so.......i'm not a janitor this year; but still, here i am with a broom?

i'm working in cargo this year. this means that i build up/tear down cargo onto these 108" x 88" airplane pallets. i get to drive loaders, 5 ton trucks, deltas, tractor sled pushers, and this little machine left over from the army (i think from the 50's?) called "the pickle." i'm loading and unloading airplanes with this cargo. i'll send more pictures of me "in action" with the cool big machines as i take them.

the equipment i'm operating in this picture is called the d-2 (the d-1 is a shovel). on the ice runway any dirt or sawdust has to be swept up. we do this because any foreign stuff left on the ice absorbes heat from the sun making big divits and holes in the ice. (a very strange feeling to go onto the sea ice to sweep)

the location i'm standing in this picture (i'm on the air strip) is where, in 2 1/2 months, the ice breaker will be churning through the ice. someone told be that the airstrip has about 6 feet of ice on it....don't know if that's true, and i'm too lazy to double check. if anyone researches and finds anything different, let me know....better yet, post a comment here!