mira

I am not familiar with the state of education or the job market in Australia, but I imagine it isn't too different than the US (though maybe it's closer to the system in the UK) so I will give you my perspective and hopefully you can learn from my experience and of those who I have mentored. I would hold off on choosing a major if you can unless there is a tangible benefit. Take the widest variety of classes in what you think you are interested in and see what you find absolutely fascinating. Maybe it's anthropology, maybe it's archaeology, maybe it's botany, but you can't know until you are truly immersed in it. Echoing some sentiments above, choosing a major which you happily study in your own free time because you think it is that awesome makes the whole college experience a lot easier. Some people argue that major choice is not important and that you should chose what you love. I understand this to some degree, but at least anything in the US with the word engineering in it has much better job prospects than a major without. For example, chemistry vs. chemical engineering. If you graduate with a B.S. in the former, then you will be making 1/2 of what someone who took a little more rigorous version of calculus and physics and a few extra courses will be straight out of college. In terms of anthropology and archaeology, none of the people I know who studied anthropology (including many at the graduate level) are currently employed as anthropologists with the exception of the one who went to work for a 3-letter intelligence agency. Likewise with archaeology, I know a single person who is still employed in that field, and I was making more as an intern in college (no not at Google) than he is now. Not that money is the end all be all, but it does make a difference to most. Since you are leaving good money to go back to school, I take it that your time/happiness/well-being is more valuable than money. That's how it should be. Just be aware of the realistic job prospects--don't just listen to advisers/professional associations--of a potential major so you don't end up disappointed. Given your interests, I would suggest thinking about majoring in geology or some sort of other degree where you could get GIS certified easily. GIS is heavily used in all three disciplines you mentioned and many of the fun field work and travel around the world jobs in those disciplines require GIS certification and experience. Plus you could always go work for the oil industry with such a certification not to mention a geology degree. The geologists I know who work for oil travel around the world for oil exploration and love it what they get paid to do--rather handsomely I might add. Those who argue that it is not important (e.g. Cal Newport of the Study Hacks blog - some of his best-of might be worth a read) argue that university is a time to be awesome, interact with the thought-leaders in the fields you are interested in, job shadow, hone time-management and other skills necessary for success, pursue your passions, and produce a "portfolio" of work that will convince people to give you a job. In other words, they argue that your degree is really just a piece of paper stating you managed to get through college and what really matters is what you do outside of the formal curriculum. Of course you need to do well academically (but you don't need perfect grades), but with some hard work and good time management you can find the time to do a lot of very impressive stuff like starting a business, doing research, starting a non-profit, etc. You should be able to do very well with ~35-55 hr/wk of actual work including class time. That leaves a ton of time for other pursuits. Use it wisely and do not squander it like most people in uni. I think there is a lot to be said for this idea. Very very few people treat university this way. I definitely did not nor did most people I knew, but the students and friends I had who did follow this advice are doing extremely well for themselves now. I think it isn't necessary in an engineering field, but if you are studying anything else like say anthropology, archaeology, or botany then I would strive to treat uni this way. I wish someone had impressed this idea upon me way back when. On that note, at least in the US, one of the best things one can do to ensure placement into a good job after graduation is to take advantage of as many internships and coops as possible. Maybe you could intern or work for the Australian equivalent of the Smithsonian (or maybe the Smithsonian itself) for course credit and maybe even make money on top of that. Not only is it good experience and exposure to what you are interested in, but you also add some great contacts to your professional/academic network. Double majoring is doable and minoring in botany is very doable as an anthropology major (or visa versa). There are no problems here. One thing I wish I had had the balls to do is take advantage of my universities progressive curriculum choices and created my own ethno/economic botany major. It would have been kind of a pain in the ass involving meetings with deans and professors and a few papers outlining the benefit of this custom interdisciplinary major, but on the flip side I would have had a lot more interaction with people who could have helped me find good summer opportunities and/or jobs. Not sure if this is a possibility in Australia, but if it is I would strongly encourage creating your own interdisciplinary major if there is not a major which matches your interests directly. It's good experience anyway. A lot of really interesting careers like that of an ethnobotanist require you to cut your own trail anyway. Might as well start young. As for returning back after a long educational gap, you likely feel a bit slow on the uptake or lost at first. That's okay; it's natural to feel rusty when you are starting back up again. Keep faith in the fact that you will adjust and it will become easier as time goes on. Socially you will probably feel out-of-place, but as someone stated above don't sweat it. Do you own thing and as long as you don't make a big deal about your age it shouldn't be a problem. As an older person with "real-world" experience, you have a tremendous advantage. A lot of the petty nonsense that consumes the emotions and thoughts of your younger peers will seem laughable to you so you will be less distracted. You also know the value of hard work, and I imagine that uni even with outside pursuits will feel very low-key most of the time. Be humble, be nice, and try to put yourself in other people's shoes. It goes a long way in uni (not to mention the world), but you already know that. Watch out for drugs, alcohol, and mental health problems. For whatever reason university is full of people with problems with 1-3 of them. Easy to slip to get caught up in it if you are not careful, but most universities have counseling services you can take advantage of if need be. Don't delay seeking help for anything whether it is help with a class or help with a life issue--you are old enough to know avoiding problems is counter productive. Learn and master a foreign language and study abroad if possible. I'd argue Spanish is the way to go given your interests in archaeology, anthropology, and botany/ethnobotany. While there are more Mandarin speakers in the world, Spanish gives you access to a much wider section of the world (Spain + nearly all of Latin America). French (also gives you access to a large number of countries) or German (for historical texts/resources only) would be a close second. Ultimately the language depends on your interests, but do actually become fluent in one. Study hard, live a balanced lifestyle, take advantage of this amazing opportunity to study whatever you like, have fun, take calculated risks, enjoy the young tail, and strive to be awesome. Good luck!

