Oh yeah...

I forgot about adding to that last post. We had a really exciting day of sampling with the most krill I have ever seen. We were driving over the school for about 3/4 of a mile in one direction. There was a large section where our fish finder was solid red (the color of a dense school) from the surface to 38m. Being a fisherman used to staring at a blank screen, this was one of the happiest moments of my life. The feeding whales within 50 feet of our boat only added to that exhilaration. I got two words for that experience- "Yeeah boy-yee!!"

Anyway, the lounge is a large room lined with books and dvds of series and all types of movies from Anaconda to The Saddest Music in the World (but no Jaws or Jurassic Park?!?!) on floor-to-ceiling shelves. There are about ten recliners and couches arranged in stadium seating around a 6 by 9 (roughly) projector screen tv. This excess is necessary for our wednesday night science lectures, of course. On top of all this there are bean bags and comforters for general use.

This is next door to the bar, which is stocked wednesday and saturday by the users, so there is always plenty to drink, and always a good variety. We have our natural beer cooler outside (though it is slowly getting too warm to keep the beer at the ideal temperature. I feel a global warming rant coming on. It is summer, and I have only been here once so I don't have much to compare this weather too, but I have seen the glacier recede a couple feet since I have been here and more than six since November. It is a terminal cancer patient (as Dr. Sascha Steiner termed the bleaching reefs in Dominica, but it is appropriate here as well). Calvings are a natural process of glacial advance, but the number and magnitude occuring on the glacier behind station signify abnormal activity (like glacial retreat). And they just aren't building during the winter. Some people can blow global warming off as a temporary natural fluctuation in climate, and who knows, maybe it is part of a natural oscillation, but it is obvious that what is happening is happening faster and to a greater degree than anything our records have shown, and that is something that cannot be ignored. I don't mean to say global warming is why our beer isn't as cold, just to clarify. It is summer after all... But average temps have risen 6 Deg C here in a relatively short period, so who knows.), that is without a doubt the most beautiful walk-in fridge in the world. and plus there is a pool table and a computer connected to everyone's music through the network, so it's a pretty cool place to hang out. Did I mention there is a disco ball? But, the picture isn't loading...