A nifty tree seen on our first day.
We dug a lot of holes, thankfully I didnt have to dig this one.
Safety first.
Does this really need a caption?
Our fearless leader.
The hair and the kids.
Grubby Feet. Yes I did wear shoes.Saturday, September 27, 2008
Deployment Photos
A nifty tree seen on our first day.We dug a lot of holes, thankfully I didnt have to dig this one.Safety first.Does this really need a caption?Our fearless leader.The hair and the kids. Grubby Feet. Yes I did wear shoes.
Recovery
So I went back this week to pick up the seismometers and other equipment that we deployed the other day. It wasnt quite as long, significantly less tedious, but no less demanding.
Lets see things that happened:
I dropped a GPS on the way down from a site (super steep slopes). It was in my pocket but the lanyard snagged on a manzanita bush. It wasnt super accurate, usually was about 10m off, but it wasnt mine to lose. So the next day (after it had rained for the majority of the day and night) we had a little spare time and went back to look for it. I found it! The bright blue case was pretty visible hanging off the manzanita, just waiting for me. We hiked to the rocky outcrop near by and took some photos. At least it was sunny, cool but hey I'll take that over working in the rain any day.
Earlier that day we came across a seismometer that had been dug up. It was just hanging out by the hole. The bag with the battery, recording device, and GPS antenna was completely untouched. It was very odd, and we had a debate about who or what could have done it. We came to either bear or human.
Pro human: the hole wall looked very staight and sharp on one side.
Pro bear: bag wasnt touched, humans probably would have screwed with the other equipment.
That same day I found a 4 point buck skull and several vertebrae. I kept the skull but left the spine parts. The bones were pretty fresh as they still had connective tissue and ookie stuff. The skull made it home and is sitting out side waiting for the bugs and ants to clean it out before I bring it in the house.
The nights were cold, I mean frost on the inside of your tent cold. I bought a down jacket just before going out and I am so glad I did, as I pretty much lived in it. Other than that, I worked my butt off, had a good time and drank lots and lots of beer.
East Lake
North and Middle Sisters, as see on the way home.
Lets see things that happened:I dropped a GPS on the way down from a site (super steep slopes). It was in my pocket but the lanyard snagged on a manzanita bush. It wasnt super accurate, usually was about 10m off, but it wasnt mine to lose. So the next day (after it had rained for the majority of the day and night) we had a little spare time and went back to look for it. I found it! The bright blue case was pretty visible hanging off the manzanita, just waiting for me. We hiked to the rocky outcrop near by and took some photos. At least it was sunny, cool but hey I'll take that over working in the rain any day.
Earlier that day we came across a seismometer that had been dug up. It was just hanging out by the hole. The bag with the battery, recording device, and GPS antenna was completely untouched. It was very odd, and we had a debate about who or what could have done it. We came to either bear or human.Pro human: the hole wall looked very staight and sharp on one side.
Pro bear: bag wasnt touched, humans probably would have screwed with the other equipment.
That same day I found a 4 point buck skull and several vertebrae. I kept the skull but left the spine parts. The bones were pretty fresh as they still had connective tissue and ookie stuff. The skull made it home and is sitting out side waiting for the bugs and ants to clean it out before I bring it in the house.
The nights were cold, I mean frost on the inside of your tent cold. I bought a down jacket just before going out and I am so glad I did, as I pretty much lived in it. Other than that, I worked my butt off, had a good time and drank lots and lots of beer.
East Lake
North and Middle Sisters, as see on the way home.Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Mount Ashland Hillclimb
Hows about we go ride our mountain bikes up hill only for several hours? Ya? I've had better ideas, but I also know I've had much much worse.
Oof.
4800 feet of climbing. 18 miles. Almost all uphill. And I dont mean some nice little 3% grade, but we're talking 8ish% on average, with some definite steeper slopes.
I wasnt super motivated, but I did want to do it just to see how much I could make myself suffer. But I did it. And I came in 2nd for all the mtn bike women, 1st for my category.
The 1st solidified my Oregon Bicycle Racing Assn, Best Allround Rider for Sport Women 19-39. Which I'm pretty happy about.
Oof.
