 |
| Couch potatoe |
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Junk in the air
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Schedule for Asia 2012
I think, finally, my plans for SE Asia in January/February are firm. Amazingly enough! So, loyal blog readers, here is my schedule.
January 5th, 2012: depart Ottawa with Glenn and Ralph, meet up with Andy in the Toronto airport, fly to Bangkok via Hong Kong
January 6th, 2012: arrive in Bangkok, Thailand
January 7th - 10th, 2012: tour Bangkok and area with mineralogy friends
January 10th - 14th, 2012: Burapha University near ThaMai (Chanthaburi area) to visit with friends and colleagues, visit gem mines, gem market, fruit market, and eat copious seafood
January 15th, 2012: travel by train from Bangkok to Aryan Prathet and walk across the Thailand-Cambodia border to Poipet, Cambodia. Take taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap, Cambodia
January 16th - 17th, 2012: visit Angkor Wat
January 18th, 2012: travel by boat down the Tonle Sap to Phnom Penh
January 19th - 20th, 2012: meetings with staff at Hanuman Travel to organize trip to Ratanakiri
January 21st - 30th, 2012: visit zircon mines in Ratanakiri province, visit Kratie river dolphins as a side-trip, visit topaz mine near Phnom Penh
January 31st - February 4th, 2012: Put Andy on a plane back to Toronto; Rockin4Tabitha House Build in Koh Kong province (stay in Sihanoukville)
February 6th, 2012: back to Bangkok
February 7th - 16th, 2012: Put Glenn and Ralph on a plane back to Ottawa; Hua Hin, Thailand for some beach time and Muay Thai at Por Promin Muay Thai
February 18th, 2012: fly back to Canada
I think that's it so far. And accommodations are pretty much organized and booked. With only a month and a bit to go, I think we are on our way! All my boys have their shots (or are booked to get them) and know what they need to pack (or NOT pack!). With the amount of overland travel we're going to do, they have been advised to travel lightly! It's way too difficult to walk across borders and chuck bags into the back of a bus/train/boat/car/tuk-tuk when you have a massive suitcase. Much easier with a 45 L backpack or the like.
My bag of choice is my trusty, well-worn and well-loved 45 L Millet pack that I bought when I lived in Paris. It's my pride and joy, has been everywhere with me and has survived, even when being used as a rock bag and flung down a hillside. It's been to northern Ontario to a fly-in camp to haul fenites, syenites and carbonatites around for a week through the bush and in a fishing boat, been up and down the French Alps for hiking and skiing, been to Scotland to collect various rocks during an IMA field trip to the Isle of Skye, been to Thailand many times, and all across Canada including Nunavut. It's logged many miles!!
It's been a long week. It's the end of the semester and that means preparation of final exams, lab exams, take-home assignments, marking, etc. On top of it, my plan is to submit two manuscripts before leaving for Asia (fingers crossed). I also want to get all the "maintenance" stuff out of the way - stocking up on dogfood, dentist appointment, doctor's appointment, optometrist appointment, truck in for its regular maintenance. All pre-trip planning that needs to happen. Christmas? Ya, that's in there somewhere, but it's easier to handle since I'm not heading north.
January 5th, 2012: depart Ottawa with Glenn and Ralph, meet up with Andy in the Toronto airport, fly to Bangkok via Hong Kong
January 6th, 2012: arrive in Bangkok, Thailand
January 7th - 10th, 2012: tour Bangkok and area with mineralogy friends
January 10th - 14th, 2012: Burapha University near ThaMai (Chanthaburi area) to visit with friends and colleagues, visit gem mines, gem market, fruit market, and eat copious seafood
January 15th, 2012: travel by train from Bangkok to Aryan Prathet and walk across the Thailand-Cambodia border to Poipet, Cambodia. Take taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap, Cambodia
January 16th - 17th, 2012: visit Angkor Wat
January 18th, 2012: travel by boat down the Tonle Sap to Phnom Penh
January 19th - 20th, 2012: meetings with staff at Hanuman Travel to organize trip to Ratanakiri
January 21st - 30th, 2012: visit zircon mines in Ratanakiri province, visit Kratie river dolphins as a side-trip, visit topaz mine near Phnom Penh
January 31st - February 4th, 2012: Put Andy on a plane back to Toronto; Rockin4Tabitha House Build in Koh Kong province (stay in Sihanoukville)
February 6th, 2012: back to Bangkok
February 7th - 16th, 2012: Put Glenn and Ralph on a plane back to Ottawa; Hua Hin, Thailand for some beach time and Muay Thai at Por Promin Muay Thai
February 18th, 2012: fly back to Canada
I think that's it so far. And accommodations are pretty much organized and booked. With only a month and a bit to go, I think we are on our way! All my boys have their shots (or are booked to get them) and know what they need to pack (or NOT pack!). With the amount of overland travel we're going to do, they have been advised to travel lightly! It's way too difficult to walk across borders and chuck bags into the back of a bus/train/boat/car/tuk-tuk when you have a massive suitcase. Much easier with a 45 L backpack or the like.
