Chaos Theory

I've been here for a week officially since it's 34 minutes into Sunday. A lot has happened. I settled into my new home with 8 other roommates, none of whom I had met before this. There are 3 guys and 5 girls, another girl to come in 2 weeks. It takes a little getting used to let me tell you. I went from one roommate with my own bathroom and room to sharing one bathroom with 5 girls. Ahhhh! Anyway, everyone is pretty nice but we are an eclectic group to say the least. We are all very different and come from different backgrounds, yet we are all brought here by one thing: paleontology. And dinosaurs. 

This week I have been introduced to Wyoming's crazy weather rollercoaster. It was 80s when I got here and sunny. The first day on the dig sites I was dying. We shoveled dirt and put up a safety fence. The second day it was low 70s and windy. The digging was a bit easier and we listened to the hill supervisor's phone music. We had everything from Weird Al to B.o.B. to Snoop dog to Green Day.... yet another eclectic mix...

It has now been rainy and 50s for 3 straight days. 

We did a run-through of a museum tour this week, which is to be an hour long. The museum here is very impressive for such a small town. Its got tons of specimens, meaning we have to memorize tons of information! I've been trying to study my packet and used today to go to the museum and cram everything from the Precambrian to the Cretaceous. I thought school was over after graduation...I was wrong. Nonetheless, I'm glad to be learning new things and using it as a refresher course. After all, this is the stuff I love.

I also was introduced to some new things in the prep lab. I worked on Diplodocus ribs while using a simple dental pick and toothbrush. I worked on a Diplodocus coracoid that requires moving A LOT of matrix and the use of airbrush tools (it's still in the jacket it was brought down from the hill in). Last, I sandblasted Diplodocus vertebrae. It's kind of nervewrecking when you're a newbie. You don't want to ruin anything or chip away the bone. 

This first entry is slightly boring to many of you. I apologize. Anyway, here are some pics and highlights. 

Three main dinos are found in our quarries: Allosaurus, Diplodocus, & Camarasaur. Above is the Allosaurus, in my opinion the coolest. Because he's a carnosaurus and ruthless.

This is where I get work. The view is spectacular.

One of the quarries "BS" (Beside Sauropod) that we had to clean up before the dig for a days. 

Okay, one last thing. Did anyone know that the velociraptors in Jurassic Park are not supposed to be that big? They are much smaller and have feathers. They are actually modeled after Deinonychus, but velociraptor just seemed like a more terrifying name to use. Kind of a bummer for me. Also, T-Rex's vision may not be based on movement. If you don't move, he'll still eat you.......