First full day on the ice

Jennifer made it down today on the 0600 flight. We are thankful she has made it safely and didn’t have to boomerang. We’ve spent the day getting her settled, getting computer access, visiting the clinic etc. The McMurdo Hospital is a small white building with what is supposed to be a red roof. I think the red is a little wind burned as it looks more like hot pink to me. The staff so far is nice. There are a couple of doctors and nurses, a physical therapist, an x-ray technician, a lab…all the workings of a small independent clinic. While we are here we will assist the people in the clinic with their daily schedules in addition to our Aeromedical Evacuation (AE) services. I’ll probably write more about the clinic after I’ve worked there a bit. Antarctica waste management and recycling is stringent!! The U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) ships over 300 containers of waste back to the States every year. Of that, over 60% is recycled. Everyone is responsible for sorting waste. At every waste receptacle there are placards over each bin that describes what can be put into that bin. There is also the Skua Central which is like a huge FREE flea market! People can drop off unwanted, still usable items and others can shop and help themselves. The Skua is actually named after a bird…they are scavengers! Thank God for Uggs…I’ve worn my Uggs all day and my feet are nice and toasty. I wish I could wear them in uniform! Tonight my room got pretty toasty at 77°F according to my little alarm clock. I tried to turn the heat off but it doesn’t seem to be cooling off so I decided to open my window for a little while. I liked to have never gotten it open but did and left it open for a few hours. My room finally cooled off but when I went to close the window it was frozen OPEN! I finally got it closed but had to stand on my desk and use my foot! Today at McMurdo Station the high was -2°F, the low -15°F with a wind chill of -35°. Winds were at 21 kts. It is -69°F at the South Pole. I found some McMurdo History…I’ll share little tidbits as I go.
Today’s history: McMurdo Station was constructed by the United States in 1955-56 as part of its Operation DEEP FREEZE series of expeditions.
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