Reading Update (waaay overdue)

I am actually a little shocked when I was looking back through the blog at what I had written and realized I hadn't updated the reading/read list since January. Six months?! Oh geez. I have a lot read even with the much slower pace.

I am currently reading two books. The first is Splendid Isolation about South America's Cenozoic mammals. It's a good read but feels dated. Given its age, that shouldn't be a surprise. Is there a more updated treatise on the subject? I am also reading The Medea Hypothesis. I am holding my cards close to my chest on this one until I am done.

In the recent past, I read Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. I didn't realize that dogs were a North American lineage (along with horses and camels). The Old World equivalent was the hyena. Which dogs are now pummeling. Continuing the paleo theme, I also read In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. I didn't realize there was an aquatic sphenodont: tuatara relative for the rest of you. I also read The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs. It's interesting to see the intellectual debate raging on back then: competition vs mass extinction opportunism.

I also read The World Without Us and found it underwhelming. Better was The Earth After Us. It was a little too short of discussing what would survive in the strata over time in favor of explaining the mechanics of how geology works. A bit of a bummer. Seems like we need a next step higher: a "yeah we get the basics big time, but we're not quite pros yet" level.

I read Solar Sails and found the last third to be the best part since it was the actual juicy technical part. I still like Starsailing better, but Starsailing lacks a lot of the guts of the last 1/3 of Solar Sails.

Much to my great pissy annoyance, my copy of Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs disappeared part way through. I also read History of the Persian Empire. Wow. Talk about being written in a completely different era. I picked up a copy of Byzantine Infantryman, but not read it yet. Intended as a bit of background for my writing. I am waiting for a copy of The Great Arab Conquests.

I also have the Long Thaw, Principles of Paleoclimatology, Fire and Ice, and An Introduction to Celestrial Mechanics. I also haven't finished Russia's Far East.

Anyways, I'll comment on The Medea Hypothesis. I'm only in a small way and I am already getting "hmmmm" bits. Oh yes, and the number of books may sound like a nontrivial amount, but its not. Prior to marriage, I was reading 3600+ pages per month, which translates into around ten to fifteen books per month. What I read up there is probably about that much over six months.

New Books

My wife gave me a gift certificate to Amazon for my Xmas & birthday and my uncle and aunt that we visited gave me two gift certificates from Barnes and Noble. As you might guess, I am delighted. I've only ordered one book from B&N, but I've used up the Amazon card already.

I ordered Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. I already have the volume on cats. Someone ought to do this for bears. I also ordered The World Without Us and The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks?. I also picked up History of the Persian Empire and Solar Sails (I've been in love with the things since I was a teenager). To round it out, I also picked up In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early Mesozoic Tetrapods (used).

From B&N I ordered Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs. I am probably going to order Last Hunters, First Farmers, too, but we'll see. I'd like to pick up some paleo books this route, too.

I was outright given Your Inner Fish which I read very, very quickly: it was good, but I'm hitting the point that I need to start crossing into the pro's papers instead of just the pop sci stuff since I knew 95% of what was covered in the book already. I also finished reading Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies. I am half done at the moment with United States and Mexico: Between Partnership and Conflict.

I have some questions for my Canadian readers in the future, but I think I need to dedicate some time to phrase the questions properly. Interestingly, did you guys know back in 1948 (+/-), the Canadians approached the US about a free trade treaty. It wasn't as interesting to the US at first, but a few (couple?) years later, the US came back with interest in the treaty, the Canadians rejected it as an encroachment on their sovereignty by the US...even though it had been their idea. *scratches head* There had to have been a government change in that time frame, but I don't recall one. I'll look again if anyone asks. However, the WI being, had the treaty gone ahead and the US and Canada had formed a free trade zone in around 1950, how would the US and Canadian economies developed differently? I doubt there would be a customs union or whatnot beyond straight up free trade. Think of it similar to the historical CUSFTA treaty prior to NAFTA. yet...There might be as much as 40 years before Mexico decides to join in, if ever. 40 years of deep economic integration between the US and Canadian economies, especially during the 1950s, would have some oddball effects I am sure. Anyone interested in discussing it?

Oh and there are times we hate IBM, too, at work. grrr. Good thing I got a lot of sleep last night and I'm caffed up...I can get uber scary then. Ogre Genes in full expression here! Coherent Ogre Genes at that.

