Training

Dean and I have been in Galveston for the last three days, getting "trained" for our Antarctica trip.  My experience at this orientation has induced me to make this blog private.  Without doubt, this is the most disorganized training program I've ever experienced--so bad that it makes me fearful about actual survival on the ice.
  • We're asked to arrive for meetings and then we sit and wait for over an hour doing nothing.  Benefits office never showed up at all.
  • The big boss tells us that we are doing the work on a dime, with inadequate resources and staff.
  • There are insufficient resources to permit the usual "perks" of spending 6 months on the ice.  To me, this probably means no trip to the South Pole.
  • Noisy construction will be going on 24 hours a day on the base.
  • Major members of the supervisory team retired in the last month and no replacements have been identified.
  • The orientation is poorly prepared: lectures are tedious, redundant, and don't touch on anything important (frostbite maybe?  hypothermia perhaps?)  Instead, they focus completely on administrative trivia that have no relevance to us.  I don't know how many times I've heard about filling out workman's comp forms.  
  • At one practicum--emergency ultrasound--the instructor came 40 minutes late and then said, "What is it you want to learn? I don't know what I'm supposed to be teaching".  
  • And the BIG one, we're told there will be coffee and there is none.  I mean really!
But there are some good/great things.  
  • The 15 or so medical people going down with us are simply spectacular.  I am so impressed.  About half have been to Antarctica before--some on multiple occasions--and are founts of information. They totally rev me up for the experience.  The comradery is great.
  • The Air Force is responsible for travel and also will be assisting us in the clinic.  They give me much more faith in the likely success of the mission.
  • I'm not in charge and I have a great immediate boss--Dean.  He's not the least concerned about any of this.  
  • Galveston is kind of fun.
So anxiety and excitement are in equilibrium. No, I'm lying.  Anxiety is winning.

Comments

Eric said…
I echo the yikes sentiment
August 15, 2019 at 1:47 PM
Anonymous said…
I chuckled when I read "[Dean is] not the least concerned about any of this." Love it!
August 17, 2019 at 1:42 PM
Aidan said…
Gorgeous picture. Sounds so disorganized! I second what Nate said about Dean :) that's fantastic
August 18, 2019 at 2:05 PM
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