Another snake

Water Snake
Originally uploaded by texasrobo

I saw another snake today, hanging out in a puddle formed by a tire rut. I was probably two steps away from it when I noticed (the photo is a zoom in). I have no idea what kind of snake it is, just that it's not venomous. I suppose I should look these things up. Maybe I should find a volunteer research associate.
It was not nearly as wet as I expected. I guess the Rosharon area only got around a tenth of an inch of rain. I still wore my waders, which was good because I hit some wet areas, but nothing higher than my ankles.
Nothing to report archaeologically yet. It's probably just as well, as the client would rather not have any more sites and I'd rather not record anther crappy early 20th century trash scatter.
Speaking of, I put some photos up on my Flickr of the cistern and some of the bottles I found at the site in Fort Bend County last time I was out here. There's also pictures of an owl I saw yesterday. Check them out!

Back in Alvin again

Not staying at the Best Western this time, so no HDTV with 100 channels. Decided to stay next door at Comfort Inn, to distribute my hotel points around. From what I've been hearing about the potential work schedule for the rest of the year, hotel points shouldn't be a problem unless we stay in places without the "name" hotels.
Out here by myself (and the drillers), taking care of a bunch of drill holes in a huge subdivision that looks to be suffering heavily from the housing slump. Most of the lots are undeveloped, there's a few empty houses for sale, and even a couple of the occupied homes (which are no more than 20% of the total lots) are for sale. I'm sure there's lots of nice things about Brazoria County, but I can't see buying a home and a couple of acres in an area that has such bad drainage issues. Sure, you can elevate the house, but you'd have to add a good 6-8 inches of fill dirt to a yard to make sure it wasn't a mucky mess most of the time.
Today the severe storms were a major concern, but they seemed to have missed this area. It didn't even start sprinkling until 2, and didn't get really heavy until 4 or so. I never heard any thunder or saw any lightning either. We are in a tornado watch right now, so I suppose some bad stuff can still happen. But mostly, I think I'll just have to deal with another inch or so of rain on the already saturated ground. Thus far, nothing archaeological at all. The highlights have been seeing an owl and the awesome soul and R&B station in Houston (Magic 102.1).
I've heard that I might be out in the field for the better parts of April, May, and June. I'm sure I'll blog about it when I know for sure. Kind of makes getting the thesis read and defended and graduating a little more challenging...

Welcome to Texas

Welcome to Texas
Originally uploaded by texasrobo

I uploaded a few pictures from the field here in Brazoria County, mostly fun shots and animals. I really wanted to keep this, but I was more than a mile from my truck.
I've already worked 47.5 hours this week. Tomorrow is likely another 11 hour day, and Saturday may be a full day plus a drive back to Austin. I'm banking right now.
Today I spent the day monitoring the drill crew. It was a little boring (no pun intended), but at least I didn't have to walk all over the place and got a ride across most of the wettest stuff. I think I'll be back with them tomorrow, when they actually drill near/in some sites.
That's about it. I find out tomorrow if I'm here for the long haul or going back on Saturday. I'll miss the HD-TV!