My bag of choice is my trusty, well-worn and well-loved 45 L Millet pack that I bought when I lived in Paris. It's my pride and joy, has been everywhere with me and has survived, even when being used as a rock bag and flung down a hillside. It's been to northern Ontario to a fly-in camp to haul fenites, syenites and carbonatites around for a week through the bush and in a fishing boat, been up and down the French Alps for hiking and skiing, been to Scotland to collect various rocks during an IMA field trip to the Isle of Skye, been to Thailand many times, and all across Canada including Nunavut. It's logged many miles!!
It's been a long week. It's the end of the semester and that means preparation of final exams, lab exams, take-home assignments, marking, etc. On top of it, my plan is to submit two manuscripts before leaving for Asia (fingers crossed). I also want to get all the "maintenance" stuff out of the way - stocking up on dogfood, dentist appointment, doctor's appointment, optometrist appointment, truck in for its regular maintenance. All pre-trip planning that needs to happen. Christmas? Ya, that's in there somewhere, but it's easier to handle since I'm not heading north.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Snow?? WTF?!?
Today, winter officially began. I woke up to a winter wonderland with 2-3 inches of wet white snow on the ground. Shock was the first reaction. "Oh that's pretty" the second reaction. Which was quickly followed by "Shit, where are my scraper and shovel?". After walking to CycleLogik to get a coffee with the dog (who is totally enthralled with snow, by the way), I decided to tackle the shoveling and cleaning of the truck. That accomplished, and realizing that the temperature is going to rise to +11 on the weekend so any shoveling is futile as it will melt in the next 48 hours anyway, I decided that driving was pointless so am spending the day working at home. I have enough to keep me busy for the next 6 months so not an issue!!
Rebel must have had a premonition of the winter-to-come as last night he decided to build an igloo out of his dog beds. Sometimes I worry about him!! Now if only I could teach him how to use a shovel...
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Mineral art
You don't have to be a mineralogist, or even a scientist, to appreciate the art of Nature. Nature isn't random - if you ever think it is, have a look at a snowflake, a flower, leaves on a tree, the way that crabs on a beach will pile balls of sand in concentric patterns. The symmetry of Nature is everywhere, and it doesn't take a science degree to find it intriguing.
I got interested in minerals at the beginning for the simple reason that they were beautiful and cool. Nothing more than that. In particular, in highschool I developed a distinct fondness for 'fuzzy' or acicular minerals - aegirine, elpidite, okenite, etc. My interest in Mont Saint-Hilaire was fueled by a collector from Montreal who sold me my very first 2 inch ball of acicular, secondary aegirine. From that point on, I was hooked, both on alkaline rocks, and on strange and wonderful habits and textures of minerals.
Sometimes you need expensive, high-powered equipment to gain a better understanding of habits and textures. A simple dissecting binocular microscope can be enough. If you have the facilities and the money, thin sections under a polarizing microscope will tell you so much about the mineral and rock that you can't see in hand sample. And if you really want to get technical, a scanning electron microscope is the way to go. Especially if you have access to a brand new JEOL which takes amazing images!
I spent the entire day taking back-scattered electron images (BSEI for you geek-types) of pyrochlore grains from the Larvik plutonic complex in Norway. You don't need to know what a pyrochlore is (a group of oxide minerals), or even why I was imaging them (for use later when we do electron microprobe analyses), but you can appreciate the beauty of the BSEI that resulted. All you really have to know is that the grey scale of the images is directly correlated with atomic weight of the dominant element in that area - bright areas have heavy elements like uranium, dark areas have lighter elements like silicon or sodium.
I don't necessarily understand what some of the textures mean. There's a bit of a chicken-and-egg approach to understanding mineral textures and, as the old saying goes - if you want 5 opinions on something, ask 5 geologists. Everyone tends to interpret textures a bit differently.
That said, regardless of what they mean, I think they are beautiful and want to share them. Pyrochlore art. Enjoy.
I got interested in minerals at the beginning for the simple reason that they were beautiful and cool. Nothing more than that. In particular, in highschool I developed a distinct fondness for 'fuzzy' or acicular minerals - aegirine, elpidite, okenite, etc. My interest in Mont Saint-Hilaire was fueled by a collector from Montreal who sold me my very first 2 inch ball of acicular, secondary aegirine. From that point on, I was hooked, both on alkaline rocks, and on strange and wonderful habits and textures of minerals.
Sometimes you need expensive, high-powered equipment to gain a better understanding of habits and textures. A simple dissecting binocular microscope can be enough. If you have the facilities and the money, thin sections under a polarizing microscope will tell you so much about the mineral and rock that you can't see in hand sample. And if you really want to get technical, a scanning electron microscope is the way to go. Especially if you have access to a brand new JEOL which takes amazing images!
I spent the entire day taking back-scattered electron images (BSEI for you geek-types) of pyrochlore grains from the Larvik plutonic complex in Norway. You don't need to know what a pyrochlore is (a group of oxide minerals), or even why I was imaging them (for use later when we do electron microprobe analyses), but you can appreciate the beauty of the BSEI that resulted. All you really have to know is that the grey scale of the images is directly correlated with atomic weight of the dominant element in that area - bright areas have heavy elements like uranium, dark areas have lighter elements like silicon or sodium.
I don't necessarily understand what some of the textures mean. There's a bit of a chicken-and-egg approach to understanding mineral textures and, as the old saying goes - if you want 5 opinions on something, ask 5 geologists. Everyone tends to interpret textures a bit differently.
