Saturday, June 25, 2005
posted 6/25/2005 05:19:00 AM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

PQed!

Got this email today:


This email is to inform you that you have been physically qualified for deployment. Your P.Q. status is good through 03.01.06. If you have any questions please call 1.800.688.8606 Congratulations, and have a good trip!

Thanks

Amber Tabar
Medical Records Tech
Medical Records
Raytheon Polar Services Company

Thursday, June 23, 2005
posted 6/23/2005 05:56:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

yay!

Think I've got my little script working so that I can essentially write a journal entry with some basic markup and have it simultaneously sent out to an email list and posted to my blog! The cool thing is that I can markup which parts get sent to which outlets, so this site can be kept kid friendly, while the email list might not be!

Anyhow, there's really nothing new going on with regards to Antarctica, I'm just goofing off on my computer and getting ready for the Colorado Trail!

-Ian-

Wednesday, June 22, 2005
posted 6/22/2005 04:46:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

Quick Update

Today I went back to my dentist to get my #3 tooth checked like RPSC medical wanted me to. The dentist didn't find anything wrong, so he wrote a letter stating that and I faxed it in to Raytheon. Hopefully, that'll be the last thing I have to do to get PQed! I'm getting ready to move this weekend, then head off backpacking in a couple weeks, so this blog probably isn't going to be getting a lot of activity until late this summer. Might be rounding up some misc items to take with me to the ice soon (some warm personal clothes, portable music player, cool hat, etc.) ECW (extreme cold weather) gear is provided by RPSC, but since I'm going to be working with the fuels department, it's likely to end up reeking of fuels. I'm thinking about getting some of my own cold weather stuff for recreational use on The Ice and travelling around New Zealand afterwards. That's all for now, will post more when I get more info on Antarctica!

Monday, June 20, 2005
posted 6/20/2005 02:28:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

Site Improvement!

This evening I sat down and spent a few minutes getting the little "Have a Question?" box done, so it's ready to use. Ask me something (relevant!) Also, let's get some comments rolling for these entries, it's kind of boring just having junk I've written here!

Saturday, June 18, 2005
posted 6/18/2005 05:22:00 AM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

PQ stuff done? nope.

Woke up bright and early this morning to a call from Raytheon's medical department. Apparently they got my paperwork and the dental department has a question about one specific tooth, so I've lined up an appointment to get that checked out for next Tuesday. Hopefully, there's nothing wrong and it just looks a little weird on the xray or something. We'll see in a few days.

Thursday, June 16, 2005
posted 6/16/2005 01:50:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

PQ stuff done!?

So, last monday I went over to the dentist and got a couple small cavities filled as planned. The dentist visit ended up costing a lot more than I had anticipated, which isn't good but I had to pay for it to go to the ice so I did. It's looking like the dentist might cut me a deal and reduce the price a little bit, but either way it's done and I've paid for it. The dentist visit was the last thing I needed to complete all my PQ paperwork, so I got it all organized and mailed off Monday evening. Today I called Scott, who is my main contact at RPSC, and updated him on the hiring situation-sounds like I should find out whether I'm PQed or more work is needed sometime early next week.

Saturday, June 11, 2005
posted 6/11/2005 06:20:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

Yay! Got the medical exam stuff done today. Nothing much to talk about there - Went to the doctor Denver, they glanced at my arm where the tuberculin test (PPD) was given (I passed,) I went home by way of REI and got some new shoes! I'll be heading over to the dentist Monday morning, then hopefully we'll find out if I'm PQed within a week or two from that. *crosses fingers*

Thursday, June 09, 2005
posted 6/09/2005 02:31:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

Physical Day!

This morning I woke up to the alarm clock for the first time in a while, but now that it's bright outside when I need to get up, it's not that bad! Took the bus and light rail over to the doctor's office down in Centennial (that's basically SE Denver) to get my physical. The physical wasn't bad, pretty quick although it was very thorough. While I was there, I talked to the nurse about getting a tetanus immunization since RPSC requires one to be current within the last 10 years and I couldn't find record of my last one. She went ahead and gave me the shot, so that's covered too! At this point, all I'm going to have to do is get the Tuberculin test checked and get a couple minor cavities filled then I should be good to go! After the exam, I grabbed some lunch in the medical facility, then headed over to the bus stop and back to Boulder. Learned one lesson on the way back - the ticket machines at the Denver light rail stations give change in the form of dollar coins, so don't feed them a $20 unless you want a whole bunch of those dumb dollar coins to get rid of!

Wednesday, June 08, 2005
posted 6/08/2005 04:22:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

More on McMurdo

I was just messing around on the Internet this evening and came across this nifty page about the buildings in McMurdo. Off to Denver tomorrow morning for my physical exam, will post more when I get home from that.

Sunday, June 05, 2005
posted 6/05/2005 04:51:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

More geek stuff

Guess this doesn't really matter much, but I finally got around to loading this blog up in IE on my housemate's laptop and realized that it doesn't render quite right. More CSS learning for me I guess, but I'm going to goof around with that "about me" block first since that's a lot more interesting.
Update, 10 minutes later:
Scratch the IE compliance thing - E (housemate) is busy with her computer so I can't play guess-and-check with it. Firefox is a better browser to use anyways!

Saturday, June 04, 2005
posted 6/04/2005 05:01:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

Some photos

Not much happening with regards to the hiring process, next step will be medical examinations next Wednesday in Denver. In the meantime, here are some pictures I got from the official site over at polar.org:

This is McMurdo Station, where I'll be working:

McMurdo Station, Antarctica

That's what I'm talking about! (yup, they're at McMurdo)

Bicycles parked at McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Iceberg B15a, which is in McMurdo Bay:

Iceberg B15a, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Thursday, June 02, 2005
posted 6/02/2005 04:09:00 PM UTC+12, McMurdo Local Time

This morning I got started with the dental component of the PQ process. Had some xrays taken and talked some things over with my dentist. He has worked with the Raytheon doctors on PQing patients before and seemed to think that a couple very small cavities (can't remember the word he used right now) that I've got might pose a problem. We decided to go ahead and do something about them before sending the paperwork back so that the doctors at Raytheon won't have anything to complain about, therefore making the PQ process faster. We'll see how it goes - I've got an appointment Monday the 12th, but hopefully I'll be able to sub in if someone else drops their appointment and get it done sooner.

And, to answer a question I've heard several times - There are NOT polar bears in Antarctica. It may also be interesting to note that there are not penguins in the Arctic.