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 am getting used to the physio-altitude here. Avoiding coffee and alcohol really makes a difference when your body is trying to create more of the good stuff that moves oxygen from your lungs to your body. I walked around a bit last night but I also had to work. I am on call 24/7 here and I am responsible for all the radios systems, analog and digital telephone systems, air-nav equipment. I am also the guy who works on the web cams including the one that appears on the USAP website. Yesterday I had to splice a recently un-buried telephone cable, reset the the TACAN (air-nav beacon) and get one of the channels of the trunked UHF radio system working. I am also trying to clean up the shop and get some of the lower priority work done too.

The picture shows me at the entrance of the dome. Originally it was build at ground (ice) level but the polar plateau slowly (but surely) engulfs everything with the unrelenting cover of snow, which turns hard enough to use an excavator to dig things out. The other picture shows the beer can. It is an enclosed open staircase at least 6 stories high. It goes several stories under ground (well snow). There are interconnected tunnels down there over to the dome, a bar (the old gym) and the power plant.

I work on the 1st floor of the new station. I eat and sleep on the second floor.

I am planning to go out to the webcam approximately 55 minutes earlier than this post tomorrow. So that would be noon Wednesday on the east coat of the US. I apoligize if I am not there because I had to do something for work. Somebody take a screen shot for me please.

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