That said, regardless of what they mean, I think they are beautiful and want to share them. Pyrochlore art. Enjoy.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Aegirine, diopside and hedenbergite, oh my!
Today I feel like a grad student. Not sure why, except that dealing with this quantity of data and such a large project reminds me more of doing a thesis than simply writing a paper! Taking on this massive mineralogy/geochemistry project involving the Larvik Plutonic Complex is a thesis unto itself. It would be a great PhD but with everything else at work that gets in the way, it's taken quite a bit longer than my own PhD took to finish!
But I'm getting to the end. By Christmas, I plan to have the mafic
mineral manuscript done and submitted. Pyroxenes and amphiboles are on
the menu. And what a confused lot they are!!! Ternary pyroxenes with
every composition from hedenbergite to diopside to aegirine and
everything in between. Which is kind of cool to see how primitive in
compositions they are. The amphiboles are the same - calcic through to
calcic-sodic all the way to late-stage sodic phases. With trace element
profiles which are just as schizophrenic!
So, endless hours of crunching data, manipulating data, looking for trends, fucking up spreadsheets, etc. At least I have an intuitive, instinctual feeling for these minerals, unlike the zircons which I just finished writing about. Those were a bit of a stretch in terms of my mineralogical-comfort zone, but I guess that's the one way you grow as a scientist. However, as much as sometimes I despise amphiboles, I like mafic minerals. I like the fact that they can tell you so much about the environment in which they formed. Unlike many other later-stage, 'interesting' phases. These are the meat and potatoes of the alkaline pegmatite world and if you can't understand them, you're lost.
I think I need more coffee though...
The next two weeks are frantic. The semester has disappeared without me noticing and in the next week I have to prepare my final exam and lab exam for GEO 2163. As well as give the last 2 lectures and prep a take-home assignment so that they can redeem themselves and get a few extra marks. However, on the bright side, once my final exam has been written, I have only 2.5 weeks to do all the marking, etc. and then leave for Thailand!! I don't plan on going to Sudbury over the holidays so my time will be spent here marking.
 |
| Primary brown and secondary green biotite. |
 |
| Mafic mineral chaos. |
 |
| Pyrochlore and fluorite in altered perthite. |
 | |
| Primary amphibole and secondary green biotite. |
 |
| Zoned pyrochlore. |
So, endless hours of crunching data, manipulating data, looking for trends, fucking up spreadsheets, etc. At least I have an intuitive, instinctual feeling for these minerals, unlike the zircons which I just finished writing about. Those were a bit of a stretch in terms of my mineralogical-comfort zone, but I guess that's the one way you grow as a scientist. However, as much as sometimes I despise amphiboles, I like mafic minerals. I like the fact that they can tell you so much about the environment in which they formed. Unlike many other later-stage, 'interesting' phases. These are the meat and potatoes of the alkaline pegmatite world and if you can't understand them, you're lost.
I think I need more coffee though...
The next two weeks are frantic. The semester has disappeared without me noticing and in the next week I have to prepare my final exam and lab exam for GEO 2163. As well as give the last 2 lectures and prep a take-home assignment so that they can redeem themselves and get a few extra marks. However, on the bright side, once my final exam has been written, I have only 2.5 weeks to do all the marking, etc. and then leave for Thailand!! I don't plan on going to Sudbury over the holidays so my time will be spent here marking.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Squash, revisited
This September, I started playing squash again. I haven't played for the last 4 years as I was finding it difficult to train Muay Thai and play squash at the same time. The two activities are actually extremely compatible - both require excellent footwork, hand-eye coordination, speed, power, timing, and patience. Although a different muscle set is utilized between the two, I find that if I could train both of them at 100%, I would be a fantastic athlete.
However, training for two separate sports in a dedicated way is, well, pretty much impossible. In order to improve and grow as a squash player, you have to play a minimum of 4 days per week. 5 days per week is ideal. And the same goes for Muay Thai. And then throw in cardio (running) on top of things, and there just aren't enough days in the week to do both. So 4 years ago, Muay Thai won out. I thought that I'd try to see if I could re-incorporate squash into my life this year. So far, it's not working out so well playing only once a week.
I started playing squash when I was 13 with my father. It's about the only sport that he actually did and his game was simply to dominate the T and smash the ball with all of his force. In hindsight, his interest in playing at the Exhibition Centre in Sudbury was more likely related to the woman who ran the bar at the courts than the actual game!
However! It is from him where I picked up the addiction to the sport. And it wasn't pretty when I was that age. I was an angry teenager. It made me an angry squash player, and very impatient. Playing with my father, and then later, only men, I learned to play a very 'male' game - hard, fast, low kill shots. I played throughout highschool and my undergrad degree. During highschool, I cannot even count how many racquets I broke due to simple temper. It's not something I'm proud of - it just is. It happened. As I said, I was a very angry teenager! Put a blunt weapon in my hand, and bad things happened!! However I must say that, unless I was playing with my father, which only lasted about a year before I became way too good to play with him, my anger on the court was always aimed at myself, never at my opponent. I had played in the squash league against older, better players (again, mostly male) and then also had two main partners. One of which I was madly in love with so getting on the court was more flirting than anything!! But we had fun!!
