Sunday, December 07, 2008

First Phone Call from McMurdo

After arriving in McMurdo Station, attending the welcome briefings, eating dinner, and getting our bags, I made my first call home using my calling card. It was about 5:20 p.m. local time which made it 10:20 p.m. in Texas. Now take a minute to let this sink in: I am sitting in McMurdo Station Antarctica looking out my dorm room window at the Ross Ice Shelf. This is one of the most remote and inhospitable places on Earth. I pick up the phone in my room, dial the number to get an outside line, and use my calling card to call Susan’s cell phone. She is in Texas Stadium watching the last 1 ½ minutes of the Sulphur Springs Wildcats football playoff game. It is exactly 8,500.95 miles from Texas Stadium to my dorm room. I sit on the side of my bed and listen to Susan’s play-by-play of the nail-biter finish before going to dinner. Is this a great time to be alive or what? GO WILDCATS!!

1 comment:

Deanie said...

Hi Michael,
Susan told me about your blog about a week ago, and I have been checking up on you. This is my favorite story so far; I can just see you doing this, and FEEL the excitement!

Deanie from GasWork