Back on the farm in Summer

-
Image
I trailered a towable man lift (bucket lift) from Georgia to New York. The thing that made it eventful is that I had to drive my truck. My 2017 Chevy 3500 HD service truck (with only 31k miles) is not my Tesla. I have grown very accustomed to the Tesla self-driving, navigation and general hi-tech luxury. The truck, although I am very fond of my truck, is stressful and expensive to drive compared to the Tesla. Being on the farm alone has been an eye opener. I had forgotten how quiet and in-nature this place is. Very occasionaly a car or plane comes by and disrupts the void, but only occasionally. It has been very reflective. It is the first time I have been up here from Georgia without a specific date I must be back for... or so it seems. "All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone."-- Blaise Pasacal mid 1600s. I guess I am working on humanity's problems. It can take a lot out of you. I feel good about some of the pics I ha...
Post a Comment
-

I got the word this morning. My tickets are purchased. I leave for Antarctica on October 7th. My Ice flight (Christchurch to McMurdo, Ross Island Antarctica) is planned for October 13th.

I have a couple of days in Denver.

Ready or not I am hitting the road. I am mostly ready. Am I ready for not seeing the night sky for 4 months? Am I ready for uncertainty in polar weather? Am I ready to meet a whole bunch of new folks? Am I ready to be flying around in Antarctica via Helicopters and ski planes to science camps and remote radio sites? Am I ready for Antarctica?

More importantly is Antarctica ready for me? I like some advice I think about in times like this.

“Act boldly and unseen forces will come to your aid.”

“Audacity, audacity.... always audacity.” Frederick the Great

I truly expect the experience to be a positive one. It is my version of a 21st century Vision Quest. I expect to make new friends.

What does one wear to Antarctica? I mean besides something warm. I will be posting photos again soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Southern Africa!

-
Image
I was successful getting to all 8 countries I planned. South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, and Namibia. The trip was 14 days with 13 flight segments. The shortest flight was 15 minutes in an ultralight and the longest flight 16+ hours. I rented a 4x4 in Lesotho and another in Namibia. Among many other things in my travels, I walked across the Victoria Falls bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe and took an ultralight aircraft ride over the same bridge and falls. Namib Desert from the air. Look for my 4x4. Skeleton Coast Heart of Namid desert near uranium mine Maputo, Mozambique-- City Hall and Samora Machel statue Maseru, Lesotho-- I was delayed at the airport leaving Lethoto by about three hours. I had to find a nother hotel in Namibia since I wasn't going to drive after dark. The delay was caused by the Airport being shut down because of an expired battery in the airport fire truck. We had to wait to get a n...
Read more

Back on the farm in Summer

-
Image
I trailered a towable man lift (bucket lift) from Georgia to New York. The thing that made it eventful is that I had to drive my truck. My 2017 Chevy 3500 HD service truck (with only 31k miles) is not my Tesla. I have grown very accustomed to the Tesla self-driving, navigation and general hi-tech luxury. The truck, although I am very fond of my truck, is stressful and expensive to drive compared to the Tesla. Being on the farm alone has been an eye opener. I had forgotten how quiet and in-nature this place is. Very occasionaly a car or plane comes by and disrupts the void, but only occasionally. It has been very reflective. It is the first time I have been up here from Georgia without a specific date I must be back for... or so it seems. "All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone."-- Blaise Pasacal mid 1600s. I guess I am working on humanity's problems. It can take a lot out of you. I feel good about some of the pics I ha...
Read more
-
I have been back over a week now. Upstate NY does look and feel a lot like Antarctica. It has been around zero with considerable snow just to the North. However, it is more humid and higher pressure density than in Antarctica that is for sure. Now that I am home I can upload some video. I have uploaded my McMurdo Film Festival submission "Pilgramage". You can download it here. It is 35 MB. It will take quite a while to download. I suggest using right-click "Save file As.. " option to make it convienient. I have lots more video. I will post it to You tube in the near future. You may want to do a search on www.YouTube.com for "Antarctica" You will see Anthony Powell's time lapse, very nice. He is the Winter Black Island comms tech.
Read more
-
Image
I twisted my ankle Saturday. I am OK, but I will be taking it easy for a few days I am sure. The culture here is somewhat refreshing. People are polite and friendly and when you are driving around they wave to you. People who don't want to be here are not here. Living in close quarters with something and having much in common (being in Antarctica) allows people to connect better it seems. The bird is a Skua. http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/wildlife/birds/skuas.shtml They can get very aggresive. They will see you carrying food and then attack you. They are a good sign of summer and they are very skilled at getting their way with humans. The other picture was taken at about midnight. That is about as low as the sun gets. It is so weird. We still call it nighttime. I understand what folks say about short term memory loss on the ice. It definately seems to have affected me. We carry small green memo books which we call green brains.
Read more

Winter in Georgia

-
Image
We had some snow. It wasn't as bad as Florida or the Gulf coast. It is still a novelty when we get snow that lasts for a couple of days or more. I have absolutely no issue driving in it having spent most my life in Upstate NY, but the other drivers are another story. We are prepared here not to have to go out anyhow. I took a couple of pics of where the milk and bread was supposed to be in the grocery store before the storm hit. Just a toilet. However, it is the first one I have put in that works lower that the sewer line. It pumps up. Works good. It was a long time coming with all the other projects I have in flight.
Read more