Thank You, Noel! (a small reading update)

(a ruined Yucatecan hacienda)

The First Book

I finished two books. The first was the gem, which I have thank Noel Maurer for pointing me to some time ago and now I finally read. That would be the Caste War of the Yucatan. Wow. This was one of the most sordid and viciously nasty things I've read about. It's fascinating in a massive multiethnic train wreck sort of way. The Ladino[1] meltdown and self-serving in the face of potential annihilation is fascinating: cornered , starving rats attacking each other came to mind. The Mayan Cruzob was interesting, if depressing, and it really, really sounds superficially like the Zapatista Army of National Liberation is its descendant with its struggle in Chiapas. Is this really a new struggle or the same song, different generation[2]?

Its What-if

There was a What-if that was pretty blatant in the history. When the Mexicans declared independence, the Yucatecans, meaning the Ladino side, declared themselves independent. They flailed around looking for help when the Mayans were eating their lunch. They offered to be annexed by the United States, British Empire, and even others. Eventually, the went back to being part of Mexico. What-if they had stuck to their guns and tried to stay independent. I suspect that the Ladinos in the short term will do worse, a lot worse, but Merida and Campeche will stay standing. In the end, the Maya were undone by disease, poor soil, and, ultimately, technology. If the Ladinos had held out until the 1880s on their own while the Cruzob was effectively another state, they would have been able to march in the repeaters and gatling guns that would have been affordable by then.

However, there was no way that the Yucatecans could have projected that those technologies would crop up, but given their stubbornness I could see them hanging on all the same. Alternately, there might have been a partition had the British finally decided that they were best served by having a Mayan buffer state. Or three. OTOH, if the Brits don't extend their protection, and probably won't, to the Mayans, my bet is that sisal will eventually win the war for the Ladinos before the turn of the last century.

My guess after that is that the Yucatecan economy booms under the monocrop of sisal and then when it gets supplanted by synthetics that the economy tanks rather badly. Tourism will revive it to some extent, but IDK if it'd match the previous income levels or not. Once the economy falters, given its timing, could we see a Mayan insurgency under the guise of communism and supported by the USSR. That means that US gets involved with guns and dinero. It gets bloody and unpleasant in ways that make both sides look nasty, I suspect, because memories of the Caste War and Cruzob are still present.

Would it discredit both sides when genocide is perpetuated? Probably not. Mao got away with a frak load and people in certain circles still venerate him (oy). There are still numbers of communists all over the place. Having a vicious little war, even in our backyard, probably won't be noticed. Americans are just too insular and, unfortunately, many groups see what they want to see rather than take a step back and look again.

By the current day, I bet the Republic of the Yucatan has a few coastal cities that are beautiful and very tourist-y. Cancun doesn't exist as it does now, but may still in some form. The economy outside of that is probably not doing so well. There's still a minor insurgency that is pretty much petty banditry after the collapse of the USSR. However, from my POV, one of the great travesties of it will be that the study of the Maya will have been set back decades. :(

As for its effect on Mexican history, I bet its great, but IDK how much. Noel? It's effect outside of Mexico...well, probably not much.

Further SFnal-Related Thoughts

A thought that crossed my mind was why are the SF writers wasting their time rehashing Roman or Byzantine history. Belisarius was kewl, but now rather tired. The Caste War is the perfect bit of history to coopt into a story. Admittedly, it'd be a depressing, nasty bit of a story, but framed right it might be an interesting one. Obviously, it has to be written by an American, right, James? Vicious nasty and ending in whatever the rebellious Campbellian group finally fades away in the ultimate inconsequential form. It almost writes itself if set in the asteroid field.

"You're Chinese, right?" I agreed simply because I didn't want to confuse the matter and distract him. "The Chinese promised us drones. Drones and zero-g battle armour. The treaty is still in effect. We lost contact with their agents 40 years ago. " I had come to study the Asteroidal Class War, but found myself being asked to renew it. I had to find a way to extract myself without ending my interview with General Mason.

Human history is huge. Need we keep mining the same, tired events?

The Second Book

I also read Scalzi's Last Colony. I wasn't as impressed with it. It was a good read, but I think he conveniently forgot some of his own mythology. It's a good bit of escapism though.

The Third Book, started

United States and Canada: Ambivalent Allies. Sheesh, all the excited stuff happened early on in the history of our two countries. I'm about a quarter done. More later.

