Bahamas.

I'm off to the Bahamas again for probably the last time. We'll be leaving Starkville around midnight on the 26th, driving all night/all day, arriving in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in the evening. Then we spend the night there and fly out the next morning. It's usually about a 2 hour flight out to San Salvador, but it always seems quicker. Little planes are way more fun than big ones, and suprizingly no more cramped...
So we should get to San Salvador on the 28th sometime. This is Mylroie's usual December trip, so there'll be lots of field trips and such. I won't be going on many of those since I've done them before and I've got lots of work to do. Come to think of it, I need to figure out what it is I'm going to do when I'm down there. I've been a bit distracted with other things on my mind that have nothing to do with geology.
Anyway, I might have internet access while I'm down there, but maybe not. If I do, I'll try to let you all know what's going on. Don't expect any pictures until I get back though, assuming I don't destroy my camera again. Let's hope for that. We should be getting back to Starkville early on the morning of the 8th (or whatever that Monday is), which is the first day of class. Fortunately, I only have class on Thursdays next semester. More time to do my thesis I guess. Yay. Can't wait to get that done and get out of here...

Kentucky

I'm back from spending a couple days with Ford and Amanda and her family up in Kentucky. Things didn't go quite according to the original plan, but I had a really good time. The drive up went fine, and it was raining by the time I got there (took about 8 hours). Ford had had a horrible time with the bush-hog he rented. I'll let him tell you that story. But basically, it changed our plans of bush-hogging the next day. That evening, we just hung out and chatted. The next day it poured most of the day, but we had decent weather when we went around and looked at the land. Quite rugged. Really quite a cool plot of land too. We spent the rest of the day watching movies. Yesterday, we hiked around on the land again and did a little work. There was a small stream that drained the area in the middle of the land, but it had been stopped up when a small access road was put across it when they logged it. So we dug a couple small trenches across it to drain the land. Got a lot of water going through them, but no noticeable lowering of the water. Then we went back to the house, ate a feast of a lunch, and I took off.
Zephyr had a great time too, and loved running all over the land, though she stayed close to us. She even wore out Speedy (Ford and Amanda's dog), but he's getting a bit old. I got to shoot a gun for the first time in my life, a 12-gauge autoloading shotgun. Man, those things are loud! They gave me some nice gifts too, and I felt bad for not bringing any for them...
Anywho, a few pictures.

On one of the flat benches in the hillside where they coal was stripped out.

Down in the bottom, looking up toward the ridge that is the boundary between their property and Amanda's dad's.

Ford and I digging a couple trenches to drain some of the flat land. Zephyr and Speedy goofing around too...

Ford, Amanda and Speedy hiking up the "left" side on our way back home.

Merry Christmas.

I made this for Andrea, my geology buddy from UMaine. Hopefully you all like it too.

On foot.

As much as I love riding my bike, sometimes there's nothing better than a nice long walk. Southfarm is always a nice pretty place to go where we can let Zephyr run around, but I go out there so much (on my bike and walking) sometimes it seems a little boring, especially if I'm alone. Today however, it was quite foggy, and it was liking being in a new place. I could pretend I was somewhere else. At times I was reminded of walking across a mountaintop meadow on the AT. It was nice to be outside and take my mind off school and other worries, if just for a little while...
As usual, here's some pictures. You guys must be getting tired of Southfarm pictures by now.


Silly dog.

Yeah, real smart Zephyr... shake off when you're still chest deep.

But she found a stick, so she's happy.

Eckie's Pond... obviously.

Moo.

Skunk Hill shadow.

Tree silhouette.

I'm too tired to come up with a title.

"Well crap, you want me to go in there to get my osage orange?!"

Southfarm on a chilly day. South end.

Someone is building some dirt-jumps at the research park!

Seasonal decorations.

Bobbing for osage oranges.

On the same walk yesterday, found a couple osage oranges and played fetch with zephyr with them. When in the water, they're pretty neutrally bouyant, so they float just below the surface. Zephyr has a hard time getting it out. Have a look... this was actually one of her better attempts.

(if that doesn't work)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmm84yy_RHk

Hay Barn Ho-Down.

Took another long walk out at Southfarm with Kristen and Zephyr. Decided to goof around in a hay barn. It was actually pretty cool.

Hmm, looks like a fun stack of hay bales.

Kristen and Zephyr think so too.

I thought this shot was cool.

Queen of all she surveys...

Cat Island photos, mom's request...

Mom was asking about the picture on the title bar. Here's the full version of that, and a few others from Cat Island as well...

The full photo. Devil's Point, Cat Island, Bahamas.

