Quote from: imallie on June 14, 2024, 11:32:52 PMHey Lori -

First of all - so cool that a) you do that and b) you get such a kick out of it!

So can I ask a couple of questions which are, I'm certain, pretty ignorant... but they're just because I'm curious?

These mining sites --is it a law of diminishing returns? I assume the more they are mined, the more difficult it is to mine subsequently both in terms of quality and quantity of stone, yes? And unlike, say rooting for truffles or something, they aren't in a constant cycle of growth, right? So how do you combat this?

Second, does the rain or any foul weather play into this in a positive way? I know it certainly can make a pleasurable experience unpleasurable... but I mean, does erosion ever refresh a site or an area?

Just curious how the mechanics of all this works! Seems fascinating!

Love,
Allie

Hi Allie,

The simple answer... it depends. In hard rock mining where they carve rocks out of a mountain, it depends on the vein they are mining. It might be small and become huge, or start huge and dwindle to nothing.

I have studied the Empire Gold Mine here. It was one of the top gold producers in the county back in the day. In places, the shaft is 500' underground and over a mile of tunnels. The veins of gold they were following started at six feet wide, but got thinner and thinner until they disappeared. They dug a lot of prospecting pits hoping the vein continued so they could locate it, but never did.

What I do is placer mining. I collect gold that has already eroded out of the mountain. Here again, the answer is... it depends. If five ounces of gold erode out of the mountain and wash down into the stream, and I find five ounces, obviously I have collected it all and would need to move on. But we have no way of knowing how much is in the mountain, or how much has eroded out over the past 1,000+ years.

For this reason, I do a lot of sampling. I look for drop zones and use my metal detector to locate hidden drop zones. I then sample those and record the results. Once I determine where the gold is, where the paystreak lies (the gold is deposited in straight lines), and at what depth then the fun begins. In some cases, I didn't find anything, or so little it did not catch my interest. The spot where I am now continues to pay off. In 2018, my mining buddy and I changed the flow of the river and dug up the whole bottom of the creek to knee-deep and an area of about 20' across by 40' long.

While researching the area, I found a copy of the very first map ever drawn of this area in the "Dakota Territories". It was surveyed in 1898-1899 and the map was published in 1900. On that map was drawn a survey of "my spot" where someone already had a gold claim. I believe the claim was filed as early as 1878 and was part of the gold rush that started when the Custer Expedition discovered gold on French Creek far to the southwest of here.

The fact that this area continues to pay off (for over 100 years), tells me that there is a large source that is slowly eroding into the creek. I believe I have located the vein that the Empire Mine lost track of. I don't know its exact location, but I believe that is the source that is eroding out. I have checked every inch of these mountains in a mile radius and the source is not on the surface. Perhaps it is in the creek bottom, or near enough to it that the Spring floods replenish the supply each year.

As to your second question, yes bad weather can have a good outcome. Heavy rain can erode the lodes faster and wash the gold downhill into the creek. The flood waters have more energy so can move gold downstream more easily, and erode the bottom to expose new gold, or old deposits that were too large to move in the past. Even a forest fire can burn hot enough to fuse tiny specks of gold in the soil into larger detectable flakes.

The obvious downside to severe weather is the danger of high water flooding and strong currents. It also forces me to wait, sometimes more than a year for the water level to drop to safe conditions. 2020 was like that. The creeks and rivers were still recovering from a flood in 2019. Then COVID happened, so 2020 was a year that I never got out to the creek. I had stockpiled pay dirt from before the flood. I would set up a Gold Cube in my garage so I could continue through the winter. I had enough to keep me occupied for most of the summer too.

If you are fascinated by how all this works, I have written some articles and posted them on my website at Lori-Dee.com. I intended to make tutorials and I am in the process of rewriting them to improve clarity and make them more useful to those who are interested. I have a couple more that I intend to write when I have more time, (usually in winter).

Thanks, I do find it fascinating. Plus, I always find it time well-spent listening to people share their knowledge and what they are passionate about. So thank you very much for taking the time to write all that.

