Greetings

I have now been here for 3 days, I am starting to get used to the routine. A lot of things to learn at work, learning how to run the lab, doing x-ray, work in the pharmacy and getting all my flight gear ready. It is a slow process because the winter crew wants to get out of here, but they also want to make sure that we know how things are done before they leave.

As most of you have probably read on my facebook is that the shutdown affects us down here as well. Yesterday we were told that they are moving towards a care taker status, which means that only essential services to maintain the properties here will be continued. The medical care is considered essential and we have been told that they are not going to cut any of us that are already here. I did receive an email from our pharmacy tech that her tickets were cancelled as she was sitting at the airport waiting for her flight from Denver to LAX. She had been an alternate for 2 years when she finally got a position so she could come down here. Not a lot of people have found out if they are staying or going. They closed the bar and stopped selling alcohol in the store yesterday. It appears that most people are taking the uncertainty pretty well. I am sure that there are a lot of upset people around, but they are not showing it out in the open or I just don't see it.

I walked down to the Scott Hut tonight it was very windy and cold, so it was just a quick walk down and back. Saw the first wildlife here today, a seal laying on the ice.

View from my dorm room

Sun trying to set

McMurdo behing the Scott hut

A seal on the ice.