Thanks for the response, Zaka. Interesting to know that they are flowering year round for you. At what age/height did they start flowering for you?

What time of the year do they normally flower and fruit in say Mexico, Brazil, and Australia?

Ghostery sells information to ad corporations. Disconnect (at the moment) is a better option. Unfortunately Ad Block Plus also sells information to advertisers which led to several development forks. I'd recommend Adblock Edge under Firefox and regular Adblock under Chrome.

Correct, they only work with sour tastes and not bitter. As neat as a novelty they are, it's rather disappointing after a bit if you have a palate that likes more complex tastes. The miracle fruit definitely "ruins" the taste of citrus and other sour fruits for me by making them either fairly insipid and/or way too sweet.

It would definitely be worth it to check out the Huntington Botanical Garden near LA, The Berkeley Botanical Garden near San Fransisco, Lotusland near Santa Barbara if you will be near them. All of them have pretty extensive cactus gardens. There's a whole host of other botanical gardens and private gardens I haven't managed to check out as well. If you're there during wet season, you'd be a fool to skip out on hunting mushrooms around the Bay Area and North of it too. We've got at least a couple of CA natives on the board so maybe they'll have better tips. I think Big Sur is a must, but that's for it's natural beauty rather than any specific botanical draw.

I've done it in the past. It's a pretty hectic schedule, and I don't really think very sustainable for more than a year or so at best. I definitely did not enjoy either work or school when I was doing it. Online and weekend coursework make it much more doable, but don't expect to have any free time if you are trying to get good grades.

This documentary based on the 2008 book by the same name is about people obsessed with collecting, preserving, and crossing rare fruit species and varieties. It's almost if one traded a Trichocereus or medical plant obsession strictly for tropical fruit. It's pretty fascinating really. The story features among others two mango conservators from the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden hunting down a white fleshed mango and maintaining their 600+ variety mango collection and a Hondouran scientist with a very involved (1 seed in 1000 banana clusters!) Cavendish banana breeding program. It's on youtube now: Part 1 - The Evolution of Desire [44:33] Part 2 - Defenders of Diversity [44:33]

How old is that colubrina, Micromegas?

Ended up digging a 1m x 1m x 1 m hole to plant a large pachanoid in the other day and hit this root while digging. The hole is 6-7 meters away from the nearest Mimosa hostilis I have growing. Based on my observation of dried material I think this might be a root from that plant which is 15 ft tall and has been in the ground (heavy clay soil) 1-2 years. Can anyone with experience (Zaka,Kada, PH?) confirm?

