TIGER in Antarctica, November 30, 2003

An Unplanned Day Off

Friday and Saturday at the Willy Weatherport are spent testing the efficiency and compatibility of the telemetry system, the radio system that sends our data down to the ground. We need to make sure that TIGER and Anita (which uses the TIGER telemetry system) work together properly. This is a fairly tedious processes testing the equipment under a variety of different conditions.

Saturday evening is the Thanksgiving dinner in town. Here are the TIGER and Anita teams at dinner. From left to right going around the tables are David Saltzberg - Anita Co-I, Kurt Liewer - Anita, Shigenobu Matsuno - Anita, Paul Dowkontt - TIGER EE, Bob Binns - TIGER Principal Investigator, me, Lauren Scott - TIGER grad student, Jason Link - Anita Post-Doc (and former TIGER grad student), Marc Rosen - Anita Mechanical Engineer, and Peter Gorham - Anita Principal Investigator. Dinner was good, but not as good as the Thursday lunch at Willy Field.

The TIGER and Anita team at Thanksgiving Dinner

We planned on taking an easy day today (Sunday). I was going to be the only TIGER person going out to Willy Field this morning. Anita want's to pick up the TIGER gondola so they can positioned on the bottom. The hoisting will be done by the NSBF riggers. TIGER can't be running during this time, but we want someone there watching, and since I'm up early in the morning anyway, I'm elected. But when I wake up this morning there is 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. Bob, the NSBF weatherman who gives us a daily briefing didn't say a word about snow yesterday. He gets ragged on pretty heavily at breakfast.

The road to Willy is in pretty bad shape from blowing snow, and because most people in McMurdo have today off, it is tough to get a vehicle capable of getting to the airfield. So we decide to take the day off.

Snow Covers McMurdo

I actually get to do the McMurdo Sunday Brunch, which is one of the nicest meals here. I've got a series of pictures that can give you an idea of the selection. Most meals are not this well set up, however, and when the planes are not arriving from Christchurch, the pickings can get pretty slim.

This first picture shows the main food trays. You can see Eggs Florentine, Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables, Roasted Potatoes, Bacon, and French Toast.

McMurdo Sunday Brunch

This food station is open for most breakfasts, and I frequently go here. They'll make fresh omelets or fried eggs while you wait. A bacon, mushroom, and cheese omelet is my regular. The person in the purple hat at left is Bob the weatherman. He's running about zero for seven at the moment.
Breakfast Omelet Station

This is the waffle station, which is only open for Sunday Brunch. At the left are a series of waffle makers, and they've got an assortment of fruit and whipped cream toppings. These are always great, but the line can get really long.

Waffles at Sunday Brunch

Here are fresh pastries and bagels. The big slab of smoked salmon only appears for Sunday brunch, but the muffins, scones, etc. are available most mornings. On the right is a tray of fresh melon slices. Whenever planes come in from New Zealand, they make a real effort to bring in "Freshies", fresh fruit and vegetables. People snarf up the freshies, because if a storm sets in, you might not see anything fresh for weeks.
Bagel and Pastry Station