Thematic Change: Disjointed Babbling Edition

[rolanni]

So!  A new journal style, so I can have my sidebar back.

Today, being the first of the month, is firstly about balancing the checkbook, figuring out the monthly income and putting thirty-three percent of that away immediately in the tax account, because -- freelancer.

Amazon.com, being situated on the left coast, has paid the author portion of 60-day-ago Kindle sales into the account as per usual.  BN, apparently situated on the right coast, has posted a comment in their Community Forum, stating that, due to Weather, payments will be late.  That's fine as far as it goes, but it would've be...nice...if they had said how late.

Regarding the upcoming election, I already voted by absentee ballot, since the Original Plan had Steve and me absent on November 6, by way of celebrating the 32nd anniversary of our marriage.  Thus, I feel a little aggrieved that I don't get a pass on political news, now.  I'm also concerned about the level of acrimony -- no matter who wins the election, the rift separating the "sides" is only going to widen.  That's sad and scary.

In Between It All, I've been reading Maphead, by Ken Jennings.  This inspired me to print out a blank US map off the intertubes so I could test how geographically literate I am, which is -- not so much.  I'm pretty solid with the Maine-to-Florida/Texas/California/Nevada/Oregon/Washington/Idaho/Montana nexi; and I took the Georgia/Alabama/Louisiana curve off the top of Florida in good form. But I inverted Tennessee and Kentucky, and totally forgot about Arkansas.  The saddest part, though, are the eleven states sort of in the center there, which I've left blank.  I mean, I know that I'm missing New Mexico, and Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, the Dakotas, North and South, but I'm clueless as to which rectangle might be what.  Maybe I should just write in, "Here There Be Dragons," and have done...

Speaking of the storm -- we here at the Catfarm and Confusion Factory had to deal with nothing more than a couple of nasty thunderstorms and some wind.  The worst damage was that the flag was torn off the windchimes (I replaced it with an old CD); we didn't even lose power.  To be succinct, we were very fortunate.

I'm looking at the images coming out of Jersey and New York and I'm just heartsick.  I can barely imagine what the folks who are on the ground are feeling, and having to deal with.

Everybody keep safe, right?

Comments

[birdhousefrog.livejournal.com]

Arizona goes next to California on the Mexican border. New Mexico just east of AZ. Find your Mississippi/Missouri. North Dakota on Canadian Border, South Dakota below that, Nebraska right below that. Kansas is below Nebraska. On the east side of Nebraska is Iowa, on the west Colorado. Wyoming up by Idaho and Montana. Utah, squish it in. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico make up that "four corners" area, the only one on the map.

I think that's correct. I usually mess up Arkansas, too. One of the few states I haven't been in. But I never flip KY and TN, because KY is south of Ohio where I was born.

But all of this is really courtesy of being an Air Force wife and living in some of these states.

Oz

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

I just got a "You have a Payday!" notice from B&N, so you should be seeing one soon if you haven't already.

[the wol (from livejournal.com)]

You have to go at the Western US systematically: The four states that form the border with Mexico are L to R: California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas (CANT). Utah sits atop Arizona. Colorado sits atop New Mexico. (The place where -- going counter clockwise -- Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah (ANCU) meet is called the "Four Corners" for obvious reasons.) Nevada "horns in" between California and Arizona. The five states which form the "straight line" boundary with Canada (the part of the Canadian boundary between the Pacific and the Great Lakes) are (left to right) Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. Oregon is between Washington and California. Wyoming is underneath Montana. Guess where South Dakota is? The four states that border Texas (clockwise) are New Mexico, Oklahoma Arkansas and Louisiana. Kansas and Missouri share Kansas City (the city is split west/east between the two states). Minnesota sits to the left of Lake Superior (The lake that is superior to all the rest!)Going down from Minnesota is MIMAL -- Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. As for keeping Kentucky and Tennessee sorted, during the Civil War, Kentucky stayed with the Union (North) but Tennessee joined the Confederacy (South). It's the North Eastern states I have trouble with, probably because I live in Texas.

Geography

[bridget a wheeler-gehrling (from livejournal.com)]

I have a favored website for keeping myself a little sharper than I would otherwise be.......ilike2learn dot com is a wonderful resource for geographical exercises. ENJOY!

Geography

[kumanooni.livejournal.com]

Just so you know, it's been my experience, about the only people who honestly know where New Mexico is, are the people who live there.

Re: Geography

[nfurman.livejournal.com]

Nope- all of us in Colorado know New Mexico. We run away to there.
I have to say I can do the middle and the West just fine, but the entire midwest and east coast are a total jumble. I always mess up NY, CT, and PA- never mind the "little" states. And I used to be good at geography. It's a lot about where you have been.

New jersey

[mcfan01.livejournal.com]

Well, we are in NJ about 20 min west of Newark, and actually amongst the very lucky ones locally, with everyone safe, no house damage (just one downed tree and two blown over sections of fence). Many houses are really damaged with large trees fallen on them, but at least we can imagine repairing them and continuing on ... In stark contrast to the newspaper pictures from the coast which are another matter... So much devastation...

So every evening has been a romantic candlelight dinner. :-) We have no power (maybe back by wednesday) and no heat, but do have our gas cooking stove so we can have hot meals and hot tea, and we do have hot water. Gasoline lines are unreal because so few stations are open. There are enough recharging stations open again that I am using my electronic devices for more than emergencies.

Millie

Re: New jersey

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Thanks for checking in! I remember those romantic candlelit dinners from the ice storm, back in '07.

Stay safe.

[nlbarber]

I also early voted (I have a work trip next week). I want the election-ads pass, and also the robo-calls pass. Not that there are so many robo calls this year--my area is pretty solidly Democratic, but Georgia as a whole is very red, so no contest here once the primary is done. None of this helps with my nail-biting about the national outcome.

Geography: given State outlines I can, eventually, get them all correct, though the Big Rectangle/Square Area takes a little bit of process-of-elimination. I attribute this to years of hand-coloring choropleth maps for data analysis, plus travel to a few of those States outside of areas where I've lived. I occasionally try one of those web quizzes that makes you place the state outline on a *blank* map until you've got them all--there it depends on whether I luck into placing a few that I know before having to put in, say, Nebraska.

[marniferous.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you were unscathed by the storm, i had wondered. I'd say you've already given the Flood Gods their due for a long, long time with your highly localized adventures earlier this year...

Tip for the western states

[capricchio.livejournal.com]

I like that one about CANT. Another hint is that the place known as Four Corners (Arizona, NM, Utah and Colorado)is the only place where 4 states come together squarely. Randon trivia that at least tells you who the 4 states mught be. :) Having grown up in the West and now living in the Northeast, I know where most of the states belong but Kentucky had me fooled until relatively recently. I was in Ohio last year and had flown into Cinncinnati, and that's the airport for part of Kentucky. Missoutri and Kansas are next to each other,only remembered becasue there's a Kansas City Missouri and a Kansas City (I believe) in Kansas. I only find Arkansaw becuase I was in Missouri once and discovered we were on the Arkansas border and it seemed so wierd, it stuck in my head. Ah, isn't travel illuminating. :) Glad you survived the storm.