Day 7
11/2/04
9:29 pm
End of day 7. Another beautiful day. They wind comes and goes, and the temperature difference is incredible. We spent today in the lake basin again, digging. I spent about 7 hours digging a trench that is probably 25 feet long and maybe an average of 1.5 feet deep. It is a workout. Digging works best with two people. One swings the pick as hard and as fast as they possibly can until they get noodle arms and then the other jumps in with a shovel to throw out all of the loose dirt. You really sort of focus when you’re doing that type of work. Everything else just sort of melts away. After lunch today I spent about 5 minutes in the cook tent alone, just thinking about friends and warming up after shitting.
So I’ve been farting like a madman. I really don’t know what it is. Maybe my stomach just doesn’t deal with change well, because that’s about the last thing that I can think of. I thought it was the powdered milk (Milkman (TM) with "A kiss of cream" written across the package), but after cutting that out, while there was some reduction in number, there is still a problem.
Yesterday we went on another long hike down the valley. My ankle was bothering me today. I really hope that it will have time to rest before the next big day. The hike back up the valley was another test. I just got in a rhythm and the right mental state and took off. It felt really good. Made me think of hiking Mt. Everett with Charles.
We found out yesterday that the Red Sox won the World Series. I wish I could have been around to see it. I am actually glad it happened so that all of the talk will end.
Tomorrow is election day. It’s hard to believe. I think back to where I was four years ago. I have changed so much since then. If you had told me November 1, 2000 that I would be in Antarctica on November 1, 2004, I would have thought you were crazy. I remember that night vividily though, staying up, waiting to hear the final results. The sun just went behind Mt. Boreas and it got much darker in the tent. Here comes the cold. I remember saying “we’re going to have a war” after they finally announced that Bush had won. If only I had known.
I can’t imagine what another four years of Bush will be like. Age 22-26. Plus a who knows how many years of after-effects and "recovery". That is primetime for me. I will be getting a real job, maybe getting married, maybe starting a family. And all of the shit that Bush is doing will affect me directly. It is kind of scary. What is even scarier is that I can do absolutely nothing about it.
I haven’t really sat and reflected about how simple life is out here. It is wonderful. It is a blessing to be thousands of miles away from all of that bullshit. Politics in particular. But then again, I miss my friends and some things about life in Providence.
As I was humping up the hill yesterday, I was thinking about Vietnam. 30 years ago, I would probably be there. Actually, I could probably look up the draft dates and find out precisely when I would have gone. Being down here is like being in the service in some ways, ok, very loosely. It at least makes the war in Iraq a lot more real. Thinking about what those guys are going through over there. Isolated in a strange place. But then again, nobody is trying to kill me down here, just the continent itself. In some ways, this is a service to my country. I serve in the name of science! (imagine a voice like William Wallace).
Tonight we ate Ramen stir fry with canned chicken, frozen Japanese vegetables and chunks of tofu. After a long day, it was delicious.
Adam makes fun of Kate when she wears her fleece headthing. He thinks she looks Muslim. He called her Fatima and kept talking about how she prayed to Allah for a miracle and was granted the Raro (a New Zealand version of kool-aid). He was also using a Chinese accent and talking about “eyes like dinner plates”. He is well educated and said something about wanting to bring the Koran down here to read. He does know a lot of little random tidbits about religion, among other things. I don’t know. Doug loves it. I guess the real world is a little less PC than Brown. I just think of my friend Fatma and what a wonderful person she is. What if she overheard someone saying things like that?
I'm still waiting for my sleeping bag to dry out. It is almost an excuse to have the stove running in our tent. I feel guilty doing it, but I guess it’s just a small luxury. We listened to Johnny Cash tonight during dinner. He is great. A legend.
My nose has really been bothering me lately. Yesterday I had big black spots on it that I interpreted to be freckles. I hadn’t been wearing sunscreen, so I’m assuming it was burned. It runs constantly when we’re outside and I have to wipe it with my leather work gloves which really irritates it and results in a huge frozen snot patch on my index finger. I also think it got burned from below due to reflection off the snow. Antarctica is not a place for good complexion.
I wrote a letter yesterday. I have about 8 more to write before we leave here. Time. At least we are done early some nights.
Tomorrow morning is bacon and bagels for a change instead of cream of wheat or oatmeal. It should be a treat.
