Stuff and Nonsense

I hate doing this, but circumstances insist: I shall be going to a somewhat light to virtually non-existent posting schedule over the next week or so. I’m getting me arse kicked by research, my darlings. On top of this, I’m still adjusting to a lack of nicotine, which seems to involve endless eating, sudden bouts of inertia and exhaustion, and other such woes. When I attempt to concentrate, my brain wails, “But I haven’t had a smoke in almost two weeks!!” and I have to stuff it with non-taxing stuff to get it to stop sniveling. My memory is shot, my concentration ditto. The weather is, by Seattle standards, blazing hot. All signs point to dialing back for a bit.

So I’ve been avoiding the computer. Which, alas, means neglecting you. But that won’t last forever! Soon, you’ll get some posts I’ve written but haven’t yet typed up, some of which will contain substance.  And you’ll get a few things like this:

Moi at Meadowdale Park, pausing at the exit of the pedestrian underpass to gawk at the creek flowing out from underneath the boardwalk. Image courtesy Cujo359.

Random outtakes. Yes, indeedy. And your UFD, and probably Mystery Flora, and perhaps a reader-submitted geomystery, if I’ve got one I don’t have to attach many words to.

Anyway. Outtakes. Meadowdale. Yes, my intrepid companion and I decided to go there on Sunday because hey, we’ve never been! And it turns out it’s a long bloody walk to the beach, and my lungs are readjusting to this oxygen idea, and it was exhausting. But the view of the Olympics was nice, and the itty-bitty estuary was pretty, and there were trains, and I saw UFDs.

Moi stalking UFDs. Don’t worry, I didn’t upset them any more than the kids chasing them with sticks did. Image courtesy Cujo359.

You notice I’m paying bugger-all attention to the train, but never fear – I shot a video of its arrival, and if a few of you clamor for a train video, thee shall have it.*

This is one of the few times you’ll ever see me in flip-flops. Enjoy.

Moi getting ready to wash sand off my feet in this very convenient creek-under-a-boardwalk. Image courtesy Cujo359.

I’ll be back to more intensive posting soon. Never fear! We have enough delicious geology to keep us busy for the next few years – I just need to get it studied and organized for you.

 

*I’m using Terry Pratchett’s version of thee/thou etc., so don’t bother to correct it. I can also speak Elizabethan English when talking Shakespeare. I just find this more charming.

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Stuff and Nonsense
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13 thoughts on “Stuff and Nonsense

  1. 3

    Glad you posted, I was getting a bit worried about some of the side effects of Chantix!

    Looking forward to UFD’s and Geomysteries, when you get around to it. My geomystery, perhaps? If you post the pix, I’ll try to supply the words.

    I, meanwhile, am somewhere near the dead center of Oregon, having just crossed the Eastern half of the state on US26, and seen about the most awesome geology of my life. If you (both Dana and readers) have not been there, do so if you get a chance. John Day Fossil Beds!

  2. 4

    Great Place! I need to get back down there and explore it more. Did get some nice samples from the dig site behind the High School in Fossil, Oregon, just north of John Day Fossil Beds.

  3. 6

    Keep at it, Dana.

    When I stopped smoking, (waaaay back when) I found that the third week was the worst. The cravings as my system rid itself of the toxins were teh worst. Once past that terrible week I found that the rest was easy. The eating, as I found that food tasted better, had to be kept under control as the pounds just shot up. So, if my experience is anything to go by, only a week to go!

    We miss your regular posts, but we understand wh

  4. 7

    Don’t know what happened there, FtB suddenly posted before I had finished typing! To continue …..y you have been away a lot lately.

    Looking forward to reading you regularly agin once you are off your meds.

    All the best.

  5. 9

    Good luck with the work!
    .
    Hmm… if you ever go to Britain, read “The Wild Places” by Robert MacFarlane. It has some suggestions about where to find the remaining wild spots in Britain. And some of them are relatively close to urban areas. Good for us old wheezy folks.
    .
    Just read the SF novel “vN” about nanotech and androids, good stuff that goes way beyond “Blade runner”, but I understand you will have little time for reading fiction.
    .
    “some real jawbreakers in the place names department” -Try Welsh place names!!!
    .
    “owned by a homicidal felid” Mine bit me yesterday when it got too playful to see the difference between my finger and the toy.
    -Tell Svante Pääbo at Max Planck Institute to sequence the genome of the sabre-toothed Smilodon. Clone it, then we can talk “homicidial”.

  6. 10

    Following up on Adrian #5 –
    it gets better. My problems came when I thought I had finally kicked the habit enough to be able to smoke “just a little bit”. Woops.
    I now wear an invisible bracelet – Medic Alert variety. It says, “this is an addict, do NOT provide nicotine.”

  7. 11

    “I shall be going to a somewhat light to virtually non-existent posting schedule over the next week or so.”

    Have you considered appointing a minion to handle things when you can’t? Don’t you know some jr. (or sr.) geologist who’d like to get some practice writing for us ignorant masses? Or some photographer who wants to show off what they’ve done recently?

  8. 13

    I’ve just returned from what turned out to be an awesome “volcation”! That is to say, a volcano vacation. It wasn’t planned that way, but that’s how it worked out.

    First day: Across the lava landscape of central Washington into northern Oregon. 2nd, 3rd, 4th days visiting family. Fifth day: Across central Oregon on US-26. Awesome landscape with massive formations of welded tuffs. And the John Day Fossil Beds. 5th day wandering around some old family history. Sixth day, Newberry Volcanic National Monument. Awesome! 7th day, Crater Lake! 8th day, Mt. St. Helens! And distant views of Mt. Jefferson, the Three Sisters, The Brother, Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Baker. For some reason I kept thinking of Dana.

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