Sunday

Hi Ian, Steve and anyone else looking!
I  did not get to operate the stretch 8.  they only use it when they have too.  the snow will come to you soon.  It will be melting here.  i remember the scary costume.  I have been operating the D9 bulldozer.  I was on top of the mountain looking down.

this is where i am headed to work!

to the left of this photo i am building a ramp and widening and shaping the road

looking down a t the station

the crane is putting up another dome.  It looks just like the golfball i am working next to.  The domes house satelites.

Syd

the holloween party is an anual tradition, and people come prepared.  Hilarious good time. 

Storm hits Mcmurdo Station

Monday afternoon the wind began to blow, and it did not stop intill wednesday!

I was digging this slope out when it began.  I was operating a 277 cat skidsteer.  You can see in the background the visibility is limited.

I will return to this site and capture the view on a clear day.  Also reveal the slope under the snow.  My machine broke down and i was transfered to a 950 loader.

Sydney, you are the best daughter ever!  Keep making comments about being thin and looking good!  Love you syders... 

tuesday we stayed in the office because the visibility was zero or whiteout.

today went to airfield to get the d6 and saw a few planes.

2 hercs, 2 baslers, 4 c31s

On the way back in I had a great view of the station and Mt Eribus behind to the north.

and then, along came a spider, no its a helicopter!

this is how they move cargo to the campsites around antarctica.

Enjoy Ian!

Ian Fritz

Ian, I am gathering photos of unique equipment for you.  I do not want to give them to you all at once or there will be nothing to come back and look for.  One cool thing about antarctica, is there are no bugs here.  Thank   you for the well wishes and I will sleep very tight.  I love you little buddy.  I miss you all!   Today we had the worst weather to date.  there were times you could not see outside the window.  We had to stop the truck.  Scary!  It is called a white out. 
The bulldozer above is a stretch D8. See how the nose is stretched out. There are only three in the world.  Two of them here in Antarctica.  It takes a poney motor(auxillary) motor ot start the main engine.
I did not have a costum for holloween.  what were you?
 

Day two of trenching with photos

Continued working on trench.  Here are the machines we are using to excavate the crossing.

The smile y face is scratched into the floating ice pier, being built by the laoder.  The ice peir is 10 feet deep right now but needs to be 19 to support the cargo and fuel ships that will dock.  the other picture of the pier is of tw divers about to enter into the water to inspect the pier.  The vessels are scheduled to arrive in january, after teh ice thins and the ice breaker works its magic.  The sound will be water and ice bergs.  The land will be crushed lava rock.  the photo of MO Gas is for morgan.  the have named the gasoline mogas, and this is one of the large storage tanks on the island.
 I saw my first bird yesterday.  the bird is a skua, a seagull like bird,  I did not realize it was a big deal or i would hae taken a picture.  I was told there might be 5 to 15 of  them thsi season.  I was also warned to guard my food, because tey will hawkit right out of your hands.
The photos of the vehicles are for the fritz boys.  the track vehicle is a called a piston bulley.  the large tired tanker is water transport.

We also had a holloween party last night, and this is what i saw.

I know these people.  three of them are my roommates.  the thief with the vcr.  the vcr actually transported beer.  the guy in the silve suite and cape has a twin apendage dangeling from his hip.  I labeled the third mate as Reno 911, or Scott baio.  Sme serious scary characters.  the pirate looking dude slash pooh bear is a pimp.  He got second prize to oscars grand prize.

Trenching

 Today I ripped the frozen ground with a D9N bulldozer.  We are trenching across a road to bury new utilities.  Very rough work.  Very slow progress, but successful.  will capture photos of 9 and trench tomorrow. 
Brook the Florida Firefighter moved out to start his journey to the South Pole.  A new roommate moved in tonight.  Dan will be a good fit with this crew.  will get  a better picture in future.

room and dorm

I live in the main building 155.  the galley, store, and admin offices are located here also.  My room is on the second floor.I have my own space.  we have commmunity showers and bathrooms.  the sauna is a plus, but there are concessions. The computers must be hard wired to get internet, and there is only the kios, computer area off of the main long hall, called highway one.