Another view. It's very rare to have an overcast day down there. Usually it's so bright all the colors get washed out. It was gorgeous that day though. Even rained on us some.

Nearing the end of a really complicated survey on Cat Island. Not happy.

After finishing a survey of a really simple flank margin cave. Happy.

Total photon occlusion. My hips were too wide to let me get through this hole. After seeing the pictures, it looks like I could have turned on my side and got through. There was a bit more cave beyond this that I had to sketch. Athena, being tiny, and Mylroie, also being smaller and "slimy", got through. I sketched what remained from this position. While doing so, Athena spooked a bat. I'm blocking the only exit, so he had a tight squeeze between my back and the ceiling of this little hole...

We have a winner.

The old man wins. But cookie monster comes out of nowhere and steals your cookie!

Guess where?

Ok Waterstrats, who knows where this is? A cookie to the winner.
Big hint, we used to live there. Don't cheat and look at the file name either.

Old Pics...

Just some old photos I came across when I found an old CD. Probably seen them before, maybe on here, but I didn't feel like checking. Enjoy.

Me on the Morse Mountain Beach (near Popham beach) in Maine. Pretty sure it was Thanksgiving...

Mom on the table lands of Katahdin. What year was that?

Mom and I on the summit of Katahdin. Lots of bugs that time...

Thanksgiving.

I spent my thanksgiving day doing pretty much not the usual things. Woke up when Zephyr jumped up on the bed demanding to go out. Got dressed, went for a 2.5 hour ride out at Southfarm. Took some pictures. On the way home along blackjack, I crossed paths with Kristen who was on her way to Southfarm with Zephyr (in the car) to go for a walk, so I joined them. We walked the entire loop of southfarm, which took about 2 hours. Lovely day for it.
All I've had to eat today has been ramen and a PBJ. I'm so unamerican. Call homeland security, I must be a terrorist...
A couple pictures from the ride:

The Salsa enjoying a view of Skunk Hill.

Found a couple balloons bouncing across a field and took a picture.
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I did.

Gecko

Every now and then I come across a tiny gecko that lives in Hilbun Hall. Athena found this one, and i took some pictures. He lived in the office for most of the day before we lost track of him...
Also, if you haven't before, check out the NASA earth observatory. Their image of the day gallery is full of interesting features of the earth viewed from space (at very high resolution). Some of it is gorgeous (I can't help it, I'm a geology dork) and some of it is just plain cool. Check it out here.
An example...

Pretty underwater sand dunes on the Bahama Bank near Eleuthra, Bahamas.

Christmas Ideas

Mom asked me what I wanted, so here's some ideas. I'll add some more as I think of them, so keep checking. I need to know what you all want too. I've got some ideas for some of you, but suggestions are always good.
Things I could use:
- mini-tripod (this would be ideal)
- rack for the Salsa (this (the "sherpa") is about the only thing that will work since I have disc brakes on it)
- cool rocks you happen to find
- Geologic Map of North America (here, I'm a GSA member, so could get it cheaper)
- anything home-made
more to come...

Southfarm, 11/15

Took a walk out at southfarm this afternoon. Needed to spend some time outside. Haven't had a chance to do that much lately. First time Kristen's been able to go in a while too. Here's Zephyr being cute...

The horse actually ran over to meet Zephyr and tolerated her sloppy kisses. They've met before.

Some nifty looking grass.

One for the old man.

Miles Davis and John Coltrane - So What?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4FAKRpUCYY

Some things...

Kristen is still feeling pretty crappy. About all she can do is stay home and read and sleep a bunch. Poor kid. She' s almost out of medicine too, so we're going to go back to the doctor today to get more and let him have a look to see if things are healing like they should. She hasn't been able to eat much of anything, and she's lost about 10 pounds already. She has a hard time swallowing, so literally all she's eaten since her surgery is 2 popsicles, a tiny bit of bread, a tiny bit of soup, half a baked potato (over several days), and a couple bowls of ice cream. Her throat just hurts too much to eat much more than that. I sure hope she's better soon.
I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but I did finally buy a computer, an HP laptop. So far, it has been a total pain in the ass. It worked fine for about a week, then froze up shortly after getting back from GSA. Aparently the hard-drive broke, so they sent me a new one for free, but the sent me a 40GB one instead of a 80GB that I paid for. I just recently got another 80GB one that works, but now I can't reinstall Windows properly. Some crucial file seems to be missing or something. I'm trying it one last time (takes about an hour and half to install), and if it doesn't do it this time, I think I'll demand a new copy of Windows or an entirely new computer. At least they've been helpful on their end. Too bad the damn thing just doesn't work like it ought to!
Not much else new going on. School still busy and getting busier. The labs I teach are done next week, and it'll be nice to be done with that! Tons of work to do on my thesis of course, and I'll probably be working on that over break. Business has really slowed down at the shop, and there hasn't been anything for me to do. I think a complete overhaul of a nice old Specialized Allez was the last thing I did on Saturday. One of those high end old bikes that was never really ridden, but the owner wanted it checked out anyway.
Well, I'll let you all know how Kristen's doing if anything new comes up. Haven't had much chance to take any pretty pictures or anything. The leaves are pretty right now though...

