# I just got offered a job in Antarctica **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506 "2013-03-21T00:55:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/41 "2013-03-21T17:04:02Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > could we do a travelling gnome thing for dopers only? it doesn’t have to be a gnome, but it would be cool to be part of something that started in Antartica. I love this idea. Can it please not be a gnome? Maybe something that we can stamp or mark in someway. ---
**Author:** ![Seren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@Seren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seren)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/42 "2013-03-21T17:46:25Z")
Sweet! What part of Antarctica? ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/43 "2013-03-21T17:49:20Z")
Looks like McMurdo. I wanted South Pole or a field camp but this will do. ---
**Author:** ![Seren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@Seren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seren)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/44 "2013-03-21T18:56:00Z")
McMurdo’s pretty nice - 24 hrs a day of internet service and I hear they get to take 4 showers a week. 🙂 And, really, it’s a foot in the door so there’d still be a possibility of going elsewhere on the continent in the future, right? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/45 "2013-03-21T18:56:37Z")
will you have a walk-in or a walk-out freezer? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/46 "2013-03-21T18:58:58Z")
Is there an upper age limit for cooks? Assuming you are fit and healthy and mentally sound? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/47 "2013-03-21T19:04:18Z")
> [@Duke\_of\_Rat](#): > > Werner Herzog made a [Documentary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093824/) about life at the Antarctic outposts, “Encounters at the End of the World”. I thought it was interesting, except for Herzog’s droll narration. Damn Swedes. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/48 "2013-03-21T19:08:30Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > I will be cooking. My cousin was a chef at South Pole Station in 1991. [Here](http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/90s/1991.html) is a pic of the crew. He’s the fourth person from the left in the front row (Steve Midlam). ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/49 "2013-03-21T21:14:19Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > Looks like McMurdo. I wanted South Pole or a field camp but this will do. Too bad–I was going to suggest joining the 300 Club. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/50 "2013-03-21T21:22:17Z")
Awesome! Watch out for mountain ranges with strange non-Euclidean buildings on them though. 🙂 > [@LawMonkey](#): > > Too bad–I was going to suggest joining the 300 Club. 🙂 That’s either not as impressive, or bloody impossible, in metric. (Does McMurdo Station use metric?) ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/51 "2013-03-21T21:29:42Z")
That’s great. Have a terrific time. I was at Palmer in '90, and it was a blast. For what it’s worth, I have a friend who was bitten by a leopard seal. They are apparently as nasty as advertised. 'Course on the plus side, she’s got a scar with one of the best stories ever. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/52 "2013-03-21T21:36:16Z")
Since you don’t mind working remote, you ought to see if Arctec is hiring for the radar sites. Every site has a cook. It’s union, and the pay is pretty good. You get ample vacation time away from the site. Bad news: no alcohol is allowed on site. Or at least it was like that when I worked for them. Not much of anything to do out there at most of them, other than read, watch movies, and masturbate. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/53 "2013-03-21T21:36:47Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > Will you be renting or buying your igloo? Wrong pole. > [@fifty-six](#): > > I love this idea. Can it please not be a gnome? Maybe something that we can stamp or mark in someway. My husband’s stainless steel coffee mug traveled several thousand miles and picked up lots of stamps, decals and pictures, and you could still use it for coffee. Well, not his, you’d have to get your own. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/54 "2013-03-21T21:47:44Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Not much of anything to do out there at most of them, other than read, watch movies, and masturbate. So in other words, perfection? ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/55 "2013-03-21T22:06:24Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Since you don’t mind working remote, you ought to see if Arctec is hiring for the radar sites. Every site has a cook. It’s union, and the pay is pretty good. You get ample vacation time away from the site. Bad news: no alcohol is allowed on site. Or at least it was like that when I worked for them. Not much of anything to do out there at most of them, other than read, watch movies, and masturbate. Thanks for the lead. ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/56 "2013-03-21T22:16:11Z")
> [@Seren](#): > > McMurdo’s pretty nice - 24 hrs a day of internet service and I hear they get to take 4 showers a week. 🙂 > > And, really, it’s a foot in the door so there’d still be a possibility of going elsewhere on the continent in the future, right? I prefer rougher conditions and turd burners. I have a feeling I am really gonna like this job. I look forward to the 300 club someday and a few field jobs. I was a little hoping I could get on with the team drilling into the buried lakes. Or The South Pole Traverse McMurdo – South Pole Highway that the do every year. I need more ice time for some of the cooler jobs. I asked if Arctic ice time counted. It does not. He just said it was a feather in my hat. ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/57 "2013-03-21T22:17:54Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Is there an upper age limit for cooks? Assuming you are fit and healthy and mentally sound? They did not ask my age until after I accepted the formal job offer. ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/58 "2013-03-21T22:33:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by fifty-six > I love this idea. Can it please not be a gnome? Maybe something that we can stamp or mark in someway. An Ed Zotti figurine. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/59 "2013-03-21T23:33:39Z")
I asked about age limits earlier, what about gender? Would they rather have a man or a woman? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506/60 "2013-03-22T00:47:04Z")
> [@fifty-six](#): > > . . . I love the cold and wish to write a book called the Bi-Polar Cook. This is an essential part of making the book happen. I am in awe of that title and would buy to book for that alone. You could blog bits and pieces as you work up to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-offered-a-job-in-antarctica/653506.md?page=4)