This past week, I went out in the field…  and the weather was bad.

My coworker Stefan and I went out and did a transducer run, and the roads were as bad as I had ever seen it.  It was damn cold and windy.  When it was not snowing, it was just warm enough to turn the roads into slush and muck.  Thankfully, we only were suck in the mud once for a half-hour.

Don’t have much to say, I’m just happy that (hopefully) the worst year of my life is over, and I can look to better things in the future.  Hey, I know what will cheer me up!  Let’s do my taxes!

Damn, what a game…

So, for the superbowl, I went down to Cedar to see Andrew, Susie, and Lulu.

On Friday, we did something that started promising but ended lame.  Andrew dressed me up for this SUU Cowboy & Indian party.  Not pictured are my spurs, boots, and wranglers.  So, we showed up, and there were about 20 people there.  Great!  We were talking, meeting people, we were checking out the girls and vice versa… it was great.  The problem was the rate of arrival of new party-goers.  My guess was about 2-4 per minute.  Point was, less than a half hour after we got there, over 100 people were there, I couldn’t see the girl I was checking out anymore, and we could barely move.  As we walked out, at least double the people were walking in,more were outside ready to enter, and cars were circling the block looking for parking.

On Saturday we went to St George to watch some Rugby.  Man, that is a crazy game.  The important part was the Double-Double animal style, Animal fries, and a chocolate shake at the newest In-N-Out in Washington City (a St. George suburb).

The rest of the time was with Lulu.  So, I have to tell you this heartbreaking but heartwarming story.  So, Lulu had another seizure… the bad thing is she had not had one in over a month, the good thing was it was relatively mild.

So, she jumped down from the couch as it started and I was not sure immediately if she was having one or not.  I back away from her so I could observe her better, and then she crawled/wriggled/spazzed toward me and put her head on my foot.  She just had to be next to me during her time of need.  I guess she really does love me; and all this time I thought it was just the jerky…

The spread for the game was classic FFFFFF, though there was some unfortunate healthy food present…

I also returned to my real home… there’s no place like the Hideout at the Border!  The strange part was I had my truck, instead of the state’s.  I drove straight from Cedar to Baker, and then from Baker to home tonight.

The main thing I did down there with my boss Lucy was to check out some of our spring areas.  This is Foote Reservoir.  You can actually see the water bubbling up from the floor of it.  According to most of the smarter people on this groundwater stuff than me, the springs are both the first thing that will show significant change with pumping (several in the area have already dried with local ag pumping) and the biggest source of error and variation in the modeling.

In some places, like here along Lake Creek, the springs are very diffuse and hard to measure.  Most of the springs here are emanating directly from the bedrock, like here from the Permian Arctrus formation.

One of the highlights was this owl.  Anyone know the species?

So it was quite the weekend and start to the work week. Oh, and the coolest thing I’ve heard lately is Bret and Jemaine from my new favorite show, Flight of the Conchords, are touring, and will be in Salt Lake May 17th!!!  I’ll be there…

Not much going on in Matt Land, so I want to tell a few stories from the field…  I was reminded of these oddities as I pull things together for a presentation tomorrow.  I might have mentioned these before, but now I have pictures!

The first is a really remarkable story.  This is the skamper, another one of our trailers.  So, one day my boss left his bike sitting against this trailer and left to do work.  After he left, one of the drillers happened to look over at the trailer and noticed that the bike was ON FIRE!  He quickly ran over and knocked the bike away from the trailer.  So, what happened?

As best as we can gather, the bike slipped down onto the battery, and the handles connected the two terminals, creating an electric arc, and melting/igniting all non-metal items on the bike, including brakes, cables, and a helmet.

If you thought that was crazy, this one is even more strange.  By the way, this picture above was featured on the cover of the UGS Survey Notes quarterly magazine.

As we drilled at site 6, our previous well started to shoot water out of it like a Las Vegas fountain.  Not that strange, until you delve a little deeper.  Here is an artist’s rendition of what happened.

We were drilling a hole known as 6D.  6ABC was complete, with 3 wells in that hole.  A is the shortest, about 200′ feet deep.  B was about 350′, above the bedrock, still in alluvium.  C is about 400′ deep, within the bedrock.  As we drilled (at about 450′), water gushed out, but not out of C, which was the shortest path for the water.  No, the water gushed from deep within the bedrock to the middle well, within the alluvium.  This is some of the most direct evidence that the alluvial aquifer is very, very well connected to the bedrock aquifer.  How this happened, we do not know.

(c)AP

Sure this is amazing, but something more amazing happens today.

