Geologist... so am I?

Now that the studying frenzy for my State exams is over (hence the lack of postings lately), I get to wait 2 and a half months before I get my results.  JOY!

In the meantime, a friend sent me this page with a less formal (no $250 application fee or $250 exam fee) to see whether or not I can TRULY call myself a Geo :).. Soooooooo for your amusement and mine:

Top Ten Signs You Might Be a Geologist © 1999, Sarah Noble

10. You have ever had to respond "yes" to the question, "What have you got in here, rocks?"

Seriously, of course.  The other day my father-in-law was wondering why there were rocks in the door handle of the front passenger side of the car.  What? folks don't drive around with rocks in the car?

9. You have ever taken a 15-passenger van over "roads" that were really intended only for cattle.

Oh yeah, Duke was the first one to let me drive one of the Suburbans on a windy road at dusk.  Oh yeah, did I mention it was raining?

8. You have ever found yourself trying to explain to airport security that a rock hammer isn't really a weapon.

Rock hammer, groundwater samples in VOAs, Carbonate standards in vials, a PID.  Security does NOT like me.

7. Your rock garden is located inside your house

Well there's the one in the condo, in the office, and the one in the car :)

6. You have ever hung a picture using a Brunton as a level

I must admit, I have never used my Brunton as a level.  To reflect sunlight down into a boring, yes.  You do know, though, that I'm definitely going to start using it as a level.  It's GENIUS!

5. Your collection of beer cans and/or bottles rivals the size of your rock collection

Alas, it's so ungeoligist of me.  I'm not a big fan of a beer.  I'm a beer snob; I'll admit it :)

4. You consider a "recent event" to be anything that has happened in the last hundred thousand years

I wouldn't go that far.  I think that we should keep "recent" in the Holocene; I'd say 11,000 years.

3. Your photos include people only for scale and you have more pictures of your rock hammer and lens cap than of your family

It's not my fault that folks look so small in my pictures.  At least I try to get their whole bodies in there.

2. You have ever been on a field trip that included scheduled stops at a gravel pit and/or a liquor store

How else are you supposed to start a road trip? DUH!

And the #1 sign you might be a geologist:

1. You have ever uttered the phrase "have you tried licking it" with no sexual connotations involved.

My sister once told me (when my nephew was on a rock kick) that he used to use a wet rag on them (he was 4 or 5 at the time).  I've been very good and did not suggest to him to just lick the rocks.  I think I would end up being in more trouble than him for that one :)