Sunday, October 25, 2009

Back to McMurdo

Well after a summer spent with the military, I'm back to work at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. It's moving into Spring down here so a least it is warming up.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

It is Spring

I have not posted in awhile. I've had plenty to post, just no time. It is Spring here in Penn. and the cold weather is finally giving way to blue skies and rain showers. I look forward to all the greenery popping out every where.

I was unsure what I would be doing for the summer. Well now I know, I'll be heading off to Central Asia for the Air Force. I don't mind so much, it's something that needs doing.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Home from Antarctica

Well I am home from the ice. It took four days of traveling, and two broke planes to finally get home. Now it has taken me 3 days to recover from jet lag. I'm keeping this short because there are tons of things I need to do to play catch up on my life now that I'm back home.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A historical day

The news is all in a tizzy about how historical this day is. It's the 44th person to have done this, and it's been done more times than that because numerous American Presidents have done it more than once.

No the real historical significance of this day is the black plague outbreak in Algeria. A serious terrorist organization has really tried to move into the biological weapons field. This was a frightful set back for them, but I'm sure they will try again.

It is historical because of new discovers of exosolar planets. Less than a decade ago we were still struggling to narrow down the search to verifiable evidence of planets outside our solar system. Now we are finding multiple per month, and gaining critical insight about each planet.

The Sri Lanki civil war is almost over with and the Columbian civil war is winding down with the government forces of law and order coming out on top in both cases. Both wars have lasted over 30 years and killed numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

Yes it is a historical day, but not for the reason so many people seem to think. Look around, there are more important things going on in the world.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Midmonth

Well it has been over a week since I posted anything. I've had a rough two weeks with all my routines disrupted. Most of that was work related due to forced changes because of various nights worked. That sparked off several bouts of insomnia that really made it difficult to readjust. But things seem to be back on track now and running smoothly again.

This week I get to finally turn the whole satellite ground station off to do some necessary work I have been needing to do for the whole summer season here at McMurdo Station. I just hope that goes smoothly.

On the study front, I've been churning through tons of material in an attempt to get my Mathematic fundamentals back. I'm currently wading through Symbolic Logic, but I need to return to my calculus fundamentals soon.

Training has mostly be focused upon Ju jitsu class, and working through more of Coach Scott Sonnon's Bodyflow program. I lost track of some of my physical training because the weight gym here had to be closed. The floors started collapsing in the building it is located in here on station. I really need to pay more attention to my Baguzahang training.

On the creative front, I am still slowly working on Artisans of War 's design document for Unwelcome Neighbors. Chris and I also spent time talking about redoing the entire series outline for our epic fantasy In Darkness Born. We've had several ideas that might improve the overall story.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Post Holidays

Well I am through the holidays down here at McMurdo. One thing that it has happened is my sleep schedule is botched. It will take me a few days to recover. Luckily I am off Sunday so I can recover. I do regret not being home for the holidays though.

On other news our weight gym and bowling alley are out of commission down here. An inspection of the roof joists found one of bent badly out of shape. This means the load bearing of the floors are seriously weakened. The concern is the second floor will come down to be the first floor. So all those facilities are closed till further notice. Since the summer season only has about 6 weeks left, I doubt those of us on the summer crew will see things put to right before we leave.

Overall it's not a bad season so far. I've fixed a number of the HF receivers, and handled several problems on the Satcom side. Now I just want to finish up what I have left to work on and head on out. I likely have some type of Guard deployment this spring so I'll be back out the door right after getting home.

On the study front I've been pushing myself hard on the martial arts with both baguazhang and ju jitsu. So far I have avoided any major injury, but I might have to accept cutting back a bit on my training to spend more time to improve my general physical stamina again. I've lost ground on that front since I stopped hiking every weekend and running as much.

But the math fundamentals still go well. I've made a lot of progress in the support fields such as algebra, geometry, and trig. I feel silly having to go back and redo the fundamentals that extensively but there are just to many mental skills I have forgotten. The proofing review is going better and sticking in my head more though.

On the virtues front I've started two books that are interesting. One is on the Sung schools of philosophy from China. It is a period of Chinese philosophy that I have never studied extensively. I find it to be an unusual take on the Classics and alternate Chinese paths. I'm curious to see why it did not sustain a more direct influence on the later Chinese philosophy and ontologies. I also found a old book in the library titled 'The Great Secret of the Saints'. The original manuscript was in German, with an english translation about 1890 something. Most of it is focused upon theology of the Catholic church and the 19th century take on the miracles of the early, medival, and later saints. It is still an interesting read though.