Posted in News, Politics on Aug 6th, 2008 1 Comment »
New Zealand is one of those rare countries where home distilling equipment is legal. If one were to find oneself in New Zealand territory with nary a store nearby that sold liquor, one might consider purchasing a still. Accordingly, Big Dead Place has arranged a 10% discount off home distillery equipment for Antarcticans (Scott Base [...]
Posted in Media, News, Popular Antarctica on Jul 22nd, 2008 No Comments »
[from Fox News] Hundreds of Dying Baby Penguins Wash Up on Brazilian Beaches RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Hundreds of baby penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro’s tropical beaches, rescuers and penguin experts said Friday. [...] Every year, Brazil airlifts dozens of penguins [...]
Posted in Denver, News, Politics on Jul 11th, 2008 No Comments »
Frozenfoxtale has on her blog a concise list of some of the budget cuts and profit schemes presently being implemented in The Program: Hard liquor. I’m not sure this is a budget move – I suspect that the sale of hard liquor to employees is usually a profitable venture for USAP. I think it’s that [...]
Posted in Media, News on Jul 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
[from The Chronicle of Higher Education:] Paying more than $4 for a gallon of gas makes a lot of commuters grind their teeth when they fill their tanks. They get little sympathy, however, from Robin Bell, who next winter could be looking at $60 to $130 for each gallon of fuel for her vehicles.
Posted in Grapevine, Historical, News, Politics on Jun 17th, 2008 No Comments »
[from Anonymous wintering at Pole:] The design was made up and drawn by two of our guys. We have 60 winterovers this year, and they were joking about how we should greet the first plane with one person holding an axe and 59 little crosses wedged in the snow. That grew into the pole marker [...]
Posted in Denver, Grapevine, News, Politics on Jun 13th, 2008 No Comments »
mid winter dinner – time off Date Submitted 06/10/2008 Suggestion “I heard the winter-overs are being told to go to work on the day of their Midwinter’s Dinner, and don’t get the day off. Why?” Assignment [RPSC Program Director] Response The Austral Winter Season mid-Winter dinner for this year is scheduled for 21 [...]
Posted in Denver, News, Politics on Jun 11th, 2008 4 Comments »
Midwinter’s Day was first celebrated in 1898 by the crew of the Belgica, which spent the winter trapped in ice below the Antarctic Circle. Modern research stations developed their own traditions. Scientists and support staff at the three stations run by the U.S. National Science Foundation take an extra day off, creating a long weekend. [...]
Posted in Denver, Grapevine, News, Politics on Jun 7th, 2008 No Comments »
not so quiet office space Date Submitted 05/29/2008 Suggestion How can we remind people to not yell over the dividers to talk to someone? Or to not scream a conversation across several cubicals? Or to turn down phone ringers from maximum? And not hold an impromptu meeting just outside someone else’s cubical? In general, I [...]
Posted in Denver, Grapevine, News, Politics on May 25th, 2008 1 Comment »
Workplace morale Date Submitted 05/21/2008 Suggestion I heard this morning that the most commonly requested things are free coffee and free popcorn. With all the people leaving, I’m sure that there are some under-runs that could cover the cost of popcorn. It may be the small things that make a difference. Assignment [RPSC Program Director] [...]
Posted in Media, News, Politics on May 24th, 2008 No Comments »
Remember this summer when the spy plane landed at McMurdo to get surveillance shots on the Japanese “researchers” hunting whales? Now there is scandal because the crew may have stolen a ton of it and shipped it home to themselves, thus cutting into the profits of the researchers/whalers, who know the value of whale meat [...]
