Pack, pack, pack...

Well, it's packing season for me. The reason the BAS (that's "British Antarctic Survey") employed me in early August was to prepare for the ship leaving in about a week. This ship will have all my bulky stuff - solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, poles, iceproof boxes, antennas, etc. I've had a few weeks to make sure nothing's missing, and order the missing items in time. Most of it's ready, but there are bits and pieces still missing...and once I'm down there, I can't get replacements.

Of course, I can carry things with me down there...but every piece of equipment I bring with me on the plane, displaces another personal item such as books, soap, skiis, etc...so I'd rather get it all now.

After that, I have to start thinking about packing up my life, as Wolfson finally gives me the heave-ho in about three weeks. I get 40kg to take back to Canadia on British Airways (I'm taking a rest from the low-cost transatlantics such as Zoom and Flyglobespan) and the rest will either go into storage, into my office, or stored at someone's house. After two almost-uninterrupted years in Plommer House, I've managed to accrue quite a bit, but I've become quite skilled at ruthlessly throwing out the non-essentials.

After next week, the training begins. This should be fun, and I'll try to post some pictures, if I get a camera.

Until then...