And Now For Something Completely Different

So even though this was intended to be primarily a Geology related blog, I've decided to post about something completely unrelated in a late night caffeine fueled rant (and hopefully get some more views).

As some may know, I'm a fairly successful seller on Ebay. I have been selling since I was 18 and working hard to build a good reputation with my customers. The not so brilliant minds behind the corporation have also been working hard to undermine small time sellers like myself with weird, useless, and expensive changes to the listing policies. Aside from only giving good visibility in search results to sellers who ALREADY have high volume sales and don't need it, now Ebay is taking away optional shipping insurance. Sellers are now REQUIRED to pay for the insurance instead of leaving it up to the buyer (and out of the 300+ transactions that I've been a part of, maybe 12 of them have involved purchasing shipping insurance). Ebay's answer to this: just raise your shipping costs or start your items higher. Well, geniuses, buyers already complain about shipping costs even when they're well under the true cost, and if people start their items higher then less people will bid on them. Once again, only large scale businesses can absorb these extra costs. Thanks a lot, Ebay, eventually only large businesses will be able to sell and Ebay will become another Amazon.com.

I'm going to do some skillful cross promoting here - this links to my Ebay My World page if anyone's interested to see what I'm selling (changes weekly of course) http://myworld.ebay.com/karajaco

Just to tie this into geology, here's a nice picture of some rock from my Petrology trip in May. (fault shatter zone in Maine with some feet for scale bars)

"What are you going to do with THAT?!"

So the most common question I get asked after informing people of my choice in majors is "What are you going to do with a degree in THAT?!" I decided I'd do a short post on potential jobs that I know about in my field.

I'm currently on track to get a bachelor of sciences degree in Geology, but I'm focusing on more general earth systems instead of strictly geology. I am able to bypass classes like Structural Geology and Computer Mapping by taking Climatology and Astronomy, for example. This track was designed for people who are going into teaching, but it also works for people who are interested in Pre-Med/Dental and like geology, or Pre-Law (like me!)

So, for future reference, I can get a job in environmental law or as a consultant for companies who need knowledge of the law combined with practical knowledge and skills. Vague, I know. I can also work in the field on various projects having to do with mineral content or location of groundwater or my personal favorite, using the history preserved in rocks to piece together what the ancient world looked like. Or I might want to get a job in the Seismology field so I could help predict earthquakes and the evil minions that go along with them.
So for all you naysayers, I have Options! (it's always good to have options)

PS. I'd like to post a relevant link - a compadre in the Umass geosciences department is spending several weeks in Svalbard, this sad little island above the Arctic Circle where it's still only like 40 degrees even though it's summer and the sun won't set for another month or something like that. He's got a blog too, so since it's relevant to geology AND he's a pretty chill guy check it out: http://researcharctic.blogspot.com