A whole week finished. I've painted nearly the whole of the upstairs of what is known as GWR here at the lovely Palmer Station. I have now moved on to the building called Bio-Lab. Attached to this building is the dining room and the science labs, an administration hall and some berthing on what could be considered the 3rd floor that I am now working on. But enough of the work. Spent yesterday morning finishing up my boating 2 class, so naturally you wonder what was in boating 1. Well to preface this, boating in Zodiacs is a recreational activity here and there are certain safety procedures that must be learned and followed. That said, boating 1 course consisted of tent set up, stove lighting and GPS work. These are learned in the event that you get stuck on one of the many islands in the area. Boating 2 was allowed only when the weather finally abated. The winds need to be below 20 knots before we can go out. yesterday dawned a beautiful bluebird day. We headed out into Arthurs bay and then around to the other side of Torgeson Island. I'll try to find a map of the islands around us to post sometime. We took turns manning the helm dressed in Mustang suits or Float coats to keep us warm and buoyant should we take an unexpected fall into the chilly waters. We practiced landing the boat at specified sites on the nearby islands and our expert trainer Lily even to a swim so we could practice our man overboard drill. as a last task of the course we needed to pick up some "bar ice". This is nice clear ice that has broken off from the surrounding glaciers and makes for an excellent addition to a happy hour cocktail. Saturdays are special days here at Palmer. It's a regular work day until 1pm when we spend an hour doing shop clean up followed from 2-3:30 with "House Mouse". House Mouse is when we all chip in, including the science folk, to clean the whole station, there is no janitorial staff here. The staff also serve as the fire department and search and rescue. This is truly a unique situation. Following house mouse we have the all station meeting, the store opens at 4pm to restock your personal supply of booze or toothpaste or t-shirt, what have you. At 5:30 Happy Hour starts in the dining room with a different drink or guest bartender serving up a specialty drink. Last night it was Cape Codders served in little shot glasses made of frozen cranberry juice, yum. From here it's dinner and what ever. The bar fills up a bit and last night there was a poker tournament in the lounge that also serves as the movie room and headquarters for "Guitar Hero". Well I think that's enough for today. If anybody other than myself sees this I hope you at least enjoy the pictures.