When I moved to Ottawa and started playing with the CMN boys, and the group at the Nepean Sportsplex, I had to rethink my game. I could no longer over-power my opponents. Well, some of the women, yes, but not the upper-level women nor the men. And when I joined the Women's City League, I certainly got schooled. I had to learn a completely different style - to play strategically, smart, ease up on the power and play a longer game. It took me a few years, but by the time 2006 rolled around, my game was outstanding and I was playing 5 days per week.
Then I discovered Muay Thai and combining the two sports was only possible the first year. It's not something I regret - I needed something different in my life at the time and certainly stepping into the gym was the best move I had made in years!
This year I really missed squash, so decided to sign up for the women's city league again. But I'm only playing that one match per week so am certainly not playing up to my potential.
The big difference between now and even 10 years ago is that my patience has greatly increased. I've had the same racquet for many years now without it breaking! And I don't get mad on the court any more. It's just not worth it. So I've learned how to be patient and I've learned to focus and keep my emotions in check while on the court. It's similar to being patient, focusing and keeping emotions out of the picture while in the ring. Same same but different. Except you can't kick your opponent if they get in your way...
However, training for two separate sports in a dedicated way is, well, pretty much impossible. In order to improve and grow as a squash player, you have to play a minimum of 4 days per week. 5 days per week is ideal. And the same goes for Muay Thai. And then throw in cardio (running) on top of things, and there just aren't enough days in the week to do both. So 4 years ago, Muay Thai won out. I thought that I'd try to see if I could re-incorporate squash into my life this year. So far, it's not working out so well playing only once a week.
I started playing squash when I was 13 with my father. It's about the only sport that he actually did and his game was simply to dominate the T and smash the ball with all of his force. In hindsight, his interest in playing at the Exhibition Centre in Sudbury was more likely related to the woman who ran the bar at the courts than the actual game!
However! It is from him where I picked up the addiction to the sport. And it wasn't pretty when I was that age. I was an angry teenager. It made me an angry squash player, and very impatient. Playing with my father, and then later, only men, I learned to play a very 'male' game - hard, fast, low kill shots. I played throughout highschool and my undergrad degree. During highschool, I cannot even count how many racquets I broke due to simple temper. It's not something I'm proud of - it just is. It happened. As I said, I was a very angry teenager! Put a blunt weapon in my hand, and bad things happened!! However I must say that, unless I was playing with my father, which only lasted about a year before I became way too good to play with him, my anger on the court was always aimed at myself, never at my opponent. I had played in the squash league against older, better players (again, mostly male) and then also had two main partners. One of which I was madly in love with so getting on the court was more flirting than anything!! But we had fun!!
When I moved to Ottawa and started playing with the CMN boys, and the group at the Nepean Sportsplex, I had to rethink my game. I could no longer over-power my opponents. Well, some of the women, yes, but not the upper-level women nor the men. And when I joined the Women's City League, I certainly got schooled. I had to learn a completely different style - to play strategically, smart, ease up on the power and play a longer game. It took me a few years, but by the time 2006 rolled around, my game was outstanding and I was playing 5 days per week.
Then I discovered Muay Thai and combining the two sports was only possible the first year. It's not something I regret - I needed something different in my life at the time and certainly stepping into the gym was the best move I had made in years!
This year I really missed squash, so decided to sign up for the women's city league again. But I'm only playing that one match per week so am certainly not playing up to my potential.
The big difference between now and even 10 years ago is that my patience has greatly increased. I've had the same racquet for many years now without it breaking! And I don't get mad on the court any more. It's just not worth it. So I've learned how to be patient and I've learned to focus and keep my emotions in check while on the court. It's similar to being patient, focusing and keeping emotions out of the picture while in the ring. Same same but different. Except you can't kick your opponent if they get in your way...
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Thai Karaoke and Greyhound Planet Day - busy weekend!
Having a PhD doesn't necessarily make you smart. Not day-to-day smart anyway. And for this reason, I am sitting here amazed at how much good a dose of antibiotics and 1.5 weeks of total rest and recuperation can do when you are horribly sick. Absolutely incredible. I know, I shouldn't be surprised, as science is science, no matter if it's geology or medicine. But I rarely take the time to slow down and do NOTHING. But I was forced to for the last 1.5 weeks as a result of some sort of Ebola or Enchephilitis or lung infection (the boring choice). Rebel is happy - it's not often he gets to spend the full day in bed with mom, but he's in for a surprise tomorrow when the world continues on its regular schedule and I go back to work!
Yesterday in Thai language class, we had a bit more fun and wound up listening to and singing along with a pop song by a famous Thai singer, Thongchai McIntyre. It's called "Sa-rup wah bah" and is absolutely hilarious. I'll post here the words, plus the YouTube link for the karaoke-version video so if anyone so inclines, they can check this out and have a good laugh!! If I ever have to do Thai karaoke at Ajarn Chai's house again, at least I know I could choose a Thai song and survive!!
YOUTUBE LINK
บางก็บ้าสม่ำเสมอ ถ้าได้เจอะได้เจอ ก็ให้ห่างเอาไว้
บางคนก็บ้าชั่วคราว บ้าฉบับกระเป๋า เอาดีก็พอไหว
Some people are just temporarily crazy, e.g. over magazines and purses. It’s better to stop.
