Summer Starting to End on the Farm

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It has been good spending time on the farm. I really had forgotten how quiet and dark it is here. It can actually be a bit unnerving. The leaf doodle bug was put to work in the forest. However, it looks like the car will be going back on the road. We can say it failed field trials,but that would only be partially true. The better utility value at this point is more suited to getting a teenager back and forth from high school. The mycological aspects of the farm did not disappoint. The pics of these shrooms are not photoshopped. The coal stove (very heavy) is loaded on the truck. It will be rebuilt in Georgia if I can save it. Coal stoves are increasingly out of production. When they are gone they are gone. The small wood stove is now in its place. The pic of the red sky in morning was indeed a warning of weather. We had strong storms and tornados in Upstate NY. Although I was travelling much that day in the area, I missed the worst of it.
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I have to figure a better way to upload photos. I have lots already. I have video of me getting off the c-17 and a helo taking off and some other stuff and I have only been here two days. We don't have great bandwidth here so you really need to optimize your use-time (currently 5:51 AM Monday)and plan ahead.

Amazing, they said something about 48 hrs being an introduction period. What an experience. I am trying to settle in with a new optimized routine. !8 weeks left to go. I can make it as well as thrive. It is important.

I went to work for about 4.5 hrs on Sunday (normally our day off) I have a bit of a learning curve with some new equipment. I am working on a lot of different radios including FreeWave frequency hoppers (900 Mhz), Cisco wireless bridges (direct sequence 802.11 2.4 Ghz), Iridium phones, Optaphones, Harris RF stuff, Datron PRC-1099, ICOM & Standard HTs (Marine, Aero and Mobile), Motorola GM 300s and a bunch of other stuff. There are 8 VHF/UHF networks out of McMurdo. All of which have a repeater system of some sort usually a mix of VHF and UHF. Things are pretty well documented and standardized. My job is to get these systems working for the summer season after being mothballed for the winter. So that means a lot of site visits. The photos of these sites are absolutely incredible. There are 2 other people doing my job and it appears one of the hobbies is to retreive unusual rocks (If there are any, this place is 98% ice) from these extraordinary locations atop mountains and field camps. In addition to setup and teardown for the season, I have to fix whatever, whenever it breaks.

Overall it is a really strange experience being here. The rocks on the ground, the weather, we might as well be on another planet. And this is the one of the milder places to be! Last night at dinner we had a loud discussion regarding an ethical dilemma that if we lost our supply lifeline, would you kill a human to survive. It didn't seem as hypothetical as these discussions usually are.

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Anonymous said…
Charles
You've made it! :) Thank you for posting this for us to read. It's amazing and educational experience for us back at home.
4:35 PM
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