Smells like turtles

Well, I guess its been a while since I've posted anything on here.  There has been some new stuff, but not too much.

Here's a quick photo of the galley.  Now you have some idea of the kind of less-than-ideal conditions we live in.  No live performers?  Barbaric!

So last Sunday I went out on a training trip for trip leaders.  They train you to lead little tour trips out to the Cape Evans Hut, ice caves, and the pressure ridges, etc.  I really only asked to be able to drive Deltas for the trips, but I guess you have to do the other tasks as well.

Everything went fine until we started heading back from the hut.  As you can see in the photo above the Deltas are very very large vehicles (remember, Ivan is bigger).  Now, imagine one of these getting stuck in the snow.  Now, imagine a SECOND one getting stuck in the snow.  Now, imagine that FIRST one getting stuck in the snow a SECOND time, while all of our shovels and plywood were given to the second one to help them get out.  And the guys in the third one left before us and made it back without incident.  Yup.  Not too bad.  We still got back in time for dinner, and it was fun watching these huge pieces of machinery try and drive out of snow with their tires spinning.  I have some videos of them I'll try and upload at some point (they're large files).  Trips out to the Cape Evans Hut are long and I never really know how much time it takes because I tent to fade out and sometimes nap.

Here is a picture of Williams Field a week after I was first there.  The only buildings that were there the first time were the little control towers on sleds and one or two other buildings scattered about, but now it looks like a whole small town you might pass through while traveling cross country.  It is designed to house the airfield staff, so some of those buildings are dorms and a galley and bathrooms.

In the last week I was transfered again.  The UT supervisor handled it better, making it sound as if there was a greater need for me elsewhere so I did not mind it.  Unfortunately I was sent to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.  Wow.  At first I didn't think it was too bad, and the place doesn't smell too horribly most of the time.  Most of my jobs are cleanup.  I clean the influent and effluent tanks, which are a small open plastic kind of 'funnel' that looks like an hour glass cut in half vertically and then lain on its side.  This is where the water flow gets measured as it passes in and out of the facility.  Yes, it does smell horrible right there, but luckily when I wear the face shield it kind of deflects that bad air around so I don't smell it as much.  Before it reaches this point it has been run through the macerator which makes everything into smaller pieces so at least you don't see any logs floating downriver.  

I vacuum the foam of the top of the three large tanks (foam created by the bacteria in the soup chowing on the grease that goes down the drains).  This is an easier job.  I just have to push the foam towards the vacuum pipe with a large squeegee on a stick.  This one is kind of tranquil because you're surrounded by all that running water, but at some point you remember what the water is and the illusion fades.  There are normal cleanup jobs like taking care of the snow outside the building, or the large ice 'ant hill' formed from someone now clearing away an ice stalagmite that built up over the winter.

One of the more interesting rooms in the building is the cake room.  At the end of the processing line the remaining 'biosolids' are run through a series of rollers to get water out, then the resulting cakes are dropped down into the cake room where they land in a very large box.  When I went in one day to set up new boxes, I noticed one of the open, full boxes of biosolids had tiny little green sprouts growing in it.  I was told there are tomato plants who like to grow in that kind of stuff.  Too bad we're not allowed to grow plants down here, though.

I also work with the Power Plant a little now, since the water treatment facilities are part of their group.  I was moping the generator room yesterday.  This room was interesting and reminded me of the engine room on the ship my father captained when he was in the navy, just by the sounds and feel of the place.  It was a large room with six very large motors running in it.  Apparently the next building over has two much larger generators in it that can produce as much as these six.

Last Thursday I worked my volunteer shift in shuttles.  I got to drive a van back and forth between McMurdo and Scott Base, which is only a mile or two away (seven minute trip).  It wasn't a bad job, but it seemed like most people were not aware of the shuttle rules, such as only 10 passengers in the van at a time.  The only problem was the last shuttle back at the end of the night when one of the drunks tried to push my hat down over my eyes while I was driving.  We were headed downhill towards a very large road grader at the time, but luckily I could still see and the grader was a bit off.  I should probably have stopped the van after that and made the drunk walk back (which is what they have to do if they miss a shuttle anyways).  Maybe next time I'll ask for an earlier shift when people haven't had as much to drink.

I also worked my shift in Gear Issue yesterday (I will be working all Saturdays this month, plus a Sunday).  Last night was the night of the Halloween Party (I did not go, I'll go deaf if I keep attending those) so everyone was rushing in to get last minute costumes.  I saw people rent costumes that no man should wear (let the girls wear the women's clothing!) and it was quite busy.  It isn't a bad position, though, so I think I will keep at it.  Hopefully next week will be a bit slower!

I think that is about it for this week.  Check out the other photos on Photobucket!