-

Holy Shit. It happened.

I received tickets to and from Binghamton NY and McMurdo Station Antarctica. (Actually from BGM to CHC, through Washington, DC, Denver, Los Angeles, Auckland NZ.) and then on Military aircraft to Mactown (McMurdo Station). The itinerary is almost as thick as the USAP Participant's Guide.

I believe it. But then again I don't. It feels like it is going to get surreal after this point. I worked to get here. I will continue to work where (geophysical or otherwise) I need to go. But given a good grounding, I will believe it when get off the plane and see what I expect to see, much like my first (of many) trip to Japan (starting) in 1985.

It happened. I first started talking about this in 1997.

Accomplishment is sweet, but lends itself only to what is yet undone.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Birds at Canary Lake and Cardinal Lake Duluth Georgia

-
Some mornings the birds are so loud it really sets a mood. It is a good mood that should be allowed to saturate. Here is a list of some of the birds I have heard and/or seen between 2014 and 2024. Great Blue Heron Yellow Crowned Night Heron Baltimore Oriole Eastern Bluebird Eastern Screech Owl Veery Red Shouldered Hawk Red Bellied Woodpecker Common Nighthawk Gray Catbird Worm-Eating Warbler Wood Thrush Fish Crow Great Crested Flycatcher Swainson's Thrush American Crow House Finch Belted Kingfisher Carolina Chickadee Pine Warbler House Wren White Throated Sparrow Brown Headed Cowbird Carolina Wren White Breasted Nuthatch Mourning Dove Ruby Throated Hummingbird Eastern Towhee Blue Jay Northern Cardinal Pileated Woodpecker Chickadee Eastern Catbird American Robin Downy Woodpecker Song Sparrow Brown Thrasher Green Heron American Goldfinch Chipping Sparrow Kingfisher Canada Goose Mallard Duck Mocking Bird White Crowned Sparrow Black-hea
Read more

New Job, New Car and Always New Experiences

-
Image
We took the new Tesla Model Y up to Tugaloo State park on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. I bought non-OEM cross bars for the canoe. The install was a bit tricky since the mounting is in exact places under the roof glass. The test was successful since I was driving up to 80 mph with 50 mph winds. No issues whatsoever. I did put a line from the bow down to the truck for some additional piece of mind. We did some canoeing, but not as much as hoped due to strong currents in the Tugaloo river. Cooking and eating out in the woods always makes food taste better.
Read more

New Job Experiences

-
Image
I have almost two weeks at my new job and they are trusting me with some expensive product :-). I got to operate an excavator and a large off-road dump truck. It was a fun bit of training and since I work out of a training center, quite convienient. That is me in the cab.
Read more
-
Image
I went to a party last weekend. It was casual and good. Summer sure is nice around here. It is off to another party today. I took friday off again to try and get stuff done. The bobcat, jeep, and all three chainsaws are fixed. I had a welder come up to the farm and get the fork attachment done for the bobcat. It was expensive, but it is done. It is a critical weld job. His welds are a thing of beauty. The plane was at the party at McKinney field. It is a highly modified Tri-pacer. It is classified as an experimental. I am planning a cross coutry with my mentor Monday night. Greene to Cortland to Norwich to Sidney to Greene. That will be fun.
Read more

The Balkans 2023

-
Image
Dowdell's 2023 Balkan trip Wow! What a trip! 10 New Countries (based on what the US state dept considers countries) Romania Bulgaria Moldova Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo North Macedonia Montenegro Albania Greece 3 Different Alphabets (many different languages, sometimes with multiple alphabets) 10 Currencies 14 Taxi or Uber Rides 3 Rental Cars 15 Border Crossings 9 Flight Segments 4 Bus Trips All that in 14 days. I am only now convinced that we could complete a trip with those stats, because it is over. It was a complex trip. We tried to take a version of this trip in 2020 but were thwarted by Covid. This time we pulled it off. The Balkan peninsula countries are fascinating because of the deep history, unique cultures, but also with current events and intercountry relationships. We learned a lot about the region and relationships with other countries. Since it was such a travel intensive trip we l
Read more