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By Jay, on January 2nd, 2012
Hey y’all Happy New Year! I’ve been remiss in my writing and photographs due to the holidays. I hope y’all had a really great end of year times. Don’t forget to write “2012 ” on your checks. It usually takes me about 2 months to remember myself.
I have some videos of some geologic stuff; however, after a recent trip to New York State I found myself with some sort of sinus and throat thing. So, I have no voice and don’t really want to talk to you like Marlon Brando, capicé?
In the meantime, if you’re in need of any graphic and/or logo design, please check out Carly McElroy’s page HERE. Miss McElroy is available to help you out with just about any project despite having a wee little bit of university left. She will design customized corporate, organizational, team, and small business logos, so give her a shout:
http://www.carlymcelroy.com/
Happy New Year to all!
By Jay, on December 4th, 2011
Check out this web page for the Online Geoengineering Library powered by Geoengineer.org. I haven’t given it a rigorous test yet since geologic engineering and geotechnical are not my primary fields, but it looks pretty nifty:
Online Geoengineering Library
By Jay, on November 29th, 2011
Well, I say quick, but not entirely. It took me 3 hours to hike up to this location. Then I saw this scene. I thought it looked pretty cool but knew it was going to be difficult to develop unless I went black & white.
The location shall remain unnamed for now. I’ll give you a hint though: I’ve been here before and posted some other photos from this place. It’s a long story that I hope to have cleared up in due time.
Enjoy this Day After Thanksgiving photograph:
 The day after Thanksgiving - I think WordPress nerfed the image quality a little - photo by J. Sents, 2011
By Jay, on November 5th, 2011
Sunday November 6th, 2011 at 0200 hours [that's 2:00 a.m. to most], your clocks will have to “fall back” one hour. So 2 becomes 1. It would probably work just the same to set them back one hour before you go to bed Saturday night [tonight].
Now is an excellent time to check your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, as well as other household battery-powered emergency alarm systems.
Finally, be sure to update the clocks in your automobiles. Be safe driving until you adjust to the light conditions, and enjoy sleeping in Sunday morning!
By Jay, on October 29th, 2011
I found this bumper sticker that pretty much sums-up where we are at here in the US:
 Separation Sticker The bumper sticker is for sale under $5 HERE.
By Jay, on October 8th, 2011
The predecessor post to this one below lays out the story of the mystery fragment of copper I found at Kure Beach, North Carolina near Fort Fisher. So I gathered up some photographs and sent them along to the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. Here is the reply verbatim:
It looks to me like an expansion ring from a 40mm Bofors machine gun/cannon projectile. The projectile was steel but the copper expansion ring was designed to catch the rifling in the barrel and often broke away when fired. The grooves that are visible in the “lighted relief” photo look like rifling marks. In the attached photo you can see one that remained on the projectile after firing–this one was found on Kure Beach also.
 Kure Beach 40mm Bofors Round - photo by UAB of NC Office of State Archaeology, 2011 Anyway, that’s my best guess. We see dozens of those things every summer when people are out beachcombing. Kure Beach was an artillery training camp during WWII, focusing on anti-aircraft weapons practice. Evidence of this activity is all over the beach, primarily the result of beach renourishment where a dredge boat removes sediments from offshore (where the bullets land) and pumps them on the beach.
Pretty cool, huh? Not a centuries-old fragment of sunken pirate treasure, but some history nonetheless. Case closed as far I’m concerned. Well move on to the dredging and some of the coastal erosion aspects of Kure Beach in another post.
By Jay, on October 2nd, 2011
Earlier in the Summer on a trip to Kure Beach, North Carolina, I just happened to find a small piece of copper in the Coquina Rocks. In a nutshell, the Coquina Rocks are essentially a partially submerged outcrop of sedimentary rocks found near the southern end of Kure Beach near the Fort Fisher Recreational Area. More on Coquina Rocks later…
I was walking along, carefully maneuvering through the Coquina Rocks during during Maximum Ebb Tide this one day. Many people apparently scout the micro-lagoons formed in the cracks and crevasses of the rocks during Low Tide looking for sharks teeth. I really don’t care for sharks, let alone their teeth but these people do. I looked down and saw a gold-red glint with a hint of bright green. Below are some photographs of what I found:
The rule is for scale. It is a standard engineer rule with 1/10th-inch graduations. What is the green stuff? Well that would be considered a marine concretion. First, the environment here is [or has been] oxygenated enough that copper and copper alloys would corrode and oxidize. Chemically unweathered copper is a golden, reddish-brown in most cases. An oxidized copper surface is usually black before becoming green in the presence of saline seawater. Ancient copper artifacts and older statues made of copper tend to take on a greenish hue once oxidation of the copper has progressed, for example.
