Passing Peavine, with some fall colors.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Re-balancing Act
As part of my days-off re-balancing program, I found this little nook out in our "gazebo." Our gazebo is actually a rectangular, roofed picnic-type area, which we enclosed and finished off with materials mostly scrounged from other people's remodel projects.That's' my laptop sitting on an inactive potting table. The view is great, and the place heats naturally from the sun, so it might be a good place to hang out in the winter - a little crowded right now, and no electrical outlets.
View through old, frosted windows.
View looking out the other side window - the building is mostly a storage area at present, with homebuilt cedar-strip canoe taking up most of the space.
View looking upwards, making me think of winter treks through the coming snow - hopefully not coming here too soon, as we will leave our drip system on.
That's just a quick note - and now, back to the road!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A Bit on Field Schedules
Following on from recent posts and comments concerning various field schedules, I thought I'd elaborate on a couple field schedules with which I am familiar. [I thought there was another post by someone else recently, but I can't find it.]
Twelve and Two:
When I took my first job as a field geologist (although not my first job as a geologist), I worked a 12 and 2 schedule, drive on company time. The first thing to note about this schedule (or any other), is that 12 and 2 reads as 12 days on and 2 days off, adding to a total of exactly two weeks (not all schedules add to some variation of 7). Another thing always worth noting is the "drive on company time." That means, in this particular case, that the company paid for driving time, which amounted to about 4 to 6 hours each way, and allowed some time in the office getting ready every other Monday morning, and some time in the office to do expense reports or other things on Friday afternoons every other week.
The second field job I got started as a 4 to 5 month job and lasted 4 years. This was the infamous Northern Exploration Company that I've referred to in some other posts. The field schedule was 11 and 3, drive on your own time. Ten-hour days minimum were expected. The driving bit meant that on our last day in the field, after having camped out, and after having gotten up early in order to finish work early, we might leave the field by 4:00 pm, and then would have to drive home. Home, for most of us, was in Reno. I remember being all the way across the state east of Pioche, right along the Utah border in a district appropriately called Stateline, and driving nearly all night long to get back, it being at least an 8-hour drive from the actual field location, and possibly more like 9 or 10. We'd typically get in around midnight, or even as late as 2:00 am.
A more typical schedule is 10 and 4, drive on company time, which leads to a full 4 days off, and maybe a half day in the office on the 10th day to do expense reports, and a half day in the office on the first day to get everything organized, depending on how long the drive to the field destination might be. This was the schedule preferred by Former Mining Company, where I worked for more than eight years. It's a schedule I can live with, but one which doesn't give many days in a row at home. If you don't have an office close to home in which to spend a quarter to one third or more of your time, endless 10 and 4's can get old fast.
Twelve and Two:
When I took my first job as a field geologist (although not my first job as a geologist), I worked a 12 and 2 schedule, drive on company time. The first thing to note about this schedule (or any other), is that 12 and 2 reads as 12 days on and 2 days off, adding to a total of exactly two weeks (not all schedules add to some variation of 7). Another thing always worth noting is the "drive on company time." That means, in this particular case, that the company paid for driving time, which amounted to about 4 to 6 hours each way, and allowed some time in the office getting ready every other Monday morning, and some time in the office to do expense reports or other things on Friday afternoons every other week.
This first job was hourly at $5.00/hour or less, and with the considerable daily and weekly overtime we made, working 12 days in a row and often 12 hours or more a day, our overtime brought our monthly rate up to about $1000/month, which was close to the going rate for summer geologists that year. It was one hell of a summer, in many ways, unforgettable and memorable, and the pay got me through my last year as a graduate student, the year during which I completed my thesis and wasn't funded by the university.
