movie

oh my goodness

http://whiteout-movie-trailer.blogspot.com/

of desert air and healing eyes

when i went to utah this year, i noticed a big difference in the air. i knew it was drier, but didn't expect it to bother my eyes so much. i stayed a month just to hang out and see. eventually decided that leading trips in the desert, sleeping in sand, having not enough time to baby my eyes the way they needed, was not a good idea this year.

since i wouldn't be leading trips, i decided to go hang out in california to give eyes a break from the dry air. several hrs into the drive, managed to scratch my cornea "substantially" (as the first dr put it.) fortunately found an optometrist around on memorial day weekend who came in and fixed me up. spent night in a motel and am now testing to see if my eye will be ok to finish the remaining 10 hr drive.

extremely appreciative of drs and nurses at various med/eye clinics here. and very kind, all of them. one nurse walked me out to my car. the first place didn't charge me anything, and the second guy only charged for a standard office visit even though he came in at night.

back in utah...

... for another season

hobo thank you

heading out of town again. about to have a place of my own... sorta. it's my tent. does that classify me as a home owner?

anyway, a big thank you to all who offered me places to stay over past two months. you make my nomadic lifestyle possible. i hope i earned my keep and didn't overstay my welcome. now that the novelty of getting a postcard from the south pole has worn off, i'll have to figure out other ways to make hosting me worthwhile for y'all. special thanks to those who have particularly small apartments, let me pop in unannounced in the middle of the night, took care of me during my weekend of eye recovery, or are storing my remaining stuff.

it was great visiting. maybe i'll do the same urban tour again next year. i'll buy you groceries, cook dinner, take you out, wash dishes, perform pest control, weed your garden, feed your cats, watch your kids, entertain with stupid stories, etc etc.

eyes

gonna do it. get corrective vision laser procedure. not lasik, but prk. means a longer healing time, but hopefully the best way to go for my eyes. yikes. i mean should be all good, but a lil' scary. that's thursday morning. will be laid up for the weekend. but at least no travel for a while so can recoup.

new zealand road trip

driving north out of christchurch, i could have been in northern california... golden hills, vineyards, fog, eucalyptus, pine, cows...if not for the abundance of sheep, the occasional dr. seuss tree, driving on the left with the pacific to my right and the sun in the northern sky.

the dolphin tour was all booked up and it looked like rain plus i thought i felt a cold/flu coming on, so decided to head inland and relax at the hotsprings. lovely except for the bloody sand flies. aggh. five days later and i still look like i have the chicken pox. but at least i have energy again.

i'm now on the west coast of the island chillin at some friends' place. beautiful sunset on the ocean. tomorrow, a day hike at arthur's pass on way back to chch. good ol' en-zed (nz). back to the u.s. in a few days.

40 below

temperature is going down. we're back at -40, which is the magic number...same in C or F

Weather for South Pole Station
The date is 02-03-2009 at 11:57 PM
Temperature -40.0 C -40.0 F
Windchill -53.6 C -64.5 F
Wind 8.0 kts Grid 77
Barometer 690.8 mb (10223 ft)


ps. another 40... water at pole is estimated to cost about $40/gallon to produce. that's $40 every time we flush a toilet. and that's why we are only allowed two 2-minute showers per week...luxury

one more week

i'm scheduled to leave the pole feb 6, weather permitting. then a couple weeks in nz before returning stateside.

south pole tourism

Here's how this summer’s tourism compared to last year:

Total number of NGA tourists, guides, and staff to South Pole:
2007-08 180
2008-09 269

Number of NGA person-hours spent on station:
2007-08 700
2008-09 1800

Total number of tours given:
2007-08 18
2007-08 36

jan 20, 2009