Why are we down here...oh yeah...Science.

3/29/2007

Every once in a while there's something to remind me what it is that I'm doing down here. Yes it's a job, and a Network Engineer is a Network Engineer almost anywhere else, but I was out at a remote site today bringing a Cisco switch online when I noticed the following label on a piece of equipment.


At the South Pole (a.k.a. 'Pole') the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has a buried monitoring station 8 km away from the station to listen for nuclear explosions. Seeing this notice made me realize again what the heck I'm doing down here - supporting the further pursuit of science. It's easy to forget that at times. Some days it's just the 'grind', but then you remember why the United States government has a presence on this cold, remote piece of rock.