It was only 8 months old when I planted it. It had stalled out at about 1.5 meters high in a 1 gallon (nominal size so ~3 L actual?) pot so I planted it along with a sibling in a neglected but sunny corner of the garden. They grow quite quickly given root space. Hmm, I tossed the root in a bed. I'll see if I can find it and if the color fades upon drying.

Awesome! Did your seed grown havanese flower yet?

You know you might feed a slightly dehydrated plant dyed water as kind of a "contrast agent" for visualization of the vascular system. I'm not sure if it would work, but if it would that would make for some really interested photos and I think make it easier to determine the best sized/shaped scion for grafting.

If I remember correctly freshwater snails can cause schistosomiasis, but I think you're talking about angiostrongyliasis which can cause meningitis. The nematodes for angiostrongyliasis can be carried my many species of land snails, freshwater snails, and slugs.

Lumberjack is a bridgesiioid (probably some sort of bridgesii X peruvianus). There's a mention of it is Trout's Notes on San Pedro on page 41.

Yes, you got the name order correct. Pm'ed.

The Experiment as in the German one "Das Experiment" with Mortiz Bleibtreu of Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run) fame? Unfortunately not historically accurate at all/a bit sensationalist, but a good movie none the less.

Tossing my hat in for this one with the understanding I'd be responsible for Int. postage if I read that right.

Chipped bamboo works well. I'd imagine anything lignin rich should work a treat since cardboard works. Maybe the chip form of coco wouldn't be too bad.

Yes, it was you, bogfrog. Well I guess you can't win your own contest, but you should post it here.

I forget the user, but there was a guy someone who posted a picture of himself as a tyke trying to help his kitten grow big and strong by watering it. Hands down that picture wins. I want to say it was GoOnThen, but I may be mistaken. Can't seem to find the post. Edit: It was bogfrog as she pointed out below.

That's a really bad analogy. Mechanics have to carry much more liability due to the nature of their business and the fact that they are responsible for fixing complex systems that can seriously hurt not only the mechanic, but also others if they make mistakes. The nature of their work also requires much more space and many more tools--and expensive and specific ones at that. Fixing a car requires replacement parts, consumables, and hazardous waste disposal fees which usually make up a sizable amount of the fee you are charged. Hairdressers on the other hand aren't subject to the same sort of litigation. Even the most advanced have a relatively simple set of tools which are not expensive compared to almost all of the tools a mechanic owns. Almost no space is required for a hairdresser, and as such most space is leased on a very small scale and some even opt to cut strictly at their or their clients' houses. While hairdressing does require some simple consumables, the costs are paltry compared to replacement parts for a car. Most hairdressers here are not employees of a salon, but independent contractors renting chair space. Then mechanics do not only serve consumers, but also businesses and governmental departments including some mechanics that are solely responsible for managing fleets; it is not only consumer demand that drives the labor market. Then there is the fact that hairdressers at least here can make the same if not a higher wage than a mechanic if you compare the cost of shop time with the average time and cost of a haircut or complex styling job. So essentially the lower wage is a myth perceived by those not familiar with running a business. I bet take home salary on a per hour basis is not that different for the sort of skilled hairdresser you are talking about and auto mechanics. For example, a haircut and an oil change take about the same time to perform, but a haircut does not come with costs like a filter and oil and disposal fees. If you look at just the cost of just the labor involved, the hairdresser makes more despite the higher overhead that comes with owning an auto shop and all of the equipment necessary. I'd argue that the popularity of a profession is usually dependent on how much it is paid (and the time and skill required to get there) not the other way around. Let me ask you why a veteran paramedic (much more training than an EMT) makes less than a secretary, hairdresser, etc.?

Happy Birthday, EG!

Beer? In some places it is a cheap if not cheaper than sugary drinks.

Hey nitrogen, If you are still in touch with malo, I remember he thought that huarazensis, TJG, and his KK2150 (distinct from forms I've seen with the same label) might all be the same and he was hoping to confirm based on flower morphology. Was he ever able to make this comparison? If so, what were the results? Here's an older picture of malo's mother plant: