...

...

Flip Flop Tsunami

IMG_2046Am. Samoa  Feb 2010  (E Medley)I benefited from the experience of being roused from my Pago Pago hotel in the early hours of the morning due to a tsunami threat from the M8.8 Chilean earthquake of Feb 26. This is the second emergency in the two weeks I have here. I know now what is important for me to grab in an emergency: passport, computer and power cord, back up hard drive, field note books, camera; cell phone and water. Read more

Consulting Like Ron

My wife had a call from a prospective client of Ron’s the other night. We were recommendation number 5. He said that he thought all of Ron’s referrals must have been on Ron’s payroll; that everybody raved about Ron.
Read more

Weighing with a Voyol

Pre-dawn reading of Patrick O’Brian’s “The Far Side of the World*” (with marine hero, Master and Commander, Captain Jack Aubrey) delights but puzzles me with some splendid, strong, salty yet obscure phrases, like this running commentary to child midshipmen of a rare-used weighing with a voyol: “Watch now. He makes it fast to the cable – he reeves the jeer-fall through it – the jeerfall is brought to its capstan, with the standing part belayed to the bitts. So you get a direct runner-purchase instead of a dead nip, do you understand?” Read more

What THEY Didn’t Teach GAR at Engineering School

In 1992 I wrote an essay: What THEY Didn’t Teach Me in Engineering School. Just this week I found a 1995 letter from my dearest and best friend, Dr. Gretchen A. Rau, PE, in which she gave me her own thoughts on both my essay and her own experiences as a woman engineer in the 1980’s.

I admired Gretchen’s thoughts in 1995, and I admire them now. I have Dr. Rau’s permission to share her thoughts, although she tells me that she no longer is the person she was in the 1980’s, nor even the woman she was in 1995. She also feels as though some of her reflection has some ’80’s feminist thinking — she is not sure now that anyone expects women to take notes or get coffee if they’re a professional. Read more

Puss-Puss

pusspuss PagoPago IMG_0928 (ed medley)This is a St. Valentine’s Day Tale. In 1982 I was the supervisor of a large geotechnical engineering service project for the Ok Tedi mine. My crew was about 70 people – all males. But being boss, I had le droit de seigneur; the right to take female company. So I took unto me a female companion, Puss-Puss. Read more

Lollygagging with Rene

Cyclone Rene Feb 13 2010 am JTWC JPEGIt is just after dawn. I am in Pago Pago (PAHNgo PAHNgo), on Tutuila island in American Samoa. On most Saturday mornings I lollygag, putter, don’t do much of anything. So, as usual this Saturday morning, I am lollygagging while keeping Rene company. Read more

Next Page »

  • About this melange of a site

    This website is a melange, a mixture of career-related professionalia and personal content. It is a complex mixture, much like the chaotic rocks I enjoy working with.

  • Looking for Ed Medley the bimrock guy?

    Yes, that is me. Looking for another Ed Medley? Let him/her know I am looking for him/her too - check out the "Are You Ed Medley?" page.

  • Elitist Photos

    To see the snapshots exhibited as the random/melange exhibits at Elite Hair Design, go to the "Random Shots" page.

  • Seek info on Jahns Lectures?

    See Jahns Lecturer page for summary of my Jahns Jahr as the 2009 Richard H. Jahns Distinguished Lecturer in Engineering Geology .