7 December, 1996

December 7th, 1996

Autographs

Today we started shutting down things in the lab. Part of our lab sign out includes filling in a list of signatures. We needed to complete this "check out" to leave. As many offices are closed on Sunday, a large part of my day was spent trying to get everyone's "autograph". It gave me a chance to stop by offices hadn't been in before.

First I took tools back to the tool shop. This area is run by a couple who previously ran a tool store in California. They are working their way around the world. In the tool shop you can check out nearly any type of tool you can imagine. Downstairs is a shop area with table saws and drill presses (it reminded me of an IT lab). This is where much of the work is down repairing things around the base. They also do things like replace the missing poles that Dr. Braaten needed. Next, I went to the housing office to check everyone out of their rooms. We were instructed to leave our linens outside in the hall and to turn in our keys outside the chalet.

I also checked out of the BFC. I had to return all our equipment form our cage (which took a while). We then checked everything back in. The only item "missing" was a banana sled. We had returned this the previous week but it hadn't gotten marked off our list. The lady helping figured correctly that the 8 foot sled wouldn't fit in our luggage and signed us out. I also had to get a signature showing that all the videos had been checked in. As well I needed to check with the computer staff. They will be closing all our accounts down in the future. As part of the check out routine, Dr. Braaten meet with some of the NSF offcials to discuss the field season and changes that had been made this year at McMurdo.