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So close to the end and all things go wrong! Why?!

This is a semi rant, but I know that I cannot control things in the world. However, I’m still waiting!!

The Kiwis help out by transporting people to and from the Ice. The problem is they use a 757, like we fly normally commercially. These are not designed to land on snow, nor a compacted snow runway. They are called the “pizza cutter” because the wheels break through the runway surface and damage it. To repair it, it’s a minimum of 12 hours after the repair is complete. Depending on the size of the repair it could take several hours for dig out the old snow, put new snow in and compact it. Once that is done the 12 hour wait happens… or is supposed to happen.

The first 757 flight landed successfully. But the pilot wanted to take off south to north. So he taxied all the way down the runway putting holes in it. Six holes that needed repaired. they got repaired and the someone testing traction drove over the holes and broke them again. The following 757 did all the same things. So repairs were made again. then the next C-17 hit the same holes…

More over I was bumped from my flight due to overbooking. So I’m delayed a day (better be just a day!) departing the Ice. On top of that I finally got sick!! So I’ve been trying to pack and nap when I can in order to get over the sickness and get my shit together without overdoing it! AND my roommates partied last night, coming in and out of the room drunk and being shit-heals!! What else… I think that all the nonsense.

But, I’m so ready to get home. It’s been a great time here, but as I mentioned before I miss nature and the people I have in my life. So soon, better be soon, I’ll be heading out and flying home!!

All-in-all I am doing well and happy and just ready. I’m ready for warm weather and sunshine, even though I am heading to colder temperatures than I experienced here (for the most part)! I am ready for friends, acquaintances and catching up with everyone. I am ready for food other than stuff that’s been reconstituted or frozen for a decade (the food here has actually been very good)!! Fresh food is something we rarely get here, and I didn’t realize how good it is until it’s not there! Apparently, I took a lot of things for granted. So being here was a great eye opener. Which won’t last, because once I have everything at my fingertips again it’ll just be normal!

But ya, sorry if this is all over the map. Concentration is difficult at the moment. I will see you all soon though. And we will get together and have a great time talking about all the things we experienced over the last five months… or six.

While writing this (Feb,13 2026) I’ve been here on Ice for 130 days with 11 left until I fly home. It’s been one hell of an adventure and I plan on doing it again. In order to come back I have to go through all the physical qualifications I have already done with a comprehensive physical, blood work, dental exam, background check (because of all the crimes I committed here!!) and the extended security clearance… because that changed too!!

I understand the physical and dental, something may have changed. But the security clearance and background check?! Seems silly. But who am I?

Overall it’s been a great experience. From the first days of not knowing anything to where I stand now with more knowledge and experience. Maintaining a snow runway isn’t an easy task, but I choose to do it again. Weather plays a huge role in its maintenance. When it’s too warm there isn’t much we can do, however we are still expected to do it! This has been my biggest and only frustration here. The leadership (poor leadership) of people in offices back in the states telling us we should be doing a specific thing. For example: to take our 170,000 lbs. weight carts onto the runway when the temperatures are above freezing. The program paid a lot of money for scientists to do a study as to what should be done to properly maintain the runway. But the office chair quarterback that has never played the game apparently knows best. We got a nasty email telling us we all need retrained “immediately” following a storm we recovered from quickly. the plane in question returned to it origin because of a radio problem.

Obviously that ruffled some feathers here, but after the anger came the humor. Like this; not one trained us to begin with. The entire crew is new this season and the handover for my boss was a guy throwing him his pager and getting on a plane. The handover is supposed to be at least six weeks of training for the foreman (my boss). We have been reading the manuals and science papers to learn everything ourselves. So, we have since had a laugh over the person telling us we aren’t doing good enough, that we need to listen to her; the person who has never maintained the ice shelf.

But that’s been the biggest thing; felt like a personal attack. I’ve since been told that that’s common and to not let it get to me. So, I’m not!! (Anymore!)

Once again though, this place is beautiful. I know I’ve said it in almost every post, but DAMN IT’S BEAUTIFUL!! During Antarctic summer the temperatures are perfect. From the high negatives to around freezing. For you normal people 32F down to about -10F. Yes, when I first got here it was -44 and we had that herbie come through, but that was all so awesome to experience. And yes, most of our equipment doesn’t have or barely has heat. But that’s all part of the experience!!

