Danburkite

SVP 2011

2011-11-20T19:26:00.001-08:00

Wow, I've been lazy about blogging lately. In my defense, most of the people who read this thing also check Facebook and have otherwise regular communication with me. I also haven't been doing a whole lot of prep lately so I don't have many pictures to post. Also, school this semester has been pretty brutal and I really don't have a lot of free time. That which I do have is mostly taken up by spending time with my awesome wife and kids or helping out around the house.
Excuses aside, I recently returned from a short trip to Las Vegas where I attended the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology of which I am a member. The only way I can justify going is if I present some original research so my boss can subsidize a portion of the trip costs. This year, I presented a poster about an extinct varanid lizard, Saniwa ensidens. It is closely related to the living monitor lizards. You can read about the prep here.
Magic Canyon (where this fossil came from) is a very cool place, I'd really like to go back and spend as much time as I want cataloging the fossils and then extracting them. Maybe next year I could to some sort of stratigraphic study of it. I can dream can't I?
Anyway, here is a much reduced in size and resolution copy of my poster. I put a lot of work into this guy and I'm very proud of the work. (Right click and choose 'View Image' to see it a little bigger.)My poster was received well. I didn't get a whole lot of traffic or comments on it, but that which I did receive was positive. My poster neighbor, Massimo Delfino, was the best neighbor I could have asked for. Each time neither of us had anybody speaking with us, he would come over and talk to me. He showed me some cool geology stuff on his netbook and just made me feel so at home in that big kids science fair.
I really didn't enjoy Las Vegas. I really wish Faith could have been there to enjoy it with me. But I didn't really leave my hotel room except to attend a few portions of the conference because I had a bunch of homework that needed to be done. In 2013, the SVP annual meeting will be in Los Angeles so I think I will go and take Faith and the kids, because it's a way better place for families (Ahem, Disneyland).

Paleontologically,

Dan

Amynodon advenus, Part 4

2011-05-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

I feel kinda silly posting more photos of another Amynodon advenus but that's what I've been preparing. For some reason over the past year and half, we've found a lot of them and a lot of Sphenocoelus skulls too. Another Amynodon was found and prepared (not by me), and we've got two more Sphenocoelus skulls at the office that were recently found.
Remember an Amynodon is closely related to a rhinoceros and Sphenocoelus is a brontothere (looks like a rhino but is related more closely to a horse). Rhinos, horses, and brontotheres are all perissodactyls which is a group of hooved animals that all have an odd number of toes. The only other living members of this group are tapirs, though there are several other extinct perissodactyl groups like the freaky awesome chalicotheres.
So anyway, this Amynodon was found near this Sphenocoelus.
First day of prep
Last day, prep complete
Top
Bottom
Odd toes,

Dan

Creodont - Oxyaenodon dysodus

2011-04-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

Last year I spent quite a bit of time in the office doing prep and scheduling while my boss was away. When I finally got back out into the field, the others I was working with seemed to be finding all of the fossils on that first day. I said something like "Man! I've been in the office too long, I've forgotten how to find fossils." Less than 30 seconds later, I found this. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it is Oxyaenodon dysodus. It belongs to a group of extinct carnivorous mammals called Creodonts. Modern carnivorous mammals, Carnivorans, out-competed the Creodonts and drove them to extinction around 8 million years ago.
This is the first Creodont we've found at work (that I'm aware of) and it's in a type of rock in which we don't normally find fossils. The rock fractures very easily and is pretty hard, while the fossils are just a bit softer so that makes it challenging. This was on the surface and when I put all the pieces together it looked like swiss cheese with pieces missing in the middle. I endeavored to fill the gaps with bondo and glue with varying success. Here are photos of the jaws after prep. The pieces of the skull which were associated didn't come out looking so pretty, so I won't post them.
I normally end up preparing other people's finds, and I'm okay with that. This is one of the few fossils I've posted that I can lay claim to finding, and I'm very proud of it.

Sharp teeth,

Dan

Sphenocoelus intermedius Part 3

2011-04-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

So here I am with yet another Sphenocoelus intermedius. I didn't find this one, but I did most of the work collecting it. Also, I was not the only preparator to work on it. Jason began it, Dave continued it, and I finished it.It's missing most of the left side of the back of the skull, but it's got nearly complete nasals which break off so easily. It's also missing all the incisors, canines, and first premolars. Also, the entire top of the head is missing like it's been scalped or something.
Hyperdolichocephalically,

Dan

Amynodon advenus Parts 2 and 3

2011-04-01T09:17:00.001-07:00

Both of these skulls are examples of Amynodon advenus. Like the fossil in the previous post, I began them last summer, and finished them this winter, and only just got all my photos for them.
The first one is the third fossil we collected and I prepared from Magic Canyon. It was found by my friend L.J. but almost everyone at work helped to get it out of the field (except me).
End of Day 1Prep Finished
As you can see much of the left side is missing. This was the exposed and weathered portion. The blue in the teeth is bondo. There was a major crack running through this part of the skull, so there is some loss of bone.Here is a nice profile photo from the right side. You can see the nice big canine and overall shape of the head, though there is a little bit of crushing. This was probably a male while the one I posted on last year was probably a female judging on the canine size. The difference between males and females of the same species is called sexual dimorphism.
This second skull was found just off the edge of a well pad during construction by my friend Shaun. We had been in this area before, but for some reason nobody noticed it until Shaun. Good find Shaun!
Before Prep
After Prep
The pink line in the middle is bondo where I broke it in half when I collected it. Oops! I actually broke it a second time during prep, but as I always say, "It's not done unless you break it at least once".
This photo is a view looking at it straight on. You can see there is significant shift. The top is shifted right (left in the photo) relative to the bottom. This is a fairly common trait of many fossils and happens because of intense heat and pressure due to lithification of sediments (sediment becoming rock). Also, though you can't really see it in the photos, the front of both canines has been worn perfectly flat. This is probably due to the upper and lower canines rubbing against one another during life. I haven't seen this in any of the other Amynodons we've collected, though there is still one more that needs to be prepared.

Rhinoceriffic,

Dan

Saniwa cf. ensidens

2011-04-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

I began this project way back last July, but wasn't able to finish it until February. I just barely got all my pictures, so here is the post.
This is a pretty amazing specimen. First off, it's a 30% or so complete skeleton which is unusual. Second off, it's a species that hasn't been reported from the Uinta Formation before. It's a varanid (monitor) lizard that is most similar to Saniwa ensidens though it could be a different species. We're not sure yet.
The first photo was taken after my first day of prep, the second photo is the final one. As you can see there is quite a bit of difference. This guy has a leg, pieces of both arms, 25-30 vertebrae from all along the body, a bunch of ribs, 3 pieces of the skull (upper jaw, lower jaw, and back of the head), and a bunch of other tiny bones I wasn't able to identify.
I've submitted an abstract to a professional conference, but still haven't heard back to see if it got accepted.

Best lizards,

Dan

P.S. This is one of the other fossils from Magic Canyon.

What do termites eat? Wood or bone?

2011-03-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

These two fossils were found just a few feet from one another in the same bed of green sandstone. The first is a pretty rare item for the Uinta Formation. It's wood, the yellowish stuff.

This second one is a humerus from a large mammal (probably a Brontothere). A large portion of the proximal end (end closer to the body, left side in photos) is missing and it's not my fault. This bone shows extensive signs of insect calcium harvesting. These pits and trails were probably made by termites (dermestid beetles are another likely candidate) prior to the burial of this bone. This kind of feature (taphonomy) is actually fairly common on fossils, but it doesn't get a lot of attention because it doesn't have fangs, horns, or claws.

