Some of the co-workers of our patient came by this morning and sang him a song that they made up. It was pretty entertaining, it was written in the tune of “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer”. They did a good job and received applause from the clinic and best of all a smile from the patient. He will be medevac’d tonight. The skies are clear and we pray the weather holds so he can get out of here.
Yesterday as I was watching the information channel on TV I noticed that the Barber Shop is now open as a “Self Service Barber Shop”. I guess they can’t find a barber. I noticed outside the barber shop is a HELP WANTED poster. We laughed about it on the way to lunch and I mentioned I should go in there and cut hair. My thought was to just take an electric razor and buzz everyone’s hair off. One of the docs in the clinic took me seriously and later asked me if I would cut his hair. I laughed and told him I didn’t think he wanted my kind of hair cut!! He agreed…guess I didn’t get the job.
I worked the front desk this afternoon. I think the best part about this is meeting all the people. I love to ask what they do here…some of them have really neat jobs. Today I met a Paleontologist from Georgia. She will be heading out to a remote camp to do some experiments. Many of the scientists here on McMurdo go to field camps. They live out on the ice in tents of all things! Before they go, they have to attend a class called “Happy Camper”. This is a 2 day course that teaches you how to live in a tent in a cold environment. Much like the survival course I attended in Flight School. I can’t imagine…I froze my tail off in Texas!! I hear I can sign up for this with permission from my Commander. I’m not so sure I want to do this…cold is definitely not my thing. Anyway, this Paleontologist explained what she was studying. The first sentence was that her specialty is “the process of animal bone decomposition”. She studies decomposing animal carcasses! Who does that? Anyway, I wish I could tell you whole conversation but it went something like this:
Scientist: (very animated and enthralled in the subject) "...and then we take different bones and place them on the ice and then we..."
Tracey: "Oh…wow…that is interesting!"
Scientist: "...and then we measure bone decomposition on the shell..."
Tracey: "Ooo…interesting."
Scientist: "...and then we decide how global warming is affecting the oyster crops…"
Tracey: "Hmmmm"
Scientist: "...the acidity of the decomposition of the bone and the effects the environment and…"
Tracey: "WOW!"
Scientist: "It’s all very exciting!!"
Tracey: "Yes…sounds really exciting!! Well…good luck!"
The morale of this story is that I had NO IDEA what she was talking about and she is VERY smart!! I came back to my little desk in the clinic to ponder what exactly makes someone study decomposing animals. Did she watch one decompose when she was a kid and think…Hmmm…how does that work? Seriously, it was neat to talk to her and so cool to see how passionate she was about her job and her research. I met a woman today that will make a difference in this world...I'm not sure how...but she will.
I worked the front desk this afternoon. I think the best part about this is meeting all the people. I love to ask what they do here…some of them have really neat jobs. Today I met a Paleontologist from Georgia. She will be heading out to a remote camp to do some experiments. Many of the scientists here on McMurdo go to field camps. They live out on the ice in tents of all things! Before they go, they have to attend a class called “Happy Camper”. This is a 2 day course that teaches you how to live in a tent in a cold environment. Much like the survival course I attended in Flight School. I can’t imagine…I froze my tail off in Texas!! I hear I can sign up for this with permission from my Commander. I’m not so sure I want to do this…cold is definitely not my thing. Anyway, this Paleontologist explained what she was studying. The first sentence was that her specialty is “the process of animal bone decomposition”. She studies decomposing animal carcasses! Who does that? Anyway, I wish I could tell you whole conversation but it went something like this:
Scientist: (very animated and enthralled in the subject) "...and then we take different bones and place them on the ice and then we..."
Tracey: "Oh…wow…that is interesting!"
Scientist: "...and then we measure bone decomposition on the shell..."
Tracey: "Ooo…interesting."
Scientist: "...and then we decide how global warming is affecting the oyster crops…"
Tracey: "Hmmmm"
Scientist: "...the acidity of the decomposition of the bone and the effects the environment and…"
Tracey: "WOW!"
Scientist: "It’s all very exciting!!"
Tracey: "Yes…sounds really exciting!! Well…good luck!"
The morale of this story is that I had NO IDEA what she was talking about and she is VERY smart!! I came back to my little desk in the clinic to ponder what exactly makes someone study decomposing animals. Did she watch one decompose when she was a kid and think…Hmmm…how does that work? Seriously, it was neat to talk to her and so cool to see how passionate she was about her job and her research. I met a woman today that will make a difference in this world...I'm not sure how...but she will.
The day flew by and this afternoon we had to prepare our patient for transport. I won’t bore you with all those details but I’ll skip to the transport. You may have noticed on my last blog entry that the accident occurred just outside of the fire department. You can probably figure out that the guy is a Fireman. As we departed the clinic, with our patient on the gurney the sight made a tear well up in my eye. Parked outside facing the clinic were both Engines with the light bars flashing. Lined up along both sides of the ramp was the whole fire department in full gear…all of them wishing their brother well on his journey and recovery. The last fire fighter was the guy that was driving the vehicle. He gave him his boot that we had cut off the day before…it was loaded with signatures and well wishes. These two gentleman have handled this well…accidents do happen. The fire department has rallied around both and presses forward with their mission, making sure both are taken care of. This stuff always pulls at my heartstrings…the traditions and camaraderie among the men and women of the military, fire and law enforcement career fields simply can’t be beat. I am so proud to be a part of one of these organizations.
We went to Pegasus Field in the ambulance. Quite a bumpy ride but our patient did well. We got there just in time to watch the plane land…what a cool sight to see! Cargo and passengers were offloaded. Jennifer and I configured the plane for the patient and equipment. The patient was loaded smoothly. Cargo and passengers were loaded and the plane was gone within 30-45 minutes. I got to see Antarctica’s version of a K-Loader on sleds! That was neat. There were lots of photographers and even a camera crew but I don’t think they were there for us specifically they were just there capturing the process as a whole. I heard the wind chill was down to -47◦F out there. I believe it! I did a good job staying warm though…the only thing was my feet. I just can’t figure out how to keep my feet warm! I will have to say that my Belleville boots that go with my new AF uniform (ABU) are warmer than my black Belleville flight boots.
While out at Pegasus I saw “Mount Erabus”. This is an active volcano that is one of only two active volcanoes in the world that has a lava pool at the top. It was smokin’ like a chimney! I’ve attached a picture. On the way back from Pegasus it was fatta morgana heaven!! Being at the level of the ice shelf really made them all stand out. One of them looked like there was a lake at the base of the mountain and I could even see a reflection of the mountain. This phenomena is so interesting to me since it’s really NOT there! I’m attaching a picture…it really doesn’t do it justice (probably because I was taking the picture from the back of a moving ambulance) but you can see what appears to be a lake…it is simply not there.
Today’s article is about Harry our Medical Clinic Director. He is a hoot and an excellent physician.
http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contentHandler.cfm?id=1221
http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/contentHandler.cfm?id=1221
Today’s McMurdo History: Beginning in 1901, Scott’s Hut on Hut Point Peninsula was erected by the Discovery explorers.
Today’s McMurdo Weather: High 1◦F, low -11◦F. Wind chill -38◦F.
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