One of the expressions in our house when we hit a "vein" of new information on a subject, new or old, is to say "Hey, I got a little bit smarter today." And I very much feel that way today - thanks to you! 😘

In winter, I do a lot of research. I study geology maps, geology reports, mining journals, and even old newspapers. I get "cabin fever" coupled with a side dish of "gold fever" and want to get outside.

We started just sluicing buckets in the creek, but a fellow prospector suggested a setup to be able to prospect year-round. Towards the end of our season when the weather is beginning to cool off, we screen extra buckets of dirt to bring home. We run the dirt through screens to remove the large rocks that we don't want to carry. The law says we cannot take dirt away from the site, but we are allowed to take "concentrates". Concentrates means that the dirt has had something removed from it, so we were legal. We would only take one or two 5-gallon buckets home each trip out and store them in my garage.

The apartment complex rents out half of a two-car garage. I rented both halves so I had the building to myself. It had electricity, but no heat and no insulation. I stored the buckets of paydirt in there and when ready would fire up my propane heater and shop lights. It was by no means warm, but it kept the water above freezing so it would flow through my Gold Cube.

Mike Pung invented the Gold Cube to separate very fine gold from the black sands common where he prospected on the beaches of Lake Michigan. It works very well and since I was finding fine gold here, I used it as my winter-mode sluicebox.




An electric bilge pump forces water up the black hose to the "slick plate" of the Gold Cube. This is where I feed the paydirt. The water washes the dirt down through various traps and riffle systems and the fine gold is extracted.

The water exits the Cube at the bottom into the white washtub. All the excess dirt gets washed down to there, and any gold that did not get caught ends up in that tub. The heavy stuff settles to the bottom and the lighter stuff is washed over the edge into the black tub. There, the water is calmer which allows more sediment to settle and the lighter stuff gets washed over the edge with the "clean" water. The pool is large enough to allow further settling of the sediments and the pump is submerged there to draw water from. And the cycle repeats. Over time the water becomes too saturated with dissolved solids and has to be changed. (That is a real PITA.)

Over time, I got better at locating gold and before long I was no longer finding just fine gold. I was finding larger flakes that the Gold Cube was not designed to capture. Eventually, I stopped using it and saved $75 per month by not renting the garage. Now I just store the buckets in my apartment, and definitely not as many.

Pro Tip: add a squirt of dish soap to the dirt when you bring it indoors. I learned the hard way what happens when fish's toilet water is allowed to warm up to apartment temperatures. Yikes that is smelly stuff. The dish soap kills all the bacteria from the creek and does not affect panning the dirt later if you carefully rinse the soap out first.

Hi Lori,
Which beaches of Lake Michigan are they finding gold?

I don't know exactly. Prospectors often do not reveal exact locations.

From what he told me, he looks for large rocks on the beach, then looks to see if they have black sand at the base of them. Black sand is heavy so it can be a sign the fine gold is there too.

Then it is just a matter of sampling to see if there is gold. If there is... dig, dig, dig! 

I watch Ozzie gold hunters so I have seen how they collect the gold, sluice, dry blowers and cyanide ponds. Its not all about nuggets.Mind you finding sun bakers with a detector is a thrill!!

Family dynamics can be thought-provoking. Since my transition, I have changed my role within the family dynamic. < deadname > was married three times, divorced twice, widowed once, and had two children during the first marriage which ended in a bitter custody battle. The children ended up being placed in "the system" and were adopted by my brother during the custody battle. He forbade the children from contacting me, so there is no relationship between <deadname> and that part of the family.

Since transitioning, I realize that Lori Dee is single, has never been married, and has no children. I celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day to pay tribute to my parents and do not expect the same in return from <deadname's> offspring.

This morning, I got a heartwarming text message from my cousin. She has been very accepting, even joyful about my transition, but we only talk occasionally... usually around holidays.