9:29 pm
End of day 7. Another beautiful day. They wind comes and goes, and the temperature difference is incredible. We spent today in the lake basin again, digging. I spent about 7 hours digging a trench that is probably 25 feet long and maybe an average of 1.5 feet deep. It is a workout. Digging works best with two people. One swings the pick as hard and as fast as they possibly can until they get noodle arms and then the other jumps in with a shovel to throw out all of the loose dirt. You really sort of focus when you’re doing that type of work. Everything else just sort of melts away. After lunch today I spent about 5 minutes in the cook tent alone, just thinking about friends and warming up after shitting.
So I’ve been farting like a madman. I really don’t know what it is. Maybe my stomach just doesn’t deal with change well, because that’s about the last thing that I can think of. I thought it was the powdered milk (Milkman (TM) with "A kiss of cream" written across the package), but after cutting that out, while there was some reduction in number, there is still a problem.
Yesterday we went on another long hike down the valley. My ankle was bothering me today. I really hope that it will have time to rest before the next big day. The hike back up the valley was another test. I just got in a rhythm and the right mental state and took off. It felt really good. Made me think of hiking Mt. Everett with Charles.
We found out yesterday that the Red Sox won the World Series. I wish I could have been around to see it. I am actually glad it happened so that all of the talk will end.
Tomorrow is election day. It’s hard to believe. I think back to where I was four years ago. I have changed so much since then. If you had told me November 1, 2000 that I would be in Antarctica on November 1, 2004, I would have thought you were crazy. I remember that night vividily though, staying up, waiting to hear the final results. The sun just went behind Mt. Boreas and it got much darker in the tent. Here comes the cold. I remember saying “we’re going to have a war” after they finally announced that Bush had won. If only I had known.
I can’t imagine what another four years of Bush will be like. Age 22-26. Plus a who knows how many years of after-effects and "recovery". That is primetime for me. I will be getting a real job, maybe getting married, maybe starting a family. And all of the shit that Bush is doing will affect me directly. It is kind of scary. What is even scarier is that I can do absolutely nothing about it.
I haven’t really sat and reflected about how simple life is out here. It is wonderful. It is a blessing to be thousands of miles away from all of that bullshit. Politics in particular. But then again, I miss my friends and some things about life in Providence.
As I was humping up the hill yesterday, I was thinking about Vietnam. 30 years ago, I would probably be there. Actually, I could probably look up the draft dates and find out precisely when I would have gone. Being down here is like being in the service in some ways, ok, very loosely. It at least makes the war in Iraq a lot more real. Thinking about what those guys are going through over there. Isolated in a strange place. But then again, nobody is trying to kill me down here, just the continent itself. In some ways, this is a service to my country. I serve in the name of science! (imagine a voice like William Wallace).
Tonight we ate Ramen stir fry with canned chicken, frozen Japanese vegetables and chunks of tofu. After a long day, it was delicious.
Adam makes fun of Kate when she wears her fleece headthing. He thinks she looks Muslim. He called her Fatima and kept talking about how she prayed to Allah for a miracle and was granted the Raro (a New Zealand version of kool-aid). He was also using a Chinese accent and talking about “eyes like dinner plates”. He is well educated and said something about wanting to bring the Koran down here to read. He does know a lot of little random tidbits about religion, among other things. I don’t know. Doug loves it. I guess the real world is a little less PC than Brown. I just think of my friend Fatma and what a wonderful person she is. What if she overheard someone saying things like that?
I'm still waiting for my sleeping bag to dry out. It is almost an excuse to have the stove running in our tent. I feel guilty doing it, but I guess it’s just a small luxury. We listened to Johnny Cash tonight during dinner. He is great. A legend.
My nose has really been bothering me lately. Yesterday I had big black spots on it that I interpreted to be freckles. I hadn’t been wearing sunscreen, so I’m assuming it was burned. It runs constantly when we’re outside and I have to wipe it with my leather work gloves which really irritates it and results in a huge frozen snot patch on my index finger. I also think it got burned from below due to reflection off the snow. Antarctica is not a place for good complexion.
I wrote a letter yesterday. I have about 8 more to write before we leave here. Time. At least we are done early some nights.
Tomorrow morning is bacon and bagels for a change instead of cream of wheat or oatmeal. It should be a treat.
posted by LankyPoobah at 9:29 PM
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