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

[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.