บางคนก็บ้าเงินทอง หามาได้หลายกอง แล้วก็เก็บไม่ยอมใช้
บางคนก็บ้าดารา บ้างก็บ้าวิชา บ้างก็บ้าต้นไม้
เธอเองก็บ้าพอกัน ที่เธอไม่บ้ารักฉัน ใครกันจะทนไหว
You are also as crazy as me, because you’re not crazy in love with me. Who can stand it?
CHORUS
คนเราถ้าบ้าพอกัน แล้วก็จะเข้าใจกัน แล้วก็บ้ากันไป
เธอน่าจะบ้ากับฉัน จะได้บ้าด้วยกัน แล้วจะเกิดความหมาย
เราจะมีโลกส่วนตัว ให้เธอบ้าทำครัว ฉันก็บ้ากินไป
เราจะได้บ้ากันเพลิน ฉันจะบ้าทำเงิน ให้เธอบ้าไปใช้
Yesterday in Thai language class, we had a bit more fun and wound up listening to and singing along with a pop song by a famous Thai singer, Thongchai McIntyre. It's called "Sa-rup wah bah" and is absolutely hilarious. I'll post here the words, plus the YouTube link for the karaoke-version video so if anyone so inclines, they can check this out and have a good laugh!! If I ever have to do Thai karaoke at Ajarn Chai's house again, at least I know I could choose a Thai song and survive!!
YOUTUBE LINK
เนื้อเพลง สรุปว่า...บ้า Thongchai “Bird” McIntyre
Lyrics:
I conclude that… is crazy
คนเราถ้าชอบอะไร ใจมันชอบติดตาม ใครก็ห้ามไม่ไหว
When we like something, our heart follows and no
one can get in the way.
ลองมันจะชอบขึ้นมา ไม่ลืมหูลืมตา ก็เรียกว่าบ้าใช่ไหม
Try it, it’ll grow, and you’ll be deaf and blind.
People would call you crazy, wouldn’t they?
บางก็บ้าสม่ำเสมอ ถ้าได้เจอะได้เจอ ก็ให้ห่างเอาไว้
Some people are always crazy, if you come across
them, stay away
บางคนก็บ้าชั่วคราว บ้าฉบับกระเป๋า เอาดีก็พอไหว
Some people are just temporarily crazy, e.g. over magazines and purses. It’s better to stop.
บางคนก็บ้าเงินทอง หามาได้หลายกอง แล้วก็เก็บไม่ยอมใช้
Some people are crazy over money. They’ve found and
built many piles and don’t want to use it.
บางคนก็บ้าดารา บ้างก็บ้าวิชา บ้างก็บ้าต้นไม้
Some people are crazy about stars (people), some
are crazy about a subject (of study), some are crazy about trees
ฉันนี้ก็บ้าเสมอ ที่ยังบ้ารักเธอ ถึงเธอจะไม่ใส่ใจ
I’m also as crazy, that I’m still crazy in love
with you, when you’re heart’s not there.
เธอเองก็บ้าพอกัน ที่เธอไม่บ้ารักฉัน ใครกันจะทนไหว
You are also as crazy as me, because you’re not crazy in love with me. Who can stand it?
CHORUS
สรุปว่าตัวฉันบ้า สรุปว่าเธอก็บ้า สรุปว่าคนนั้นบ้า
Sa-roop
wah tua chun bah Sa-roop wah tur gaw
bah Sa-roop wah kon nun bah
Conclude that
body me
crazy Conclude that
you also crazy
Conclude that
person that crazy
I conclude that I’m crazy. I conclude that you’re crazy.
I conclude that (s)he’s crazy.
ไม่รู้ใครบ้ากว่าใคร x2
Mai roo
krai bah gwah krai
Negate
know who crazy than who
I’m not sure who’s crazier than whom.
คนเราถ้าบ้าพอกัน แล้วก็จะเข้าใจกัน แล้วก็บ้ากันไป
If we’re all equally crazy, and want to understand
each other, and keep being crazy
เธอน่าจะบ้ากับฉัน จะได้บ้าด้วยกัน แล้วจะเกิดความหมาย
You should be crazy with me, so we can be crazy
together, and meaning will arise
เราจะมีโลกส่วนตัว ให้เธอบ้าทำครัว ฉันก็บ้ากินไป
We’ll have our private world, where you can go
crazy cooking. I’ll go crazy eating.
เราจะได้บ้ากันเพลิน ฉันจะบ้าทำเงิน ให้เธอบ้าไปใช้
We can then enjoy being crazy. I’ll go crazy making
money for you to go crazy using.
CHORUS
After Thai class, I took Rebel to meet all his friends at Greyhound Planet Day. He put up with trying on about 20 different collars before I decided on a purple and black one that went well with his colouring. Blue brindles aren't the easy colour to match bling with!! Serge Rivard Photography was also on site to take professional photos, so I brought Rebel for his photo shoot. He was hilarious! He had no idea what was expected of him, only that he had to sit on this white fur floor and everyone was throwing treats at him!! He sat, stood, lay down and generally was like a dog on speed for about 10 minutes! We finally got him sitting and ears perked by threatening to toss treats in the air to his waiting mouth "1! 2!! 3!!!". The photos turned out awesome and I'll post the picture of the picture here until I can get a real digital file. He's such a happy dog!!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
The barking seal has returned
Sitting here sick, feeling like I did in highschool when I would get bronchial infections every 2-3 months during my Grade 12 and OAC year. Those were brought on due to the fact that I was run off my feet, doing 100 things at once. What brought back the chain-smoking seal cough this time, I don't know. I suspect my immune system isn't all that great from all the travel in the last year. Every time I fly, I come away with a sinus infection. This is more than a sinus infection - it's deep in my chest/throat and keeping me up at night. Thankfully, my downstairs neighbours have their bedroom at the front of the building and mine is at the back, so they are spared the constant, hacking coughs that are keeping me up at night.
