{"id":1591,"date":"2014-11-27T10:26:02","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T15:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2014-11-27T10:26:02","modified_gmt":"2014-11-27T15:26:02","slug":"things-im-thankful-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/2014\/11\/27\/things-im-thankful-for\/","title":{"rendered":"Things I’m thankful for….."},"content":{"rendered":"

My apologies for a more personal posting today, \u00a0but it is Thanksgiving here in the US after all. \u00a0 Here’s a list of things I’m thankful for, mostly ANSMET related……<\/p>\n

….the amazing support we’ve gotten from the planetary community. \u00a0Without the hundreds of you who joined us in the field, the hundreds more that have studied\u00a0the specimens we recover, and the thousands of you who just said “that is cool”, \u00a0 we simply wouldn’t exist.<\/p>\n

….the equally amazing support we’ve gotten from the population of McMurdo Station, South Pole Station, and the various governmental agencies that provide for us in terms of gear, labor, salary, etc. \u00a0ANSMET is a wierd thing- supported as science, but out at the end of the Earth where only insane adventure-types go. You’ve made it seem easy, piece of cake, \u00a0no problem. \u00a0Even when the problems are pretty daunting. \u00a0 I am extremely grateful for the positive attitude, appreciation for what we do, \u00a0and patience you’ve shown us.<\/p>\n

….The altruism of our leadership team and predecessors. \u00a0Our existing system, \u00a0where the meteorites are recovered and then immediately made available to the research community, with no priority access given to the field members, the curators or anyone else, isn’t an accident. \u00a0Bill Cassidy, who started ANSMET in the mid-70’s after learning about the initial discoveries by the Japanese, \u00a0fully understood he was first in line to a gold rush, \u00a0and that there could be many more losers than winners. \u00a0Faced with the opportunity to grab a handful of treasure\u00a0and simply head home, \u00a0he (and like-minded folks at NSF, NASA and the Smithsonian) instead invented the system that remains in place today. \u00a0 Myself, the curators at the Smithsonian and JSC, and the adminstrators at NSF and NASA all get this, even through we’re second generation. \u00a0 If you have any experience in project or grant management at all, \u00a0you’ll appreciate how hard it is to maintain such a program and concensus for nearly 40 years.<\/p>\n

….The friendship and hard work of my partners in the fieldwork- John Schutt, Shaun Norman, Jim Karner, Mike Rampey, Nancy Chabot and a few others. \u00a0They’ve been my second family for the nearly 30\u00a0years I’ve been involved with\u00a0ANSMET, taking care of me when I can’t take care of them.<\/p>\n

….My family (and particularly my wife) for dealing with my absences. \u00a0While not quite “enlisted” level, \u00a0they build up over the years to some pretty impressive totals. \u00a0Rather than dwell on all the things I’ve missed, \u00a0let’s just say I am most\u00a0thankful of all for a family that understands I do this because I’m good at it,\u00a0not because\u00a0I’m some wanderlust-addled adventurer. \u00a0I HATE adventure.<\/p>\n

\"3<\/a>

3 turkeys in McMurdo (from last trip to Davis-Ward)<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Happy Turkey Day! \u00a0 \u00a0-Ralph, \u00a0posting from Novelty OH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My apologies for a more personal posting today, \u00a0but it is Thanksgiving here in the US after all. \u00a0 Here’s a list of things I’m thankful for, mostly ANSMET related……<\/p>\n

….the amazing support we’ve gotten from the planetary community. \u00a0Without the hundreds of you who joined us in the field, the hundreds more that have studied\u00a0the specimens we recover, and the thousands of you who just said “that is cool”, \u00a0 we simply wouldn’t exist.<\/p>\n

….the equally amazing support we’ve gotten from the population of McMurdo Station, South Pole Station, and the various governmental agencies that provide for us in terms of gear,<\/p>\n

Continue reading… Things I’m thankful for…..<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1596,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions\/1596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}