[16 Mar 2020> Posted episode 8 ("Eagle Threads the Needle"... starting to get into our brother's drug diaries from 1995) of Textiloma + now Back to archiving our one journels from 1996, picking up from this post from April–May way up in Northern Canada into the Artic Circle + the day we went back we went to Florida w/ Zo, still torn between love + being a carefree vagabond...]

from the Arctic circle to the southern most U.S. point

May 15, 1996 — Key West, Florida
Sitting on our porch in Key West typing on my lap top, feeling like a wanna be Hemingway. After lunch with Gaga in Tampa we had to get out of that ugliness. A labyrinth of ugly roads through white trash neighborhoods... eventually made it to Naples which was a step up. Zo and I got into a fight driving into town, the whole scene, she jumped out of the car and decided she was going home or something. Luckily it was a short-lived spat. Got a room and then went to have a swim while watching the sunset and it was incredible. Then we had dinner at The Dock, out on a porch, underneath the stars overlooking the harbor. Next day we drove through the Everglades. At first I wasn't impressed. I mean, it was pretty cool but no big deal. Until we went into Everglades national park. We drove all the way to Flamingo. On the way back it started to rain. Zo and I stopped at this trail that went through a mangrove swamp. The trail went along an elevated wood walkway. We were the only people on the walkway since it was raining. When we got to the edge of the bay and the mangrove swamp I lifted Zo up and sat her on the rail. [...] Just like that, nothing planned, we just did it. The rain, the mangroves, the sultry smells, overlooking the bay. The danger of the possibility of somebody coming. It was brilliant. We stopped and went on a few more hikes in the "hammocks" and the pine forests, but the best was the Ahinga Trail. We immediately saw an Alligator and got all excited. Then we saw another. Ended up there was dozens to see. Didn't have much fear of humans, they just floated around with their eyes sticking out of the water staring at us. We also saw all sorts of Egrets, Flamingoes, Spoonbills and exotic birds. Saw Cichlids, Bass, Gars and all sorts of fish. And Red bellied turtles, and even this huge turtle that had the head of a soft-shelled turtle. Pretty incredible, all amidst swampy grasslands and incredibly lush groves of plants with exotic names like gumbo limbo trees and bunyans. We drove by the sight where they were looking through the wreckage of the ValueJet flight #592. Hundreds of radar dishes beaming the news back, helicopters looking through the wreckage, crying mothers being interviewed, the whole scene was out of control. Now it's still the news special a week later, to become the weekly movie special. We made it to Key Largo and stayed at this cheesy little resort with animal statues all through the grounds. They had these paddle-boats that we could take out. Zo and I paddled into the bay and went for a swim. Came back to shore and lounged in this swinging basket watching the sunset. Today we continued along the Keys, stopping at Bahia Honda preserve to swim. Stopped earlier to get masks and fins, so we were able to do a little snorkeling. Beautiful aqua-blue water with dark clouds brewing overhead. Not much to see, got to go out to the reef for the good diving. But we just swam around in the water. Continued on to Key west. Got to Key West and checked into the Southwinds hotel. Then we walked around. Southernmost this, southernmost that. Saw Hemingways house from the outside. Didn't want to pay the $6.50 to go inside the compound. Seemed ridiculous. Nevertheless amazing to think that that's where he was when he wrote "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Farewell To Arms". Kept going across the whole island stopping at some outside cafe for a late lunch and then at Papa's house for Key Lime Pie. Watched the sunset and now I'm force-feeding Zo in bed. We're going diving tomorrow!!! Been a long time since I've seen the other side.

in the swamps

May 16, 1996 — Key West, Florida

The things people do for effect. Have to admit— that expensive, hand-rolled, cuban seed cigar tasted lousy and made me sick. But I just had to do it. Key West, mosquito net draped from our cast-iron bed canopy, just tied up Zo and made love to her, after eating raw oysters washed down with beer, while watching the sunset and listening to cheesy Jimmy Buffet cover tunes. . . Had to finish it off with a cigar, but I should just admit to myself that cigars are disgusting. For that matter, I don't really like drinking. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a writer.

We both had a shitty night sleep last night. Zo kept talking in her sleep, asking me questions, and she says I was talking in my sleep, something about getting some chocolate. We make so much love that we get sick and fatigued. We're little nymphomaniacs. I think we were both also excited about diving the next day. Woke up at three a.m. and we were both up for an hour or two. When we finally fell back asleep, I kept having this dream that I killed this guy, I was justified and it was the perfect murder. But still the cops were coming to my door and I was so nervous I knew I wouldn't be able to field their questions. I would wake up sweating, relieved beyond belief that it was just a dream. Then I would fall asleep and do it all over again.

Finally the alarm went off at seven and we got some breakfast. Made the mistake of not only having a mexican omelette filled with jalapenos and smothered with salsa, but I also had to ask for tabasco and dump a bunch of that all over it. We went to the Hyatt to meet our dive boat. The funnest part of the whole trip was the ride out. We were on the front deck, crashing over the swells and getting splashed. We opted for the wreck/reef package, first stop was Joe's tug. Disappointed to find out once we got there that it was a tug boat purposely crashed on the reef just for diving. L-A-M-E. Things were fairly hectic and disorganized. Not a great crew going for us. Jumped in and poor little Zo (with a tank as big as her strapped to her back) came in. We went under about ten feet and I was waiting for the okay signal to go further but she was having problems clearing her ears. Meanwhile, the dive master is rushing us and impatiently telling us to go down. I was trying to get Zo to come to the line as we were drifting. But she looked like she was in a lot of pain. Finally got her the rope. Her mask was pulled down over her head. The guys on the boat were telling me to put her mask on properly, so I'm trying to fix that, but I know that's superfluous. The waves are undulating, complete chaos. Then they're yelling at me to take her down the drop line, and weren't paying attention when I told them she had torn her eardrum. Finally got Zo back on the boat and the dave master jumped in to take me down. He was an idiot, flew down the line, not checking to see if I was alright, or even wait for me. It was like he was pissed off. But I wasn't going to let that ruin my time. I was already bummed enough that my little cub was still on boat.

This was my first wreck dive. Something eerie and ghostly about a sunken ship occupied by fish and gutted out. There was a sickly, green moray hanging out under the bow. Schools of fish were swinging in and out of the hull. I hadn't been diving for about six years but it didn't feel very weird. The dive master was pretty much just hanging out by the line so I didn't get to enjoy explore around and enjoy myself as much as I wanted to.

Got back up and Zo wasn't doing to well. Said she felt a warm rush of fluid whistling into to her ears when she tried to go under. Sounded all too familiar, of the time that S tore her ear drum. I couldn't lend much compassion as I was starting to feel sick myself. We moved about five minutes away and were rushed back in, no regard for proper surface intervals and all that. They were very unprofessional. They threw me in with these two guys and then decided that I should go down with this girl who was sick and needed to go down. They seemed irked that she threw up. I leaned over and was poking under a bench, losing sight of the horizon, I got a waft of vomit and that was it. I asked Mr. Dive master stud to move because I was going to throw up. There went my breakfast, it was bitter and spicy and was burning the inside of my nose. A bunch of fish came up to eat it. I wanted to hurry up and get off that boat. I jumped in and the other sick girl came in. It was only about thirty feet at most, no big deal— could've seen almost as much with mask and snorkel. The diving was pretty good, but once again I wasn't enjoying it so much with out Zo, and I had no idea who my dive buddy was or how experienced she was. She kept hovering right over me like she was very insecure. Saw the usual assortment of Caribbean sea life hovering around islands of coral, not really a reef per se. I wasn't wearing a wet suit, and even though it was eighty degrees, after a while I was shivering cold. Once we got back on the boat I just wanted to get the hell back to shore. I had enough. Scuba diving is definitely overrated. Skin diving is much better, you almost see as much and it's far less hassle. At least on reefs. Not to mention far less expensive. Oh well, you live and learn, I thought I learned that lesson in Belize. We got back to shore and ate Italian food at some outdoor cafe listening to some stoned rastaman playing steel drums. Checked into a new hotel, The Southern Cross. They got some sort of cigar-rolling operation going on in the lobby, imported Cubans to sit in the lobby and roll them. Zo wasn't feeling like going out after that so I went alone to Hemingway's house. Yep, paid the $6.50. Worth it just to be there knowing Hemingway walked those halls, shat in that toilet, wrote in that study, . . . The coolest part was the fifty-five cats that lived on the premises, all descendants of Hemingway's cats. Most were sleek and skinny and half of them had six toes. They were all lazy and just slept in nooks and crannies around the compound. They reminded me of the fish that swam in and out of the shipwreck. Actually, the two experiences kind of paralleled each other. I had diahrrea in the toilet there, regretted all those jalapeños as now they were burning my bungholio. Came home and tried to nap it off, but by that time Zo was itching to get up and get ice cream so we went to the Ben and Jerry's place, then went to the sunset pier and you know the rest, oysters, beer, a sunset, a rope, a blindfold...

seaweed mermaid

May 19, 1996 — over the Gulf of Mexico

Threaded back through the keys, stopping at Key Largo with the intention of going snorkeling on the way. We were advised against it as the waters were choppy. We continued on to Miami. Sick of driving, the scenery along freeways. Through Coconut Grove with no stops. Out to South Beach. Reminded me of L.A. No where to park, pretentious people with overabundance of pheromones. Found a trendy little hotel among the many. Pastel colors and neon. I wasn't in a good mood, sick of crowds, buildings, wasting a lot of money. Dreaming of climbing, mountains, camping out. Zo was sensitive to my emotions, driving each other into the ground. The ocean cooled us off. Beautiful tourquoise waters and white sand beaches. Guys with G-strings, over-pumped muscles. Not a family beach. Ate at some expensive, trendy, outside cafe. To see or be seen? My money being drained quickly for things I don't enjoy. Spend the rest of the night in the room. Can hear people doing coke in the room next door. The hissing and lisping of flaming gay voices. Couldn't sleep so I read in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet. Got half way through The Shipping News (by E. Annie Proulx). Left Miami and stopped at Boca Raton. Ten dollars just to go to the beach. Decent snorkeling and shell-combing. Spent the good portion of the day there like beached sea mammals. Got sun burnt. Continued on the scenic route to Orlando. Past lake Okeechobee. Dense, lush jungles. White trash retirees in mobile home communities. Bass boats in every yard. But the strands of pines . . . that strikes deepest in me. Back over the gulf, descending.

