Taking Credit

Geology is easy. Being a geologist is tricky. The rocks have been the way they are now for millions of years - only our knowledge of what's beneath our feet changes. And that's where the tricky part comes in.

I've mentioned before the sometimes difficult relationship between the geologist and the engineers on a coal mine (Gaggle of Dykes). And more often than not difficult geological conditions are entirely your fault. Even though the rocks have always been like that, somehow the geologist is to blame. It is your fault if you didn't warn the production teams of the conditions ahead of time. But, the actual rocks? Definitely not.

I've had many issues underground around thick in-seam inorganics. These are sandstone lenses in the coal seam which are harder to cut and worsens the overall quality of the seam. Some stone layers can become thick quickly in a localized area and causes major problems with the crushing and transporting of the material underground. As the geologist, I can only predict what the stone will do. I cannot remove it. This is sometimes lost on the engineers.

Recently, I was underground with the foreman of the section. He took me all over, complaining about the unmanageable cutting conditions and how the huge stone layers were blocking his feeder breakers and chutes. He was ranting and then implored me: "How the hell I am suppose to cut this nonsense?" (I have censored his word choice slightly.) I very calmly replied: "With difficulty." His anger deflated immediately and he came back down to Earth. "That's probably the right answer to that kind of question," was his reply. He knew I could do nothing about the stone. His expression was quite hilarious though! I do think most of the guys get so much pressure from above that they just need to vent to an understanding person. I sometimes just fall into that role.

This kind of blaming happens quite often, so when you can take the credit for something, you should! We were busy with a large stoneworks project through a dyke and devolatilized coal (the intrusion had burnt the coal). Burnt coal is very soft and dangerous to mine through since it's so unstable. The plan was to drill boreholes to test for when we get into the normal coal again. We did a couple of samples and finally reached clean coal. When I shared the results, I was congratulated and patted on the back by everyone! It was so funny. I didn't magic the coal not being burnt - it's been like that forever. I only gave the laboratory results back. But, as I said, you get blamed so often for the state of the rocks that it was a welcome change to be congratulated.

At least mining is never boring :-).

Spoon Bending

In my final year of high school, I was the head girl and had to make speeches at the beginning of every term. My counterpart, the head boy, was always very serious and talked about studying hard and persevering. Good stuff, but I thought it was a bit like those motivational speakers you see on television. I took a different route.

 

For 10 to 20 minutes, I was in front of the whole assembly and they had to listen to me. It was a great power trip :-). I decided to make my speeches interesting and added props and jokes and so on. I can't remember all of them, but the first and last ones will always stay with me. In my first speech of the year, I talked about some people apparently being able to bend spoons and what amazing brain power we all have. I then ended the year coming full circle.

 

What I can do (with a set of pliers)

I had gotten up behind the podium after the head boy had spoken. He had said some very nice things about studying hard in the upcoming final exams and doing your best and blah blah blah. When I started speaking, I pulled a teaspoon from my pocket and slowly showed it to everyone. This is some of what I said (which I'll never forget):

At the beginning of the year, I talked about people being able to bend spoons - mind over matter. During this past year, we all bent spoons. Some of us bent small ones, others bent soup ladles. Some bent many while others simply tried to bend something. All of us tried to do something this year, even if it was as little as possible. The point is to never stop trying. Never stop dreaming. Without our dreams we are nothing.

This last year of high school will mean something to you. Maybe you don't think so now, but one day when you're in jail or discussing your tormented youth with a psychiatrist, you'll see it.

 

When I read this now, I can't believe they let me on stage. I mean I was talking to very young kids as well! :-D. But, I still believe this - never stop believing you can bend spoons. How else will we continue doing the amazing things that has given us oranges all year round and space shuttles that don't always explode?

Sport

I've always loved playing sport. Don't get me wrong, I've never been A-team material. The only reason I ever played in the first team was that there wasn't anyone else :-). But, my lack of athleticism non-withstanding, I could get quite aggressive on the court when necessary. There were a few times when I stumbled into my opponent or stepped on their toes which were definitely not by accident. After kindergarten level, things got even rougher!

I have always loved watching sport on television or live. I didn't always keep up with the latest happenings, but thoroughly enjoyed watching the game with my dad or spending a whole day in the cricket stadium. It's also a very good conversation topic as I found out with my one work colleague. After the weekend we'd be chatting about the latest rugby or cricket match and I didn't have the heart to tell him I actually wasn't watching any of the games since I didn't have the necessary pay channels. I ended up checking the sport websites on my Blackberry early Monday mornings so that I could at least hold my own in our coffee conversations :-).

Blue Bulls Mascot

One of the biggest supported rugby teams in South Africa is the Blue Bulls. Their home town is Pretoria and I recently had the chance to go to their Loftus Stadium for the very first time. It wasn't a major game - still a bit early in the league - so the stands weren't packed. But, wow! What a crowd! Every little move that the Bulls made for the try line was greeted with cheers and howls much louder than I expected from the tiny crowd. The atmosphere was electric and I found myself singing out loud the "national" Blue Bulls anthem every time it was played over the loud speakers.

They even have their own mascot - a man dressed up as a bull running around the stadium. The kids loved him and were shaking his hand and taking pictures. He even had his own bicycle made to resemble a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I really loved the whole experience even though my team, the Cheetahs, lost. I wondered at the sense of camaraderie - is it possible to feel like this with your fellow human? Not just with your fellow supporter?

I think I'll try and get some cricket tickets for the summer season. There's nothing like watching a day-night game with a cool beer and some friends!