Starting out so very cold and wondering why I came here. To being depressed and wondering why I came here. To exploring and seeing why I came here. The experience the brutal world at the bottom of the earth. To get away from society (I mostly did) and try to rest myself a little. To get a better prospective. To be a better person… which didn’t work! I’m exactly the same person that departed in October, but with new experiences.

Seeing the type of nature here. The angular mountains, the snow, the limited wildlife: penguins, whales, seals, and skua. The lack of vegetation… That’s still a trip. I’m excited to see trees and feel grass and be back in less brutal nature. It’s going to be wild to see the things you all see on the daily: squirrels, birds, deer, etc. Trees, bushes, grass, even dandelions!!

But seeing the seals waddle… yes I know “galumph” (thank you for the correction Ruffles) across the ice. But mostly just lay there sleeping, the penguins waddle and belly slide, but mostly just stand there, and the whales trying to find and eat both of them! The skua flying above trying to find something to eat. I do wonder what they eat! Without research I assume they are scavenger birds. I say this because of the “goodwill” we have here called Skua. The place people leave things behind for others to use if they want. Scavengers, even those that come to the Ice!!

I do remember posting the thought about how much we consume when I was trying to think about what I need to bring for my five month stay. In my current recollection: four bars of soap, two bars of shampoo (three next time, I ran our yesterday), two tubes of toothpaste, two tooth brushes, laundry detergent (the stuff here is unscented, gross!), two bottles of tea tree oil, one bottle of antifungal for nails, one tube of antifungal cream. Ya, the shower got me!! I don’t know why they call it “jock itch” when it hurt like hell!!

But things to remember next time: more thin socks, less thick ones. A top for my water bottle so I can drink while moving in a machine and not splash all over myself! Noise cancelling headphones (over the ear). Boot dryer. Less work clothes and more fun clothes. Better laptop! God knows what else!

I did pretty good guessing on the toiletries, but some of the other things were a little more difficult to figure out without the experience. Nothing life threatening just creature comforts. AND it’s difficult to plan with no guidance. Hopefully I remember all the things I want to do different on the next go around.

Bottom line; I’ll be home so soon. I can’t wait to see all the people that I haven’t seen in all these months. Most of the people anyway!! I am excited to get moved into a new place and start a new life. There are so many new adventures coming even though I am leaving this one for the time being. From the Ice to New Zealand to home! I can’t happen soon enough!

One more random fact: Over enough time snow will polish metal:

Okay, but a little update first. It’s less than a month. I leave the Ice in less than a month!! Overall, I’m excited; to see the people that I have been missing, to see nature other than rock, snow, and weird humans!! Yes, there are other things: seals, penguins, Skua, and whales. While this place has its magnificence, it’s also very monotoned!! But, living in this environment for five months will give me a new appreciation for green! And red and blue and purple. And trees and dogs and cats. It’s wild how many things that exist in the world don’t exist here. Especially color. Other than manmade objects things are tones of snow and dirt!!

It’s been a great experience here and I plan to come back. Life in the states is changing for me and that’s scary and exciting at the same time. New home, new city and lots of new excitement. Life may become six months home and six months away, time will tell. But the new prospective is a welcome appreciation.

Oh and we saw whales today!! Possibly a pod of False Killer Whales or Minke Whales. I’ll try to get better photos of them if I can!

Here are some cool Antarctica facts:

Antarctica has the world’s largest sand dune in a completely ice-free area — In the McMurdo Dry Valleys, there’s a massive sand dune standing about 70 meters (230 feet) high and over 200 meters (650 feet) wide. It’s formed by wind-sculpted sand in one of the driest places on Earth, resembling a desert feature on another planet.

The continent “sings” with eerie seismic hums — Scientists have recorded low-frequency “songs” or vibrations from ice shelves like the Ross Ice Shelf, caused by wind blowing across their rough surfaces. These inaudible-to-humans tones create a haunting, doleful hum that echoes through the ice.