Her message this morning made me smile because she is trying very hard:

"Hey, Cuz, this is kinda hard for me. I know I missed Mother's Day and now it's Father's Day!! But I'm confused on which day I should be wishing you a Happy ________ Day???  Either way, I want you to know I am thinking about of you!!! Love you!!! < heart emoji >

It is always refreshing to have someone in your life who doesn't have an agenda.

Quote from: LoriDee on June 16, 2024, 08:53:13 AMFamily dynamics can be thought-provoking. Since my transition, I have changed my role within the family dynamic. < deadname > was married three times, divorced twice, widowed once, and had two children during the first marriage which ended in a bitter custody battle. The children ended up being placed in "the system" and were adopted by my brother during the custody battle. He forbade the children from contacting me, so there is no relationship between <deadname> and that part of the family.

Since transitioning, I realize that Lori Dee is single, has never been married, and has no children. I celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day to pay tribute to my parents and do not expect the same in return from <deadname's> offspring.

This morning, I got a heartwarming text message from my cousin. She has been very accepting, even joyful about my transition, but we only talk occasionally... usually around holidays.

Her message this morning made me smile because she is trying very hard:

"Hey, Cuz, this is kinda hard for me. I know I missed Mother's Day and now it's Father's Day!! But I'm confused on which day I should be wishing you a Happy ________ Day???  Either way, I want you to know I am thinking about of you!!! Love you!!! < heart emoji >

It is always refreshing to have someone in your life who doesn't have an agenda.

Lori,

 It is the nice thought that counts.  They can make a big difference in our lives.



Chrissy

@LoriDee
Dear LoriDee:
I much enjoyed reading your last post... filled with good news,
acceptance, and a loving and heartwarming message from your cousin.

Thank you for sharing and posting.
Hugs, Danielle

Just returned from my appointment with my Gynecologist. I explained to her that I was very frustrated with my (physical) progress and that it was affecting my mental health. She said she had spoken with my Psychologist and understood my issues.

In a nutshell, I have been on HRT for over four years. In that time, various doctors (two Endocrinologists and now a Gynecologist) have prescribed various dosages of estradiol, both oral and transdermal patches. During this entire period, my serum levels have never come close to the target levels they wanted to achieve. So I asked her, if we were to take almost five years' worth of data, examining dosage vs serum levels, can we extrapolate my correct dosage? Does that mean I need to apply twelve patches per day? Should we add a patch, test in one week, add another, test in one week, and keep going until I am wearing 25 patches? What is the next step? 26 patches?

My Primary doctor believes that my body metabolizes things faster than others. So how do we test that? Do I sit in the lab and have them draw blood every hour to check how fast my levels drop?

After much discussion, I told her that we started with low levels and kept increasing the dosage to reach the target level. That has not worked. She has informed consent. Let's start high and slowly decrease until we hit the target level.

We decided to ditch the patches and switch over to injections once a week to see if that would work better. I insisted on a high dose first and work on dropping as needed. She agreed. Her scheduler will call to set up an appointment with the Specialty Nurse at Fort Meade to show me how to do it. (I have never injected anything in my lifetime, so this should be fun.) The Specialty Nurse who does injections is a friend of mine. She is one of those wonderful people who just radiate happiness to everyone near her. I haven't seen her in a year, so it will be good to catch up.

Welcome to the injection club! I didn't have anyone show me how to do it, but I found a few helpful videos. It was still nerve-wracking the first time, and the second, and the third...  After a year it still isn't high on my 'favorite things to do list', but it's nice having a weekly injection instead of a steady supply of patches.

The vials of estradiol valerate don't need refrigeration, room temperature is fine (unless your room is below 32F or above 90F). Hopefully they will provide appropriate injection supplies. My doctor orders 23g needles to draw the estradiol, and 25g to inject. Unfortunately, my pharmacy always sends me 22g needles! I order mine on Amazon.

I hope your new plan results in more appropriate levels.

Love always -- Jessica Rose

@Jessica_Rose

Thanks for the tips!

I'm not sure what will be included in the "kit" but the VA's copay is low enough that cost shouldn't be an issue. I will ask about the needle gauge to see what they are using. I can always ask for something else. Their pharmacy is very accommodating.

