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A few more days. Most everyone is in. And the last of the summer folk will be leaving shortly. Then comes our longest period of isolation. The last plane leaves this week and we won’t get the next plane until the end of August. It’s an interesting lifestyle.
mikeMike, how can you call it isolation? you still have the net and its a lot
faster in the winter too, almost bearable. As some would say, we’re here for you.
Lucky.yo lucky!
it’s marsha the janitor! I wish I would have wintered! hey to Mike & Lori too…to you newbies, this website is HOW I got to the ice this past summer…all I can say is keep taking action to get a job…any job! Don’t get discouraged.
Hey, Marsha
You made it back online ok I see. Enjoy the summer in the States. It’s incredibly beautiful down here. The ice in front of McM is full of seals. I don’t know where they came from, but for some reason they like it here. I got up at 5am to go running and it was more dark than light. It won’t be long till it’s dark going to work. The mountains across the sound are turning pink every morning. I can’t say enough.
Deb Morris and I brought 3 groups of people out to the pegasus airplane last weekend. I’m starting the trips right on time. The next one will be at the full moon on the 26th.
take care and see you in 6 months.
mikeWill I’m sitting here in Baghdad, in a Army camp called camp Cuervo, don’t let the name fool you, there is no Cuervo of any kind here. No Beer, wine, women, just a song are two. This is Isolation. Looking at the antarctic project, wish I could make the job fair this year. Can any body tell me what a mechanic make’s there, with Raytheon? Tike bar sounds good.
I can’t tell you exact pay scales and to the best of my knowledge there are no mechanics that are active on this website. I can say that the job scale is broken down by skill level. There are GA’s that would be the lowest paid. They would clean the shop and help the mechanics when needed. Next would be PM Mechanics who would do the pms, oil changes etc. Their skill level needs to be higher in that they need to be able to spot problems during a pm. They would fix the easy ones themselves or pass on the problem to the next level.
Next would be light mechanics. They would be working on the passenger vehicle fleet.
The top would be Heavy mechanics and would be responsible for all the heavy equipment. bulldozers etc.
Any level could be asked to do anything. It’s not uncommon for lights to be working on easy jobs on the heavy equipment.
I know that this isn’t an answer to your question but maybe it’s a start if you contact Raytheon.
mikethanks for the infro. mike, Headed home next week from a month are so, My mechanic’s and I will try to contact Raytheon on pay. What do you think is the best camp to work at there, I mean if you had a choice. G-man
>From: “Antarctic memories”
>Reply-To: “Antarctic memories”
>To: “Antarctic memories”
>Subject: Re: McMurdo closed???
>Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 15:38:41 -0800
>
Mcmurdo is the most likely place to get hired. It’s a sprawling metropolis compared to the other stations. I used to think I would enjoy the Pole. These days I’ve decided I like the creature comforts of McM. There is also a lot to do. We have numerous hiking and ski trails, and the Recreation department works full time at keeping us entertained. Temps range from around freezing in the summer to 20 to 40 below in mid-winter.
Polies are generally adament that the pole is the best station of all. It’s smaller and more personal, but you are roughing it a little more. It’s also very cold.
Probably the best is Palmer. I’ve never been there, but I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love it. Palmer is on the penninsula and is much warmer than the other two stations. The water is ice free most of the year so supply boats can get in quite easy. There is also a lot of wildlife to see. It’s a lot warmer and I hear it even rains there.
Bottom line here. Everyone has an opinion. Each station is unique in its own way and depending on who you talk to any of the three stations is the best.
mikeWell housing brings up another subject. That of turnover. Housing in general is a great place to work. Especially if you are a janitor. It’s downfall is the pay. It’s pretty much at the bottom of the scale. But even with the low pay there are a number of people who just enjoy the freedom of being able to wander around town keeping your zone in order. Housing is however one of those areas with a lot of turnover and with any company anywhere, everytime you turn over your workforce you bring in a lot of variables. Even moreso if the management turns over.
My particular view and it’s only my view is that whenever we have new management people come in that have never been to the ice before, the first thing they notice is how crazy things work down here. The experienced ones relax, chill out and try to learn why things are the way they are before making any changes. The inexperienced ones impulse is to change things to bring their workplace more in line with what they would consider normal back home. It takes awhile to understand the complexities of weather, supply, personalities and interactions with departments of people that have been here for years. Sooner or later there comes a balance, but the intervening adjustment can be hard on everyone.
If you end up with a boss that has never been to the ice, bear with it. They are having a much harder time with things than you could ever imagine. 90 percent of them will be different people after 90 days.No matter how hard it is to do, for the most part if you try to make them look good in their adjustment period, you are going to look even better.
mike
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