Back on the Blog

My last blog post was, I believe, in October last year. Several things have kept me away. First, I’ve been very busy. I started a big project at work in August which left me tired and mentally full for months (but I can now successfully spell Geophysics!!).  Second, I had several away from work projects that took up quite a bit of time, including a new hobby I’ll touch on below. Third, I didn’t seem to leave a vacuum for anyone. I’ve had many people tell me they enjoy my posts, but since nobody ever inquired, I surmised they didn’t miss me much.  So I took a pretty long break.

It’s not that I didn’t have anything to say – I always think of topics, big and small, with things to write about them. But not knowing if there was any audience for them, I was too brain tired to make the effort.  I finished my big project week before last – a 4 weeks plus 2 days instructor led course in 3D seismic processing. The course is being taught now to a graduate level audience. That’s what I’ve been working to ingest, process, understand, and re-present for the past 8 months. Daunting, but I’m pleased with the result.

So now, I seem to have my brain back for my own purposes! I’ve got a small project at work, but it doesn’t tax me like learning a whole new field. So here I am, back to share more random thoughts with anyone willing to read them for a few minutes.  I’ll write this for myself when I feel like it, and for a small group of folks I know will enjoy it.  I will start with the weather.

I am still in Saudi Arabia, of course, and spring has run its course. I know that because, even though a cold front came through last night, day before yesterday it was 105 degrees F. Yep, that bubble’s been burst. I don’t mind – I rather enjoy the heat and it doesn’t impede what I do.  But the dust does.

Two weeks ago I was giving a talk to a club here, on April 1^st, of course, and halfway through we heard a giant noise kicking around outside. Some folks looked out the window to see (hopefully!) if it was raining, but they reported it was just the wind, so we continued.  When we finished and opened the outside door, the world was white, devoured by dust.  

A wall of dust had come through, totally unexpected, and caught us all unawares in zero visibility conditions.  I abandoned my motorbike and a friend gave me a long, slow ride as branches and debris flew by us we crept along in the whiteout conditions. Ironically, I’d just told this group about landing a C-130 in ice fog that looked just about the same.

The next day was still dusty with slightly better but still near zero vis. Even the Arabs were standing at the window looking out saying they’d never seen anything like it. Everything was coated in the talc-like dust, and you could taste it in every breath. The inside floors were covered in dust, and even the asphalt roads were red with it. 

The following day I went out for a walk and started into the grass, and the each step I took sent up a puff of dust. I cut through the row of shrubs and came through the other side covered in dust. Sadly, it may not rain here until October or November, and all the plants, trees, flowers are loaded. I’m sure lots of the thick, loose stuff will come off in the wind, but there will be a coating until the next rain. This is the world of brown.

Next time, some changes since October, including my new hobby! Here's a hint: