For my birthday, my mom got me Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. I've of course heard of Pippi, but had never read any of her stories. What an amazing girl!
Pippi is definitely one of kind. She's super strong, loves her life and stands up for what she believes in. Pippi doesn't go to school, lies quite often and is very unconventional. This can be explained, as Pippi often does, by the fact that her mother is in heaven and her father is king of the natives on an island (he fell overboard while they were at sea).
Her complete acceptance (or utter denial) of her situation is heart warming. Pippi lives alone and looks after herself - enjoying every minute of every day. Grown-ups and children of all ages can learn some valuable life lessons from Pippi. Or just simply enjoy her antics!
I got a hammer in the post this week. Now, to most people this would be an extremely weird comment. A geologist would simply reply: "Estwing? Wood or vinyl handle?"
Being a geologist brings with it a few eccentric behaviours. A case could be argued whether eccentric people become geologists or whether the job itself creates these weird traits. Take the hammer for example - not all hardware stores carry Estwing hammers so alternative options for getting a new one is necessary. And it is an essential tool for the working geologist. Actually, it's the only cool tool we use. So to compete with the engineers with their huge machines and power tools, you flaunt your special hammer whenever you can :-).
I keep a bag filled with PPE (safety clothes), a notebook and my hammer in my car in case I get called out to site. I was stopped one afternoon by the mine's security. They do routine checks to make sure no one is running off with copper or computers. I was not really paying attention to the guard's check until he called me over to where he was going through the bag. He lifted the geological hammer and stared at me with a frown. The one end of the hammer is like a pick and the other is blunt. I joked: "It's for self-defence." The guard was not impressed and I tried explaining that I'm a geologist and I used it underground. He just nodded and carefully put the hammer back. Since then, he's kept an eye on me.
Geologists also makes loads of jokes (puns especially) about different rocks. There's a running joke among my geology friends that there's a blissful state of mind a geologist will reach after enough experience where he'll be able to identify any rock type without even looking at it. This comes from the fact that we sometimes struggle to identify the basement rocks in our area while one of the oldest geologists in the office simply glances at it and gives an answer.
I mentioned before how engineers want a concrete answer, but because geologists work with limited data points you can never be one hundred percent sure. This does mean that you started speaking in options - On the one hand, the data could indicate this, but on the other it could point to something else. I heard another joke about this from a mining engineer the other day. He says that a engineer looking at a white horse from the side would exclaim the horse is white, but a geologist will say this side is white and can't be sure about the other. Quite funny!
All the above means that most geologists have some quirks, but are hilariously funny and get along with almost anyone. Get your own geologist friend as soon as possible! :-D
One of my favourite DnD-based (Dungeons and Dragons) comics is Order of the Stick. I have my brother to thank for introducing it to me and I've been following it since 2004. Rich Burlew is the genius behind it so visit his website (Giant in the Playground) to check it out.
The above strip is part of one of the OOTS comics and is one of the funniest non-DnD related jokes I've come across in this comic. The whole style of the comic I love and the fact that the characters break the fourth wall every now and then is hilarious!
The Order of the Stick is a group of adventurers consisting of the typical fighter, wizard, rogue, bard and ranger. But, each character has their own background and reasons for travelling and adventuring. As the story progresses, subplots, main plots and side plots are all over the place and tell a very excellently captivating story. I would advise starting the comic from the beginning and enjoying the ride!
I listen to lots of different music. Most recently, I've been playing Fatboy Slim's Greatest Hits - Why Try Harder. I quite like his remixes and songs. They're catchy and the music videos are excellent.
Brimful of Asha is a song by Cornershop which was then remixed by Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim). What always draws my attention is the following lyrics: "Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow."
Very basic and succinct, but oh so true :-). There's a saying that in life the destination is not important, only the journey. I recently heard one better - the destination is not important, only who you're with on the journey.
Have fun on the road!
Typically, an underground coal mine runs continuously on a shift system. There's a day, afternoon and night shift and the productions and preparations teams will cycle through these shifts on a week to week basis. There could also be a long weekend where the entire mine is off the Friday and Saturday.
This means that most of the people that you as the mine geologist will come into contact with will be guys who are constantly underground and work shifts. To them, if you're not underground you're not doing any real work. The real work is done by the people in the face getting the coal out. Except if you're in financial or a secretary ;-).
This sometimes puts geologists in tight spots. A lot of what I do, is modelling on a computer, pulling out the relevant data from the model and getting the right info to the right people. You do underground mapping and inspections, but you don't work shifts 24-7. But, if you're not visible to the production teams (i.e. your customers), they will not trust your work or respect your opinions. I'm not saying work 10 hour shifts underground each day, but regularly weekly visits with the mine captains and shiftbosses are a must. Also, many production meetings will only need your input for maybe 10 minutes, but being there for the entire meeting shows that you want to and are part of the team.
It's a very tricky line between keeping everyone happy and still getting to your own work. Mynbou is nie vir sussies nie! (Mining is not for the faint-hearted :-)
Mimes have had it rough - the traditional black and white outfit, the constant ridicule and of course, the no talking rule. But, with the advent of creative;y entertaining television, miming has been redefined into something spectacularly hilarious.
