The Under The Sea Prom at the BFC (Camping supply "store" on station). I asked a few people to the prom but kept getting turned down. I eventually asked my friend Kricket at Pole if she would go. I was shocked when she said she would but indicated she may be a little late since transportation could be an issue. She still hasn't shown up but she should be in town by early February. My friend Neoma said she would go with me since her boyfriend Ben was stuck at AGAP. It was a fun night and lots of fun pictures. My "formal" attire included black carhartt overalls that I borrowed from my manager, a white striped shirt I found in skua, a tie Neoma let me use, a plastic flower, and a makeshift top hat also found in skua.
I was suppose to fly on Nov 27 to Marble Point, but the weather was bad. This meant I spent 7 hours in the Pax Terminal at the Heliport. While I was there I read this great article in a reliable periodical call the "The Weekly World News". Apparently there is no threat of global warming. The reason the glaciers are disappearing is that teenage aliens are coming to earth and stealing the ice to get a buzz at frat parties. Although aliens have perfected interplanetary travel, they have not perfected making ice. Very interesting article and because it's in print must be true.
My next day to fly was on the 28th of Nov. However I woke up to see that the station was in condition 2 (bad weather). When I looked outside waste bins were tossed all over the town. Everything was plastered with snow. Some of my friends said their dorms were shaking in the high winds. I didn't think I would fly, but after a long delay they got me off the ground with an experienced pilot.
I have to say an A-star helicopter is a cool way to commute to work. I have such an awesome job. The mic on the helmet works by pushing a button on the floor with my foot. I can talk to the pilot this way and could also hear him talking with MacOps, HeliOps, and Marble Point. The flight took about 30 minutes and is about 60 miles. The trip mainly takes us over the bay to the mainland so the majority of the trip all you see is sea ice. However there are cool icebergs temporally stuck in the sea ice. Marble Point is also the entrance to the Dry Valleys where a ton of science goes on. This allowed for an amazing view into a stunning environment.
Usually there is a 24hr turnover at Marble Point. The new fuelie flies in, gets trained for a day, and then the old fuelie flies out the next. With the holiday weekend there were no flights today (Saturday) so I had 30 minutes for Matt to train me before Chris came back from the Valleys to pick him up. At that point Matt left and it was down to Me, Crunch, and Karen for the weekend. Karen was the Cook at WAIS last year and I love her cooking. I hope I don't gain too much weight while I'm here.I should also mention that I got a new part time job this week. Not only do I pump gas but also flip burgers. Burger bar just opened and a few times a month, Bama and I will work it. Bama is the cashier and I'm the grill guy. In 2 hours I cooked about 150-180 burgers. I don't know how many orders I messed up but it seemed like most people were happy. After getting over the stress of having all these people waiting for you to cook faster Bama and I had a fun time. Clean up on the other hand took 2 hours and everything was covered in grease including me. I'll try to get pictures at some point.
Today I went for a hike and took some pictures but I'll save that for later. I hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend.
The picture above is from the entrance to the cave. About 7 people at a time are allowed in and there is a fun snow-slide through the entrance. The cave isn't very deep, but the ice formations on the inside remind me so much of caving back in New York and West Virginia (yes, maybe even a little of the Vermont caves - cold and damp that is). 
My costume was a little lame, but I went as "Dancing with the Stars." I also had a few other bad puns in there but most of which are not appropriate. Jack, the pregnant bride, is one of my roommates. I have to say Jack and I had a good time that night but those stories must be saved for latter. Jack is a Firefighter and it is his first year down. 
Last week and this week I've been assigned to AM pit duty at Willy. This means that I wake up at 4:45 and get dressed. By 5:00 I am in the galley half awake and eating breakfast. At 5:30 I am sitting on Ivan the Terra Bus for a 45 minute trip out to Williams Air Field (for skied aircraft). The picture above is of Willy Town. This is were Air Traffic Control, Galley, Ground Support, Cargo... is located. Not a very nice looking town but hey it has what we need. After we arrive there (me and a co-worker), I struggle to get the snow machine running and warmed up. By 6:30 we are over at the fuel pits located on the opposite side of the apron (Plane Parking)from Willy Town. Once there we rush (wait, we don't rush, it's a safety concern) to get the fuel pumps heated up and started. Once started we recirc fuel and collect samples to be tested. By 7:00 we are usually filling our first LC-130 with about 7,000 gallons of fuel. The crew tells us how much they need in lbs and we convert it to gallons and kick off the pumps. This normally takes about 20-30 minutes. We also fuel the Basler and the Twin Otters (Canadians fly these two types of planes).