1. I thought that was reserved for Jewish groups in Latin countries, but it seems my education in the matter is lacking. Nelson uses the term to describe the Euro-Yucatecan and their allies in the war.

2. I am pretty sure that I am embarrassing myself by writing the previous, but, hey, if you don't ask the stupid question, the stupid stays with you.

Reading Update

While Avrora and Lyuda were off visiting with her family just prior to TDay, I got a lot of things done. In fact, so much so that I have to wonder - if we can really afford it (HA!) - that we shouldn't plan on something like this biannually so I can get caught up on all the extraneous things that get tossed by the family roadside. One of the nice things is that when the world wound down after 10ish pm, I got to read and read I did. I tackled a couple paleo books and a history book already mentioned in one of my few, few alt-history posts. I also tackled a book on global warming by a popsci writer (can't discuss a book w/o reading it first) and a couple sf books.

The first book was that of The Evolution of Vertebrate Design. This book and the one I have partially completed - Dinosaurs, Spitfires, and Sea Dragons - I strongly recommend for someone that's a nonspecialist wanting to underrstand more on how vertebrates evolved into what they are and how they function. They are both a little dated, but they give a good run down on a lot of how the body works and how it came to be in a mostly nontechnical way. However, if you have basical knowledge in the area, I am warning you off except to read about the icthyosaurs in the latter book, really. The latter book I am almost finished with now.

The history book that I munched through was The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. It was pretty good and it was fascinating to see the divergence in views about the Crusades. In the West people either see it as a valiant attempt to retake the Holy Land or as a massive embarrassment. We still use the expression of someone out to save the world or change the course of history as a 'crusader', so despite the more recent viewing of the crusades as something to be ashamed of, it still resonates in a positive way on some level. The interesting thing by reading this book was that the Crusades are viewed as a great rape of the Arab world by the Occidentals (West). There were bits that diverged quite a bit: the West plays up an almost amicable relationship between Richard Lionheart and Saladin whereas tCTAE ignores, discounts or recasts their relations completely. Part of the reason that I wanted to read this book was that I adhere to an opinion that when recounting events, especially personal, but also at times historical, there's your story, my story, and somewhere in the middle the truth. I'm weighing how true it is here.

I also read Six Degrees. Hmmm. This is not a bad book. It glosses over a lot. It sides with the Neo-Oligocene scenario (hotter, drier). I tend to subscribe to the NeoEocene scenario. I have a massive, bloated blog post coming from this. The damned thing is almost cancerous in its growth. No, I won't let it be a blogpost Singularity. Do read it: be skeptical of the scenario.

In SF reading, I read Scalzi's Old Man's War and Ghost Brigades. Light, yummy mind candy. Not sure I buy the premise, but definitely interesting.

New Books

I ordered some new books. Most were used, so they were cheap. I still got a bunch of them though. I thought I'd be further along in Krauze's book though (1/2 way instead of 3/4): there's lots of good what-if's in there. One of my favourites has been that Obregón succeeds in killing himself. I can't help, but see that as throwing the Mexican train off its historical tracks.

I only picked up two paleo books this time: Dinosaurs, Spitfires, and Sea Dragons by Christopher McGowan and The Evolution of Vertebrate Design by Lewis Radinsky. I also picked up a few politics books: United States and Mexico: Between Partnership and Conflict; and in the same series Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies. I am not quite Mexico'ed out yet - I want to get to Noel's books soon - so I picked up Caste War of Yucatan by Nelson Reed. I also picked up the tangentially related to my Byzantine obsession: The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf. I also picked up Six Degrees by Mark Lynas (it really ought to be up to 10 C, but nevermind...)

I also got Sleeping Beauty for my daughter...y'know...my own little princess Avrora.

Reading Update

Obviously with all the events that have been swirling around me like some sort of fascinating if exciting and terrifying vortex, I have not ahd much chance to read at all. In fact, my reading has fallen to a glacial pace. You try fund raising for and building a rocket, run Crays and other HPC assets, and still take care of a family while getting in lots of quality time with the pages! Even so, I was able to chew my way through some juicy books.