4800 feet of climbing. 18 miles. Almost all uphill. And I dont mean some nice little 3% grade, but we're talking 8ish% on average, with some definite steeper slopes.
I wasnt super motivated, but I did want to do it just to see how much I could make myself suffer. But I did it. And I came in 2nd for all the mtn bike women, 1st for my category.
The 1st solidified my Oregon Bicycle Racing Assn, Best Allround Rider for Sport Women 19-39. Which I'm pretty happy about.
Venomously Against John McCain/Sarah Palin
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Life as a Geology Grunt
So, I havent blogged in a while because I was away from modern technology for 7 whole days. It was nice at first, but by the time it was over, I was scared to open my email. I had 242 emails at work and over 90 in my gmail account. Yikes.
I was/am part of a study to image the "red hot magma" chamber under Newberry Caldera. For those of you who dont know, Newberry is in central Oregon, south of Bend and just north of La Pine. Mini geology lesson: It is the same type of volcano as Crater Lake, but has had more volcanic activity post massive eruption. There is a small cone in the middle of the caldera as well, but there have been several other lava flows in the last 7000 years to create 2 smaller lakes and a pretty nifty obsidian (volcanic glass) flow (which stumps geologists because Obsidian doesnt usually flow and so the mechanism to make it do so is poorly understood).
So in a NE-SW direction we put in seismometers every 300 to 800m (depeding on location). The farther away from the center of the caldera the farther apart the seismometers got. There are currently 80 sensors in 80 holes that are 12-14 inches deep. About 20 of which I dug or helped dig. The other components are above ground, the recording device, the GPS antenna, and a set of 8 12volt batters wired in a series. All of this had to be packed in, usually 500m-2k from a road so that wasnt too onerous usually. The battery, recording devince, and GPS antenna all were placed in a very durable black plastic bag with an opening left so the battery could breath. On the 2nd day, a rodent had already chewed through the bag and gnawed on the cardboard box the batteries were in. Yippee. We also put these in rattle snake and yellow jacket territory. I am no so excited about the recovery week after next.
I will post pictures soon when I find my mini USB to USB adapter for the camera. It was fun though. And really really dusty. Its all pretty much just ash and when you are digging in the dirt for 8 hours a day, one tends to not stay so fresh and so clean clean. My hair would stick up straight a la Sonic or the villian on the Incredibles. It was pretty amusing and impressed pretty much everybody.
Finally a week after my return, almost everything (except my shoes and sleeping bag) are dirt free and put away. Only to do it again in a week. Weeee!
I was/am part of a study to image the "red hot magma" chamber under Newberry Caldera. For those of you who dont know, Newberry is in central Oregon, south of Bend and just north of La Pine. Mini geology lesson: It is the same type of volcano as Crater Lake, but has had more volcanic activity post massive eruption. There is a small cone in the middle of the caldera as well, but there have been several other lava flows in the last 7000 years to create 2 smaller lakes and a pretty nifty obsidian (volcanic glass) flow (which stumps geologists because Obsidian doesnt usually flow and so the mechanism to make it do so is poorly understood).
So in a NE-SW direction we put in seismometers every 300 to 800m (depeding on location). The farther away from the center of the caldera the farther apart the seismometers got. There are currently 80 sensors in 80 holes that are 12-14 inches deep. About 20 of which I dug or helped dig. The other components are above ground, the recording device, the GPS antenna, and a set of 8 12volt batters wired in a series. All of this had to be packed in, usually 500m-2k from a road so that wasnt too onerous usually. The battery, recording devince, and GPS antenna all were placed in a very durable black plastic bag with an opening left so the battery could breath. On the 2nd day, a rodent had already chewed through the bag and gnawed on the cardboard box the batteries were in. Yippee. We also put these in rattle snake and yellow jacket territory. I am no so excited about the recovery week after next.
I will post pictures soon when I find my mini USB to USB adapter for the camera. It was fun though. And really really dusty. Its all pretty much just ash and when you are digging in the dirt for 8 hours a day, one tends to not stay so fresh and so clean clean. My hair would stick up straight a la Sonic or the villian on the Incredibles. It was pretty amusing and impressed pretty much everybody.