May 23, 1996 — Tucson

Got back to a hot home. Unpacked from both Florida and Canada. Did six loads of laundry. Different smells from different places on my clothes. Spent the rest of the afternoon lounging, waiting for the swamp cooler to kick in, drinking beer and watching the Bulls vs. Orlando. Home cooked meal, a first in two months. Next morning I went to work and was working on miscellaneous stuff when Paul gets this idea to send me to Mexico for the night. Norm was going to Brazil the next day and needed an NT-20 transmitter. Rather than pull one from the shelf (over $10,000) they figured I could go snag one from Tim Nordstrom down in Caborca since he was done with his. So I grabbed a toothbrush and a change of clothes, got some car insurance and a letter of permission to be driving the car (the shag truck), cashed my per diem check and left a message for Zo. Vague instructions, got to Caborca and find Tim N in the El Camino hotel. Just me and the shag truck, a 86' Toyota. It had a stereo at least so I brought some tapes. The second I got across the border into Nogales I'm in heavy hectic traffic and some big truck plows into the back of me. No big deal, didn't want to deal with holding up traffic and talking to a truck full of guys who I'm sure didn't have insurance anyway. Once I was out of Nogales it was mellow driving. Beautiful area, more lush than Arizona. Stopped at the 21 km checkpoint to get the truck legal. Not too big of deal since the new "Sonora Only" deal. No credit card deposit or bond to leave on the car. Just an hour or so of paperwork, running back and forth to different offices. Then back on the road.

When I got to Santa Ana I turned off of highway fifteen and onto highway two. New territory to me. Starting to look like Sonoran desert again as I went west. Southernmost range of the Saguaro and northern range of the Organ Pipe. Weird to see both in the same place. Found Caborca and the El Camino hotel with no problems. Scott W and Tim N saw me pull up and approached me. They had just gotten the fax and were expecting me. Evidently the transfer case went out on the old Suburban so the new plan was that Tim was coming back to Tucson with me. Ate salty enchiladas in the hotel restaurant. Tim and Scott are quite the characters. They've done dozens of jobs all over Mexico and had quite a few stories to vouch for them. Tim the deadbeat big bear veteran crew chief. Scott the wirey, "gadget man", collector of worthless items whose been doing field work for over a dozen years but refuses to be a crew chief. Guess I'll be coming back to train with Tim learning Dipole-Dipole. So this was all a prelude to the next chapter. Retired to the room and watched Boys in the Hood — Jive talk in spanish. Woke up early (5:30) so we could get the NT-20 back to Norm by 12:00. Learned a lot about office dynamics from Tim, who to talk to and who not to talk to from his point of view. (Well, obviously avoid the office whenever possible). Back to Tucson well before 12:00. Snuck out to find Zo at work. Went to lucky Chinese. Then I had to deal with the Mexican consulate to get my FM-3. Had to get letters and photos and all that. Wait in line. Not as bad as it used to be when I got my FM-9. Zo made me eggplant and pasta when I got home. After we saw "Fargo". Another brilliant Cohen brothers deal. Pretty violent for their style.

Yesterday picked up my FM-3 at the Mexican consulate. Put the wires together for the AMT testing at Lac-De-Gras. Paul trying to talk me into going back up there. These people in the office are so dumb. Making promises to clients they can't keep without stressing the shit out of the field crew. All to boost their own egos. Sending people like A.D. to South America, the super ethnocentric Gringos who don't speak any spanish— and send people like me to Canada. It's amazing they aren't bankrupt. Took Zo out to Malaysian food, a couple days away from our one year anniversary, the night before I leave again for a few weeks. Saw Mark, Brian, Sather and Gwynn. Hung out with Zo for the last night in a while. Took her to work this morning and now I have to leave for Caborca.

May 26, 1996 — Caborca, Sonora, Mexico

Not a second to write, let alone sleep. When all's said and done I look at the clock and realize if I go to sleep now I can get eight hours. Drove down with Tim and Scott, all crammed into a Chevy truck. The whole way we listened to this really lousy mexican pop music that Scott is in to. Had to deal with the aduana officials at the border. Taxed us for the transfer case. The guy was taken back when we said— "sure, can we get a receipt." I'm not sure they knew how to do this legit. Stopped in Santa Ana for tacos (I was tempted but had quesadillas).

When we got to Caborca, we checked in to the hotel and headed straight out to revive the Suburban. The drive was indicative of what's to come for the next ten days or so. Forty-five minutes on a paved road, then another forty-five on a dirt road through lots of cattle gates. A lot like the drive to Silverbell. Matter of fact the area reminds me a lot of Silverbell. The main difference is there's Organ Pipe cactus and the Saguaros have less branches. In certain area's there's These weird looking trees that I've seen before either in Baja or in the De Anza—Borrego. I can't remember the name in english but in Spanish they’re called Palo Fierro, or 'fire sticks'. Justly so because they look like Palo Verde's that are on fire. But they also resemble Boojums and have nodules all over them. Puffy trunks, red branch tips.

The Sub was sitting in a wash where it died. The transmission was wired into place and the rest of the parts were scattered about, the drive shaft, the apron, etc. . . We carried the new transfer case over and stuck it on a jack so we could jockey it into place. Tricky getting it into the transmission and have the drive shaft line up. Laying in the sand under the Sub. We got it into place somehow and it worked. Met the local rancher, Esteban. Kennecott has literally raped this guy, drilled holes all over his property and not compensated him for it. We hired him and are going to pay him from our per diem. He's got quite the dilapidated ranch, mostly mangy dogs and a hundred head of cattle eating dirt and cactus around buildings made of cardboard and scrap metal..

Worked three days already. Learned the dipole-dipole dance fairly quickly. Was reading the receiver on my own by the first spread. It's kind of complicated as far as the set up. The transmitter has nine electrodes that make for eight different dipoles. During a reading, each dipole can act on from three to six receiver dipoles. The cool thing about it is that you get all the physical labor over with early. Hauling conduit (45+ pieces of pipe and fence wire) around and pounding these into the ground. Then you water them with salt water that you have to haul around in a five gallon jug mounted on a pack frame. Then pull the wires out to each electrode, the furthest being four hundred meters out. If you're lucky you can drive to the transmitter center and eliminate having to lay out extra wire. After this you have to drag out seven more wires for the receiver, hooking these up to porcelain pots full of copper sulfide. Then you kick back and punch numbers. Eight or nine readings, each one about ten or fifteen minutes. Then you move the receiver sight to the other side of the 900 meter spread. The whole spread is 1.6 km long, 3.6 km of wire to lay. Tired, going to bed.

surveying in Caborca

May 30, 96 — Caborca

It was me and Zo's one year anniversary on the twenty-seventh. Zo called me from the hospital— she had just gotten in an accident. Rolled the Suburban going to Sells. She asked John to hold the steering wheel while she adjusted her seat belt. He pulled it to the right and she grabbed the wheel back and over compensated. Lost control going sixty-five. A car was coming right at her so she took it on to the shoulder. Flipped head over heels twice and then rolled a few more times to a stop. I can't imagine being inside something as big and violent as a tumbling Suburban.. At the exact time of the accident I was in a Suburban getting stuck in the sand. Here I am with a sickening sensation of being stranded. Searching for Saguaro ribs to place in the tire tracks. Zo suffered a concussion, bruises, cuts. I think she was freaked out more than anything. I'm just glad that she is more or less intact. She's lucky. I'm lucky.

And here I am stuck in Caborca, not there to console her. I couldn't really sleep that night. Right after that I had to fix a flat and I was all spaced out. I could only stare at the Suburban imagining my little cub inside such a big piece of metal and glass tumbling. I'm sticking the lugnuts on backwards and Tim's thinking I'm and idiot. If I did sleep I kept dreaming about getting back to Tucson, about making train connections—trying to get across a bridge but their was a hostile, an armed clown interrogating me to let me cross—or something about meteorites and how most meteors never become meteorites but disappear into thin air before they hit the ground. The last induced by Scott Williams, the meteor freak. He carries them all over his body while he works. He'll take one out. They're all wrapped up in separate pouches. Considers them information packets from outer space. "Russia 1946, such and such meteor." When he talks of meteorites I think of Zo tumbling through the atmosphere but luckily not striking the ground. Just across the border. They say we all will be in a serious accident by the age of thirty. I'm not looking forward to that day. But I thank our lucky stars that Zo is okay.

Nothing much going on here besides work. Luckily we're going to be done in two more days. I can deal with that sort of time frame, especially if I wasn't worried about getting home right away to Zo. I ran the transmitter one day. You just sit in the truck for hours at a time, just changing the switchbox. But you have to deal with the generator noise. Rather be pulling wires or running the receiver. I've been doing all the data processing and modeming all the data back to Tucson. Averaging thirteen hour days. Eating canned soups or burritos in my room. Both Scott and Tim don't talk much. I think they've worked with each other so much (over ten years) that they can pretty much guess what the other is thinking. I'm kind of intrigued by Scott's weirdness. From the stories I've heard. I was amazed by how much shit Scott carries around with him in the field, so I facetiously said— "I bet if I asked you for a, a gas mask, you could give me one." Scott just casually said sure, but I thought he was joking. We into separate trucks, Scott in the truck behind me. A few miles down the road i look in the rear view mirror and there's Scott, sitting behind the wheel with a gas mask on!

And Tim tells me stories about how you can only dish out Scott's per diem one day at a time. Even then, he's bound to run off and buy gadgets rather than nourish himself. I've seen it here. He runs off and buys a twelve pack. (Six-pac minimum a night, averages a twelve pack). Then he gets glued to the T.V. set watching something stupid. Falls asleep. Wakes up and it's too late to go eat. He has to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to get ready to leave at five a.m. (four a.m. Tucson time). That's how long it takes him to get ready. I wake up at 4:45. Tim says the worst is Nevada. Then not only is Scott gambling his per deim away, but he's also begging for cash advances on his paycheck. One day, after not eating for a week because he was saving his per diem money to gamble, working every day in the hot sun, he went into this casino. Of course he's also getting free drinks. He passes out in the middle of the casino and the ambulance came. They had to pump him full of electrolytes. Just today (he didn't eat last night and it was well above a hundred degrees) he said he was on the verge of fainting. But he said it was kind of cool, like smoking good pot. I heard he did a job in the Dominican Republic so I asked him about that (sitting in a silent car for three hours a day, I'm digging deep to strike up a conversation).
"Dominican Republic? I got stripped searched." Silence. He keeps driving. He probably wouldn't continue on unless I prodded.
"Stripped searched? Where?"
"I had thirty six hours notice to do this job so my girlfriend at the time gave me a bunch of speed. Got everything together, but shit I was wired. Then I realized when I was on the plane from Miami to the Dominican Republic that I still had two big speed pills. I was thinking I would flush them down the toilet but I was afraid I would get caught. So I ate them. When I went through customs I was freaking out. The customs officers were searching through my bags, saying 'okay gringo, where's your marijuana, where's your cocaine?' Finally they let me go and some guy is there to pick me up. But I'm all jacked up on speed and I'm paranoid as hell and convinced that this guy is a terrorist that is going to drive me into the jungle and kill me . . . Finally I get to the job site and there's a bunch of workers there for me. I realize I don't know a word of spanish except what I learned from Pancho Villa flicks, so I say— 'vamonos muchachos, viva la revolucion!!!' They all looked at me but eventually followed me."

June 2, 96 — Tucson

The last days in Caborca were long and hot. Finished a two week job in eight days. Tim went on to Agua Prieta with the Suburban, the customs people weren't open on the weekend. Scott and I took the truck and came back to Tucson. Saw cub, went to Gatsby's Pizza. Saw "Mission Impossible". Then ate Thai food. Rented "To Die For". That kind of day, with interludes of mid-day passion in the heat.. Stopped and looked at cars at the Ugly Duckling. I think it's time to trade in my van.

