Sunscreen

I always wonder about sunscreen...my skin is so sensitive I can hardly ever use lotion without breaking out or getting a big red, itching rash. Thinking about which sunscreen to use stresses me out tremendously.

In the past I have used Banana Boat's Sport 30 spf sunscreen and overall have a good result, minimal face breakout and can usually get by with minimal re-application.

This year, I finally got a "sunburn" while using Banana Boat Sport (OK, so normal people would just say that I had gotten a little too much sun. I got redder than normal with a bit of itching and a small amount of stinging. All these symptoms were gone in a day and I got "tan.") even though I was re-applying every couple of hours. This made me think about my sunscreen again.

I was looking through one of the Reno independent newspapers and they had an article on the top 10 "safe" sunscreens. It gave a link to "Skin Deep" a website that dissects all the cosmetics sold on the market, including sunscreen and soaps.

Did you ever want to know what all of those weird ingredients in your cosmetics were? They tell you on the website and how they all can give you cancer of one sort or another. I found this site really interesting and I will be choosing a new sunscreen in the not to distant future.

For all my guinea pig homies...Bringing you some joy and funnies

This is almost funnier than the Kitty Cat song:



So you can compare, here is the Kitty Cat song:

Sunshine, lollypops, and rainbows everywhere

I am not sure if those are the real lyrics or not...but it sounds good.



My View to the Right

So...
I have been in Reno for a week and a half. We didn't have any fieldwork this week so I was stuck in the office for a few days. I have been at the Fitzgerald which has pretty nice rooms. They are huge and the view that I have is really nice. So I have been extended my stay here 4 times now. The Truckee White River Park is near, so I get to hear concerts and go down to the river when I get bored.


Truckee River White Water Park on the Truckee River

I went on a covert literature search Monday (covert because I was given 1 hour notice). I was paid to be in the car for a total of 10 hours and 4 hours of research time at the Elko BLM. Literature searches have to be done in the BLM district where a survey is going to take place. We go through reports of previous surveys to print out information on previously recorded sites in the project area. Pretty easy.

During my trip to Elko, there was a major lightening storm that created pouring rain (very odd for Nevada in July). The cool part was, it created a double rainbow. One was particularly vibrant.





We finally got the word that a group of us will be going to Wells, NV for 4 days beginning Monday and then a likely chance of the whole crew being on session August 5th...if this is true, that will be my last session and I will be heading home on the 12th.

DAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH, NAH....BATMAN

Everyone has to see The Dark Knight.
The best Batman movie ever.
I can't say more than that to respect all of you who are planning to see it.

Skele gained, Lessons Learned

So this is going to be a duzie, but here is the cool part...I found a skeleton that was coming out of a burial! And when I say that I found it, it pretty much means that I identified a metatarsal that we found on the surface as human, and then I went to where I felt there would be more of a foot, under an ant hill. So I looked at the surface and immediately identified a phalanx, I kept pushing some dirt aside and found more phalanges. At that point I decided to stop because all of this has to go to the government for assessment. I looked at the surface a little more and found a rib, and then out of no where, right were we were standing was the complete right humerus. It had been uncovered as we had been scuffling around the site.

So, what happens when a burial is found? Well, we contact BLM, because it is on their land. The police and coroner maybe called in if the skeleton is thought to be new. Due to artifacts that we found with the skeleton (brass buttons and buckles) and the site it was located in (frying pan, tin cans, a butter knife), I would think it is historical and therefore NAGPRA won't be involved.

Anyway, I learned that I can be confident that I know what I am talking about. When my crew boss randomly picked up the metatarsal and didn't recognize it as an animal he knew of (being a zooarchaeologist), he was gonna let it go. But I could swear it was human, so I took it from him and pondered it for a long time. I knew it was human the second I saw it, but because I lack confidence in my ability to identify remains anymore, I was still not 100% sure until I found the phalanges.

