who wants some 10 year old bacon??

So since my last update myself and the other materials people have unearthed some very special food items out in the dome. The 1st item was a huge crate full of bacon...from 1999. We know the bacon was from 1999 because the original shipping document was still in the crate. From this one little document we learned that the bacon was ordered in 1999, and shipped to McMurdo Station. In 2000 the bacon was then shipped to South Pole Station where it was put out on the berms (where we store lots of stuff). In 2005 the bacon was then moved from the berms into the dome...where it was forgotten about until now. We have taken to calling this "Clinton Administration Bacon" because that is how old this stuff is...and just for another reference point, I was only 15 when the bacon was 1st brought down to the ice.
Item 2...DECAF coffee from...1988! We don't have any shipping documents with the coffee, but the cans say "Official sponsor of the 1988 US Basket Ball team". I am not sure why there is decaf coffee down here to start with because currently the coffee is made strong or stronger. When that coffee was brought to the ice i was 3.
So no matter what i am doing at any given time during the day, chances are it has to do with food. Today i hoisted food into the station for the next two weeks and had some great help. As we are unloading the boxes i usually get questions like "erin, what is this" because many of the boxes are not labeled all that well...and then i decided that it was a little bit sad that i didn't even have to really look at the box before i knew it was a 20lb box of American cheese. I think this is sometimes why i don't really have much of an appetite..because i look at the food for dinner and lunch or whatever meal and can tell you what sort of box that meat or vegetable came in, and where exactly you can find it in the dome, and maybe even how OLD it is.

Today there was another false fire alarm down in the "LO" or the logistics facility. I guess someone was doing some sanding of some wood and the dust set the system off. I was in the middle of operating the hoist when this happened...so i got the hoist on the ground and then ran to medical to sit at the radio (this is my job in an emergency event). Luckily shortly after the alarm sounded it was called off as a false alarm and everyone was able to return to work without too much of an upset.

So below are a couple of pictures from the end of the summer. the 1st one is the "Dome dance" where those of us at food pull climbed on the boxes of packed food (I'm in the middle/back of the photo in a red coat). The second photo is of the summer crew that helped with hoisting food. These photos were taken during "turnover" when the summer grub lugger was teaching me all there is to know about lugging grub!



So there is only so much to do with our down time here so you find ways to amuse yourself. lately i have been reading a lot of books and teaching myself to play the piano! we have a pretty nice music room down here with a variety of instruments...sadly there is no cello! My old cello teacher (who i hear reads this blog!) will be glad to know that since i have been down on the ice i don't think i have ever wanted to practice my cello more! i guess it only takes separating me from my cello by thousands of miles to get me to practice! So i have turned to the piano (or keyboard...) instead. My mother thinks i should hold a recital for the station but i think i should learn something other then "oh when the saints go marching in" first.

That's all for now! more to come soon! If any of you dedicated readers have questions about life, my job, etc ask away and I'll write a post to answer them. Or if you have topics you want me to cover let me know!