Monday, February 20, 2006

Sneak Previews! - Final Antarctic Posts.

So there's no good excuse for 1.5 months with no updates. I suppose I could blame it on a combination of things... slow connection speed, preoccupation on the ICE, 60hr work weeks, too many interesting people to spend my limited time with... but, those are all pretty weak excuses. I suppose, ultimately, I'd planned on plugging in my laptop when I reached New Zealand and throwing up a bunch of posts. Well... that won't be happening either. I just learned my little laptop is a little under the weather - spyware (I think) or a virus (God, I hope not) somehow climbed into my system. Either way, I'll have to wait until I return to Seattle before I can fix whatever ails my computer. Until then, the following posts, and the pictures that go along with them, will lie dormant on the C:drive...

NYC010105: Remembering the best New Year's Eve... Cooler Than He Knows Brother & Me unleashed on NYC.

Galley Runners: My DA Homeboys (Ed & Gavin) run the Antarctic Marathon. Ed's first... how cool is that?

ICE Rugby: McMurdo Station (USA) vs. Scott Base (New Zealand). A showdown that might make it into the Guinness Book for the "Southern Most International Rugby Match". My first rugby match, and I'm hooked. NZ wins 5-0... the closest match ever!

Outdoor Work Detail: Remember when Morgan Freeman, in The Shawshank Redemption, states "And wouldn't you know it? Me and some boys I know were amongst the names called... And May is one fine month to work outdoors." He's talking of the "special work detail," when the prisoners get to tar the roof of a new building. Morgan continues... "We could've been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the lords of all creation." Well, for 2 weeks in January, me and another DA were picked to work outside for the FEMC (Facilities Engineering Maintenance Construction) department. Back breaking labor - spades, pick-axes, and rock-bars in hand, we chopped, smashed, and shoveled frozen rock & earth for 10hrs a day. Our hands and backs ached... but January was one fine moth to work outdoors, and I couldn't help but think of Morgan Freeman's words.

Fresh Perspectives From Castle Rock: Hiking with a new friend from Montana. Remembering without photos. Tandem sledding on Big Red. SE Asia - stop the dreaming and commit... in 3 days!

Ship Offload: The annual arrival of ice breakers, the cargo vessel, and fuel tanker. What an ordeal.

Castle Rock Camping: Having made it through the entire season without participating in the Snow Camping Course ("Happy Camper"), I decided to have my own rogue camping trip. I sneak out of town at 10PM, set up my tent at the base of Castle Rock, make some hot chocolate, and enjoy an evening of solitude outdoors.

So, I'm going off of memory here... the actual posts, already written on my laptop, promise to be far more interesting... check back in June!

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