…And Boy Are My Arms Tired…

Or…Kips First Archeological Dig

Hey folks how is it going? Sorry about the long delays. I’m still settling in and the exams have started plus one of classes is requiring a research a paper on North Carolina History which promises to be interesting.

Anyway, due to the lack of graduate slaves, my archeology professor let undergrads volunteer to do a test dig as part of his project to determine the type and period of the pre-historical human occupation of the area. We drove just a little ways out of town to a farm behind which was a sand ridge and (my team) dug out a two meter by two meter by meter square.

My professor recited a quote about how “ticks, heat and rain were an archeologists usual rewards rather than peace..” I paraphrase greatly, I was too exhausted at the time to take it in word for word.

We didn’t find anything…while we were digging.

Digging requires the diggers to take off 10cm layers by “shaving” the soil, or in this case damp sand, off a little at a time with square-edged shovels then flipping it up into the screens next to the hole that someone will use to sift out any large chunks worth looking at.

I got very good at throwing sand. At least I didn't smack my screener in the face with a shoveful as happened to me the first time we traded off. *chuckle* I'm still digging sand out of my ears. :D

Truly, she was a sweet gal who had worked on a dig before so she had a lot more experience, it's just she was very petit and got a little too entusiastic with her first pitch.

After that, though we did not find anything, we still cleaned up a wall, took pictures, drew a stratigraphic profile (a picture of the layers of sediment laid down) and took soil samples to get a clearer picture of the geology of the area. As we were taking the soil samples for OSL (Optical Stimulated Luminance which uses light to determine how long the soil has gone since it was last exposed to light), the wall collapsed.

Then we found a flake. (As in a flake of stone that had been struck off a larger rock in the process of making a stone tool)

To which I held up my arms like I had made a touchdown. “I found it!”

After all that, we had to fill the hole back in.

What was neat is how many people drove up to us in the middle of this huge field with artifacts that they had found on their property or while they were in the woods and so on that they curious about. We got about 6 cars the 6 hours we were digging.

So, it was a lot of hard work, little in material reward, but we sure learned a heck of a lot and I loved it. I’m really glad to be having these opportunities to get my hands dirty so early in the game. I figured this wouldn’t start for a couple years yet.

Of course, after spending the last 5 years sitting on my butt for 10 hours a day, I came home yesterday and crashed.

Beyond Dirt…

School is going very well. I consider staying on top of my reading and studies my new job and a damn great one! I got the results back from my first two exams: A’s.

I rule.

And I have my research paper topic picked out, but not refined. I need to visit a local museum to talk to a expert about the research materials available for such a subject.

I checked out the Rec Center which is completely amazing! Bally’s would be sincerely jealous. And I signed up for a couple ocean kayak trips with the adventure club.

I still have boxes around, but on the good side we seem to have found a vet.

The Not So Great News:

Unfortunately, having looked over my ravaged finances after the move…I can’t afford cable which means that ¾ of the NASCAR races are out of my reach. Which maybe a good thing, I’ve got studying to do and losing five hour chunks out of my weekend may not be the best way to keep up in class.

Still, it’s more than a little ironic I move here and can’t participate in the fandom of the sport North Carolina spawned. At least not this year. Next year I won’t be playing out of state tuition, nor will I have moving costs, so I’ll be able to play more.

:(

Well, I’ll definitely watch what I can catch over the network with my bunny ears, which includes the Daytona 500 in a couple weeks.

In fact….I think the only thing I have due that week is my bibliography. Cool!

P.S. Congrats to the 38 Team on their new Crew Chief (at last!). With so many old faces in different places this year, 2006 promises to be very interesting and good luck to the 38, the 8 and the 6 in the Shootout!

Politics

Well, there really isn’t much to say, the only positive point of the State of the Union Address that caught anyone’s attention was debunked by Bush's own people a day later.

The rest of it was lies and propaganda, as per usual. There’s no point in me going over what most everyone already knows. Cindy Sheehan was arrested for wearing a T-Shirt. While I can understand needed to create some decorum in Capitol Hill (Gawd know the people in power don’t have any), I am getting a little tried of Bush handpicked audiences free of dissent. If everything is going frickin’ peachy, what’s he so scared of?

Please Gawd someone do something to stop the nut cases in charge of this country….

North Carolina So Far

I love this place. I love the countryside, love all the birds that visit my feeder every morning (and though the window so do the cats), and I really like the people. Everyone is really friendly. So much so that sometimes I feel like I must come off as rude and abrupt in business transactions so I make a conscious effort to be more conversational. One curious thing I have noticed is that they don’t ask questions. They just talk about themselves and their experiences and don’t ask you about yours. I don’t think it’s a “self-absorbed thing” as much as a “don’t-pry thing”, but it’s a little awkward sometimes when you come from a society in which you don’t offer information about yourself unless asked.

But all in all, the people are great. My neighbors are really nice, even the ones that don’t have pets are pet loving people, so it’s all good. About the only problem I have had so far is JEEZUS CHRIST YOU PEOPLE CAN’T DRIVE! ;)

Now, I come from CA. We live in our cars. I spent a minimum of an hour and half on the road everyday getting to and from work. Granted, I am learning my way around, where the stop signs are and how this intersection works and so on…but I have had more near misses in the last month that I had had in the last ten years in CA. Speeding (and I'm not talking five-mph-over-the-limit-speeding, I'm talking "floorin'-it"-speeding) is a lot more common out here, but we’ll just skip that for now. People whipping around corners in packed parking lots at 30-35 mph. People ignoring stop signs. People tailgating on an industrial street, with street lights, during business hours, at 45 mph. Buddy, I don’t let anyone within 15 feet of my bumper unless we are going 5 mph on the 405 during rush hour. This ain’t Talladega. There is no drafting. Get the hell off my ass.

But other than that. I love the place. It’s great. :D

Superbowl:

Go..aww damn, I have on friend that's a Steelers fan and one that's a Seahawks fan. I can't win for love nor money. ;)

Now, I have some reading to do. Just thought I’d take a break and pop in to say “Hey!” I will endeavor to update this blog every weekend.

Take care!