Alcoholism in Antarctica
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Alcoholism in Antarctica
1–10 of 34 posts
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#2Great punchline:
>even one friend that isn’t a bottle is a better than none.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#3This is a fascinating look at the stations.
I'm tempted to add alcohol to my local install of Mars Simulation Project. (http://mars-sim.sourceforge.net/)
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#4The interesting part of this story, for me, was how Antarctica is for some the ultimate, final destination for people escaping from themselves. If anything, this only highlights the need to improve awareness and treatment of mental illness in the United States.
It is obvious to anyone who has first-hand experience with these issues that you can never outrun your own problems. Some people flee for a while before realizing this, someone just keeps taking the delusion to its logical end. What is really needed is an acceptance that it's okay to have issues and that in most cases, they can actually be treated.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#5The interesting part of this story, for me, was how Antarctica is for some the ultimate, final destination for people escaping from themselves. If anything, this only highlights the need to improve awareness and treatment of mental illness in the United States. It is obvious to anyone who has first-hand experience with these issues that you can never outrun your own problems. Some people flee for a while before reali…
Along these lines is the (wonderful) Werner Herzog documentary, Encounters at the End of the World.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_Wo...
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#6This post reminded me of an antarctica blog I stumbled on years ago: http://www.bigdeadplace.com/welcome-to-the-program/
The Q & A bit here ("what are things you wish you brought?") seems to list a fair amount of booze/booze related items. http://www.bigdeadplace.com/ask-an-antarctican-2/
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#7Doing satellite tech/eng stuff overwinter in Antarctica is one of my dream jobs (along with obviously doing the same thing for Mars, which would be even better).
9 months isn't that long, and I can't imagine wanting to spend all the time drunk, rather than learning about all the interesting science going on. Plus, obviously, Internet.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#8This post reminded me of an antarctica blog I stumbled on years ago: http://www.bigdeadplace.com/welcome-to-the-program/ The Q & A bit here ("what are things you wish you brought?") seems to list a fair amount of booze/booze related items. http://www.bigdeadplace.com/ask-an-antarctican-2/
It's worth noting that Nicholas Johnson, author of the book Big Dead Place [1] and editor of bigdeadplace.com, committed suicide [2] in 2012. He had just been rejected [3] from another contract in Antarctica.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0922915997/
[2] http://www.albedoimages.com/blog/2012/12/06/death-of-antarct...
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#9Doing satellite tech/eng stuff overwinter in Antarctica is one of my dream jobs (along with obviously doing the same thing for Mars, which would be even better). 9 months isn't that long, and I can't imagine wanting to spend all the time drunk, rather than learning about all the interesting science going on. Plus, obviously, Internet.
In fairness though, and this is mentioned briefly in the article, you'd be there to do science. Many of the people passing out in a bar alone by 8pm are doing physical labor and not interested in or qualified for the science.
Re: Alcoholism in Antarctica
#10Doing satellite tech/eng stuff overwinter in Antarctica is one of my dream jobs (along with obviously doing the same thing for Mars, which would be even better). 9 months isn't that long, and I can't imagine wanting to spend all the time drunk, rather than learning about all the interesting science going on. Plus, obviously, Internet.
In fairness though, and this is mentioned briefly in the article, you'd be there to do science. Many of the people passing out in a bar alone by 8pm are doing physical labor and not interested in or qualified for the science.
I'd be support staff (running the satellite network, or maybe other IT stuff). That falls in the "support" vs. "beaker" camp. I just happen to also like science more than most forklift operators or electricians do, I think.