Finally a week after my return, almost everything (except my shoes and sleeping bag) are dirt free and put away. Only to do it again in a week. Weeee!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
DNC, McCain, and some chick from Alaska
First off, I'm biased as hell. I cannot understand how people who are not rich, white, and sit on the board of large corporations can be republican. I like Barak Obama. He seems like a normal guy who you could have a good conversation over beers with. Yes some said that about Bush II, but without the good conversation part. When he speaks, he is describing a bright future where there are loads of shiny happy people. It may not be perfect, but its a significant change and better change from the 8 long dark years we've had.
Freaking McCain though. Jay-sus. The 'oh I'm gonna ride the Hilary wave and get me a woman' mentality is disgusting. Sarah Palin has NO political experience. She was the mayor of a town of 9000. There are 3 times more people than that at the University of Oregon. Now she is the governor of Alaska for LESS THAN 2 years. The population of AK is 684,000ish. The city of Austin Texas has more, 743,000ish. Crap, Portland Oregon, has 568,000ish. I'd say those mayors have at least as much or probably more experience than she does.
The other thing that pisses me off, is that she was tapped because she is a woman. Not because she has a good leadership record (or any for that matter). Its the oh gee we need to find someone who isnt white and or male. Its degrading to all women who have worked for what and where they are today. She was chosen because she has a v-jay jay.
While it may seem awesome that a woman could be vice president, its terrifying that THIS woman could be president. I mean come on, McCain is just about the same age as my grandparents. In 4 more years he'll be almost 80. Its entirely possible that he could have some serious health issues in that time. And if he does who gets to be in charge? Oh yea, Sarah "I have no experience" Palin. And if the republicans are touting their own horn that they would be the one with a woman on the ticket, I just want to remind everybody that the democrats did it first, 20 years ago...can anybody say Geraldine Ferraro?
And finally, in true republican fashion, she is currently being investigated. Yep, she's been in office for less than 2 years and is already being investigated. Why? Because it looks like she dismissed the Public Safety Commissioner when he refused to fire her ex-brother in law (who is a state trooper). Ah yes, this "reformer" whistle blower type is just the same as it ever was.
PS McCain has met her only once prior to his (I mean his handlers) choosing her for the VP position.
Freaking McCain though. Jay-sus. The 'oh I'm gonna ride the Hilary wave and get me a woman' mentality is disgusting. Sarah Palin has NO political experience. She was the mayor of a town of 9000. There are 3 times more people than that at the University of Oregon. Now she is the governor of Alaska for LESS THAN 2 years. The population of AK is 684,000ish. The city of Austin Texas has more, 743,000ish. Crap, Portland Oregon, has 568,000ish. I'd say those mayors have at least as much or probably more experience than she does.
The other thing that pisses me off, is that she was tapped because she is a woman. Not because she has a good leadership record (or any for that matter). Its the oh gee we need to find someone who isnt white and or male. Its degrading to all women who have worked for what and where they are today. She was chosen because she has a v-jay jay.
While it may seem awesome that a woman could be vice president, its terrifying that THIS woman could be president. I mean come on, McCain is just about the same age as my grandparents. In 4 more years he'll be almost 80. Its entirely possible that he could have some serious health issues in that time. And if he does who gets to be in charge? Oh yea, Sarah "I have no experience" Palin. And if the republicans are touting their own horn that they would be the one with a woman on the ticket, I just want to remind everybody that the democrats did it first, 20 years ago...can anybody say Geraldine Ferraro?
And finally, in true republican fashion, she is currently being investigated. Yep, she's been in office for less than 2 years and is already being investigated. Why? Because it looks like she dismissed the Public Safety Commissioner when he refused to fire her ex-brother in law (who is a state trooper). Ah yes, this "reformer" whistle blower type is just the same as it ever was.
PS McCain has met her only once prior to his (I mean his handlers) choosing her for the VP position.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Perils of Urgent Care
So on Sunday I took a magnificent dive off my mtn bike at about 25 mph into very large gravel due to a ginormous blackberry bush that was in my way. Well it was either blackberry bush or median of large loose gravel. Either way I knew I was going to eat it. And I did. Brilliantly. So I banged my knee and whacked my handle bars in my stomach (yes I have a round bruise right of my belly button), and I really abraded the hell out of my left elbow. I clean it up, I put neosporin goo on it. I've had road rash before, I know how this goes.