Tiny nematode worms are the most abundant land animal — Forget penguins for a moment—the real champs of Antarctic terrestrial life are microscopic nematode worms, which thrive in the soil of ice-free areas and outnumber everything else on land by a huge margin.

Antarctica has more than 1,150 species of fungi — Despite the extreme cold and dryness, fungi (including mushrooms and yeasts) flourish here, often in surprising places like rocks, soils, and even inside Antarctic mosses—making it a biodiversity hotspot in an unexpected way. (Make that 1,151 cause I’m a fun guy too!)

The Magnetic South Pole is drifting away — Currently located off the Antarctic continent in the Southern Ocean (and moving about 5–10 km per year toward the sea), if you’re standing at the true Magnetic South Pole, every direction from you points north!

There are “watermelon snow” phenomena — In summer, certain snow algae (like Chlamydomonas nivalis) turn patches of snow bright pink or red, resembling spilled watermelon juice. This colorful bloom is common in places like King George Island and adds a surreal pop to the white landscape.

Antarctica was only accurately mapped in the 1980s — Due to its remoteness and ice cover, large parts remained poorly charted until radar and satellite tech improved. Before the mid-1980s, maps of the continent had major inaccuracies—some areas were better mapped on Mars than on Earth!

It has giant “ice rivers” called ice streams — These fast-moving rivers of ice (up to several km wide) flow at speeds of hundreds of meters per year toward the coast, carving through the ice sheet like hidden highways and playing a key role in how the continent loses mass.

The first human born on the continent was in 1978 — An Argentine boy named Emilio Marcos Palma was born at Esperanza Base on the Antarctic Peninsula, making him the first (and one of very few) people ever born in Antarctica—his family was part of Argentina’s effort to establish a presence there.

Antarctica experiences sudden stratospheric warmings — In events like one in 2025, temperatures in the upper atmosphere can spike by over 30°C in days due to atmospheric waves, temporarily altering weather patterns far below on the ice—showing even this frozen world has dynamic, surprising atmospheric behavior.

Listed below are some statements about the beautiful continent of Antarctica. Can you pick the fact from the fiction? Later I’ll post more fun facts about the continent!

1. Antarctica is the coldest continent on Earth, with the lowest recorded temperature of -89.2°C at Vostok Station in 1983.
2. Antarctica is home to a small but thriving population of polar bear.
3. Despite being covered in ice, Antarctica is classified as a desert because it receives less precipitation than the Sahara.
4. There are luxury resorts and hotels built on the Antarctic ice for high-end tourists.
5. About 70% of the world’s fresh water is stored in Antarctica’s massive ice sheets.
6. Native Antarctic tribes have inhabited the continent for over 5,000 years, living in insulated ice dwellings.
7. Antarctica has no permanent human residents, only temporary scientists and support staff numbering up to 10,000 in summer.
8. McDonald’s operate a franchise at McMurdo Station in Antarctica to serve the staff.
9. The southernmost active volcano on Earth, Mount Erebus, is located in Antarctica and has a persistent lava lake.
10. Penguins in Antarctica have evolved to fly short distances due to the strong winds helping with lift-off.
11. Antarctica was the last continent to be discovered by humans, first sighted in 1820 by a Russian expedition.
12. Underneath the ice, Antarctica hides vast tropical rainforests preserved from millions of years ago.
13. If all the ice in Antarctica melted, it could raise global sea levels by about 58 meters.
14. Antarctica has its own official currency, the Antarctic Pound, used exclusively in research bases.
15. Blood Falls in Antarctica is a waterfall that flows red due to high iron content in the water, resembling blood.
16. Antarctica fully melts during its summer season, turning into a vast ocean with temporary islands.
17. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, bigger than Europe but smaller than South America.
18. The continent supports year-round farming of tropical fruits like bananas in heated geodesic domes.
19. There are no reptiles, amphibians, or land snakes native to Antarctica due to its extreme cold.
20. Antarctica is divided into territories owned by seven countries, with Australia claiming the largest share.

No Cheating!!

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Hope you enjoyed and maybe learned a little. Sorry for the combination of true and false, but as I said, next time it’ll be all facts!!

