Hi Chris. Thanks a bunch. I learned quite a bit from your post. Funding is a big problem. It can stop you dead if you don’t have the money to do the research. Just getting to a place where you can discover something can cost more then what the average scientist has. You have to go where the money is as if you expect to survive. Keep in mind that what you learn at one place may also apply at another.

There was a time when I could get out and walk the faults, but like you clotting has taken its toll. Now all I get for my efforts is pain. My problem is two-fold in that I also have an injury that surgeons don’t want to touch for fear of making the problem worse. One wrong cut I would be pain free, but I would never walk again. For me that wasn’t and isn’t an option. I still walk some faults. Those that are known and not much climbing involved.

Like you I see quakes occur in the area around where I live that I know there are no known faults there. They are small quakes so for the most part there are no “moment tensor solutions” available for them. In some instances I’m able to drive to the area and explore in that fashion. I try to identify any faults in the area by looking at small stream and any offsets in them. I look for sag ponds and growth at the bottom of hills for a clue as to the type of faulting in the area. Slides can be a help, but they can also give you a lot of misleading clues. In most cases they are nothing more then a slide, but still I take them into consideration.

Stay with it Chris. One day your ship will come in and you will be packed and ready to go. Take Care…Don in creepy town