Today is the third day I've been here and I'm still switching my schedule. On the first day I stayed up until around 3AM, yesterday I was up until 5:30 or 6AM, and I'm hoping to make it to 8AM today, which is *almost* where I need to be.
If you're curious, here are the satellite schedules
I'm staying in the summer camp (AKA the Jamesway), which is a group of quantas huts about a quarter mile from the main station. Each hut contains around 8 separate 6x8 foot living areas, cordoned off from the main hall by a canvas curtain. Each living area contains a bed and a cabinet for storing stuff, and not much more. The huts at summer camp share a single bathroom which is about 60 paces from my hut (I'm sure I'll know the EXACT number by the time I leave).
I'm taking Diamox to helps avoid altitude sickness -- the effective altitude here at the Pole is something like 15000 feet.
The Pole is one of the driest places on Earth (even though it's sitting on the largest collection of fresh water -- solid, but fresh) so we need to drink a LOT of water to counterbalance the moisture which is constantly being sucked out of our bodies by the dry air.
One of the side effects of Diamox is an increased need to urinate.
All the above means that I wake up every 3-4 hours with an intense need to pee, so I get up and throw on a pair of jeans, my boots and Big Red (the nice, warm parka I'm wearing in the picture below) and walk the 60 paces to the bathroom, then come back and take all that gear off (being careful not to make too much noise because other people are sleeping) and try to go back to sleep.
I'll take my last Diamox pill at around 4AM, so I'm hoping this means only one more night of multiple trips to the bathroom!
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