Good luck, Barack… you will need it…

…after THAT one…

I’m back!  Not only am I back, but I’m really back.  For the first time in over 9 months, I will be home for over a week.  This was quite the trip I just returned from, but one constant made it very awesome:



With a twinkle in her eye, I had Lulu for a whole two weeks, and we went all over.



My biggest worry for the trip was driving in bad weather.  As I left the SLC, I was less than encoraged. 



Cedar was not much better, but Lulu and Susie didn’t mind!  Hanging with Andrew was really fun.  Andrew and his hot female friends kicked my ass in Cranium.



Yeah, they get along REAL well.  In all honesty, Lulu doesn’t like to play with her; but when we I got back and I dropped her off, she was so excited to see her!  They played like I’ve never seen before.



From Cedar, I drove to Ridgecrest to see my dad.  His cactus garden is only getting bigger.



On of the highlights was a walk to my cousin’s house with Star (my dad’s dog).  It’s less than a mile, but the dogs had a blast with lots of smelling.



One of the first things we did was check out the snow in Kennedy Meadows, because it’s just never enough.  Here Star and Googie run along together, though they normally ignored each other as much as possible.



So, the snow had a layer of ice frozen on top, and the dogs did something I never knew dogs could do: they spread out their toes web-like to stop (or at least limit) the sinking into the snow below.  Crazy, eh?



We also checked out the semi-frozen south fork of the Kern.  We tried to stop them, and were worried, but the dogs ran out across the ice.



The ice remained solid, but that did not stop Star from jumping the water anyways..



On Xmas we made a turkey in a old roaster that blonged to his parents.  It cooked the meat really well!



It was really good with cloves of garlic randomly shoved into the meat… Mmmm…



Next, we went to LA to visit family and friends.  This is what we mainly did.



Fernando was a gracious host, and as you can see, Lulu and Fernando got along very well.  In fact, she may have convinced him and the roommates to get a dog of their own.



One of the highlights of the LA portion was the mini-(replacement) HS reunion.  Anthony, Paulina, Richard, Angie, myself, and Jeff all got togther.  Gabe and Esteban (not our class, but fellow Spartans) also joined us.  I had not seen these folks in too long, it was great!  At the end of the night, we took a cool walk around UCLA.  Extra thanks to Angie for coordinateing and suggesting this.



Last but far from least on the trip was Super Fantastic Weekend II: The Tale of Joshua Tree.  See Andy‘s post for more details and pics.



Lulu got to see her deaf counterpart: Patch.  Like Star, they tried their best to ignore each other.



We stayed at Black Rock campground, which was nice.



The biggest problem was the weather.  It was very cold, with wind the first night.  Tents were not optimal.



Luckily, Googie and I slept in the back of Carl (my truck).



I had to leave Lulu’s harness on most of the time in LA and JTNP.  She hates it, but there was no other choice. When I did let her free, she tended to get in trouble.  Only when I was far from others would I let her free, like here next to this mylonitized granitoid.



The littleist geologist, Pat and Kelly’s baby Meghan was starting to walk and talk/sign.  Here, she amuses us all with her Xmas Maggie Simpson impression.



Kelly kept saying she liked the dogs, but I’m not so sure…

The best, er…, only hike we did was Hidden Valley.



There are three main units: The Sevier-aged intrusive Monzogranite which makes up the unique, rounded formations in the park, the 1.7 (Vishnu equ?) Pinto Gneiss, and a recent (<2 Ma?) hypabyssal basalt that is undated.  Hey, if you are a Baddeleyite expert, date this already!



The last thing we saw was Keys View, arguably the highlight of the park.  It’s a beutiful view of Imperial Valley and even the Salton Sea.  The linear hills at the base of the range are the Indio Hills, which (if I’m not mistaken) are a small transpressional feature on the San Andreas fault.  From here, you can actually see the end of the fault, which begins at Cape Mendicino, far north of San Fransisco.



Yeah, in case you can’t tell, it was damn cold!  Can you tell?



The best part of the drive home that really made things come full circle was a drive past Amboy crater of ESS 103A fame on my way back to the SLC.



All and all, another great trip and hopefully just the second in a long list of SFW’s and high school mini-reunions.  Most of all, I had loads of fun with Googie burrito, and I can’t wait to see her again, because it can never come soon enough.

Quick other random thoughts:



I can not say Utah is the #1 team, but like Jim Rome said today, they have to at least be in the conversations and they should at least have a shot.  I will be royally pissed is $c is ranked higher at the end of the year.



This guy look familiar?  His name is François Affolter, and he’s a soccer player for the BSC Young Boys of the Swiss National League.  Cool, eh?

