Goin' South

[ 100 word summary: I’m leaving on October 5th to work a contract IT technician job in Antarctica at McMurdo Station. The job has some peculiar challenges and I've been trying to get it for a long time. I am pleased. The contract will complete at the end of February and I should be back Stateside in April. I won’t have social media or calling capability, but I will have a blog; you should look at it. You will miss me but will get over it quickly. My contact information is at the end of this post. Thanks for everything and bye for now! ]

Recently I was disassembling a rickety bookshelf (not pictured) in my shabby living room. On a bottom shelf, next to a stack of decade-old Wired magazines (‘News Corp. & the Future of MYSPACE’) and Beer Advocate monthlies (‘Wheatwine: Meet Barleywine’s Seductive Cousin’) I found a misplaced 3 ring binder. On the outside sleeve was a full color printout of Antarctica and on the inside was a multipage Raytheon job posting for the IT Technician position for the Summer 2006 season. I'm quite sure I used the color laser copier at my part time IT job to print it all off. Sorry, Terry!

Here is a relevant selection from my OkCupid profile* frozen in let's say amber since ‘bout 2011.
- blim blem blurb - “I spend a lot of time thinking about: Antarctica. I've a growing obsession with it.”

Over a decade and six job applications later, my life has caught up with my mating website dream. After an uncomfortably involved process that began when I applied for the job in February, through the most nerve wracking phone interview of my life, background checks, drug n blood tests, an EKG, dental x-rays, ear, nose, throat and junk exams, I have both a job offer, medical clearance and plane tickets to fly to the Ice.

Where will I go? What will I do? I am SO glad you asked. I’m headed to McMurdo Station, the largest Antarctic research station, located on an island in the Ross Sea. McMurdo is the logistics hub of the US Antarctic program and supports around 1,200 summer residents. I'll be working as an ‘IT Technician’ 9 hours a ‘day’ and 6 ‘days’ a week. ‘Day’ I put in ‘air quotes’ because it will be light the entire time I’m there due to the continent having one day and one night a year. Practically, this job means sitting indoors looking at screens a lot, solving computer and network problems for the beakers and other support staff while getting fat on whale blubber coffee and gull-on-a-stick.

When I’m not working, I may be at one of the two bars, the single coffee house or the legendary ‘Gerbil Gym’. Morale-sustaining activities include karaoke, pizza, board games, mumblety-peg, foreign language courses, science lectures, laughing until the tears freeze to my face, the other thing and baby seal yoga.


Downsides: As mentioned, I'll be working 54 hours / 6 days a week with Sundays off. I have accepted this fate. It will also be daylight the entire austral summer that I’m there. I will have more trouble with this. I will miss modern luxuries like The Whig, social media, Bierkeller beer and high speed internet connectivity. I suppose I’ll deal. The food is probably going to be lumpy and industrial and fresh fruits and vegetables are both rare and coveted. This terrifies me. My flight schedule is Columbia - Chicago - Los Angeles - Auckland - Christchurch - McMurdo. I’m not exactly ‘wicked stoked’ as the kids say, about this either.

Upsides: An all-expenses paid trip to Antarctica. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing me say this, but it’s the closest I’ll get to visiting another planet. This delights me. I will have no real expenses, apart from lip balm and postcards. This pleases my creditors. I will have no work commute and indeed won’t be allowed to drive anything for about 5 months. Another win for all involved.
You’re right, this is getting quite long but, much like Robert Falcon Scott, we must press on. Just sit tight and keep reading and it will all be over soon, promise.

[Previous paragraph too morbid? Consider not starting a paragraph with ‘and’ – Ed] And, since I won’t have social media for a while, I have started a trite and unoptimized blog; you can view it here: https://kipplehouse.blogspot.com/ It will be updated on a semi-regular schedule. A juvenile joke about me also being semi-regular soon goes in this space. The blog will be text with the occasional picture that swims back upstream over our 18/9 mbps satellite connection. You can leave me comments and I’ll reply! Isn’t technology swell? Yes. Don’t worry, I will have beaucoup pictures and videos to share upon my return.

I leave on the morning of Saturday, October 5th. Please buy me a beer before then. My contract ends in late February and my current plan is to visit New Zealand for a wild March rumpus – another long-term goal of mine. I should be back Stateside in April question mark period
I will *not* be able to see Facebook past October 9th or so. You can message me, but I won’t read it till sometime in March, so, uh, don’t. Email is best or you can mail me a real paper letter – read on. If you send mail, I’ll reply with a postcard from Antarctica which will win you major Cool Points when your crush sees it attached to your fridge.

It is the most cliche statement imaginable to close with, but here goes: never give up on your dreams. Maybe there is something out there you want. Remember why you wanted it in the first place, make a plan to get there and keep running up that hill. The view from the top will be worth it. Much love to you all. If you’re reading this, I hope we can share a drink in 2020. I wish you a spooky Halloween, a bountiful Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas, a very happy New Year and a singularly exquisite Groundhog Day.

CREDITS & MAILING INFO

I have some essential acknowledgements and thanks to go around, let's start:

Appreciation to my parents, Lee and Susan Adams, without you wouldn’t be ‘enjoying’ this post.

Thanks for your emotional support, help with last minute house mania and your vitamin regimen. I love you. Kudos to my sister, Steph Adams Boehm, for her help around the house and for the Loveland Coffee runs. I’ll say hi to the penguins for you.

Huzzah to Dr. Ginny Fadeley for getting my dental exam knocked out doubleplus fast. You're awesome.

Shout out to my Ischia Krewe for encouraging with me when I was a nervous, Litany Against Fear mumbling wreck before my initial phone interview. Your support meant the bottom of the world.

Props to my chill roommates for magical, mystical unicorn support and for keeping the outpost going while I'm away.

To all my friends, fiends and fronds who have offered and given help, thrown parties, mixed punches or donated their time and energy towards this adventure dream of mine - a very heartfelt and chilly thank you.

You can mail me flat mail (faster) or packages, via Allied Post Office (APO) at any US Post office. Fedex and UPS packages will not get to me. Use the address below. You will have to fill out a customs form and the package may take a month or two or three to arrive. Mail packages before November 1st or I may well miss it. No perishable food, illegal substances, alcohol, fireworks, weapons or biohazards please - we’ll have a party with all of those when I return.

Dan Adams / ASC
PSC 769 Box 700
APO AP 96599-9998

* No one is perfect.