Need a new vehicle.

June 13, 1996 – Ely, Nevada

No time for writing. The struggle of the day is to try to get six or even seven hours of sleep.
The day before I left I went with Zo to go hiking in Sycamore canyon. Drove there in my new vehicle. Yep, bought a 90' Trooper. After intensive running around town, I narrowed in on, night blue, I dub thee Nandi. So we decided to take it for a test ride. We got sidetracked into this lake, Pena Blanca. Quite the find, not what you’d expect out of southern Arizona. We started hiking around it, but the trail wrapped around all the inlets and was long. Finally we just stripped down and carried our stuff across the lake. Wallet, car keys, everything— I had to carry above the water. Would have been up shit creek without a paddle if I dropped them. My legs were getting tired by the time I was close to the other side. Then I got into this patch of weeds that was grabbing onto my legs. I started to panic and had to kick double time. Finally made it to the opposite bank but Zo tuckered out and got her shoes and shirt wet.

We lounged on the beach enjoying the lake then pressed on. Found Sycamore canyon. By this time we’re on dirt road, so it ended up being a good test run for the Trooper. Sycamore canyon was great, but very dry. It’s supposed to be a stream year round. The rock formations lining the canyon were cool. If we had kept going it would have been six miles until we came to a barbed wire fence at the Mexican border. Sounded kind of sketchy. We drove on towards Arivaca but half way there we got a blowout. Tire was shredded to pieces. I only had this small shitty jack with nothing to crank it with. Ending up cranking it with a pair of pliers. Got it up and the tire off, but not high enough to get the spare on. Just as I was about to begin the laborious task of jacking it in steps an old couple pulled up, lent us their jack for the price of us nodding and smiling politely while they yacked our ears off.

I’m not sure what started it but we “broke up” the night before I left here. Actually it all started the night before. Things had been a little tense. I was starting to feel that all my work was in vain, that I was working my ass off and all I was doing was spending my money on Zo and at the same time she was getting on my case about me going off for long periods of time. The straw that broke the camel’s back was we got these fortune cookies and one of them said something about debts, and I probably sighed our made some comment in light of my recent debt acquisition in buying the car, paying the insurance and emptying out my checking account before I had a chance to even make a dent on my American Express and Mastercard bills I hadn’t even gotten yet from Florida. Zo said some comment like, “you don’t know anything about debt.” That pissed me off and then I started thinking about all the things I could be doing with my money if I wasn’t going out with Zo. Going away on jobs then coming back with no bills at all to pay off. All profit. In my time off I could take climbing trips or even save up to travel around the world. So when Zo says 'let’s break up' (on my account, of course), I can’t help to throw in the towel and say I agree. It’s hard to say where things stand now of course, because once I’m away from her I start to miss her more than ever. Shit, I really have to get some sleep.

the Trooper

June 18, 1996 – Ely, Nevada

I barely have time to wipe my ass. Today finally took a day off. How did I end up in Ely? Flew up to Reno with Lucas and Peter. Quite the dynamic duo of field crew. Peter is a mid-forties pent up hippie gone redneck. Very germanic, red curly mustache, wants to be the know-it-all cool guy. Lucas the wiry little punker gone space cowboy. Kind of reminds me of what I was like in high school, except now. He represents the state of affairs in the younger generation now. But Space Cowboy is definitely his theme. Cowboy hat he got in Mexico with silver wrap arounds. We all met at the airport early on a Monday, flew to Reno. Scott P and Kam picked us up. Then finally met the infamous Chet L. The classic Tennessee good ol’ boy gone stress case pot head. Actually he kind of reminds me of dad as stoner with pink and purple rimmed eyes.

Ends up Paul B told Chet I had done Tensor IP many times and had it under my belt. Chet was pretty pissed but didn’t really vent it on me. I told him I’d never done it before but would do my best and work my ass off since, of course, it’s an under-bidded production job. Spent the afternoon rounding up the necessary gear. Had to share a room with Peter. Met up with Lucas for dinner and then he took us out on Reno/Sparks. Went to some brewery and then to the Silver Legacy. I was having incredible luck on quarter poker. Trying to get rid of spare quarters but won about ten dollars. Then I started giving them off to Peter and Lucas but Lucas kept winning and I kept winning more. We had more quarters than we could carry in our hands. We really didn’t want them, so we dumped them all into slot machines. Then I played Caribbean Stud Poker, lost some, and had to win in back at black jack so I could play some more. In the end I cashed in five dollars short.

Finished packing up the next morning and getting the maps and digitized coordinates. Drove the loaded truck and Suburban pulling the generator set. Lucas had a CD player and a bunch of old punk albums. Listened to the Angry Samoans and the Dead Kennedy’s. He played me some band I can’t remember the name of that was really talented. They played noisy heavy metal and would lapse into some jazzy dissonant stuff. Very unpredictable. Stopped and ate at some random greasy diner. Stopped again in Eureka to pick up a cell phone behind the front desk of the Sundowner. Nostalgic to be back in Eureka. Was here about this time last year. Continued on to Ely.

Been working my ass off since. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. We located our area, which was a miracle in itself. Then GPS’ed in the transmitter site. Dug deep pits (reminds me of digging my own grave) and lined them with aluminum foil. Soaked them in salt water. Ran two kilometers of wire out in to different directions and hooked them up to more electrodes, making for two dipoles perpendicular to each other. Shit, tired again.

June 22, 1996 – Ely, Nevada

One of these days I’ll catch up. It almost stresses me out I’m so addicted to writing. Chronicling my life. I guess I could be inserting production reports, they are more or less a diary of work, and that’s all I’m really doing is working. So we built the transmitter and figured out how to set up the receiver and take readings. Only problem is Chet told us to start on the line furthest from the transmitter so I had incredibly high SEM’s. Didn’t know what to make of the data as I’d never seen Tensor IP data before. After communicating with the Tucson office and Chet, we decided to beef up the transmitter electrodes and pull one of them out of this wash, switch to two hundred meter a-spacing for the receiver and start near the transmitter. So with this straightened out we started reading and then the transmitter blew. Called Bob Staley and he talked me through diagnosing what was wrong and then pulling out these SCR relays and changing them. The truck was also fucking up on us, wouldn’t start and even once started would stall. So we pulled out the alternator and put a new one in. Fuck I can’t finish this, too tired.

June 26, 1996

Finally. A rainy day. Drove all the way out and set up only to get shitty data. Could see lightning strikes spiking the analogs. Then it started raining. Steve and I went back into town, but not without sending the others out to find the next transmitter site and dig pits. Came home and dropped the truck off then bought a few beers and a bag of chips and fell asleep watching a soccer game. Then took a hot bath and paid someone to do my laundry because I was too lazy.

Let me back up a bit. So the first few days were a bit hectic. The transmitter blew. We were getting shitty data so we had to beef up the transmitter and change the a-spacing. Finally we started rolling, but then we had sync problems. Sent a GDP-16 back to Tucson and got a new one. Used the 32 in the interim. But for the most part, here is an averaged day: Wake up at 5:15 a.m. Have to jump up because the telephone is across the room. Make coffee, maybe eat a bowl of cereal. Fill at least a dozen five gallon jugs of water, salt them and load them up. Go across the street and gas up trucks, quads and cans for generator. Drive the hour or hour and a half out to railroad valley. Go through the limestone canyon that I went through that one time I took a day off with Jeff and Lucas. Typical Nevada scenery. Wide flat valleys full of sagebrush surrounded by rugged mountain ranges that seem to always go north-south.

Not a bad drive, site is not too far off main road, 6. Stop to sync up GDP with XMT before giving that to transmitter guy. Steve Zimmer joined us a week or two into this, so now we have two receivers going and they need to be synced together. Steve brought along a guy named Paul C. Another one of these redneck punkers, seems to be the trend of kids these days. I guess that’s kind of like me too. So we all split up, trans-man goes off for a lonely day sitting in sub switching wires back and forth between one and two. I go off with whoever and Steve goes to another part of the grid with another quad and another guy. GPS in the point. Kind of pain to use at times, but incredible nonetheless that you can navigate to any point on this planet with these things. It tells you which way to turn, how far it is, direction, and how long it will take you after it calculates your speed. This is all ideal, but it needs to be treated with a grain of salt. Locate point, pull the GDP off the quad (lately we’ve been packing them around on our backs since the bumpy ride may be throwing them out of sync). Pound a stake in the ground and plant two copper sulfate pots (dig a hole, pour some water in and get some mud to squish the porcelain pot into to get a good contact), one for the common and one for the ground. Meanwhile the quad man is zipping off on a north bearing, trailing the wire. I watch the end and tell him when it hits me (200 meters.) He plants a pot at the end and checks with me to make sure the contact resistance ('C rez') is okay. If it’s not we have to dump more water on it, or replant it. Maybe some water for me.

Quad man comes back for the other wire, pulls that out 200 meters east until I tell him to stop with the walkie-talkie. He plants a pot. I wire everything up and change parameters in the GDP. Call the trans-man and ask him for current. He powers up and gives me the amperage. I watch data scroll by, stopping it short if the standard error of the mean is low, or if it repeats well. Sometimes this can take up to twenty minutes or more if I am not getting a good signal. When I’m done (and Steve is done if we are reading simultaneously) then I ask for transmitter two. This one goes northeast, between four foil pit electrodes at the generator and more electrodes two kilometers out, forming a huge dipole. I read this transmitter. When this is done, I disconnect, transmitter powers down, and I get the GPS back out. Navigate five hundred meters to the next site, sight the quad man in so one wire will be set, and do the whole thing over. On a good day we will do this fifteen times, quitting around 4:30, getting back to town around 6:30 p.m. Unpack everything. Dump the data from the GDP onto this lap top. Write up a production report, shred the data, get Steve’s data, then Zip it up into one field and modem the data back to Tucson. Then there’s expense reports, upkeep of gear and vehicles, keeping the field guys happy, etc. By the time all is said and done it’s nine o’clock, I order Chinese delivery, eat it, call Zo and fall asleep. It’s a crazy life. I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity to eat a good meal.

