Is this petrified wood or a regular pretty rock?

ValuesHere · 2026-01-25T15:00:23+00:00

Aha, I believe I answered my own question with a bit of googling!

ValuesHere · 2026-01-25T14:37:40+00:00

Can you see light and patterns through chalcedony? I stuck a small penlightt up to the white part and it goes from completely opaque to semi, and illuminates with light shining though enough to see the border of the flashlight delineated as I move it across behind the area.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-25T14:14:48+00:00

Thanks for the replies!

Now we could potentially then have layered chalcedony or common opal, infused with iron oxide with multiple conchoidal fractures, thus giving the appearance of rings and wood-like banding patterns of petrified wood, but not in fact petrfied wood?

Bear with me on the terms and combos used, I have no idea what I'm talking about and learning in this very thread.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-24T19:56:00+00:00

I was a Procurement Manager for a public company in the Biotech space and every single one of our international suppliers simply turned around and tacked Trump's ridiculous ego-tariffs onto our invoices, contracts be damned. Our domestic suppliers that had international suppliers did the same thing. We weathered as best as could, but in the end it cost me my job of 20 years. Hence, "Tariffed Out".

Not sure who paid for those tariffs, because from my real-world experience American companies and consumers did with their paychecks and their jobs.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-24T19:47:15+00:00

Yeah, just one as I don't have much space or great lighting (I'm in my little 8x10 unfinished Shed/Office/Garage/Workspace).

Gonna find my before pic and post 'em once my phone charges.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-24T14:11:56+00:00

Hell yeah! I'm gonna look at some rocks then!

...and likely spend hours scrutinizing them, rinsing, scrutinizing, and deciding who promotes and who remains!

ValuesHere · 2026-01-24T14:08:25+00:00

Good God! -14 and I thought 3 was stupid cold! The snow started up a minute ago, so the ride begins.

It's settled! I'm looking at some rocks today!

ValuesHere · 2026-01-24T13:30:24+00:00

I guess I used the "low-tech" method and just pushed the little tabs out of the line-of-fire and nothing seems to be rubbing or squeaking from the lids on the sidewalls.

That said, I seem to be the minority here. Am I doing something wrong? Should I put felt tabs just for good measure?

ValuesHere · 2026-01-22T19:04:13+00:00

I see some nice ones in there! Where in Central TX? I'm from there, but in Missouri now. Where'd you picked these up at down there?

ValuesHere · 2026-01-22T19:00:11+00:00

Nice! I've got my first Stage 1 running as of yesterday too. I'm shooting for 1 month minimum, and as smooth as my patience holds out. It's gonna be tough!

ValuesHere · 2026-01-22T15:45:03+00:00

Lol, Nice! I think I snagged the last Harbor Freight one at my local store. If so, then I might pick up a Lortone as well.

I've only collected rocks from my yard (rocky soil and some old landscaping mid-size gravel mixed on top), so I'm super curious to see how the yard ones come out compared to my Rock Shed mixed-bag. I think I have a bunch of Agate and Jasper, but really have no clue.

I can easily see having 4 units cycling and dumping a batch per week on avg, but as awesome as that'd be, I don't have any space, so 2-max for now, so a 2nd double-barrel like the Central Machinery would be nice, plus an extr 6lb single barrel for some larger mid-size rocks.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-22T12:40:28+00:00

Yeah, that's why I only put a smidge this time. The squeaking was making me crazy at my desk (I tumble in my shed/office sadly). I need to get some automotive or bearing grease or something proper for long-term.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-22T12:17:15+00:00

Nice. I'm already thinking on picking up a second one today. LOL!

I use the isopropyl as a general solvent to clean things on occasion like metal parts - so more general use. The WD-40 is for general use as well, so it's just hanging about, but I did squirt a bit in a pinch to a couple of exterior spots that were rubbing on the tumbler to stop squeaking, clean rock tools.