Sticks and stones may break my bones,

Dan

Sphenocoelus uintensis

2011-03-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

There are three North American species of Sphenocoeuls: S. uintensis, S. intermedius, and S. hyognathus. S. uintensis is the most primitive, S. hyognathus is the most advanced, and S. intermedius is in the middle. This skull is of S. uintensis. Found by my friend Garrett, it was in some very soft (poorly cemented) sandstone matrix. So I was able to finish it in three days, hence so few progress photos.

As you can see, a lot of the teeth are missing. It was a fairly old individual because the wear on the remaining molars is very extensive. Here are the sagittal (top) and right side views of the same skull. When you compare it to the two S. intermedius skulls I prepared earlier this year (1 and 2), you can see that while those ones have more teeth, this one has more of the entire skull.

Aching finger,

Dan

Turtle Jaws (Apalone? sp.)

2011-03-10T09:38:00.001-08:00

The most common fossils in the Uinta Formation are turtles. There are 14 or 15 different species some more common than others. But as far as I know, there are no known cranial (head) remains of fossil turtles in the Uinta Formation. So here it is folks, the first known cranial turtle material from the Uinta Formation. I didn't find them, I'm not sure to who that distinction goes (Shaun?), but I did get to prepare them. The pink stuff in the photos is Bond-O (autobody filler) which is a really strong support and bonder for delicate or large fossils. The occlusal (biting) surface of the jaws was weathered away and they got really thin toward the front, so I strengthened them with the Bond-O.

Sorry for the change in orientation,

Dan

Brontothere Cervical (Neck) Vertebrae

2011-03-04T09:45:00.001-08:00

I'm pretty sure this vert is from a brontothere. If you look at the posterior view (2nd photo) you can see a large burrow running from top right to bottom left. It was probably made by a beetle or something scavenging the corpse before the vert was buried.
Carbonated hydroxyapatite,

Dan

Small Rhinocerous Jaw

2011-03-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

This is a partial jaw from a small Rhinoceros. It was in very hard matrix so I only took enough off to make it small and reveal the teeth. It's missing everything forward of the last premolar. So it has p3-m3 for you anatomy types.
In this second photo you can sort of see the last molar (m3) to the left which is unerupted. So this guy was a young adult just getting his last "wisdom" tooth.No horns,

Dan

No they didn't. Yes, they did.

2011-02-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

In the November 2010 volume of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Thomas Lehman and Steven Wick published an article naming and describing a new type of fossil. They call it Chupacabrachelys complexus. They actually named it after the mythical chupacabra.
So now you must be thinking, it must be some vicious, fangy, meat-eating, terrible monster right? Wrong. Chupacabrachelys means "Chupacabra shell". It's a turtle. It's not even a vicious spiky turtle. It just has a narrow head that "resembles that of a mangy coyote believed to be responsible for chupacabra sightings in South Texas during 2008".
Also, complexus isn't the species name because it's necessarily complex either, it's after the Blue Man Group album 'The Complex' which the researchers listened to while collecting and preparing the turtle.

Watch out,

Dan

Who is Gaidal Cain?

2011-01-26T20:08:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of speculation as to who Gaidal Cain has been reborn as in the Wheel of Time Universe. I haven't seen anyone else say this, so I wanted to get it out there first. I think that Gaidal Cain was reborn as Jur and Sora Grady's son Gadren. In Towers of Midnight, Grady tells Perrin (I think it was Perrin) that his young son is ugly, but he loves him still.

Gaidal Cain is Gadren Grady,

Dan

P.S. After a little more searching, I found some people had already postulated this. Oh well. RAFO

Sphenocoelus intermedius Part 2

2011-01-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

This summer some of my co-workers found a little canyon that was surprisingly fossiliferous. (Fossiliferous means containing lots of fossils.) Each time it was revisited, more and better fossils were found. We first started calling it Fossil Canyon, but eventually we settled on Magic Canyon. This skull is the second we found and collected from Magic Canyon. It's from a species called Sphenocoelus intermedius.

The block was much larger and I don't have a photo of it before I started prep (Notice all the rubble around the block). This photo was taken when I first discovered bone (the darker gray patch in the middle left).
End of work on Day 1
Day 2

Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6 - Work complete!

We collected 2 other things from Magic Canyon, (though there are more than would merit returning). I already prepared another skull, but don't presently have all the photos of it. I'll post it when I get them. The third thing is a remarkably complete skeleton of a new lizard. I'm currently working on preparing it.

Oompa Loompa Doompa Dee-Do,

Dan

What does 63 mean?

2011-01-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

A conversation this morning.

Grace: Dad, what does 63 mean?
Dan: 63 is a number. 63 is 9 times 7.
Faith: Sometimes you have a hard time speaking in layman's terms.
Dan: How am I supposed to answer that question?
Faith: What was the question?
Dan: "What does 63 mean?"

What DOES 63 mean?,

Dan

Horses for Susie

2010-11-26T07:40:00.001-08:00

Neigh,

Dan

My Life According to Spin Doctors

2010-09-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

Instructions: Using only song names from one artist, answer these questions, without repeating songs.

Pick Your Artist. Spin Doctors

Are you a male or female? The Man

Describe yourself. Waiting for the Blow

How do you feel? Off My Line

Describe where you currently live. Someday All This Will Be Road

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Where Angels Fear to Tread

Favorite method of transportation? Freeway of the Plains

Who is your best friend? Little Miss Can't Be Wrong

Fill in the blank. You and your best friends are _Genuine_.

What's the weather like? Vampires in the Sun

What is your favorite time of day? Tonight You Could Steal Me Away

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called? Beasts in the Woods

What is life to you? Happily Ever After

What is your fear? She Used to Be Mine

What is the best advice you have to give? You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast

Thought for the Day? Tomorrow Can Pay the Rent

How I would like to die? Dodging Assassins

What is your soul's present condition? The Bigger I Laugh, the Harder I Cry

What is your motto? You've Got to Believe in Something

Gone Mad,

Dan

For Work

2010-09-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

At work, I've been working on extracting a skull (Sphenocoelus hyognathus?) in a wash for the past few days and my friend and coworker, Garrett, was exploring down the wash and he found another skull (Achaenodon uintense). In the first photo it's above and to the left of the gloves. In the second photo, you can see the teeth and basicranium (bottom and back of the head) poking out of the rock. Piggies at play,

Dan

For School

2010-09-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

I just needed a link to this photo for my first assignment in grad school.

Cleaning up spilled milk,

Dan

Dem Bones

2010-08-03T21:29:00.001-07:00

Here is a humerus a coworker began and I finished. It was found near the two skulls I prepared. I think it belongs to the Sphenocoelus intermedius but it could be something completely different.This is the humerus that besieged me. It's from a completely different area, but it belongs to an Amynodon advenus.This is an astragalus (ankle bone) which was found practically articulated to the next fossil.
These next two photos are of an atlas (first neck bone after the skull). The astragalus was jammed up right underneath it on the right side. As I prepared it, I had a hard time figuring out what the bone was because I thought the two were one.
I can't get a positive ID on these two, but I suspect that they're also from an Amynodon advenus.
I'm also in the process of preparing two skulls, one at BYU, and another in Vernal. I know the one at BYU is an Amynodon and I'm pretty sure the other one is too. One of my other coworkers prepared another Amynodon skull earlier this year so that's four. I wonder how many more we'll find before the year is out.