Obviously this one isn’t about Antarctica. This is about me and the discovery of the pup scene and why I chose to become a part of it.

Years ago I discovered pet play online and watched a few videos. I though (and still do) that it was really really weird. It took me giving up my life in Montana and moving to Pennsylvania to realize that while I was right, pet play is weird, it’s also very fun and a great form of unplugging for me. Better than turning to self-destructive methods like most people do to cope with the stresses of life.

In 2020 amongst the BS of the COVID scare, I left the comfort and familiarity of Montana to help my dad. He’d just fallen down the stairs and was in the hospital for about a month. Upon his release he needed someone to help him recover. He was also living alone in a house too big for him to take care of.

What I was hoping to be a six month (give or take) event ended up taking two years to complete. While I was there I had to try to find new friends and acquaintances, not an easy task for me. I ended up taking a job as a ride operator at Kennywood, where I met some great people. But I wanted something a bit more than just friends and acquaintances. I wanted to feel something a more emotionally. I started searching and was told that maybe pup would work for me.

I instantly rejected the idea because of the video’s I’ve seen previously. Looking back now though, I think I disliked the video because of how it was presented not what it represented. The video was far too serious about the persons transition from human to pony headspace. It was almost corny/cheesy in my opinion. And I wonder how I’d feel about the video watching it again!

So, I looked for and found a pup hood. I also took a long time after getting the hood to have a place to wear it. I met another new pup in Pittsburgh and eventually found a large number of people into the scene. I dove deeper and explored more.

My turning point and interest grew at a pup event in Pittsburgh at a bar. It was a gay bar, my first gay bar! I realized that I was way more comfortable being the person I wanted to be through pup. I was too embarrassed to be myself, I supposed from a lifetime of shame about being gay.

At the bar the group of pups were dancing and having a great time. I went to get another drink and saw the people on the opposite side of the bar. Sitting side by side not talking just stating off or at their phones. “Lonely in a crowded room.” I felt that would have been me under normal circumstances.

Additionally most pups and pup groups are very very accepting. In my life going from gay, pretending to be straight… for far too long, back to being gay. I found that most cultures, especially the gay culture is extraordinarily judgmental. I’m not into that. Another segway there!! Back to…

The normal me would have been the quiet one looking, waiting for someone to be interested. I would have been one of those lonely bastards looking across the bar at the pups having fun and judging them. That’s when I realized that I was having the fun I always wanted to have. So, Pneuma emerged and became a part of my life.

Another aspect I found really interesting is that I didn’t feel other’s judgment. I was able to compartmentalize and separate that from my normal life. Being out in public as Pneuma, I know people look and point and whisper, and none of that bothers me. What does bother me is that people judge rather than asking questions. So, for those of you that take the time to read the sh*t I write, this post is the explanation!

Deeper than that, however, is that Pneuma is fun. It’s like an actor acting out a role. I bet they think some roles are fun. It’s great to be silly and unwind and take photos and make videos. It’s all about having fun.

Another quick segway; pup for me is not sexual like it is for some folks in the scene. It’s also not a gateway into bestiality. At least for the majority. Yes, there are people that use the scene in that manner, but I’m not one of them. I enjoy the platonic and innocent interactions the most. I also like to try to present the platonic side of the scene to help promote the pawsitivity.

Ultimately for me pup is an outlet. It’s a creative outlet in which, for short periods, I get to escape the stresses of being an adult. I escape when I think about shirt designs and making them, a new hood design, or the next cool thing I can do to make Pneuma look more unique!! Like painting my own hoods rather than buying a custom, or adding the EL wire for Pneuma-Glow… It’s a fun and harmless outlet.

I could have chosen drinking or drugs and doing things that are more harmful. But I realized that was all hollow and unfulfilling. Pneuma became a part of me and I a part of him. However, I know that it’s just for fun and pretend. AND that brings me to another question. Why do we have to stop pretending as an adult?

Pretending could benefit everyone. We should all find a much better outlet for our frustrations. Pretending to be a dog is a pretty fun one. Just be mindless, exploring your immediate surroundings. Nothing outside that area matters. Not bills, or government, or foreign affairs. Just the flowers to sniff, the rocks to explore, the trees to hide behind. A really simple way to escape from the world for a little while. And harmless!

