Back to the "Deep South" in Duluth GA

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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 It is a crazy incredibly outdated label.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...
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It is difficult to comprehend that I will be leaving in 5 days. I have three missions to complete and I have to finish up other stuff around here. Folks are starting to say goodbye. We are exchanging personal email addresses and talking more about plans off the ice. A lot of folks travel in the off season. I know people who are going the following places for extended periods of time: New Guinea, Indonesia, Africa, China, Mongolia, Tibet, Cook Islands, South America and others. It all appears to come to an end quite abruptly. I am a little apprehensive about being off the ice with all the traffic, advertisements, chaos and everything. I have not seen or heard a radio or television commercial in 4 months. I have not seen the night sky or the sun or plant life in the same time. It is hard to decide what I need to do before I am suddenly in New Zealand.

I have a feeling that my taxi driver in Christchurch will be an individual named Derrick. It was weird; when I was there 4 months ago it always turned out that he was my driver as I had to shuttle between my hotel and the USAP facility 4 or 5 times. He is a native looking kind of middle aged man with large sideburns, glasses and New Zealand cottny way of speaking. I am concerned about the traffic. I have heard stories of folks getting hit by cars just as they get off the ice, because of disorientation, excitement and cars on the weird side of the road.

I really missed the 24 hour internet access at pole. You get so accustomed to things. Although the connections are slow I can get quick answers to questions.

This picture was at pole. I like it because it is a good ol' Rochester Thermometer.

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