The plan is to start once a week, then test in 3 months to see if the dosage needs adjustment. If I can maintain a steady serum level like you do, we might switch to the every-other-week injections. But that decision is way down the road. It will take a couple of weeks for my supplies to arrive, so I think my training appointment will be a week from now.

Doc also said she wants to be sure I do my labs halfway between injections. She doesn't want to see the highs or lows but about where my average will be.

I love learning new things but stabbing myself with a needle was not on my bucket list. 

I inject in my upper thigh. Oddly, it's a little like electrolysis. One spot may be completely painless, while 2mm over may feel like you've hit a nerve. My injection needles are 1.5 inches long, and I never learned how to do it quickly. It's definitely not something to do while driving down a jeep trail, or at a traffic light! I found a website which attempts to simulate your levels based on dosage (it does not require any personal information). It is an estimate only and should not be used to calculate your dosage. However, it may help you understand how much your levels can vary over time.

https://transfemscience.org/misc/injectable-e2-simulator/

Love always -- Jessica Rose

Thanks for the info!

She wants to start with sub-Q injections. She said as it builds up in the fatty tissue it stabilizes how much is released into the system. IM seems to be metabolized faster (which makes sense to me). So if we find my levels are steady but too high, we may switch to IM to see how much they drop before lowering the dose. The hope is that as the levels fluctuate, my lows will still be higher than where I am now. My lab on June 3 was at 78. She wants me close to 200. I have only been above 100 three times in four years and they were not consecutive tests.

So, yeah, I'm all over the place. Time to try something different.

I have my levels checked a few hours before my weekly injection, so it should be near my lowest level of the week. My last few checks showed levels around 250, so during the week I'm probably quite a bit higher. I could probably reduce my dosage a bit, but things feel 'off' when it gets too low. My doctor and I are both comfortable at this level, so we don't plan to change anything. What dosage and level is right for you? Whatever both of you are comfortable with. I hope you find a dosage that works well.

Love always -- Jess

Watching Ozzie Gold Hunters last night and they found a 30oz nugget . Keep digging dear.

Hi Lori,

My introduction to Susan's has been supported by your kind and encouraging greetings, it feels like I'm being taken by the hand and guided through these steps. Now I started reading your Blog. I couldn't stop and   I'm feeling quite emotional right now -it really got to me. What a powerful journey - it really helps others when you share this. Your spiritual / mystical interests really make sense, I love the photo album - in the post transition pictures - your inner beauty really radiates. 

Love
Mandy 

@Mandy Spencer

Thank you, Mandy. That is very kind of you.

We had a wonderful light show last night. A powerful thunderstorm to the south with lots of lightning lit up the sky in an impressive show of power. It was far off in the distance and the security lights of the city prevented me from taking a photo. (So I stole one.)

I have always been fascinated by lightning. As a child, it frightened me. My father, an Electronics Engineer, tried to explain what it was to me. Six-year-old me didn't understand anything he was saying. My mother stepped in and told me that lightning is a crack in the sky, and if you look quickly you might catch a glimpse of heaven.

Many years later, I learned that lightning travels at 200,000,000 mph. It is up to five times hotter than the surface of the Sun. When it strikes a tree, the heat instantly vaporizes the water in the wood converting it to steam. The steam cannot escape that quickly, thus exploding the tree. It is so hot that the ionized air is converted to plasma, which is neither solid, liquid, or gas. It takes 30,000 volts for electricity to arc one centimeter, or about 75,000 volts to arc one inch. The awesome power of lightning is mind-boggling.



[God said] ... "and from the gleam of my eye the lightning received its wonderful nature, which is both fire in water and water in fire, and one does not put out the other, nor does the one dry up the other, therefore the lightning is brighter than the sun, softer than water and firmer than hard rock."

~ The Book of the Secrets of Enoch II, Chapter 29, XXIX, verse 1. (circa 300 - 200 BC)

Lightning is so cool. Natures fireworks. Having been in close proximity to strikes on many occasions really gives on an appreciation of the true power.