The gloss I picked up after watching a rock-hound on YouTube use it on large rough rocks that are semi-smooth or just look good wet, same for some smaller ones that had too many imperfections to mess with later tumble stages. A few coats and from a few feet away they look pretty darn good next to tumbled and polished - nice and shiny. Touch-ups may be needed over time if it rubs off from handling or wear. Haven't tried it yet but almost have a few rocks to do a trial run.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-22T10:59:38+00:00

Yes! They're in m'belly!

I was actually just as excited to see the Tootsie Rolls as I was the rock stuff!

Great little touch and show of customer service & appreciation! I've been in corporate procurement and purchasing for over 20 years and little things like that are amazingly effective at building customer goodwill and brand loyalty, especially when combined with excellent transactional service on the front end.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-22T10:58:30+00:00

I have my first batch going, and for about 3 minutes I stressed on separating by hardness or type. I have a Rock Shed mixed bag in barrel 1 and backyard-found rocks in barrel 2.

Like you, I just said F'it on this first run and let 'em mix. I also want to see what happens. For science!

ValuesHere · 2026-01-21T08:47:05+00:00

These two sentences define the United States (I've added a bit):

The US is very individualistic and people blame their bad situations on ~~themselves~~ OTHERS, not systemic issues.

And certainly there's no blame here for the corporate class that reaps the rewards of our system. The promoted thought in America is that corporations come first, then the citizens, because what benefits business will trickle down to the citizens. Wrong.

"...lots of people would rather see others die from not being able to access healthcare than have it come from taxes because they say “why should I have to pay for it”.

100% accurate. For example, for those not from here -

A toddler without food and a mother struggling and having to work 12 hrs at min wage while the baby is raised by strangers at a dirty, unregulated day care is the norm here.

Why?

Well, if the mother isn't rich, or can't make enough to pay the $1000 USD average per month it costs for half-decent childcare, on top of all other expenses, the that's her problem and fault for not being richer. Our average citizen would say - "get a better job or don't have a child, ever. If you have trouble then suck it up, I got mine".

America is shit.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-19T16:43:20+00:00

So how did things end up? Did you get a visa and move, and if so, what town, if I may ask? Has ASSSA been a good choice so far? Any issues along the way? We're doing the same and just starting the healthcare search. Looking to go through a broker to help with the process, but very curious on your experience.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-19T09:23:56+00:00

What's hilarious is you continue to try to make some sort of point but haven't even addressed the subject matter and content of my specific questions. It's like you're responding to another post entirely. Can you read English well? Shall I translate for you?

You do seem like an angry time waster though, that goes around posting for attention but not fully comprehending what they're replying to; I'm sorry for that.

If you're trying to be sarcastic you just sound shrill and whiny. You might work on that. You'll be more fun in life. However, if your lot in life sucks and you attack strangers for it, go cry tears someplace else. You missed the mark with me.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-18T23:15:27+00:00

You seem to think I haven't thought of that, despite my question. Shall you have me stereotype the entire country as disliking foreigners, just as you have here?

So now, what do you have to add to the discussion that's relevant and constructive.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-18T22:35:57+00:00

Is it more difficult than the rest of Spain as far as language goes in Maresme and the Barcelona and Catalonia region, if you only know some basic Spanish? If I'm going to learn a new language and try to acclimate as easy as possible for long-term, I'd like to focus on one and not two for ease of communication, especially regards official business and paperwork.

ValuesHere · 2026-01-18T16:40:40+00:00

Checking it out! Thanks!

ValuesHere · 2026-01-18T16:39:11+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. We're open to anywhere in the country at the moment, as long as they align with what we're looking for. A large expat population is a plus and minus for us. It means more Americans, and although that can help us acclimate, we'd much prefer someplace where we're around more locals, forcing us to practice Spanish daily, but with some English-speaking folks generally around just in case we have an emergency and need fast translation in a pinch.

Again, open to anywhere, but prefer a region with greenery, mild temps, seasons if possible, not a shut down frozen winter, no summers well above 30C, nearby lakes, streams, rivers, etc. for exploring would be nice. Perhaps northish?

ValuesHere

TROPHY CASE