Drilling
11/17/04
11:34 PM
I’m exhausted. We were supposed to get a helo this morning to head down valley but the weather was bad - snowy and foggy. The night before, we were up until after midnight, which is when we finished eating dinner. We have been drilling about 20 meters from our campsite and it has been tough. I don’t have the energy to sit here and write all about it. We’re supposed to head downvalley tomorrow morning instead. Another long day of coring and a late night, only to wake up early again for another grueling day. Tomorrow is going to suck.
So we have like $90,000 worth of drilling equipment out here. Four different systems and so far we know that two don't work in this kind of ice. We finally made some progress despite getting the core barrel stuck several times, going down very slowly. The ice cores are beautiful. 1 m long cylinders of glacier. It takes 5 people just to run the drilling operation. When you start getting deeper and deeper, the workload increases. You constantly have to add and remove poles to the "string" that holds the core barrel down the hole.
We did more seismic studies at the lake, although I haven't been getting the results that I would like. I have made a few "business" calls to real geophysicists to discuss possible solutions. I'm starting to doubt whether we will get good data. I have also realized that I really don’t have much experience with seismic surveys outside of lab and class work, yet I am expected to carry out professional seismic surveys. So far it has been going ok and I am learning a lot about what does and doesn't work.
There is a large ice crack that has formed near my tent in the past few days. One chunk of ice is thrusting above another and there is a 1-2" ledge along the crack.
Adam found out that his wife is pregnant again. He was so happy. He came into the tent crying and hugged Doug and I. I was overcome by a strong sentiment of happiness. It is contageous. It is just another reminder of how young I am and that Adam is at a very different stage of life. His experience down here is entirely different because of his family.
Dave, in a lot of ways, is kind of like a little kid. Doug too. In their mannerisms, humor, facial expressions.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the brunton compass mirror and saw my scrappy beard. I think I look older.
I have been having vivid dreams, the other night I found myself in a black ocean with a seat bottom flotation device from an airplane. The sky was very dark but there were yellow lights like at a dock. The seas were rough and there were huge waves. Then suddenly, I was in a Connecticut airport where I met Adam. We drove to his old house which was filled with all sorts of weird shit, including a really strange toilet, and he started doing laundry. It was all very odd.
I've noticed that there is a recurring theme in my dreams – toilets. Dawn, what does that mean?
I think I’m actually gaining weight – I just looked at my belly and I've got some nice little rolls.
I’ve been eating a lot, but lately haven’t been doing much physical labor during the seismic surveys. Sitting at a computer when it’s cold sucks.
Adam is snoring pretty loud right now
I need to sleep.
I haven’t written any letters and tomorrow is the mail drop with the helos. I hadn’t even thought about it until last night.
We’ve been working very hard here. Early morning, late lunch, late dinner, then sleep – no free time to do things like write in journals or write letters. I wonder if that is what Jim and Dave do in their tent while everyone else cooks them dinner each night.
Life in the cooktent. Usually the highlight of the day.
The drilling team with one of the failed drill systems.
I really like this one. Doug and Jim workin' it.
The hole. This one is like 30 feet deep. It gets black after about 10 feet and you can no longer see the bottom. Light passes throught he shallow ice and it is illuminated in a beautiful deep blue over the seeminly infinite black hole. It's also a trip to listen to the reverberations when chunks of snow and ice fall from the surface down into the hole.
11:34 PM
I’m exhausted. We were supposed to get a helo this morning to head down valley but the weather was bad - snowy and foggy. The night before, we were up until after midnight, which is when we finished eating dinner. We have been drilling about 20 meters from our campsite and it has been tough. I don’t have the energy to sit here and write all about it. We’re supposed to head downvalley tomorrow morning instead. Another long day of coring and a late night, only to wake up early again for another grueling day. Tomorrow is going to suck.
So we have like $90,000 worth of drilling equipment out here. Four different systems and so far we know that two don't work in this kind of ice. We finally made some progress despite getting the core barrel stuck several times, going down very slowly. The ice cores are beautiful. 1 m long cylinders of glacier. It takes 5 people just to run the drilling operation. When you start getting deeper and deeper, the workload increases. You constantly have to add and remove poles to the "string" that holds the core barrel down the hole.
We did more seismic studies at the lake, although I haven't been getting the results that I would like. I have made a few "business" calls to real geophysicists to discuss possible solutions. I'm starting to doubt whether we will get good data. I have also realized that I really don’t have much experience with seismic surveys outside of lab and class work, yet I am expected to carry out professional seismic surveys. So far it has been going ok and I am learning a lot about what does and doesn't work.
There is a large ice crack that has formed near my tent in the past few days. One chunk of ice is thrusting above another and there is a 1-2" ledge along the crack.
Adam found out that his wife is pregnant again. He was so happy. He came into the tent crying and hugged Doug and I. I was overcome by a strong sentiment of happiness. It is contageous. It is just another reminder of how young I am and that Adam is at a very different stage of life. His experience down here is entirely different because of his family.
Dave, in a lot of ways, is kind of like a little kid. Doug too. In their mannerisms, humor, facial expressions.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the brunton compass mirror and saw my scrappy beard. I think I look older.
I have been having vivid dreams, the other night I found myself in a black ocean with a seat bottom flotation device from an airplane. The sky was very dark but there were yellow lights like at a dock. The seas were rough and there were huge waves. Then suddenly, I was in a Connecticut airport where I met Adam. We drove to his old house which was filled with all sorts of weird shit, including a really strange toilet, and he started doing laundry. It was all very odd.
I've noticed that there is a recurring theme in my dreams – toilets. Dawn, what does that mean?
I think I’m actually gaining weight – I just looked at my belly and I've got some nice little rolls.
I’ve been eating a lot, but lately haven’t been doing much physical labor during the seismic surveys. Sitting at a computer when it’s cold sucks.
Adam is snoring pretty loud right now
I need to sleep.
I haven’t written any letters and tomorrow is the mail drop with the helos. I hadn’t even thought about it until last night.
We’ve been working very hard here. Early morning, late lunch, late dinner, then sleep – no free time to do things like write in journals or write letters. I wonder if that is what Jim and Dave do in their tent while everyone else cooks them dinner each night.
Life in the cooktent. Usually the highlight of the day.
The drilling team with one of the failed drill systems.
I really like this one. Doug and Jim workin' it.
The hole. This one is like 30 feet deep. It gets black after about 10 feet and you can no longer see the bottom. Light passes throught he shallow ice and it is illuminated in a beautiful deep blue over the seeminly infinite black hole. It's also a trip to listen to the reverberations when chunks of snow and ice fall from the surface down into the hole.
posted by LankyPoobah at 11:34 PM
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