[at which point we inklooted data dumps from our field computer, what we had to send to the office each night (via shoddy 56k modems from remote places), where we also had to keep a diary of day's events so figured we'd include it in our personal diary]

Derek White, Peter S an Lucas L fly
to Reno. Straight to office where we
purchase supplies, organize equipment and
get briefed on job. Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| Tues | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White | | /2| | 7.0 | 5.0 | |12.0 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter S | | /2| | 7.0 | 3.0 | |10.0 |
+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas L | | /2| | 7.0 | 3.5 | |10.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
-----------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| TIME SUMMARY: | THIS FIELD DAY IS: | SURVEY TYPE: |
| Leave at :7:30AM | Chargeable [x ] | CR-IP (Tensor) |
| Return at :5:30PM | No Charge [ ] | |
| Total time:10.0 | Maintenance [ ] | |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY: (note mobe/demobe miles)
Met at Office in Sparks at 7:30. Took care of last minute details and packed
up the trucks. Left for Ely around 8:30, stopped in Eureka to get cell phone
from Steve Zimmer. Arrived in Ely at 4:30. Mobe milage was 328 miles. The
Suburban was having diffuculties pulling a full load, could do no more than
30 MPH up steep grade. Switched trailer over to truck. Arrived in Ely and
unloaded, purchased supplies and Lucas prepared the pots. I went over maps
and notes and began entering coordinates into the GPS.
Darge [ ] | |
| Total time:12.5 | Maintenance [ ] | |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY: Block Rx Tx
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ 951228
+--------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------+-----------+
|Date:6-12-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| wed | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White |12.5 | /2| | |3.0 |12.5 |15.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter S |12.5 | /2| | | |12.5 |12.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas L |12.5 | /2| | | |12.5 |12.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
----------------- Notes
85-103 Syncs, calibrations and systems checks!
103-4 291 1
105-6 291 2 (notch filter set on out for these readings, oops)
107 291 1 took another block because I had channel 2 (Ex) on
antenna 2 (instead of 1) and wasn't sure if
it mattered. I edited 2 to 1 on blocks 103-4.
108 End syncs (20 milliradians out of phase!)
Located and set up transmitter site 1. It took the better part of the day,
access wasn't great and the soil was rocky. Had time to get one reading in,
went to 291 since it was close to both transmitters. When I end synced at the
end of the day it was 20 milliradians out of phase. This may be because
(1) it hadn't warmed up sufficiently (2) the notch filter was set on out
instead of 60, 5 or (3) maybe all the playing around with calibrating and
system checks did something. Synced it in the evening so I could check it in
the morning, and also turned on the GDP-32 and check synced it as well to see
if it was the XMT that was faulty. Finished too late to modem data.
Derek /* SHRED v3.26: "655JUN12.FLD"
H 1 0097 1 0 CR 0529 96-06-12 16:32:01 12.4 D-D 1 2 100 9655 1 N 1 0
D 1 0103 1 0 96-06-12 16:47:33 12.3 .125 16 7.2 1 291 Ex 0 1 11.091e-3 3136.1 9.122 006O 0.04 6.44 1.94e+3 1 11.091e-3 -3132.8 11.037e-3 -3127.0 11.002e-3 -3122.4 10.977e-3 -3117.5 10.963e-3 -3112.6
D 1 0104 1 0 96-06-12 16:50:02 12.3 .125 16 7.2 1 291 Ex 0 1 11.096e-3 3135.4 9.126 006O 0.04 6.44 1.94e+3 1 11.096e-3 -3132.7 11.039e-3 -3127.3 11.011e-3 -3122.1 10.994e-3 -3117.5 10.963e-3 -3112.9
H 1 0097 2 1 CR 0529 96-06-12 16:32:01 12.4 D-D 1 2 100 9655 1 N 1 0
D 1 0103 2 1 96-06-12 16:47:33 12.3 .125 16 7.2 1 291 Ey 0 1 34.634e-3 778.9 7.121 005O 0.02 0.00 2.40e+3 1 34.634e-3 -3136.8 34.458e-3 -3140.4 34.371e-3 3138.7 34.327e-3 3134.3 34.273e-3 3130.5
D 1 0104 2 1 96-06-12 16:50:02 12.3 .125 16 7.2 1 291 Ey 0 1 34.646e-3 778.9 7.124 005O 0.02 0.00 2.40e+3 1 34.646e-3 -3136.8 34.472e-3 -3140.5 34.379e-3 3138.8 34.335e-3 3134.5 34.291e-3 3130.5
H 1 0097 3 2 CR 0529 96-06-12 16:32:01 12.4 D-D 1 2 100 9655 1 N 1 0
D 1 0105 3 2 96-06-12 16:56:50 12.3 .125 16 6.9 2 291 Ex 0 1 17.827e-3 3135.5 3.825 005O 0.04 6.58 1.83e+3 1 17.827e-3 3139.1 17.759e-3 3122.0 17.742e-3 3104.9 17.734e-3 3088.1 17.752e-3 3070.5
D 1 0106 3 2 96-06-12 16:59:49 12.3 .125 16 6.9 2 291 Ex 0 1 17.830e-3 3135.8 3.826 005O 0.04 6.58 1.83e+3 1 17.830e-3 3138.9 17.765e-3 3121.9 17.7
D 1 0107 5 4 96-06-12 17:04:58 12.3 .125 16 7.6 1 291 Ex 0 1 11.722e-3 3135.7 2.283 006O 0.04 6.31 1.90e+3 1 11.722e-3 -3132.6 11.665e-3 -3127.0 11.624e-3 -3121.9 11.606e-3 -3117.4 11.580e-3 -3112.3
H 1 0097 6 5 CR 0529 96-06-12 16:32:01 12.4 D-D 1 2 100 9655 1 N 1 0
D 1 0107 6 5 96-06-12 17:04:58 12.3 .125 16 7.6 1 291 Ey 0 1 36.613e-3 778.8 7.132 005O 0.02 -1.79 2.22e+3 1 36.613e-3 -3136.8 36.429e-3 -3140.5 36.342e-3 3138.8 36.285e-3 3134.3 36.236e-3 3130.5
White
Tx 2 gave me the same problem, except the SEM's were
more sporadic. They would stay kind of low for a while
than jump up. I tried to stop some before the SEM's
climbed. There was no possibilities for cultural
noise. The only thing
unusual was that it spanned a
deep ravine, and the pot was planted about five meters
short to keep it out of another wash.
250 243 1 The raw phase flipped signs. If I knew the meaning
253 243 2 behind this it might save me from taking an
extra block.
256 232 1 Switched lines.
259 232 2
261 233 1 Ey spans large wash, Ex follows esker-like alluvial
263 233 2 deposit.
265 End syncs.

The day started out fine, but the more we go to the west into the foothills,
the harder it is to keep our CRES and SEM's down (not to mention it's harder
getting around). We double potted, dug deep and dumped liters of water on
them, but sometimes the CRES's were so high they would say "open". Ken now
tells me I don't need to go under 20K, but cutoff at 50k. This will save a
lot of time. Will ship the GDP-16 that doesn't sync tomorrow.
Derek White
---+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White |12.0 | /2| | | 2.0 |12.0 |14.0 |
|
| TIME SUMMARY:
Block Rx Tx Notes
001-27 syncs from night before, calibrate, systems check
and morning syncs
028 187 1 very low CRES, in salty marsh. Also near ranch,
possible cultural noise? High SEM's on CH 2.
031 187 2 SEM's a little better for this transmitter
034 186 1 Problems with GPS, 186 was about 50 meters to the east
of the road instead of on the west side.
039 186 2 (Still in marshy-salt flats area.)
043 185 1 Getting out of salt flats. Higher CRES. Took low
cycles because the transmitter kept end-regging.
045 185 2
048 184 1 Rotated 90 degrees (channel one going east, channel two
going south) to avoid crossing fence and busy
road.
052 184 2 Rotated 90 degrees.
054 End syncs.
Check synced this morning and it was better (-0.4 drift). Checked it with the
GDP-32 and it had drifted the same amount.
Located first reciever site. Had a hard time trusting GPS. Couldn't locate
any bench marks to tie in. Had trouble with high SEM's, ground was very salty
and conductive, near a ranch that may have had a generator as we didn't see any
power lines, transmitter was very far away and not giving great current.
Continued to take data just so we would have something to send you. Tommorow
we will beef up electrodes and call to see if we should switch to 200 m
a-spacings. The Ford truck was having problems starting, had to jump start.
Think there might be a short in the ignition. Seemed okay at the end of the
day.

Dere Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ 951228
+--------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------+-----------+
|Date:6-15-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| Sat | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White |12.0 | /2| | |3.0 | |15.0 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter S |12.0 | /2| | |1.0 | |13.0 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas L |12.0 | /2| | |1.0 | |13.0 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
-----------------+------------------------+------------------------+
DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
From June 14:
Block Rx T Notes
061 Syncs
067 276 1
069 276 2 Transmitter blows after one block.
From June 15:
073 Syncs
080 276 1 Took a block to see if compares with day before.
081 276 2
084 277 1
086 277 2
089 278 1
091 278 2
093 279 1
095 279 2
097 280 1 10 meters from Tx 1 and 15 meters from Tx 2
099 280 2 East Rx dipole crosses Tx 2. (Was not told of this
until I was reading it and the data seemed to
coming in fine.)
101 281 1
103 281 2
106 282 1 Pot for channel 2 (east) landed near dirt road.
110 282 2
113 283 1 dirt road is 280 meters east of Rx 283.
116 283 2
118 284 1 increased current from Tx 1 to get cleaner data.
121 284 2
123 285 1 block 124 does not fit to well with 123 and 125, skip?
126 285 2
128 286 1
132 286 2 sometimes (as in block 133) the
values for the phases compare to previous or
next blocks, but differ in signs. I don't
understand why. End of line.
134 275 1 switched lines. On block 135, channel 2, the SEM's
were very low up until about the 25th cycle
and suddenly they jumped to over 50, then
gradually decreased a little. may want to
skip this block though it doesn't look to bad.
When I tried to read again it gave me 0.0 phases
for everything until I re-gained.

Despite a slight delay in the morning due to faulty electrical system in the
Ford (after changing the alternator it's still not charging) we finally had a
reasonable da
y. Until I end-synced
and discovered that I was 10 milliradians
out of phase. Humped the GDP on my back the whole day
syncs of 0.5 and 0.4 of the days before may have been a consequence of
jostling around on the back of the quad,
this was quite frustrating.
When I got back to the motel I tried syncing the GDP-16 and the XMT and you
could tweek the crystal adjust all you wanted, but the XMT dial always
remained stationary on 12. I got the GDP-32 out and it reasonably responded and
synced just fine. I will use the GDP-32 from now on. Faxed timesheets in.
|Date:6-17-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Moween S32 and S5.
139 265 2
142 254 1 new line
177 262 2 about 53 meters east of dirt road.
180 263 1 Lucas reads these last few sites.
182 263 2
185 264 1
188 264 2
190 253 1 switched lines
192 253 2
194 end syncs.
Read 13 sites. I GPS'ed the brass cap we saw (the only one we have been able
to locate), it was a 1/4 mile marker between S5 and S32. Looking at the USGS
map, this would mean we're at least five hundred meters off, regardless of
which 1/4 mile marker they're talking about. what else to do,
that's where the GPS points me, and there's not much topography to go off.
e scratching my head over this GPS.
Nevertheless the GPS coordinates (according to our Magellan) of S32 1/4 S5
are: 603616 E, 4271939 N. Other than that there was no real problems except
for numerous wire breaks and radio malfunctions.
Derek Whit
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655
|Crew Chief |Derek White |12.0 | /2| | | 1.5 | |13.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter Spurr |12.0 | /2| | | | |12.0 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas Landau |12.0 | /2| | | | DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:

Block Rx Tx Notes
271 Syncs
277 234 1
283 235 2 ch. 2 noisy
286 236 2
288 236 2
299 239 1 very high SEM's on ch. 2 (Ex), tried different gains and
fixing exposed wires. When switched channels,
noise followed over to ch. 1.
303 239 2
311 241 2
313 242 1 Between main road and dirt road. Map shows east of main.
315 242 2 East pot (Ex) was 4 meters W of fence along main road.
317 231 1 ROTATED 90 DEGREES. (Ch. goes east, ch.2 goes south)
320 231 2 New line. Lucas starts reading Rx. This site was
basically in "North Springs", east of road. Actually
it was 100 meters southwest of the corner marker for
sections 10, 11, 15 and 14. As seems to be the trend,
the GPS plants us 200-300 meters too far southeast towards duck water.
I GPS'ed this corner marker three times, got:
(607666E, 4268752N), (607651E, 4268757N) and
(607630E, 4268769). The coordinates for Rx 231 are
(607676E, 4268720N) so we are supposed to be 25m East
and 40 meters south of this corner marker, which is
close to what we were. The grid must be drawn on the
map incorrectly, are the GPS is consistently off.
lost touch with satellites
There was many fences near this site as well as
trenches, and pipes, but all the ones I saw were
plastic (PVC). Lines didn't cross fences, though Ey
runs over three springs/streams. Soil very alkalidic.
323 230 1
325 230 2
327 229 1
329 229 2
331 End syncs.

