It's 5:20am and a new day has dawned. Can't sleep. Probably because I slept for 12 straight hours last night. It's called JETLAG!

We've been to the States for nearly 4 weeks. It was FABULOUS! Lots and lots of miles by JUMBO and 4,500 miles by car. RIGHT ACROSS! We went to:

WINDSOR (her Majesty was in THRESHERS)
TERMINAL 5 (long, long walks)
JFK (smaller and more antiquated than anticipated)
TIMES SQUARE (amazing!)
WTC SITE (very moving)
STATEN ISLAND FERRY (ours crashed when we landed!)
STATUE OF LIBERTY (from a distance)
TOP OF THE ROCK - Rockefeller Center (high!)
MACY'S (bought not one thing!)
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM (full of noisy kids, but COSMIC COLLISIONS was good!)
CENTRAL PARK (heavy on the feet when HOT!)
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART (awesome - real PICASSOS!)
JET BLUE AIRLINES (the BEST!)
CHICAGO RIVER (WOW!)
TRIBUNE TOWER (rocks 'n' stuff from all over)
MICHIGAN AVENUE (bank refused to allow us to take out money!)
HARD ROCK CAFE (yet another T-shirt)
NAVY PIER (fun; great views)
SEARS TOWER (even higher than TOTR!!)
BUCKINGHAM FOUNTAIN (best bit was when the wind changed direction and drenched a few!)
ALAMO, CHICAGO to pick up our RED Toyota!
MADISON, WISCONSIN (lots of it - a detour from the floods)
LA CROSSE (perfect little streets, with perfect little houses, with perfect little lawns)
MISSISSIPPI (up close, it looks like any other river)
JOLLY GREEN GIANT Blue Earth
SIOUX FALLS (pink quartzite .... in my bag)
BEWARE OF MOSQUITOS AT SIOUX FALLS!
MITCHELL (why? They have a CORN PALACE!)
CHAMBERLAIN (why? It has the MISSOURI)
BADLANDS NP (wonderful)
WALL DRUG STORE (hmm)
HILL CITY
CRAZY HORSE MONUMENT (they'll NEVER finish it!)
CUSTER STATE PARK
WILDLIFE LOOP (deer, marmots, burros, buffalo, PRAIRIE DOGS!)
MOUNT RUSHMORE (hmm)
DEADWOOD (I won $37.50)
MT MORIAH CEMETARY (Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane)
LEAD (mines)
BEAR COUNTRY USA (bears all over the place - lightning too!)
CHEYENNE (closed)
TRAIL RIDGE ROAD, Rocky Mountain National Park (only a bit, was we were running LATE)
DENVER (ring road)
COLORADO SPRINGS
TAOS
RIO GRANDE
SANTA FE (disappointed)
LOS ALAMOS
BRADLEY SCIENCE MUSEUM
4 CORNERS MONUMENT
MONUMENT VALLEY
VALLEY OF THE GODS (took 2 hours to drive - car now DIRTY red)
MOKI DUGWAY (OMG - look it up!)
MOAB
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK (including WINDOWS and DELICATE)
More McDONALDS and SUBWAYS than I care to ever repeat
TROPIC
BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK (AGAIN! But this time, no thunder)
NAVAJO LOOP
ZION NATIONAL PARK (AGAIN! And AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN would be great - it's BEAUTIFUL)
LAS VEGAS (WORSE than LAST TIME - 'music' coming out of FLOWERS. EVERYWHERE.)
HOOVER DAM
LAKE HAVASU CITY for LONDON BRIDGE (!) (it was 111 degrees F)
PALM SPRINGS (hot, hot, hot!)
PALM DESERT (scrappy shop!)
TEMECULA (McD in a WALMARTS)
SAN DIEGO
SEAPORT VILLAGE (very disappointing)
SPAIN WON THE EURO CUP!!! :)
PETCO PARK (padres 2; mariners 9)
HARD ROCK CAFE (yawn)
MISSION BAY
LA JOLLA (HUGE breakers!)
OLD TOWN, SD (little MEXICO)
SD ZOO (large zoo, few animals)
LAGUNA BEACH (if only we had MILLIONS)
LAX

Now I'm tired. But it's breakfast time!

