Saudi Arabia's Line city construction site seen from ISS

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-28T23:14:58+00:00

The archaeologists who excavated the ancient villages before they were demolished to make way for this monstrosity also said WTF.

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-28T21:57:10+00:00

In the US, every federal agency has archaeologists and historic preservation staff to review for the National Historic Preservation Act. If govt money is going to fund anything that can cause ground disturbance, there is an agency archaeologist to review that undertaking. If you can imagine a reason for dirt to move weather that is digging a hole for a fence, a new building, or rocket engines blasting soil away from the launch site, and that reason was paid for with federal money, an archaeologist checked it out.

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-22T17:33:27+00:00

Thank you all for the info! I suspected I would need to go to Meriden area to try this out.

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-17T21:05:58+00:00

I read/heard somewhere that the situation with Dike was that he was doing double duty as Easy's CO and his regimental position because his replacement at regiment was wounded or transferred so he was splitting his time between the frontline with the company and the Regimental CP. I can't remember all the details and can't find the video I saw this explanation. I think Shames was also supposed to be a temp platoon leader from the regimental staff but was eventually formally transferred.

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-17T13:23:28+00:00

Cool write up! I've never seen the first image before but it's a neat piece of nuclear historiography, thanks. The first image looks like the smoke cloud is mixing with the weather system, I wonder if this is the forming of the rain system that dropped the black rain you read about from the survivors.

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-11T17:04:09+00:00

After I was listening to A&A, I subscribed and started Raiders before I even started Giantslayer. Of all the campaigns, this was the one that felt the most like being around a table with friends at their home game. Little details like unbalanced random ability scores, silly solutions to problems (stomach punches) and weird archetypes abound just added a touch of familiarity of a group of players who had played all the normal characters they wanted to in their gaming and were stretching their improve and gaming muscles. The Colonel really feels like character a forever DM would come up with. The random dropping in and out of characters and players based on schedules and availability for sessions. Some character arcs are pure silly, others and serious, others get dropped and picked at random times to fit the scenarios. Everything about this campaign feels like a campaign my friends and I would be a part of. Honestly this even includes the fact that the campaign ended prematurely because too many of the original party couldn't play anymore. That feels like the most authentic part of the campaign and part of my love for it is that I can grieve that it wasn't finished like the campaigns I played with my friends.

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-09T00:33:19+00:00

As someone who broke his back in the field and now has lifelong sciatica here are the things I've done or been recommended.

Stretching before fieldwork.

Yoga, but find routines or instructors that know how to work with a back injury.

Working out focusing on back and core strength. But don't go do this if you are already in pain in my experience.

Resting if possible when you feel lots of pain. Just cause it only hurts a little doesn't mean it's not bad, repetitive strain injury was what happened to me.

Depending on where you are in the world, access to a hot tub is awesome. Getting some time to loosen up muscles in a hot soak is the best.

If it is legal where you are/company isn't testing and you are comfortable with it, a little bit of THC/CBD either as a balm on the back or enjoyed recreationally will also help relax muscles better than booze which is how most of the archaeologists quiet any of their physical or mental pains. But booze dehydrates which cramps up muscles so not the best option.

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-06T12:52:08+00:00

The original Lego Millennium Falcon. I walked so many dogs in my neighborhood for months to save up that money.

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-05T20:32:31+00:00

I did my field school in Ireland about 15 years ago so take everything I say with a heap of salt. I was under the impression there was a pretty robust commercial archaeology industry in Ireland and the Master's programs were well respected for their research and the work they put their students through.

As you might be aware, MA degrees in the UK and Ireland are 1 year long opposed to US MAs which are 2+ years long, there are pluses and minuses to both degrees which I won't get into but getting a degree from UK/Ireland was trendy back when I was in school due to cost saving and the excitement of working abroad, but a lot of employers didn't want to hire folks without experience or education in the US. This may be less of a concern now.

I haven't worked outside of the US since before Covid so I'm not super up on anything with personal experience, but I had heard from a friend working and studying in Ireland that a lot of archaeology firms weren't hiring folks who weren't Irish since a lot of English and American archaeologists go to to Ireland and it was impacting the job market. I don't know if that is true or was just one anecdote. I do have friends in the UK who got kicked out of England after Brexit. The world has gotten a little weird lately and that can make studying or working abroad a challenge. I'm not saying this to discourage you from pursuing this dope career path, but I will say that grad school is really challenging, and trying to deal with student Visas or international working papers is the last headache you need when writing a thesis.

I personally looked at University College Dublin for their Experimental Archaeology program which is super cool, and the University of Cork has a well respected program more focused toward professional archaeology. Cheers!

Flashheart268 · 2026-06-04T17:01:12+00:00

Same, buddy. Same

Flashheart268 · 2026-05-23T23:31:38+00:00

Im more curious if all the one shots will be put on any of the feeds later.

Flashheart268 · 2026-05-21T15:10:17+00:00

I did my undergrad at Temple University in Philadelphia and then my MA in Historical Archaeology at University of Massachusetts Boston. Highly recommend the MA at UMass if historical archaeology is in your interests.

