Chris,

You didn't really answer my question, nor did Roger either. Surely brainstorming is a very productive event, business partners have been doing it since way back, but the nitty gritty question is, what makes you want to keep doing more of what you're doing now? What motivates you to get up in the morning and ask the big question of the day? Like, why is that, that way? It has to be more than a way of earning money.

Could it perhaps be a way of life? Many scientists enjoy being at home alone, being their own boss as it were. Is that an attractive benefit? From a worldly woman's point of view I am positive between being at home alone and to many men working together without benefit of female co-workers it explains the plethora of poor people skills. I don't mean you. But you've heard me mention them before. Actually, I'll mention one more. When I was standing and waiting to speak to Tom Jordan the last time I was at the USGS some poor male soul stood to the side and had the nerve to cut in front of me. When I say poor soul, I mean it. He looked as though he had been stuck in the corner of life for too long. He had this long sleeved flannel shirt on and the sleeves were just hanging on his arms so when he raised them a little he looked like a ghoul. It was bizarre. I won't even mention what he said because most of it was unintelligible.

Are there any perks? Do you get any candy from people? A bottle wine or champagne if things go right? I got a box with chocolate last week that was in the form of a chess set with dark and light chocolate chess pieces and the words, "Congratulations on a great move." Then there are the massages twice a month at work and today I found out we have a dry cleaner service that picks up our clothes and brings them back twice a week. The only thing we are lacking is a guy to come by and shine our shoes. And I do enjoy the man who waters my plant once a week. It should stay alive for a good long while.

And I have to ask one really good question. Before you retire thirty years from now, is there anything that you want to achieve which would be beyond the realm of normal? Is there a goal which is difficult to achieve? Maybe you can be the first to correctly and accurately predict a 7.0 quake in a major metropolitan area and save thousands of lives? You never know. I think you caught the bug but don't know it yet.

Petra