Sorry about the delay on this post… so, last weekend, I flew to Miami to see Jeremy and a Dolphin game, since he may not be there for to much longer… more to come.

As I left Saturday morning, it started to snow here in the SLC. Just for contrast, I suppose.

It was my second game in Miami, and it was really cool, though the warm, humid weather still seems unnatural. And no, I didn’t go in the bouncy hut… though you know I wanted to!

I decided to shell out a little extra $$$ for better seats, and it was cool. The other thing that made it great was how close it was. This pic is from 4th down and 10, inside the 20, with the Dolphins only up 14-9 with less than 1 minute left. Joey Porter came up with the sack to clinch the game! The stadium, during that last drive, was electric. I was so excited, and my throat still has not fully recovered.

The other reason I went was to see Jeremy graduate! He turned in his dissertation right before Thanksgiving, and now he is Dr. Miamioolite! Here is his folks and his advisor, Rene. I have to admit… I was a little jealous and regretful of my failed PhD… I’m not going to go back to school anytime soon, but things like this make me want to go back eventually.

All in all, it was one of my best trips in recent memory. And now, I am readying for the next trip, and this weekend I will make my trek down to Cali for the fams and Superfantasticweekend II. AND Lulu will be with me the whole time! So long snow, and we are having plenty of it here (and in the Grand Canyon). It’s supposed to be 23 for a high tomorrow with inches of snow.

I warn you, this is an angry, possibly offensive rant… Those with weak hearts or stomachs should look away now…

The BCS is BS, and we all know it.  In fact, all three letters are wrong.  B=bowl, and since the precious matchups are not preserved for all bowls as they were, the ‘bowls’ are not the bowls they once were; C=championship, and last time I checked, most ‘championships’ are not split and everyone has a chance to win it; and S=series, since only one game matters every year, and the rest are semi-pointless exhibitions.  But there is actually something worse about it… the BCS is actually bigoted.  Racist (or it’s equivalent).  Now, I am not trying to say a game of football is as bad or important to the oppression of Jim Crow and Apartheid, but it’s the same idea: The good ol’ boys keeping the club, the rich getting richer, separate but equal.  Here is my beef.

Boise State was snubbed, and the BCS game was given to a very undeserving Ohio State team (sorry Steph).  Why?

It’s not the rankings.

• 1.Florida (50)
• 2.Oklahoma (9)
• 3.Texas (6)
• 4.Alabama
• 5.USC
• 6.Penn St.
• 7.Utah
• 8.Texas Tech
• 9.Boise St.
• 10.Ohio St.

• 1.Oklahoma (31)
• 2.Florida (26)
• 3.Texas (4)
• 4.Alabama
• 5.USC
• 6.Penn St.
• 7.Utah
• 8.Texas Tech
• 9.Boise St.
• 10.Ohio St.

Remember, these are the man’s rankings, the man’s system.  Boise beat that system, got ranked 9th in all polls, significantly ahead of Ohio State, and they STILL gave it to Ohio State.  The only reason, which in theory should have NOTHING to do with the decision, is the almighty dollar.  They want to keep the money in the family and/or they think they will sell more tickets with OSU.  Oh, but it is about the student athlete, right?  Now THAT is BS.

What is the difference in the bowls?

Yes, that’s a difference of $16.25 Million, or 22x as much money.  Remember that the conferences split that money too, and Ohio State was already getting a share of Penn State’s BCS bowl money, so now, the rich Big 12 gets twice the money, and the WAC gets some pocket change.  Not only is the BCS designed to not give non-BCS teams a chance, but now they are basically colluding against the mid-majors.  If I was Boise State and the WAC, I would sue the BCS for discrimination, with a minimum damage of $16.25 Million.  I’m not trying to say Boise deserves to play Florida in the championship game, but you can’t be this obvious in your bigotry.

EDIT: According to Karl Benson, WAC commish (who emailed me back), the difference is more like $4 million, which is still too much money and does not make this any less unfair.

As an aside, I think this conspiracy runs deeper than everyone thinks.  After the 2004 Utah win, which was a given, and the unexpected win by Boise in 2005, the BCS has been actively looking to embarrass the mid-Majors.  Why else would non-BCS teams play SEC teams that are bad matchups for them in SEC territory.  Utah could play well against any of the spread offenses (Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Texas Tech, ~Ohio State, ~Penn St, Va Tech, Cincinnati, etc.) because of their excellent secondary.  Alabama is the WORST matchup for them.  I guess I need Tin Foil for my head…

Of course, as I have said before, there is a solution.  As promised, here are my seeds, with assistance from the BCS rankings and Fernman.

