FROST

Yesterday morning I was attending one of our typical
Monday morning safety meetings. It was about stretching,
keeping limber, etc. Since I'm not the most flexible
person in the world, for some reason I found this
meeting very stressful. Toward the end of the meeting
the RPSC Safety Manager asked me to come forward. I'm
thinking "oh great, they're going to ask me to bend or
contort some way that I can't possibly do...how embarrasing!"
Instead, much to my surprise, I was presented with a
FROST (Friends Recognizing Others Safe Trends) Award.
I had been nominated because of suggestions I've made to
station management about safety, being on the Safety
Committee over the years, spreading fines so people don't
hurt themselves and being a proponent of the stairway
leading up to Building 140. Very cool indeed! I received
this very limited awesome patch (see photo), a new Nalgene
water bottle and $5 in Safety Bucks to spend in the store.
I guess being safe down here all of these years has paid
off!

The Big Roadtrip

You won't find this roadtrip in any Rand McNally Atlas.
There aren't any 7-11s along the road to stop for a
Big Gulp and bag of Fritos. It's the South Pole Traverse.
The group left McMurdo a couple of days after I got here in
late October and should be arriving in a few days at Pole.
This year they're hauling fuel and materials to both South
Pole and to the remote AGAP camps. Ultimately in years to
come, they want to be able to deliver up to 200,000 gallons
of fuel each year to the Pole but that will be years from
now. Currently, only LC-130's can carry fuel to the Pole
and they use up a lot of fuel in the process to get it
there. There's been some international angst against the
road, but let's get real here. It's not really "a road".
If it weren't maintained, it would be gone in only a few
years, it's existence gone forever. Plus, it's not like
tourists will be moseying along it. How could they? There
aren't any 7-11s along the way!


click on map to enlarge

Thanks Dave!

Our friend Dave slapped this patch into my hand
at Lynn's transport yesterday. A grantee had given it
to him and instead of "tossing it into a drawer", he gave
it to me. I've been very fortunate this year that several
friends have given me really cool Antarctic patches and
stickers because they know what a geek I am about them.

Winterover Patch & Sticker

Winterover Patch
Winterover Sticker

The voting results are in and the above are the winning
Winterover Patch and Sticker for 2008. I'm looking forward
to adding them to my collection.