Eleven and Three:The second field job I got started as a 4 to 5 month job and lasted 4 years. This was the infamous Northern Exploration Company that I've referred to in some other posts. The field schedule was 11 and 3, drive on your own time. Ten-hour days minimum were expected. The driving bit meant that on our last day in the field, after having camped out, and after having gotten up early in order to finish work early, we might leave the field by 4:00 pm, and then would have to drive home. Home, for most of us, was in Reno. I remember being all the way across the state east of Pioche, right along the Utah border in a district appropriately called Stateline, and driving nearly all night long to get back, it being at least an 8-hour drive from the actual field location, and possibly more like 9 or 10. We'd typically get in around midnight, or even as late as 2:00 am.
That would be midnight of Thursday night. The first day off, Friday, was spent sleeping in late, and then wandering around groggily for the rest of the day. Friday usually wasn't much of a day, but it was something. Saturday was a complete day off. Sunday was a part day off, because we would have to leave sometime Sunday afternoon in order to start work Monday morning bright and early (or maybe not quite so early on Monday). Although we supposedly had 3 days off, it didn't seem like it because of the drive-on-your-own-time requirement; our days off were really more like 2 to 2.5. I never liked that schedule at all and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Ten and Four:A more typical schedule is 10 and 4, drive on company time, which leads to a full 4 days off, and maybe a half day in the office on the 10th day to do expense reports, and a half day in the office on the first day to get everything organized, depending on how long the drive to the field destination might be. This was the schedule preferred by Former Mining Company, where I worked for more than eight years. It's a schedule I can live with, but one which doesn't give many days in a row at home. If you don't have an office close to home in which to spend a quarter to one third or more of your time, endless 10 and 4's can get old fast.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Bank Fishing: AK2008 Days 4-8
Fishing and Alaska, continued.
My favorite lure for catching silver salmon in the Kenai River - a bright orange pixee. Bright green is also good.
My favorite bank-fishing area.
The bank from which we actually fished.
Another view of the bank we fished from, taken from a boat in the river.
My favorite fisherwoman - actually, our best fish catcher; she usually catches fish even when no one else does.
Yours truly after catching more than enough pink salmon: I needed to take a break. We don't generally keep pink salmon. As soon as they leave salt water for the river, they start "turning" - as do all salmon - but fast, with the males getting a large hump on their backs. So they are also called humpies. They are smaller than silver salmon, are kind of bony, and are often mushy, especially the males. Sometimes a good, silver-looking female pink is okay to keep and eat. Sometimes they are good for smoking. I read recently that they are underrated, but quite frankly, I don't think so! Pink salmon is fine as commercial fish caught out in salt water and sold in cans; it is merely okay to much less than okay if eaten out of a river.
The famous empty bucket, waiting for a silver salmon. Fishing for silver salmon on the Kenai River in even-numbered years is challenging, because the pinks (humpies) run every other year - odd-numbered years are preferred, because the pinks aren't running. Fishing in even-numbered years goes like this: cast, hook or snag a humpie, drag it in, unhook it, throw it back in. Cast again. Cast again, drag in another humpie. And so on. You will probably catch a humpie on about every other cast.
Catching a humpie is like snagging your line on the bottom of the river - so much so, that sometimes you really can't tell whether you are snagged on the bottom or have managed to catch a humpie. It's especially similar if you happen to be standing in a boat. Silver salmon, on the other hand, are exciting to catch, and will usually jump out of the water, trying to throw the hook, and will run with your line, and jump again, and jump again. You are lucky when you catch one. Make sure the hook is well set!
It's fun to be catching something, but I've done this pink-humpie thing enough times in years past, to get tired of catching humpies pretty fast after the first or second day.
Finally, after a couple days, we decided to change lures to a Vibrax No. 4 or No. 5. [Be sure to check fishing regulations each year before using any particular lure. Some are too big, or are otherwise illegal, and regulations change.]
And what's that? Another humpie? Aaargghhh...
A great cast by our most persistent fisherman, and hence, our top catcher of silver salmon!
When fishing, remember to go out when it's early, mid-day, late, later, foggy, cloudy, sunny, rainy - in fact anytime that you aren't doing something else.