1. Oklahoma*
2. Florida*
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. ‘$c*
6. Texas Tech
7. Penn State*
8. Utah*
9. Boise State*
10. TCU
11. Ohio State
12. Cincinnati*
13. Virginia Tech*
14. East Carolina*
15. Buffalo*
16. Troy*
*=automatic bid, won conference

So, 16 would play 1 (Troy vs. Oklahoma), 15 vs. 2 (Buffalo vs. Florida), etc.  In my plan, the first round would be at home, and the bowl games would take up the remaining games (more details here).  And you know what?  Florida and Oklahoma might still play each other for the championship in this universe, but that’s not the point.  This way, it would be a real championship, because the actual champion could be decided ON THE FIELD and EVERYONE would have a chance.  I know, sounds odd… With this system, if they are gonna put BCS teams in automatically, why don’t we just skip the season, and just have ‘$c play Georgia like everyone wanted in August and let the BCS schools just pillage the treasury over and over and over…

Momentum is growing for a real championship, and if you can, do the only thing that can make it happen: stop caring, like me.  That means: don’t watch the other BCS games, don’t spend money on the BCS, and complain, complain, complain to everyone you know.  In fact, I am going to send part of this to the WAC and Boise, in hopes that a lawsuit might come of it.

I know of at least one person on my side.

P.S. If you look below, you will notice I am reading a book (guess who)!  I know, I hate to read, but I think I can get into reading historical nonfiction.  My aunt bought it for me, and I felt obligated to read it, but I really like it.  This will be my first book for pleasure since Mongolia and that makes only 2.5 in the last decade.

I’m back from Turkey Tour 2008!

I didn’t take too many picks because my broken camera is getting brokener. I’m gonna break Santa’s kneecaps if he doesn’t get me one. The highlights:

I got to see Andrew, Lulu, and Susie.

I got to see Star and my dad.

I got to see my Mom’s side of the family. Here’s my Grandma reading to my littlest cousin Josiah.

So, one more week of field work, then I’m home for the winter…

Oh, and one more thing (from MPR): If you’re gonna vote for Lizard People for president and senate (is that constitutional? And, can you vote for more than one person at once?), don’t forget to fill in the (correct) bubble! Not filling in your bubble might make you look foolish.

By the way, shame on you BCS… Texas, I cry for you; Oklahoma, you should be ashamed, or at least, feel really lucky (sorry Jabba). Your miracle vs. ‘$c will always keep a warm spot in my heart for you, and your injustice shall not go unwaged. I now doubt I will watch or care about the Big 12 game or the National Championship. Don’t choke, like usual, Sooners.

As another silly aside, two clips:

Possibly the greatest catch ever, and it was an interception. Sean Smith is a Jr DB for Utah, and he’s 6’3″. This guys is destined for day 1 of the NFL draft.

VERY funny clip from “Talkshow with Spike Feresten”, a show hosted and staring one of the top Seinfeld writers that I would watch more if it was on at a better time (AFTER Mad TV, Sat night). This so remind me of my mom, though she is not that old… she just acts like it when it comes to technology.

So, work has been insane. I think this is the most I’ve ever worked. Last paycheck, I was 30+ hours OVER my accumulated 80 hours of comp time from previous weeks. This leads to big paychecks, but tired Matt. We’ve been drilling shallow wells at springs, like Twin Springs (above). For a desert in the middle of nowhere, there are a lot of natural springs, and that is why Vegas is so interested.

This is our ‘rig’, though it is so little that it’s hard to even call it that. I mean, if you can tow it with a pickup, is it really drilling?

When you are done, you get these nice cores. It’s actually really cool!

So, I am off until Mon Dec 1, so can recover. But, will I just relax? No way! Here is my plan:

Leave Friday, visit Andrew and Lulu in Cedar City, then drive to see my Dad in Ridgecrest on Sunday, then drive up to Berkeley Monday to visit Armando, then meet up with the family next Wednesday and drive to Oregon to meet more family for Turkey, then drive back to the Bay Area Saturday, then back to the SLC Sunday.

Yeah, that’ll be a relaxing vacation. Pictures to come!

Speaking of my little googie, she has been having more sevier and more frequent seizures lately. I know there are a lot of dog folk out there, so any suggestions? Apparently the anti-seizure medicine has a lot of bad side effects, so that is trying to be avoided. Aly is switching her to all-natural dog food, and though it is pricy, it certainly might help so it is very much worth a try.

Oh yeah, I am loving the attention that a college football playoff is getting thanks to a certain someone. If anyone can do it, Obama can!

