Dental
Another week gone. This one really flew by. I have been fighting an affliction that is affectionately known as the ?crud?. It is a mild upper respiratory virus that can be debilitating when working 6, 10 hours days in a row. I am on the mend but still not 100% yet. I am happy to say I didn?t miss a day of work though I came close one day. Today is our day off and it is nice weather but very windy which makes all the difference here. I decided that I had better use my day to rest and fully get over the crud rather than go out in the cold and get sick again.
As I mentioned in my last posting, I went to the base dentist today. Over the past couple of days I have become quite familiar with his work. Yesterday, at the end of my shift, I was helping my DA do our dishes from the runway in the main galley dish machine (known as Bertha), when our friend Jason from NH walked in the dish-room. It was a strange sight considering we hadn?t expected to see him again until much later in the season when he would be passing through McMurdo on his way back from Pole. It was an even stranger sight when he smiled showing part of one of his front teeth missing; clearing up any question as to why he had come back to MacTown. Apparently he was hit by a falling scientific instrument while fixing doors a South Pole Station. Luckily for him, he did it on the job and was flown immediately here where the dentist put a cap on it and he is already back at Pole fixing doors. Welcome to the club, Jason.
As I had an appointment to see the same (and only) dentist today, I was encouraged to see the good work he had done on Jason?s tooth. I needed to have a bad filling on a molar removed and replaced. As I was waiting for the Novocain to take effect the dentist and I struck up a conversation. He had his own practice for 24 years when he decided to give it up and sail across the pacific. I asked him if he had ever done any sailing in Maine. ?You from Maine?? he asked, ?the PA I am training for winter-over is from Maine. I should get her in here to watch?. So, my filling replacement turned into a lesson on how-not to do a filling and how to correct a bad one. My dentist office visits always end up being the most bizarre experiences!
The most bizarre part was yet to come. I actually knew the PA from Maine! When she came in the room, I didn?t recognize her at first sight because she was upside down. When I asked where in Maine she was from and she replied, ?Vinalhaven? I had to sit up in the chair and look at her right-side up. ?How is it your from Vinalhaven and I don?t know you?, I asked, vaguely beginning to recognize her. She said ?unless you have been to the Clinic on the Island, you might not?. As soon as she said she worked at the Clinic I immediately remembered. ?You put the stitches in my chin!? Strange re-meeting, worlds away!
In other news: there are 4 Italians here working on a month-long geomagnetism project. They are doing flights over Mt. Erebus measuring the magnetic blah blah blah and that?s where my concentration and comprehension begin to drop away. But, it is nice to be able to speak Italian on a regular basis with someone other than Luci. One of their group is actually Spanish but lives in Rome. He spent many seasons working on the 15 men strong Spanish base on the peninsula and was completely blown away by McMurdo. ?I can?t believe that I can walk out the door and it will still be Antarctica outside?, we heard him say. I the rest of them are equally astounded by life in MacTown, I think, all except for the expedition leader who has been here before. It will be fun to have them around and hopefully they will be willing to help get us out of town and into the field with them.
I haven’t been able to get Luci to write. She can’t stop playing Ceasar enough to write in Italian or English. Another week with no new photos. Being cooped up with the crud is not condusive to photography. I am going to try to get some of our work environment for the next posting. Till then…
Luke