Rollin' with the rhinos,

Dan

Sphenocoelus intermedius

2010-07-03T13:16:00.001-07:00

I present to you the second skull of which I so recently spoke. This guy was a lot harder to remove from the matrix in the field. It was in a large boulder which had fallen off the main outcrop which we had to reduce to a size we could manually carry out to a vehicle. It's kind of hard to see in this photo from the field, but trust me, it's there.I didn't begin taking photos of the preparation until the third day. This series is from the ventral (bottom looking up) view. Day 3Day 4Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9 (Work Complete!) I left all that matrix (rock) because the only thing holding the front of the skull to the back is the right palatine-pterygoid flange (thin wall of bone in the back of the throat).
Occlusal View (Teeth Detail)
Right Lateral View
For how much of this guy was missing and how battered it looked in the field, I'm very pleased with how well preserved the rest of it is. It's missing whole front top of the skull, incisors, canines, right first and second premolars, left first premolar, both zygomatic arches and a few other small things. The whole back of the skull is complete and in really good shape and all the remaining teeth look fantastic.
There are two leading brontothere researchers, Mader and Milbachler. Mader would call this skull Sphenocoelus intermedius, but Milbachler would call it Dolichorhinus hyognathus. I tend to side with Mader's observations, but Milbachler's name sounds cooler.

Whining,

Dan

Two Things

2010-07-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

Thing 1: The other day I bought Pull-Ups for Joy. I didn't realize that, unlike regular diapers, Pull-Ups are gender specific. Unbeknownst to me, I purchased the Boy specific Pull-Ups for Joy. Good thing she doesn't care. They have Cars all over them, she actually likes them.

Thing 2: While fixing the shelves of the girls' new bunkbed, I used this tool quite a bit. Grace was 'helping' me and we had a conversation that went something like this:

Grace: "Wow! This is VERY yellow."
Me: "Yup."
Grace: "What is it?"
Me: "It's a tool called a square."
Grace: "I don't think it's a square. I think it's a triangle."

Try explaining THAT one to a three-year old.

Come on vamonos,

Dan

Amynodon advenus

2010-06-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

You may remember this photo from my last post. Jason found this skull last fall and we were finally able to collect it in May.Over the past few weeks, I've been able to prepare it. Here are the day by day photos I took of the left side (best preserved side) at the end of each day of work. Day 1Day 2Day 3
Day 4
Day 5 (Work Complete!)
This is the ventral side (looking at the palate and base of the skull) on the last day.
I'm pretty sure that this skull belonged to a creature called Amynodon advenus which is very closely related to rhinos. It's missing the right zygomatic arch (cheek bone), both nasals (nose bones), the outer bone on the right side of the face (exposed side first found in the field), the labial (outer) side of all the right cheek teeth, all the incisors except one on the left, the right canine, and the first right premolar. I think it belonged to a female because the remaining canine is quite small and males of this species had very large canines.

I'm also working on a second skull found just a few feet from this one so when I finish preparing it, I'll post photos of that.

Rocks in my hair,

Dan

Random Photos from Work

2010-06-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

A golden eagle skull we found. Interestingly enough gyr means vulture.
On old bottle filled with what I suspect is pee.
X marks the spot for intersecting joints.
Lizard Love
I'm currently preparing this skull at the BYU Museum of Paleontology. This is what it looked like in the outcrop when it was found by my friend Jason. Stay tuned for photos of the process and the finished product, I can't wait to get back to it.
At an old gilsonite mine, we found this bucket sitting on top of an old pipe. It's at a registered archaeological site with a datum and everything.

God is my Judge,

Dan

Lilies and Hearts

2010-05-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

It's spring and the Uinta Basin is green. With all the rain and snow, it's staying green for longer than normal. I haven't got a picture of it, but I've been to a few spots where the Sego Lilies are literally carpeting the ground. In all the springs I've spent in the desert, I've never noticed a Pink Sego Lily before, but this year, I've seen plenty.
Also, I found two natural heart shapes within a few minutes of each other.

Heart shaped lichen.Heart shaped cross-section of a bone in pink sandstone (another thing I've never seen in the Basin before).

Sprinkling silica gel,

Dan

Horny Toads Part 3

2010-05-23T07:42:00.001-07:00

So here is a bunch of photos of most of the horny toads (Phyrnosoma) I or someone I've been working with have found since I began working in the Uinta Basin. As you may know, horny toads are my favorite animal out there.
This is the first one I ever caught, just a baby.Didn't actually catch this one, but I thought it was the biggest one I'd ever seen.

Until I saw this guy.Thus begins the tradition of placing the horny toad on Dave's hat for a photo. Dave's head was for scale.
Another baby one...
... with Dave's head for scale.

Decent sized specimen. Dave's head for scale.
Dave's head for scale.
Another normal sized one.
Another pretty big one, but still no champ.
Another baby. Dave's hand for scale.
Ashley found a 'buy one get one free' bargain.

Sadly, I didn't get a photo of the one trying to crawl up L.J.'s pant leg. Also, I've never seen them squirt blood from their eyes. I guess I'm not enough of a threat.

Waffles in the toaster,

Dan

John Henry

2010-04-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is what is called a "Lost Time Incident". The best part was that someone spent a ton of time and money into putting up signs everywhere a power line crosses a road out there. Obviously enough, they say "Caution Overhead Power Lines".

Lower your boom,

Dan

Sandwich

2010-03-28T18:39:00.001-07:00

I made this sandwich for my lunch tomorrow.
String cheese,

Dan

This week at work

2010-03-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

I saw this in a boulder and thought it was a fossil. But it was just a flat chert pebble.This little stream was so calming, but it made me have to pee.

This was a pretty cool paleo-channel. You could see the bedforms and the u-shape. The edge of it was strangely rounded though.
I've never seen a center stake tied to the old well head before.
I'm not sure why this is so important. All the invasive species had taken over this reclaimed area.
This washed out photo is of a couple of juniper berries. The one on the right was really different, it looked more like a flower or pine cone. Interestingly enough, juniper berries aren't really berries. They're extremely modified pine cones.
It's kind of hard to see in the photo, but there is a very large burrow preserved in the sandstone above my field book. That was the only fossil we found that day. :-(
A stack of Brennan Basin Flapjacks.
Iron concretion surrounded by smaller iron concretions.
PPE is not my favorite thing to wear. But I do look pretty good in it.

Decreased liability for our clients is more important than avoiding heatstroke,

Dan

Perfect

2010-02-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

I wish I'd found this second one a year and a half ago.

He's come to save the day,

Dan

Resolutions

2010-01-02T20:53:00.001-08:00

I can't remember the last time I made any New Year's Resolutions. I'm not sure I ever have. I wasn't going to make any this year either, but I felt inspired to do so. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Lose enough weight to get down to 200lbs.
2. Publish a scientific paper.
3. 100% Home Teaching.
4. Get out of debt (besides mortgage).
5. Complete an online/independent study course.

Sounds like life to me,

Dan

Guerrilla Handbell Strikeforce

2009-12-14T12:03:00.001-08:00

I love Improv Everywhere and they've almost made me cry from laughing. But this one just made me cry from the Spirit.

Merry Christmas,

Dan

I am a Paleontologist

2009-12-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

That's who I am,

Dan

I'm Thankful

2009-11-18T21:24:00.000-08:00

Thankful for the Spirit,

Dan

The Princess is Sleeping

2009-11-06T09:31:00.001-08:00

Isn't it about time?

