has been enjoyable so far, we've been experiencing warm weather- hovering right around zero the past few days!  working outside has been a lovely joy, and "they" say that on the 7th the temps will be dropping at least 1 degree a day and the sun will be plummeting towards the horizon for the 30 hr sunset in march!  my departure date will be sometime in feb. and the last planes in/out are on the 15th of that month.  we had an emergency drill this morning, i am on team 3, which is the logistical team.  we get people and supplies to the scene then set up triage if necessary, we call ourselves the gophers! once we got the announcement of a drill of a glycol (coolent) leak underway, it was discovered that there actually was a glycol leak...thank goodness for drills!!! no one was hurt and the spill has now been cleaned up.  i enjoy volunteering for things here on station because it enforces the strong sense of community we enjoy, and i get to meet even more fun people! tonight i am preparing a meal for the kitchen staff with "cargo patty", she's and awesome lady who's been coming down for years, she orchestrates all cargo in and out of the station- a MAJOR undertaking, and in the real world she caters!  so i told her i wanted to do this meal with her because the kitchen didn't get any time off for the holidays, so this is their holiday meal...no pressure!  we also are facing the challenge of NO FRESHIES, nothing fresh, no eggs, onions- NOTHING....it will be interesting! i will try to get some photos and the menu up tomorrow, i think it's going to turn out quite well! we have tomorrow (sunday) off then we are back to our regular schedule, which i am thankful for, with all these extra days off the seeming number of mondays has increased, and that has been difficult!! looking forward to getting back into our regular schedule and knocking out the remainder of the projects we have to complete on the next 5-6 weeks! soon we'll all be on our way to new zealand, i hope to spend some time there with some polies and i hope that Hank will be able to come down under for some fun! we had great live music for new years eve, and they built a hot tub over at ice cube, i did not venture over there, i hear it was a blast, but was content to stay over here and enjoy the music and dancing! i didn't get my traditional good luck meal on the 1st, which means i must create my own luck this year!! i hope you all have a joyous beginning to this new year and stay safe and happy!! take care, love from the bottom of the world, karen grace