Remember that prison planet in Star Trek VI where Kirk and Spock get sent for murdering those Klingons? Actually I think they were framed for the murder, but the point is, Kirk got to smoke a joint with Iman, and then kiss her. Only she turned out to be not a Sudanese supermodel at all but rather some sort of wookie-like shape-changing monster.
No wait, that wasn't my point at all. Uh, my point was that the coal mine where I work was just like that planet this week. Minus the faux-Sudanese supermodels and angry Klingon prison guards. But there were plenty of blowing snows and raging blizzards and deep pits and treacherous ices and stuff. And I didn't even really mind- my active imagination just transported me away to that far-off penal colony and I was happy. Though the illusion was repeatedly broken by my buddy Robin who kept saying how warm it would be in Cuba the next day when he went there on holidays. Bastard.
Oh well. I covered for him as pumpman last night and just drove around checking all our pumps in different pits. Had some moments of worry when some of the pumps failed to work. And there was another moment when I very badly wanted to punch my foreman in the nose for shutting off a pump without my permission, thereby royally screwing it up. Ice gets all clogged up and can very quickly ruin your night if you don't catch it in time. But I did, and after a little sledge hammering and tiger torching, I spent the rest of the night watching Grey's Anatomy on my PSP.
I bet Kirk didn't get to do that on his little prison planet.

PS- speaking of Star Trek, one of my favorite actors was Michelle Forbes (she was briefly on Next Generation). She kicked ass. And she kicks ass even more in Battlestar Galactica as an Admiral.