So, my lesson learned; ask rather than judging. And I wish more of us would do that. Ask questions to understand. Because you never know where you’ll find something that’ll work for you. Float tanks and Pneuma have been my therapy for some time. And I feel that it’s been working quite well. I’m well adjusted!! Ba-hahahahahaha!!

Hope you guys learned something here and if not ask those questions.

Here we are, finding ourselves in 2026. Did you ever think you’d see this year? Thinking back in my life, 2026 seemed like a future so distant I’d never see it. To think I started the year in Antarctica, even crazier! But here I am in the blazing hot (30ish°F) Antarctic summer, in a tee shirt enjoying the sunshine and snow… mostly.

I’m also dedicating myself to diet and exercise and a better version of me. Inspired by a quote from the television show M*A*S*H,

“It’s too big a world to be in competition with everybody else. The only guy I have to get better than is the guy I am right now.” Col. Potter.

I started the year strong hitting the gym everyday and eating far less. I downloaded an app to count calories and track my fitness. This is a plan I’ve made every year and by weeks end failed. This time, I’m not going to fail. Because this time… that whole paragraph is bullshit!! Ba-hahaha!!

I’ve been working on a song, and if it works out I’ll post it. But as of now, it’s sucks. I know I’ll get it right at some point. But it’s about being an absolute shit heel for the next year, so that 2027’s New Years Resolution is just being “normal” again. Making achieving that resolution attainable!! Sounds funny to me, just need to work the details out.

On the Antarctic work side of things; upper management, who aren’t even on the Ice, are in a panic that we will not have the runway ready by the end of the gap.

If I haven’t explained, I will now!! We have two air fields: Phoenix snow runway for wheeled aircraft and Williams ski way for skied aircraft. During the summer months Phoenix closes so we can level town (move the buildings and build up the snow under them) and do some maintenance. It also gets too warm to maintain proper compaction on the runway. Think about putting your ice cream in the fridge rather than the freezer, it softens. Then squeezing it to try reforming it. It just oozes around your fingers. That’s what the runway does if we take the weight cart out. Our lightest car is 37,000 lbs. and we work up to 167,000 lbs for max compaction. So, in the summer months our ice cream runway can’t support that much weight. However, what upper management fails to think about is the temperatures will lower and we will get compaction back. From what I’m told, year after year this has been the case. And year after year it still comes back together. And year after year, upper management panics!!

Every company I’ve worked for, there seems to be middle or upper management that creates chaos where it doesn’t need to be. In our situation, we are following the guidelines established by scientific study. Science shows that there is a max temperature at which the weight will not help but hinder. We are waiting to get back to that temperature. If we do create damage… To recover a 3” deep break in the surface it takes a minimum of 6 days. So, premature compaction puts us back almost a week.

Alright, enough bitching!! It’s a new year!!

More about McMurdo life, with photos!! And at the end, a magical moment!

First, Ice Stock. In my opinion a bit of a letdown. But I think I had too high expectations and I also haven’t been into drinking and partying. Some of the music was good, some terrible. But that’s the life when people do their best! What I really mean is here, we have people doing their best, and that’s great. And when they sound terrible, it’s real. It’s not over produced studio music. They practice a few times together then perform. Not doing take after take to get it perfect, no producer or sound engineer, no autotune. Just real and authentic sound. Some people should perform, some should not. But the reminder that the “real world” isn’t even real. It’s formulated and produced. But again, it was and interesting event. The costumes people brought or ordered or made. And the coffee from “Sawbucks”!! This will probably be the last year for that, hard alcohol sales will end in February this year. Sawbuck was making coffee and Bailey’s drinks for everyone free of charge! And see below for the hilarious stir…

In a shift, (sorry if this post is a little more chaotic) Mother Nature seems to never stop blowing my mind. It’s amazing how the immediate surroundings change. From sunny and 36°F, everything melting and soft to freezing fog and lack of sun and everything frozen again so quickly. Our waterfall went from flowing quite a bit to solid overnight. I know what you’re thinking; night time is colder. Yes, but just barely here. The sun is still up 24/7 and just circles the sky from north to west to south to east and back to north. But yes, it cools a few degrees at night but not enough to stop the waterfall. The freezing fog sure did!! Cooled everything down, which is what we need!