The first one I mentioned before, Paleoecology by Allmon et al, had gobs of interesting stuff in it. There were a few conclusions from the Caribbean paleoreef studies that are still making me go hmmm: the less nutrients there are the MORE biodiversity a reef ecosystem s! Other appears were stuff I have latched onto as an ah-ha! moments to form the basis of the ecology in the age of carbon post and an upcoming one on the phytoaspect of the Paleozoic caste ecology (love the phrase, Carlos!).

The second book I completed was a paleo themed one as well: Amniote Paleobiology. There are some wonderful papers in there. However, my skeletal morphology is not up to spec for some of them: Sereno discusses the very unique posture of the multituberculates and there was a very indepth discussion of their very unique scapula and how it tied into their posture. OTOH, there were some papers that I got sucked into pretty thoroughly: the ones about just how many species of Lystrosaurus are there and when did endothermy arise in the nonmammalian therapsids were two of these. The book covered dinosaurs, birds, reptiles, mammalians, therapsids, etc. My one disappointment, though, was that there was zilch on the basal amniotes, iirc, which was what I picked the book up for.

I also picked up the nifty art book of Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Then I shifted out of the paleo realm and into historical one. I have been feeling a bit of that old Byzantinophilia cropping up again. So I picked up the atypically thesised Byzantium and the Crusades. The basic premise for the book was toe explain how the 4th Crusade came about, y'know, the one where the Crusaders instead of attacking Muslim Egypt conquered (and effective brought low, permanently) the Christian Byzantine Empire. His thesis was that Byzantine misunderstanding of the West and the Weest's misunderstanding of the Eastern Romans/Byzantines/Greeks was an explosive that was just waiting for the fuse to be lit. That fuse set off everything was not bribes or greed or what have you, but traditional Byzantine diplomacy. It was interesting. I need to learn more before I can say yea or nay to the idea though. I find it plausible at least.

Flipping to the modern era, I have been plugging along in Mexico by Enrique Krauze. When I'm done with this, I think I'll have enough base knowledge to finally be able to read Noel's books. They're next on my Mexican historical tour.

Oh, and I also read Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds in the book store. My daughter loves playing in the kids area and my wife likes the shopping oustide, soooo...I found it...ok.

Anyways, so that's what I finished. I know, I know...I am a slacker.

Reading While Alone

I thought I'd do a reading update post of the books I cranked through while my family was gone. It's actually quite a few, truthfully, even though I am rather busy with Team Phoenicia and work. I still tried to squeeze in book time and a good chunk of it was while I was on the exercise bike.

I actually gulped some fiction. I needed some escapism being a bit lonely and stressed at the same time sucketh. I read His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. This was a Xmas gift from my teenage cousins. They knew I was an avid SF reader and they loved this. I liked it. I'm not much of a fantasy type, but it wasn't bad at all. I'll have to drop them a thank you note. Despite my antifantasy leanings, I also read A Feast of Souls by CS Friedman. I rather like Friedman's work. It was good, far better than The Wilding, but fell short of In Conquest Born and other vivid works of hers. I also tackled Alastair Reynolds' Galactic North. It was okay. Certain things tripped and broke the nose of my WSOD.

In Team Phoenicia related reading, I tackled Principles of Real-time Software Engineering and Real-Time Systems Development. I've hit my OD point on reading about embedded theoreticals and such. I'm actually in the down and dirty phase anyways. The former had some interesting points on how to approach RT development from a software engineering PoV. The latter was a more detailed version of all the other books I'd read on the subject. If I have time, I'll put up a post about what someone ought to read if they want to get a good background on the subject (and what's missing) based on my experiences with Team Phoenicia and my reading.

In things paleo related, I read The Eocene-Oligocene Transition by Dr Donald Prothero. The book is getting a bit long in the tooth since it was published almost a decade and a half ago. He does do a good job of pointing out what was definitely not the mechanism for causing the Eocene extinctions. However, tehre has been a lot of research in the mean time and a lot more has been figured out than back in the early 90s when Dr Prothero was writing this book. I also tackled Supercontinent by Ted Nield.

I also worked my way through Puerto Rico by Fernando Pico. I was dismayed by the lack of discussion of the Insular Cases and their effect on Puerto Rico. There was an extensive background for the pre-US involvement though. That was good, but I found unsatisfying a number of spots. Far too many statements thrown out without examples (frex, interventions by the US prior to the invasion. He said they happened. But what? When? How?)

Right now I am seeing if I can swallow Alan Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence before Lyuda and Avrora arrive.

