Diamox and much much more

So I've been busy wrapping things up here to go to pole. In theory, I'll be South Pole bound by Tuesday this week, or Wednesday. Tomorrow I have to bag drag, which means I bring all my stuff to get weighed. I have to pack all my gear for a one month supply. Due to the size and lack of cargo space on the Bazler, all of my gear can't come with me down to Pole right away. The rest of my cargo will be shipped down where there is space on the LC-130, this could take up to a month. So I've been packing and repacking for the past couple of days. I also got myself a nice prescription to Diamox. I know all you paramedics out there are looking up what drug this is, but I'll save you the time. It is a high altitude med that acts as a diuretic to make room for more red blood cells. I'll be living at roughly 9,000 ft-11,000 ft for the next 3 months. The elevation change is due to barometric pressure. I'll be starting Diamox tomorrow. I hear it makes your beer (any carbonated beverage) taste funny. So I'll let you all know how that goes. The planes thus far to the South Pole have all been delayed by weather. I'm on the 4th flight, but since they haven't had a successful 1st flight...it is really all up in the air when I'll be going.

I've been keeping busy helping train the new guys down here. We have so many recruits it is getting very confusing to get all their names. We also have a ton of double named guys. I think total on this department we have 4 Robs, 3 Scotts, 3 Johns, 3 Christophers. The two kiwi's we have are easy to pick out, they talk funny. Plus, they usually are the most friendly. Besides that nothing major has been happening. I bartended my last shift, since I'm going to Pole. I can't bartend down there; there is no bar at the South Pole. The bar has been removed due to an incident a couple years ago. However, they still do drink down there. The parties I hear are epic, so I have that to look forward to. I also got a package from some of my female co-workers at Action. They sent me a pink picture frame with their photos in it. It has become a major favorite among all of us down here.

So I hate to cut this entry short...but I'm covering dispatch for the next 4 hours. Our overnight dispatcher hasn't been fully trained yet, he just flew down last week. So I have to focus on dispatching rather than blogging. I'll try to update prior to my flight down South. Take Care all.