Look At Me Still Talking When There’s Science To Do

In Grand Rapids… thinking about Barrow (among other things)

Archive for truck

Is there a Batmobile or sleigh available for us to use? Over.

August 12, 2008 at 6:32 pm · Filed under Barrow and tagged: , ,

“Fishing?” Abel asked us amiably. We were in the gnome truck on the way back from the field. I just smiled because I had no idea what he was saying.

PR Jeremy had the situation under control. “Oh, no, not us, we were on the tundra.”

Abel is one of our BASC drivers when we are without a proper vehicle, say, a truck, Batmobile, or sleigh. “Huh,” he said. “You guys smell like fish.”

We like Abel even when he is being a big meanie face- we did not either smell like fish! I haven’t even seen a fish since… Saturday, when we had sushi delivered from Osaka. The rest of the ride would have been awkward if we hadn’t had other things to talk about, namely that Abel has been absent for the past month. He’s just returned from an exciting internship with Senator Ted Stevens in Washington DC!

Since Abel was gone for a whole month, he didn’t even know that we’d been demoted! By demoted, of course I mean that we are no longer Scientists because we no longer live in the SCIENTISTS building at Dario’s. We now live in Hut 163, which logically says “Max Planck Institute” on the side.

The status of the hut is good; for a week or so we were unsure how all members of the household would take to the situation, but a couple sleeping bags, a portable heater, two new ratty spring mattresses to replace the air mattresses of two of the hutmates, and the ability to make and consume Science Juice in the comfort of our own home helped to create the pleasant atmosphere we now enjoy. We also have our own laundry facilities, though it’s still one bathroom between six people. Actually, the laundry isn’t only ours either. Just the other day while we were in the field a call (not directed to or answered by us) came over the radio that the Shorebird People (cousins to the Loon People, naturally) were in need of a pleasanter place to wash their clothes than the shores of the Chukchi Sea.

Jobby chose to be jaded about this. “Oh yeah?” he said to no one in particular. “I wonder where you’re going to find a washing machine, hmmmmmm?” The menacing jaeger who is never far away had no answer for this. On the way back in from the field that day, another BASC person had an unsurprising message for us: the Shorebird People were going to stop by and do their laundry in our hut, if we don’t mind. Score one for cynicism!

In other news, tomorrow we can’t go out to the field because some new people are coming in and BASC said that they could use our coats and boots.

OK, so that is a lie, but we are mentally preparing ourselves for the day it becomes a reality.

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What you need is a nice burglar friend to show you the ropes.

August 8, 2008 at 3:01 am · Filed under Barrow and tagged:

Today was the day. Jeremy and I had to walk all the way back from the field because there was no truck for us to drive and no BASC driver to give us a ride. We toiled down the long dusty road with dozens of pounds of water-logged mosses on our backs and dozens of angry thoughts in our hearts.

Our dear UTEP friends were kind enough to take us into town for dinner at Osaka. This, and the fact that I love Barrow no matter what, saved the day.

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I know all the games you play because I play them, too.

August 7, 2008 at 5:50 am · Filed under Barrow and tagged: , , ,

So…. we’re out of a truck again. UTEP was given specific directions to guard the keys to our truck with all their might while we were in Atqasuk this weekend. UTEP has ten people right now, after all, so we graciously suggested that they use it during our absence.

Then we get off the airplane. (This airplane wasn’t meant to get us back to Barrow. Our regularly scheduled airplane was weather delayed because of the treacherous rain and/or fog, but the charter plane full of Atqasuk-bound high school students was clearly immune to these dangers, and therefore able to traverse the skies with ease. It would have been empty on the way back to Barrow, so the pilot agreed to take us back. He ought to know us by sight, at least, if not by name, since he’s flown us at least a half a dozen times this summer, through rain and snow and dark of fog.)

Anyway we landed, it was really foggy, Jeremy was so scared, blah blah blah, and on our ride back to BASC we were informed that our beloved blue truck was donated to the truck pool, and of course we should feel free to sign it out whenever we please!

Guess how often the truck is actually available.

Since UTEP betrayed us, we now will have to smite them in some way, but we don’t know quite how. However, tonight at the beach Rob proved that he is a capable fire starter. Fire should work. Classic smiting tool.

The point of the fire was to watch the sunset, or rather the sun-ricochet, as it doesn’t stay put for long. We were invited by SDSU, but a Michigan/Minnesota Fire Team was assembled to orchestrate the actual burning of things. Tonight it turned out that the break in the clouds was at the wrong part of the horizon for sun watching. It was worth a shot, though, since this was the first day in a week that any kind of actual sky was visible. The fog is out in full force, but today it left us some fogbows for our nature-appreciating pleasure.

I really like fires, but this one was s’more free, since, reportedly, Hiroki already ate all the marshmallows in Barrow.

I really

really

really

like fires.

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…and there was much rejoicing.

July 25, 2008 at 6:57 am · Filed under Barrow and tagged: , ,

I really really ought to stop writing posts at the end of pleasant days. My unending admiration for this adventure (along with the overly-positive vocabulary I use to describe it) is liable to make me ill, should I ever re-read anything I’ve written (and of course I do, that’s the whole point!).

That being said, today was probably my third (or fourth?) favorite day of the season so far. Though it was a dreaded growth measure day, we were filled with optimism and good cheer at the beginning of the day due to A.) the GLORIOUS* weather and B.) the magic hour of 5:00 p.m. that was rapidly approaching (to be explained in due course).

BASC, our trusty logistics provider, has seen fit to throw us one curve ball after another lately. We attribute this to their poor money managing rather than any blunder we have committed for which they could secretly (or not so secretly) be punishing us.

To begin with, the beloved blue truck was sneakily removed from our list of assets through a short series of favors that we warily agreed to comply with. (Bob told us to be helpful!) As our access to the truck grew less, so did our goodwill towards BASC, those sneaks! We harbored no ill will toward the Enemy**, however, as their part in the truck fiasco was quite inadvertent. The replacement trucks we were occasionally offered (they were trying to humor us, no doubt) included a run-down number plagued with a gnome stowaway who’d locked himself in- or so we assumed from the incessant banging noises emanating from the glove box region.

We also were required to abandon Dario’s hotel in favor of a hut that is rented by BASC. It does make sense to save over ten thousand dollars a month by placing six of us in the hut instead of in costly hotel rooms, but as a result, we are forced to live with strangers! That is a lie, they’re not strangers at all, they’re Gilda and Sandra from UTEP, both quite harmless and charming girls. You can imagine how pleased Rob and Jeremy are to have four new female roommates***! The hut, though not without its challenges, has several advantages as well, and it should suffice. The chief difference for me is that my Favourite Walk is now a little longer- certainly no harm in that.

In any case, at 5:00pm today the Enemy was long gone from Barrow and the truck was relinquished to us at long last. This reunion was not without its share of mishaps, since, to begin with, the keys were left behind three separate locked doors in the office, but eventually it was quite a happy ending. We celebrated with Thai food and a trip to the point. Jean hadn’t had a chance to go yet, and the clear sky and sun-sink (not setting yet, but almost!) held out for the whole GLORIOUS trip.

*This is an example of “overly-positive vocabulary.”

**The gentlemen from the BBC were the Enemy, since they were given our truck when theirs failed to work. Who could hate gentlemen from the BBC? They were filming snowy owls for “Frozen Planet,” and EVERYONE loves snowy owls.

***They began immediately on the “No Girls Allowed” sign for their bedroom.

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