Body World Exhibit

I took my little sister (from the Big Brother/Sister organization) to the Body World exhibit at the California Science Center. She wants to be a plastic surgeon so I figured this would be good to see if she could handle the gore. She could, I couldn't. This exhibit is in it's 3rd or 4th iteration and has been going around the country in different venues and with different bodies for about 4 years. I've missed all the other exhibits but wanted to ensure I got to this one. All I can say is, Wow!

I'm not sure how you could come out of this exhibit not affected in some way. I found it definitely life changing. Let me explain the premise of the exhibit. All of the exhibits are real. Real organs, real people, real everything. These people have donated their bodies to science and their bodies were basically injected with some sort of plastic in a process called plastination. It's bizarre but really cool. The picture is of a fellow holding his own skin. This was the end of the exhibit and was about all I could take as it was the grossest.

30 Days

Today is my 30th day at my new job and I have to say that I'm truly enjoying it. The people are still nice, the job is still fun and probably will remain exciting. It's a very fast and hectic pace where I look up one minute and it's 9 am and look up the next and it's noon.

I'm learning to view life from the other side. Before I was with the manufacturer where I supply goods and services to companies like the one I'm working for now. Now, not only am I in the end user roll but also in a support roll. My work is not core to the business, I'm just supporting our core business, construction. It puts a different perspective on things and I'm wondering if the job is not actually more vital to the overall productivity of the company. Well, whatever the importance, it's immaterial. I have a job I enjoy and I'm not on an airplane all the time. The above photo is the Century condo towers we are building. On Avenue of the Stars in Century City it is will be well over 400' tall and will take 2 years to build at a rate of concrete poring of a floor every 5 days.

Karma and the Dog

My days at work now always have some bizarre sight or event in them. I work downtown and there is always something going on. An immigration march, TV show filming with gunshots, crazy homeless people, and the list goes on and on.

Yesterday and today were our big Los Angeles cell phone roll out. Lots of work in a small amount of time. I got a call to run over a couple spare phones to the Hollywood and Vine project and as I was running about the office I notice two women in the conference room and a dog. I go back towards my cube and make some snarky remark about people bring their dogs everywhere. You know where this is going right? Well, come on, give me a break, in Los Angeles dogs are like accessories and people bring them shopping and out to meals, it's just ridiculous.

So the fellow that sits next to me says, "the dog has special abilities". Well, then it dawned on me. Duh. As I made my way towards the elevator feeling like an idiot the woman and her dog were waiting there too. She said, "oh, you're the new IT person". One thing led to another and it turns out she is working at the Hollywood and Vine location. I offered her and her dog a ride. She had taken the train over. She's a very nice person and the dog is a "puppy in training". She has him for 18 months and trains him on obedience, he has to go with her everywhere for socializing. It's a volunteer thing.

The dog was very well behaved in the car and sat quietly on the seat. She has to train him that while he's wearing the green seeing eye dog shirt, he's working and cannot play or anything. She says once he gets the shirt off he goes nuts. As we let him out of the car a quick 20 minutes later I notice that the light grey colored back seat of my new Highlander is covered in black dog hair. I almost screamed but surpressed it. I thought, well, this is karma. Half a roll of duct tape later and the truck was clean.

The Slug Wars

I've planted all sorts of vegetables this year. I've been so excited watching my little seedlings start to grow. Each morning and night I'm out there watering and examining each little plant with great hopes and expectations. Hope is a pretty cool thing isn't it? We hope about all sorts of things. We hope we'll win the lottery, we hope dinner will turn out well and I hope that my tomato plants will survive and thrive.

My hopes are starting to wane as my tomato and broccoli leaves have holes in them. Lately I've been coming outside in the morning and I see these little slime trails all over the place, mostly leading to my veggie planters. Slugs. I'm told these are slug trails. My first introduction to slugs was many years ago when on the show Survivor the contestants were eating them. How absolutely disgusting. What the hell was I to do about slugs? They come at night and are gone by morning.

I tried these slug pellets. I came out each morning with great hope that the slug trails would be gone. Instead I see slug trails going around the pellets. Smart little buggers. They were on to me. Then my friend told me about this age old trick of filling a tuna can with beer, leaving it out, the snails crawl in, get drunk and can't stagger out. Cool I thought. But where am I to get a tuna can? I don't eat canned tuna. I tried the terra cotta planter bases. That didn't work, they are porous. The beer just soaked into the base. Don't tell Dena this, but I tried some Tupperware ops. Too shallow, they apparently crawled out before drowning in their drunken stupors. Finally my friend brought me one empty tuna can. I filled it and went to bed with hope. That morning I awoke early to check the can. Wow! Slug trails leading directly to the can and a couple drunk, dead slugs. YAY! It works. I wish I had more cans. Any of you that live locally, please save your tuna cans for the wars.

I also tried some of this English slug killer powder. That works really well, too. The morning check revealed slug trails through the powder and then death. The carnage in the backyard can be gruesome on some mornings but the battle continues. I'm not sure who is winning but I'm pretty sure it's not me.

A Crappy Day.....

Actually it was a good day for awhile there until I left the office and during some huge brain fart I forgot my laptop at work. Wierd and terribly inconvenient. Thank goodness for my treo with all my email on it. Then I finally got home and decided to be proactive and make a run to the drycleaner then go to the gym.

I park at the dry cleaner, get out of the car and in front of me was an odd sight. A homeless fellow, sitting on a milk crate talking to someone named Little Freddy on walkie talkie. Now granted, I'm not sure Little Freddy was talking back, but nonetheless it was an odd sight. I beebop into the dry cleaners, drop off my stuff and on the way back to the car this black fellow comes out of the liquor store next door. He's grabbing his crotch and yapping on his cell phone. Something about having lots of 'ho's and he could get this guy any number of 'ho's. As I fumbled to unlock the door, wondering what kind of neighborhood I live next to, I noticed the homeless guy still talking on his walkie talkie and sipping an olde english 800 brewski out of a straw. Just then it hit me, literally......I felt and heard wet splats all over. What the...!!!! For a nanosecond I thought the homeless guy had thrown his beer at me but another nanosecond later I realized it had come from above.

You see, I had parked under a billboard. Pigeons sit on billboards. I stood there, incredulous for a moment looking all around me and feeling what I now know is birdshit on my head and shoulders. The homeless guy is looking at me and I think, there's some sort of irony here but I'm missing it. Just then, SPLAT, SPLAT, SPLAT, another bombardment from above. In reality, the spacing between bombardments was really only a matter of a couple seconds. I think I escaped unscathed from that blast and jumped in the car. I sat there for a second and all of a sudden I felt like crying as the birdshit is starting to run down my sunglasses.

Having to Work for a Living

My sister said to me the other day......."Dawn, Now you're a TGIFer like the rest of us." That couldn't be more true. I lay out my clothes every night and get up early, get dressed and go to work. No more working in my slippers and jammies. So sad...... Do I miss it? Not really. I worked from home (or from an airplane/hotel room) for 12 years and it wears on you. When you find yourself engaging the drycleaner in mindless conversation you know you are starved for human face to face contact. I was even finding myself slipping into a bit of a depression from that lack of facetime.

But on the bright side, I'm happy as a clam. Today I walked around downtown Los Angeles in my Ralph Lauren 3/4 sleeve shirt just looking like a little executive. With my 21st floor access card and parking pass in my pocket I felt like a million bucks. Every jobsite I go to is thrilled to see me. Everyone is so friendly. Today I got my hard hat and safety vest. I should take a picture of me wearing them and post it on the blog, eh. I'm doing challenging work, there is no end in site to the to do list, my new vehicle should be here next week, and I couldn't be happier. I'm almost too busy to blog!

I'll try to put some more interesting stuff up here soon. Sorry about all the boring shit but as you can imagine my life has been one big emotional roller coaster lately.

Some Nights Are Not Like All Other Nights....

Tonight is Passover, a traditionally Jewish holiday celebrated by having a Seder in one's home on the first and 2nd night. The reason I say traditionally Jewish is that nowadays many non-Jewish people attend Seders and some Churches are having them too. There are many traditions and specific moments to having a passover Seder. One is the asking of the four questions, normally by the youngest child able to recite them. One of the four questions is "Why is this night different from all other nights?" This is to highlight that this meal is different in many ways from other meals eaten throughout the year.

