keeptrackoflaco

new job

2011-02-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

HAZAA!
Very pleased to announce that I got a job as a Geologist for a company (also) in Schaumburg. This Chicago thing just might work out...

it's on..

2011-02-04T14:38:00.001-08:00

I'm going to keep the juices flowing - starting with some snow pictures!

columnar joints

2010-10-02T08:11:00.001-07:00

Here are some massive joints found at Frenchman's Coulee between the town of George, Washington and the Gorge Amphitheater (climbers for scale!).

nerd alert '09

2010-01-20T12:27:00.001-08:00

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Dee Brown) nf - unfortunately
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon) f
The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand) f
The Ghost Map (Steven Johnson) nf
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov) f
Longitude (Dava Sobel) nf
The Mensa Murders (Lee Martin) f
Merde (Ralph A. Lewin) nf - pooptastic
The Nautical Chart (Arturo Perez-Reverte) f
The Prestige (Christopher Priest) f
The Romanov Prophecy (Steve Berry) f
Steppenwolf (Herman Hesse) f
The Toothpick (Henry Petrosky) nf
World War Z (Max Brooks) f – fan favorite

I'll explain later!

2009-06-18T20:55:00.001-07:00

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/The-Invasion-of-the-Green-Team-.html

watch video

2009-04-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Before I continue on my delayed recaps...
I was thoroughly moved by an article about oinkers.

Can't wait to see you, McG.

recap 1

2009-03-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

Let's see...

In early December, I left Guyana after making a special trip to see a very large waterfall called Kaieteur. It was an hour flight south of Georgetown and is technically known for having the (123rd) highest "free-fall" of water on earth.

There are frogs found only in the Kaieteur national forest called the Kaieteur Golden Frog. If it were provoked and it jumped onto your upper lip, it could secrete a gas (160 thousand times stronger than cocaine) that would put you in a coma! They spend their entire (pathetic) lives in the same plant and are about the size of a thumbnail.
After that, I spent two weeks in Chicago and found an apartment.

Then I flew back to Seattle for the weeks leading up to Christmas and the New Year.

On January 5th, 2009, I got into my laden 1990 Toyota Camry and drove to Chicago...

coming soon

2009-01-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

more posts... I'm back online inchicago.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3256526/

dedly snake bai

2008-11-28T05:21:00.001-08:00

Well, we found another labaria today. This one was big.

All the guys said it was the biggest one they've seen.

Did I mention that I leave camp tomorrow...for good?

nerd alert

2008-11-26T04:15:00.000-08:00

I read more books this year than I've read in my past or future combined!

in particular order:

Ages in Chaos: James Hutton and the Discovery of Deep Time (Stephen Baxter) nf
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) f
Animal Farm (George Orwell) f
Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller) nf
The Case for a Creator (Lee Strobel) nf
The Chomsky / Foucault Debate – On Human Nature (Noam Chomsky and Michael Foucault) nf (you're boring me, stop boring me!)
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess) f
Deep Jungle: Travel to the Heart of the Rainforest (Fred Pearce) nf
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why (Laurence Gonzales) nf
Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness (Edward Abbey) nf
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Phillip K. Dick) f
DUNE (Frank Herbert) f
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (Hunter S. Thompson) f?
The Fencing Master (Arturo Perz-Reverte) f
The Flanders Panel (Arturo Perz-Reverte) f
Frost at Christmas (R.D. Wingfield) f
I love you, Beth Cooper (Larry Doyle) f
The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man (Amir Aczel) nf
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) f (holy crap depressing)
Krakatau: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 (Simon Winchester) nf
Lord of the Flies (William Golding) f
The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology (Simon Winchester) nf
Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis) nf
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey) f
Plato: The Last Days of Socrates (Plato) nf
The Portrait of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde) f
The Road (Cormac McCarthy) f (holy crap depressing)
The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis) f
The Seville Communion (Arturo Perz-Reverte) f
The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafón) f
Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp (C.D. Payne) f
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea (Charles Seife) nf
1984 (George Orwell) f

didn’t get around to:
The Phenomenon of Man (Pierre Teilhard De Chardin) nf
The Art of War (Sun Tzu) nf
Annals of the Former World (John McPhee) nf ~700pg (see ya)

here you go, conor

2008-11-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

(excerpt from e-mail to glenda)

How are you today? If I were you, I would sleep through the construction and wake up at about, oh, 11:30, shower until 12:30. After drying off, I would make myself some toast and then walk to a coffee shop close by, or not so close. Sipping, I would stare out the window and decide whether I should keep walking in the opposite direction of Margene's apt. At the last sip, I would violently crush the cup in hand and run out the door, not stopping until I came to the nearest pet store. Knowing that pet stores often sell live animals to almost anyone with money, I would emerge victorious with a plastic bag full of fish and a gerbil in a ball. At this point, it would be wise to transfer the fish to a clear plastic cup (w/straw), and board the "L" with socialite aplomb. Departing at the loop, the natural choice would be to visit the Art Institute and enjoy the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit. People would stare, but don't worry, they're ignorant. Explain to them that they're the ones who have been depriving "inferior" species of culture and fine art (take sip of water). Shameful. This blatant disregard (will it ever end? one can only hope) would make anyone grumpy, and hungry. Fortunately there would be a hotdog stand right out side where you could collect some ketchup packets...

can you find my thesaurus word?

good morning

2008-11-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I now know what the deadliest snake in Guyana looks like:

(baby labaria - found in the core shed)

It's head was squashed with a 2x4 (not pictured)

Also, army mens

practice repelling

Camp isn't usually this exciting.

on the lighter side

2008-11-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

The dogs chased a little deer away from her mama and now she's a pet.
I touched it.

So did this guy.

search and rescue

2008-11-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

I hesitate to let you all in on the gloomy news but hey, this is what the blog is for. Um, a plane crashed. Our company contracted a company to do an airborne geophysical survey over an area that we are curious about and we haven't heard from them since Nov 1st (full story - find press release). The pilot and co-pilot are American and the airborne geophysical operator is Canadian. We have two helicopters and two planes buzzing around, but they are having trouble picking up the plane's distress signal.
The big difference between this flight and the planes I fly in is that these guys fly "slow and low" in order operate the equipment. Totally sucks and there is a real somber attitude here. Also, six guys got sent home last week because they had malaria. The equipment I use keeps breaking down and about 30% of the local staff has been laid off. I'm glad this is my last trip.
Hope I didn't harsh your mellow.

Helicopters are cool though...

that's right, picture and video (so this is rock and roll? dun-dun dun, de-de de)

thanks to conor

2008-11-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

Welcome, I started a blog. I've been in Guyana all year and I'm moving to Chicago so the idea of blessing you all with my deepest and most thoughtfully thoughtful thoughts seems appropriate. This is just a short note to get it started. Conor suggested this name along with chileanlikeavillian and thebronzefonze (flattering), approval unnecessary. Y'all come back real soon.

who is this

2008-11-06T11:05:00.001-08:00

where am i