Fast and Loose is a BBC series in the same vein as Whose Line Is It Anyway? It includes sketches where two contestants wear soundproof ear phones while someone mimes out a popular song. It's friggin' hilarious! The ones I've seen are Love is all around you and Don't Stop Me Now.
This interpretive dance has lifted miming from it's sordid and under appreciated past!
I was trawling through various book sites and came across The Au Pair by Michele MacFarlane. This is her first book and is an autobiography about how her entire life changed when she fell in love with her au pair.
The story follows Michele as she handles her marriage and new relationship with her au pair, Marizette, who's much younger and very Afrikaans. As their friendship grows into something more, Michele takes you with her through her own self-doubt and rediscovery.
I loved that the story takes place in Cape Town - reading about familiar landmarks made the book more real and Michele's journey that much more touching. It does feel a bit like you're reading someone's diary - it can be disjointed and rambling. But, this is what it felt like for the author as her world came crashing down around her.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and was happy to see it on the shelves of local book stores. Definitely worth a read.
We define a lot of what we do in levels. For example, any game you play is about reaching the next level - whether it's the next stage in the game or gaining a new level of experience in the character you're playing with. Once you get a job, it's again all about getting a promotion and moving up to the next pay level.
One of the great things I've found about the mining environment is the lack of levels. Everyone is on different posts and so on, but no-one hammers on it. You work together as a team and anyone can talk with anyone - no matter what kind of pay you're getting or how high up in the organization you are.
The first time I was introduced to how important levels are was when my brother allowed me to play Dungeons & Dragons (role-playing game) with him and his friends. This only happened a few times, because any fight we had would translate into me dying inexplicably quickly when he was Dungeon Master :-). I'll always remember one of the few times I saved the team. We were fighting some evil witch and everyone but me was down. I was very lucky and rolled a 20 critical hit. I killed the witch and ended up being the hero - even more hilarious since I was playing a very pathetic bard.
Dungeons & Dragons has been around for years and spawned countless comics, webcomics and books. My favourites currently are Nodwick and Order of the Stick, but more of them later. Today I want to tell you about Looking for Group. It's not really based on DnD, but has a fantasy setting which reminds me of DnD.
There's the typical hero, villains and all-encompassing quest to save the world. But, what makes Looking for Group unique for me is the humour and the interaction between the characters. Some of the panels have me laughing out loud and retelling them to friends (who then only stare at me as if I've lost the plot :-). Read the first page, if you laugh, you know this webcomic is for you.
When viewing blogs on Blogger, you can click Next Blog and then you jump to the following blog (I'm not quite sure how the blogs are listed - maybe it's based on awesomeness :-). I randomly click this just to see what other blogs are out there. Mostly I've landed on cooking blogs or those that focus on every little thing the blogger's dog or cat does. But, one click did lead me to one of the coolest blogs I've come across - Dorothy: Locked and Loaded.
The premise of the blog was what grabbed my attention. It's a retelling of the Wizard of Oz story, but each character has a different writer. This means that basically each blog entry is written by a different author from the perspective of their character. I thought it would seem disjointed, but the story flows very well and is super compelling.
I love a good story and this version of Dorothy and Oz is amazing. Definitely worth the read. I recently bought a copy of the original story by Frank L Baum and can't wait to read it. I'm not entirely sure why I love the Wizard of Oz so much. Maybe I should discuss it at my next group therapy session :-).
I recently posted about the dynamics between engineers and geologists (Gaggle of Dykes). It can be quite a difficult work relationship to maintain, but definitely worth the effort.
I am changing jobs at the moment - not drastically. I'll still be a mining geologist at a coal mine, but I'll have more responsibility. The entire geology function will be mine and I'll report almost directly to the mine manager. This in itself is a bit daunting - I've always had a more senior geologist as a buffer between me and the higher management. This won't be the case anymore. The responsibility and accountability will lie with me.
Geez! I already sound like a manager! I made my friends promise me that they'll let me know when I turn into a full-blown manager who uses words like challenge, opportunity, alignment and leadership in every sentence. They are instructed to slap me back to reality :-).
I'm quite excited about the new job. It will be my mine and I will be able to make decisions and follow them through. Also, as I've been handing over to my replacement, I had a slight ego boost when I realized how much I actually know about coal geology and mining. But, knowledge will only get you so far. You can be the best geologist on the planet, but if you cannot communicate or work with people, you might as well stay underground.
Understanding people is probably 70% of the job. Of course you have to know what you're doing, but if you can't convey your opinions in the right way to the right people, nothing will get done and you'll end up very frustrated. I've seen how people can block others simply because they don't care for them much or because they don't understand how they work.
Luckily one of my many skills is people :-D. I've never realized how valuable such skills can be and I'm definitely not an expert, but making people laugh and listening to them does help to make the work go faster and easier. And if all else fails, chocolates and beer have always been known to help any relationship :-).