Another lesson learned on this trip is that I need to speak up when I don't feel well in the field. We had a particularly hot day on Wednesday like high 90's. I was working with an all boy group who survey really really fast. Well, I started to feel a little dizzy and lightheaded, then I could feel a bit of a headache. I began to not be able to walk correctly, always tripping over things and my brain wasn't working the way it should have. I had drunk a gallon of water in 4 hours but wasn't really sweating the way one should. So from all those symptoms, I still had a hard time speaking up. Finally, after 3 failed attempts to allow the word exit my mouth, I was finally able to tell my crew chief that I was desperate and needed to go back to the car, which was now about 2 miles away. Needless to say I had to stay in for 2 days because I had gotten mild heat stroke.

This lesson was that I need to be more active in how I feel, and to not worry about what others are going to think about me being sick. No one blames me for having to stay in because of heat problems. They don't want me to die. So, I need to get over that self consciousness.

We have been surveying in Kobhe Valley outside of Eureka on BLM land for a mining project at Mount Rose. It is really beautiful. Too bad there is so much smoke from the California fires.

Kobhe Valley Floor


Sorry the film is a little fast.

Historic Mines, 4th of July and the Olympic Trials in Eugene

During our last 4 day stint in the field in Battle Mountain, the snapshots of life in the early 1900's at this historic mine finally came together. My crew got to witness something that most archaeological crews never get to see...the whole picture.

During these 2 sessions, we have found numerous garbage dumps and structures. On our last 2 days, we found an old track that was used to send ore down the valley. We followed this track about a mile and came across a structure that was used to (or at least what we think) process the ore.

In essence, we put all the pieces together to find that this area was used by unaffiliated individuals who were mining in the same area and sharing the equipment to process their ore.

This is very exciting and I was so happy that all this was uncovered on the last day.

session 2

I spent the 4th with Darby, making the journey from Reno to Veneta once again. The trip is only about 425 miles. It is a gorgeous drive. I camped at Eagle Lake on my way up to save money. No one was camping this year...

We attended a small festival in Eugene on the 4th but left before the fireworks. On the 5th we celebrated my belated 30th birthday. We ate food, got drunk and danced. It was fun.

To top off my trip, we attended the finals for the Olympic Trials for Track and Field. It was incredibly exciting. Watching it on TV doesn't show you how fast these athletes are. What I found the most amazing were the pole vaulters. The amount of strength it takes to hurl yourself over a pole at 16 ft, is astonishing.

I am adding some pictures of Darby's new house. It is huge. They have a 5 acer plot that many deer and wild turkeys frequent. It will look amazing for their wedding.

Darby's house

Car chases and wildfires

I am glad the week is finally over and I can have my much needed 6 days off.
Every session something incredibly exciting happends. Whether it is drama in the crew, flat tires or in our case a police allowed car chase.

On our way home along I-80 we noticed a car on an off ramp with some people fighting. At a closer look, it was 2 huge men beating a small woman.
We were concerned, so we made the 9-1-1 call, and backed down the ramp to get the lisence number and to basically let them know we were on the case.

They jumped in the car and drove off. We follow the car for 20 minutes while on the phone with dispatch, they give us the green light to go as fast as we can following the car. We ended up losing them because we were in a 4 Runner that was full of crap and wouldn't go much faster than 100 mph. The car ended up getting off at an exit and swung to go the opposite direction on I-80. Finally the cops appear, tons of them, going really fast and we tell them that they were headed in the opposite direction.

In the end, they were caught. But the best part was that the woman told the cops to thank us. I was so glad because we were afraid that she wouldn't prosecute or would take their side. She was beaten pretty badly though.

On to the wildfires...
So there are about 800 wildfires going on in the California Sierra's. Because Reno is in a valley, well much of NEvada is a basin/range, all the smoke has gathered there. It is horrible. You can't see a mile ahead, it is similar to fog in October, only you can't breathe. Needless to say, my camping plans were ruined and because I have asthma, I fled the area and decided to go to Darby's. The smoke was present from Reno to Aiden, CA.


View Larger Map

It was unfortunate, because the drive is really pretty, but because of the smoke...there were no mountains. We also saw the smoke in Battle Mountain. The valley that we have a view of has been gone for a couple of days now. I guess the smoke covers Northern Nevada to the Utah border and get this...more

Here are some pictures of my drive out of the city. In all of these pictures there are supposed to be huge 10,000 ft mountains.