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"Is it a bird, is it a crane...no, but it's possibly a geologist. The students who used to be teased at my school for "just fiddling around with rocks" are the new superheroes of the American job market. It's no longer just oil - soaring prices for copper, silver and gold have made geologists as valuable as, well, gold dust. Geology graduates in the United States are now receiving higher average starting salaries than people with Harvard MBAs. And immigration experts report that if there is any other occupation more guaranteed to speed your entry into America, they have yet to hear of it."

From today's Daily Telegraph (so I've been told - I wouldn't read that Tory rag!)

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In what must be a record time, my S339 TMA01 was returned to me yesterday. I got 80%. EIGHTY PERCENT! My tutor wrote that it was an excellent assignment. He even gave me marks for an 'error' that I'd found which wasn't an intended error, because I was right and because of my argument. Or something. And (get this) I got 20/20 for that question with the plates that I'd struggled with so much!

Today, I got my result for S186, the level one short course on volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. There was no mark given, just a 'pass', but there were some indications of learning outcomes; well achieved, achieved, just achieved, not achieved. I didn't do marvellously - only got 2 well achieved's and there was one question which I got 'just achieved' for. This was a question on volcanic risk - what I'd done for SXG390!! I can't, for the life of me, see what was wrong with my answer!

I've 95% finished reading through block 2 of S339 and have had a quick glance at TMA02. I can say, with extreme confidence, that I can't do it.

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Sent to me by an OU friend, Carol (an American!)

Britain is Repossessing the U.S.A.

A Message from John Cleese

To the citizens of the United States of America:

In light of your failure to nominate competent candidates for
President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical
duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except
Kansas , which she does not fancy).

Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for
America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any
of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following
rules are introduced with immediate effect:

You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You
will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and
'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without
skipping half the letters, and the suffix -ize will be replaced by the suffix -ise.

Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to
acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary' ).

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises
such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of
communication.

There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on
your behalf. The Microsoft spell- checker will be adjusted to take
account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize. You will
relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns,
lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and
therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent.

Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to
sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then
you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything
more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if
you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for
your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what
we mean.

8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will
start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time,
you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion
tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British
sense of humour.

9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been
calling gasoline)-roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French
fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling
potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal
fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not
actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be
referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be
referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting Nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer.
They are also part of British Commonwealth - see what it did for them.

12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as
good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to
play English characters. Watching Andie McDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a
cheese grater.

13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind
of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough
will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American
football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty
seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try
Rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to
host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played
outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world
beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we
will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their
deliveries.

15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's
Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all
monies due(backdated to 1776).

17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, never
mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in
season.

God save the Queen.

Only He can.

John Cleese

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(Thank you Circle Line)

That brought a smile to my face, after an afternoon of struggling with 3 strips of paper (marked Plates A, B and C) and a ruler, with no real result.

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That's what it says on my OU student home page - and they're right! I finished block 1 some time ago. I didn't do the assignment, at that time, because block 1 flummoxed me. They presume you have done S267 (nope) and block 1 is an all too hazy revision of that course. So I am quite lost! I'm now about halfway through block 2, which is altogether more to my taste - although I still don't understand half of it! Anyway, I MUST sit down and do this first assignment SOON! It doesn't matter too much how well I do (just as well), but I have some pride and don't want to give my tutor the impression that I am totally geo-ignorant! Besides, I need to do it as prep for the MSc - now scheduled for an Autumn 2009 start.

