A quiet night, a stack of books, a tuna melt on rye

One of the strangest aspects of working in CRM is the fact that you are living with your co-workers all the time.  You work with them all day in the field and then all come back and live in the same hotel.  One of them even sleeps in the same room as you.  I like to refer to it as Archaeology: the college after college. 

Anyway, our company is pretty neatly split into two camps.  There are the people who like to hang out on the hotel balcony.  They stay up late, play endless rounds of songs on their guitars, and drink heavily.  Then there are those of us who spend more time in our rooms, tend to go to bed early, and drink way less (or at least don't feel the need to do it obnoxiously in the parking lot.)  At the hotel we are currently in, those two camps were pretty well split between the two buildings of the hotel; what we started calling the adult building and the kiddie building.  This ten-day, after much pleading on the part of phoenix_silaqui and myself we got to stay in the adult building.  No more people outside my door until all hours of the night.  No one falling through the door when we open it because they were leaning against it.  There was and continues to be much rejoicing on my part. 

( icon meme from sneakyangel )

We finished out first unit on the current phase III, so I thought I'd share a couple of artifact pictures in celebration.  Unfortunately we didn't find anything terribly exciting (read: diagnostic).  So background:

At this site we are digging two units at a time right next to each other so we end up with a 2mx1m unit with a side A and a side B. Within both A and B we dug down 5cm at a time and save all those artifacts together as a level.  We also reserved the dirt in the SW quadrant of each smaller unit to screen through 1/8 in mesh instead of our normal 1/4 mesh.  The smaller mesh takes longer to screen through, but you find smaller artifacts.  Since we used it consistently, we can extrapolate as to how many micro-flakes were present in the other three quadrants.

( Now some pictures... )

We are finally on another phase III excavation (the kind that people think of as archaeology with the square holes and everything) which of course is pretty fun.  This is really what the entire company is waiting for at all times.  I'm on the smaller of the two sites that are open, so there are only eight of us there digging four units, which is rather nice.  The more people there are around, the more hectic it gets and nothing ever gets done.  Our site also has brand new buckets (despite the fact that mine seems to have a piece of gum stuck in it) so we have plenty of opportunity for naming them.  Anyone have any suggestions?

phoenix_silaqui and I had fun hotel times today.  At the  beginning of this ten day a couple of us were told that there weren't any double rooms (what we would usually stay in) available in the hotel until Wednesday, and that we would be in single smoking rooms until then.  I wasn't thrilled, since I don't smoke, and don't relish smelling like smoke, but what can you do.  We never heard anything more about how or when to move, and sort of forgot about it.  This morning two other girls were late to the site because they had been told at the last minute that they had to pack all their stuff, so the hotel staff could more it to their new room during the day.  We had already left and therefore could not be told to pack.  Instead, we came back at the end of the day to find all of our stuffed moved, and since we had been unable to pack it is all jumbled up in various bags and what not.  Grrr.  Apparently getting permission from my boss counts as getting permission from me, a precedent I'm not real wild about. 

Last night glowwormtu invited me to a whine tasting at a new foodie shop that opened around the corner.  We spent much of our time discussing how grown up it felt -- and really I need to stop doing that.  Presumably when you stop discussing how grown up something is, it becomes actually grown up.  Anyway, I greatly enjoyed both of the whites.  I tried the first red -- didn't enjoy it, but I never enjoy reds -- and decided not to put myself through the last two.  I ended up purchasing a small bottle of Nut Chocolate (which from now on will be called Not Chocolate because that is what everyone thought the bottle said) liquor.  I may have to go back latter for the second bottle of wine. 

Afterward, our little group of four people went for dinner at Crepe Nanou.  I'm so excited to have people who will eat mussels with me.  Since I was three, and asking waitresses who didn't believe me for plates of mussels they've been one of my favorite foods, but I always seem to associate with the non-seafood eaters.  Boo. It turns out that a shared plate of mussels and an individual bowl of french onion soup for everyone is a pretty much perfect meal. 

I also had to write my first crew reviews yesterday at work which was weird.  I feel like my personal starting point for any review is this person furfill their job description and here are some problems which probably makes everyone seem worse than they actually are.  I feel bad about that.  Really archaeology is a hard thing to excel at.  There are people who dig faster than others, but if you dig too fast I assume you are not screening or digging your holes fully -- mostly because every time I've been able to check on a speed demon that has been the case.  Otherwise, the way to excel is pretty much willingness to take on responsibility, which I'm hesitant to use as a be all marker, since it makes many people look bad when they are just shy.  The people like me who would welcome the chance to help out more, but who would never directly ask. 

Today my crew decided to describe surveying through briars as having a million people shooting kittens at you out of tee-shirt guns.  That metaphor was too great not to share.  Really it made my day. 

One of my crew members was sick today so I got to dig all her shovel tests in addition to my own.  41 in total.  I am so tired right now. 

It was also at least part way through a section that when I called the person who surveyed the segment adjacent to confirm her ending point, she said "After I did a little happy dance because I wasn't going back there, I started praying for you."  Really it was that bad.  Someday I will find a lovely part of Washington Parish. 

Today we got to cross the most ridiculous fence I've ever seen.  It was your typical well strung barbed wire fence with metal posts, but between each of set of posts, woven between the barbed wires, were five branches.  I don't even want to know how long it took to find all the wood for that fence. 