Now for the photos:

And one point of “housekeeping” please don’t send anything to me here. More than likely, I’ll be leaving before anything arrives.

In the real world it seems as though humanity has been on the path of bigger is better. A competition of sorts between cultures. Who has the biggest building, biggest roller coaster (yep, had to add the coaster wars!!), biggest… fill in the blank. A world wide ego flex.

I also believe we all buy into it to a point. Participating in the race or watching it. It’s not all bad, but when does it stop? When will we realize that bigger isn’t always better?

I’ve been able to unplug more than normal here in Antarctica. Or at least it’s been easier to unplug! Those of you that know me, know that I’m a bit obsessive over things and have little self control! So being here, where not everything is readily available has been another great aspect. It’s basically real world adjacent here.

Meaning while we have modern means; heat, electricity, indoor plumbing (most places!) and many other modern conveniences people still do things to entertain themselves and others. As I’ve mentioned many times before there is a group or event for almost anything here. If you want something, many others probably want it too. It’s also a great place to explore other things, things you may not think about in normal life.

In the real world there are too many distractions. That is rather unfortunate. Here that can also be the case, but most of us unplug part time. I’ve changed (probably just temporarily) my online habits from doom scrolling social media to focusing on the music I’ve been promoting. It’s a current obsession that’ll overwritten by a new one at some point. But for the time being I and creating rather than consuming meaningless drivel. Ba-haha, now I’m creating meaningless drivel!!

Anyway, the little things here are many and pop up in random places. As I said, humor here is huge. While I hate the term and concept; meme’s are huge here. Many departments create something hilarious to overcome the stress when it happens or just be funny. Poking fun is a great past time and other departments poke back. Case in point; LDB (NASA’s Long Duration Balloon) had some setbacks due to weather and equipment failures. This took equipment from the other two ice shelf facilities: Williams Skiway and Phoenix Airfield. This put both locations in peril of failing for incoming and outgoing flights. But, true to nature a department created a meme about all the working equipment being taken by LDB and the other areas suffering. The posted meme had retaliation by LDB by putting their own sticker on the meme! This was indeed hilarious.

Additionally stickers here are huge. Apparently, those who come to Antarctica don’t get past the sticker phase of life, it’s just becomes mature. Example of a ban sticker: “Get your rocks off at the beat off station!” The story behind that is we have a place at the transition (where the land and shelf ice meets) that we must stop at and clean off our vehicle so we don’t drag rocks and dust onto the shelf. The rocks and dust melt the snow faster. So the vehicle clean off station has a nickname like everything here; the beat off station. And here we are getting our rocks off… making sure we get as much grime off the vehicle as we can.

Walking around station there are examples of the humor almost everywhere. Especially stickers and some graffiti. I posted the photo of the bathroom stall with “Beware the limbo champion.” The next stall over has “Beware the pole vault champion!” at the top of the door!

My humor has been a couple songs: “Ban from Antarctica” and “McMurdo Madness”  both with some truth and some fiction as entertainment. There will also be stickers made at some point. As of now I don’t know what to make!

The scenery, while very monochromatic is still amazing. The day I arrived and saw the mountains for the first time all the way until today; spectacular. Everyday the weather is different and so are the views. Clear days and sunny; 360° views for miles and miles. Snow covered mountains, bare mountains, flat ice on the Ross Ice Shelf… Cloudy days, still great visibility, but everything is flat light and the texture is gone. Low clouds of fog, we are in our own little world miles or light years away from everything. The mental games are fun to play when one can’t see more than a couple hundred feet! Storms blow through, sometimes intense and sometimes they skirt entirely. Mt. Erebus venting its steam or acid cloud, beautiful to see. When the wind is calm the rising steam climbs. Most of the time there’s a breeze and it’s being blown off to one side and fading into blue sky. The changing snow pack, currently slowly melting from McMurdo running down the ditches back to the ocean.