Again, if you do not know my plan, it is:

16 teams: 11 conference champions, 5 at large

Seeds are set by a committee (like basketball), with SOS and ‘BCS’-like standings used as guides (like RPI)

First round are home games. 16 @ 1, 15 @ 2, etc.

Bowl games now become 1) quarterfinal games and 2) best of losers of first round 3) other teams left out of playoff, with big four (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange) rotating between a) best quarterfinal game (their choice) b) semi-final games c) championship

How my plan thwarts BCS-honks’ arguments:

1. “The regular season won’t matter.” It certainly will, because who you beat, how you beat them, and conference standing will be big factors in picking spots and seeds.

2. “Everyone will stop scheduling tough out-of-conference games.” What, like now? Good luck against the Citadel, Florida. Your strength of schedule WILL be a factor both in spot and seeding.

3. “What will happen to the bowls?” They don’t mean shit now, and they won’t mean shit then, except the playoff games, of course. Would I have watched the Utah v. Navy game or UCLA v. yBu bowls if my teams weren’t playing? Chances are no. Would I watch EVERY playoff game? Yes! And about travel, if you have the home game first round the week after conference championship week, you would still get several weeks to plan your trip to your bowl game. You could play the semifinal games either before New Years, or on. Championship (like now) would be the week later.

4. “There’s no time to do it/Won’t somebody think of the student-athletes!” Lame. So, 1AA (FCS), 2, NAIA, and every other sport in every other division don’t take classes, right? You have a MONTH between the last game and bowl games. You can’t have a few teams play a few games in there (see #3)?

5. “#17 would just complain.” Much like Georgia last year and hopefully ‘$c this year, the simple argument to that is: Win your conference, then you’d have nothing to complain about.

But here is the best argument to silence any BCS fan: Right now, less than half the teams have a chance to win the championship. In a playoff, I’m not saying Utah, Boise State, or Ball State would win it all, but they at least have a chance and can decide it ON THE FIELD. How novel, I know.

photos (c) AP

It’s about time.  What a difference four years makes.  America, you did good last night.  I wasn’t sure you had it in you; I always hoped you did.  You picked the best PERSON, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or religion, three things that should have never mattered in the first place.

This is the most proud I have been of my country in my lifetime.  Now, I am always proud, but I am always disappointed at the same time.  At this moment, the pride is at my highest level ever recorded.

To all whos thoughts are pessimistic, remember this: 1) where can we go but up? 2) any hatred that may come from this is dwarfed not only by the hope of many minorities and millions in a new generation, but also by the hatred of the current administration.  Now THAT is hate. 3) the inspiration that he will give, wheather he fails or does well, will give people of all colors and all backbgrounds a reason to believe, and what is that worth? That could influence people for generations, because it is hope that is and has been the driving force for Americans and their success forever. I do not think anyone should have voted for him for this reason, but it is a nice side effect.

Hope…  It’s back.

Now that this is over, yet take a look ahead, with help from my favorite political website, electoral-vote.com

2012: Palin, Huckabee, and Romney are the favorites, though they all have issues.  Palin… you know, don’t need to elaborate.  Huckabee is a good guy, who I personally like, but he is a 6000 year creationist.  That is scary.  Also, he is a populist economically, which the fat cats hate.  Romney’s issue is his religion… people are biased, especially with the deep south, against the Mo’s.

By the way, look out for the AK senate race.  Sooner (Stevens resigns after winning, leaving the gov [guess who?] to pick the next one [her]) or later (He gets expelled by the senate and she runs in 2010), Palin might be in that seat, that is if the Democrat Begich loses.  It is still very close.

The person, or at least type of person, that would scare me as an Obama devotee, is someone like Tim Pawlenty, gov of MN or Charlie Crist, gov of FL.  They are  both kinda boring, but they are not crazy in one way or another (at least for now with what is known).  They could be dangerous of things are not doing well.

2016: All you Hillary honks, you may get a women here, but not who you think.  Let me be the first to introduce you to Janet Napolitano.  She is the most (or one of the most) popular govs in the nation (yes, more than Palin, especially now), from AZ.  Electoral-vote.com says she has a really good chance of running and beating McCain for the senate in 2010, and if she does… watch out!  She could be quite a force.  For the GOP?  Who knows.  Chances are that 2012 will be a struggle to see if the party leans toward the religious right or the economic right (i.e. Huckabee vs. Romney), and this fight could be epic in 2012 and could shape the GOP for 2016 and beyond.  It could be fun to watch…

Click here for a truly crushing post that I will leave protected for obvious reasons.  If you want to see it and can’t let me know.

Wow, should I really be punning this kid of thing??? geez…