Nice picture of Zephyr

This picture was taken by Kristen's friend from Philly, Jerrold. I think this is an awesome picture of Zephyr. He's got an awesome camera, which helps, but it's timed well and in focus. I like it.

Out at Southfarm...

Poor Kristen...

Kristen for the past month and half or so has been having really bad sore throats. It got really bad, to the point where she couldn't even swallow water, so she went to the doctor. If you know her, the fact that she went at all says she was feeling pretty bad. They gave her some antibiotics and she felt pretty much back to normal while she was on them. But, once they ran out, it would come back. This happened 3 times. The last time she asked the doctor to recommend her to a specialist, so yesterday afternoon we went to an ear/nose/throat specialist here in Starkville. He was pretty amazed at how bad her throat looked, and was afraid she had an abscessed tonsil. They sent her over to the hospital (Oktibbeha County Hospital) to have a cat scan to make sure. Sure enough, it appeared she had a pretty bad abscess of her left tonsil. So he recommended an emergency tonsilectomy. She had to spend last night in the hospital getting pumped full of fluids and antibiotics via I.V. She's never had an I.V. (me either) or had to spend the night in the hospital (me either). She's probably in surgery right now, and it's supposed to last about 20 minutes. Aparently she's going to feel wiped out for a week or two afterwards. Not suprising, but it really sucks since she's got so much school work to do. She's missing a calc test today and an organic chemistry test on Monday. Poor kid...
I sure hope she gets better quick.
I guess this explains why me or anyone else who's always around her never caught it from her...

a couple pictures...

The Liberty Bell in Philly.

The road bike after pretending it was a 'cross bike...

GSA etc...

Sorry it's been a while since I've written anything on here. I've been busy.
First off, got a computer for myself. A nice HP laptop. However, after having it a week, the hard-drive broke. Don't know what happened, but they sent me a new one for free. However, they sent me a 40GB one instead of an 80GB one. But, that should be resolved soon. The week I had it, I downloaded/installed a few programs I've been meaning to for years (I can't install anything on the school computer). Looking forward to having my own computer again...
GSA went well, mostly. Left here Friday afternoon, and made it partway through Virginia that night. I drove the entire 8 or 9 hours. Got up in the morning, and since neither of the girls are morning people, I started driving again. Made it about an hour before I got my first speeding ticket ever. Don't lecture me on it. I was coasting down a long hill in the mountains and hit 80 right at the bottom of it, where a trooper in a Camaro was hidden amongst some trees. Damn. The limit was 65. I was only going slightly faster than what little other cars were on the road, so mostly bad luck I guess. Out of state vehicle maybe helped too. Regardless, that was it for me for driving on the way up...
Got to Philly Saturday evening, checked into our hotel, etc. Athena and I had to present at 8 the next morning. Before we could do that though, we had to sign in. So Sunday morning was quite frantic trying to find out way around a huge convention center, then finding out spot, and putting up our posters with velcro that wouldn't adhere to the poster. We got everything set up in time though, and the poster session went well enough. I was feeling pretty bad about mine, since at this point, I don't really have any numerical data to present, just a bunch of maps and observations. Got to see several people I knew, from UMaine, field camp, the Bahamas, etc. It was really quite neat. One guy from Canada and I talked quite a bit since he'd done some work with sea caves and was frustrated by the lack of information about them. A good contact to have made I think, since he owns a consulting firm up in Ontario.
The rest of the conference was pretty laid back. Tons and tons of talks about all sorts of geology to go to. Some of it really boring, some of it fascinating. Athena and I also had to work a little bit. Because MSU didn't cover our registration fee, we put in 10 hours of work to cover it. All we had to do was sit in a session and run the computer. Pretty boring, especially if you got stuck in a session you weren't interested in.
There was also an exhibition area where all sorts of geology dork vendors and agencies like the USGS showed off their stuff. Also a nice big bookstore with all sorts of geology goodies. Quite a bit of free geology schwag too...
On Tuesday, I got to meet up with a good friend of mine from field camp. A girl from Chicago named Katie, who went to school in Delaware and was there (45 minutes away) for the weekend. Wandered around aimlessly catching up on things and whatnot. Really awesome to see her again... Also met a girl from Bowdoin who played rugby with Kristen's sister Erica. Small world...
Anywho, drove all the way back in one shot, 17 hours or so. I drove 7 hours at some point, and the final 3 or 4 into Starkville. Total zombie mode. Probably not too safe, but we made it without incident...
Since I've gotten back I've been super busy trying to catch up on all the stuff I missed. Had a chance to work on the MTB and got it running after that super-nasty ride with Fordo. Seem to have worn through my brake pads (disc) though, and have some more on order. What the hell, I thought discs were supposed to be the shiznit for muddy stuff. I guess Mississippi mud is exceptional. Only time I've had a chance to ride, I took out the road bike (now in SS mode) and pretended it was a cross bike. Turns out skinny slick tires don't give too much traction, but the biggest drawback was being over-geared. Had some fun though.
Speaking of 'cross, I was looking around on eBay, and came across a really neat one. Having never used eBay before, I accidentally bid on it, and aparently now I'm winning it. With 1 and 1/2 days to go. Hmm... may have another bike in the stable. Awesome, but unintentional and it'll make things tight. Oh well, live and learn.
So that's that. I'm super busy.
I've got a picture of me in front of my poster, but that was on the hard drive that failed. I'll have to see if I have it elsewhere...