I’m still waiting for the sea ice to melt and more wildlife to come. Hopefully orcas! I really want to see the orcas! On the horizon in the sea ice a few icebergs appeared last week. I’m going to see if I can find a better vantage point to see them and take some terrible photos! I did find a better vantage point. They look smaller!! Weird! From ground level and further away the looked tall as ships on the horizon. Must have been the Fata Morgana making them look taller.

The constant change is awesome and I enjoy seeing all of it for the first time. Today, we have a waterfall coming down the rocks near the transition. It’s New Years Day, 2026. It’s so warm it’s almost resort weather. Tomorrow we have Ice Stock, our New Year’s celebration of bands playing for twelve hours into the evening! I’ll post again soon about that event.

Whether you celebrate or not, doesn’t matter. I’m hoping that this holiday season you have a grand time doing what it is you do! Traditional, new age, occult, nothing at all… whatever!! What I decided to do was roam around station and find some of the holiday cheer McMurdo has to offer. So here are the results:

If anything there is an abundance of humor here. Non-Christmasy, here’s a little humor from McMurdo:

Happy holidays friends and pups!!

Woof!

So ya, really quick… maybe!!

Creating the pages and post here in Antarctica is a little more complicated than in the real world. At times I am able to use an actual computer connect to the satellites connected to the rest of the world to post. Like right this moment… No not while you’re reading this, but earlier. Good lord I feel like I’m in the Spaceballs scene where the video is available to rent before the movie is finished being made!! If you have no idea what I’m talking about you now have an assignment: watch Spaceballs!

The biggest thing I run into is transferring photos or music and whatnot. That eats a lot of data and is the biggest complication. We cannot connect directly to a computer, so everything has to be uploaded and downloaded, ugh!!

So much for quick!! What I’m getting at is that some posts are easy to create and upload while others take a computer. When using my phone, I am using the limited 2.5G per week that I have. So, I will be uploading some photos and another post soon with photos and other things… I can’t spoil the surprise!! But what I want you all to know is that I changed the Music page and added a song or two… I can’t remember how many!! I also changed the song about Roller Coaster Enthusiasts, to what I think is a better version. Anyway, I hope someone listens and gives feedback. In truth I am creating songs for me and hope that others like them!

I will be adding more music soon. I ran out of time today. But I have some more interesting ones that I let Suno take most of the control over. But they turned out great in my opinion!!

IN SHORT: photos and a post coming soon. Music comeing later.

Love you all and hope you are having a great life. I’ll be seeing everyone soon… In March 2026!

Clear as mud?

Since this place is so incredibly isolated and mostly cut off from the outside world… let me try that again.

The culture built here came from isolation and being cut off from the outside world. In the recent years internet has become more available and given those here a connection to things not Antarctica. Even with the limited connection we have things here hold some traditional value.

Meaning, people here intertwine in unique ways. Some of us work closely together. Some of us live closely together. These two groups generally don’t cross over. As an example, I work for Fleet Ops. We have about 30 people in our department working in several different locations. We have main town which is just called town; McMurdo. Several people operate loaders, motor graders, cranes, etc. for what is needed in town. Road maintenance, ditch maintenance, snow removal, water mitigation, ice pier construction, container movements, and the list goes on. Out in the shelf Fleet Ops has a few locations; Phoenix Airfield, Williams Ski-Way, and LDB (NASA’s Long Duration Balloon). We also do random other things on the shelf and the sea ice.

Those of us roomed together don’t work directly together. I don’t believe by design, just by happenstance. But I’m not 100% sure on that. I am grateful I don’t live with the people I work with. My roommates however are from different departments. One is a “fuelly” he transports and delivers fuel to various places on station and the shelf. Another is a “carp” Carpenter. He does Jesus’s work!! Ba-hahahahaha!! The other is a kiwi. He’s from New Zealand and works for a kiwi contractor that’s been building the new dorm building. He’s a painter, but apparently does other drywall stuff. Kiwis sound like Australians but talk with a slightly different accent and so fast I need a translator!! Think of an Aussie auctioneer!!

