I love Eddie Izzard.  He is a British Comedian, in fact a Transvestite, and can deliver comedy in French, Italian, English and German.  Fluently.  The Americans don’t really get his humour, but that’s ok.

Just last year he ran over 20 marathons in a row – all around the UK, having never ran in his life.  A mystery to physiologists all over the world.  More respect, if he had of ran in his heels.

He wrote a brilliant sketch – in fact he wrote many – but one springs to mind for the situation we’re in.

It’s called ‘Cake or Death’.  Here it is from memory: People are in line to meet the Grim Reaper.  The Grim Reaper offers each person, Cake or Death … they get to choose.  Soon enough, unsurprisingly, he runs out of cake, and all thats left is death.

You can find the clip on youtube by searching for ‘cake or death’ (not for kids!)

Also check out ‘Darth Vader in the Canteen on the Death Star.’  Find the animated version on YouTube… with characters made out of Lego Bricks.

You can find the clip on youtube by searching for ‘darth vader canteen’ (not for kids!)

So, our resuscitation machine is malfunctioning – giving a falsely low heart rate when in fact a patients heart rate is over 100 beats per minute.  Maybe 150 or 220 say.  In a life threatening heart condition perhaps.  Needing a shock? Maybe. You’d never know.  This was found out months ago.

No problem- we asked the Italians to provide a new machine.  But instead a plan was made to load the resus machine from Mario Zucchelli, and send it on to us – as that station is summer only – so we could have the italian machine for over winter.  Good plan.  Will get to us quickly and we will definitely get it.

It just arrived here in Concordia.  Thank goodness.

We unwrapped it.

And plugged it in.

Oh no… wait… Oh now I remember.

We didn’t plug it in, because it didn’t come with an AC adaptor.  Because someone didn’t think to check what they sent half way across the world’s most extreme continent.

Shocking!

Excuse the pun… That would have made a James Bond film.

Am I surprised now?

No.  This Is Antarctica, after all.  I am well-informed it is to be expected.

Nothing surprises me anymore.  Barbara, our nurse, was surprised.  I was surprised at her.  I suppose she has only been here a week.  Give it another week and that surprise will go too.

The world’s most extreme environment.  You would have thought it would have the most extreme planning.

It seems the joke is on us.

Cake or Death?  Well Eddie, make it Cake, if theres any left?

When we get to the river of death… To the Grim Reaper… “2 tickets please, do you have change.”  Thats another of Eddie’s sketches – genius.

Google it … it’s all there.

‘It seems I need 13 tickets for 13 people please… Do you take Euros?’

Perhaps you think I am being overly sceptical of the European Union.

Maybe, I’m just taking all this too seriously or over-reacting… Silly me.

I turn up Louis Armstrong.  And I think to myself… What a Wonderful World.