Fast foward to Tuesday night, my arm is swollen and a bit red, and definitely warmer than it should be. Crap. So I try a little ice, and I prop my arm up on the back of the sofa for most of the evening to see if I can get it to drain. No dice. All that I get from that is lost feeling in my hand and a cold elbow. Crap.
So today I go to urgent care...and by urgent they mean if you are not spurting blood everywhere, then you are probably ok and going to sit there for hours. And by hours I mean minimum of 3. Do not go to urgent care if you are not obviously seriously injured. So I'm there I check in. Lesson number one dawns pretty quick: do not act chipper or upbeat or have a pain number less than 5. Yes my minor infection is a 10. It is totally the worst pain I've ever had. Evar.
Lesson number 2: Hospitals do not care about blood born pathogens - do not touch ANYTHING. So some dude who'd been there for 2 hours, bleeding (see he wasnt at the 3 hour mark, so they couldnt help him yet) from a very large laceration on his palm. He went to the bathroom to put more paper towels on it and when he came out, there was blood dripping down his elbow, all over his shoes, jeans and the floor. He didnt notice until I pointed it out. They didnt bandage his hand up for about 5-10 minutes. It took about 15 minutes for them to get out the antimicrobial spray and wipe down the floors. And the nurse did it w/o gloves.
Lesson number 3: Your wait will be 12x as long as your actual visit with any medical professional. I sat for 3 hours. I saw the dr for about 5 minutes, the nurse for about 10. Fifteen minutes. She cleaned my elbow (by pouring what looked like water on it), slathering some polysporin on it (whats the difference between poly and neo?) and then wrapping it in gauze (because I'm allergic to adhesives so I dont to medical tape well). And fax a script for antibiotics to the pharmacy. At least the dr and nurse wore gloves.
Fast foward to Tuesday night, my arm is swollen and a bit red, and definitely warmer than it should be. Crap. So I try a little ice, and I prop my arm up on the back of the sofa for most of the evening to see if I can get it to drain. No dice. All that I get from that is lost feeling in my hand and a cold elbow. Crap.
So today I go to urgent care...and by urgent they mean if you are not spurting blood everywhere, then you are probably ok and going to sit there for hours. And by hours I mean minimum of 3. Do not go to urgent care if you are not obviously seriously injured. So I'm there I check in. Lesson number one dawns pretty quick: do not act chipper or upbeat or have a pain number less than 5. Yes my minor infection is a 10. It is totally the worst pain I've ever had. Evar.
Lesson number 2: Hospitals do not care about blood born pathogens - do not touch ANYTHING. So some dude who'd been there for 2 hours, bleeding (see he wasnt at the 3 hour mark, so they couldnt help him yet) from a very large laceration on his palm. He went to the bathroom to put more paper towels on it and when he came out, there was blood dripping down his elbow, all over his shoes, jeans and the floor. He didnt notice until I pointed it out. They didnt bandage his hand up for about 5-10 minutes. It took about 15 minutes for them to get out the antimicrobial spray and wipe down the floors. And the nurse did it w/o gloves.
Lesson number 3: Your wait will be 12x as long as your actual visit with any medical professional. I sat for 3 hours. I saw the dr for about 5 minutes, the nurse for about 10. Fifteen minutes. She cleaned my elbow (by pouring what looked like water on it), slathering some polysporin on it (whats the difference between poly and neo?) and then wrapping it in gauze (because I'm allergic to adhesives so I dont to medical tape well). And fax a script for antibiotics to the pharmacy. At least the dr and nurse wore gloves.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The Never Ending Quest
What will Pim (the LWC - large white cat) eat next? It was about this time last year that we discovered he not just eats, but begs and voratiously devours corn on the cob. Since then its become a personal goal of mine to find the foods he wont eat.
So this week he ate:
Oatmeal
Blueberries
Melon
More corn (der)
Beans and Rice
Now he and his sister are laying around looking like they are going to melt due to the heat.
Last year's corn noming...
So this week he ate:
Oatmeal
Blueberries
Melon
More corn (der)
Beans and Rice
Now he and his sister are laying around looking like they are going to melt due to the heat.
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