{"id":4293,"date":"2023-11-25T11:51:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T16:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/?p=4293"},"modified":"2023-11-25T11:51:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-25T16:51:04","slug":"brian-in-mcmurdo-and-other-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/2023\/11\/25\/brian-in-mcmurdo-and-other-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian in McMurdo (and other notes)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

McMurdo knows its clientele are explorers, so the Thanksgiving menu has often been a map. From 2016 if you didn’t notice the label….<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Hi everyone, \u00a0 another update from Brian in McMurdo…..<\/p>\n

“Made it to McM yesterday and am getting settled in. Because it’s Thanksgiving weekend I haven’t been able to secure a meeting with fixed wing, but word on the street makes it sound like they are already behind schedule and backed up. I’ve touched base with most of the other folks I need to here and after the holiday weekend should be able to get a bunch done next week. I’m planning on spending tomorrow digging through the shipping container and will be sending some lists and pictures of what is in there soon so you can weigh in on what should be sent back state side and what can be trashed. I don’t expect I’ll get through it all but hopefully I’ll get a good start. <\/em>
\nOverall things seem about the same here in town. Surprisingly little in terms of the station rebuild seems to have been completed and the frosty boy machine is still out of order. There is now wifi available in the dorms and folks can text home with their smartphones.<\/em>
\nIn terms of CDC equipment, it seems like people shouldn’t expect much more than big red, wind pants, fleece pants and jacket, goggles, hat and work gloves and boots.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

A few other things worthy of note.<\/p>\n

-There are lots of other entities on the move in Antarctica, including girl-empowering Welsh fire-fighters<\/a>, the UN Secretary-General<\/a>, a cyclist riding a sweet fat-bike<\/a>, \u00a0\u00a0giant icebergs<\/a>, stoic Brits<\/a>, and large passenger aircraft.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 Clearly the Antarctic austral summer is well-underway.<\/p>\n

-ANSMET’s \u00a0“main body” of field party members will be departing the US next wednesday…. \u00a0er, \u00a0I should note some depart from Canada, eh? \u00a0 That’s allowed now. \u00a0In any case, \u00a0I can hear a lot of frantic packing in the distance. \u00a0Join me in wishing them all easy loads to bear. \u00a0From what Brian says, \u00a0there’s some serious fashion choices to be made.<\/p>\n

-Forgive me for a brief, somewhat crotchity editorial comment. \u00a0I barf in my mouth a little bit whenever I hear adventures claim they’re crossing Antarctica for “climate awareness” or “to inspire young people”. \u00a0Just once I would love to hear one of them say ” I’m doing it because I can get donors to pay for my trip to Antarctica where I can test my huge ego with new toys”!<\/p>\n

-Don’t get me wrong, I think ego is a fantastic, extremely valuable tool, \u00a0a power that can be used for good. Most scientists who have had significant impact were driven, at least a little, by their egos. \u00a0But honesty is significantly more important than ego. \u00a0Let’s not rationalize the overall carbon impact of your trip (particularly if you need to be rescued) and what it’s really teaching a young person.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

-Ralph, from frosty Novelty OH<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone, \u00a0 another update from Brian in McMurdo…..<\/p>\n

“Made it to McM yesterday and am getting settled in. Because it’s Thanksgiving weekend I haven’t been able to secure a meeting with fixed wing, but word on the street makes it sound like they are already behind schedule and backed up. I’ve touched base with most of the other folks I need to here and after the holiday weekend should be able to get a bunch done next week. I’m planning on spending tomorrow digging through the shipping container and will be sending some lists and pictures of what is in there soon so you can weigh in on what should be sent back state side and what can be trashed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Continue reading… Brian in McMurdo (and other notes)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":4295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[27,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/111\/2023\/11\/25105646\/2016-mcmurdo-thanksgiving-foot-plan.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293"}],"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=4293"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4300,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4293\/revisions\/4300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caslabs.case.edu\/ansmet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}