Well this year will be different at our house for sure. We normally have a large Seder sometimes as many as 22 people. We rent tables, chairs, napkins and tablecloths and Dena cooks for days. Usually by the time people start showing up we are so exhausted its all we can do to run the Seder. Tonight we will have only 8, oops, 7, one cancelled. Dena's parents aren't coming because of her dad's shoulder surgery so we decided to keep it small. It's 5:00p the night of the Seder and I actually have time to blog. Amazing. We're usually stressed out too. Not this year. It's kind of nice being all calm and relaxed. I love it!

The traditional passover meal consists of celery dipped in salt water to signify tears, maror a mixture of nuts and dried fruits to signify mortar, matzah (unleavened bread), four cups of wine (my favourite), beef brisket (I think the brisket is a family tradition), matzah ball soup, hard boiled egg (I think this one is for the circle of life), gefilte fish (yuck), horseradish, and some token vegetable. I LOVE seders. They have lots of yummy food and I just love the tradition.

Happy Pesach to all.

First Day on New Job

Well, I know it's Wednesday night but it's been a whirlwind couple days and I wanted to write about my new job. It's actually been quite exciting and a lot of fun but brain draining. It's basically like sticking a fire hose in my mouth and turning the water on full blast and trying to not dribble a drop. Impossible. Just a lot of information to take in but I'm getting there.

Most importantly the people seem quite nice and I look good in my new Brooks Brother "never iron" shirts. If you don't have these and need a couple nice shirts but don't want to pay for dry cleaning your wrinkled cheapie Gap shirts, then these are for you. They are nicely tailored and well made. I even received a couple compliments from some of the gals in the office on my pink one today. Yes people, I bought a pink solid shirt. My mother would be proud. On the way to the shopping mall I happened to be talking to her and she said, "don't buy all dark colors dear." Imagine that, pink looks damn good with black pants!

Oh, and guess what! It's all the sodas/water/beverages you can drink, for free, stocked fridge with yogurt and other things, fresh fruit delivery every week and lots of snacks too. I'm in heaven. I need to munch on something every couple hours to keep the brain power going so this is going to work out nicely. It's the little things! Well, gee, I guess there was more to tell than I thought, so I'll have to write more tomorrow.

This Blog and I

Have been through a lot. I've shared my thoughts and my life with all of you since 2004. Seems like a long time, eh. I've blogged about our bathroom remodel, the drunk plumber, my grandmother's passing, Hawaii, our road trip to Santa Fe, Antarctica and the list goes on and on. Every year I increase the number of posts year over year and frankly I find blogging to be somewhat therapeutic. Blogging after all is named after "web log" which in essence is a diary.

Today, my last day as an employee of Mitel ends one chapter in my life and begins another. While for reasons that should be obvious to you I did not blog about the interview and hiring process but I do plan on blogging about the new job. I've cleaned out Big Red. My Dodge Magnum company car. Do all of you know why it's called Big Red? Two friends of mine (gay fellows) upon first seeing my new car exclaimed that it looked like a Big Red Penis. Hence the nickname was born. Do I mind riding around in something that was called a big red penis, nah....to me, it's just Big Red.

So, on the kitchen floor sits a box filled with all the paraphernalia that is a necessity in Southern California for a vehicle. After all, we spend a lot of time in them around here. The saddest part is Yoda, sitting quietly on the kitchen counter looking out the window at Big Red. Yoda is my talisman of sorts, a gift from a good friend, that hangs on the rear view mirror. I know Yoda is sad to see Big Red go, but soon a new vehicle will be there and Yoda will be guiding it through the highways and byways on it's new adventures.

Gasoline Can't Reach 4 Dollars a Gallon

The look of shock on President George W. Bush's face when recently asked the question of when he thought gasoline prices would hit $ 4 a gallon was priceless. Since he hasn't bought gas for eight years how would he even know what the price of gas was? And how would he be able to comprehend how every nickel that gas rises affects peoples' ability to afford other staples, like food and rent. Even if he wasn't the dumbest president in history, politicians in general just cannot understand how diesel being $ 4.49 a gallon ripples across every aspect of regular people's lives. One of my recent favorite Bush moments is his shock on video at $ 4 a gallon, check out the video clip here.

These are pictures I took of just 3 gas stations during my drive around town the other day. What isn't in the picture is even worse, the price of diesel. The average price of diesel I see around town this week is about $ 4.49. Wow. That's a lot of money. When shopping for my new company car the salespeople I had the displeasure of speaking to said that they have people coming in with suburbans, Durangos, Range Rovers, etc and trading them in for Prius's, Corollas, etc. The cycle continues....where will it go next?

One of the hardest things I've ever done

I tossed and turned most of the night. I knew the day had arrived to do one of the hardest things I've ever done and do it for the first time, ever. It was with mixed feelings that I approached the phone this morning to make the phone call to my boss to give my two weeks notice. I like my boss. I like his boss. I like all the managers that I'm directly involved with at Mitel. It feels like we're a family. We've been through quite a bit together over the last decade. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger and brings you closer. That's what has happened to the group of people left at Mitel, we've become a close knit group and my heart was very heavy.


I haven't been able to blog about any of the goings on regarding changing jobs until today. I am excited to be moving to a new growing company where I know I will make great contributions and continue to grow and learn. I'm thrilled to have a slew of new challenges ahead of me but I'm also sad to be leaving Mitel where we all kind of grew up together. We all learned VoIP from the ground up, lived through dozens of layoffs and years of hard times but sometimes opportunity knocks and you must answer. I decided to answer the door and I liked what was on the other side.


I hope that all my Mitel colleagues wish me well and know that I will miss each and every one of them.

Some Things Just Take Time....

Riding up the hill on the silent electric train I am hit with the thought that this is going to be a good day. We step out onto the platform and the Getty looms before us in all it's majesty. I love this place and was thrilled to be sharing it with my Little Sister. I was not disappointed in her reaction, actually, quite the opposite. Exclamations of glee, awe and "cool!" were just the beginning of the day. We literally bounced around the Getty exploring the fossils in the building facade stone, listening to flute music and marvelling at the outdoor sculptures.

As I walk down the ramp towards the Getty garden my senses are awakened. I breathe in the pungent smell of damp turned earth and the delicate aroma of flowers. My eyes sparkle as they bounce around taking in all the color and architectural lines built into the garden. My ears perk up as they hear the running of the waterfall, the bubbling of the brook and the chirp of the baby birds. My Little Sister and I look for birds nests and she asks what each plant is. I was surprised at how much I remember. We reluctantly left the garden and moved to the paintings. I showed her Van Gogh and Monet, my favorite painting and my mom's favorite painting. She picked hers. We talk about art and how subjective it is but both agree that the California Video exhibit is not really art. Dena would be appalled that I called something "not art". There was one video of a guy hurting himself in an all white room and the "art" was the markings on the walls where he hit his helmeted head and where the blood spattered. This is just stupidity, not art.

Since I picked my little sister up this morning we've enjoyed an easy flowing conversation as if between two sisters, one older and one younger. This is what I envisioned when I joined the program. My day got even better as we sat eating our lunch and I asked the usual adult question, "how is school going?" I was surprised to hear that her algebra grade jumped from a B to an A+ and she talked about how the "Algebra for Dummies" book that I gave her was quite a big help and how she leaves it with the teacher in the classroom and that she consults it when she is confused about a concept. She hadn't mentioned the book since I gave it to her at Christmas and nor had I. It was nice to see it was helpful.

Wilkins Ice Shelf

First I wanted to apologize for being absent from my blog for so long. I've been sick with some sort of low grade cold or something. It has been making me lethargic and all around miserable. But, today is the first day I've felt a little better, but now I have my period. Lovely.....

Second, I wanted to comment on the news articles yesterday regarding the Antarctica Wilkins Ice Shelf collapse. I'm not sure if you have all heard about it but a large chunk of an ice shelf collapsed falling into the ocean. It's about the size of Conneticut. Scientists had predicted that with the increase in temperature in the region and the planet in general this ice shelf would begin to disintegrate in about 15 years. They were wrong. It's starting now. Sort of depressing.

So let me educate you. In 2002 we all heard about the breakup of the Larsen Ice Shelf. This was dramatic and helped catapult global warming into the forefront of discussions. A live animation that NASA put together is here. The total break up was about 2100 square miles of ice. That is HUGE. As you can see by the picture I've embedded the Wilkins Ice shelf is further south than the Larsens Shelf. It is actually 4 degrees latitude south of the Antarctica Circle. Not good news. Here is a video shot by researchers flying over the breakup. Please excuse the sappy music and commercial at the beginning of the video. What are you going to do, eh? Somebody has to pay for this stuff..... The total breakup of this is still unknown as it will continue for weeks and possibly years to come. Perhaps there is a small bit of good news in that winter is coming shortly to this region and will hopefully stop the collapse for now.

