It struck me the other day (mired deep in an existential funk, sulking about mortality and life choices) as I packed my duffle bags for yet another relocation, that being homeless by choice rather than by circumstance is actually a bit of a luxury. Especially in the pandemic era we are living through with its … Continue reading compulsive vagrant…
Category: Lost in Antarctica
Porridge …
Welcome back to reality, motherf@cker! It's expensive! (Warning - the following contains a LOT of 'I" statements cos I'm too lazy to write properly at the moment and my thoughts are still a bit wobbly from what I'm hoping is T3 and not early onset dementia.) Yes I'm home, or at least closer to home … Continue reading Porridge …
gone baby, gone…
So it's 'Take 3' tomorrow morning for myself and the Scott Base crew's 9am C17 flight to Antarctica, courtesy of the good ole USAF. We were supposed to leave Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday...weather delays are part of the fun (unfortunately). Disinfected buses collect us from our managed isolation facility at 6m and will shuttle … Continue reading gone baby, gone…
exodus…
After 5 months of stress, anxiety and dislocation with uncertainty and isolation my bedfellows every sleepless night since March, I'm finally on my way out of the dumpster fire that is Australia 2020. Unfortunately not on a ship (so the Exodus analogy ends here) but rather a grumpy and sour Qantas flight to Sydney and … Continue reading exodus…
long stare…
It's actually a thing; Polar T3 Syndrome - usually attributed to a lack of a specific hormone that's repurposed in the body- diverted from the brain to the body as a response to the cold and darkness of an Antarctic winter. The less obvious symptoms are forgetfulness, poor concentration, grumpiness, depression/ anxiety and a few … Continue reading long stare…
November?
Well dang it all to Hell. I'd just finished tappity-bloody tapping this post out on my widdley piddly iPhone screen - my cramped and decidedly not touchscreen friendly fingers frantically tapping out my innermost thoughts and secret desires (tucked safely in my room having a slight sulk and feeling sorry for myself) when the WordPress … Continue reading November?
Round three…
Well this is a very different Antarctic experience for me... Since we last caught up, there have been a few slight changes and course corrections life wise, but after almost 5 weeks training in Christchurch and a whirlwind tour of New Zealand in that time I've finally arrived this week at New Zealand's Research Station … Continue reading Round three…
Correction…
Well dang! Turns out I won the New Zealand Antarctica tech job but didn't get a place on the boat for the Australian Antarctic Division this season. So no Davis Station for a third season in a row or last voyage on the Aurora Australis before she retires. What happened? So much for my plans. … Continue reading Correction…
F* that!
Now where were we up to... Hmm... Oh yeah, I remember : Hobart, working a normal 9-5 IT Service Desk job as an experiment to see if I can become a mindless worker drone again. As an experiment, it was a complete success. Mission accomplished. The conclusion? A solid 'Nup'. Now don't get me wrong … Continue reading F* that!
so hot right now…
36C (96.8F)... Ya know I gotta say it. It's so bloody hot today. 39.1C in Hobart last Friday was bearable - a sleepy city by the ocean, cooled by the sea breezes (even it it was a chokingly hazy breeze, thick with the smoke of countless wildfires burning Tasmanias forested areas to the bare earth). … Continue reading so hot right now…