Hi All,

I thought I'd just pen a few thoughts about Fall AGU 2004. It appeared to me that attendance was down this year, though it could be the layout of the West Moscone Center compared to North and South. It was far more convenient to get from the parking garage next door into the building, which was quite nice, especially for Don with his leg and back problems.

I didn't see as much objectionable dress as I have in the past. Most everyone dressed appropriately. I saw a beautiful young woman dressed marvelously in posters on Thursday and when I cruised down her way I saw she was in Planetary Sciences and then I understood. Don and I met a delightful young woman who just got her PhD in archeology, but her job is preparing press releases and writing for GeoTimes. She was so excited about her work. There cannot possibly be enough of that to go around.

I do have a question for John and Chris about poster presentations. When I see a poster which I would like to review with the person in attendance I ask them if they could "explain their poster" to me. More often than not, this seems to bring about a puzzled facial expression from the presenter and I suppose I could be asking the question improperly. If there is a more appropriate way to express this, could you please advise what that might be.

Don and I decided this year, in light of the past years of poor dining experiences, not to attend any food-sponsored events. Actually, we both love Mel's Drive In, except this one is the walk-in type. There are many photos of the shooting of American Graffiti on the walls and as I know most of the filming locations it's rather like a family album. We certainly weren't alone. The place was full of other AGU'ers with badges all over the place.

For those of you who did not make it to the Parkfield presentation today, Don said they revealed that the tensor strain instruments running across the fault accelerated 26 seconds before the earthquake arrived. It appears the instruments on site are not good for prediction, but certainly very good for fault study.

Overall, I think we met most of the people we wanted to and probably furthered our education about fault behavior. I had a conversation with one scientist about earthquake safety and he told me that another one, who is rather well known, especially in regard to safety, told him that (he/she) has now taken the position that people shouldn't do anything during an earthquake, because to make a choice might result in making the wrong choice. I found it surprising and I hope this person doesn't say that to very many people. I'd love to discuss it with that person, however, as I heard it elsewhere I don't suppose that would go over very well. It's one of those odd bits you hear and you hope it doesn't become widely circulated.

As for me, I had another great limo-Christmas lunch this year. There is nothing better than riding in a limo, drinking pink champagne, rocking out and just having a good time. It was great day for a party in San Francisco.

Petra