Dan

Just Me and My Radio

2009-10-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

Like Jack Horner,

Dan

Does God Exist?

2009-10-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Into something good,

Dan

Lo Bien Que Se Siente Tener Un Bigote

2009-09-26T07:00:00.001-07:00

Not a viking,

Dan

Random Photos from the Camera While at Work

2009-08-25T16:19:00.001-07:00

Birthday Cake Stratigraphy - The cake is capped with a bed of strawberry frosting. Above the capping bed are small outcrops of white frosting rich in modern gummy bear remains. Beneath the capping bed are alternating beds of red velvet cake and strawberry ice cream. Within the beds of strawberry ice cream are abundant gummy bear fossils.
Good looking truck - I named it The Fumigator.Fossil Turtle Skull - I finished preparing it today. It's probably Apalone. It's from the Bridger Formation of Wyoming. Fossil Turtle skulls are rare all over the world.

You're my angel,

Dan

Evolution and Religion

2009-08-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

I just read this on the Paleontological Society web page and thought it was beautiful.

"This difference between science and religion does not mean that the two fields are incompatible. Many scientists who study evolution are religious, and many religious denominations have issued statements supporting evolution. Science and religion address different questions and employ different ways of knowing."

If you want to read the complete statement go here.

Cockeyed and musclebound,

Dan

Petroglyphs

2009-07-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

This week, I got to work on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation with Tom, one of my coworkers. Tom mentioned that one of the Tribal Technicians (we're not supposed to do any work on tribal lands without one) said that there were some petroglyphs in the area. Now I've found "petroglyphs" on tribal lands before, but this is the real deal. We started surveying the proposed access road and I walked straight to the petroglyph it was awesome.Iron like a lion in Zion,

Dan

P.S. There were fossils a plenty on this survey too.

Sign Editing

2009-07-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago, I got the job I have now. On my first day, I went and surveyed a few well pads on Archee Bench. To get to Archee Bench, you have to go through Bitter Creek. The road through Bitter Creek is terrible and the big semis out in the gas field have a hard time navigating it. It's so bad that someone put up this sign.One of the big oil and gas companies is paying to have this road widened and upgraded. So I finally got another chance to go to Bitter Creek because we're surveying the area for fossil resources. Well, someone decided to "edit" the sign.Close but no cigar,

Dan

Dead Man Marker

2009-07-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

I didn't know the government mandated that you have to mark where you dump bodies in the desert.Desert dancing,

Dan

Pineapples in the Desert?

2009-06-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back, I surveyed a long pipeline and found this cactus.Since it was the biggest cactus I'd seen since I started this job, I snapped a photo and forgot about it. A few weeks later, I had to return because the pipeline was being re-routed because an endangered species of cactus was found within the corridor of disturbance. I went out with 7 other people from various companies so we could all put our heads together and find a place for this pipeline to live. Here are six of the eight of us.These are our trucks. Mine looks so dinky next to all the others.The biologist who's crew found the endangered cacti showed us what they looked like. For scale, these are about as big as a golf ball. Some of the ones they were finding were as small as marbles.Here is a little cluster of them.The name of the species is Sclerocactus wetlandicus. Why they named it wetlandicus, I have no idea, because there is nothing wet about that landicus. Anywho, I asked the biologist how big they got. He made a shape with his hands and said, "About that big." The shape was about as big as a pineapple, so I told him I'd seen a big cactus like that near the end of the pipeline. He was interested so when we got near, I showed him where it was. He got very excited and said it could be over 100 years old. He'd only ever seen one other that large. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for finding something so amazing, when on our way out of the area, he found this.Giant Sclerocactus wetlandicus #3. I guess the Lord is just trying to keep me humble. This one is a little larger than the one I found. What I still don't understand is how these trained biologists walked right past the very thing they were looking for, twice. I guess we all miss the things that are right in front of our faces sometimes.

Trying to type with two tiny girls on my lap,

Dan

Town Meeting

2009-05-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had the opportunity to attend a town meeting in Vernal with the Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes, Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Mike Pool, and Acting Director of the Forest Service Dan Wenk. Hayes was the only one who said anything. Which seems odd to me because he's had his current job for less than a week. The other two guys are career guys in their bureaus.
Anyway it was incredibly educational. The reason Hayes gave for coming was because of concern over the withdrawal of 77 leases. Concern in the last sentence is defined as "a the tri-county lawsuit against Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar for illegally revoking the leases". As a result of Salazar's action, many jobs have been lost in what was previously a growing economy in the Uintah Basin and Eastern Utah.
The meeting was a "listening session" which means that after a few opening remarks, (which the audience found insulting) citizens were invited to come up and speak to the Deputy Director via a microphone and express their views. The views were overwhelmingly against Salazar's actions and the Obama administration's policies and practices concerning the area. I heard such comments as "We don't want stimulus, we want jobs.", "Obama ran on change, I'm lucky if I have any change in my pocket.", and "These people know the land, work the land, and love the land.". However, there were dissenters from the majority. Three of which came to the microphone. They had a hard time getting their views across because of the boos and angry responses to their comments. Booing is in bad taste as is interrupting and shouting, but it goes to show that emotions were high.
One of the most popular speakers was Lincoln Brown, the local conservative talk radio host. But his comments weren't the most informative. It was the local guys who actually serve on committees and in local offices who had actual facts that got my attention.
The 77 leases weren't withdrawn because they were "rushed" or "near National Parks and Monuments". It took years for these leases to get to the point of sale. Resource Management Polices were made and approved after years of work following the 80,000 or so regulations set up by the government regarding mineral exploration. None of the leases is closer than 15 miles from any National Park or Monument and all of them are immediately adjacent to existing mineral leases actively operating and producing natural gas.
Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and meets Obama's standards for clean fuel. It is also used to heat 61% of homes in the United States. Blocking the production of natural gas hurts everyone. Some of those 80,000 regulations concern what happens to the land once the wells are dry or abandoned. The lease owners have to return the land to as close a state as possible to what it looked like before construction. Environmental impact studies must be done before any construction (that's why I even have a job!) and so forth.
Many of the comments refuted environmentalist's concern that oil and gas exploration is raping the land and destroying natural resources. The comment "The people know the land, work the land, and love the land." was given by Lincoln Brown who, in my opinion, knows the people of the Uintah Basin. The same people who work in the oil and gas fields are the ones who play in it, they're the ones who live in it, they're the ones who take care of it.
Attention was also given to the hypocritical actions of the Obama administration. President Obama speaks about development of renewable fuels, but ignores the non-renewable fuels with which our public lands are loaded. Fuels which, if developed, can bring our nation into energy independence. He bails out failing industries, then attacks others which provide just as many jobs as failing ones. He says he want to stimulate economic growth, but he appoints Salazar who kowtows to environmentalists as soon as he gets into office by blocking what drives Uintah Basin economy. Then Salazar appoints an environmentalist as his 2nd.
I'm glad I went. I learned more about why my wages and hours were cut and why many of the people I work with no longer have jobs. I felt the thrill of participating in politics and letting my voice be heard. I hope to be able to participate in more stuff like this.

Praying for change,

Dan

Horny Toads

2009-05-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

You may remember last September, I posted this photo of a small horny toad.

Then just a couple weeks ago, I posted this one of a horny toad I thought was so big.

Well, this week, I found something else. I think this is the king horny toad.