For social activities there are plenty of things to get involved with. People put on forma l and informal classes. The scientist and outdoor people will talk about outdoor survival, local wild life, do tours of the sea ice, etc. The informal stuff is put on by people working here. There are sewing classes, yoga, weightlifting, volleyball, witchcraft, Sunday church, etc. basically anything you can think of someone puts on a class or group for it. Even underwater basket weaving. There was only one of those classes. They all froze to death! Just kidding!!

There are dozens of social activities each week. So, not meeting people has been my own doing. I still don’t have the desire!

BUT, I did go out last Friday night to one of our bars. The station has to bars, but since some people can’t behave, it’s all BYOB. They sell mock tales and NA beers/drinks but the alcohols sales have ended. AND soon hard alcohol will no longer be sold here because people still can’t behave themselves. The few ruin it for the rest; happens here too.

I went out because one of my coworkers plays instruments and it was his last time playing before leaving here shortly. Musically talented people here puts band together and play. From what o heard that night, event the musically non-talented play and sing!! Think full band karaoke night!! Some wrote their own songs. Others play covers. The two bands I listened to were a mix of entertainment and unbearable noise. From my perspective anyway! One played parody covers. They used well known songs to play Antarctica specific music. One was about Ivan the Terror Bus that was retired last year. I have been told a little bit about this bus but I have not seen it. It was apparently on the continent for about 30 years transporting people around station. I’m assuming mostly from town to the shelf. It’s rumored to be in Christchurch. I’ll snap a photo if I see when on my return home. Long story short this band played a number of songs that people who’ve been here a number of years could relate to. Another of their songs was about the birds here called Skua. Apparently they get bold, like seagulls and will dive bomb if they think you have food or if you are near their nests. I heard someone talking about a Skua that years ago that attacked someone and they hid under a vehicle until the bird went away!

The other band with an unknown name played loud and obnoxious punk music… I left!! Not because punk is bad. But the mix/levels of the instruments was bad.

Come New Year we will have “Ice Stock” the annual summer party where many of the stations bands play. I’m excited for that; Pneuma will party again!

Not sure if I mentioned it last post but another cool thing that I haven’t done is the “Ob Tube” (and didn’t do before the ice got too thin). A tube put through the ice into the sea water below so people can climb down and see what’s below. I have seen photos of what was seen under the ice!

There are a number of very cool things available here. And the isolation helps people get creative and do different things and think differently. It’s like going back in time before everyone stared at their phones.

But, I have recently started creating music. More specifically taking ideas I’ve had and putting them into various LLM sites to help write lyrics then plugging those into another LLM to help write the music and put it all together. So basically I’m the spark and prompt writer. So far I have a few bangers!! Once they are polished I’ll see if I can share them here. As a forewarning; they will be adult themed and funny (for me anyway)!! And that’s for the most part. I might include some more personal things; but humor is my goal. As a hint I’ve created a song about how I got ban from Antarctica. I’ll let your noodle bake on that for a while!! And once I have the ability it’ll get posted! And if I can’t post I’ll try to link. If I can’t link then sucks to suck!!

It is interesting though how this place is in modern times but also still has aspects of the past (especially the equipment!). Meaning our limited internet lets us connect to the outside world. And that limit also forces us to do things differently than the rest of the world. An almost village mentality where we create our own entertainment rather than sitting in front of the television and rotting our little brains!

While I remain anti social I still talk to people and get to know them and have wild weird conversations, and I like them. Maybe that’s why I don’t talk to many people down here. Many of them seem rather timid to my humor and personality. So, no sense in making people dislike me!! Especially in such a small community.

Very soon, December 16 marks my half way home date. Meaning I’ve got my half way point for being on the Ice McMuado. But, I’ll elaborate on that soon! My travel home may include a few days in New Zeland for personal recovery and a slow integration back into the real world. And if possible a stop in Texas to get my PQ (Physical Qualification) done for next year. At the moment, I’m planning on returning for another summer. There are more factors that may change my mind, so I’ll keep you all apprised as things move forward.

This website isn’t only about Antarctica though. I’ll have to post some other Pneuma in the future!!

I’ve gotten feed back on a few songs from one person. I’m glad she enjoyed some of them. I’m going to continue “prompting” because I am making stuff I like! Very selfish I know!!