elementary
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Post by elementary on Jan 18, 2015 23:47:52 GMT -5
Hey. When I try to view the files, it appears to be working. Please post if you have trouble otherwise.
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Oct 31, 2014 12:34:51 GMT -5
After a long hiatus for various reasons, I should be coming back on line soon. I will check the files and see what is up. the media fire site years ago had an issue with setting up alarms, but I reused the site once it was cleaned up. The other site I had used was file4share, but they started requiring logins and passwords, and I know that many people out there avoid joining sites. I just wanted people to be able to click on the link and get the file. With the arse ended people out there who live to cause grief I others, the internet always runs the risk of virus and malware. Pain in the gluteus Maximus. So, sorry for being gone., but I just needed a break.
I have collected a ton of new material, esp from Oregon with the help of a couple people, and look forward to finish the last belated Southern Volume.
I am happy that people have found this tool useful, and thank you for all who have given their time and images for this project.
Mel, huge apology for disappearing. Will talk to you offline. Got your MSG from Greg. Glad he had a chance to visit.
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Feb 17, 2014 15:42:53 GMT -5
If already posted somewhere, I apologize. The Agates I book by Zenz, long OP and running for $500+ dollars used, is out again. The Gem Shop Inc in Wisconsin has copies. They apparently had them at Tuscon and are now bringing them back to their home store. They run $125 and are a cornerstone to any respectable library, and now I can make my library respectable! thegemshop.com/collections/publications-1/products/agatesIf this has already been posted, show me and I'll delete this posting so I don't clutter up the site. Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Feb 17, 2014 2:43:21 GMT -5
Sorry - no, not the five which are from Queensland. It's the lonely lil guy second from bottom in the middle.
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
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Post by elementary on Feb 16, 2014 0:05:47 GMT -5
But here is the other side of the coin. I wish I had a better picture of the lil guy. It's the center white skinned - pink middled Botswana that look a lot like yours. Which I had a better, closer photo. Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Feb 9, 2014 13:28:57 GMT -5
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on Feb 8, 2014 13:34:30 GMT -5
My only concern about opening up the collecting to the public openly is the danger of what happens to our dig sites. With ebay and other similar selling points, I fear the openness of collecting and the desire to make a profit would lead to some bad combinations.
I don't personally mind collecting, especially when the material is randomly scattered (not a village site). If it does open up, I'd like to see the collecting done through a permit system tied through the local historical society or museum. You keep what you find, but you allow them a look. That way if there is something of importance, there's a chance for it to be examined. It's not perfect, but I don't see good coming from unfettered private collecting.
I believe it was Mel, during one of our conversations, who pointed out that much of the Civil War knowledge regarding uniforms and other materials comes from hardcore collectors who research what they find and often publish it for others.
In England, people who find treasure troves present to the finds to the government who reimburses them the value of the find. Personally, I've love to have the coins.
The other issue I have is that even though you (as the collector) know where you found your material, as soon as you pass, unless you have a good catalogue system, that information is going to be lost when your relatives divide up your lot or sell it off. I just went to an estate sale where the woman had accumulated a nice pre-columbian collection from her years of travel and work as an archeologist. She died. Her family didn't want any of it and hired an estate sale company to sell it off. They didn't even look at her notes (which I received along with her slides - some of which I've posted a while back). They sold it piecemeal. All of it is now scattered without identifying tags.
The Agate Index partially came about to help people identify rocks that have lost their known identity because they came from rockpiles in people's backyards.
I get collecting. What I also know is that some people can't handle the obsession that collecting represents (like dragons with their hoards) or abuse it for financial gain.
(legal disclaimer - My wife is an archeologist.)
Lowell
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
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Post by elementary on Jan 4, 2014 3:51:21 GMT -5
Back in July I posted my petrified wood estate purchase which contained several pieces of petrified wood labeled Butte Valley Nevada. They don't seem to have the exact color scheme or your cab, but they do seem to share the same grain pattern. Funny thing, I don't see any reference to Butte Valley on the Web. Don't know if it helps. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/60934/petrified-wood-rarer-material-lotsaphotos 11-15 Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Jan 4, 2014 3:02:24 GMT -5
The last one could be Graveyard Point / Regency Rose.
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Jan 3, 2014 23:58:32 GMT -5
Thanks all.... still haven't found what I'm looking for, but I'm fairly sure I've found more than I need! (Spent the day dividing about 200 pounds of petrified wood into a few of those yellow buckets for easier access (cue laughtrack..)
As for cat numbers - 3 cats for 5 years plus 2 cats for the 5 years prior to that, at one bucket per month equals.......well, you saw the picture...
and I don't know why you all want to give me so much crap about the cats...as you can plainly see, they give me enough on their own!
