A Travellerspoint blog

The dark side

life on the night shift

Hi folks. Just a quick entry today because I am officially knackered after my first night shift. I learnt how to use the salinometer, which involves putting a bottle of salty water near a machine and twiddling dials for hours on end while it emits a soothing humming noise. I will be seeing a lot more of that machine from now on, and will probably develop a symbiotic relationship with it, talking in clicks and whirrs and feeding on salt.

The shift definitely has its benefits though; for starters everything is quieter so it is possible to get more work done, and for seconders you have a legitimate excuse to go to the bar at 8 o'clock in the morning immediately after a cooked breakfast! The latter is a very strange experience.

The best thing of all, though, is being up to watch the sunrise. Today's was a particularly good one, as we were steaming through some heavy sea ice with lots of tasty bergs in, so I thought I would share it with you all. Disappointingly, the photos are particularly bad, but you get the general idea.

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It is astonishing how many different forms ice can take when subjected to various melting and freezing processes. Anyway, I'd better be off to the bar because it's 10am and past my bedtime...

Posted by DrPaul 04:14

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Amazing sights mate...especially from the Bar!
Beats Brighton Pier any day.

by djcarlos

Maybe, but not much chance of Fatboy packing out the rafters down here!

by DrPaul

Well it is good - you now know what ice looks like. But I am sorry you are wasting your time,
All the climate experts on TV tonight damned global warming from CO2. It's sunspots,cosmic rays and clouds that determine the climate. Oh,and research funding applications are making it warmer. I was not allowed to phone an objection having a family interest, but I am sending a Fax to say you are bringng us some melted ice to prove the point; stop sending those iceberg photos no one will believe they are melting.
L

by hazelwood

Hi L

Cosmic rays eh? Well I'm sure you know all about it but I think that program has been officially recognised as scientific fraud:

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/News_and_Information/news_stories/story.php?id=50
One of the things I'm looking forward to about getting home is seeing it...

by DrPaul

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