A Few Sights...

Let's see if you can guess what this plant is used for...


A deer passed through here! Darn, where's my weapon when I need it? I really want to take the wind out of some edible critter (ie, deer or hog) by putting a hole through its lungs/heart with either Sparrowhawk or Sorondil-Telcontar!



A most beautiful sunset, taken while going down the interstate with my friend in his truck. It was a bit of a shame that the clouds took over though, would've been a great night for star-gazing.



An old-style tractor (c. 1940s or 1950s) with my friend providing a sense of scale.

Not Too Bad

I took these at 21-22 yards. One of the carbons didn't survive a mosquito and cell phone induced critical fumble earlier but the aluminum matched up pretty well. Not exactly something I'd do normally but I do like having at least 4 arrows in the target, preferably matched as closely as possible. I definitely need more time at the range and in the wilderness -- I'm getting pale enough to rival one of those spectral reflectance panels we used to use to calibrate the spectrometers in my chaparral days and if I keep getting paler from too much time indoors, I'm going to have to cover myself up to prevent a blinding -VOIP!- from firing off my skin! I also need to practice a lot more to keep myself nice and deadly for that buck, doe, or hog!

Sparrowhawk

What can I say? When I'm not overly tired or worn out, I can actually shoot halfway well! I didn't keep close track of my score this time, but out of 20 targets, I had four misses, three of which were forgetting that Sparrowhawk's trajectory is much flatter than Sorondil-Telcontar's and one was a genuine didn't reach full draw and went way left. Of my non-misses, I was generally hitting 10s and 12s except for an accidental 14 where I didn't reach full draw and the arrow shot stiff and a really hilarious 5 on a bear I usually neuter because I forgot I was standing a bit closer than usual :) I think Sparrowhawk will be my primary 3D bow, although pulling arrows is a lot more difficult and I had to put a couple of targets back together after knocking the wind out of it!

Adventures in Alachua

To see pictures from two days in the field, go to these two links:
Sunday: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560967944mEbLlr
Monday: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560983568lCdZRX

Measuring soil carbon fluxes are fun!

Sucky Reason to Not Sleep...

I had yet another nightmare... Something involving enforced sedentary-ness, drowning in bureaucratic paperwork, swarms of politician-shaped ticks, and my First and Second Amendment Rights being seriously violated.

Now I need to figure out how I'm going to actually get some sleep...

IKAC Fun

Once in a great while, even I can get more than 1-2 points from 40 yards during a speed round. It's even cooler seeing that I actually hit the "X".



Someone managed to get her arrow stuck on the target frame, and no, it wasn't me. This just looked too cool to not photograph. Usually the arrow looks a lot more pathetic, but this arrow just looked proud to be stuck up there =)

Mission: Estimating Phosphorous Content in Soil Samples Without Getting Killed

Remember the trip to Austin Cary Memorial Forest last week, the one resulting in multiple bug-bites, bruises, scratches, a few cases of poison ivy (not me for once!), and a general decision that maybe fire is our friend? We did a follow-up today to look at phosphorous content in our soil samples with two methods -- a double-acid (H2SO4 and HCl) and water extractions. I like filtering and pipetting! Maybe there's hope for me in doing something away from the computer =)

Highlights from today:
-- Someone had never, ever used a pipette before.
Me and the TA: "There's the tips right here."
Colleague: [sticks the tip-less pipette into the water and tries to draw it up]
Me and the TA: "Noooooo!!!!!!!"
-- Someone still has his marks from walking into a patch of Rhus toxicodendron and wondering why while scratching himself
-- Washing dishes. Lots of them. But hey, beats swearing like a pirate and sitting on my butt in a seminar!

Again, to see the pictures, click on the title!