There are a great number of peculiarities in McMurdo. Normally, you might overlook them if you were to walk by them. In Antarctica, you might wonder just what it is doing here.
First, there is the birdhouse. On any other pole or building, this structure is quite mundane; found around many towns and houses throughout the world. I didn't have to stare at it long to wonder exactly why it was in Antarctica. First, of all, the only birds we get in McMurdo are a few penguins and the notorious skua. The skua runs a few sizes to big to be a birdhouse dwelling creature; although, it might call our dumpters (below) a birdhouse in a pinch. The penguins can't even fly to get up to the bird house, and their size would also prevent them from indulging in the comforts of a shelter on a pole.
These are our garbage cans. McMurdo has the best refuse program in the world. Most of our trash is recycled in one of these many bins and shipped back on the container ship to be processed in The States. All our trash bins here are indicative of what our hallways look like on a smaller scale. Every dorm and floor has at least one set of cans set up, labeled with what sort of items can be tossed in which unit. Our Waste department is an excellent asset to keeping our part of the pristine continent clean.
The chained whale. With an industrious operations station to live in and very functional job descriptions, we all need a little creative outlet. One of the longer standing creative pieces around town is this whale sculpture. Even if you are not fortunate enough to see the real thing in Winter Quarters Bay, you can check out this guy who sits on a perch over the sea.
Our medical building has this cute little bugger mounted to the side. He's holding a sign that says: "Dr. Penguin says: Get Well Soon!" I feel like it should really say, "You must be at least 4 feet tall to enter McMurdo." Given that our healthy adult population is required to be 18 years old, this is not much of a problem. I wish this penguin would have helped me get better when I was struggling with two cases of the crud in a row!
Most people around town have a walking commute to their work center. The Carp(entry) Shop is up the side of a hill that is marked by colorful flags and then through some mill vans of supplies. It has affectionately earned the name of Goat Path given the slight resemblance to a high mountain path worn down by the constant foot traffic to and from the Carp Shop and McMurdo central (the Galley).
Every year we have a MAAG Show (McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery). This year, one of the more creatively humorous pieces was contributed in the form of a road sign: Pee Limit, 10ml. This takes on a whole new meaning when you know there are people in field camps who use pee bottles and sometimes maximize their volume constraints before emptying their bladder.
During the winter, or when we get big snow drifts in town, sometimes it is difficult to see where our paths and stairs are. This set of stairs is, apparently, often overlooked, so a "Stop! Use the Stairs" sign has been put up to direct traffic. However, when the ground is clear, it seems rather strange that a sign would be put up in front of the stairs indicating that one should use them. In fact, there are two such signs in the area.
Our painters are often quite crafty and creative. They have unusual bits of artwork here and there. On the back of their building, they have painted a hot dog stand. Nothing wrong with day dreaming about the real world here!
First, there is the birdhouse. On any other pole or building, this structure is quite mundane; found around many towns and houses throughout the world. I didn't have to stare at it long to wonder exactly why it was in Antarctica. First, of all, the only birds we get in McMurdo are a few penguins and the notorious skua. The skua runs a few sizes to big to be a birdhouse dwelling creature; although, it might call our dumpters (below) a birdhouse in a pinch. The penguins can't even fly to get up to the bird house, and their size would also prevent them from indulging in the comforts of a shelter on a pole.
These are our garbage cans. McMurdo has the best refuse program in the world. Most of our trash is recycled in one of these many bins and shipped back on the container ship to be processed in The States. All our trash bins here are indicative of what our hallways look like on a smaller scale. Every dorm and floor has at least one set of cans set up, labeled with what sort of items can be tossed in which unit. Our Waste department is an excellent asset to keeping our part of the pristine continent clean.
The chained whale. With an industrious operations station to live in and very functional job descriptions, we all need a little creative outlet. One of the longer standing creative pieces around town is this whale sculpture. Even if you are not fortunate enough to see the real thing in Winter Quarters Bay, you can check out this guy who sits on a perch over the sea.
Our medical building has this cute little bugger mounted to the side. He's holding a sign that says: "Dr. Penguin says: Get Well Soon!" I feel like it should really say, "You must be at least 4 feet tall to enter McMurdo." Given that our healthy adult population is required to be 18 years old, this is not much of a problem. I wish this penguin would have helped me get better when I was struggling with two cases of the crud in a row!
Most people around town have a walking commute to their work center. The Carp(entry) Shop is up the side of a hill that is marked by colorful flags and then through some mill vans of supplies. It has affectionately earned the name of Goat Path given the slight resemblance to a high mountain path worn down by the constant foot traffic to and from the Carp Shop and McMurdo central (the Galley).
Every year we have a MAAG Show (McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery). This year, one of the more creatively humorous pieces was contributed in the form of a road sign: Pee Limit, 10ml. This takes on a whole new meaning when you know there are people in field camps who use pee bottles and sometimes maximize their volume constraints before emptying their bladder.
During the winter, or when we get big snow drifts in town, sometimes it is difficult to see where our paths and stairs are. This set of stairs is, apparently, often overlooked, so a "Stop! Use the Stairs" sign has been put up to direct traffic. However, when the ground is clear, it seems rather strange that a sign would be put up in front of the stairs indicating that one should use them. In fact, there are two such signs in the area.
Our painters are often quite crafty and creative. They have unusual bits of artwork here and there. On the back of their building, they have painted a hot dog stand. Nothing wrong with day dreaming about the real world here!
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