My father served two full tours (ie, he was a "winterer") with ANARE, now called the Australian Antarctic Division. Casey and Davis. He was the communications t

My father served two full tours (ie, he was a "winterer") with ANARE, now called the Australian Antarctic Division. Casey and Davis. He was the communications technician. He loved it. The winterers were carefully chosen to be likely to get along easily, simply because there's not many options if you need to get away. It suited Dad down to the ground -- no need to deal with new people or folk he didn't like. The same small friendly team of people for about 8 months, then a flood of scientists and researchers in summer. I can't say it would suit me. But Dad has always had a knack for doing technical work in remote places. Me? I'll stick to a New York office, thanks. My parents have been helpful in so many ways. Not least of which is that if my own life seems boring, I can just talk about theirs.