Read 12 sites. The Quad was giving us major grief. The tire had a leak, we
had to pump it up every ten minutes to keep ourselves going. Then we had to
finish prematurely because it wouldn't start. When it would start it would
stall. Lucas and I managed to get the truck out there and lift the quad in
back. Took it back to town, got some stuff to fix the tire, replaced the
spark plug, and kept messing with it until it started. ve Zimmer and Paul arrive.

White
time:12.0 | Maintenance [x ]Spent the morning beefing up the electrodes. Shortened the northeast electrode
because it was in a very large, gravelly wash. That dipole was drying up and
seemed to have poor conductivity. So NOW that dipole is 1.85 Km. I told Ken
on the phone but just to have it in writing: the GPS coordinates for this
transmitter site (the north one, transmitter "A") are 605500E, 4272000N.
Tx number 1 shoots off 2.0 KM northwest and Tx number 2 shoots off 1.85 KM from
this transmitter center (L-shaped). (ALL DATA PREVIOUS TO THIS HAD THE SAME
TRANSMITTER EXCEPT THE NORTHEAST DIPOLE (#2) WAS 2.0 KM). After communications
with both Reno and Tucson offices, it was decided I would switch to 200 meter
a-spacings and start near the reciever. Went to go read Rx 276, almost
finished it when the transmitter blew. (Will include this half of a site in
tomorrows raw file.) With the help of Bob Staley, we tried to fix it in the
field, but discovered our analog ohm meter was not working. Went back to Ely
before Radio Shack closed and purchased a new multimeter.
Bob Staley walked me
through repairing the GGT-30. (SCR relay blew.) We also purchased a new
alternator for the Ford P/U and replaced it, as the electrical system was not
re-
charging.

on R'N'R w/ Space Cowboy

Z.E.R.O.
----+-----------+-----------+
|Date:6-12-96 | |eldCharges|ZEROCha|Tot_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| wed | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| TIME SUMMARY: | THIS FIELD DAY IS: | SURVEY TYPE: |
| Leave at :6:00AM | Chargeable [x ] | CR-IP (Tensor) |
| Return at :6:30PM | No Charge [ ] | |
| Total time:12.5 | Maintenance [ ] | |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
Block Rx Tx Notes
85-103 Syncs, calibrations and systems checks!
103-4 291 1
105-6 291 2 (notch filter set on out for these readings, oops)
107 291 1 took another block because I had channel 2 (Ex) on
antenna 2 (instead of 1) and wasn't sure if
it mattered. I edited 2 to 1 on blocks 103-4.
108 End syncs (20 milliradians out of phase!)

Located and set up transmitter site 1. It took the better part of the day,
access wasn't great and the soil was rocky. Had time to get one reading in,
went to 291 since it was close to both transmitters. When I end synced at the
end of the day it was 20 milliradians out of phase. This may be because
(1) it hadn't warmed up sufficiently (2) the notch filter was set on out
instead of 60, 5 or (3) maybe all the playing around with calibrating and
system checks did something. Synced it in the evening so I could check it in
the morning, and also turned on the GDP-32 and check synced it as well to see
if it was the XMT that was faulty. too late to modem data.
Derek White

DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
Block Rx Tx Notes
068 RPIP calibrates
071 CR calibrates
073 Syncs
082 275 1 repeat of Rx 275 since we switched to GDP 32
084 port 275 2
087 274 1
090 274 2
092 273 1
094 273 2
096 272 1 Rx center five meters east of dirt road
098 272 2
100 271 1
102 271 2
104 270 1
106 270 2
108 269 1
110 269 2
112 268 1 port
114 268 2
116 267 1 Hard to get CRES lower than 20K. Had to double pot.
This was true of these last five or so.
118 267 2
120 266 1
122 266 2
Brought the GDP-32 out since the 16 wasn't syncing. Was having trouble syncing,
it was steady on -1.8 milliradians. Cell phone didn't have coverage so had to
go to nearby gas station and call Burns. RPIP calibrate and CR calibrate
ddid the trick. Read 10 sites.
+---------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project CR-IP (Tensor) in Sparks at 7:30. the trucks. Left for Ely around 8:30, stopped Eureka! to get cell s 328 miles. The
Suburban was having diffuculties pulling a full load, g coordinates into the GPS.
Derek Wh
TREND GX
|Date:6-19-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Pro Notes
070 Syncs
075 214 1
078 214 2
080 215 allocation 1
082 1 1.041 016O 0.27 7.28 17.2e+3 1 6.7173e-3 47.5 6.5661e-3 111.8 6.4348e-3 165.1 6.3176e-3 214.7 6.2039e-3 264.6
D 1 0175 32 8 96-06-23 13:05:37 12.5 .125 12 19.1 2 190 Ey 0 1 6.7164e-3 -10.7 1.041 016O 0.23 7.42 14.3e+3 1 6.7164e-3 47.2 6.5619e-3 111.7 6.4271e-3 164.9 6.3057e-3 217.5 6.1930e-3 262.9
H 1 0141 33 9 CR 0535 96-06-23 9:04:24 12.5 D-D DEREK 1 200 9655 1 N 1 0
D 1 0176 33 9 96-06-23 13:09:45 12.5 .125 16 12.6**********************************************************************************12.6 1 191 Ex 0 .125 32 12.
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ 951228
086 216 2
088 217 2 Rx 217 is 80 meters SE from USGS corner marker for
090 217 1 9, 10, 16, 15. (Supposed to be 100 meters
north). Once again, GPS puts us about 200
meters too far to the southeast.
Noticed caps marking drill holes (?)
092 218 2
094 218 1 SEM's are very high for Tx 1, Ch. 2 in this area.
097 219 1 315 DEGREE ROTATION (ch 1 goes 315 degrees, ch 2 goes
100 219 2 45 degrees). Rx just W of road. Many fences.
Phase has tendency to drop as it cycles through.
I heard a generator at the "Lockes" gas st/store
that is a likely cause of cultural noise in this area.
102 220 1 270 DEGREE ROTATION (CH 1 goes W, CH 2 goes N) due
105 220 2 to salty marsh with six inches of water. Garbage strewn
everywhere, junked cars, horse carcasses, etc.
Even still we had to clip barb-wire to sneak to this site.
People at gas station gave us name of owner of this
property so we can have access to other sites.
107 207 2 270 DEGREE ROTATION to avoid crossing road. 300 meters
109 207 1 from gas/store with generator. 100 meters W of road.
112 206 2 gravel piles, tar, etc. from road works between sites
114 206 1 Rx 207 and Rx 206.
117 205 1 100 meters W of discovery monument 569/570.
120 205 2
122 204 1
125 204 2
127 End sync.
Read 11 sites. Troubled by access near main road, many fences, etc. slowed us
down, not to mention the trend for noise on the east reciever dipole when
transmitting on Tx 1.
Derek White
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|CliFieldCharges|ZERO Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Chief | White |+-----+-----+-----+
SUMMARY:
Block Rx Tx Notes
001 Syncs (dual synced, both GDP-32 and GDP-16)
007 228 2 (Transitter numbering out of order because running
009 228 1 two recievers)
011 227 1
014 227 2
016 226 1
018 226 2
020 225 1
023 225 2
025 224 2
028 224 1
031 223 1
043 221 1
046 210 1
048 210 2
050 211 2
052 211 1
054 212 2 High Sem's
057 212 1
060 213 2
062 213 1
066 End syncs
Steve Z and Paul C join us today. Lucas read this data (the GDP-32)
with Paul Cole helping him, while I got Steve going on the GDP-16 on the
northern part of the grid. To avoid confusion, I will now call my files JUA
instead of JUN, for example today's is 655juA21.raw, while Steve will use JUB,
(655juB21.prd).
Every night I waste a lot of time and phone calls trying to modem the data.
I get through to the main menu and it scrolls by endlessly. Then maybe after
ten tries it will finally work. I would appreciate it if someone could
explain this to me!!!!

-+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
6on | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
*******************************************************************
|Date:6-23-96 | |Client FDemob|Zonge|
Block Rx Tx Notes
133 skip flagged this sync because cable was not hooked up.
134 Syncs
137 System check
141 203 1 May want to skip block 143, noticed analog meters
145 203 2 on Ch. 1 drifted as it cycled. Not compatible.
147 202 1
149 202 2
152 201 1 diplaced Rx 201 five meters north due to large wash.
154 201 2
156 200 1
158 200 2
160 199 1
162 199 2 End of line.
164 188 1 lousy SEM's on ch.2.
166 188 2
168 188 1 Took one more on Tx 1.
169 189 1
172 189 2
174 190 2
176 190 1
178 191 1 100 meters SE of Discovery monuments 261/262.
180 191 2
182 192 1 noticed analogs drifting as it cycled.
184 192 2
186 193 1
189 193 2
191 194 1
193 194 2
195 195 1 East pot 40 meters from grounded fence along route 6.
198 195 2
200 196 2 North pot 3 meters from grounded fence along route 6.
202 196 1 Noticed the phase increased as it cycled.
205 197 1 Getting within 1/2 km of gas st./store. Can hear a
generator. The ground here is has a crusty
white layer atop the soil. Didn't taste salty,
must be alkalaids.
210 End syncs.
213 Skip flagged this sync because somebody was messing with
cable as it was reading.
Completed 15 sites. Asked the man at the store about generator, they have a
20 Kilovolt generator that runs at 60 cycle. On this last reading, generator
was between us and transmitter. Had problems again with the truck in a.m.,
battery dead, stalls even while driving. Left Quad at gas station so we can
leave truck to be fixed.
Derek White
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ 951228
+--------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------+-----------+
064 Sync
068 System Check
070 198 1 Alkalidic soil, east pot under non-grnd fence.
073 198 2
075 209 1 Alkalidic swamp, very wet ground
078 209 2
080 187 1
083 187 2
085 186 1
088 186 2
090 185 1 90 meters SE of Corner marker 16, 15, 21, 22 which
093 185 2 I GPS'd: 6-06-066E, 42-67-133N.
095 184 1 90 degree rotation, Ch. 1 goes east, Ch. 2 goes south.
098 184 2 due to fence and route 6 which was 50 meters NW.
100 183 1
103 183 2
105 182 1
108 182 2
110 End syncs.
Steve Z pulled off job to go to Eureka for the day with the GDP-32, so
we had four people and one receiver. Couldn't take the truck to be fixed as
planned, instead brought extra batteries. Had to call the owner of private
land again to remind him to call residents of Black Rock store so they would
permit us to access land where sites 198, 209 and 208 reside. (Even still,
reading 208 was physically impossible: it was on top of a house, the choice of
pot sites would have been in a bison corral, a mobile home, a generator shack,
or a fish pond.) Got through the maze of fences and cattle paddocks and set up
in a swamp only to discover the base radio was dead. (When I got back I
checked fuse and it was blown) Sent Lucas off to bring Peter a radio, but then the truck wouldn't
start, even with the spare battery. Lucas walks 6 km up to Suburban (I manage
one reading just by guessing he's transmitting from analogs, he could hear us
but couldn't talk back.) They break down transmitter (meanwhile Paul and I
are ankle deep in a swamp wondering what they are doing but they won't tell
us) and Peter drives Lucas back down to store and swaps Sub battery with
trucks. Lucas takes truck back into town (without asking or even telling me).
I suspect mutiny until I finally get some current from Peter. To make a long
story short this is why we only completed 8 sites. Not to mention that it was
coming in very noisy.
Derek White