Here is a brief 'working outline' of the content of the 60-point component course (180 points total required):


S808 Earth Science: a systems approach

1. Introduction to Earth System Science: an overview of how a systems approach to Earth Science offers greater potential to investigate, interpret and understand interactions between different Earth systems from the core to the top of the atmosphere; this section will provide an introduction to each of the main topics below (3-4 wks)

2. Mantle plumes and sudden climate change: covers topics such as - climate change; oceanography; mantle plumes; large igneous provinces; sedimentation rates/processes; metamorphism by sill emplacement; tectonic and geochemical insight into deep/mantle processes; geochronology and effects of plumes on sedimentation; relationships between mantle plumes and global climate change (4-5 wks)

3. Mountain building and climate change: focusing on two main areas i) Ordovician-Devonian Earth and Cenozoic Earth - tectonic processes; impacts on global climate; evolutionary changes; weathering rates and influences; geochemical and isotopic tracers and ii) the interplay between tectonics and the hydrological cycle and how water interacts with the crust, thereby facilitating the formation of metal and hydrocarbon deposits (4-5 wks)

4. Antarctica and ocean circulation: environmental sensitivity, conservation and preservation of ‘wildernesses’; impacts on global climate; inter-relations between the oceans and global climate; transfer of nutrients within the oceans; carbon sequestration; plate tectonics and circulatory systems (i.e. the focus will be scientific rather than environmental studies issues) (4-5 wks)

5. Living with the modern Earth system: summary section reviewing the key concepts and issues covered in each study topic from the perspective of a broader stocktickerESS framework. This section will also investigate recent developments in a systems approach to Earth Science and where future research interests may focus and/or lead. (2-3 wks)

ECA – mini project/essay, 4-6 weeks study time"

All of which will lean more heavily on the 'hard' rocks side than I might have hoped - and, therefore, at least a basic command of S339 is kind of essential!

And I've only gone and pre-registered for the new Ecosystems course, which starts in November ...

Apart from not studying much, I seem to be busy doing nothing at all! I *think* that the holiday planning is now more-or-less completed. A couple changes have been made - not least that we are now going to fly from NYC to Chicago (JetBlue?!)

The scrapbooking continues, with no regard for bank balance. I decided to do a new blog for that and it's on here - not very exciting.

The daffodils are in full bloom, but are, as always seems to happen, being bent and broken by lashing rain and high winds. *sigh* Soon be spring.

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Please choose Hillary as your Democratic candidate. Nice though he is, Obama will not win the presidency and we will be stuck with another Republican ruling the world. You know it makes sense - thank you! :)

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I'm not sure! Neither am I sure where I am now!!

New Year's Eve, both Paul and I had flu. (Reminder to get flu jab next year). We both had terrible coughs. But my cough turned into a chest infection. They gave me anti-biotics. I took one and my temperature shot up to about 106!! So they gave me another lot of ab's. Levofloxacin. I took one - about 10:00pm, 8th January. Almost immediately, I came out in hives, all over. 999. The ambulance folk were very nice and injected me with some antihistamine, which worked within 10 minutes. Fortunately, my 'vital signs' were fine, but they decided to take me to A&E anyway. Hub and I were there til 4:00am... My temperature was, apparently, horrendous! I had a chest X-ray and they decided I had 'nearly' pneumonia and I was given TWO lots of antibiotics. LARGE STRENGTH!! Amoxycillin + doxycycline. Seemingly, I had a slight urine infection too (?) - but they allowed me to go home - phew!

The week taking the antibiotics was awful - I felt SO ill and couldn't eat, because everything tasted vile! I even spent one whole day in bed, which is something I NEVER do! FINALLY, I finished the course(s), only to discover that I now had thrush, brought on by the antibiotics. Everywhere. Easily fixed - apart from the oral thrush, which is STILL lingering. I'm taking Nystan for it and is has improved somewhat - but I went several days not being able to swallow!! Now I can swallow, but I cannot chew - not helped by the fact that I broke a tooth!! I have a dental appointment tomorrow morning, which I am dreading, because my whole mouth is so sore. However, the next appointment wasn't for TWO WEEKS!

I can breathe. I can eat (just). And I am sleeping for England. I am MUCH better. But I have most certainly lost most of this year, so far!

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