{"id":3818,"date":"2019-12-10T21:34:07","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T02:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/?p=3818"},"modified":"2019-12-11T10:16:20","modified_gmt":"2019-12-11T15:16:20","slug":"so-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/2019\/12\/10\/so-close\/","title":{"rendered":"So close"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Weary Antarctic-bound travelers watching \u201cThe Office\u201d at the APT as flight cancellation is being processed.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

You know it\u2019s a bad sign when, after the 3AM wake-up call, you check in at the Antarctic Passenger Terminal (APT), weigh your bags, put on your boots, grab a quick last coffee and return to the briefing room to board….and the loadmaster at the terminal starts to play reruns of \u201cThe Office\u201d on the briefing screen.
\nWe reclaimed our boomerang bags for one more night in Christchurch.<\/p>\n

-Channeling patience in Christchurch, \u00a0the 2019-20 ANSMET team<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NOTE from rph:<\/em> \u00a0 \u00a0Yesterday was a busy and odd for me here at ANSMET central, and I have a few tidbits of info worth relating. But let me start by noting the anonymity of the message above. \u00a0ANSMET team members rarely allow even the tiniest negative vibe to show in their posts, \u00a0and in this case the message is clear: staying patient can be a serious challenge.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of times where the patience of ANSMET personnel is challenged; in the 5th day of a windstorm, \u00a0when you peek out of the tent door in the morning and find the poo flag is still flying after 20 minutes, \u00a0or when everybody else has found a dozen specimens in the moraine this morning and all you’ve gotten are sad nods of Johnny’s head. \u00a0But one of the worst is when you’re all dressed up, ready to fly, \u00a0and you are delayed. The truth is, \u00a0every flight you take to Antarctica, or in Antarctica, \u00a0you’re pretty much flying standby. \u00a0You’ve been given a time of departure and you have to be ready, \u00a0but you really don’t know you’re going to fly until you’re in the air. \u00a0You sit at your gate (and trust me, there are no good gates in Antarctica) and search for a Zen-like state. \u00a0 If the flight is delayed, you often don’t know if you’re being asked to wait a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days. You might get some small tidbit of information (it’s the weather, it’s a maintenance issue, the crew is prepping the aircraft), but often it’s just “please wait”.<\/p>\n

I spoke on the phone with Jim Karner last night, and we agree the Christchurch delays could be worse. \u00a0They’ve got comfy accommodations, \u00a0a nice springtime city to explore, and costs covered in one fashion or another. \u00a0But as is happening to our gang now, \u00a0the delays typically ramp through the progression listed earlier; \u00a0you get ready to fly at some obscenely early moment, \u00a0get delayed for a few minutes, then a few hours, then you’re told to start again the next day. \u00a0Only rarely (and when things are really bad) do you get released from that pattern long enough to go do something more touristy, like visit the Southern Alps. \u00a0The 2019-2020 ANSMET team has effectively experienced a full week of delays and while my notes aren’t good enough to prove it, \u00a0I think they’ve equalled or exceeded the worst CHC delays I’ve experienced (I think \u00a0in 1998-99?). They’re hanging in there, but even a comfortable routine can try your patience, so send them lots of love and maybe a deck of cards or a board game.<\/p>\n

Other news: \u00a0I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say our hearts and prayers go out the the families of the people aboard the Chilean C-130 that was lost while en route to Antarctica on Monday evening. \u00a0Flying across those dangerous seas is inherently risky (there are zero safe places to land) and it takes dedication and courage to do so routinely. \u00a0I was contacted several times yesterday by people who got only partial information and feared the worst, knowing ANSMET was supposed to be flying south. \u00a0If you’re still worried, \u00a0the best thing I can tell you is that the pilots flying between Christchurch and McMurdo are the best and most experienced in the world, \u00a0the C-130 aircraft is literally one of the safest every made, \u00a0and USAP’s fleet is maintained and tested the absolute highest level. The Chilean accident is going to make the USAP air crews even more cautious and vigilant, \u00a0so while these flights are never routine, in my opinion it may be the absolute safest time to fly.<\/p>\n

On a more upbeat note, I’m going to Pittsburgh tomorrow to visit Bill Cassidy, who turns 92 in about a month. \u00a0He’s had a few health setbacks over the years but he’s let me know he’s eager to try the Shackleton Scotch I’ll bring him, \u00a0and hear how the program he created endures. \u00a0I’ll bring him all your love as well.<\/p>\n

-rph from partly cloudy (ONLY partly cloudy!) \u00a0Cleveland<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know it\u2019s a bad sign when, after the 3AM wake-up call, you check in at the Antarctic Passenger Terminal (APT), weigh your bags, put on your boots, grab a quick last coffee and return to the briefing room to board….and the loadmaster at the terminal starts to play reruns of \u201cThe Office\u201d on the briefing screen.
\nWe reclaimed our boomerang bags for one more night in Christchurch.<\/p>\n

-Channeling patience in Christchurch, \u00a0the 2019-20 ANSMET team<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NOTE from rph:<\/em> \u00a0 \u00a0Yesterday was a busy and odd for me here at ANSMET central,<\/p>\n

Continue reading… So close<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":3820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[23,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/111\/2019\/12\/10213408\/IMG_7183.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3818"}],"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=3818"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3824,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3818\/revisions\/3824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}