Rick, yeah - these buckets do not ever go outside except when taken on rockhounding runs. I had one outside for a while filled with stuff from a desert hike. I brought it inside and set another bucket on top of it and that bucket went right through the lid. The plastic didn't bend. It shattered.
As for organization. All mine are labeled in two places. Tape on tape with sharpie, and then right under the ridge as seen in the photo. I put the buckets in the back that I don't expect to need immediately (which means I'll want them sooner) and ones that I fill or want to access more often in the front. I also have a few bookshelves filled with the smaller plastic tubs you can pick up at Target (along with some identity theft....yeah= had to change my debit card...how bout you?)
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Jan 3, 2014 14:05:25 GMT -5
you can't find a stash of material you just picked up at an estate sale 3 months prior.... MISSING My Flame and Plume Agate!!!!! Where are you? ?? They must be somewhere in here.... or here maybe in here ... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Finally got access to a saw for a little bit and can't find my stuff!!!!!!!!! =-(
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Jan 3, 2014 13:51:37 GMT -5
There are places where those nodules are scattered in profusion. If we ever head out there, I'll show you where. Here's the nodule/geode @shotgunner mentions. It was completely fragmented but from a different deposit than the one that Tommy is showing. It doesn't look to be nodular, but rather the agate filled in crevasses or hollows in a different material. For comparison Here's a nodule from the deposit across from Pepto Bismal hill: Wish I had more. Some of the better fortification A pseudomorphic sample from 1/2 to the west of Pepto Hill Hope you don't mind the intrusion. Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Jan 3, 2014 13:43:13 GMT -5
Symbolic of holiday consumerism! I know - old photo but ran across it and decided it needed to be shared again!
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Dec 31, 2013 15:54:19 GMT -5
Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar As stated in my prior book review, I'm fascinated by stories where people are pushed to their limit in the wilderness. I'm also partial to mysteries, especially those that border on the paranormal. Now I'm not a believer in Bigfoot and Nessie (see upcoming book report) but the stories that honest people tell about their encounters can inform you about how normal people can experience extraordinary phenomenon. I ran into this tragedy a few years ago in a book of unexplained mysteries. It intrigued me, but I distrusted the sensationalized story as it appeared. Then, a few weeks ago, a found this book sitting on the side of a table at Barnes and Noble, obviously out of place, set there by a browser who either didn't want it or was coming back to it. Their loss; I bought it. It took me three days to read it. The story's basic facts: In 1959, 10 Russian hikers in the Southern Ural mountains undertake a brutal winter hike over a rarely trekked mountain in hopes of raising their hiking certification from a Level II to Level III. All are experienced and young (except for one late addition.) To document their journey, they take turns writing in their journal and photograph each stage of their adventure in a way that will lead to their hiking certification. They are all educated - affiliated with the Ural Polytechnic Institute and are studying various scientific disciplines. One, on the last day of travel before the major part of the hike is to take place, turns back due to health reasons. The others go on. Within a couple weeks, they will be reported missing. When they are found, they are all dead, scattered frozen across the landscape. They are found without their shoes and their tent is cut open from the inside. Some are huddled together while others are found in frozen stream bed. Some died from exposure. Others from violent injuries. A few show heightened levels of radiation on their clothes. One is missing her tongue. While the searchers are hunting, strange lights are seen in the sky. The hikers last photograph contains only blurs and what looks to be a bright light source. After the investigation ends, the Russian government shuts down hiking permits for this region for three years. It is a mystery, one that the author, Donnie Eichar (a documentary film maker) came across and obsessed over, one that led to two trips to Russia in hopes to go beyond all the other poorly documented books and stories written about this incident, and becomes the first Westerner to make the journey to where the tragedy occurred during the winter. Eichar's book makes an effort to downplay the eerie aspect of the case and focuses on the students - their goals and their preparations, their youth and their experiences along the way, and those who hunted for them. He wants to find a cause to a mystery that has intrigued UFO enthusiasts, Cold War researchers, mystery buffs, and serious hikers. The story splits between the student's journey, the search parties actions, and the experiences and investigation of Eichar himself. The chapters rotate between these three views, and as the book progresses, each moves ultimately to the physical location and what is revealed there. Death to the students, recovery for the rescuers, and finally, possibly an explanation for Donnie Eichar. You may ask - is there some final revelation that answers finally the question of these student's deaths? There may be, and I'm not so sure of its viability, but Eichar did find a new wrinkle that goes beyond conspiracies, UFOs, mass hysteria and such. And whatever the case, his detailed description of what could have happened to those young people at the end of their life is a somber one. An excerpt can be found here: www.amazon.com/Dead-Mountain-Untold-Dyatlov-Incident/dp/1452112746Read the book. Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Dec 31, 2013 15:17:15 GMT -5
I'm happy some of you are interested in the book! I hope you enjoy it. Love all the comments.
