I've read a number of good books and there are cards, puzzles, and the occasional party in our lounge. Most of us have a pretty regular workout schedule on the tread mill, and the other limited workout equipment. While at McMurdo Station I had to spend some time at one of the remote sites called Black Island. This is a remote communications center and consists of three small Baily buildings, a number of radio transmission towers, and a few satellite disks. A Baily building is nothing more then a walk in freezer except on the ice it is used to keep the heat in verses the heat out like in most other parts of the world.
Black Island is powered by solar cells, wind turbines, and backup generators.
The wind there has a reputation of blowing up to 168 mph on occasion. On a visit there last winter the winds blew non-stop for 18 hours. 14 continuous hours at speeds that never dropped below 95 mph followed by another 4 hours of speeds not dropping below 104 mph. The noise from the blowing wind through the towers, and guy wires made it difficult to talk among ourselves inside the building. That is, could you sit in a building and not be fearful of the hurricane blowing outside the door.