There he is on Dave's hat. He was the most docile and lethargic horny toad I'd ever seen. He only blinked when we picked him up.

I need to go pack the diaper bag,

Dan

Finally

2009-05-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Don't wake the Oomoo,

Dan

Desert Spring

2009-05-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

Spring is my favorite time of year in the desert of the Uinta Basin. Why? Because for about two weeks, it's actually green. Also, there are abundant beautiful flowers to be found. I've posted pictures of desert flowers before here, but not these kinds.That last one is actually a wild onion.

In addition to green foliage, animal life is pretty abundant. I've only ever seen 4 snakes since I started this job (I guess you can call me lucky). But three of them have been in the past two weeks. Here are two of them; a big one and a little one.Besides snakes, other squamate reptiles like the desert too. I know I've put a horny toad on here before, but this guy was big! He didn't even move when we got close. Also, this lizard had no tail and was super aggresive. As one of my co-workers and I were digging up a fossil, he wouldn't leave the area, we even saw him rush, tackle, and run off another one of his species (one with a tail).Lastly, this spidery guy and one of his friends were living under a rock filled with crocodile vertebrae that we collected. He was about an inch in diameter if you include his legs.
Just goes to show you, the desert isn't completely barren, and that I know how to find live animals in addition to fossilized ones.

Your diamond brightly burns,

Dan

Jigsaw Puzzle

2009-04-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

As I was working today, I found this.I looked around and saw more bone chunks.

Then I thought, "These look like they fit together".

They did.

They're brontothere limb bones. The upper one is a radius and the bottom one is an ulna.

I think.

Dan

Thunder Beast (Brontothere)

2009-04-25T12:04:00.001-07:00

This is what I've been mostly doing at work lately, but now the project is finished. We found a brontothere skeleton that's probably about 25% complete. I did all the prep on it and here are a few before and after pictures.

This block contained the pelvis, left ankle, and foot. The ankle was sitting right in the big hole in the middle of the pelvis. You can see parts of the right and left ilia in the upper right and the synsacrum (fused sacral vertebra) between them. In the center, triangular part the ankle bones are poking out.Articulated ankle (distal tibia, astragalus, and calcaneum) removed from the block.
Complete pelvis, well nearly complete, some of the thin bone from the ilia is missing.
This block was found next to the previous one. It was farther back in the outcrop, so the matrix (rock surrounding the bone) was really hard. It contined 1 dorsal vertebra, the rest of the left leg, and 10 ribs. The smaller blocks behind it were associated (fell off of the larger block). They contained a couple more ribs, other pieces of the ribs from the larger block, and another partial vertebra. Ribs are poking out at the top. The knee joint (tibia and femur) are visible at the bottom.
Nearly complete dorsal vertebra, only the left prezygopophesis and transverse process (sticky-outy parts) were missing.
Seven of the ribs from that block. You can tell that this guy was pretty jumbled up.

Articulated left leg. The proximal tibia and fibula are on the left, the femur is on the right. Incidentally, the proximal femur was actually in another smaller block with another vertebra smashed under it.
Of the entire skeleton, this is the only cranial element we found. It's an incisor (front tooth). I'm not sure if it's upper or lower, I'll have to look into that while I try to identify some of the more beat up bones. I'm fairly certain that there is more of this thunder beast out there, hopefully the skull or jaws are still there and didn't weather away 50 years ago.I've tentatively identified this brontothere as Eotitanotherium osborni based on the astragalus, hopefully my boss lets us go back to see if there is more and maybe we can nail it down better with a skull!

Take luck,

Dan

Sad but True

2009-04-17T05:46:00.001-07:00

I saw this sign in Roosevelt, UT.

I guess the sun sets on everything, good and bad.

Rockin' down the higway,

Dan

So Long, Farewell

2009-04-09T19:38:00.001-07:00

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu, 1994 Buick Skylark. You were the first car I actually owned, and the most comfortable car I've owned since. I don't know if you'll ever read this, but I wrote you this song to the tune of Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks. If you don't know the tune, the video will help you.

Goodbye to you, my trusted car.
I've driven you around so very far.
Together we saw Disney Land.
Went to college, high school, and
Junior high when times seemed grand.

Goodbye my friend, it's hard to sell,
but that's what happens. So, I'll say farewell.
Buicks don't pass 100K.
Three months you sat in the driveway,
Sold you, now you've gone away.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.
Once you were my Grandma's,
But I sold you to Santa Claus.

The Buick took us on our "Honeymoon".
Grace "driving" the BuickThe Buick with 2 flat tiresGoodbye Buick, I hope Santa Claus's niece treats you well. Love,

Dan

Wake Up

2009-04-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this happens to anyone else (Faith says it's weird) but every morning for the last while, I've woken up with a song already playing in my head. I decided that it would make an interesting blog post (for me) to write down the songs for each day. Here they are:

Tue, Mar. 24, 2009 - Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
Thu, Mar. 26, 2009 - Upside Down - Pound
Fri, Mar. 27, 2009 - Let's Get Married - Al Green
Sat, Mar. 28, 2009 - Changes - Phil Ochs
Sun, Mar. 29, 2009 - Carrying the Banner - Newsies
Mon, Mar. 30, 2009 - Oompa Loompa Song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Tue, Mar. 31, 2009 - Purple - Fat Amy
Wed, Apr. 1, 2009 - Saints and Sailors - Dahsboard Confessional
Thu, Apr. 2, 2009 - I'll Follow You into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
Fri, Apr. 3, 2009 - Oklahoma - Texas Line - Rascal Flatts
Sat, Apr. 4, 2009 - Take it Easy (Love Nothing) - Bright Eyes

What I find interesting is that these are songs that I don't listen to a lot, I don't even particularly enjoy some of them. I don't even have the Oompa Loompa Doopa Dee Doo song on my iPod. (Maybe I should get it.) Also, I haven't listened to the March songs recently, but the April ones, I have. I wonder if my decision to record them made any influence. Anyway,

Bucephalously,

Dan

Beautiful Babes

2009-03-29T14:38:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted anything in a while and had nothing I could think of except these beautiful babes. Beanie

Chun-Face

Rise up,

Dan

Lyrics Quiz: Answers

2009-03-22T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the answers.

1. Meet in the Middle - Diamond Rio
2. The World at Large - Modest Mouse
3. Mr. Mom - Lonestar
4. Where it's At - Beck
5. Even After All - Finley Quaye
6. Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles
7. Sad Songs and Waltzes - Cake
8. Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
9. Muita Bobeira - Luciana Souza and Romero Lubambo
10. I-76 - G. Love and Special Sauce
11. Song of the South - Alabama
12. The Hell that is My Life - Zebrahead
13. El Santo Cachon - Los Embajadores Ballenatos
14. The Promise - When in Rome
15. I Love You Always Forever - Donna Lewis
16. Sunday Sun - Beck
17. The Radiator - Ida
18. Volverte a Ver - Juanes
19. Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
20. New Wave Jacket - Polysics
21. Santeria - Sublime
22. Green Bird - The Seatbelts
23. Someday - The Strokes
24. Road Trippin' - Red Hot Chili Peppers
25. Dance of the Cucumber - Larry (Veggie Tales)

I feel like there is are a disproportionate number of country songs. I really don't have that many. The foreign language songs aren't in the majority either.

What I like about you,

Dan

Lyrics Quiz

2009-03-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

I put my iPod on shuffle. The I wrote down the first line of the first 25 songs, no matter how embarrassing. Now you get to guess what the songs are. Have fun!