Graphic, Do Not Read if you're Squeamish!

OK, so now you really want to read it right? Well, don't. It contains graphic virtual images of bodily functions......that's called writing and imagination for you Internet video media whores. Yes, your mind's eye.

So I have had a very, very shitty day. It started out innocuously enough with a trip to the Holiday Inn Express gym (quite a nice gym actually), a conference call and back to the customer's site in San Jose. Somewhere along the line it got bad, then worse. My server was working perfectly yesterday but as the day progressed it moved from one or two minor problems to 4 or 5 major issues and one server refusing to come up. Nice, eh. Lunch was going to be a good break. We ate in the Santa Clara County cafeteria and today was Thai day. The food looked pretty good, sweet and sour chicken. It was fairly tasty. By the end of the day my tech and I were both running to the bathroom every other minute.

Ok, here comes the graphic part. You ever have to go to the bathroom so bad that you have to walk funny into the room? You are squeezing your cheeks tightly so nothing leaks out. And you duck walk into the bathroom with the hope that no one is there. Wrong. There is someone in there and as if it couldn't get worse, it just did. She is brushing her teeth. So I go into the furthest stall in the grand hopes of masking the volcano that is coming. And I'm sitting there, holding on, hoping she will leave. She doesn't. I hear the horrible sound of dental floss being pulled from the package. OMG. What am I going to do? Ah, of course, the old flush and go trick. Just as I'm ready to do it the door to the stall rattles and I see feet. What? Are you kidding? There are 10 empty stalls in this bathroom and you pick mine? At this point there is no controlling the whole fiasco. I continuously pull toilet paper on the squeakiest roller in the building and just try to get the hell out of there. As I exit the stall to wash up there is the flosser. Still flossing. I silently tell her to go floss somewhere else and escape as quickly as possible.

Tonight, I thought, wow, what a crap ass day both figuratively and literally, I think I'll go out and have a glass of wine and a nice meal. I went to this Italian joint that the hotel recommended, Vito's. I had to wait longer than other patrons who came in after me and to top it all off the Chicken Piccata sucked. Piccatta sauce has lemon, capers and white wine, not CREAM. Idiots. And, the chicken was tough and not all that thin. Picatta chicken needs to be thin!!

So that was my day....I hope you enjoyed it as much as I didn't. If I made you laugh, I'm happy. Misery loves company and we might as well be laughing.

PMS and the Real You

Every month it's the same thing.....sometimes it lasts a day or two, sometimes 10 days but mostly about a week. The pre-menstrual syndrome is what I'm talking about. For decades doctors and men in general (and even women to some degree) have thought that women were crazy and that these feelings were all in their heads. What feelings am I talking about? PMS affects psychological, gastrointestinal, skin problems (most commonly acne), fluid retention, back pain, host flashes, and frankly the list goes on and on and on......
The most important I believe are the psychological symptoms. As you can see by the list below, these symptoms can be devastating to ones daily life. At any moment in the last few days I've probably had about 10 of these. Each month the ride called PMS changes, it's either better or worse than the previous month.

psychological symptoms are:
irritability
nervousness
lack of control
agitation
anger
insomnia
difficulty in concentrating
lethargy
depression
severe fatigue
anxiety
confusion
forgetfulness
decreased self-image
paranoia
emotional hypersensitivity
crying spells
moodiness
sleep disturbances

What can you/we do to decrease these symptoms? Basically it's the same old adage that everyone touts. Decrease sugar and artificial sweeteners to close to zero. NO WHITE FOODS. So, no sugar, no white flour, whole wheat only. NO CAFFEINE. Doesn't this sound fun?
Vitamin supplements also help, I am living proof of that.....here are some recommendations:

Vitamin E: 400 miu/day
Vitamin B6: 50 - 100 mg/day
Calcium Citrate: 1,000 mg/day
Magnesium Oxide: 500 mg/day
Evening Primrose Oil: 2 - 6 capsules/day

But most importantly, you should try to exercise 30 - 40 minutes 3 -5 times weekly.
So I'm going to go about my paranoid delusional day with my head hung low because no one could want or need anyone as stupid as me.......Isn't it fun being a woman????

Do you really want this application?

In the IT or computer world it's all about the applications. From Facebook on a social networking level to ERP and CRM on a business level, it's all about what applications might you want, need or be turned on by. What can we sell you? Software. It's all about software.

I stumbled upon a very scary piece of software call MyLoki. This application downloads into your browser toolbar or adds as an application on facebook and when you log on with your laptop to a WiFi spot wherever you are, it triangulates your exact location, logs and posts it. This posting can be in the form of a personal web page, a facebook map, a map on your blog, and twitter integration is coming soon. You and I both know that with this type of location information you can be tracked anywhere....Do you really want everyone, including your boss, government and everyone in your life to know exactly where you are? I didn't think so. Sounds a little like big brother doesn't it. We are definitely moving in that direction. Now to MyLoki's defense they allow you to turn on/off how exact the location reported is, from exact 100 meters, zip code, city, state, etc. But since that exact information is stored and calculated then you know it's available to whomever deems it necessary.

With the proliferation of social networking sites, video, cell phone, SMS blogging and the like; people (especially teens and 20 somethings) are putting all kinds of personal information up on the Internet for all to see. Employers are now looking at people's myspace and facebook pages as a matter of course for checking your "references". What information are you putting out there?

Makes you think.....

Sweets, desserts and other snacks in South America taste vastly different than they do here. Everything from chocolate bars to cakes/cookies and puddings have so much less sugar there than they do here. I think that just goes to show you that Americans consume way too much sugar and we are highly addicted to it. Every sweet I bought abroad I ended up not eating as it didn't have enough "sweetness" to it. Makes you think.....


If ears and noses are the only things that keep growing after we stop, then if you pick your nose does it make it grow bigger? How do your ears grow bigger? Actually the nose only appears to grow as we age but, it drops, droops and elongates. It seems like there is quite the argument regarding whether the nose actually grows in the scientific community. I know it does because my grandfathers' noses all got larger the older they got. Perhaps alcohol had something to do with that as my Grandma's nose was still wonderful. The ears I have researched also grow larger with age; ` .22 mm per year. Nice. Can't wait for those big ears.

Freeganism. There's a word. What does it mean? Freeganism is an anti-consumerism lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on "limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed."[1] The lifestyle involves salvaging discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters that have passed their sell by date, but are still edible and nutritious. They salvage the food not because they are poor or homeless, but as a political statement.

Did you know that the USA has 5% of the world's population but consumes 30% of the world's resources. Makes you think doesn't it?

25,000 steps and boy am I tired....

We took Jack and Ruby to Disneyland for there 2007 Hanukkah present yesterday. For fun I took my pedometer with me and from wake up to collapse in bed it was just over 25,000 steps. I took an extra pair of shoes to change into half way thru the day and still my feet were sore. Dena and I passed out in bed the minute we got home at around 10:00 pm. That's a lot of steps..... As most of you know there has been a 10,000 daily step movement on for awhile and generally speaking, 2,000 steps is probably a mile for most people. That means I could have walked 12 miles. On one hand, probably not as most of the steps at Disneyland are smaller stride length but on the other hand, frankly, I don't doubt it...... Most sedentary people and office bound workers get an average of 1,000 to 3,000 steps per day. Certainly not sufficient.

We picked the kids up at 6:30 AM which meant we were up at 5:45. It was also the time change of spring forward this weekend so not only were we up at the ungodly hour of 545 but it was really 4:45 due to the time change. The kids were practically vibrating with excitement all day. We've been to Disneyland a lot this year and every trip is different depending on who you go with. Visiting the park with my in their 60's aunts and mom is a very different experience than going with Grace and Sienna (4 and 1 years old) and Jack and Ruby (10 and 12). With my aunts we only went on 2 rides in the entire 2 parks. With Jack and Ruby we went on so many rides my head and stomach are spinning.

One thing is for certain, the sense of wonder and awe in a child's eyes throughout the day is worth the price of admission.

