Pee Cans

Nov 2, 2006
-40C, -40F
(Wind chill -75F)
Day 2 at Pole


The main station has only recently been built and is located about 300 yards away from the J-ways. I made my way there yesterday and started exploring. Since I’m still adjusting to the decrease in oxygen and to wearing all the ECW gear (in McMurdo it was warm enough to only wear some of it), the walk is exhausting and seems to take me about 30 minutes. I’m surprised to see this side of the main station covered in particle board. I guess down here you don’t have to worry about aesthetics or your neighbors complaining about your lack of siding.

The station is built high off the ground so you need to climb a large flight of stairs to get in. The main door is a giant walk-in freezer door, but this time the freezer is on the outside. Once in, it reminds me of a space station on Star Trek. Everything is metal (although sometimes colorful), the doors have round porthole windows in them, and everyone walks around in heavy boots that clang on the floor. The station is 2 floors with a central, very wide, hallway on each floor. The station is sectioned into what they call “pods” which to me is just one long hallway as I can’t tell when I’m moving from one pod to the other.

They’ve just completed work on a state-of-the-art workout room overlooking the gym. There is also a large game room with pool and ping-pong and every board game imaginable, 2 large lounges with giant TV screens and many, very new and plush couches. They have a giant selection of DVD & VHS movies. There is a small, indoor, hydroponics greenhouse which was currently growing cucumbers, lettuce, and tomatoes. The greenhouse has a small couch so you can sit and relax. There is a quiet reading room with recliners and many books and magazines. The small post office and store are located on the first floor and are only open 1 hour a day. The main station also houses the computer lab and several research laboratories for the beakers (science guys) and administration offices. Off some of the pods are several berthing units in which everyone gets their own room. The rooms aren’t much bigger than the J-way rooms, but are definitely more comfortable just by location alone. I believe the main station houses approximately 100 people, mostly admin personal, seasoned veterans, dignitaries, and Winter-overs.

The galley is the best place in the station. I don’t say that just because I work there, but the view is amazing! There are many windows in the dinning area that look out directly on the South Pole marker and out at the horizon. The skiway is just off to the left so you can also watch the LC-130’s land. Beyond that, it is all horizon, snow and ice as far as the eye can see. The kitchen is an open kitchen style that lets you interact with everyone walking down the line.

Many large, clean, empty food cans are stacked up outside along the galley wall. This is the first place you’re taken once you come in from the J-ways. They are placed here for people to take with them to their J-ways as a pee can. When you wake up at 3 am and have to use the bathroom, who feels like putting on 20 lbs of gear, walking through a few snow drifts in blinding sunlight while doing the pee dance just to make to the bathroom? (They really frown on peeing outside here, besides; it’s so cold you’ll freeze your whoo hoo off before you finish peeing.) Once you’ve made the trip to the BR, you can’t fall back to sleep as the sunlight makes your body think it’s early afternoon.

I quickly learn there is an art to selecting the perfect pee can and once one is found, it is a hot commodity. I also quickly learn that the topic of pee cans will dominate most conversations in the next 48 hours, so hence; I get to boringly relate it to you as I know you’re very interested. (Hey, if I have to deal with it, so do you.) The metal food cans are always abundant, but not popular as all your neighbors can easily hear you. The ideal pee can is one that is plastic with a lid and a handle. As I’ve said, it’s very dark in the J-ways and lids are good for that reason. For girls, the pee can should have a wide opening as we are not as talented as the boys in aiming.

Working in the galley I’m at a prime shopping place for pee cans. We get a handful of mostly men each day searching for the right vesicle. They ask us to transfer salsa or olives to another container so they can use that one. I imagine those heavy equipment operators outside all day don’t have many options of places to stop. I’ve scrubbed out my share of containers slighted for the ill fate of bathroom buddy. During the subject of pee cans, one is certain to bring up that you are to never put your pee can on the floor of the J-way. The J-way floor is cold and by morning, all contents will be frozen. I tested the concept with water, and they were right.

Personally, I hate the idea of the pee can. I don’t know why. I guess bedpans and urinals have been used for centuries (probably since beds were invented) and were even the mark of the wealthy who didn’t have to get out of bed, but instead had servants to empty their containers. I just don’t like it for myself. Just the thought of squatting in my room is, well, gross and I just don’t want to do it. I once again devise a system to avoid the pee can. I hydrate all day but stop in the early evening. I still don’t take any Diamox. It works and I make it through the night although usually doing a very fast pee dance all the way to the BR in the morning. (Even though I hate the idea, I did secure my own pee can in case of emergencies.)

It’s the little things your miss from home. A warm BR is one of them and not having to walk in -80F wind chill and through snow drifts to get to one. And it’s only day 2. It's very amazing, when things are broken down to the most basic (shelter, food, work), life still finds a way to make drama, issues, and lengthy conversation out of the simple and mundane (e.g., pee cans).