Back to the "Deep South" in Duluth GA

-
Image
I get a kick out of hearing the term "Deep South" in 2026. It is a crazy incredibly outdated label. I think maybe I should start saying the "Deep Northeast". I am a Yankee. My family came over on the Mayflower and moved to Upstate NY via Connecticut. Terms used in the revolutionary and Civil war days are generally inappropriate. My family is all but totally out of NY State now. I find the term "deep south" to be of the same thinking that the movie "Heidi" is what contemporary Europe is like. Watching the fireworks in Rochester, NY from the back yard of a house in the city made it look like a real war zone. It is a long drive between Berkshire, NY and Duluth, GA. Most of the 35K miles on the truck were spent in between. I drove the truck about 3k miles in 2-1/2 weeks. It was great to spend time on the farm. It was good to make some progress on needed repairs and improvements. I also felt good about making some new friends up there. I will be...
Post a Comment
-

Today is Sunday. The day off for most people. I am working between 65 and 70 hrs a week. I don't have to worry about what is for dinner. I don't have to commute to work except out to the field. It is a managable lifestyle. You give up freedoms and privacy to be in the program. You gain insight, expererience and a whole lot more. Everyone here is a character. It is not uncommon to be having a dinner conversation with someone who is working as a General Assistant (GA) who has advanced degrees or has sailed around the world or both and more. Tales of ship wrecks, travel in Mongolia and life in remote Montana or Romania is all pretty much normal.

Today I donated my Grandfather's book to the McMurdo Library. It is a translation of Immanual Kant's "Anthopology from a Pragmatic Point of View" from the 1700's. As far as I know it is the only translation. It is a mix of personality profile, pyschology and philosophy from the author who brought you "Critique of Pure Reason" and "The Categorical Imperative", or as I might call it "Pitfalls of the Golden Rule".

The library is very eclectic as you might imagine. The book will be safe here and I am sure someone will find it insightful.

Good Quote: "He who is anxiously concerned over losing his life will never enjoy life"---Kant

I find that to be a good notion when you are leaning over the lip of a mountain top in Antarctica working on radio equipment. I am very careful. I am not very anxious. That only detracts the brain from the work at hand and being careful.

I noticed yesterday my flight weight is 33 pounds greater than my body weight. I am wearing 33 pounds of clothes out in the field.

The pictures are of the very crowded ramp on the Pegasus Ice Runway as I flew over in the A Star Helicopter and some Emperor Penguins shot by some other folk on station.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Solon NY Water Mill

-
Image
I went and looked at the Solon Pond Mill. I was mistaken last time when I was up there in 2000. It was Summer and everything was overgrown. The mill is about an 1/8 mile from the building I thought might have been the mill. The mill is in rough shape. But everything is still there. I couldn't get underneath to see if the turbine was in good shape. I had heard that it was buried in muck. I suspect it is there, but probably in rough shape as well. It is a combination grist and saw mill, and could be restored to do exactly that. I am going to pass. I was thinking it would make a great homesite however. There is 3.9 acres (a lot for a mill) and you could build a nice house that looked period and work on getting an awesome water powered workshop out back. There is a planner, and it looks like a jig saw and I bet a few other pieces of woodworking equipment in there. All the shafting looks good. It is fun to think about the coolness of starting with logs and making furniture all out in th...
Read more
-
Image
Douglas and his family stayed with me in Duluth last night. I went to a funeral today for a church friend. Dennis always wore Hawaiian Style shirts, so many of us wore Hawaiian shirts with black arm bands. It was good. http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2014/feb/19/dennis-marks/ Pic from last week.
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

CAT D6 started after 30 years of Sitting!

-
Image
Well the big fun this weekend was that we got the CAT D6 Dozer running! After 30 years of not being run it now runs. When the diesel finally kicked it did not disappoint in the slightest. The thing belched a big black cloud of black smoke and the cooling fan emptied the radiator of 30 years worth of bugs parts and mouse nests all over us. The neighbor came over pretty much in disbelief. In thinking about it, he had only ever lived across the street, it appears, and he was maybe 40 years old. That machine had been a familiar static fixture for almost his whole life. Something simple like getting that big old engine running is truly a lot of fun and was satisfying. I don't have a video of the engine rebirth. It took more hands than two people have to work the controls required to get the thing started. Now it is a bit more work to get it to move. It appears the brakes and possibly other parts are stuck.
Read more
-
Image
Life in Northern Atlanta. If you substitute the car for a small airplane in this pic it would hit the national news. I am glad I am flying to stay away from wrecks like this one. Aviation is so much safer. I did a nice emergency engine out (simulation) the other day (required). I picked a great spot. My flight instructor had a good laugh when I told him the engine out field strongly reminded me of landing in Greene NY. I wish I had a pic, but I was busy. Clear the trees, towers, hills, and wires and you have it made. I won't trade any of my sweaty palms (anywhere) for anything.
Read more