Today started like most other days in the field.
Loaded up the truck.
Set off to the field.
Get to the field.
Unpack truck.
Set out transect.
Set up total station.
Begin survey.
But then everything took a turn.
A wild turn.
Actually, multiple wild turns.
The first treat in store was what appears to be the house of Lars and Beru from star-wars.
:3
Luckily today I packed my storm-trooper. as one does for the field.
And we did a large-scale renenactment of the return to the house scene and the sandcrawler scene.
It was pretty majestic.
Everywhere.
I had said goodbye to ducky #1 today on the total station and was incharge of teaching Karl (our honorary kiwi from america).
Bad day to learn the ins and outs of survey :P
Hurridley I attempt to teach him set up. levelling. job-structure. file systems. protocols. etc etc etc.
In the end Simon is harrassing and we must make haste.
Like Shadowfax.
So I take the reins and start shooting in the flakes, cores, tools, MNFs, ostrich egg shells, bone and pottery that littered the surface.
So we start shooting in on one quadrant. And quickly realise just how big the job is that lays ahead.
4 hours into survey and we have hardly made a dent.
At all.
It was quite distressing.
You look to the horizon and all you see is thousands of flagged nails.
You look behind you and see that you have covered only afew meters.
Before today I have not felt despair like I did at 2pm this afternoon.
However our distress turned to joy as we discovered a perfect epipaleolithic arrowhead (see below)
It was amazingly well crafted and just all around quite delightful.
Enough to give one abit of a spring in their step as you look in horror at the pure amount of artifacts left to be shot in.
After lunch break it was back to the transect.
The nailing crew had laid out literally thousands of nails and me and Karl shared and OH FUCK moment when we realised we had 2 hours to close of field and we had an impossible number to shoot in.
Karl rose to the challenge, gazzeling around the field, running between artifacts to shoot them in within record time.
40 minutes after supposed close time and we are still going.
All of a sudden a wild no-battery sign appears.
Tears of horror.
Simon is staring at us and giving us the hurry up.
GLADOS does not want to play.
Shit.
Change battery.
SPRINT TO BACKSIGHT.
FIND A WILD HILL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT.
TRIP OVER IT.
CRITICAL HIT.
KO.
Knee. Not. Good.
Simon still looks on.
Pull self off the ground.
Hop-limp-run back to the artifact area.
Shoot in the last of the artifacts.
Hop-limp-run back to the total station.
Pack down.
As we pack down 2 F16's fly over.
Not even concerned.
This is normal for egypt.
They make a second pass.
We pack down a little faster.
Quite alot faster.
GTFO out of there.
Now is probably a good time to note that the hillside we are working behind has two big gun emplacements and two mysteriously abrham tank shaped holes in the hillside for doing millitary manouvers.
Make haste shadowfax.
Make haste.
We soon finish up.
Only an hour late.
Goddam paleolithic people with their goddam artifacts in the goddam dessert.
Loaded up the truck.
Set off to the field.
Get to the field.
Unpack truck.
Set out transect.
Set up total station.
Begin survey.
But then everything took a turn.
A wild turn.
Actually, multiple wild turns.
The first treat in store was what appears to be the house of Lars and Beru from star-wars.
:3
Luckily today I packed my storm-trooper. as one does for the field.
And we did a large-scale renenactment of the return to the house scene and the sandcrawler scene.
It was pretty majestic.
These blast marks. Too accurate for sand-people.
Close-up of the Skywalker household... tomorrow I hope to get a picture at sunrise with the two suns in the background. Luke posed dramatically on the small hill.
But then the fun had to end :(
and it was into serious mode...
And onto the thousands and thousands of artifacts.
Epi-paliolithic artifacts.Everywhere.
I had said goodbye to ducky #1 today on the total station and was incharge of teaching Karl (our honorary kiwi from america).
Bad day to learn the ins and outs of survey :P
Hurridley I attempt to teach him set up. levelling. job-structure. file systems. protocols. etc etc etc.
In the end Simon is harrassing and we must make haste.
Like Shadowfax.
So I take the reins and start shooting in the flakes, cores, tools, MNFs, ostrich egg shells, bone and pottery that littered the surface.
So we start shooting in on one quadrant. And quickly realise just how big the job is that lays ahead.
4 hours into survey and we have hardly made a dent.
At all.
It was quite distressing.
You look to the horizon and all you see is thousands of flagged nails.
You look behind you and see that you have covered only afew meters.
Before today I have not felt despair like I did at 2pm this afternoon.
The horror. THE HORROR.
However our distress turned to joy as we discovered a perfect epipaleolithic arrowhead (see below)
It was amazingly well crafted and just all around quite delightful.
Enough to give one abit of a spring in their step as you look in horror at the pure amount of artifacts left to be shot in.
:3 so pwetty!
After lunch break it was back to the transect.
The nailing crew had laid out literally thousands of nails and me and Karl shared and OH FUCK moment when we realised we had 2 hours to close of field and we had an impossible number to shoot in.
Karl rose to the challenge, gazzeling around the field, running between artifacts to shoot them in within record time.
40 minutes after supposed close time and we are still going.
All of a sudden a wild no-battery sign appears.
Tears of horror.
Simon is staring at us and giving us the hurry up.
GLADOS does not want to play.
Shit.
Change battery.
SPRINT TO BACKSIGHT.
FIND A WILD HILL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT.
TRIP OVER IT.
CRITICAL HIT.
KO.
Knee. Not. Good.
Simon still looks on.
Pull self off the ground.
Hop-limp-run back to the artifact area.
Shoot in the last of the artifacts.
Hop-limp-run back to the total station.
Pack down.
As we pack down 2 F16's fly over.
Not even concerned.
This is normal for egypt.
They make a second pass.
We pack down a little faster.
Quite alot faster.
GTFO out of there.
Now is probably a good time to note that the hillside we are working behind has two big gun emplacements and two mysteriously abrham tank shaped holes in the hillside for doing millitary manouvers.
Make haste shadowfax.
Make haste.
We soon finish up.
Only an hour late.
Goddam paleolithic people with their goddam artifacts in the goddam dessert.
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