Block Rx Tx Notes
109 (accidentally took a sync block before resetting.
This may be of help figuring out our sync problem
at end of the day.)
110 Syncs
113 System Check
115 181 1 east pot 100 m N of DM's 269/270.
119 181 2
121 180 1
123 180 2
125 179 2
127 179 1
130 178 2
132 178 1 10 meters N of DM's 143/144
134 177 1
136 177 2

Finished southern part of grid. Moved to northern part of Grid.

140 353 1 100 meters N of large canyon
142 353 2
144 354 1 very high winds (50mph gusts) may be cause of
146 354 2 high SEM's
148 355 1 100 meters south of DM's 489/490
149 355 2 I left block 150 unflagged, though the raw phase on
152 355 1 Ch. 2 is way different. The sum of the previous and
this one seem to add up to Pi. The harmonics
seem unnaffected. Strange.
154 356 2
156 356 1
159 357 2 Skip Flagged 160 because it doesn't jive with others.
162 357 1 The throttle on the generator slipped inbetween blocks.
164 358 2
166 358 1
169 End syncs.

Switched back to the GDP-32. I didn't make it clear in yesterday's report,
but we were using the GDP-16 since Steve took 32 to Eureka. Were out of phase
at end of the day. So was Steve, and they were totally different values.
After having the pickup diagnosed with a short which they supposedly fixed, it
is once again dead. Will try to milk it for one more day so we can finish the
northern Tx.
Derek White
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ 951228
+--------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------+-----------+
|Date:6-21-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| Fri | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White | | 6.0/2| 1.0 | | 1.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter S | 6.0 | 3.0/2| | | | 6.0 | 7.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas L | 6.0 | 3.0/2| | | | 6.0 | 7.5 |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| TIME SUMMARY: | THIS FIELD DAY IS: | SURVEY TYPE: |
| Leave at :6:00AM | Chargeable [1/2] | CR-IP (Tensor) |
| Return at :1:30 | No Charge [ ] | |
| Total time:7.5 | Maintenance [ ] | |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+

DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
Drove out and got set up to do Rx 359. Nearby lightning strikes made data
very noisy (will include few blocks I did take in tomorrows prd rpt.) Started
raining. Went back to the truck. Sent rest of crew off to locate other
Tx site and start digging electrode pits. Steve and I went back to town to
take truck to be fixed and catch up on loose ends. Crew returns at 1:30 after
rains got worse.
Derek White
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ 951228
+--------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------+-----------+
|Date:6-28-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| Fri | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White |12.5 | /2 | 1.0 | | | |13.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter S |12.5 | /2| | | | |12.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas L |12.5 | /2| | | | |12.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| TIME SUMMARY: | THIS FIELD DAY IS: | SURVEY TYPE: |
| Leave at :6:00AM | Chargeable [x ] | CR-IP (Tensor) |
| Return at :6:30PM | No Charge [ ] | |
| Total time:12.5 | Maintenance [ ] | |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+

DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
Block Rx Tx Notes
001 Syncs
006 System Check
008 50 1 ROTATED 90 DEGREES (Ch 1 --> West, Ch 2--> South)
011 50 2 Located 100 meters from Tx2 NE line. Rx site is
about 700 meters from Tx site.
021 End syncs
023 E.O.F.
Picked up the wire from the northern Tx site and went down to the southern
Tx site. The coordinates for the southern Tx site are (602700E, 4261200N) with
a dipole (Tx1) going 2 km Northwest and Tx2 shooting off 2 km to the Northeast.
No roads near the transmitter site or electrodes, blazed our own. Finished
building pits and wiring it up and read three sites near the transmitter lines.

Block Rx Tx Notes
001 Syncs
006 System Check
007 99 1 ROTATED 270 DEGREES (ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to fence.
009 99 2 30 meters east of road, 35 meters south of 1/4 mile
012 99 2 marker for sections S33 and S34. GPS'd this 1/4 mile
marker for S33/S34: (606088E, 4263061N)
015 98 1 Very High SEM's on Rx 99, 98 and 97 for ch. 2, Tx 1.
016 98 2
018 98 2
020 97 2
023 97 1
026 96 1 SEM's drastically improve. There was an esker-like
028 96 2 hill running north-south between Rx97 and Rx96.
031 95 1
033 95 2 Tx end-reg problems. Currently dropped as day passed.
035 94 1 Electrodes watered heavily in the morning.
037 94 2
050 91 1
052 102 2 ROTATED 90 DEGREES (ch1-->W, ch2-->S)
055 102 1 Rx 102 130 meters North of D.M.'s 181/182.
(Lucas Landau read sites 102-108.)
057 103 1
070 105 2
072 106 1 Rx 106 60 meters east of D.M.'s 457/458.
075 106 2
078 107 1
081 107 2
083 108 2 Rx 108 is 35 meters north of D.M.'s 619/620.
085 108 1
088 end sync.
091 E.O.F.

Read 16 sites and move wires to Rx 109.

007 99 1 ROTATED 270 DEGREES (ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to fence.
009 99 2 30 meters east of road, 35 meters south of 1/4 mile
012 99 2 marker for sections S33 and S34. GPS'd this 1/4 mile
marker for S33/S34: (606088E, 4263061N)
015 98 1 Very High SEM's on Rx 99, 98 and 97 for ch. 2, Tx 1.
016 98 2
018 98 2
020 97 2
023 97 1
026 96 1 SEM's drastically improve. There was an esker-like
028 96 2 hill running north-south between Rx97 and Rx96.
031 95 1
033 95 2 Tx end-reg problems. Currently dropped as day passed.
035 94 1 Electrodes watered heavily in the morning.
037 94 2
050 91 1
052 102 2 ROTATED 90 DEGREES (ch1-->W, ch2-->S)
055 102 1 Rx 102 130 meters North of D.M.'s 181/182.
(Lucas Landau read sites 102-108.)
057 103 1
072 106 1 Rx 106 60 meters east of D.M.'s 457/458.
075 106 2
078 107 1
081 107 2
083 108 2 Rx 108 is 35 meters north of D.M.'s 619/620.
085 108 1
088 end sync.
091 E.O.F.

Read 16 sites and move wires to Rx 109.
DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
Block Rx Tx Notes
001 Syncs
006 System Check
008 109 1
010 109 2
013 109 1
014 110 1 ROTATED 270 DEGREES (CH 1-->South, Ch2-->West) due
015 110 2 to grounded fence. Site is between fence and road.
018 110 1 Gains were maxed out on Tx1, Ch2 so used G0 gain mode.
020 121 2 ROTATED 270 DEGREES (Ch1-->south, Ch2-->west) due
023 121 1 to grounded fence. Site between fence and road.
026 120 1
033 119 2
036 118 1 Block 037 is only 8 cycles, saved it before end-reg.
039 118 2
051 116 1
052 115 2 Rx 115 is 30 meters SE of D.M.'s 291/292.
054 115 1
056 114 2 North pot is 20 meters shy of grounded fence along
059 114 1 route 6.
062 125 1 ROTATED 90 DEGREES (Ch1-->E, Ch.2-->S) due to grounded
065 125 2 fence and traffic on route 6. Rx 125 is five meters
east of fence (displaced 10 meters east because it
landed on road. Delay due to wire breaks.
068 126 1 Very High SEM's on Tx1, Ch1.
071 126 2
073 127 1
075 127 2
077 Check syncs.
080 E.O.F.

Day plagued by communication problems. Had to relay through other group or
stand atop quad or GDP to be heard, if even then. It's only going to get
worse as we are moving away from Tx site: Need repeater! Read 13 sites.
0 Closing Sync
048 140 2 (Lucas reads from here on.)
050 139 2 Delays due to GPS malfunctions and wire breaks.
053 139 1
056 138 2 30 meters west of D.M.'s 441/442
059 138 1
062 137 1 North pot is 15 meters from grounded fence along
065 137 2 route 6.
068 149 1
069 149 2
072 149 1
074 Closing Sync
077 E.O.F.

Read 13 sites. Left early so we could take the Suburban in to be fixed (it
has a bad exhaust leak). My files (with GDP-32) for month of July will be
labeled "jla" (like 655jla01.prd), while Steve's (with GDP-16) are "jlb".
|Date:7-02-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| Tues | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White |12.5 | /2| 1.0 | | | |13.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter S |12.5 | /2|0.25 | | | |12.75|
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas L |12.5 | /2| | | | |12.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| TIME SUMMARY: | THIS FIELD DAY IS: | SURVEY TYPE: |
| Leave at :6:00AM | Chargeable [x ] | CR-IP (Tensor) |
| Return at :6:30PM | No Charge [ ] | |
| Total time:12.5 | Maintenance [ ] | |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+

DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
Block Rx Tx Notes
001 Syncs
005 System Check
007 150 1 (Lucas reads reciever until Rx 164)
008 150 2
010 150 1
012 151 1 Transmitter was shut off on last cycle of block 14!
015 151 2
017 152 1 Rx 152 is 200 meters N of D.M.'s 739/740
020 152 2
022 153 1 East pot line went under an old corral, under 2
025 153 2 grounded fences.
027 154 1 ROTATED 270 DEGREES (ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to fence.
030 154 2
033 165 1 ROTATED 270 DEGREES (ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to fence.
034 165 2 vegetated sand dunes.
037 165 1 (switched to G0 gain mode on block 038)
039 164 2
051 162 2
053 161 1 Very high SEM's for Tx1, ch1. Rx site was at NE base
056 161 2 base of large sloping hill.
059 172 1 ROTATED 90 DEGREES (ch1-->E, ch2-->S) due to fence
062 172 2 along route 6. Rx site is 25 meters SE of fence and
30 meters NW of D.M.'s 585/586. SEM's still very high
on Tx1, ch.2.
065 173 1 Slammed again on Tx1, ch1, hardly any signal. Took
070 173 2 shorter stacks because analogs were drifting off scale.
Signal on 65 and 66 looked especially terrible (ch1).
I skipped flag these. I took the CRES over and it
seemed to improve signal for 67-70.
072 174 1 Rx 174 is 15 meters SE of D.M.'s 727/728. SEM's still
075 174 2 high. Took short stacks because SEM's would start to
increase as it cylced! The raw phase on block 074 is
very different, though the harmonics compare o.k. (?)
079 175 1
083 175 2
086 Closing syncs
089 E.O.F.