GSA

Well, I'll be off to Philadelphia shortly and I should be up there until Thursday sometime. The poster turned out ok, but it's definitely lacking in quantitative data. Oh well, it's a work in progress.
I'll be pretty out of touch I think, but I might have email access at the hotel... we'll see. Talk to everyone later.

Pretty...

I'm in love.
http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/bikes/07_bikes/supernova.html

Visit with Ford and Amanda...

Pouring down rain yesterday. Got 4 or 5" out of one storm...
Went for a ride as planned, even though Ford was gonna wuss out. I figure we haven't ridden together in years, so we shouldn't skip this chance. Amanda stayed at the apartment and studied.
Went to the research park and it was horribly wet and muddy. Still pretty fun I thought, though my shifting gunked up in no time and even my fancy disc brakes crapped out. I don't know what happened, but my rear brake was just gone. I think the cable might have slipped. Ford let me lead the whole time. We didn't push it too hard but he was right on my tail the whole time. Didn't rip my legs off but he probalby could have...
Went home, cleaned up, picked Kristen up, went out to a Mexican restaurant, had some dessert, talked for a bit and went to bed. They took off at 2am this morning. Hope they made it back ok. It was nice to visit. Here's a couple pictures. Didn't take as many as I was planning (these are the only two) since it was too cold to stop and mess around with a camera.
Headline News: "Breakout at Zoo - Pythons get loose!"

Muddy bikes, wet car...
Later on, I took zephyr out to do her thing. She got all wet, which she doesn't like. She curled up into a little ball on the couch, which I thought was really cute. You be the judge...

Monday...

Ford and Amanda are going to be stopping by Stark-Vegas on Monday. They're on their way home from Louisiana, though I have no idea what they were doing there. Anywho, we plan on riding the research park while Amanda runs it. However, looks like we're going to get 1-2" of rain on Monday, so it's going to be a messy ride for sure! Should make it interesting. I hope he doesn't rip my legs off.
We'll probably go out to eat or something too, then they're off at 3 in the morning or something. Should be a good but brief visit. Expect to see plenty of pictures of mud-caked Waterstrats.

Oh yeah, next weekend and most of that week, I'll be driving up to Philadelphia for the annual GSA (Geological Society of America) meeting. It's pretty much the biggest sorta meeting you can go to for geologists. I am going to be presenting some of my research on sea caves, and I'm a bit nervous about that. Haven't finished my poster yet either. Not to mention that I don't have any actual data at this point, just a shit-load of cave maps. Guess I'll just wing it...
Should be cool to see some geology folks from UMaine and elsewhere though. It's a pretty informal meeting from what I've heard.

Southfarm at night.

Some pictures from last night at Southfarm...

Pretty sky before it got dark. It was actually chilly, about 57 when I left.

Time exposure when it first got dark. Held the camera on my saddle. Hard to keep it still enough...

Time exposure with the light on.

Left the lights on at this corral. Time exposure.

Looking back towards campus. Lights were on at the Recplex, kind of looked neat...