21 Reasons You Might Be a Geologist If …

Some personal comments on …

21 Reasons You Might Be a Geologist If …

1. You own more pieces of quartz than underwear.
True.
… but only if you count grains in sandstone.

2. Your rock collection weighs more than you do.
True.
… by a factor of several.

3. Your rock garden is located inside your house.
False.
… but only just outside the front door.

4. You can pronounce the word ‘molybdenite’ correctly on the first try.
True.
… and ‘chalcedony’.

5. You don’t think of “cleavage” the same way everyone else does.
True.
… and cleavage / bedding relationships.

6. You think the primary function of road cuts is tourist attractions.
True.
… and will cross a multilane highway to check that the rocks on the other side are the same.

7. You find yourself compelled to examine individual rocks in driveway gravel.
True.
… and all the pebbles in my garden soil (they are glacial erratics you know)

8. You’re planning on using a pick and shovel while you’re on vacation.
Partially True.
… but a rock hammer is a definate possibility.

9. You have ever found yourself trying to explain to airport security that a rock hammer isn’t really a weapon.
Partially True.
… airport security no, ferry security yes.

10. You never throw away anything.
True.
… just ask my better half!

11. You have ever taken a 17-passenger van over “roads” that were really intended only for cattle.
True.
… Oh yes, but not rolled one – yet.

12. You consider a “recent event” to be anything that has happened in the last hundred thousand years.
True.
… and Quaternary studies are just a bit too close to gardening.

13. You have ever had to respond “yes” to the question, “What have you got in here, rocks?”
True.
… many a time.

14. You associate the word “saw” with diamonds instead of “wood”.
True.
… and I associate the word ‘fountain’ with ‘fire’ rather than ‘water’ or ‘pen’.

15. You have ever been on a field trip that included scheduled stops at a gravel pit and/or a liquor store.
Partially True.
… certainly arrange field localities between pub stops.

16. You have ever hung a picture using a Brunton/Compass-clinometer as a level.
True.
… and to check the level of a pub bar when testing the isostatic compensation properties of the head of a pint of guinness

17. You were the only member of the group who spent their time looking at cathedral walls through a pocket magnifier during your trip to Europe.
True.
… and spend more time in a museum looking at the plinths than the exhibits

18. Your collection of beer cans and/or bottles rivals the size of your rock collection.
Partially True.
… but my beer glass collection does.

19. Your photos include people only for scale and you have more pictures of your rock hammer and lens cap than your family.
True.
… and coins of the world.

20. Your spelling checker has a vocabulary that includes the words ‘polymorph’ and ‘pseudomorph’.
True.
… and ‘porphyroblast’ and ‘poikiloblast’ and …

21. You have ever uttered the phrase ‘have you tried licking it’ with no sexual connotations involved.
True.
… and ‘you don’t have to swallow it’ (distinguishing between silt/mud)

Adapted from a variety of sources including …
http://fgms.home.att.net/rokhound.htm
http://www.qld.gsa.org.au/TQGFEB02.pdf