Not too bad, but nearly the rate I read prior to getting married. ;)

Books

I picked up a few more books for The Mischief. They're not for fun reading, though, alas. However, I am not grumbling at all for expanding my knowledge.

There were two more programming books. The first was Principles of Real-Time Software Engineering since I've not had a real time software engineering specific reading (or project. hacking, yes, coding, yes, debugging, yes, but never a real SWE PoV). The second book is a copy of Real-Time Systems Development. I wanted to refine a little more on what I remember and what I have been cramming in since November. I am hoping this one helps.

The next one really ought to throw some of you for a loop. It's An Introduction to Celestial Mechanics. I've monkeyed with the equations and such before, but never had a formal reading or class in it. As for how this relates to anything else? Just wait and see. When the website's ready (oy) more will be clear.

Ex Mex

As some of you know, Mexico and the politics of immigration have been one of my main reading themes these days. I really want to get a better understanding of what is going on here. There is an awful lot of FUD out there about the illegal immigrants. That said, it is one of the most important issues that we have today. We have 12 million illegals in the country. They're mostly not bad people, just individuals that are seeking a better life. Just like the rest of the immigrants that are seeking to come to the us. Just like Americans, they work for it. Often times they work under some rather nasty conditions and there's de nada they can do because if they complain to the cops, well, they're illegal and could quite probably be deported for it. That said, they are, despite what some corners would like us to believe, criminals: they have most definitely broken the law in a nontrivial way.

Yeah, I am a 'rule of law' stickler and not just here: if you don't like the law, get it changed, but until then, follow it. Considering the immigration nightmares we've faced trying to get Lyuda's family to immigrate, we have some nontrivial biases here too. It really pisses us off that we have been unable to get my sister-in-law here as either a student or under the fact that she is an ubercompetent, trained professional in an in demand field (nurse), yet can get past the evil embassy.

That said, I really want to fill out my opinion with more facts than merely personal experience. There's more to this than merely my personal feelings of frustration, anger, and idealism: there are real people with real hopes, dreams, and needs involved seeking a life that they can't get in their home country. In the vast majority of the cases that would be Mexico.

The books I have read about the subject have been from the right (oy) to the left (ugh) on the political spectrum, but before I picked up Ex Mex the only books on the immigration issue that I had read were all written by Americans. While I had read some Mexican history books that had been contributed to by Mexicans, mostly they too had been written by Americans in Mexico. I do have a tome sitting up on the to-read stack that is a Mexican history written exclusively by a Mexican historian in English, I hadn't gotten to it yet due to its size. I have had a reading cycle that has been going something like this: mischief related reading (normally embedded or real time computing)->paleo related reading->Mexican/immigration politics & history->mischief related reading. I couldn't take too much time between getting back to the mischief related reading since I am cramming as much into my brain as fast as I can, yet still I needed a mental rinse between each lathering so to speak. Hence, Krauze's tome is simply too long at this point.

On the other hand, Castenada's Ex Mex seemed the right length and was explicitly on the immigration issue and written from the Mexican point of view. So! I picked it up and read it as soon as the next cycle came around. Unfortunately, I am very disappointed with the book. Taking a line from my wife as she learns how to appease her English profs, the book was super-repetitious. It kept looping through the same information in different chapters. At times I could swear I was reading the exact same text as from a previous chapter. Perhaps this is a writing style in Spanish, IDK, but since I don't - to my everlasting shame - read Spanish, I can't say. However, when rendered into English, its pretty awkward and makes for a unpleasant read. The total amount of original information contained in the book, and that which is worth making the effort to read, could have been contained in a single, much smaller essay or magazine article.

That said, there are bits that are interesting and worth reading. None of the books I've read to date on Mexican history touched much on the Bracero Program. In fact, I barely knew it existed, nevermind that it was a 'bitter' experience for Mexicans. Castenada highlights this and points out that the idea of a guest worker program is nothing new. I'm not really fond of the idea because of my liberal-ish thoughts that this would lead to the same problems that have arisen elsewhere (frex, the Turks in Germany).

