Happy Valentines day

So, I know I have a ton of female readers on this blog. And I was thinking how could I make them all feel special? It then came to me, that I should give them all shout outs in this entry. So shout out to all the ladies...this one is for you...

And to start this entry off shout out's, Shout Out to the women in my family: my Mom and my awesome sister Katie, Happy Valentines day!


Things down here are slowing down. There have been several C-17 flights this week, and the exodus from the Pole/McMurdo has been going quite well. The Pole Station is closing down this weekend, and moving down to the "Winter" population of 45 people. Pretty crazy, huh? When leaving the pole, the "pole-ies" are being flown by LC-130 to Pegasus and walking straight up to the C-17 and leave for New Zealand. So it is roughly a 9 hour flight all and all. There is a reason why the Pole people are getting on the C-17 right away...I guess this cuts down on the shenanigans that the "pole-ies" love to cause when they used to spend the 1 night here in McMurdo. And let me tell you, when they do their "R+R" time here, it does get pretty crazy...like crazy shenanigans!

Shout out to all the shenanigans ladies....(Allie, Lydia, Aliya, Stephanie Williams,...And all the Katies I know; Katie P, Katie from Sherborn, and the other Katie P, and Kaity R.) Yea, I know, Way to many Katies for real!

We have a new chief down here, which is really exciting. He just came all the way from one of the US Air Force Bases in Japan. He has had several years of ARFF experience, which is a plus for this department. Hopefully he can make some changes here. He is right now going through the ranks and getting a face to face with all the firefighters here. I feel bad for him, he was hired so late in the season that really all he gets to see is the wrap up and then he leaves. But, He will be back next summer season. Hopefully he will fight a little bit more for this program and the Department.

The skua's down here are becoming more aggressive. Now they stalk people who don't even have food. They attacked a guy carrying beer and also stalked one other townspeople for I'd say 50 feet. He was just walking behind the guy and would walk ahead of him and just look at the poor man. I guess they know that soon, we all will be leaving soon and only the 130 winter people will be left. Since it will be so cold, most people won't be bringing food outside on trays anymore. As you can see in these photos, these guys are no joke. This skua almost flew into our station, then just sat up there watching me for several hours. He even flowed a couple of us to that building also in the picture, which is the bathroom..no food in there buddy.

So yea, this is a quick entry. I can hardly wait to see all of you when I get home. Shout out to Nicole and Jessica Bedford...I'll see you all wicked soon. Jessica gets a double shout out because A) She is awesome, and B) I'm missing her wedding by taking the job down here....my bad. So Jess gets the only double shout out award in the history of this blog...so special, right?

Have a very Happy Valentines day.

And if I missed anyone, I'm wicked sorry.

Oh and if you are bored this Valentines day, I suggest that you read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine's_Day_massacre

Knowledge!