Sunday, July 13, 2008

an eye for detail


It's kind of necessary in this line of work, especially when what you're looking for is very small (and fortunately colourful!) Aaju and I are picking tiny rubies out of this sediment sample I took from one of the sites. It was actually a pretty good sample considering that most of what was present at that site was thought to be not very good, so somewhere in there is some better-quality material, which is good to know. Most of what we were finding in this stuff was anywhere from 1-5 mm.

(yes, it was cold enough for the down vest... I also have on my wool sweater and a wool undershirt, and leggings under the pants. It's *cold* when it's rainy here!)

wildlife count: Mike and Brian saw a caribou yesterday (jealous!). Also a baby hare. The fox has been spotted around camp a few more times as well.

8 comments:

Seana said...

Looks amazing. What kind of temperatures are you getting there this time of year?

alia said...

Actually it feels a lot like early September - cool crisp mornings and sort of hot when it's sunny.

When the sun's out it's quite nice - usually in the 10-15 range. Unfortunately, so are the bugs.

When it's rainy, on the other hand, it's unpleasantly cold. :( We had mist and fog and rain from Tuesday through Friday last week and it sucked. No one could go out in the field because it was too foggy for the helicopter to fly, and there was no internet, so we basically just flaked around doing nothing until the weather cleared up.

This week looks better, which is great. ^_^

(btw, I miss WoW! I'm totally going to try and play again when I get my own computer up here... the one I got for work is kind of a bucket of fail when it comes to sound/mic capabilities... it was downgraded from Vista and is having various issues based on that. but I'll be around again when I'm home, too, so that will be fun. :)

Anonymous said...

Looks like you're having so much fun, and we miss you too!! I think it's been 5-6 times already that I've thought to myself "hey, I think I'll call Alia and see what she's up to today, maybe we can hang out.... oh, wait....damn...."

Anyways, off to work, then to class at our NEW Dojo!! Sensei Maloney has graciously offered his to George. TTYL!!

Seana said...

Sounds a lot like Newfoundland, LOL. No wonder they drink

alia said...

@seana:

heh, yeah, I'm sure people would drink a *lot* up here if alcohol wasn't ridiculously expensive (ie. $12 for a pint of beer...)

we're a dry camp though so it's not an issue for us (although I know Gary and Brian are *dying* to get to Copenhagen for their break so they can have several, several beers. :D)

alia said...

@amandaj:

I miss you guys too! I hope class at the new dojo is awesome, it sounds like a pretty sweet opportunity.

I'm going to be home mid-august for a break so we can hang out then! ^_^

Anonymous said...

Yay for coming home.... lets just hope its not between the 11th and 17th.... that's our trip to the states....

alia said...

...

That's pretty much exactly when I will be home. :( I get in on the 7th/8th and I'm out again on the evening of the 18th.

Boo urns... :/ we will have to hang out before you guys leave.