I Feel Inspired

Occassionally I'll visit the "blogs of note" that blogger nominates every week or so. Usually I find them boring and wonder why they are a blog of note, but I look anyway as sometimes I'm surprised. This time I was. Not only surprised, but inspired. I visited this site called Fakeplasticfish (click on link to visit and I scroll down to see her explanation) and found this woman's efforts admirable. Not only were her efforts admirable but I found the entire thing quite educational as well. Then I got to thinking, well, I should really do more. I'm pondering on that but one of the things I'm doing to do "more" is NOT renting a car today at SFO. I've flown into SFO probably 100 times and I always get a car even if it is to drive into downtown San Francisco. It's normally just easier. But this time I'm taking BART.

I think it's only fairly recent (like the last 2 years or so) that BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) finished an extension to/from SFO. This line pops you right into downtown San Francisco. I'm actually kind of excited about the whole prospect of using BART. I wish Los Angeles had a subway system that went somewhere I wanted to go and a station somewhere near me. But alas, it does not. So BART will be dropping me off ~ 3 blocks from my destination. I will walk the 3 blocks.

Talk to you all later......try to do something to save the planet today.
And Happy Birthday to my little Sister!!!!

A depressing day to be sure

I have to fly to SFO tomorrow. It's sort of the first out of town job with my new, old job. I'm back to being a ProServices engineer person that flies all over our not so green earth like a hired gun. It was a sad morning as I had decided to fly my old carrier United. United Airlines and I have spent much time together. In the hey days of the tech boom I was a 1K member flying many, many miles and enjoying lots of perks from the airline but sacrificing any kind of social life.

Now, I haven't really flown for business for about 18 months. I've lost all status, everywhere. I just did online checkin for my SFO flight and I'm in seating area 4. For those of you not familiar with United's designation for seating this has to do with when you get to board the plane. Obviously, first class and global special people are first. Then seating area one which is reserved for anyone with status on United (this used to be me :-( ), then seating area 2, 3 and 4. If you board in seating area 4 you can just forget getting any overhead bin space and you know you must have pretty much the shittiest seat on the entire plane. Basically, as far as United is concerned, you suck, and you're lucky they are even letting you board at all. Matter of fact, I'm surprised if I'm not just thrown into the belly of the plane as excess baggage in the passenger compartment.

A sad day indeed......

Polls

The majority of you voted that the United States is ready for a woman president. 62% Thanks for voting. However, do you think that now? After Obama has been on a tear winning multiple primaries? If the election were held today? Who would you vote for? Vote on the poll on the right.

Thanks + Forks and Butter

Thanks
Well folks, I want to thank all of you for reading the Antarctica posts. My site statistics show over a 200% jump in site visits per day during our vacation. It's nice to see so many new readers and I hope that you will continue to visit my blog to see what's going on. I like to think I can be entertaining and perhaps even insightful even if I'm not in Antarctica......
I'm planning to do some modifications to the blog to hopefully make commenting a little easier. Stayed tuned for that. Dena and I are also working on a slide show of pictures which we'll post to flickr or somewhere for all to view.

Now on to Forks and Butter
I decided to make pancakes for breakfast the other day. Something I don't do very often because of all the carbs, but once in awhile I just get a craving. I make them out of a box though I wish they were as good as my mom's who makes them from scratch. In this day and age doesn't that sound so far out there. Making pancakes from scratch. Like, how do you even do that? But my mom assured me that it was quite simple; just flour, water, an egg and a little salt and sugar. Sugar?! What? There's sugar in pancakes? Watching my mom put sugar in the pancake batter certainly raised my awareness of sugar in pancakes in general. Of course, there would be sugar in the syrup, but the batter? You and I both know that those big conglomerates making our processed pancake batter put a lot more sugar in them than my mom does!

So the pancakes are done and I'm ready to put butter on the tops. Yummmm, spreading butter on a hot pancake. Doesn't the thought of that butter melting and dripping down the sides make your mouth water? So I'm standing there, knife in hand, and this thought hits me upside the head. "Use a fork, you're an adult now, use a fork to spread the butter." Huh? Where did that come from? When I was a kid living at Gram's house we'd have homemade pancakes all the time. My uncles would use their fork (yes, clean....) to slash into the butter and then use it to spread the butter on the pancake. When I tried this at Gram's once I was yelled at. It's not proper form and it's bad manners. So I'm standing there, knife poised and I think, "why not?" Dammit, I am an adult now and if I want to use a fork to spread butter on my damn pancake I will! Besides I thought, it's more efficient. I'm all about efficiency. I will only dirty one utensil instead of two, thus saving time and resources. Yes, using a fork would save the planet. Believe it or not, that's the actual conversation that happened in my head .....so I did.......

And you know what? It's terribly inefficient. The butter wouldn't come out of the tine spaces. It spread in clumps and generally pissed me off. Apparently, my Gramma was right. Imagine that.

Last Antarctica Post

I'm asked constantly how my trip was, was it fantastic? What are the stories? Was it cold? Did you see polar bears? And on and on are the questions. To be honest, the 7th continent defies description. My mind goes blank when I'm asked, how was your trip? To say that it was fantastic, awesome, breathtaking and beautiful is to insult this last bastion of wilderness. It's a landscape and seascape that all at once is colorless but yet so full of vibrant hues of blue and white as to cause you to shield your eyes. A place so devoid of life that it could be called barren, yet so full of life that I could sit for hours on her shores and just observe. To write and think about it swells my heart with joy but yet my eyes tear up.

Humankind's spirit is to explore and conquer. Even as children we need to know what is around the next bend and over the next hill. I suffer greatly from this genetic affliction. Had I been born centuries ago surely I would have been with Columbus, Cook, Magellan and Amundsen. Perhaps, if you believe in that sort of thing, I was one of them. On the National Geographic Endeavor I spent much time on the bridge quizzing the Officer of the Watch of our course, what latitude we were at and how far could we go. I wanted to go further. I needed to know what was behind that island and around that iceberg. The desire burned hot in a place so cold.

There's a saying among the people who live and work on the Ice: The first season you go for the adventure, the second season for the money, and the third because you no longer fit in anywhere else. That seems very apropos. I'll steal this comment from Lucy Jane Bledsoe (writer) that going to Antarctica is like have a love affair with an inappropriate lover. Well, actually, let me improve on her analogy. It's like having a love affair with an exotic woman. A woman who will thrill you one minute and crush you the next. It's an unpredictable place that humankind has yet to conquer but can't help but to keep trying. Perhaps it is my job now to become a steward of this amazing woman and try to help her stay wild and free.

Sunrise in Iceberg Alley and Whale Tail at Sunset

One Dirty Birdy

And Then Reality Slaps You Right in the Face

We survived bizarre airline food on the way down, homemade right out of the goat's teet cheese from Andean farmers, salmon and other fish ceviche in Santiago, Cruise ship food prepared on a ship registered in the Bahamas by a Swedish chef and captained by a German living in St. Louis, locally brewed Ushaihian beer; but we were done in by a sandwich from Starbucks in the Santiago airport. How benign. Dena and I are suffering horribly from food poisoning. We're pretty sure it was the avocado/chicken sandwich we picked up at the airport. The good news is that we made it through the entire trip very healthy. The bad news is that we are unable to fully enjoy our jet lag at home.

Some people poo poo the whole jet lag thing. I can tell you that jet lag is real and it affects you whether the trip was 1 hour or 20 hours long and the length of the effect is directly proportional to the length of the trip. That my friends is reality. My digestive tract has never been the same since our trip in 1997 (god that seems like a long time ago) to Jordan. It was some buffet fish or chicken or god knows what that gave me campylobacter. That was the end of my cast iron stomache. Ever since then any time we travel I get some sort of stomache thing. In East Africa we carried antibiotics with us and that saved me on the 2nd night. Never underestimate the importance of a personal stash of prescription drugs while travelling in 3rd world countries.

Final Days in South America

The Beagle channel lies before us and we are being boarded by our Argentian Pilot who will take us in to port, Ushuaia. We cruised slowly through the channel, Dusky Dolphins and Peale's Dolphins riding our bow waves, Magellanic Penguins swimming about (the 5th species we've seen this trip) and of course, the majestic Albatross seeing us in. Docking in Ushuaia was a little nerve racking, all of us hanging over the gunwales watching the captain back in and parallel park this big ship. We docked in the evening and were allowed to exit the ship for a night of pub crawling. We ventured into the small, active little town and I bought some of the crew drinks. Arlene was the last to stagger home down the dock in the wee hours. That shouldn't surprise any of us.

