Not much

Apologies for the lack of activity to those who check my blog, by now you should realise that I’m not very consistent...  I guess it’s the closeness of leaving and the thought of going home that makes me feel like there’s not much point in writing, which is ridiculous because I’m still here for another three weeks.  To be fair, not a lot has happened in the three weeks since I last wrote: the field season is coming to an end and people are starting their long journeys north which means there’s not been time for anything except work, work, work.  I’m starting to notice myself getting tired a lot more and a week or so ago I had a terrible cold that I just couldn’t shake.  It was one going round the station and thankfully I didn’t catch it as badly as some others did but it spread like wildfire.  It’s quite interesting to see something like that spread in such a close environment – you could actually see the change in some people of the space of a few hours and you could work out who passed it to who.  Not very interesting, I know, but I’m soo tired right now and my chat is suffering for it, sorry!  The reason for my lack of energy? 4 o’clock starts in the morning in order to flight follow some of the survey planes.  Go Science!  In truth I don’t mind it too much as it’s quite nice to have the tower to yourself for a few hours before anyone is awake and the views when the sunrises are stunning; that and the enjoyment taken from people being woken at 4:30 when the aircraft taxis and gets airborne outside their windows.  Well, if I’m up...

Last time I wrote it was the eve of Gould night and the football team were playing in the ultimate grudge match out on the apron.  What can I say: we lost.  To be fair when Tom and I bimbled down from the gym we found what resembled a cartoon fight in the sense that there was a lot of arms, legs and dust.  Some bright spark had decided to allow about seventeen people aside on a pitch that was smaller than a normal one.  One word: farce...  We only lost by one goal to nil and it was wonder how anyone managed to score with that number of people in the way.  Gould Night itself was really good fun – everyone enjoyed the band, the music was good and the drink kept flowing.  I don’t know how exactly it happened but I ended up staying until 6am and only went to bed when John, the base commander, came in on his way to organise casting of the Gould at 7.  Good times.  Good times...

Tom and I are still working the circuit scene and everyone is still enjoying them so we must be doing something right!  I took them last week and we had fourteen people turn up!  Fourteen!  The gym here is ridiculously tiny so it was pretty cramped to say the least but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  Aparently Tom and I are a double act in the sense that he’s the bad cop and I’m the slightly effeminate cop.  Basically Tom beasts everyone so that their muscles fall of and I tell everyone that they all look lovely and that they can reach their rainbow.  Not gay, just slightly effeminate...  

So, what’s coming up here at Rothera that’s worth putting in your diary? Well we have Folk night next Saturday or Sunday night which is the last biggish night that we have down here.  It’s basically an open mike night and a chance for anyone to get up and do anything whether that’s singing, playing an instrument or doing a sketch.  Then this Saturday we have the annual Air Unit barbecue over on the apron.  This I’ve been looking forward to because, as my family will testify, I am a bit of a glutton and what better excuse to eat your own body weight in meat than at a barbecue.  The Dash flies in tomorrow from Punta with the last lot of people coming south for the season and also onboard is a large supply of fresh South American meat in the form of burgers and steaks as well as beer and fresh salad – all we need now is the weather!  Oh, and time off work...  As always, whenever anything interesting happens on base I am always working.  It’s not too bad though, Karen and I will be able to see the barbecue from the tower and we could always put a food order out on the loud speaker...  One thing I will make sure I’m available for will be when HMS Scott visits on the 21^st.  That will be good, although I may need a shave and a haircut if I want to present myself as a Naval Officer and don’t want to be mistaken for a homeless person...