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(Heh, a taste of fooBBQ.) Thank you for sharing. While we're here and discussing the documentaries: care to share a highlight anecdote of your time there?

by dpflan 4y ago

foobarbecue 4y ago
Oh man, so many stories. Well, here's a fun one. There's unfortunately a big divide between the contractor-employed support staff and the "beakers" (scientists like me) and I would try and break through the barrier sometimes. Had a brief romance with someone working in waste management (a "wastie"), so maybe that's how it started. But anyway, one day I was sitting in the McMurdo cafeteria at a table with people from Fuels ("fuelies") and people from Communications ("commies" ... yeah) someone asked me what I do and I said "I work up on Erebus." A fuelie looks daggers at me and goes "Oh yeah!? Well I work on the FUCKING MOON!" and storms off. There were a lot of people at McMurdo for whom Antarctica wasn't quite the adventure they'd hoped it would be.
foobarbecue 4y ago
Oh ok one more story. There is a road connecting McMurdo (US) and Scott Base (New Zealand). I think it's only a few miles. So I'm sitting in the McMurdo driving training you have to take before you're allowed to take a truck out. Get to the end of the lecture. Instructor: "Any questions?" I ask, "yeah... so, New Zealanders drive on the left, and we drive on the right, right? Which side do we drive on if we go to Scott Base?" Instructor, looking totally bored and serious: "Drive in the middle." To this day I don't know if he was kidding.
- wkat4242 4y ago
  So where did you drive? I suppose encountering another vehicle was extremely unlikely. I'm surprised they had a training for this. Is it more of a legal thing? Ps thanks for the insightful stories!
  - foobarbecue 4y ago
    Some of it was legal ass-covering but also rules about vehicle heaters, wheel chocks, radios, fueling, checking out and in etc. I only walked to Scott, never ended up driving. Drove to building 71 a lot to install and service radios taking to my equipment on Erebus, and to and from the helipad. Oh yeah and some of the trucks have treads instead of wheels (matttracks) so those take some learning.

(Heh, a taste of fooBBQ.) Thank you for sharing. While we're here and discussing the documentaries: care to share a highlight anecdote of your time there?

by dpflan 4y ago

(Heh, a taste of fooBBQ.) Thank you for sharing. While we're here and discussing the documentaries: care to share a highlight anecdote of your time there?

foobarbecue 4y ago

Oh man, so many stories. Well, here's a fun one. There's unfortunately a big divide between the contractor-employed support staff and the "beakers" (scientists like me) and I would try and break through the barrier sometimes. Had a brief romance with someone working in waste management (a "wastie"), so maybe that's how it started. But anyway, one day I was sitting in the McMurdo cafeteria at a table with people from Fuels ("fuelies") and people from Communications ("commies" ... yeah) someone asked me what I do and I said "I work up on Erebus." A fuelie looks daggers at me and goes "Oh yeah!? Well I work on the FUCKING MOON!" and storms off. There were a lot of people at McMurdo for whom Antarctica wasn't quite the adventure they'd hoped it would be.

foobarbecue 4y ago

Oh ok one more story. There is a road connecting McMurdo (US) and Scott Base (New Zealand). I think it's only a few miles. So I'm sitting in the McMurdo driving training you have to take before you're allowed to take a truck out. Get to the end of the lecture. Instructor: "Any questions?" I ask, "yeah... so, New Zealanders drive on the left, and we drive on the right, right? Which side do we drive on if we go to Scott Base?" Instructor, looking totally bored and serious: "Drive in the middle." To this day I don't know if he was kidding.

wkat4242 4y ago
So where did you drive? I suppose encountering another vehicle was extremely unlikely. I'm surprised they had a training for this. Is it more of a legal thing? Ps thanks for the insightful stories!
- foobarbecue 4y ago
  Some of it was legal ass-covering but also rules about vehicle heaters, wheel chocks, radios, fueling, checking out and in etc. I only walked to Scott, never ended up driving. Drove to building 71 a lot to install and service radios taking to my equipment on Erebus, and to and from the helipad. Oh yeah and some of the trucks have treads instead of wheels (matttracks) so those take some learning.