The next morning we were awakened bright and early by our expedition leader's voice for the last time. We were supposed to have been awake earlier but our alarm didn't go off. After boarding our buses we toured the Ushuaia prison, shopped in town for "end of the world" chocolate (which is very yummy and I didn't bring any home for any of you, just us), and then went up in the slopes of the Andes for a nice lunch (our last in Argentina). As we headed to the airport for our trip to Santiago I could see our ship in the distance. I was saddened to leave her and jealous of whomever was going to get our cabin. That was my cabin and I wasn't all that keen on giving it up.

The next 36 hours are somewhat of a haze. Dinner in Santiago at Azul Profundo (Deep Blue in spanish), overnighting at this crappy airport hotel Diego de Almagro, then two tortuous, long Copa Airline flights ending at 1:30 Monday morning. It's a shame the trip ended on such a low note with a surly flight crew and a two hour wait for the baggage.

Cabo de Hornos - Cape Horn

We actually touched the Antarctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean today. The Captain took us within 4 miles of the Cape. Cape Horn is significant in marine history as it was extremely difficult to round this dangerous craggy piece of continent. The weather is always unpredicatable with waves in excess of 50´developing within minutes. Many sailors have perished trying to round the Horn and they are said to soar above on the silent wings of the Albatross. We were fortunate and had wonderful weather. Sometimes it is a challenge to get this close due to the fact that the Chileans don't like the ships that depart from Ushaiha (Argentina) to enter their territorial waters. Quite political the whole situation. On the point or Cape Horn there is a weather station, the Chilean flag and a monument. On the monument there is a poem:

I am the Albatross that awaits you
At the end of the earth
I am the forgotten soul of dead mariners
Who rounded Cape horn
But they did not perish
In the furious waves
Today they fly on my wings for all eternity
In the ultimate embrace
of the Antarctic wings

Heading North

We have left our last landing point in Antarctica and have began the journey across the Drake Passage to the Horn of South America (cape Horn). Tears well up in my eyes as I look out from the stern of the ship at this land that has touched my heart and soothed my soul. So barren a place, so alive a place I have never seen. Every iceberg holds a new wonder, every landing a new adventure, I can certainly see the draw that kept Shackleton and the rest coming back no matter the hardships. The Drake Passage was just the beginning for their arduous journey, for us, it is the end. They say you can get the polar bug and I believe I have it. I think not of home and the comforts that holds but think only of how I can come back here and when.
Every turn of the propeller sends us further north and Smith Island is off the starboard side of the ship. This is the last land we will see for ~ 2 days. Everything we do is the "last" of our trip. It's the last island we will see in Antarctica, the last whale, the last iceberg, the last sunset, the last........

I´m beginning to get seasick again. I have put on the patch behind my ear and am preparing myself for the side affects it gives me, dry mouth, sleepiness and blurry vision. Lovely, eh

"How hard it will be to become ordinary citizens again"cinemaphotographer, March of the Penguins


Life is not ordinary here, thus having experienced it, we are no longer ordinary citizens.

Dena's Birthday

Dena's birthday was very special for her for a large number of reasons. The morning started out with three humpback whales (which she adores) off the bow of the ship. They surface fed for quite a while allowing us to get some great photos. They were so close at one point that using the zoom was too close. It´s a very neat experience watching such a huge animal. They are quite graceful. It´s a little depressing to think that they were mercilessly slaughtered in the early 1900´s. After our whale watch stop we boogied over to the Enterprise Islands. We had a zodiac ride in the rain/snow and saw an old whaler wrecked on the rocks and the most spectacular iceberg ever. David (our naturalist and zodiac driver du jour) hung over the edge of the zodiac and grabbed a little bergie bit. He let all of us hold it and do our kodak moments. It was quite heavy. A silly thrill but it was fun.


Then off to Hydrurus Rock Island which is a seldom stopped at location as it is not well sheltered and the landing and swells can be quite challenging. The place was spectacular with many fur seals including a blond one which is quite rare. There were multitudes of chinstrap penguins all very close to us and blue eyed shags. Everyone on the island had babies. It´s so much fun just to watch all the drama in these penguin colonies. Our zodiac ride was adventurous both out and in. On the way to shore we had the Captain driving our zodiac. He´d never landed before on Hydrurus Rock so wanted to go check it out. He broke every rule in the book, driving us right up inside a U shaped berg that was partially submerged so we were litterally sitting on top of the iceberg. We then all got to touch it and have another kodak moment. Lots of those as you can imagine. Then he ran us up real close to the fur seals, another no no. But we appreciated all the fun for sure.
The way back to the boat the captain and the expedition leader got into a race and we roared back to the ship in 5 ´ swells with the bow of the zodiac flying all over the place. What a riot!

Dena´s day was topped off in fine fashion as the crew made tonight special. I had reserved a table for 8 and invited some of our newfound friends to join us for the celebration. (Henry and Nancy Geyer Philadelphia, Kathleen and Rachel McIntire Atlanta, Shannon Horner from Montreal, etc) The wine flowed and when it was time for dessert the stewards broke out the guitar and tamborine and sang 3 songs for her, one being Elvis's song, Fool´s Rush In

Verdansky Station

This afternoon we stopped by an old British research facility that has been turned over to the Ukrainians called Verdansky Station. It is quite a large facility and they spend 12 months straight there and then rotate home. Their primary goal is ozone level monitoring and this station was the discoverer of the hole in the ozone. They send ozone reports in every 3 hours. One of their claims to fame is the best bar in the Antarctic and the NG Endeavor often has requests to bring them 50 KG sacks of sugar (used to make vodka). There is quite an attitude of assistance down here as you might imagine. Ships pick up, deliver and drop off all sorts of goods and people. Anyways, back to the bar, awhile back when it was in British hands they had a load of wood that was meant to make a dock of sorts but winter came early and they were unable to complete the task. So, they decided to use the wood to build a bar. It's a fantastic bar, beautifully carved and I'm sure they use it every single night.

Tradition says that guests partake in a shot of vodka followed by a dip of an orange slice in coffee grounds and sugar. It was actually quite tasty. They have a tiny gift shop and a post office as well. If you had your passport (which we didn't) they would stamp it with an Ukranian stamp. Pretty cool. We partook, had a tour of the station and met the scientists and their support people and of course, the bartender. After our tour we took a Zodiac over to the kayak platform and kayaked for a second time. What a blast. A big brown Skua came swooping out of the air and just missed Dena and I's head, then he proceeded to hover over the front of our kayak for a little bit, about 6 inches off the bow. It was really something as these are huge birds. We had a nice time, saw a Weddel Seal and got some much needed exercise. Another lovely afternoon. This evening we will be heading North up the Lemaire Strait for a second pass.

A day in life aboard Endeavor

7am wakeup call this morning. Our expedition leader Matt says in his soothing and calm voice, "Good Morning everyone. There are three humpback whales just off the bow and they are quite active. You may want to join us up on deck for a look". Scramble into clothes and then my parka, change lenses on the camera and run up 4 flights of stairs to the bow. There they are, breaching and blowing. It was a wonderful sight and we stayed on deck for quite awhile. Oh my, it's breakfast time, quick, run down four flights of stairs, deposit parka and then run up three flights of stairs for breakfast. Snarf down breakfast as the Zodiacs are being launched for a landing. Quick, run down four flights of stairs, put on fleece pants and top, waterproof pants, parka, life vest, waterproof boots, touques, hats, waterproof gloves, etc., move all camera gear to waterproof bags, change lenses, again. Run back up a couple flights of stairs and jump into a Zodiac for the ride ashore.

Ashore we marvel at all the penguin goings on and the other wildlife ashore, often attending a walk with a Naturalist. Oops, it's our turn to kayak, get back on the Zodiac for the trip over to the kayak launching platform. Leisurely paddle around looking at icebergs and watching the penguins jumping in and out of the water all around you. I've worked up an appetite, quick it's time to get back to the ship for lunch. Back to the room, remove all the stuff then dash upstairs. Lunch, quick, then a lecture by a naturalist which ends at 2 o'clock. Lisa comes on the ships intercome, we've arrived at our next stop and we'll be boarding in 15 minutes. Quick, run down four flights of stairs and put on fleece pants and top, waterproof pants, parka, life vest, waterproof boots, move all camera gear to waterproof bags, change lenses, again. Run back up a couple flights of stairs and jump into a Zodiac for the ride ashore. Are you tired just reading this. I am. Ashore more marvels and much walking and scrambling over rocks await us. Such a magical place.

