Mawson’s diesel mechanics, affectionately known as ‘Team Dieso', cope with stocktake while the talents of chef Rocket are lauded once again.

All torque!

It’s that time of the year again! The most anticipated event in the dieso (diesel mechanic) calendar. Forget midwinters, end of season, going home to see loved ones, the event we all look forward to the most is the annual stocktake. About as much fun as a punch to the face or a kick, it’s the event that brings a tear to everyone’s eyes. 

With what seem like gazillions of items to count and catalogue, the tortured souls of the mechanical underworld handle the stock counting and general repairs with great poise, a symphony of awesomeness. After only just having unpacked the last of the resupply stock, once again it’s back to the shelves to sort and organise. The green store was also in need of sorting, so with the station supply officer recruited it was tackled with great enthusiasm and ferocity, all of which lasted about 27 seconds. Countless cups of coffee powered those early days. After playing Tetris multiple times with cage pallets and store racking systems, the hopes that someone else would volunteer to step in and take one for the mechanical team began to fade and wither. As a great philosopher once said, ‘You can’t always get what you want'.

As the head grease monkey and his elusive teflon-coated minion tend to the parts stock, other jobs had to be prioritised or placed in the too hard basket, which sometimes seems to overfill. A power house service, a leaking hose or a flat tyre, provide a welcome respite from the day’s torment. With reorders pending on the annual count, it’s in all of our best interest to put the unpleasantness behind us. It is just another job.

There are times however, that we just have to close our eyes and go to our happy place.

Any Saturday at Mawson

Every Saturday after we finish work in the morning Rocket, our chef, prepares a delicious brunch. This sets us up for the rest of the day and provides the sustenance to tackle Saturday duties.

Each week we are assigned one of several tasks that keep the station tidy and running smoothly. It may be vacuuming the hallways, mopping the cold porch, helping in the kitchen or collecting the rubbish from each work place. The station leader sometimes assigns special tasks like checking snow blizzard lines, shoveling snow or, as was the case this weekend, setting up the band equipment.

It was Ewan’s 50th birthday so a celebration was in order. The house band, ‘Tide Crack’ was booked to appear. The dining area was decorated with balloons and happy 50th birthday signs. The table was set for a grand banquet complete with candelabra.

Rocket outdid himself serving a three course feast which everyone agreed was one of his best meals to date. There was even a visit by a Marilyn Monroe lookalike singing Happy Birthday to Ewan!

Andy Burgess

on