Read 14 sites.
| TIME SUMMARY: | THIS FIELD DAY IS: | SURVEY TYPE: |
| Leave at :6:00AM | Chargeable [1/2] | CR-IP (Tensor) |
| Return at :1:30 | No Charge [ ] | |
| Total time:7.5 | Maintenance [ ] | |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
Drove out and got set up to do Rx 359. Nearby lightning strikes made data
very noisy (will include few blocks I did take in tomorrows prd rpt.) Started
raining. Went back to the truck. Sent rest of crew off to locate other
Tx site and start digging electrode pits. Steve and I went back to town to
take truck to be fixed and catch up on loose ends. Crew returns at 1:30 after
rains got worse.
001 Syncs
007 System Check
009 176 1 ROTATED 270 DEGREES (ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to fence.
011 176 2 Delays becuase some animal chewed up our wires and
quad had a flat.
013 187 2 (This is the repeat line! These sites done with other
015 187 1 transmitter.) Dropped current on block 017 because
it end-regged.
017 186 2
020 186 1
022 185 2
024 185 1
026-040 Got a couple of readings in on Rx 184 but they didn't
look great and then transmitter operator shut down
current in fear of lightning. Waited a while. T-cell
passed and tried to read again but was getting complete
noise, T-cells kept coming, lightning all around.
Wires are still at 185, will do this tomorrow.
041 Closing Sync
043 E.O.F.

Set up repeater in a.m. then went back down to set up. Got 4 sites completed
and fussed around a lot on site 184 trying to make sense of the IP response
of lightning. Called an early day as storm cells kept rolling through.
----------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ 951228
+--------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------+-----------+
|Date:7-04-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| thurs | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White |12.5 | /2| 1.0 | | | |13.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter S |12.5 | /2| | | | |12.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas L |12.5 | /2| | | | |12.5 |
| TIME SUMMARY: | THIS FIELD DAY IS: | SURVEY TYPE: |
| Leave at :6:00AM | Chargeable [x ] | CR-IP (Tensor) |
| Return at :6:30PM | No Charge [ ] | |
| Total time:12.5 | Maintenance [ ] | |
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+

DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
Block Rx Tx Notes
001 Syncs
007 System Check
009 184 1 Rotated 90 DEGREES (Ch1-->E, Ch2-->S)
012 184 2
015 183 1 Skip flagged this block because ch 1 was noisy and
when I rechecked CRES it was "open". CH 2 IS OK!
016 183 2
044 178 2 50 meters N of 1/4 mile marker between S17 and S18.
049 178 1 10 meters N of D.M.'s 143/144.
Ch. 2 had very high SEM's on Tx2. I took low cycles
because the SEM's would stay low and then suddenly jump.
052 177 2
055 177 1 Blocks 57-58 are questionable, signal was erratic,
tried to cut off before SEM's skyrocketed.
059 000 1 This was the added "bonus" point
G.Gg.Gg., centered equidistant
062 000 2 from 177, 178, 166 and 167. The GPS coordinates of
Rx 0 are: (602537E, 4267808N).
065 166 1 (Lucas reads GDP from here to end.)
068 166 2
071 167 1
074 167 2
077 168 2 CHANNELS GOT MIXED UP, CH 1 GOES EAST, CH 2 GOES NORTH.
080 168 1 (I edited Ex and Ey in the raw file to compensate.)
The Rx site was up on steep rocky hill, delayed because
couldn't use quad.
086 170 1 110 meters NW of D.M.'s 425/426.
089 170 2
093 170 1
095 sync check.
098 E.O.F.
Started from where we left off yesterday when lightning made us quit. Worked
on line common to both north and south transmitters. Read 14 sites, signal
was poor (reading was slow) since we were so far from Tx site.
Derek White

+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ 951228
+--------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------+-----------+
|Date:7-05-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| Fri | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White |12.5 | /2| 1.0 | | | |13.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Assistants |Peter S |12.5 | /2| | | | |12.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |Lucas L |12.5 | /2| | | | |12.5 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Block Rx Tx Notes
099 Syncs
104 System Check
106 171 1 270 DEGREE ROTATION (Ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to cliff
108 171 2 and road.
111 160 1 270 DEGREE ROTATION (ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to route 6.
113 160 2 GPS actually landed it on the road so I displaced it
about 20-30 meters west. Site is five meters from fence.
115 159 1
126 157 1 ROTATED 270 DEGREES (ch-->W, ch2-->N) due to topography.
129 157 2 Rx site is in large orange and grey "bowl".
131 156 1
133 156 2
136 155 2 Surrounded by red and purple stained, "chimey" rhyolite
139 155 1 bordering on limestone. 350 meters N of D.M.'s 153/154.
149 145 2
152 146 1 90 DEGREE ROTATION (Ch.1-->E, ch2-->S) due to outcrop
154 146 2 On south edge of hill.
157 147 1
160 147 2
163 148 1 270 DEGREE ROTATION (ch1-->W, ch2-->N)
165 148 2
(Lucas reads from here to end).
168 136 1 270 DEGREE ROTATION (ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to fence at
169 136 2 route 6. At this point transmitter started to
171 136 1 end-reg.
173 136 2
174 135 1 Took low cycles because transmitter kept end-regging.
176 135 2
179 check syncs (way out!!)
182 E.O.F.
Things went smoothly until later in afternoon when GGT-30 started to end-reg.
It's core temperature was fine, checked wires and they were fine, electrodes
weren't drying out, . . . it would spontaneously end-reg for a few seconds
then come back up with current. If we turned it off for a while we could milk
it for a few more blocks, but it would eventually start to end-reg. Called
Bob S and he thinks it might be overheating something that the core
temperature wouldn't show. It was very hot out. Hopefully it will last us
through half of tomorrow so we can finish this job!! Read 13 sites, only
to discover that we were 137 milliradians out of phase. Steve's GDP was also
out by the same amount, so must be problem with XMT.
+-------------------------------+---------------------------------+ Z.E.R.O.
|Job #9655 |Project : Flapjack |PRODUCTION
|Client:Cyprus |Location: Railroad Valley | REPORT
|Date:7-06-96 | |Client FieldCharges|ZEROCharges|Total_Hours|
| | FIELD CREW |Prod-|Wx/Stby|Other|Mobe/|Other|for for |
| Sat | (names) |uct'n|/Travel|Clien|Demob|Zonge|Client Crew|
+--------------+----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Crew Chief |Derek White |11.0 | /2| 1.5 | | 2.5 | |15.0 |
| +----------------+-----+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
+-------------------------+------------------------+------------------------+
| TIME SUMMARY: | THIS FIELD DAY IS: | SURVEY TYPE: |
| Leave at :6:00AM | Chargeable [x ] | CR-IP (Tensor) |
| Return at :7:30PM | No Charge [ ] | |
| Total time:13.5 | Maintenance [ ] | |
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DAILY ACTIVITY SUMMARY:
*** SPECIAL NOTE: I forgot to mention in yesterday's prd rpt that 148 was
rotated 270 (ch1-->S. ch2-->W) due to fence and road. Chet mentioned another,
Rx102, which I checked and IT WAS a 90 degree rotation (ch1-->W, ch2-->S) which
I negelected to mention (Lucas was reading reciever). Sorry :( ******
Block Rx Tx Notes
001 Syncs
007 check sync, XMT shut itself off as we were driving
to set up.
009 Resync
015 System check
017 XMT reset again. Third and final sync.
025 134 1 GGT-30 end-regged, lowered current to 18.0
029 134 2 End-regged again, had to lower current to 20.
032 133 1
041 122 1 200 meters N of D.M.'s 169/170
046 124 1
048 124 2 Delay caused by base radio failure.
050 113 1 270 DEGREE ROTATION (ch1-->W, ch2-->N) due to fence
052 113 2 and route 6. Rx site is 10 meters west of fence.
067 100 2
070 check sync (ok!)
073 E.O.F.
000 System Check
Looked through data from day before and it seems sync problem must have
happened after we had finished reading. This morning we went out to finish
grid. When we got set up, transmitter operator called and said XMT had shut
itself off and on (reset to 16 Hz). Drove all the way back down, synced again.
It went out again and we took it apart and fiddled with connections and fuse.
It kept resetting itself, sometimes even if no one was touching it.
THIS XMT SHOULD BE LOOKED AT! IT'S #4159. Then the VR wouldn't go on and
we had to come back to "jump start" it. Typical last day. Eventually we
finished 9 sites. Steve finished his side and jumped up to help us finish
whole grid. More delays as I tried to find a phone that worked. Cell
phone didn't have coverage, and phones were out all over railroad valley.
Finally found one at an oil refinery and Chet gave us the okay to tear down
transmitter. Back to Reno and Tucson tomorrow.
Derek White

July 11, 1996 (Leaving Flagstaff)

Shaved my head and am going to Zion with my little nugget. Stopped over in Flagstaff and stayed at the hotel Monte Vista. Cool mountain weather. Cocteau Twins marathon for background music. In the new Super Duper Trooper I dub as Nandi. Our vehicle to Zion. Outside colorful erosion, reservation land. Grays and blues and pinks and reds. Eroded mounds and mesas, spires and offshoot canyons. Water doesn’t stay behind to water plants but carves up the landscape.

Got a bit behind there. A month in Ely, Nevada. About as America as it gets. Spent fourth of July there. Worked thirteen or fourteen hours a day on average. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Covered a lot of ground, about 6 km by 17 km, over 100 square kilometers. A grid, every half a kilometer. From the alkaloid flats and sand dunes to the mineralized foothills. Wild horses and antelopes going down to the springs to drink. Would stop to end sync at the end of the day at the Black Rock station where’d we drink iced teas, pet the goat and watch the dog chase buffaloes. When I got back toTucson (driving back to Reno and then flying) a put together a composite of my production reports, in the absence of journal entries, and it works. Especially as my Mac chewed them up and did all sorts of weird stuff to them when I was translating from Word Perfect to RTF to MS word. A sort of poetry I figure. It captures the monotony of being a number crunching data monkey watching the digits scroll by on the GDP. Looking up to the same barren landscape.

Back in Tucson I had a room waiting for me. John knocked out the wall at the bottom of Zo’s landing. I turned it into the Balinese sitting room with a long writing table. Finished up paperwork for “project Flapjack” and said ‘later’. Taking at least a week off. Probably going to Brazil next! Something Norm is putting together. Nothing for sure, but most everything coming up is in South America. This road is too bumpy and there’s too much to see out the window.