Uhoh last boat to the ship is leaving. Quick, jump in. We were quite often the last boatload to leave the landing as we didn't want to miss a thing. Back onboard the Endeavor we'd quickly shower and get all prettied up for tea/cocktails then dinner. We'd often collapse in bed around 11 or midnight from exhaustion. If it wasn't for the morning wakeup call we'd probably sleep right through breakfast. Remember to scroll down as there may be more posts you haven't read for the day......Unfortunately, no pix until perhaps Santiago Chile.....

Petermann Island

We had the opportunity to land at Petermann Island the morning of the 12th. This is the island that we picked up the Oceanites researchers yesterday? Or the day before, I don't know. All the days run into one another, I have no idea what day of the week it is either. The weather had cleared some and the ocean swells were minor so off we went in the Zodiacs. This island is overrun by Adelie penguins. There is also a couple nesting areas for Blue Eyed Shags. These long necked black and white birds look a little like penguins. We walked around the island which was covered in mud, rocks, penguin guano and snow that had red and green algae bloom on it. The island was colorful and smelly. I walked around for several hours, rock hopping and mud slogging. It was great exercise. We ran into a couple fur seals who you have to keep your distance from as they get quite cranky. When they make a whining sound they are agitated. I got a couple great pictures of birds basically flying right over my head, but mostly I just plopped down on a rock and watched penguin colony drama. There is so much drama and it's rather amusing. Adelie's build a rock or pebble nest, carrying many, many rocks from all over to create themselves a nest. This is to keep the wet and cold from their eggs. Adelie's normally have 2 eggs. They will also steal the rocks from one anothers nests. At one point researchers put some painted neon colored rocks out and took a photograph of what nest they ended up in, then they took a picture the next day and they were all in different nests. I guess the phenomen of "the grass is always greener" is not isolated to humans.

This was a very busy island, the Oceanites people were here and now there is a small 25' yacht (they must have a rough time crossing the Drake Passage) that held 3 frenchmen. They were documenting the 100th anniversary of Charcot (French explorer), they were beaming their notes and video to public schools all around France.

Lemaire Channel + more

Feb 11th morning
Our bottom level cabin has some advantages and disadvantages, one advantage is the drone of the engines makes sleeping glorious and deep. We were awakened several times during the night by small icebergs (very small) banging against the hull. Can be a little unsettling to be sure but we are getting used to it. The morning started with a quick run up to the bridge for our passage through the infamous Lemaire Channel. This is a narrow channel with towering dark mountains looming overhead and glaciers flowing down their steep slopes tumbling into the sea. A breathtaking sight.

After we were through the channel we stopped at Petermann Island (well one zodiac did) to pick up 3 Oceanites researchers who had been working on the island for ~ 2 months. I'm sure they were thrilled to see us. We were unable to land and visit the penguin colony due to the severe weather the night before (rain, sleet and snow) which had turned the island into a penguin guano skating rink. So I stayed on the bridge monitoring the sea and witnessed a leopard seal thrashing about a penguin (lunch no doubt), spotted a few humpback whales off the bow and of course, the normal penguin activity in the water. We are now steaming at full speed south to get out of the weather and getting closer to the Antarctic Circle. What an experience that will be if we are able to make it. Keep your fingers crossed.


Arlene's Workout Tip of the Day
On a small cruise ship in rolling seas taking a wide mouth water bottle with you is a bad idea. Doing the treadmill during rolling seas is not only a cardio workout but also an excellent core muscle workout as you struggle to keep yourself on that skinny tread.

Antarctic Circle

We all had gathered on the bridge for the big event after dinner. We have steamed due south all day (weather precluded us from doing much of anything else) heading for the Antarctic Circle. Few cruise ships get to come down this far so this was very exciting to all of us and me especially. The Antarctic Circle is @ 66 degrees and 33 minutes latitude. This area differs much from the Arctic circle as quite a number of people live @ or above the Arctic Circle, in areas like Siberia, Alaska, Canada, Scandanvia, etc. Down at the Antarctic Circle, perhaps only a handful of people live. As we were waiting for that magical yellow line to appear in the water (ok, not an actual line but the GPS tick away the seconds) we were marvelling at the number of icebergs around us, how close they all were and especially admiring this really big one off our port side. I ran down the bow stairs to get a picture of it and all of a sudden a big thunderous cracking could be heard. And BAM, it calved right in front of us all. It was an amazing moment in time as in slow motion this huge hunk of ice tumbled into the water and broke up. The wave it created came racing toward the ship but it was not big enough to cause the Captain any concern.



As luck would have it this was the Antarctic Circle as well so we basically just did a U turn around this huge iceberg and began heading back north. The ice debris from the calving was floating all around us and the Captain and his bridge crew were very vigilant in watching all the bergs around us. By the way, small icebergs or iceberg pieces are called "bergie bits". The kitchen crew served us mulled wine and a small celebration was had on the bow. It was great fun and a moment in the small history of our lives.

We were headed back North to Petermann Island, the Lemaire channel again and then points unknown. I can see the draw of Antarctica as I just want to go further south. I want to know what's around the next island, the next majestic mountain, the next iceberg. Alas, I'm not driving.....

Dinner With Jay Dickman

Feb 10th Evening
We came back to our cabin to an invitation to dinner with Jay Dickman the National Geographic Photographer. We were certainly looking forward to this event and went back to the cabin to put on our best duds. We don't really have much in the fancy cruise ship dinner wear as our clothing choices focused mainly on warmth. But we found something. Dinner was wonderful with Dena being escorted to the table arm in arm with the first officer. We had a nice meal and more importantly some excellent conversation. Jay is a story teller and he certainly has many to tell. From Denengue Fever in Papau New Guinea to a war correspondent in Central America he's been through a lot and we enjoyed them all. The conversation eventually turned to good natured ribbing about how I broke my camera and how Canada is the 51st state, etc, etc. That's ok, Jay had spent months in the Yukon and couldn't say enough about what a beautiful country Canada is. We may be liberal in politics and be known as the country that is the party loft above a more serious USA but we are good people, we know how to have fun and enjoy life.

Port Lockroy

We moved from Cuverville Island to Port Lockroy. A nice sheltered bay with a British station on a tiny little island. The Brits have turned this old winter station into a museum, post office and shopping mall. Finally, we could shop! The Brits abandoned the island about 30 years ago and only recently re-established it. In the meantime the Gentoo penguins had moved in. The island is now inhabited by 3 British station agents and ~ 4,000 Gentoo penguins and their chicks.

We made landfall in a light snow and were the first boat ashore for a change. This proved to our advantage as by the time we came out of the station the snow had turned horizontal from the wind. I had wanted more time to explore the island and hang out with the chicks but the weather was deteriorating and it wasn't good for the camera. We jumped on board and went back to the ship with our treasures in hand and hopefully some postcards with Antarctic stamps and cancellations going out to some of you. Scroll down for more pictures

Dena's shot of the day - Deception Island through Neptunes Window

Cuverville Island

Sunday Feb. 10th, 2008

We arrived first thing this morning after a run south down the Antarctic Penisula to a small island called Cuverville. The bay we entered was calm as glass with glaciers calving into the sea, penguins porpoising all around us and a large Gentoo breeding colony on shore. Today, we kayaked. Dena has been excited about this moment from day 1. Dena and I cruised lazily around the bay stopping off shore of some rocks with many Gentoos jumping in and out of the water. They swam around us and we laughed at their antics. The water is so clear that we can see them swimming beside us. Truly magical. Dena then decided she wanted to go thru this thin ice with the Kayak. I didn't really like the idea as the water looked shallow. You could see the eddys around the rocks. But, we headed that way anyways. You know you're about to get into trouble when your paddle will not pierce the ice and rocks loom ahead. But we made it through (not withstanding a little panic on my part) and are richer for the experience.
After kayaking we went ashore to spend some quality time with the penguins up close and personal. I have a picture of Dena (which probably doesn't do it justice) sitting on a whale vertebra (sp?) looking at a Gentoo penguin who is laying on a whale rib about 3 feet in front of her. She probably sat there for 20 minutes, her looking at the Gentoo and it looking at her. We all sat on these large stones that make up the "beach" and just watched the drama of all these penguins coming and going. They look so clumsy as they make their way down this rocky beach to the water, then they literally dip their toe in the water as if to test it, back up, think about it and then wade in. I won't go on and on about the penguins and their babies and the molters so I don't bore you so I just get on to the end of the morning.