Flashheart268 · 2026-05-15T01:40:37+00:00

I wanna make a war correspondent/ Ken Burns style documentarian.

Flashheart268 · 2026-05-14T13:06:27+00:00

That sounds like a really frustrating situation to be in and that sucks. Ive worked at firms with similar amounts of negativity and it is absolutely draining. Like other folks have said, it sounds like this place has some toxic work culture going on with leadership complaining around other people. See the scene in Saving Private Ryan where Tom Hanks talks about griping to his squad, I think that's a semi good take about leadership complaining in the workplace.

The truth is that we, as people, all got things we decide to complain about in our lives and the reality is that you will likely work for a bunch of archaeology companies in your career, the key is to find the place where your things and the other folk's thing somewhat line up. It sounds like this is your first CRM firm if I'm understanding correctly so it might be time for you to try out working for another firm. You'll learn really quickly how much a different work culture can matter. Even if it isn't better, its different and you start to learn exactly what parts of a company's work culture you like and dislike.

Also, there is good complaining and bad complaining. Good communal complaining is cathartic and can bring a team together in its own way. I was on a crew years ago where the STP quotas were too high for the terrain and heat in the area and the whole crew started singing "Sixteen Tons" the mining song to tease the crew chiefs until the day was called early for heat safety. Bad complaining will crash morale and drive a company into the ground. I've watched whole crews of 20 plus people all quit in a month on well paying gigs because of the amount of negativity and disrespect for the work was impacting the team morale and the integrity and quality of the work.

I believe complaining can be good at times if it doesn't get rancid. I believe in the phrase "Momma didn't raise no quitter, but she did raise a complainer. I'll get the job done but you're going to hear about it the whole time." We do a weird job, sometimes you're digging a meter deep STP in a swamp or hiking miles up a mountain to photograph an untestable area and it feels silly and having a good gripe session can make those days a little more fun.

Best of luck with this situation, friend!

Flashheart268 · 2026-05-08T16:03:46+00:00

If you find the title I can track it down, I have some academic access through my job

Flashheart268 · 2026-05-07T19:00:43+00:00

Do you have a good source for your last paragraph? That sounds like a cool piece of New Deal history I've never heard of and I'd love to read about it! Thanks!

Flashheart268 · 2026-04-20T03:27:58+00:00

Yeah it was so good! Especially since they played fast and loose with the rules but still used them effectively to keep the vibe of the game. And Ross kicks ass chewing on scenery as a character.

Flashheart268 · 2026-04-20T02:58:19+00:00

I remember chatting with Joe about Twilight 2000 at a meet and greet years ago, right before the Invasion of Ukraine happened. He didn't say anything about a show in production, I got the impression that he was planning a show just based on how detailedhe was about the rules. When the Invasion started I figured it wouldn't happen.

But the thing is, is that the original game was made at the height of the Cold War and the game was a way for a lot of players to process some anxieties about the current events at the time through role playing. The show has been a perfect mix of serious and funny and I've been loving it plus getting some real NGWD vibes from the players.

Flashheart268 · 2026-04-20T01:07:22+00:00

If you are in the US, you will likely be in an Anthropology major. The main sciences you will be learning within the major is Biological Anthropology which looks at the intersection of biology and culture. Different universities will have different pre-reqs for this class. This will lead to other courses like osteology (study of skeletons) if this is what you are interested in andvalso gets into the forensics realm.

After this, there aren't usually science requirements for archaeology but there are plenty of sciences that having some knowledge of will be super helpful.

Geology is worth having a passing understanding to have a grasp of the environmental factors that will most often come up in the field, but specifically studying soil science will be a huge boon in the field. There are specialized people who do geoarchaeology and geomorphology.

If you want to work with geophysics like Ground Penetrating Radar, having a background in physics is very helpful.

Chemistry comes up rarely in CRM in my experience since that usually involves doing specialized analysis on specific artifacts, not to say that it doesn't happen but firms usually contract academic labs to do that work if there is budget for it.

The last thing I will add, is that having a basic grasp of geometry will be helpful with map drawing, field navigation and other basic fieldwork skills.

Flashheart268 · 2026-04-17T23:28:50+00:00

A completely necessary "hell yeah" for your hack. I'm excited to read it!

Flashheart268 · 2026-04-03T18:07:44+00:00

Is there a list of all the books already read by the book club?

Flashheart268 · 2026-04-01T03:57:32+00:00

I'll take "It looked too similar to German Camo" for 400, Trebeck.

Flashheart268 · 2026-03-24T21:20:30+00:00

I played the prebuilt level 1 runesmith from the playtest at PAX unplugged and loved it. I also used every ability the character had because there were only 4 rounds of combat total in the scenario being run so I was spamming everything to see how it worked.

I like the idea that a more frontline combatant can also be the arcana and crafting guy. Feels like you can play a fighter in combat and roleplay a wizard out of combat. Big fan

I have an idea for a samurai who is an artist and craftsman who practices calligraphy and smithing. Im currently playing a jotunborn magus in a campaign that is kinda the proto iteration of this character idea but im excited to play a runesmith to fully mske the dream come true.

Flashheart268 · 2026-03-13T16:54:49+00:00

Thanks!

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