100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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I went to medical about my ankle. The flight surgeon was quite helpful and informative. I have a minor/moderate sprain. I don't think I have ever twisted my foot so bad before. It was a good warning for me. It means that although I have been very careful I have not been careful enough. I worked in the shop today hobbling around while everyone was out in the field. My ankle is already a lot better now that I have an ace bandage on it. The startling thing has been that I can't walk as fast. People are passing me, yikes! I should be headed out to the field later this week. It got kind of nasty out there today anyway. It is 7:15 right now and four of my co workers are still on the mountains. The weather has closed in and they can't get them off. They were supposed to be picked up about 4:00. One of them sounded kind of cold up there. Whenever we get dropped off by a helo we get survival bags which includes a tent, sleeping bag, shovel, camp stove and food. I am sure hoping they won't have to be out there too long, breaking into the survival bags. The department has had an excellent history of not having to get into the survival bags. You also don't have to worry about the gloom of night. You just have to worry about the unpredicable nasty-ass weather. Storms can last up to about 3 days. The pilots and everyone else is concerned about your safety, you have had training, you have a radio and folks know where you are. Compared to a couple of people camping or mountain climbing this is much safer and secure. We have infrastructure.

Werner Herzog the director of documentaries like "Grizzly Man" is on the ice and I was supposed to fix him up with some radios today. We also received some Distinguished Visitors (DVs) today for whom we set up some wireless. Senator McCain was down last year. It was also weird getting a phone call from someone out in the field who was having a problem with their HF radio. That is fun work helping someone with an HF radio problem.

This is a picture of McMurdo General Hospital, AKA Medical.

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