I was the last guest on the island. I don't know why this thrills me, but it does..... Dena and Arlene's boat was already in the water, they yelled to me that they hoped I had lots of protein bars because they were leaving me. The last boat (full of staff naturalists) had to wait for me (hehe) and we actually ended up having to tow Dena and Arlene's boat to the Endeavor. The motor had ice in the gas line. Well, it's off to lunch then Port Lockroy which is the only shopping opportunity in Antarctica. Who knew there would be a shopping opportunity.

Arlene and Dena make landfall in blizzard at Port Lockroy

Dena Communes with Penguin

Dena is sitting on a whale bone vertebrae (from circa 1920's) chatting and communing with a molting Gentoo penguin. This 3 week affair where they molt or change all their feathers is very energy intensive. They cannot go into the water or feed during this time. They basically just stand there while it occurs. Dena sat there for about 20 minutes, her watching him and him watching her. They definitely bonded.

Arlene's shot of Lone Gentoo Penguin with Kayak in background

February 9th continued

Dena wanted me to mention to all of you this poor lone penguin that she spotted high up upon the skree slopes of this volcano. Penguins don't normally hang out at Deception Island because there is not much food and there are no rocky outcroppings. They like to lay and nest on rocks. They build their nests out of small rocks and pebbles. They even steal each others rocks. It's very humorous, anyways, this poor penguin must have been lost. He was about 1000' up on the escarpment, all alone on this very steep hill. How in the world he got up there I don't know but we've seen penguins climb up some pretty gnarly rocks since we've been here. The trick I think in this penguins world is how he's going to get down. Dena is worried and wanted him rescued but you cannot touch or interfere with anything.....


Also, on the subject of temperature, it is quite warm here in general. At Deception Island I was walking around with no hat, no gloves, took my scarf off and unzipped my jacket. I'm not sure the temperature but it was gorgeous! We've had wonderful weather since we hit the South Shetland Islands. We are very fortunate.


I believe I'm going to have to start lagging these blogs as there is so much going on that I don't want to overwhelm you. I know I'm overwhelmed. The pace is almost frantic from early morning til usually 7 or 8 o'clock and then it quiets down. Our daily program this morning said that today is February 10th and it's a Sunday. I had no idea it was Sunday. But forget Feb 10th, I still have more to tell you about yesterday evening.

We were sitting in the lounge after dinner decompressing, drinking our cocktails when I decided to take a quick run up to the bridge for a course plot. I like to keep track on my map the exact course the ship takes. When I was up there a whale was spotted. It became evident quickly (by the fact that they woke the captain) that they were going to stop and watch this humpback mother and calf so I ran to get Dena and Arlene. We were not prepared for going on deck for an extended period of time. It was quite warm so walking on deck with just a fleecy is quite comfortable for about 5 minutes but any longer than that you need a jacket. We spent an hour on deck watching with awe as the mother surface fed, breached and her calf followed her around. Dena, who has blisters on her heels was wearing flip flops. After an hour Dena's feet were frozen, Arlene's fingers were blue but we were giddy with glee at how close they were. We certainly didn't need binoculars.

Deception Island

Every day here is filled with so many experiences that it would fill volumes. It's hard to contain myself sometimes on the blog and not bore you too much, but there is much to tell.
Finally we got some sleep after our long day yesterday. 7am wake up call - we were at the mouth of Deception Island. I was thrilled. I had been looking forward to this since we planned the trip. Deception Island is a huge, still active volcano that last erupted in 1970. Think of it as a circle with a small entrance to the inside. A picture is worth a thousand words. The best way to describe the look is to click on this link. The entrance to this massive bay is called Neptune's Bellows as it is a narrow channel that swirls with eddys on most days and a ship must watch closely not to be run up on the rocks. Today, the sea was calm and we sailed easily in. We parked just off of Whaler's Bay and lowered the zodiacs. There are many bays within this large bay, and whaler's bay is where whaling operations ran from ~ 1905 to 1928. It's like a ghost town with whale bones, large blubber oil storage tanks, old whaling skiffs and all sorts of wonderful relics to entertain us. We spent hours here running up and down miles of black lava sand beaches taking pictures of everything.


As I made my way back in the zodiac I was feeling a little bummed as I had a spot on my camera. I had to get back to the ship and clean it as we were due to disembark an hour later. Today was to be a busy day and I certainly didn't want to miss a thing. In the room I went to clean the mirror inside the camera (a task I've done before on my Nikon film camera) and all of a sudden out popped 3 pieces (the focusing assembly). I was horrified. What was I going to do? I dropped to my knees and started to cry. Here's my $ 1,000 camera, my $ 10,000 trip and there will be no pictures. Then an idea ocurred to me. We have a National Geographic photographer (pulitzer prize winner) on board and he is sponsored by Olympus, my camera's brand. Perhaps he can help. I was nauseous. I waited like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs by the zodiac disembarkation hatch for Jay Dickman to arrive. Each boat that came raised my anxiousness. He said he would try to help later in the evening as he only had time to change for the next trip but in the meantime he had a spare camera body for me. Wow, imagine my luck. Well, I'll make a long story short, this evening he popped the pieces in and all seems to be running fine. Tomorrow we shall see if it holds up. Wish me luck.
Speaking of award winning photographers.......tonight Jay did a photo critique of photos that we were allowed to submit from yesterday. Both Arlene and I received kudos for some of our photos. Arlene received great praise for her shots of "inside the life of a ship" and I got one for the sunset shot (as well as a few others). There were many awesome pictures and much was learned. Scroll down for photos.....

Gentoo's calling - one of Arlene's winners from tonight

Dena licks a glacier

The end of February 8th

What a busy, long day. We landed on the actual continent of Antarctica at a place appropriately named, Brown Bluff. We made landfall about 3:30 pm and I thought, ah shit, more penguins, I'm bored with them already. But as I relaxed and let the moments take me away I realized how much there is to this barren place. The colors in the huge, skyscraper high bluffs was more vibrant than any artist could imagine. The glacier to the left radiated blue and white so colorful that a rainbow paled in comparison. Such beauty in such a remote place.

Many, many Adelie penguins were fledging when we arrived. They were trying to go for their first swim. It was hilarious as they were all sitting on a variety of outcroppings that were exposed due to the extremely low tide. These youngsters vascillated and stalled and generally put off their first swim, however, as the tide started to come in their hand was forced. At the last moment as their low outcroppings disappeared below the rising tide they jumped in. Clumsily they learned to swim and porpoise and just as quickly they jumped up on land again, happy to be ashore. The parents of these Adeliele chicks teach their children nothing - one day the parents just don't come home and the chicks need to fend for themselves. Survival of the fittest.


Many wonders showed themselves today, a 6 week old snow petrel in its nest, jelly fish in the shallows and Killer Whales off the starboard side during dinner. As we steam through the Bransfield Strait on our way to the infamous Deception Island wonders abound everywhere. Icebergs that are a mile square and 60 feet high loom over the ship, a lone penguin floating on a tabular iceberg, seals in the distance, there is just no describing to you the surrealness of the seascape nor the barren beauty of it all. It is incredible how close they get to us red coated intruders. As long as we don't block their path they proceed by us, often within inches. Arlene and I got to golf on Antarctica, her idea. She bought a fold up putter and neon green ball. We putted and logged an official hole on the 7th continent. By the way, she missed her putt, I made mine.......Scroll down for pictures

The Endeavor floats off Paulet Island awaiting her charges to return

Gentoo Penguin with chick

chinstrap Penguin? which one is the chinstrap?

A Chinstrap penguin, if the chinstrap wasn't wearing white you wouldn't be able to tell us from him.....by the way, Dena is the one wearing the goofy hat

Sunrise on the Endeavor

Sunrise on the Endeavor - icebergs loom ahead

A long morning

February 8
We were awakened at ~ 4 this morning for the sunrise and a view of the Antartica Sound, aka Iceberg Alley. We were not disappointed. Words cannot describe the view we received upon arriving on the bridge. Orange hues of the sun rising over the iceberg dotted horizon mixed with the irridescent blues of the glacier ice floating about. Breathtaking and awe inspiring are two words that pale in comparison to the sight.
It's been a long day already as you can imagine. At 9am we headed out on the Zodiacs amidst floating pack ice to Paulette Island where we were greeted by 100,000 breeding pairs of Adele penguins. So that's 100,000 pairs (100k *2 = 200k) and those pairs each have 2 chicks = 400,000 penguins. WOW! That's a lot of penguins. They covered every square meter of this volcanic, rocky beach. The beach was long and they nested on the hills, on the beach and everywhere in between. I felt so sorry for the ones on the hills as they had about a 1/3 of a mile walk each way to get food for their young. There were signs of nature's survival of the fittest here. The carnage was vast. Bodies of dead penguins everywhere and their predators, the birds named Skua, were feasting. We watched as parents fed their young (both mom and dad rear the chicks). Penguins are habitual creatures with 99% of males returning year after year to the exact nest they left the year prior. Females about 60%. They probably find a better more macho mate the other 40%. We had to be careful where we stopped as they have penguins highways. If you're standing on the highway they get very confused and have no clue how to get around you. They literally have worn paths into the rocks and mud, from their nest to the sea.

