Hello All!
It's day 2 of fog over McMurdo Station...far thicker today with no sign of lifting. This caused the cancelation of flights from Christchurch New Zealand for the 3rd day in a row! Thanksgiving could be a bit lean if this continues! (Beanie Wennies for Thanksgiving dinner.....)
Speaking of which, Thanksgiving is celebrated here on Saturday, rather than Thursday, as it gives working folks here a 2 day weekend. This station runs on a 6-day week. Typically, Thanksgiving is one of the best meals here all year at the galley. However, weather may has a say in that.
In working down here, there's a bit of new terminology and dialect used. Here's a few examples of terms used here that aren't used in many other places:
herbie - a big storm, typically from the south - in "herbie alley"
the ice - a reference to Antarctica
cheech - a reference to Christchurch, New Zealand
crud - a cold or virus that gets spread around and around down this way.
skua'd - any article or item that has been left behind by someone that is passed on to the next person or group and reused. All kinds of these things can be found at skua central. Skuas are the Antarctic version of the Sea Gull - they are scavengers.
bag drag - "dragging your bags/luggage" to the "Movement Control Center or
MCC where your check bags for a flight out of town are taken.bunny boots - a white rubber boot that is a part of the Extreme Cold Weather gear. They make you look like a big bunny with big white feet.
weather guesser - the local name for meteorologists here! :-)
beaker - the local name here for the scientists
Well, that is the scoop from here.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Matthew