Closer inspection of this weathered, oxidized copper fragment reveals something more: detritus. Detritus is small grains of sand or clay mud clasts. Detritus is by most definitions, small particles or debris that have been broken away from a solid mass or other substrate. Visual observation and logic show that detritus has been incorporated in the crusty, green, oxidized coating on the outside of the copper surface:
 The marine corrosion that oxidizes the copper forms a chemical crust that acts as a hardened glue, or cement. Loose grains of sand are trapped and incorporated in the cement. All of this is bonded to the surface of the copper in this case. That’s what makes it all a marine concretion.
Now here’s the super-cool part. Upon closer inspection than before, and under the correct lighting, there is an even more intriguing observation. There are straight, parallel, and equally-spaced lines or marks in the surface of this little fragment. I’ve used a technique to side-lighting often used in aerial photography [they take the photos in the morning or at sunset] to accentuate the relief across one face of this fragment.
Stay tuned for sure! I have some people from the North Carolina Office of State Archeology looking into this because these markings on the copper fragment definitely show some Human intervention. Could it be a piece of historic American Civil War ammunition from Fort Fisher? A little bit of metal banding from a shipwreck like that of Queen Anne’s Revenge? Something from a pirate? Arrrg!!
By Jay, on September 4th, 2011
From The Greystone Project
The public commentary period for the proposed regulations at Cape Hatteras closes tomorrow. If passed and enforced, we enter a dangerous era of being denied access to the public lands we pay for with our tax dollars. A way of life for generations could be lost. The Land of the Free then becomes “you can go when we say so.”
Please express your concern:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=NPS-2011-0005-0001
Yes they made the text of the proposed rule so long it will put you to sleep. No doubt to discourage you from reading it. Please read it and understand the negative implications that will be realized if this rule goes into effect.
The Hatteras Issue
Read This… Twice
Letter to National Park Service Regarding Hatteras
SH!!
By Jay, on September 4th, 2011
‘More stars in the north are seen not to set, while in the south certain stars are no longer seen to rise.‘ — Nicolaus Copernicus
By Jay, on August 28th, 2011
So on Saturday I had to run out and I thought I’d get a boots on the ground status report of Irene as she moved up to the North Carolina/Virginia state line toward Virginia Beach.
Without going into all the gory details, I had an accident where my automobile hydroplaned and was effectively destroyed when I collided into the center guard rail. It was one of those post and cable guard rails, so the body damage is pretty extreme. I’m fine.
After wrapping it up with the Highway Patrol, insurance company, and towing service, I found myself stranded. Unfortunately, I stood isolated just far enough from home to walk, and just inside the region of massive power outages, gasoline shortages, and zero hotel vacancies. It felt like I was 5,000 miles from home.
Progress Energy – North Carolina Outage Map Interface
Kindness came from the dark of night. These two nice people bartered with me for a ride home for some gas. They didn’t have to do that but they did. Thank you very, very much.
After speaking with Vince on the challenging journey home, I discovered that he was a Home Remodeling and Repair contractor, with an emphasis on Roofing & Siding. So if you need any Hurricane Irene repair work done, give Vince a call:
Certified Carolina Home Improvement & Leak Specialist
- Roofing & Leak Repair
- Gutter Cleaning and Service
- Decks and Small Additions
- Vinyl Siding Installation & Replacement
- Windows and Frames
- Other Remodeling & Contracting
Office: 252-459-3771
24-Hour: 252-907-1372
Vince doesn’t have a web site but you can contact him at those numbers since he’s usually on-site at a job and not in front of the computer. The services are provided anywhere from central to eastern North Carolina. Use Rocky Mount as a central point [even though the area code looks like Edgecombe County]. Active and Former Military get a 5% discount, and Seniors get a 10% discount.
Very nice people, extremely kind, and of great character. I don’t imagine Vince cutting corners on a job for an easy buck. The sort of guy I would want to fix the roof over my head. Give him a call for an estimate before he gets too busy, and the next storm already on-deck makes it’s way across the Atlantic Ocean…
There were many other act of kindness that I’ll square up with separately. Thanks again you two. Appreciate it.
Jay
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Cape Hatteras Public Commentary Period Ends 09-05-2011
From The Greystone Project
Yes they made the text of the proposed rule so long it will put you to sleep. No doubt to discourage you from reading it. Please read it and understand the negative implications that will be realized if this rule goes into effect.
The Hatteras Issue
Read This… Twice
Letter to National Park Service Regarding Hatteras
SH!!