[Alan]

Winter this year officially began with last flight on the 21st. If necessary, they could fly in to McMurdo pretty much all year, though local weather may cause delays of a week or so. Some years they have an extended season, with a last flight in late March or so - but not this year. The next flight should be in August, for WinFly - the Winter Fly-in, where a few flights will bring in the personnel necessary to get things ready for mainbody in October.

Currently it's still quite warm here - temperatures above 0 F.

Otherwise . . . yes, as "otherworldly" as always. It can be quite frustrating at times dealing with the bureaucracy.

So, Fast Eddie - were you a science tech then? I'm working down here as an electrician. It's a good job - we get to go almost everywhere. This is my second deployment - I did Summer 2007-08, 3 weeks at McMurdo and 3 months at South Pole Station.

The building with the bowling alley has been closed down due to structural problems . . . and so ends the history of what had been the oldest operating bowling alley in the world. Well, some folks are trying to save it, but we'll see what happens. There have been budget cuts, and what was left of the budget was hit hard by increases in fuel costs. Because the buildings are all federally owned buildings, the draconian anti-smoking laws in the U.S. require smokers to go outside to smoke. Not so bad now, but come July . . . well, I'm glad I don't smoke.

Anything you want to know in particular?