A lot of shit is being thrown around these days within the MCF community. I threw some at the fan and it hurled gold back at me. So I figure I should go looking for gold next summer. Got an e-mail from the guy I worked for last summer, and a friend of his from Spokane Washington is looking for geologists to map, core-log, and soil sample up in the Brooks Range and Seward Penninsula next summer. I sent him my resume. They're pretty desperate for field geologists I guess. It may or may not happen, cause I have some time constraints if I go to grad school, but wow, working north of the Arctic Circle in some of the last remaining pristine country on Earth would be pretty sweet. It's helicopter supplied. Sweet too. This is actually the kind of work I would like to do for a career, which is sort of funny because I have tried very hard so far to never end up with a career.
There may be some hippies out there who are opposed to mineral and fossil fuel exploration. I agree with them, but I have no problem doing the work to exploit and destroy the land. Why? Cause this brings up an important problem with society and environmental groups. Now, I'm a firm believer in environmentalism, but the problem is not the oil exploration it's demand. Demand must be lowered first. For example, the Sierra Club (which does plenty of good things too) started a policy of suing the national forests every time the NF tried to have a lumber sale. The Sierra Club wouldn't generally win, but the price for the court fees detered the national forests a great deal and far less timber sales go on today. But the demand for lumber is just as high if not higher than before the policy was in place, so now more of our lumber comes from Brazil, SE Asia and elsewhere where there is no controlled cutting and replanting going on. And of course many Sierra Club members reside in ritzy houses far larger than what they really need. Something to consider anyway.

Good luck with finals. The battle is about to begin...