The Perils and Pleasures of Bartending in Antarctica. “The freezer was a hole in the wall to the frigid snow and ice outside.”
Advertise here with Carbon Ads
This site is made possible by member support. ❤️
Big thanks to Arcustech for hosting the site and offering amazing tech support.
When you buy through links on kottke.org, I may earn an affiliate commission. Thanks for supporting the site!
kottke.org. home of fine hypertext products since 1998.
Discussion 2 comments
Growing up in Fairbanks Alaska I have vivid memories of looking up at the University dorms and seeing a bag hanging out of every window - for use in refrigeration.
My sister and her husband spent a year at South Pole Station in 2000. Here are a few of my take-aways from what they told:
1. The South Pole is high-altitude and far from the coast, very different from other stations. Most people hear "South Pole" and think "Antarctica." That's like hearing "Denver" and thinking "America."
2. The cafeteria's kitchen walk-in freezers are heated to keep them from being too cold! A typical South Pole day is -30° to -40°. (Celsius or Fahrenheit...doesn't really matter.) A food freezer is 0°F to -10°F.
3. Fresh veggies ("freshies") are coveted; they are only available after a supply plane arrives, which is not often enough—and not at all during the winter.
4. Because it is so remote and unspoiled, pets are strictly forbidden. Which means that when a live spider arrives hiding in a leaf of lettuce, it is an extra-special gift.
Hello! In order to leave a comment, you need to be a current kottke.org member. If you'd like to sign up for a membership to support the site and join the conversation, you can explore your options here.
Existing members can sign in here. If you're a former member, you can renew your membership.
Note: If you are a member and tried to log in, it didn't work, and now you're stuck in a neverending login loop of death, try disabling any ad blockers or extensions that you have installed on your browser...sometimes they can interfere with the Memberful links. Still having trouble? Email me!
In order to leave a comment, you need to be a current kottke.org member. Check out your options for renewal.
This is the name that'll be displayed next to comments you make on kottke.org; your email will not be displayed publicly. I'd encourage you to use your real name (or at least your first name and last initial) but you can also pick something that you go by when you participate in communities online. Choose something durable and reasonably unique (not "Me" or "anon"). Please don't change this often. No impersonation..
Note: I'm letting folks change their display names because the membership service that kottke.org uses collects full names and I thought some people might not want their names displayed publicly here. If it gets abused, I might disable this feature.
If you feel like this comment goes against the grain of the community guidelines or is otherwise inappropriate, please let me know and I will take a look at it.
Hello! In order to leave a comment, you need to be a current kottke.org member. If you'd like to sign up for a membership to support the site and join the conversation, you can explore your options here.
Existing members can sign in here. If you're a former member, you can renew your membership.
Note: If you are a member and tried to log in, it didn't work, and now you're stuck in a neverending login loop of death, try disabling any ad blockers or extensions that you have installed on your browser...sometimes they can interfere with the Memberful links. Still having trouble? Email me!