1. It was 700 fence posts from your place to ours.
2. Ice-age heat wave, can't complain.
3. Oh Yeah. Lost my job, came home mad.
4. There's a destination a little up the road.
5. Even after all the murd"I"ring, even after all the suff"I"ring, you know I love you so.
6. I heard you on the wireless back in '52.
7. I'm writing a song all about you.
8. I'm thinking it's a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images.
9. Acho que não vou deixar você sair da minha vida.
10. Ladies and Gentlemen Introducing You ... Ah Fellas!
11. Song, song of the South. Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth.
12. I, I look but never touch.
13. ¡Bueno! ¡A bailar! ¡Que llegó la hora pa' los embajadores!
14. If you need a friend, don't look to a stranger.
15. Feels like I'm standing in timeless dreams.
16. Heaven got a lot to learn and my eyes they stray again.
17. I could watch you sleep for hours without noticing it's getting really late.
18. Daría lo que fuera por volverte a ver.
19. Once upon a time, not so long ago, Tommy used to work on the docks.
20. Yukanna koinoutadatoka kankeinai.
21. I don't practice Santeria. I ain't got no crystal ball.
22. Haru ga kita chimushi ga kao wo dasu.
23. In many ways they'll miss the good old days.
24. Road trippin' with my two favorite allies.
25. Miren al pepino (Watch the cucumber). Vean como se mueve (see how he moves), como un león (like a lion), tras un ratón (chasing a mouse).

Disclaimer: I skipped any songs that had no lyrics. I also skipped any tracks from LDS General Conference that weren't songs. For your enjoyment, here is a list of them.

1. Voyager - Daft Punk
2. Sanford and Son Theme - Quincy Jones
3. Pretty Little Ditty - Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. Urban Shakedown - Solar Factor
5. Swipesy Cake Walk - Scott Joplin
6. Toad - Cream
7. Farewell to Monster Island - Daikaiju
8. Oriel Window - Enya
9. Anxiously Engaged - Thomas S. Monson

Answers to come,

Dan

Books

2009-03-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Tally your total at the bottom.

Here's the list:

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen ( ) But I've seen the BBC miniseries 2x. Does that count?
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (x)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte ( )
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (x)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (x)
6 The Bible ( ) I just can't seem to get through the OT. But it's on my list.
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte ( )
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (x)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman ( ) I've only read the Golden Compass, but that was before anybody heard of the movie.
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens ( )
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott ( )
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy ( )
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (x)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare ( ) Yeah right.
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Marier ( )
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (x)
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk ( )
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (x)
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger ( )
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot ( )
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell ( )
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (x)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens ( )
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (x) Every last word. Booyah!
25 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (x) The entire series. Good good stuff.
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh ( )
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (x)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck ( )
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (X)
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame ( )
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy ( )
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens ( )
33 The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (x)
34 Emma - Jane Austen ( )
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen ( )
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (x)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini ( )
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres ( )
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden ( )
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (X)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (x)
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown ( )
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ( )
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving ( )
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins ( )
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery ( )
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy ( )
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood ( )
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (x)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan ( )
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel ( )
52 Dune - Frank Herbert (x)
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons ( )
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen ( )
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth ( )
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon ( )
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (x)
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley ( )
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon ( )
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ( )
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (x)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov ( )
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt ( )
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (x)
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas ( )
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac ( )
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy ( )
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding ( )
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie ( )
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville ( )
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (x)
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker (x)
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett ( )
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson ( )
75 Ulysses - James Joyce ( )
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath ( )
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome ( )
78 Germinal - Emile Zola ( )
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray ( )
80 Possession - AS Byatt ( )
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (x)
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell ( )
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker ( )
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro ( )
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert ( )
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry ( )
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White (X)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (x)
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( ) But I've read the Hound of the Baskervilles.
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton ( )
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad ( )
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery ( )
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks ( )
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams ( )
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole ( )
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute ( )
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexanxdre Dumas ( )
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (x)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl ( ) But I've read some of his other stuff.
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (x)

Dan's total: 32

Not bad if I do say so myself. But why are these books on the list when other ones aren't?

Updating my reading list,

Dan

For Sale

2009-03-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what's being sold here.

Ten to the fourth,

Dan

P.S. Since just one picture is boring, here's another. This is some more badland topography. But this photo is of badlands in the Brennan Basin Member of the Duchesne River Formation whereas the photos from the previous post are of badlands in the Myton Member of the Uinta Formation

Beautiful Desert

2009-03-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

Outcrop with a large bird nest on the left

Very Large Animal Tracks
Badlands

Small Hoodoos

Chicken Rock
Hoodoo with Chicken Rock

Hoodoo

Hoodoos and Chicken Rock

Badlands (with Chicken Rock in the background)

Stair Waterfall

Badlands

Cool Gross Grub

Complete yet Exlpoded Fossil Turtle

Badlands

In no particular order,

Dan

25 Random Things

2009-02-24T06:26:00.000-08:00

I finally succumbed to the peer pressure. Everybody's doing it. I just refuse to tag anyone.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

1. I have three superpowers.
2. I have the power of flight.
3. I have the power to kill a yak at 200 yards... with MIND BULLETS!!!
4. I have the power to move you.
5. I'm dendrophobic.
6. I have only 9 toe nails.
7. I love the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan but I've never read the books. I listen to the audiobooks.
8. I'm stoked that Brandon Sanderson is writing the final book in the series.
9. I get to play in the dirt for a living.
10. I get paid to look for fossils.
11. I lick rocks.
12. I eat dust.
13. Used to play Magic: The Gathering and blow all my money on buying cards.
14. My name is Dan and I'm addicted to video games. (Hi Dan.) I've been sober since Thanksgiving. (Scattered Applause)
15. I have nightmares where my teeth get loose and fall out. No, that's all that happens. Yes, they are really nightmares where I wake up all sweaty and scared.
16. I've seen the sun rise and set on the same day more times this past year than probably all other times in my life combined.
17. I dance when no one is looking.
18. I used to be a substitute teacher and I enjoyed it. Too bad it doesn't pay the bills.
19. I get woken up every morning by a one year old, red-head, eagle-screamer.
20. I am the inspiration for the song My Front Porch Looking In by Lonestar.
21. I love to hug my daughter, The Bean, because she struggles and tries to get away.
22. I eat toast for breakfast every day and when we're out of bread, I turn to the dark side.
23. I wish that I could play at will the song Soulful Strut by Young-Holt Unlimited for all to hear while I walk.
24. I'm super lucky because I married a super hottie.
25. I realized that all of these could be new stati on facebook.

Stay in Love,

Dan
P.S. I hope you don't feel like this.

Office Awesomeness

2009-02-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

The Great Office War from Runawaybox on Vimeo.

Not as good as the previous one, but still very very good.

Stay out of the papers,

Dan

Star Wars

2009-02-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

I cried,

Dan

High 5!

2009-02-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

This is guaranteed to make you smile.

Read about it here.

Hearts and thoughts may fade away,

Dan

Joy Wanted to Say Something

2009-02-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

xx b4ewwwwwwwwwwwww b v nn ,kwcxjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj hmk,iiiiiiiiiiiihkknmhjtv7uyb nn c v nb, k oqlj,nn m/ mg vvvvvvvvvvvv m. nn m x

Love,
Joy

Dinner

2009-02-08T16:45:00.000-08:00

This was the girls' dinner menu when Mommy was asleep today:

Goldfish
Oreos

Hearts and thoughts may fade away,

Dan

Carámbano

2009-01-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Some icicles and snow from around the office today.