Been like this for the last couple of days, but this is the first day that I have actually been awake during the afternoon. I've been spending most of the last 3 days in a Neo Citrin coma during the afternoons, asleep with the dog on the bed, attempting to recover some strength. I actually walked to Bridgehead this morning for coffee with Rebel, which is further than I've walked in the last 4 days.
I taught on Thursday morning, which was the beginning of the end. Luckily it wasn't a full lecture, only a lab, so I was spared too much torture. But Thursday night was also Rockin4Tabitha and that was the worst possible thing for me - an evening of talking and socializing completely destroyed whatever immunity I had left and Friday I was a mess. I actually left R4T early, which I never do, but I had no choice - the thought of socializing and talking more was killing me. Being sick and miserable while trying to put on a happy face and be nice wasn't working.
Now the question is whether I'll make it to work tomorrow. Thankfully I have my work computer here, and I have a day's worth of data crunching to do, so I really should just stay home. A barking seal is not welcome in a cubicle environment.
Been like this for the last couple of days, but this is the first day that I have actually been awake during the afternoon. I've been spending most of the last 3 days in a Neo Citrin coma during the afternoons, asleep with the dog on the bed, attempting to recover some strength. I actually walked to Bridgehead this morning for coffee with Rebel, which is further than I've walked in the last 4 days.
I taught on Thursday morning, which was the beginning of the end. Luckily it wasn't a full lecture, only a lab, so I was spared too much torture. But Thursday night was also Rockin4Tabitha and that was the worst possible thing for me - an evening of talking and socializing completely destroyed whatever immunity I had left and Friday I was a mess. I actually left R4T early, which I never do, but I had no choice - the thought of socializing and talking more was killing me. Being sick and miserable while trying to put on a happy face and be nice wasn't working.
Now the question is whether I'll make it to work tomorrow. Thankfully I have my work computer here, and I have a day's worth of data crunching to do, so I really should just stay home. A barking seal is not welcome in a cubicle environment.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Publishing woes
It's been one of those trying weeks, dear readers. Most of the time, I love my job. I love mineralogy and doing research. It's all the other stuff that goes along with it that I could leave behind! Publishing is one of those such things. For one, writing is hard. Anyone who tells you otherwise is LYING!! Writing scientific papers is not easy. It doesn't get easier with time, especially if you are writing manuscripts that contain different ideas, themes, analytical methods, etc. For me, writing has always been hard and I really have to put my nose to the grindstone and simply do it. Generally it takes me getting to the frustrated point of procrastination to start, but in that case, much of the paper has already been 'written' inside my head.
I've had a manuscript in review stages for about 5 months now. That's quite a long time, and given that we are appraised each year, it's important to me to get papers through the review process and into press on a regular schedule, not to be backlogged. I understand it's hard for editors, and that sometimes expert reviewers are hard to find, and finding reviewers who complete their job in a timely manner are even harder to find!
Anyway, after consultation with one of my co-authors, we decided to maybe pull this paper and resubmit to another journal, hoping for a quicker turn-around time. One of the reviews on this paper was not positive - the reviewer has suggested a major rewrite and resubmission. I've never had a manuscript with a bad review. I've had manuscripts with criticism and suggestions for change, but none that have suggested it is not ready or publication at this stage. Needless to say, I was not happy. I have received the review, and am not entirely happy with the way it is worded - a bit too arrogant and pompous for my liking. The reviewer raises some scientific issues which I will look into, but I don't agree that it should be entirely rewritten.
So I'm a little frustrated right now. Ego-bruised. Disappointed. I have a big issue in that I question the value and quality of my own work all the time. I never think it is good enough or of value to science. It's partly insecurity, partly just my own confidence and my mental state. And a harsh review, whether correct or overly critical, simply brings to the forefront all the insecurities that reside in the back corners in my mind.
This paper is outside the regular boundaries in which I work. It's not simple mineralogy or crystallography. It's more geochemistry than anything, which is not my background. I knew when I wrote the paper that I was maybe extending myself outside of topics with which I feel 100% comfortable. So right now, I feel I'm paying the price for stepping outside that box, outside the boundaries of my regular research.
Is it a good thing to do? Make that step outside your regular boundaries? Should I simply look at this as a challenge and learn from it? Ideally, of course, the answer is yes. Use the experience to learn and grow. If I was more confident in my own abilities, I think this would be easier. But being insecure in general, it's very hard to take this and learn. Part of me wants to jump back in the box and return to the ideas and subjects that I am 100% comfortable with. But you don't grow doing that. So, in Muay Thai terms, I stepped into the ring with a much bigger, faster, smarter opponent and have been given an 8 count. But it's not a KO, so time to get back at it. But I feel like an idiot, like a bad scientist, like a failure. I guess that's the hardest thing.
The difficult part is that I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer some of the questions from the reviewer. Pb-Th-U systematics are not my forte. I need to find someone who is more focused on these things.