I also met our land agent who wants me to call him every day with where I am going the next day.  My bosses don't want me to call, instead they want him to read the updates that I email in each day.  So now I get to be in the middle of a battle for dominance amongst various higher ups.  Yay!  This 10-day is going to be swell. 

Does anyone watch Larkrise to Candleford?  The third series has just started and is so far rather enjoyable, but then I always love period dramas.  I've decided that I want to be Miss Lane when I grow up.  Also, possibly the elder Timmonses. 

Well I'm back to work not, and have been for four days, so I guess the "Wow! I've been rather busy over vacation-type days round-up post" is sadly over due. But, I am nothing if not sadly over due.  So here we go:

• Pennsylvania snowed for me.  Twice.  And it managed to do it the day before I came home and two days before I went back so that none of my planes were canceled.  Yay!  I really meant to go sledding at some point, but somehow I never got around to it.  Much like I never got around to seeing Sherlock Holmes with my father. 
• The luminarias went so much faster this year than any previous year.  Apparently assembly lines where my brother and I take jobs without speaking to each other work better than any other kind.  Also, possibly the only leaving a certain amount of time by going to a movie that only gets out about two hours before Christmas eve services. 
• We succeeded in convincing my mother to go to the 5:30 service -- the one with all the little kids being cute and performing.  Now, if we could just convince her to go to the 3:00  for the unrehearsed Christmas Padget, where you can wear whatever costume you want.  Ryan and I want to be first and second lobster. 
• I got to school my family in Rock Band Christmas evening!  Yay! being the singer.  I even got told by my youngest cousin "you have to play on medium or hard, if you play a lot"  He didn't believe that it was my first time playing.  All those years of sight singing in choir paid off for something. 
• After never having participated in a Fandom Secret Santa, I volunteered myself for two.  It didn't turn out too badly.  I got a lovely Guy/Marian fic from ladyoneill and a bunch of Glee icons from setentpet.  Plus the people I made graphics and one fan-mix for seemed to enjoy them.  
• On the 27th Toenails (or the British ex-pat's Indian food eating club of which my parents are members despite not being ex-pats) came for the People's Light and Theater panto and yummy dinner at the Himalayan.  The lady who sat next to me at dinner seemed to think she had to walk me through Indian cuisine despite the fact that I had chosen all the food that she was eating.  It was weird.   The panto was great as usual -- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  This year they strayed further than usual from the fairy tale. Making the show about making a movie of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which I'm not sure I liked as much -- but still really, really funny. 
• Went down to see glowwormtu in DC for three days.  We acted like the 1776 geeks that we are while viewing the Declaration of Independence.  The docent told everyone which case it was in by referencing Richard Henry Lee in a picture, so we had a bit of a "Lee's of Old Virginia" squee.  Then there were pretty gems, forensic anthropology, and Ruby slippers at the various Smithsonians.  All-in-all a good day. 

I was so not ready to come back to work on Monday.  And judging by the shear amount of mistakes I've made this week (today I surveyed a segment east-to-west instead of from west-to-east simply because I never noticed that I was walking in the wrong direction.  I didn't realize until I got back to the hotel and the property lines looked different on the Trimble than they did on the map.  Thank God for the rain. 

Dear Crew,

It's not really that great idea to let me know exactly how little you want to be at work. For the time we are in the field I am your boss and at some point in the future I will have to write reviews on you -- and in case you didn't know I have an unfortunate habit of being unfailingly honest. Therefore it is not in you best interest to do the following:

• Show me the Radar on your iPhone every 20 minutes. I know there is rain in the forecast. I look at the weather channel and various weather related websites every morning before we come out. I still can't let you go home until it is actively raining, and raining pretty hard at that. If there is a really dangerous situation I want to keep tabs on, I will ask you for help, otherwise your constant mentions of the radar only serve to annoy me. If it does end up raining, no one leaves the field until we all can leave the field. This means waiting for pictures and points. Yes I know that means you have to stand and wait in the rain. You wont melt, I promise.
• On a related note, The segment is done when the segment is done. Yes I like to stop at hard points like fences, roads or creeks, but I also need us to be working as close to nine hours as possible. Asking constantly for a stopping point will only annoy me; if I give you a stopping point, and we end up getting there at 2:00, I will make you work further and that will only annoy you. I know, I was in your position for many a day.
• Don't sit on your screen to screen. That shouldn't even need to be said. Really you should only be sitting on your screen at breaks or when writing in an effort to make your handwriting more neat. If you are not physically able to maintain a standing position for more than 30 minutes at a time, this is not the job for you.
• I know the briars suck. I'm standing here right next to you. You are just going to have to push through them. I need you work faster, and I need you to stay on transect. The whole crew needs to be able to rotate through the easier transect so that they can have a break periodically, and right now they can't because I can't trust you not to get lost and trespass.
• It is the middle of hunting season. You know this because we have either seen hunters or their vehicles parked on the side of the road every day this week. KEEP YOUR SAFETY VEST ON AT ALL TIMES. I do not want to look over and not see orange because, firstly, I really don't want to see anyone shot, and secondly you could lose both of us our jobs.

Really guys, if you follow these few suggestions (okay that last one is a hard and fast rule) our time in the field together will be much more pleasant for all involved.

Thanks,
Allison