A Hole In The Ice: A Guide To Staying Happy

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
"I don't much care where -"
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland 

I'm gonna go ahead and stress this now so I don't have to do it later. The only way to stay happy and jolly at work is to stay busy and stay interested. It doesn't really matter how you reach these parameters but you can tell who isn't meeting them. Those people have no fuses and get mad about EVERYTHING. They can't take a joke, they don't smile, and they do weird things like smuggle WAY too many cookies out on cookie day or get super pissy when you sit at "their table" despite the fact that we have over 30 different tables in the dining room.

There is an unspoken expectation that everyone must take care of themselves (and those around them to a certain extent). There's countless opportunities to get involved in the community such as yoga class, knitting circles, movie nights, open mic night, and everyone's standby: drinking at the bar. And if group activities aren't your thing you can always go hiking, running, skiing, watch movies by yourself, read, paint, or the old standby (which isn't encouraged whatsoever): drinking alone. But sometimes people get so caught up in work that they need a little help from management to make them remember why they are where they are and to get the appreciation they need/deserve. This is where Boondoggles come into play.

Boondoggle: Make A Happy Smile!
I have no idea where they got this word or what it means but I'd like to think it's Russian for, "Quit being bitchy and get back to work." In reality it's a working morale trip where they take you out of work for the day and let you do something fun but pay you anyway. Pretty sweet deal for sure. There's a few different items of interest involved with Boondoggles, all of which are pretty exciting. There's Happy Camper which is Antarctic wilderness survival training, Room With A View which involves taking a snow mobile group out to the volcano Mount Erebus, and there's a handful of others. The first one I got to go on was Dive Tending.

Communication in McMurdo works in odd ways, being that despite the fact that it only takes 5 minutes to get ANYWHERE on station we still rely on email for most information exchanges. I'd like to think its because no one can remember anything for any amount of time because there is amnesia inducing drugs introduced to the powdered milk we consume but it's probably because email can't be argued with or something lame. Well the urgency of the email can be seen with what statement someone uses when they tell you they've sent you something. "Have you checked your email today?" Means it's something that can wait. "When was the last time you've checked your email?" Is more time sensitive and should be checked within the hour. "What are you doing? Can it wait until you check your email?" Means, "Go check that shit right now!"

I got all of these one day from my supervisor. I didn't know the different meanings of these things at this point so I kept putting it off. It was kind of cool that I did so I wouldn't be thinking about it all day because it was to tell me I was going Dive Tending the next morning! Hurray! It was an official email detailing my day of what I would be doing, where and when it would happen and all other bits of information needed for this day to be awesome.

I woke up, dressed warm and headed to the Diving Shack to meet the dudes I'd be kicking it with for the day. My supervisor made it very clear that I shouldn't show up late because the guys are very punctual and wouldn't accept tardiness. I will admit, I got a little confused as to where this building was so I showed up a little late but she was over-exaggerating entirely (I'm calling you out Jess Palen). I showed up about 7 minutes late, short of breath, fully geared, and over-apologetic. The three guys gave me that look you give new people who are freaking out and said, "It's cool, we actually are just getting geared up. You can toss your stuff over there, it might be a while." We probably sat around for another 20 minutes talking while they put on their wet suits and whatnots.

There was Andrew, Rory, and Rob who were taking me out to the sea ice to do a little underwater frolicking. All three guys were incredibly nice and very talkative. We all got along immediately and had a good time cracking jokes and asking questions to get to know one another. It's always surprising when you meet scientists because they have such a reputation surrounding them even though there are many different kinds of science. People often forget that scientists are regular people with a title and thorough education on a precise subject. These guys were cool.

I stole this photo from the internet because it's way better.

Once the crew was stocked and ready to go, we jumped into a Pisten Bully and started down the icy road. We drove straight out onto the ice at a roaring 8 mph so it took a little while but once we got there it was quite a sight. There was a little shack that had been thrown out onto the ice where we were expected to conduct SCIENCE! The shack was about 10X15 feet and had a sturdy door, which was good because the winds were kickin'. Inside, there was a small stove, a floor made of ice, and a hole that may have been 5 feet in diameter but about 12 feet deep (roughly). The guys and I loaded in the equipment and they told me about the arduous task of dropping their rope ladder into the water once they were in and periodically scooping ice from the top of the water so it won't freeze over. I helped them get their gear on and secured their gaskets and whatnot and they all sat, flippers towards the water.

They dropped in one at a time and left me for about 30 minutes to do whatever so I took some photos and a couple videos and felt how cold the water was. At a random moment one of the guys popped out of the water and began talking about what was down there. Apparently it typically incredibly beautiful everywhere under the ice EXCEPT for the one spot where we were. The coolest thing they had photographed was a sea cucumber and extracted some sort of crustacean. After reloading the equipment we went back to McMurdo Station and the adventure ended where it began but with high spirits and a few new friends.