The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. The OECD is now 50 years old. You can read about it here.

They have developed a Better Life Index, which rates the conditions in eleven different categories for the richest 36 countries in the world. You can view the index here. Hover your cursor over a counties name and its standing in those eleven categories will be displayed.

For my home country, the United States of America, the ratings for incomes, safety, health, and housing is really good. It is not as good in the categories of work-life balance and education. Denmark scored the highest in life satisfaction and work-life balance.

I found this to be an instructive way to see how various countries stack up with respect to their neighbors.

700 Months

How big is the number 700? Not very big in today's world (and certainly not for a geologist). But 700 months. How long do you think 700 months is?

Well I can tell you because on Nov. 1, I will turn 700 months old! It sounds like such a short time doesn't it? "Really? Only 700 months?" Yep, it's true.

So the first day of November I will turn 58.25 years old or

700 months old;
3,045 weeks old;
21,308 days old;
511,400 hours old;
About 30,683,500 minutes old;
or 1,840,997,000 seconds old.

If you'd like to know how old you are, check out this web site: http://www.paulsadowski.com/Birthday.asp. It's fun and a happy place to be.

Disclaimer! This photograph of me was taken in my 682nd month at one of my favorite places - the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon!

The Irony Of It All

The space shuttle Endeavor being wheeled through Los Angeles and past the famous Randy's Donuts sign at 805 W. Manchester Ave. in Inglewood. You can't make this stuff up. The space shuttle meets the donut hole! More information here. You gotta read it! I especially loved this quip at the end of the Wikipedia site:  

"In the film 2012, the donut sign can be seen rolling through the streets during an earthquake."

Arizona Daily Sun Article on the New Edition of Carving Grand Canyon

To read an article on the new edition of my book "Carving Grand Canyon" in the local Flagstaff newspaper, see the link here.

Carving Grand Canyon - The 2nd Edition

The new edition is out and available from me. To get a signed copy send $21 (postpaid) to me and I'll get it right to you.

And remember these folks?

Well they came to the Grand Canyon too a long time ago. See a short clip from their trip here. Thanks to my wife Helen for this link to the family vacation video.

Some Photos Of Mars From The Rover, Curiosity

Is this amazing or what? Detailed pictures from Mars! We live in the future.

Color on AMrs

Detail on Mars

Strata on Mars

Summer, 2012 Is On Pace For The 3rd Hottest Ever In Contiguous US

The summer of 2012 was the warmest on record for Wyoming and Colorado, and ranked in the top-ten warmest on record for 22 other states. For the Contiguous U.S., it was the 3rd warmest summer since record keeping began in 1895. Image credit: NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

 

 

According to the blog, Dr. Jeff Master's WunderBlog, the summer of 2012 will go down as the 3rd warmest in history in the contiguous US. He writes:

"The summer of 2012 was the 3rd hottest summer in U.S. history, said NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in today's State of the Climate report. June 2012 ranked as the 14th warmest June on record, August was the 16th warmest August on record, and July was the warmest month of any month in U.S. history, bringing the average summer temperature of the contiguous U.S. just 0.2°F shy of the hottest summer on record--the great Dust Bowl summer of 1936. Second place is held by 2011, which was just 0.1°F cooler than the summer of 1936. So far in 2012, we've had the warmest March on record, 3rd warmest April, 2nd warmest May, and warmest July. These remarkably warm months have helped push temperatures in the contiguous U.S. to the warmest on record for the year-to-date period of January - August. Temperatures this year in the U.S. have been so far above the previous record--a remarkable 1°F for the year-to-date period--that even if the remainder of 2012 ranks historically in the coldest one-third of September - Decembers on record, 2012 will beat out 1998 for the warmest year in history. Reliable weather records for the U.S. go back to 1895."

You can read the whole posting here. Wow - it sure is getting hot out there!