Because of monkeys,

Dan

Humerus

2009-01-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

I love to prepare fossils. What's more I get paid to do it sometimes. Here's something I worked on recently. I didn't find it, but I did prepare it. I still find it pretty amazing to see the change from start to finish. I see the all the small steps in between, so jumping from start to finish is kind of dramatic for me.

Before

After

I'll not be a gentleman,

Dan

4-Square

2009-01-15T07:35:00.000-08:00

My sister Ceci inspired me to do this post. I thought it would be cool to have a random photo post here. But, now that I think about it, most of my posts include random photos. Anyway, the rules are you go into your photo folder and go to the fourth folder, and take the fourth photo and post about it. Since I have folders within folders within folders (I'm a freak about organizing computer files) I just kept taking the fourth one until I got to the acutal photos. Here it is:
This is Grace when she's only a couple months old. She's changed so much, but this is one of the funniest pictures of her. In fact, it was included as one of Faith's first posts on our family blog. So thanks, Ceci, for inspiring me to do this and bring back awesome memories of tiny babies.

Please eat anything inside,

Dan

New Dinosaur

2009-01-14T18:07:00.001-08:00

I call it microcephalosaurus.

This is what it looks like as a baby.

Also, I'd like you to meet Bobby Blaze the firefighter and PFC Frank Force.

The diamond brightly burns,

Dan

Bag

2009-01-06T09:03:00.001-08:00

This is my backpack from first grade. My Mom made it for me back when I thought camouflage was cool. It matched my camo G.I. Joe Velcro shoes. I now use the bag for my clothes when I stay in Vernal. It still works very well and doesn't have any holes in it or anything. They just don't make quality bags anymore like my Mom did.

I'm the garden caterpillar,

Dan

Dan Burk Family Christmas Letter 2008

2008-12-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

2008 has been a great year for our family. We currently live in lovely Salem, Utah in an older home that Dan’s folks fixed up. We are happy to be in a house and ABOVE GROUND (until now we have always lived in a basement apartment). The home is on half an acre so there is plenty of room for the kids to play. It has beautiful hardwood floors and a wood burning stove and a lot of country charm.

By far the neatest thing that happened this year is that we added Joy Anne Burk to our family. She was born on Feb 3rd so she is almost a year old now. She is such a delight with her chubby/rosy cheeks and strawberry curly blonde hair. Her middle name, Anne, comes from one of Faith’s favorite heroines, “Anne of Green Gables” and she has a little bit of Anne’s red hair and temper too. =-) She crawls all over and pulls up on things and takes little steps. She will be walking soon!!

Grace LOVES being a big sister and she does such a good job! She will give Joy toys, help feed her, rock her, play with her, and get Faith diaper changing supplies when I need to change her diaper. Watching our two little girls interact and seeing how much they love each other brings us so much joy. Grace also knows her shapes and colors and is learning the alphabet. She is a very smart two-year old! She also LOVES going to nursery at church and playing with her friends.

Another huge blessing for our family is Dan’s job. He graduated with a BS in Geology from BYU in December of last year and got hired on at Intermountain Paleo Consulting after substitute teaching for a few months. We feel very blessed to have steady income and for Dan to be able to gain experience in his field. He works in Vernal, Utah and does 3 days on 4 days off. Dan’s job consists of doing paleontological surveys, monitoring construction, writing reports, and preparing fossils so that they can go to museums for research. We are so glad that he is working in a field that he loves!

In addition to being a stay at home mom Faith has been learning magic tricks. She has done a great job with her disappearing act because she has lost 50 pounds since giving birth to Joy. She has found a new love of jogging and has participated in various 5K’s and a 10K. She also substitute teaches when Dan is home with the girls and is taking a BYU independent study course to keep her teaching license current.

We wish you a all a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

Dan, Faith, Grace, and Joy Burk

Opposites Attract : My First Tag

2008-12-20T16:19:00.001-08:00

I don't do forwards or tags, normally. This one has to do with music though and I love music. However, I won't tag anyone else to do it, because nobody reads my blog anyway.

Rules:
1. Put your iTunes (or other music library) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name no matter how silly it sounds.

These are my responses.

If someone says, "Is this okay?", you say.
Tha Crossroads

What would best describe your personality?
The Beginning of Wisdom

What do you like in a guy/girl?
Sad Songs and Waltzes

How do you feel today?
Bittersweet Eve

What is your life's purpose?
Son Borinqueño

What is your motto?
Alley Oop

What do your friends think of you?
The Morning Breaks

What do you think about very often?
Angel from Montgomery

What is 2+2?
Under the Boardwalk

What do you think of your best friend?
Black Bear Road

What do you think of the person you like?
C is for Cookie

What is your life story?
Side of the Road

What do you want to be when you grow up?
An Old Friend

What do you think when you see the person you like?
Pushing the Sky

What do your parents think of you?
I Know That My Redeemer Lives

What will/did you dance to at your wedding?
Even After All

What will/did they play at your funeral?
You Piss Me Off

What is your hobby/interest?
A Song for Sleeping

What is your biggest secret?
Waiting for the Blow

What do you think of your friends?
Drive in Drive Out

What's the worst thing that could happen?
The Call of Ktulu

How will you die?
Beautiful Day

What is the one thing you regret?
Iris

What makes you laugh?
Mama Told Me (Not to Come)

What makes you cry?
Gibberish

Will (why did) you ever get married?
Gravity Rides Everything

What scares you the most?
Visions Near and Far

Does anyone like you?
Don't Look Back

If you could go back in time, what would you change?
Carrying the Banner

What hurts right now?
Whenever, Wherever

What will you post this as?
Opposites Attract

Peace Attack,

Dan

What cold is

2008-12-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

Now I know it's supposed to be cold everywhere, but come on, claiming that these cold winters is further evidence that global warming is a real danger? You've gotta be kidding. Average global temperatures are colder now than in some of the past interglacials (periods of warm weather between ice ages). Most paleoclimatologists and geologists agree that we are simply in another interglacial. Anyway I'll get off my high horse and post some pictures of what real cold weather looks like. I'll have no more of this "It's 55 degrees and there's an inch of snow! I feel so cold!" garbage.

Frozen Desert

Snow-Covered Palm TreesRadial Icicles

Strawberry fields forever,

Dan

House

2008-12-17T06:22:00.000-08:00

In the course of my travels I found this fixer-upper. If I make some improvements to the property and pay the taxes for 7 years, I can get this baby for free... or something like that.

Everybody knows it,

Dan

End of the Work Day

2008-12-07T13:56:00.001-08:00

This is what I look forward to at the end of a long day out in the field.

Pwning,

Dan

The cliff that nearly killed me and the cliff that saved me.

2008-12-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

Back when I first started my current job as a paleontological surveyor, I had to go to this area to monitor construction on the evaporation ponds you can see in the background. To get there, I had to drive this road, only it didn't look the same back then. Back then, there was no barrier on the right and it wasn't paved. The surface was entirely composed of quarter-sized pebbles. Anyway the second day I worked on this job, I was driving down that hill a little to fast. I was also driving down that hill in two-wheel drive (instead of four-wheel drive). I lost control and began to fishtail. There was a very good possibility that I would go over the cliff on the right side. Luckily I didn't and I crashed into the upper side of the cliff on the left. I've got a nice dent in the bumper and skid plate to show for it too.