I've had a manuscript in review stages for about 5 months now. That's quite a long time, and given that we are appraised each year, it's important to me to get papers through the review process and into press on a regular schedule, not to be backlogged. I understand it's hard for editors, and that sometimes expert reviewers are hard to find, and finding reviewers who complete their job in a timely manner are even harder to find!
Anyway, after consultation with one of my co-authors, we decided to maybe pull this paper and resubmit to another journal, hoping for a quicker turn-around time. One of the reviews on this paper was not positive - the reviewer has suggested a major rewrite and resubmission. I've never had a manuscript with a bad review. I've had manuscripts with criticism and suggestions for change, but none that have suggested it is not ready or publication at this stage. Needless to say, I was not happy. I have received the review, and am not entirely happy with the way it is worded - a bit too arrogant and pompous for my liking. The reviewer raises some scientific issues which I will look into, but I don't agree that it should be entirely rewritten.
So I'm a little frustrated right now. Ego-bruised. Disappointed. I have a big issue in that I question the value and quality of my own work all the time. I never think it is good enough or of value to science. It's partly insecurity, partly just my own confidence and my mental state. And a harsh review, whether correct or overly critical, simply brings to the forefront all the insecurities that reside in the back corners in my mind.
This paper is outside the regular boundaries in which I work. It's not simple mineralogy or crystallography. It's more geochemistry than anything, which is not my background. I knew when I wrote the paper that I was maybe extending myself outside of topics with which I feel 100% comfortable. So right now, I feel I'm paying the price for stepping outside that box, outside the boundaries of my regular research.
Is it a good thing to do? Make that step outside your regular boundaries? Should I simply look at this as a challenge and learn from it? Ideally, of course, the answer is yes. Use the experience to learn and grow. If I was more confident in my own abilities, I think this would be easier. But being insecure in general, it's very hard to take this and learn. Part of me wants to jump back in the box and return to the ideas and subjects that I am 100% comfortable with. But you don't grow doing that. So, in Muay Thai terms, I stepped into the ring with a much bigger, faster, smarter opponent and have been given an 8 count. But it's not a KO, so time to get back at it. But I feel like an idiot, like a bad scientist, like a failure. I guess that's the hardest thing.
The difficult part is that I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer some of the questions from the reviewer. Pb-Th-U systematics are not my forte. I need to find someone who is more focused on these things.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Summary from the last 1.5 weeks
For all you loyal (!!) followers out there, I apologize for not writing in the last 1.5 weeks, but my time spent down near Chanthaburi at Burapha University was quite busy and in the evenings, sleep was quite often more important than staying up and blogging!!
That said, this entry is actually being written from 35,000 feet on the Tokyo-Toronto flight, AC002, while awaiting the suspicious Air Canada hot supper that they are bringing shortly. I’m attempting to stay up for a while yet as it would be nice to reduce my jetlag by being able to sleep when I come home tonight. I was actually in good shape when I arrived in Thailand – jetlag didn’t really bother me, for the first time in a few trips. It may have had something to do with the fact that I didn’t sleep on the entire trip to Bangkok so was exhausted by the time I landed and hit a comfy bed!!
My time down at Burapha University was awesome!! I met so many great people and made many new friends. Everyone was very friendly and kind and fun to be around. It was certainly a full week! Each day was planned out and included trips to mines and basalt outcrops, visiting waterfalls and old 18th century forts, and of course eating a great quantity of fresh seafood!! Surin, the dean of the faculty of gemmology, took me to a fruit market the first day and I got to sample every possible fresh fruit you can imagine. As well as visit many orchards and farms to see how some of these exotic fruit grow. I even tried durian, although I must admit it isn’t my favorite fruit – the texture is like custard and the fruit itself is stinky and very sweet – too rich tasting for me. But durian chips are okay. They are like potatoe chips, but they use young durian so the flavor and smell is quite reduced. I also tried snake fruit (or salak) for the first time – it resembles a miniature football with a bunch of spines on it. The fruit has a pit inside and is a bit sweet-sour in flavor. Very good though!!
I got to visit a number of corundum ‘mines’ in the eastern and western basalt fields. First off, they are not ‘mines’ as we envisage in Canada. They are simply large holes in the ground that they bulldoze through to pick up the lateritic soil and send it in a slurry to a gravity separator. The clays and iron oxy-hydroxides are washed out into the sludge piles, and the heavy minerals are concentrated in a sealed container beneath the separator – corundum, spinel, zircon, Fe-Ti-oxides, etc. The mine owner comes by every couple of days to unlock the container and collect the heavy minerals. He then sorts through it and takes out all the corundum and chucks the remainder back into the sludge pile. It’s a pretty simple operation. They dig the weather basalt down to the bedrock and then the mine is finished. What is good about this system is that they are obliged to fill in the large hole they have dug, and since the lateritic soil is so nutrient-rich, it can be used for farming after mining is done. To find an old mine, all you have to do is look for a square water-filled hole – some of the older mines weren’t filled in and filled with water.
