Super-sized sandbox

Sometimes, having a daddy as a geologist isn't too bad.

In space, no-one can hear the clown car

Carnival of space #79.

Carnival of Space #80.

Retrenchment blogging, day 16

Nobody has requested any science posts, so I guess I should fill in the story of my job quest. I took my Mo on a tour of a prospective employer’s lab yesterday, and it didn’t seem to deter them too badly, which is good. Today, I had lunch with a former student from my lab tech days, who is now working in the geol survey’s geothermal section. This was not a direct job interview- or even a hunt for leads, but rather an information-gathering exercise in order to figure out who does what and how the industry works. Just because a company has a geothermal lease doesn’t necessarily mean that they employ field geologists. Some do, others contract out all of their actual dirt-involving services to service companies. Understanding who does what allows one to target the correct potential employee. And it's always nice to have an excuse catch up with people and see how they're going.

Tonight I need to apply for something for which application was encouraged- always a good sign, I suppose, but it doesn’t do to get too hopeful at this stage.

Below is my short-form resume, so all you Americans can tell me how inappropriate it is. I should get this guy tidied up in case I apply for work back home. Suggestions, compliments, and insults are welcome.

Friends don’t let friends wear lamb chops

With Movember approximately 2/3 over, my ability to raise funds by looking even uglier than usual has been only marginally effective. While charity is not a competitive activity, I can’t help but point out that of all Australian Mo bros, I am currently the 28,100th most effective fundraiser. There are fewer than 50 towns in all of Australia with 28,000 people in them. So I think it is time for some incentives. For $20, you can nominate an area of facial hair to remove next. For $50, you may nominate a topic to be blogged here at the lounge. And for $100, you may do the same as for $20, but without the constraints of bilateral symmetry. But don’t give money because you want me to look funny. Do it for the depressed prostate sufferers.

Green energy dustup

Many people advocate putting large solar powerstations in arid regions. The reasoning behind this idea is that the land isn’t much good for anything else, and that the low rainfall will mean few clouds and high insolation. Trouble is, a lack of clouds does not necessarily mean that a lot of light is reaching the ground. For example, see the picture below.

This is a cloudless desert morning, and yet, the poor solar panel shown is producing very little power. The reason, of course, is that a dust storm is blanketing everything in yellow gritty haze. During the winter, the solar panel plus battery kicked the ass of our generator, which is cumbersome, old, messy, and often difficult to start. But after a day of hot dust, we had to recharge the battery from the car, and eat whatever meat had thawed. Cleaning it the next day was a bit of a pain as well.
On the other hand, a wind turbine would have been awesome, at least in the short term. I suspect that the full sized suckers, if installed in this environment, would eventually create dune deposits in their wakes. And the sandblasting probably wouldn’t do the rotors and bearings any favors either.

Retrenchment blogging, day 12

I formally submitted a job application yesterday to Geoscience Australia. Since the Australian government only hires permanent residents as an option of last resort, I suspect my chances are slim, but it looked like an interesting opportunity and was good practice for the world of official applications, form filling in, and other trappings of big organizations.

We'll see what happens. I won't post many details of job applications while they are pending. Might not be prudent, y'know.

Retrenchment blogging, day 10

And now, to address the serious problems.
What am I supposed to do with all of these?

Movember

Movember (The Month formerly known as November) is dedicated to raising awareness and funds for men's health issues. Specifically, prostate cancer and depression. As with many activist causes, this is done by horrifying people. We horrify people by growing hideous mustaches. According to the rules, one is supposed to start clean-shaven, and grow from there. But I was never much good at following rules. So I'm taking the opposite approach, and generating a mostache by subtraction, starting with a full beard. Please give generously. If I can show up to job interviews like this, you can spare a fiver. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.