{"id":4516,"date":"2010-12-25T16:10:44","date_gmt":"2010-12-25T20:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/galadriel.astro.utoronto.ca\/ballast\/?p=4516"},"modified":"2010-12-25T16:10:44","modified_gmt":"2010-12-25T20:10:44","slug":"christmas-in-mcmurdo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?p=4516","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in McMurdo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two days ago, on Christmas Eve, the BLAST team showed up to work and halfheartedly ran through the pre-flight checklist. The weather was poor, and we were pretty certain we weren&#8217;t even going to go outside for pickup. We didn&#8217;t. Early in the morning, we officially scrubbed for the day, and for the next day too. So, we would have Christmas off, but we would rather have had to work all day if it meant we&#8217;d launch.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of launch pictures, I have a few of the decorations around town. I wasn&#8217;t as thorough as I should have been, but I&#8217;ll probably be able to supplement my collection with Matt&#8217;s. As always, Matt tirelessly documented the Christmas Eve party and the big Christmas dinner yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>Merry Christmas everyone! (Or at least everyone everywhere that it&#8217;s still Christmas.)<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-4516 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4518'><img width=\"150\" height=\"100\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2464-150x100.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Last Roll\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4518\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2464-150x100.jpg 150w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2464-250x166.jpg 250w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2464-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4518'>\n\t\t\t\tLast roll of the good white duct tape. We used a lot of this\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4519'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2466-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Tape Box\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4519\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2466-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2466-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2466-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4519'>\n\t\t\t\tThis tape box was full at the beginning of the campaign\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4520'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2473-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Grinch\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4520\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2473-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2473-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2473-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4520'>\n\t\t\t\tThe Grinch makes an appearance\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4521'><img width=\"150\" height=\"97\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2481_rot-150x97.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"155\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4521\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2481_rot-150x97.jpg 150w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2481_rot-250x162.jpg 250w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2481_rot-1024x666.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4521'>\n\t\t\t\t155. The Galley. Much decoration inside. I forgot to go\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4523'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2500-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Fork Other Side\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4523\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2500-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2500-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2500-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4523'>\n\t\t\t\tNot uncommon sign in a place with lots of cargo\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4524'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2502-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Spoon Other Side\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4524\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2502-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2502-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2502-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4524'>\n\t\t\t\tThe other side makes me chuckle every time I pass\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4522'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2483-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Melty\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4522\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2483-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2483-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2483-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4522'>\n\t\t\t\tOn a very sunny and warm Christmas Eve, the melt water runs rapidy\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4525'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2506-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Star Banner\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4525\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2506-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2506-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2506-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4525'>\n\t\t\t\tStar banner and candy cane\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4526'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2509-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Tree and Present\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4526\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2509-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2509-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2509-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4526'>\n\t\t\t\tTree and present. Many of the outdoor decorations were fastened to posts\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4527'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2513-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Kung Fu Penguin\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4527\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2513-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2513-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2513-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4527'>\n\t\t\t\tKung Fu Penguin\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4528'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2516-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Troll\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4528\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2516-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2516-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2516-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4528'>\n\t\t\t\tThe McMurdo troll, under his bridge. Not at all Christmas related\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4529'><img width=\"150\" height=\"100\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2523-150x100.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"More Meltiness\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4529\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2523-150x100.jpg 150w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2523-250x166.jpg 250w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2523-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4529'>\n\t\t\t\tMore meltiness on the sea ice around the pier\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4530'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2529-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Beautiful Evening\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4530\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2529-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2529-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2529-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4530'>\n\t\t\t\tWinds too high for a launch, but otherwise a beautiful evening\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/?attachment_id=4531'><img width=\"100\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2541-100x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"VMF\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4531\" srcset=\"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2541-100x150.jpg 100w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2541-166x250.jpg 166w, http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/ballast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/img_2541-682x1024.jpg 682w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4531'>\n\t\t\t\tVMF, site of the party\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two days ago, on Christmas Eve, the BLAST team showed up to work and halfheartedly ran through the pre-flight checklist. The weather was poor, and we were pretty certain we weren&#8217;t even going to go outside for pickup. We didn&#8217;t. Early in the morning, we officially scrubbed for the day, and for the next day [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4516"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4533,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions\/4533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/droppingballast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}