It's lunch now, time to eat and then prepare to go out again to Brown's Bluff. We are so busy and today, tired. I have found someone with a laptop that will shrink a few pix for you guys so I can post them. Sorry about the spelling

First Landing, First Iceberg

Retraction - I've been requested to retract the report that the swells were only 8 - 10'. After speaking with the first mate, the swells at the height of the Drake Passage were ~ 24'. That's a little higher......Arlene wanted to redeem herself for puking all over the entrance to the dining room and continue to exude her tuff stuff......
This afternoon was spectacular and breathtaking. Our iceberg sighting as well as our first zodiac landing. On Aitcho island we landed to a cachaphony of penguins. We finally set foot on a landmass in the Antarctic circle, not the continent itself yet....but we are getting there. This island is in the South Shetland chain. We walked slowing around in penguin guano, sometimes kneeling or laying in it to the get "money" shot. I'd love to upload a couple shots for you guys but the satellite connection is quite slow and I'm having trouble. They have the computers locked down so I cannot shrink the image.
Tonight was the Captain's welcome cocktail hour followed by dinner. We were not invited to the Captain's table, probably because of her puking in the dining room......
By the way, whoever left the comment of who won what in the primaries, thank you. I won't bother publishing the comment but everyone on the ship made me print them out a copy. So thank you very much.

We are off to bed now as we expect to be awakened at ~ 4:30am to the sites of the Antarctic Sound, aka iceberg alley.

Southern Convergence and our first bergs

Feb 7, 2008
I have no idea what day of the week it is. Arlene and I have finally gotten our sea legs. Dena had them the moment she stepped on board. Somewhere in the middle of the night we crossed the biological/oceanic southern convergence. I'll describe the convergence and it's meaning below. We are currently at ~ 61 degrees latitude. I was upstairs early this morning and just sat, quietly gazing over the grand expanse of ocean sprawled in every direction. To describe it I might use the word infinity. Yes, infinite wide open space and ocean in every single direction. Certainly humbles you.

We've been very busy today. Whale spouts were spotted off in the distance, fur seals porpoising along side the ship and we've just spotted our first icebergs. We couldn't be more amped up! We've spent quite a bit of time on the bridge this afternoon checking out the charts, the petrels, skuas and occasional albatross that flies by. A large grouping of cape petrels (click link for picture) has been riding with us all day, skimming over the bow waves back and forth. The above birds never touch land for 8-9 months of the year. They only land to mate.

@ 2:30pm local time we spotted our first icebergs. These are ~ 16 miles away, that being so large that they extend over our horizon. Usually 80% or more of the iceberg extends below the surface. We are nearing the Shetland Island chain and the crew is planning (wind and weather permitting) our first zodiac landing on some little island between Greenwich Island and Robert Island.
Just as an added note, you may see > 1 post from me in a day and/or pictures, so don't forget to scroll down.

The southern Converenge in case you're interested:
The Southern Ocean is the area south of the Southern Convergence, where a sudden change in ocean temperatures separates Antarctic marine ecosystems from warmer, northern marine ecosystems. The Southern Convergence runs through the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans; the southern portions of these three oceans are known collectively as the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean maintains large populations of phytoplankton and krill, a shrimp-like crustacean now harvested for food by fishing fleets from several countries. Many seals, whales, penguins, and other seabirds also live in this area.

Update - First real day at sea

February 7th 1:30p local time
First, happy anniversary to Dena's parents, Barb and Mel. 48 years of wedded bliss.


We awoke sometime in the wee hours to a rocking and rolling ship. Dena, the curious soul she is got up, dressed and went up to the lounge to peek outside at 4:00 am. She saw nothing but black, but going up 3 decks was a challenge in these seas so she headed back down to her bunk. We struggled up to the dining area for breakfast and were treated with waves 10' - 15' high although, frankly, that's debatable. They seem much higher and the number of broken glassware attests to that. All the chairs are chained to the dining room floor, there are "lead" ropes strung about to hang onto and the ship's doctor has been busy with falls. I have a little motion sickness but Dena and Arlene seemed to be perfectly fine. Arlene quashed that perception when on her way to the cabin after breakfast she blew chunks. So much so that she blew a hole right through the barf bag. They keep barf bags all over the ship. Fortunately I was not there to see the event.



The seas are not slacking but we are seeing some sunshine in the distance. Arlene is still in bed, hours after the incident and I'm sure she is hoping for calm seas. I'm drinking ginger tea, ginger and carrot soup (a staple at every meal) and sucking back ginger ale like it was going out of style. Today's drink of the day in the bar is the "Horse's Neck"; brandy and ginger ale. Don't ever let anyone tell you that ginger doesn't work on motion sickness.

Ushuaia Day 5 I think

Wanted to drop all of you faithful readers about how the trip is going today. Today it is Feb. 5 at 11:00pm Argentina time, basically we are 2 hours less than GMT or 3 hours more than EST. I also wanted to thank all of you for your comments, they are always appreciated. Your good wishes and thoughts are welcome.

As we landed in Ushuaia the wind was buffeting the plane, so much it felt as if we were on a ship. This did not bode well for our catamaran trip. We sailed thru customs and boarded buses for Tierra del Fuego National Park and a wonderful tour guide Lauren. We took pictures of us standing at the end of the PanAmerican Highway. This is a 17,000 km road running thru all North and South America, starting in Alaska. It ends here, in Argentina on a patch of dirt called the National Route 3. The trip was definitely windy, we saw alot of cormorants and a few seals, had some lunch and a few drinks. Life is again, very hard.

Our adrenaline started pumping as the catamaran came into Ushuaia harbor. Seeing the National Georgraphic Endeavor moored there awaiting us sent ripples of excitement through us. The trip that was a dream 3 years ago, a distant thought 18 months ago was now a reality. We boarded the ship and moved into our room then had to rush upstairs for the lifeboat drill. What a busy day we've had. We are currently sailing through the Beagle channel and they expect us to hit the open sea after 3am. They have tied all the chairs down, run heavy lines everywhere for people to hang onto. This should be raucous and I look forward to living until the morning. I bid you all adieu.

Transition Day -- Ushuaia, Argentina

Today was an early day. A 500am wakeup call (sorry, I do not know where the colon is on these keyboards). We left the hotel @ 6am and on to the Santiago airport. We will fly ona charter flight to Punta Arenas (the southern most part of Chile), clear customs, then continue the flight to Ushuaia. Ushuaia(pronounced [u'swaja]) is the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, and claims to be the world's southernmost city (see discussion below). It is located on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego in a wide bay, guarded on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel. Its population in 1999 was estimated at 57,300. In my opinion it has grown up around the lucrative tourist trade that caters to the cruises that depart to Antarctica from here. That means, of course, that it is a short working season for some people.

After all this travelling we are supposed to board a catamaran to explore the Straits of Magellan throughout Tierra del Fuego. Wish us luck. Thus far we have met many nice people on the trip. There are of course, the usual people, the bitch, the whiner, the person that hogs the guide, you know, the usual tour takers. But all in all, we are happy thus far.

Funny story, going thru the agricultural inspection station here in Chile our bags were scanned and of course, we were stopped. Dena and I had a significant amount of snackies some being dried fruits, and trail mix. The fruit was definitely confiscated but I lobbyed hard for keeping the nuts. I convinced them by encouraging them to taste them. They took several nuts out of the bag and because there was salt on them they were approved for entry. whew! Snacks were saved.

On another note, no one wants US Dollars. They want their own currency because the US Dollar is in the shitter. This is such a change from past years when the dollar was strong. It´s odd being in that position that no one wants your money.

Dinner in Santiago

Last night´s dinner in Santiago. Bottles of wine were drunk to be sure. Today we are checking in for the official National Geographic tour.