Perfect!

A head cold. Perfect! I started sneezing a bit after driving home from visiting my cousin after he completed his LSATs at the University of Rhode Island (congratulations again!), and I haven't been able to stop since. Hopefully this is just some sort of allergy-induced 24-hour bug or something, but it would not be pleasant if I had to travel half way across the world with a pounding headache and a stuffed-up nose...

Other than that, things are going well here. The final stages of preparation are all going nicely. Tomorrow will be the final test of our equipment (our GPS units, laptops for the field, cameras, etc.), and then it will be packed in our bags and prepared for travel! Four of us will be departing from Providence on Tuesday around noon for Boston Logan Intl. Airport, where we will fly to Los Angeles, meet with our fifth team member there, and then board an overnight flight to New Zealand. Once in New Zealand (which will be Thursday morning, when all is said and done), we have one more short commuter flight from Auckland to Christchurch, and then we have two days to organize our personal gear and buy any last-minute supplies before getting outfitted with our cold weather gear. Then hopefully, if the weather decides to cooperate on both ends of the Southern Ocean, we will board our military aircraft and fly down to Antarctica on Monday, Oct. 18th.

The time difference is a bit crazy between the United States and New Zealand (which is also the time zone used in Antarctica). If I remember correctly we will be 19 hours ahead of the East Coast of the United States. I told my family to take the current time, subtract 7 hours, and add a day, which is how I always remembered the time difference. So let's pretend that my flight down to Antarctica takes off at 9:00am on Monday, October 18th... the flight would be departing at 4:00pm on Sunday, October 17th for people back on East Coast time. Now, on November 7th, Daylight Savings Time will end, and so we will revert back to having an 18 hour difference instead of a 19 hour difference. (By the way, if anyone knows that I'm wrong in these quick back of the hand conversions, please call me out. It's quite early, I didn't get much sleep, and math is not my strong point.).

OK, I'm going to try to get another hour of sleep or so before my parents arrive to visit for the day! Will update soon, but I can't be certain where in the world I will be for my next post. See ya!


Mark