Doc and I have been learning to skateboard, which has been great fun. On two cheap boards which we got from yard sales, we’ve been skating around like wobbly dorks. It has been a lot of fun, and I have quickly fallen in love with skating. Piece-by-piece, we plan to upgrade every part of our boards with nicer components. Which of course brings to mind the paradox of Theseus’ ship. Continue reading “Skating Around”
Surprise: it’s uranium!
While walking around the Mission aimlessly on June 2nd, Doc and I wandered into Carousel Consignment to browse their wares. There we found a full set of depression-era uranium dioxide glassware:
Since Doc and I don’t have much space, and don’t do much entertaining (these two points are actually related), we went in on the set with Jon, who was pleased to have something to finally test his Geiger counter on.
They’re nice and purdy, with or without a UV light, and they have become our “special occasion” glassware.
Now we just need to buy some tonic water, fill them up, and check out how the two fluorescent sources look together under UV.
Gray Whale Fossils in Marin
Near Inverness in Northern California along the Estero Trail, there is a secret little beach littered with cetacean fossils that are roughly 7 million years old. These cetaceans were the ancestors of the modern day gray whale, and this particular area used to be their breeding ground. The whole hike is only about 9 miles round trip, and there is only a minimal amount of bushwhacking necessary to get to the fossils. Continue reading “Gray Whale Fossils in Marin”