More stuff

And there was quite a hiatus between the former and the following:
On the 8th the sky was clear, the wind was good and the kites were grounded for one simple reason-the string had not yet arrived from NZ. *sigh* So now we're going to try for next Tuesday night-because I suspect that the package came in on today's cargo flight.
Several of the galley staff have taken to hanging around the dining room between 12:30 and 1:30-2ish in the AM., and it's been very refreshing to sit around discussing literature, space flight, helicopters, tall ships and stupid math jokes. Most kitchen crews are quite anti-intellctual-that is if they speak English enough to discuss anything with me.
Even though I've been unable to hang out with actual "scientists" this season I've still met some very bright people. Of course, all of the cute male ones are under 30. *sigh* Mind you, my next door neighbor is a cute young(er) thing-and he's great fun hang around with-nudge nudge, wink wink. My being assigned a roommate put a certain crimp in our plans, but he had to hit the Pole to fix their generators-which had suffered a Rube Goldbergian series of errors leading to smoke, sparks and steaming glycol spraying into the #3 generator. This is not good for the equipment. Parts have been ordered, and when the repairs are all finished, and he's back from another stint South I'll be solo again, as the current roommate is leaving on the 23rd of January. Yee Haa! I do wish I could manage to get some time at the Pole but it doesn't look likely this season.
It is now a bit late to be mailing things here. So thanks for all of the great books and other pressies, but keep them for the time being or mail them to me at home. I'm planning on two weeks in NZ playing tourist before hitting the States-if anyone has any fun ideas let me know. Also if you know of cheap places to stay in Barcelona that might have kitchens.
I promise I will get some more pictures posted soon-I've even got some of people, which I noticed I was lacking.
The end of the season appears every closer, drat! Some folks are quite anxious to be off the Ice, but I'd just as soon stay- except of course that I wouldn't want to make my kitties foster children forever. And I do miss the friends and family, too.
The icebreakers have both arrived on Station, and there is open water visible from Town. This has led to large flocks of penguins hanging around Hut Point-one of my favorite pics posted here on the intranet is of about a dozen penguins and the same number of people with cameras clicking away. For the most part the penguins ignore the people, which can lead to amusing encounters. Soon the seals will appears as large, furry boulders scattered about. It's only when they move that you can get startled by their size.
Now I have to decide how much I want to come back, and for how long.