July 14 – Holbrook, AZ

“Saw” Zion. Our plans of doing the entire narrows hike were foiled by logistics. We would’ve had to leave the car up at some ranch, hike down the narrows, then take a shuttle to the lodge ($3) and then arrange for another shuttle to go back to our car ($12). It seemed absurd to pay that much for such a short ride. It was getting late and the park was crowded with all sorts of European tourists and old people in huge houses on wheels. The only place to camp was in the campground. Everything in Zion is so regulated. This is where you can hike and how. No this no that. And everything cost money. $5 to get in and another $8 to camp. It’s just the idea of it all that irks me. So we payed $8 to pitch a tent in a gravelly pull-off. There was some interesting boulders across the road, so I went to do some bouldering. Then cooked some burritos.

Zo couldn’t sleep all night and I was getting increasingly annoyed and wishing I was alone or on a climbing trip or something. And I hadn’t seen her for a month. This is bad. But she complained all night about one thing or another, how she couldn’t get comfortable. Good thing we didn’t hike the narrows and camp out with wet gear in the cold hard canyon. So in the morning I threw in the towel (again, this time for real), told her that we were too different. Same stuff that’s been piling up. I work my ass off to get a week off and this is just not how I want to be spending it. The only time I really enjoy with her is when we’re doing nothing, just hanging. She said I had the quality of making people feel bad for the way they are, that I act like I'm better. I just don’t want people who have different value systems bringing me down. As far as my goals and aspirations. Not that I have them totally defined. But they involve lots of traveling and climbing and such, and not the style of traveling that we do. I could be saving up for some pretty awesome trips, I keep thinking. And then there’s writing. I really need to have time to write. I’m just not happy unless I’m doing these things, and doing these things at my time and pace.

I can’t imagine a better lover than Zo. Her beauty constantly overwhelms me and the sex is incredible. Now we’re in Holbrook and she is having bouts of diarrhea and just told me she just wants to “see” the petrified forests and then go see her parents in Phoenix. Not climb like planned. “Do I mind?” It’s obviously no fun if she doesn’t want to climb. Then she pries, “did you have fun this weekend?” I don’t know it’s just the way she makes me. I become finely tuned to her emotions, sensitive to nothing but her and bitter to everything else. I start talking baby-talk and that really annoys me but I can’t help it. Sometimes I get an outsider’s view and it makes me almost sick. It’s everything that annoys me about seeing couples, inhibiting each other’s personal goals. Those minutes on the rock, looking up, were the most pacifying moments of the weekend. More later, off to see the petrified forests.

Zion

petrified forests (northern AZ)

July 16, 1996 — Phoenix to Reno

Brazil gig still on hold. Gear clearing customs. In the meantime Chet asked for me to do a mag job in Winnemucca. If it was anything else I would say no way. But I’ve been wanting to do a mag job. Lots of hiking, working alone, no babysitting. And it’s only a week to ten days. If something happens with the Brazil gig they’ll pull me off. When I went into the office today, Ken told me that my bonus will be for over $1000. ($1000 is max). Not only that but I got a raise (for an unspecified amount) and on top of the raise (for my hard work and quick learning) I got a raise of $1200 because I speak Spanish. (!!!!!) Now I don’t feel I’m being raped as much and am actually growing to love this job.

Didn’t go to work on Monday. I unpacked Nandi, and organized my room. I finally got onto the task of fixing my hard drive on my mac. In order to do this I had to make a backup copy which required 41 diskettes. This took forever, and it kept messing up on me, and when I got through, there was no disk 38. I didn’t want to risk losing anything so I did it all over again. Zo came home. Things are weird. She’s so fucking adorable. I don’t know what to do. We watched “Heat” with Al Pacino and Robert Deniro. Zo got a half-time RA, on top of her quarter-time TA and quarter-time RA with Nhexas, so she’ll be doing much better financially. Outside the window, snow-capped Sierras. Dropping down into Reno.

July 18, 1996 — Winnemucca, Nevada

After a turbulent ride from hell landed in Reno. Zimmer picked me up at the airport and we went over to the office. Immediately Chet sprung the proposition upon me of doing some other Gradient IP job. I should have suspected this when I picked up my ticket at the airport and it was one-way. I did my best to tell him no, but he wasn’t about to take this for an answer. He invited me out for a beer with Fritz (consultant who is Reno offices biggest client). I figured his intention was to lube the cogs and poach me over to the Nevada office, but I just ordered some food and figured I would get a free meal out of it. Not that I have any qualms about Chet or the Reno office, to the contrary I have more respect for the workings in that office, it’s just that I wouldn’t be able to deal with working only in Nevada.

Early Wednesday morning I left with Kam and some other guy whose name I can’t remember. They gave me a ride to Winnemucca and picked up this guy Ray to take my empty seat. Met up with Troy in Winnemucca and we went straight out into the field. About an hour’s drive east at Valmy. Troy was freaking out over this job. Guess he had all sorts of problems before I got here. When we got to the job site, he forgot batteries and then realized he had forgotten the VLF sensor. So he haphazardly got me going on doing mag and split back to town. Mag’s pretty easy. Walk 50 feet (pacing), push a button. Walk 50 feet, push a button. You measure the magnetic field value (scalar). You leave a base station running all day long to eliminate “diurnal” effects or magnetic storms. Also at the beginning and end of the day you take a “god” reading, standing in the exact same spot with the rod in the same place. A sort of calibration.

The magnetometer (G.E.M.) itself comes in two parts. The computer you strap to your chest. The detector (a bulb filled with a hydrogen-rich fluid) you stick on the end of an eight foot aluminum rod. You have to keep the detector away from you, the computer and the ground. You must be magnetically “clean”, can’t wear watch, no loose change, pocket knives, wire brimmed hats, etc. Once you take a “god” reading, all you have to do is plug in the parameters, line# etc, and then it automatically increments it fifty feet every reading. The grid is surveyed every 1200 feet so you can check your pacing and direction. You get so used to pacing (for me fifty feet is about twenty steps, nineteen if I’m fresh or it’s flat, twenty-one if I’m sluggish and it’s uphill) that after you’re done you still mechanically count when you walk. Today we did eleven miles a piece of readings. Another two miles for walking in-between miles. Troy was impressed that I could do eleven miles on my first day.

Winnemucca is a cool town as far as Nevada towns go. There’s this underlying Basque element I’ve noticed. A few Basque restaurants, pictures of Basque people in our hotel (Pyrenees) drinking wine out of leather flasks. I’ve tried to ask people about this but the most information I could get was that they must have come to herd sheep a while back. There’s a gravity crew that we’ve befriended staying in this hotel. The head guy, Kevin, evidently has work all over the world, a lot in Southeast Asia, is desperate for people and pays $200 a day. He hasn’t asked me directly, but he’s approached Troy. Troy, being at wits ends with Zonge is considering. How could he not? In light of my recent raises and bonuses I’m content, but still, one must always be looking at the menu.

Still don’t know where things stand with Zo. She called last night and made me second-guess myself. I know I’m being an idiot. I can’t possibly love anyone as much as I love her. We were meant to be. Why am I so willing to throw it all away? I don’t much in the way of friends of family, why don’t I long for companionship. Who will I have on my death bed? Who will even notice or care? I’m sure I’m making a big mistake. It’s not something that can’t be worked out.

mag surveying

July 23, 1996 — Winnemuca

This could be the never-ending four day job. I don’t mind too much as Winnemucca’s got nice restaurants and I’m getting a lot of exercise. I feel healthy. The second day out, I was able to get twelve miles of mag read. But we haven’t had such high production. Troy is losing it, he just gave Chet his notice that he’s quitting. He’s a good guy, hard worker, he just can’t handle responsibility too well. He’s always forgetting where things are as far as roads and grids. And I guess he’s fucked up majorly with getting the goods back to Reno. He managed to lose a data file and we had to go back and repeat the lines. Of course they were the worst lines. To get there you had to drive on a bumpy jeep trail for an hour and a half. The lines were about as steep as you could get before the dirt would fall off the hillside in an avalanche. The sagebrush was thick and gnarly. The nice thing is it was where I found an arrowhead the first day there. A multi-colored one. Today I found a bunch of chip and tips, but nothing complete.

This other we are doing (so far we have worked on three separate grids) is on the edge of the First Miss, Getchell pit. A huge gaping hole in the ground. It is very steep and rocky. So much for ten miles a day. Not only is it steep but the grid is lousy. Most of the pickets, if they’re there at all are trampled over by cattle. The map is vague. And I don’t know if this is the client’s fault or as Chet told me, it was Troy’s responsibility to measure out the lines and find the starting and ending points.

I’ve been enjoying not being crew chief. Getting home and going out to eat and having a bit of time to relax, go gamble or read. Been reading Lolita by Vladamir Nabokov. I’ve been winning at Blackjack and “Let it Ride”. Troy taught me craps. I had no idea what I was doing but I kept winning. It seems everybody was winning. What a great game!

I got coerced into staying for another job in Battle Mountain. I’ll be boss on that since Troy can’t handle it anymore. Doesn’t matter to me. I kind of dig doing the production reports and wrapping up the data and sending it off. Gives the job more meaning. The Brazil job got further post-poned. The only reason I consented to doing this next job is because Chet is desperate, especially now with Troy on the skids. And it’s mag. Someone else is doing the gradient. Plus I feel disorganized with Troy in charge. He’s lost confidence and it seems this job will never end. A lot of work we’ve done is because of fuck-ups on his part.

Leslie will be having the baby, Anika, any day now. David sounded confident and in good spirits. What a trip, all these new feet in the world. Zo and I had a good talk. Feel much better about us. I need to start writing dreams down. I’ve had a few, like this one where I jumped out of this sailboat and was swimming in the ocean and watched the world’s biggest oil tanker slowly capsize in front of my eyes. Last night I walking around scattering seeds all over the ground.

July 26, 1996 — Battle Mountain

Finally finished up in Winnemucca. Troy ended up getting pulled off to leave me to this mag gig on my own. Suits me fine. He needed to go home. Not that I don’t. Battle mountain is only fifty-five miles from Winnemucca but it truly sucks. White trash heaven. Trailers everywhere, cement block buildings, tin roofs and signs. I drove out here after working eight hours early this morning. Found more crystals, arrowhead chips and malachite, garnet and quartz. One of my lines was going through this heavy vegetated creek up in this secluded valley. Suddenly I came upon this jeep and this creepy guy popped out in his boxers. Must be hiding from Johnny law.

Now I am listening to Echo and the Bunnymen, and decided they were the geniuses of mood. This room is like a dungeon, dark and gloomy. Dark oak cabinets, dark green carpet, minimal light. An escape from the bright 100+ degree weather. Met up with Scott P. He’s here with Paul and some other guy named Matt. Chet told me Scott would have Maps. He has a scribbled grid on notebook paper. And a topo map without the grid overlaid, but he thinks it’s somewhere on Bullion mountain. Extreme topography high up in the mountains. This room is soothing like ice. It reminds me of Oregon. When I see myself in the mirror with a beer in my hand I can only think of my dad. What am I doing here in the shithole of Battle Mountain? All the vehicle in the parking lots are utility 4-wheel drives. The sun is setting.

[... continues chronillogically in post #717]