Best clock ever!

What's better than the ultimate scifi movie double trilogy Star Wars? What's better than those childhood favourite toys Lego? The two together in a friggin' alarm clock!

The photo shows my new clock in all its Dark Side of the Force glory. The black thing is my wireless mouse just to give you some scale :-).

When you push the head down, it has a light and acts as a snooze button. Don't you just love toy stores? When I saw this I couldn't resist. Who'd have thought I'd find my own Storm Trooper in the middle of Queensland in Oz?

Smiling - The Universal Language

While travelling to reach my new job in Queensland, Australia, I stayed in Brisbane for a few days. The corporate head office is there and I needed to cross some t's and dots some i's. The company had made all the arrangements and I was treated like a queen. I knew transport had been arranged and it was with absolute delight that I discover a man in a suit with my name on a nice sign waiting for me at Brisbane Airport.


I had been travelling for the past 24 hours, but tried to keep up with the small talk. The man was in his late fifties and had a few stories to tell. One being the book he was working on. The ride into Brisbane was great and he answered all my questions and showed me some of the tourist spots as we drove. When I had to get back to the airport, Lady Luck intervened and it was the same smiling man who picked me up from the hotel. Since, I'd mentioned I was a geologist, he was ready this time with a joke (petroleum geologists and lightbulbs :-) and the following printed out:

Top Ten Signs You Might Be A Geologist:

10. You have ever had to respond "yes" to the question, "What have you got in here, rocks?"

9. You have ever taken a 22-passenger van over "roads" that were really intended only for cattle

8. You have ever found yourself trying to explain to airport security that a rock hammer isn't really a weapon

7. Your rock garden is located inside your house

6. You have ever hung a picture using a Brunton compass as a level and your rock hammer as your hammer

5. Your collection of beer cans and/or bottles rivals the size of your rock collection

4. You consider a "recent event" to be anything that has happened in the last hundred thousand years

3. Your photos include people only for scale and you have more pictures of your rock hammer and lens cap than of your family

2. You have ever been on a field trip that included scheduled stops at a gravel pit and/or a liquor store

And the #1 sign you might be a geologist:

1. You have ever uttered the phrase, "Have you tried licking it?" with no sexual connotations involved

The fact that he took the effort to bring me this was astounding. I've found that this kind of friendliness is part of most Australians. People aren't afraid to help - you just need to smile and ask :-D.

Sandpit

I'm working in a very large sandpit. This was how my career was summarized by my loving friends and family. The fact that I'm no longer in contact with any of them is a completely different matter, of course :-).

The Sandpit I Call Home

Open cut coal mining is all about balancing the sand or dirt to get to the black gold underneath. I've only been at my new open cut mine for three weeks, but I've learnt so much already. The diagram below illustrates the basics of open cut mining (as seen through the eyes of a geologist :-).

Open Cut Coal Mining

The first stage is clearing the area (after the correct environmental procedures and plans have been followed). Then comes the removal of the overburden. There are different methods of open cut mining. For example, strip mining or terrace mining. The method used depends on the geology of the area. How deep are the coal layers? How many coal layers are present? Are the rock strata horizontal or at an angle? Are there any structural features likes folding affecting the strata?


One of the biggest challenges is to remove the dirt above the coal without damaging or destroying the coal and then to manage the space available for dumping the dirt. This is done by deploying the correct machinery to the right stage in the process. The dirt is typically moved to sites where the coal has already been removed. One big thing I've learnt is the dragline never touches the coal. It only removes the overburden. The bucket on the dragline is too rough of a tool and easily scrapes away valuable coal.


I sometimes feel a bit silly at work when I don't know what the hell is happening or what people around me are talking about. But, the guys I work with are amazingly helpful. The geologist I'm learning from has been sitting with me and slowly teaching me the modelling software and how open cut mining operates. It's been wonderful. And, I'm loving being in the sun.


So it is a bit like playing in a sandpit :-).