So today, I was surveying some proposed wells in this same area and I saw the improvements done on the cliff of life and death. It's really nice that they thought of me and made it safer in case I ever had to go down there again.

Wearing a tutu,

Dan

Oreos

2008-11-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

I like to eat Oreos with my lunch, but regular Oreos won't do. I always get the Double Stuf Oreos. But Double Stuf Oreos aren't good enough either. I always twist the two chocolate cookies apart and eat the one without the stuf. Then I set the stuf half aside and repeat the process. Then I take the two sides each with double the stuff and put them together. Now I've got a quadruple stuff Oreo. That's good enough.
You fill me with sweet sugary goodness,

Dan

Lapoint, UT

2008-11-11T15:50:00.001-08:00

Yesterday as I was looking for roads that would lead me to the area I needed to survey, I found that I was about to cross onto private land. Though it took me a bit to realize that's what the sign was trying to say.On the other side of the dirt road I was on, I saw a related sign. I liked this one better.Needless to say, I didn't cross the cattle guard, but turned around. I thought it was prudent because I figured that the person who made these signs is the type to shoot first and ask questions later.

Keeping out of your private properate,

Dan

Seven Sisters

2008-11-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

This arrangement of cairns on the hilltop is called the Seven Sisters. It's a local landmark in the Oil Fields south of Vernal. The main road through the area is even called Seven Sisters. The only thing I don't get is why are there eight of them?

Whistling in the dark,

Dan

Animales

2008-11-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

I saw some animals this week.

First was an owl or some other large bird. I couldn't tell what it was because it flew away before I could get any closer.Then as I was driving I saw a fox just strolling through the badlands.That's how we make it right,

Dan

Sunset

2008-11-05T06:05:00.000-08:00

Now that our nation has voted for a communist just as Nikita Kruschev told Ezra Taft Benson we would, I realized that the sun was setting on the free world.

Just easy as A. B. C.,

Dan

Our new national anthem

2008-11-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

I hope not.

Catching all the lights,

Dan

Today

2008-10-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures I took today in the order that I took them.You were such a P.Y.T.,

Dan

Flowers

2008-10-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Over the summer I gained a strong appreciation for the beauty of the desert. We generally think of the desert as barren and lifeless. But it's quite the contrary. I think that through my posts we've seen that there is an abundance of life there. I haven't even seen or been able to photograph most of it.
Anyway, what I want to get at is not just how surprised I've been at the beauty of the desert, but specifically the flowers I've seen. It's amazing to me that plants living in such an arid region would expend so much energy producing flowers so lush and moist. But I guess if one of your primary goals in life is reproduction, the flower is quite important and worth the energy.

Get ready to ignite,

Dan

P.S. The first four were taken with our old camera so the quality isn't that good.

Oil and Gas Jobs

2008-10-20T19:27:00.001-07:00

A while back I googled "oil and gas jobs". I accidentally did an image search instead of a regular web search. This is one of the images I found. I just want to say that if this is what oil and gas jobs look like, and I have a job in oil and gas, then I should probably grow a sweet handlebar mustache.

Sing to the B.E.A.T.,

Dan

More Facial Hair

2008-10-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

So i mentioned in the previous post that I would have like to do weird things to my facial hair. These guys are my inspiration. My heroes if you will.

Willi Chevalier

Stefan Gölz

Memili Rüstüoglu

Karl-Heinz Hillekalle

Ian Grahm

Heinz Christophel

Eduardo

Alois Plettl

Alf Jarrold

One, two, three, four, fight,

Dan

Facial Hair

2008-10-18T15:38:00.001-07:00

Before Faith and I started dating, I had a mustache. I used to want to grow it out and stuff, but sadly, my genetics denies me this ability. I knew however that I would be in good company if I ever did grow it out. Look at all the famous and accomplished people with facial hair.

Martin Luther King Jr.Pres. William H. TaftPres. Theodore RooseveltPres. Chester A. ArthurNapoleonCary GrantMark TwianGandhiCharlie ChaplinAlbert Einstein

Do your D.A.N.C.E.,

Dan

Barbie

2008-10-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

The other day, Grace and I were hanging out on the deck out back. She's got a little Barbie folding chair and she was pointing at and talking about the butterflies and flowers on it. I pointed to the picture of Barbie and asked her "Who's that?" She looked straight at me with those huge eyes and said in all seriousness "mmmMommy."

Fathers be good to your daughters,

Dan

Boot

2008-10-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

I finally got new boots. Leith's stati are weird,

Dan

Embarrassing

2008-10-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

I always thought I didn't look that bad in High School. Looking back at my yearbook photos helps me realize my error.

Freshman YearSophomore YearJunior YearSenior Year

He hit the purple jewel on his forehead and then half of his fur fell off,

Dan

Shoulda been an Entymologist

2008-10-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

This bug looked like an ant only it was an inch and a half long.
Then they flap their wings at the last second,

Dan

Spider

2008-09-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

At work this week, one of my co-workers and I were doing survey's on tribal land. This big ol' spider was sitting in the middle of its web strung between two sagebrush bushes. We almost walked right between them. There's nothing in this photo for scale, but the abdomen is about an inch long.

Leave a message and I'll call you back,

Dan

Warning Sign

2008-09-24T20:41:00.001-07:00

I don't know what this means.

Birds fall from the window ledge above mine,

Dan

No horns and not a toad

2008-09-21T13:45:00.001-07:00

Can you see the animal in this picture?It's a horny toad.Can I keep him?

Dan

Bowling

2008-09-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

I drove by Bowling Ball Lane today. Here's a picture. Can you see how it got its name?

Here's a closer look.

Eye of the tiger,

Dan

Bug

2008-09-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

This bug was on the roof of my 4Runner kicking and flailing.

Then it flew a way,

Dan

Yes He is!

2008-09-14T11:31:00.001-07:00

Despite the spelling error, I thought this would be an appropriate Sunday post.Come, come ye saints,

Dan

Every Cloud Has its Silver Lining

2008-09-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

We want the funk,

Dan

Shouldn't That Sign Read "Road Closed"?

2008-09-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be monitoring construction on a well pad when they had to use explosives to break up the bedrock in order to dig deeper. Everyone on site had to move away about a quarter of a mile. I wanted to film the action so I climbed a hill with a couple other guys to get a better view. One of the trucks from the construction company drove back towards the well pad and I assumed they wouldn't blow everything up until they came back so I turned around to take in the scenery. My assumption was wrong. No sooner had I turned my back when a sound like a hundred cannons going off at the same time erupted from what seemed like directly behind me. I nearly peed my pants. One of the guys there said "I don't care how many times you've seen that or how old you are, that's still cool."This week, I was on another monitor. Unknown to me, a nearby well pad was also being blasted. I wasn't ready for that one either. Once again, peeing in my pants was a possibility. Once again, I didn't get to film it. About a half hour later, I noticed small tan spots all over my shirt, pants, and hat. That dust was solid rock not too long ago.Tear the roof off the sucka,

Dan

Dinosaurs 2: Electric Boogaloo

2008-08-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I get the opportunity to work in Colorado (as you've probably gathered from previous posts). So I've been able to find dinosaurs there too. Here are a few. The last green one is actually in Utah, but it's on the way to Colorado.

You know they want your ruby slippers and your little dog too,

Dan