One tidbit that I hadn't heard before is that there is a strong opinion among demographers, according to the author, that somewhere between 2016-2022, the immigration flow will largely stop. Huh?! I hadn't heard that before. My own head in sand? Or something that people in the political debate just didn't want to discuss? The reasons are pretty good that they argue this. The reason is that fertility is continuing to fall in Mexico just as it is all over the world and not just in the first world countries. Virtually all nations are falling to or below replacement levels. Mexico is no exception (fwiw, amusingly, the US is one notable exception). If the trends hold true, Mexicans will reach a population growth that matches their job growth somewhere between 2016-2022. At that point the economy will provide enough jobs and wages that immigration pressure will fall off and probably end completely. That's interesting. I have to think through whether or not I buy it. Castaneda isn't sure he buys it. Even so, it's worth pondering.

One of the other points that make me take notice is that the Mexicans have a looooong history of coming to US illegally and the government - and Americans in general - just looking the other way. When Americans state that we are a nations of laws and that Mexicans, if they want to come here, should follow the rules, the Mexicans have a "huh!? What rules?!" The reason being that even though we had a set immigration policy, when it came to the Mexicans, we haven't enforced it, almost ever[1], over the course of one hundred years plus that the illegal immigration has been happening. Therefore, it has seemed and still does to the Mexicans that they had a special status, a special unsaid exemption and that those of us that talk of the "Rule of Law" are hypocrites. In some ways, they have a point, but only in some. We ought to acknowledge that we shouldn't have done that and that we did, but work to improve the situation, imo.

There's more in the book, but for the most part, I can't say a lot of it was that original. There bits (Mexicans have swung wildly from condemning anyone that leaves Mexico as traitors to declaring them heroes, frex) , pieces (almost ten percent of Mexico's population now resides in the US), and nibbles (Mexico tried in the 1970s to set up cross border cultural associations for the Latinos and Hispanics in the US of Mexican descent, but it failed badly since they viewed themselves as Americans of Mexican descent who loved Mexico, but not Mexican nationals), but by and large I have to say that if you would like to read this one, I'd wait until its in the bargain bin or pick it up used. I felt a bit cheated and disappointed by the book. The insight wasn't that deep. The prose and organization was awkward. The amount of new information, despite being written by the former foreign minister of Mexico, wasn't that large. Alas.

1. Notable exception being Operation Wetback.

well gosh

I got a little writing done on the dicynodont post today.

I tackled issues at work and took care of my daughter as well.

I had planned on reviewing Ex Mex, but....

Some huge things mischief related came up and over the top today in a very good way! There are some clarifications that need to take place, but I have my first sponsor for my trouble I have been trying to get into. I'm bouncing. My wife's going to go nuts. In fact I have so much energy right now its as though I was just given 4 cups of coffee.


Geez. I probably need to go for a run or at least the gym to bleed this off.

A Bit More on Books

To round out the books I purchased from gift cards for Christmas, I settled on the following books.

To continue the paleo theme, I picked up Continents and Supercontinents like I mentioned that I planned to in my last post on books. I also picked up Evolutionary Paleoecology. I wanted to get more paleo themed books, but two others came up that I couldn't ignore.

For what its worth, as a former borderer, I am a bit ashamed that I didn't know as much about Mexican politics or history as I really ought to have. I have been boning up on my Mexican history recently. I digested some of it and even read some on illegal immigration from that country. Some of those books were quite despicable. I saw a new release about the illegal immigration from the Mexican point of view. That seemed intriguing. Considering that its also from a nontrivial mover and shaker in Mexico, Ex Mex seemed like it would be an interesting read even if I might disagree with its conclusions. Then again, I might not: I haven't even cracked it open yet.

Returning to an older theme about building a home, I had a chance to jump on a used and inexpensive copy of a book I almost ordered last year: Prescriptive method for insulating concrete forms in residential construction. I declined way back because it was quite expensive and unavailable except through a trade organization. I also was getting rather frustrated at the time with the land deals that kept getting gummed up in title issues. I stumbled across it at one fifth the price and through Amazon, so I snapped it up. I need it even if its not for this year.

I have been reading and made some progress: I read Designing Embedded Hardware, Polar Dinosaurs of Australia (which I am not happy about, but its my own fault), and Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems (which is about lagerstatten). Disappointingly, there's been none such for the Permian whatsoever. I am half done with Russia's Far East. I set it aside because it required more stop and think time as I went and my daughter wasn't helping with that a whole lot. We got her a gear set for Second Christmas (orthodox) and she loves to play with papa with it.

Plus, my late evenings have been filled with cad drawing madness.