Another day of packing. There were still a few items getting returned to various departments, but we spent a lot of the day playing with bubble wrap and tape. Well, ok, playing is probably not the right word, but we used a lot of it today.

Bubblewrap-o-rama

At lunch I learned the circuitous route that phone calls make around here. Calls are beamed out to Black Island, up to a satellite, down to San Diego and then are routed to Denver. It then makes its way to your intended destination, which may just be the office next door! Ken, one of our volunteers, was going to be headed out to Black Island to work on the communications equipment out there, so he filled us in on all that info during lunch.

Francois was slated to leave today, but didn’t find out when his plane was leaving until almost lunchtime. He headed off to the airport shuttle around 4:30 for his 6:30 flight. We were already missing him, and it became very apparent at dinnertime. Our whole group now fit at one of the smaller tables – a subtle sign that things were winding down.

Francois remains calm while packing chaos reigns in the lab

Dinner ended early tonight so that they could set up the galley for the Women’s Soiree – a big production put on by the women at McMurdo. All the performers were women, and there were many talented dancers, singers and entertainers. I’m glad I went.

I commented on listening to my iPod the other day as I drove the Pisten Bully, but something that particular form of entertainment lacks is an emphasis on the fact that people are making that music for other people to listen to. A form of sharing. There’s something basic there, probably going back to when people first gathered around a fire, and seeing the live performance made it feel more real, more human. The encouragement the audience gave to the performers when there was a false start or a first-time performer felt really good, too.

As a bonus, they had a raffle for several different prizes. I managed to win a free room cleaning, meaning an automatic pass for my room inspection. Now it’s up to me to get all the stuff IN my room packed up.

Another gratuitous packing picture