TIGER is unloaded and Halloween is observed (unrelated events, really)

    We got to sleep late this morning - 7:00 AM!  After having a shower (these are becoming fewer and farther between), I went to breakfast to meet the crew before heading over to the Mechanical Equipment Center (MEC) to get certified to drive some of the exciting vehicles that McMurdo has to offer.  This includes simple things like vans and pick-up trucks, but we also get certified to drive fun things like a skidoo and a Pisten Bully.  We all had to get acquainted with where all the gauges and tanks are on each vehicle, since it is up to each driver to be sure that the vehicles are well taken care of.
    Then we each got a turn in the Pisten Bully - which, it turns out, is not as easy as it looks!  Either that, or I'm just a miserable driver.  It seems like a perfect mix (or at least a mix) between a car and a tractor.  The steering is very touchy and it is very easy to make all your passengers sick - which is what I did, I think.  After nearly passing a left turn that "ET" (our instructor) told me to take, I tried to make it - which means that I made a 120° turn almost instantly - thereby throwing a few angry Texans on top of each other in the backseat.  I think that the decision was unanimous that no one ever wants to ride with me.  Besides which, Dave told us that we'll never be driving them out at Williams Field anyway.

It may be thanks to me for that!  After driving the Pisten Bully, we went into the main machine shop to get to know the workings of a skidoo.  But since all of us have had plenty of experience driving the skidoos around Willy Field, we opted not to take it for a test ride.  Besides, it was already lunch time by the time we were done.
    We headed out to Willy for lunch at the LDB galley in the Jamesway (1)(2).  The NSBF riggers had a lot of work to do after lunch, unloading the rest of the seasons cargo, which included mostly TIGER / ANITA materials that were shipped down.  The box carrying all of TIGER's aerogel was brought in to the weatherport.  I spent most of the day getting our network set up, coordinating IP addresses with the McMurdo PC services, and cleaning up the TIGER command center to get it ready for the next group of people coming down.
    At around 4:30, the riggers were ready to unload TIGER into the weatherport.  Then it was back to McMurdo for dinner and the legendary McMurdo Halloween party.  People come up with some pretty fantastic costume ideas with very little to work with down here.

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