If you get bored, at least there are rocks to look at!
A Geology Reference:
Richard D. Reger, R.D., and Petrik, W.A., 1993, SURFICIAL GEOLOGY AND LATE PLEISTOCENE HISTORY OF THE ANCHOR POINT AREA, ALASKA: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, PUBLIC-DATA FILE 93-50b, 8 pp.
My favorite lure for catching silver salmon in the Kenai River - a bright orange pixee. Bright green is also good.
My favorite bank-fishing area.
The bank from which we actually fished.
Another view of the bank we fished from, taken from a boat in the river.
My favorite fisherwoman - actually, our best fish catcher; she usually catches fish even when no one else does.
Yours truly after catching more than enough pink salmon: I needed to take a break. We don't generally keep pink salmon. As soon as they leave salt water for the river, they start "turning" - as do all salmon - but fast, with the males getting a large hump on their backs. So they are also called humpies. They are smaller than silver salmon, are kind of bony, and are often mushy, especially the males. Sometimes a good, silver-looking female pink is okay to keep and eat. Sometimes they are good for smoking. I read recently that they are underrated, but quite frankly, I don't think so! Pink salmon is fine as commercial fish caught out in salt water and sold in cans; it is merely okay to much less than okay if eaten out of a river.
The famous empty bucket, waiting for a silver salmon. Fishing for silver salmon on the Kenai River in even-numbered years is challenging, because the pinks (humpies) run every other year - odd-numbered years are preferred, because the pinks aren't running. Fishing in even-numbered years goes like this: cast, hook or snag a humpie, drag it in, unhook it, throw it back in. Cast again. Cast again, drag in another humpie. And so on. You will probably catch a humpie on about every other cast.Catching a humpie is like snagging your line on the bottom of the river - so much so, that sometimes you really can't tell whether you are snagged on the bottom or have managed to catch a humpie. It's especially similar if you happen to be standing in a boat. Silver salmon, on the other hand, are exciting to catch, and will usually jump out of the water, trying to throw the hook, and will run with your line, and jump again, and jump again. You are lucky when you catch one. Make sure the hook is well set!
It's fun to be catching something, but I've done this pink-humpie thing enough times in years past, to get tired of catching humpies pretty fast after the first or second day.
Finally, after a couple days, we decided to change lures to a Vibrax No. 4 or No. 5. [Be sure to check fishing regulations each year before using any particular lure. Some are too big, or are otherwise illegal, and regulations change.]
And what's that? Another humpie? Aaargghhh...
A great cast by our most persistent fisherman, and hence, our top catcher of silver salmon!
When fishing, remember to go out when it's early, mid-day, late, later, foggy, cloudy, sunny, rainy - in fact anytime that you aren't doing something else.
If you get bored, at least there are rocks to look at!A Geology Reference:
Richard D. Reger, R.D., and Petrik, W.A., 1993, SURFICIAL GEOLOGY AND LATE PLEISTOCENE HISTORY OF THE ANCHOR POINT AREA, ALASKA: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, PUBLIC-DATA FILE 93-50b, 8 pp.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Fall at the Lake
It's both green and yellow at the lake this year, as can be seen by this leaf lying on our cinder-covered ground...
...and by our two-toned aspen trees in the backyard.
Seeds are falling from 
...and the tops of some aspens are barely turning color before the leaves are falling off.On another front, our drip system stayed intact this last month while we were away, but a few small trees didn't survive the two times the system went down over the summer. The little brown trees are a sad thing to see. We would take the remaining green ones out to our little house in Nevada, but we have no outdoor water line, making outdoor watering quite difficult. So we leave them here, and hope for the best. This fall and winter, we'll be asking some local friends to check in on things.
Wood heat is popular here, as I mentioned yesterday. It smells good, when not overpowering, and reminds me of campfires. We heat with #2 heating oil (similar to diesel), which used to be fairly inexpensive, but which has gone up in price a lot over the last two years.
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