Odd request?

[Xyzzy]

Our CFO has recently received a job offer in Arkansas that would require us to move.

We have been to Arkansas before, but it was pointless military exercise so we (thankfully) do not remember much, except the bone-jarring night jump and the extremely vicious poison ivy.

Anyways, we were wondering if anyone on the forum has any personal knowledge of the area in the picture below.

We are very happy here in the avant-garde metropolis of Raleigh but the job offer is a pretty good one, which makes the Trolls, and us, slightly suspicious.

[garo]

Please pass on our congratulations to your CFO and tell the trolls to take a hike! Can't help you with your request but best wishes whatever decision you take.

[Xyzzy]

The CFO has begun to pack some boxes. We are not sure how to interpret this development. Maybe it is a diversion? And if it is, what from?

Anticipating the possibility of less-than-desirable road surfaces, we have exchanged the Z06 for a small truck.

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

Anticipating the possibility of less-than-desirable road surfaces, we have exchanged the Z06 for a small truck.

When I drove through Arkansas a year ago the highways were just fine. But I didn't pass through the particular area you indicate on the map.

(You know there's a public-access "finders keepers" diamond mine in SW Arkansas, right? http://www.craterofdiamondsstatepark.com/ )

[Xyzzy]

When I drove through Arkansas a year ago the highways were just fine.

We just needed a vaguely believable excuse to keep the CFO from blowing a gasket.

You know there's a public-access "finders keepers" diamond mine in SW Arkansas, right?

That looks pretty cool. Kids must love burrowing in all that dirt! We wonder if anybody has ever found anything valuable.

[bsquared]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

we have exchanged the Z06 for a small truck.

As compared to this one, maybe

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

That looks pretty cool. Kids must love burrowing in all that dirt! We wonder if anybody has ever found anything valuable.

http://www.craterofdiamondsstatepark...tatistics.aspx

16 carat wt enough?
a 5.75 carat was found last year

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

That looks pretty cool.

Yes, it is!

I stopped there the day after day-long rains, which is the best time for gem-hunting because rain washes soil off gems and exposes them. (Just lucky coincidence: my schedule was fixed long in advance.) Something I learned at the visitor's center: Most gems shed mud and dirt easily because their surfaces are too hard to bond well with dirt (or with your skin, so they feel "oily" even though they aren't). So, after a rain, one can find gems sitting on top of the dirt in their own little crater where the water washed the soil around them. Some I found were just like that.

"The average size of a diamond [found there] is about the size of a paper match head." That's how big my pieces of jasper were.

In two hours (all the leaning-over my back would take) of sliding over/through the thick mud, almost falling several times, I picked up six stones, which turned out to be three pieces of jasper and three others that turned out to be mere sandstone. (Who knows how many I passed over without recognition.) There's a table where a park employee identifies what you found.

BTW, the park does a brisk business in selling slip-over rubber booties to people who didn't bring their own mudwear. They also sell other equipment such as trowels, gloves, tweezers, magnifying glasses, ponchos, cloth bags to hold your findings ... everything useful for gem-hunting in mud/rain/dirt. They have extensive illustrated instructions for different recommended methods of hunting and identifying gems.

http://www.craterofdiamondsstatepark...ault.aspx#Wear

Kids must love burrowing in all that dirt!

Yes, especially when they see so many adults doing so very intently!

When there hasn't been rain for a few days, the park plows the field to turn over the dirt. When there is rain, it washes off whatever's in the topmost layer.

I had tremendous fun, though my physical condition limited my bent-over hunting time. I could've just looked down while remaining upright, as some do, but I wasn't finding anything that way, so I bent over to see better.

We wonder if anybody has ever found anything valuable.

Total of 183 carats weight of almost 1000 diamonds last year. That's just the diamonds; they don't keep track of all the amethysts, agates, jasper, garnets and so on which far outnumber the diamonds.

The visitor center had several found diamonds on display. The largest was named: "Star of Amarillo" or "Star of Arkansas" or "Star of Murfreesboro" or something like that.

On outdoor bulletin boards they daily post running totals of diamonds found the previous days, week, month, year.

[Jeff Gilchrist]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

Anticipating the possibility of less-than-desirable road surfaces, we have exchanged the Z06 for a small truck.

Wow, the Z06 didn't last long. You should have kept it just in case you needed to escape quickly if the move didn't work out... jk

Good luck with your move.

[Jeff Gilchrist]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

Anyways, we were wondering if anyone on the forum has any personal knowledge of the area in the picture below.

I don't have any personal knowledge of eastern Arkansas but the school board seems like a scary place:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ8hknilBCs

[Xyzzy]

Wow, the Z06 didn't last long.

We found that the primary driver lacked the maturity to drive the vehicle responsibly. There is a part of the brain that sometimes says, "Dude! You might want to reconsider this action, because something bad is going to happen!" Unfortunately, that part of the brain has not developed, or is missing, in this individual.

We are surprised how different the Z06 is compared to the regular "base" coupe. While the "base" coupe is no slouch, the 436 horsepower it delivers could be described as smooth, civilized and vast. The Z06, which has only 69 horsepower more, is raw, brutal and unspeakably intoxicating. Picture a huge 505 horsepower light switch.

Attached is an interesting dyno report for the small truck pictured earlier. The numbers are off a bit because Ford reflashed all of the trucks recently to give them 400 horsepower and 800 foot·pounds of torque. Check out how flat the torque peak is. Guess what speed the truck is moving, in 6th gear, when it enters that peak.