The interesting thing about corundum mining in Thailand is that it’s actually ILLEGAL!! And it’s all under the table. The mine owners rent the land from farmers and agree to restore the farm land when they are done. The farmer gets money under the table. The police and officials know this goes on, but they don’t stop it. It’s actually the reverse – they profit from it! On a regular basis, someone associated with the police and government goes around to each mine owner and collects what essentially amounts to a bribe so that they may continue mining! The black market operations continue through to the gem market – buyers and sellers alike are all making money under the table and no one is reporting it. The police and government know all about it, but I guess they get enough in bribe money that they simply go along with it. It’s incredible.
Puwadon took me to the two gem markets in Chanthaburi. Burapha University operates an ID and gemstone assessment lab in one of the main jewelry centres. For 200 Baht, they asses your stone, its quality and whether it is real or not. It’s good business for the University actually, and they are doing the gem community quite a big service.
In two sections of town, buyers and sellers gather to do business. Puwadon pointed out to me all the people carrying satchels and bags in the area – all of them filled with thousands or millions of baht worth of cut and uncut gemstones from all over the world. Strangely enough, it is the buyers who occupy tables along the side streets, out in the open, or in private shops. These buyers are generally specialized in one or two species or varieties of stones – sapphires, tanzanite, tourmaline, etc. And the sellers know who is interested in what gem. The seller is only an intermediary – he/she is often acting as a middleman between the true seller, who doesn’t want to be seen on the streets, and the buyer. The middleman takes the risk of walking around town with a fortune in gems on his body, hoping to sell the gems at a high enough value that he makes a profit. The seller will tell the middleman what price he wants for a stone. For example, 3000 baht. The middleman will attempt to sell the stone to a buyer at a higher price. Whatever value above the seller’s bottom line that the stone is sold for becomes profit for the middleman. If buyers are newbies, the profit for a seller and the middleman can be quite high. Apparently newbies are easily spotted – they are at the tables which are being swarmed by sellers! It’s a learning curve – you have to know the market prices of the stones or you will be swindled. Fortunes are made and sold every Friday and Saturday in Chanthaburi. Definitely a world that I am not familiar with at all!! To me, ya, they are pretty, but worth the expense? No. Can I cut them or powder them for analyses? Then sure!! But not at those prices.
Puwadon did supply me with zircons from 5 different localities – one in Chanthaburi area, and the other 4 from Ratanakiri in Cambodia. Even unheated-treated, they are beautiful zircons; one sample is a dark, rich red sample and would make a great stone even without turning it the bright blue that Ratanakiri zircons are prized for after heat-treatment.
Along with science, I spent a great deal of time getting to know my new colleagues/friends – Wow, Tuk, Surin, Om, Puwadon and Bee. They took me to a national park to see a waterfall and all the river carp, and one two occasions, Surin took me cycling along the coast road and into the hills. The first morning we went, we did about 30 km, and towards the half-way point, we had to climb up and over the large hills near the coast. Now, I’m not the most enthusiastic hill-climber on the best of days, so climbing this steep, long hill in 37° C weather and 100% humidity while on a very heavy mountain bike made the situation even worse!! Halfway up, I thought for sure I was going to hurl. I was simply drenched in sweat and dehydrated. I had to stop halfway to gulp down half a bottle of water. But by the end of the ride, I felt great! The area around Burapha is fantastic for cycling. I went out with Surin on my last day as well. I gave a 2 hour talk in the afternoon to 1st, 2nd and 4th year students about the mineralogy research that I am doing, focusing on Aris and Larvik. The students seemed interested, and even laughed for the time they were with me. Om translated for me, which made the talk last longer, but I’m getting used to these simultaneous talks! Afterwards, I felt like a superstar!! All the students wanted to have their pictures taken with me! It was kind of funny! After my talk, Surin suggested we do a 20 km bike ride – 10 km to Khung Wiman beach and 10 km back. It wasn’t a hilly ride, which was good since it was 5pm in the afternoon (our first ride, we started at 7am!). When we hit the beach, even though the surf was quite high and the current warning flags were out, I took off my shoes and socks and had a bit of a swim in the bath-water-temperature ocean of the Gulf of Thailand . I was only in long enough to get soaked and cool off, which was great for the way back – it meant I didn’t overheat. And it was one of the non-rainy days while I was there – blue skies and sunshine the entire time we were cycling.
My last evening at Burapha, we went out for a seafood feast southeast of Chanthaburi. It was fantastic – fish cakes, calamari, crab, raw oysters, some sort of crab dip, whole grilled seabass, you name it. The table was simply covered in different dishes! It was a great last supper as well – we laughed and joked for hours before heading back to the campus. The next morning, I felt sad to be leaving – I felt like I had been welcomed and accepted by the faculty and made some good friends. After a week, I wasn’t really looking forward to leaving! But I know I’ll be back in January, so that made it a bit easier.
The Burapha U. van took me back to Bangkok on Tuesday and I got off at a BTS station and took the skytrain to the hotel that Visut (Chulalongkorn U.) had booked for me, Krit Thai Mansion. It was directly across from MBK, and I’m not certain that I will ever stay there again. Possibly one of the noisiest hotels I have ever stayed in!! The AC unit sounded like an AirBus 320 revving it’s engines all night long, and right next door, a new building was being constructed and concrete and rebar activity could be heard all night long. That, and the staff simply weren’t all that nice – they always had a scowl on their face and looked like the last place they wanted to be was at work. Not entirely pleasant! But for 1000 baht/night, and within walking distance of the university and the NSM shuttle van, it was convenient.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)