Upper Peninsula Michigan and Auction Win Outcomes

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I was up in Wisconsin and the UP (upper peninsula) in Michigan. It was a lot of driving after launching/landing in Appleton WI. I got an item off the bucket list by driving across the "Mighty Mac". Altough it was built in the late '50s. It is still the longest suspension span in the Northern hemisphere. It is a crazy long bridge with a crazy long suspension span. It was good to see the bridge in context of the seemingly endless forests of Northern Wisconsin and Michigan. The culture in the two haves of Michigan are noticibly different as you might expect. Great time meeting with folks both in WI and MI. The tractor I won in auction, seems to have paid off. This time I beat the odds. It was a really good deal. I have the "no-key, non-running, may have hydraulic problems, unknown hours" -auction win, running well with minimal cost and time. I have some more tweaks, maintenance and minor fixes but the major risks are gone.
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We had our town Christmas party last night. Interesting finger foods, music and company in the Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF).

I have two days off. I am primarily working on my video for the McMurdo film festival. The criteria is they must be less than 5 minutes, rated PG-13 and must be edited (and primarily filmed) in Antarctica. I also plan on getting up to the ham shack with a spectrum analyzer to track down some interference. The South Pole Station has a brand new ham station. it sounds like they have been getting out to the US occasionally. So I will be using that station the 7 days I am at pole. I will also be publishing a time I will be in front of the webcam when I get there. Somebody will have to take a screen dump of that for me. I won't be hanging around outside for hours I am sure (well maybe). It is about -40 at pole (it is summer after all). It has never been above zero F at pole so the temperature is always refered to at an absolute number..."Today it is 40", which means 40 below zero F.

On the 20th the program had a test/milestone in logistics. We had a Air Force C-17 fly from Christchurch, land in McMurdo for fuel, fly to pole, air drop 70,000 pounds of supplies turn around and fly all the way back to Christchurch. They may have to do this in the winter. They want to be prepared. The following photos show the event. I wish I had seen it in person.

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