Mohs - I've looked up The Desert Cries and will definitely hunt it down. Thanks for the referral!
This book I actually finished a few weeks ago. I've racked up a couple more since then. I'll be posting that report momentarily. (I don't know if I'm reading for the pure enjoyment or to avoid finishing the last Index....)
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Dec 31, 2013 2:36:06 GMT -5
Those are little agate nodules, and the circles make them cool little eye-agates. And the red ones do look like bubblegum agate from S Dakota and Arizona (gr finds similar pieces around Holbrook, though not as large.)
I'd love to know where those came from in California. That windblown patina-look makes those little eyes pop!
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Dec 30, 2013 13:41:00 GMT -5
First of an occasional series. Why Book Report? Cause I make my students do them! Actually, I've been running through a series of interesting books lately - some peripherally related to our hobby - some falling directly in the middle of my random interests, and thought others might want to look up these books themselves. So let's begin: Deep Survival: By Laurence Gonzales Over the past few years, I've been finding myself reading more non-fiction that focuses on search and rescue, mountain climbing, and other outdoor activities that involve the survival of individuals in the wilderness. Some of these books are more more akin to lists such as 'Death in the Grand Canyon' and 'Death, Daring, and Rescue- Search and Rescue in our National Parks'. Others detail specific events - such as Jon Krakauer's 'Into Thin Air' and 'Into the Wild', and Joe Simpson's 'Touching the Void' (about two men who are in a remote region of Peru climbing a mountain when one breaks his leg and is left for dead, but survives through sheer willpower to save himself). My interest arose in part from my own travel through the desert and the people who I met there - including several who were a step or two away from needing rescue themselves, and in part from the news stories I've slowly accumulated about those who failed to survive their encounters with our wilderness. See: www.dw.de/bones-found-in-death-valley-might-belong-to-german-tourists/a-4894286-1and eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/article_810a4a66-8e0e-11df-be84-001cc4c002e0.htmland abcnews.go.com/US/wave-hiking-area-claims-victim-month/story?id=19762132Deep Survival is a little different. It examines the psychological makeup of those who face death either through necessity (military pilots) or by accident (castaways, plane crash survivors). The author is Laurence Gonzales, who has written about this subject for such magazines as National Geographic and Men's Journal, and whose father survived a 20,000 drop without a parachute during WWII when his plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner. It is this event and Laurence's view of his father that seems to have prompted his examination of people who survive horrible events. His research delves into psychology, chaos theory, personality, and biology. Each chapter presents a different idea or aspect of survival and provides a primary example to support his theory. He interviews pilots who land on aircraft carriers and examines their morbid sense of humor. He analyzes why survival training can lead to a false sense of security when the conditions of one event don't match with one's survival knowledge - such as when a special forces member on vacation falls out of a raft and the guide tells him to quickly climb back in. The man doesn't, acts unconcerned, and is pulled under and drowns. He looks at the actions of those who face longer survival situations - such as five people who get tossed from their boat during a storm. As their days increase on the raft, some are compelled to slide over the side into shark infested waters while others survive the ordeal. He also explores the goal-setting of those who survive and who they affect a person's reaction to events. Other events brought up are 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke's survival of a plane crash over Peru in 1971. (You may have seen a movie about this.) Although she and several others survived the crash, she was the only one who left in search of help and ultimately was the only one who survived, and the climber in Joe Simpson's book I mentioned earlier. The book is a fascinating and easy read. It addresses the topic of survival (the who and the why) from a multitude of viewpoints, and provides a series of chilling yet compelling stories that back up his evidence. Occasionally his own self-analysis can seem intrusive, but as his interest stems from his father's experience - which includes the events of his incarceration and his medical care from a French Freedom fighter who hated Americans - I can see why he includes it. I wound up eating the book - which is to say, I couldn't put it down. If any of this sounds interesting to you, look it up. If you want a sneak peak, this link at Amazon will provide you access to the text: www.amazon.com/Deep-Survival-Who-Lives-Dies/dp/0393326152Thanks for listening! Book On! Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Dec 30, 2013 12:08:00 GMT -5
In the first picture, there are some interesting structures in the middle of the slab just to the left of the whitish center, where the dark brown is located. In the third picture, in the dark brown area, there are additional patterns that look similar. Can you take a zoom shot of those two regions of darker color? Your zooms tend to be in the lighter regions.
Also, can you take a shot of the "rind" of your slab? I'd be interested in seeing what patterns or textures are there.
Thanks,
Lowell
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elementary
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Post by elementary on Dec 30, 2013 11:58:59 GMT -5
You may have another coming. I'm trying to get out there and that might be the best time.
Still working out details.
I'm actually looking at doing a day trip to the desert next week either tuesday or thursday to get out of civilization for a few hours...don't know where yet.
Lowell
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