Winter-over

[irishmike]

Hi I have just been offered a winter over position at McMurdo Fire Dept (pending medical).
Any advice on what to bring etc greatly appreciated.
Any Firefighters on this forum?
Mike

[thepooles98]

First piece of advice is to mail goodies now. It may possibly be too late at this point to get things down by end of season. To speed things along send in small priority one packages. It’s easier to load small packages than big ones.

For the girls, send down nice things to pamper yourself. Lotions, some nice clothing etc, go a long way.

For guys, at least a little bit of dressy items. Mostly the same reasons.

If you are planning on taking photos, you will do best with a camera that will take 15 second or even much longer time exposures. At 30 seconds you can get reasonable photos of auroras. You will treasure the photos for life. A small tripod is a must as well.

You can live with the cold weather clothing provided, but nice warm things to wear after work are nice.
Mike

[trmcc27]

Hello everyone. Hey there Irish Mike. I too will be heading down as a member of the fire department. That is if I pass the psych! I want to know if you can receive any mail over the winter. I want to give people my address to send down goodies but imagine that it will be impossible over the winter. what dates should I tell people to send stuff? Are there any prohibited items…besides the obvious. What about phone usage? Should we buy phone cards now? If so any pointers on the best deals. What kinds of items are absolutely necessary? I heard there is a greenhouse. Can we bring seeds and grow fresh vegetables? I am really trying to get everything together in short order so any advice will be welcomed. I for one am very excited about hitting the ICE. That will probably wear off in a month or so….so please humor me!

[AntarcticChong]

After last flight there will be nothing brought to MCM or Pole. Last flight is somewhere around Last week in Feb depending on the season. Don’t know what it is this year or if they are doing extended season this year. Most likely too late to mail anything now. Take all your goodies with you. Be careful of the seeds you take, lol. Don’t know if you can take any seeds through NZ customs. Get a good phone card that can be refilled over the internet. Remember calls to Denver are local calls. Last I heard SKYPE was banned.

[trmcc27]

Thanks for the good advice. do you think that I would be able to get stuff during the Winfly. Friends want to send me stuff, can they do that in say June or so and will I then get it when the flights come in august? That will give me several of the last months with some fresh stuff. I sknow this is last minuet but I did not get my offer untill three weeks ago. It has been a flurry of activity just trying to tie up the loose ends. I am sure you are familure with that. I am not the most organized guy in the world either….that does not help matters. Any information is much appreciated!

Thanks all,

Terence @AntarcticChong wrote:

After last flight there will be nothing brought to MCM or Pole. Last flight is somewhere around Last week in Feb depending on the season. Don’t know what it is this year or if they are doing extended season this year. Most likely too late to mail anything now. Take all your goodies with you. Be careful of the seeds you take, lol. Don’t know if you can take any seeds through NZ customs. Get a good phone card that can be refilled over the internet. Remember calls to Denver are local calls. Last I heard SKYPE was banned.

[m0loch]

@trmcc27 wrote:

Thanks for the good advice. do you think that I would be able to get stuff during the Winfly. Friends want to send me stuff, can they do that in say June or so and will I then get it when the flights come in august? That will give me several of the last months with some fresh stuff. I sknow this is last minuet but I did not get my offer untill three weeks ago. It has been a flurry of activity just trying to tie up the loose ends. I am sure you are familure with that. I am not the most organized guy in the world either….that does not help matters. Any information is much appreciated!

I wouldn’t count on WINFLY even happening and if it does you can bet that your “fresh stuff” won’t be priority cargo and certainly won’t be very fresh if mailed in June. Even if a traditional winfly does happen AND your packages make it during that time you won’t see it until August the reality is that whatever is mailed to you won’t make it until October – right about the time you will be wanting to pack things up and lighten your load for travel.

[thepooles98]

Mail everything NOW
Mail in smaller packages. Priority gets here first.
Make sure it is clearly labeled “winterover”
They make an effort to get as much as possible down before the close of flights.
This year the last big cargo flight down is around the 19th or so of Feb, so you have 3-4 weeks to hope for the best.
Generally at winfly they again make a push to get the winterover mail down.

In the way of things this year—Winfly is going to be science heavy this year with big projects. Science material gets priority on flights over mail. In other words mail gets bumped before science gear.

Do not plan on growing anything here. It is against the treaty to introduce foreign species. The only place things can be grown are the greenhouse, which has a permit. It is hydroponic and all waste water and nutrients get shipped to the states for disposal.

[trmcc27]

guys!Can you tell me what the address is? I will write winterover on the packages and take a shot. I will only send stuff I could live without just in case. I really appreciate all the advice @thepooles98 wrote:

Mail everything NOW
Mail in smaller packages. Priority gets here first.
Make sure it is clearly labeled “winterover”
They make an effort to get as much as possible down before the close of flights.
This year the last big cargo flight down is around the 19th or so of Feb, so you have 3-4 weeks to hope for the best.
Generally at winfly they again make a push to get the winterover mail down.

In the way of things this year—Winfly is going to be science heavy this year with big projects. Science material gets priority on flights over mail. In other words mail gets bumped before science gear.

Do not plan on growing anything here. It is against the treaty to introduce foreign species. The only place things can be grown are the greenhouse, which has a permit. It is hydroponic and all waste water and nutrients get shipped to the states for disposal.

[trmcc27]

Sorry that post came out wrong…the Guys! part was supposed to be at the end of the sentence not at the beginning. Must have hit the wrong key, typing too fast. It makes me look like a spaz the way it came out.

[m0loch]

your name
RPSC
PSC 469 Box 700
McMurdo Station
APO, AP 96599

[trmcc27]

Thanks you very much! @m0loch wrote:

your name
RPSC
PSC 469 Box 700
McMurdo Station
APO, AP 96599

[irishmike]

OK looks like I’m there Fri 13th … Lucky or what..
Good thing I’m Irish an not superstitious eh (Jim beam spelling)
Any last minute advice greatly appreciated.
the little things for dorm living etc

just to make things clear I am the New Zealand firefighter who is actually Irish working at the American McMurdo Fire Dept…..
Didley dee potatoe
Mike..

[Sciencetech]

Congrats!

@irishmike wrote:

Any last minute advice greatly appreciated.

Go with the flow. (Kiwis generally don’t seem to have a problem with that. Irish… well, give it a go. 😀 )

Maybe take your own pillow, favorite fluffy towel, or a small string of Christmas lights (remember they use 110/60hz and Amercian-style outlets). Extra rechargeable camera batteries. Noise canceling headphones are nice for the flight. Maybe a hard drive to store and share music files and photographs.

glenn

[Author]

Posts