"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

I wouldn't put up the bounty either, but I'd be happy to collect it.

 

We had a deer jump out of the bushes and clobber the passenger side of our mini van at 2 pm in the afternoon a few years ago. You'd think they'd be sleeping somewhere at that time of day. Cost me the $500 deductible to get it fixed. Fix never as good as before. I like the 1 deer per square mile ideal.

 

I enjoyed reading about your location detective work. The programs for converting between longitude/latitude and coordinates sound cool.

In my city, distances are pretty easy to calculate from street addresses. Basically, the grid is set up with 8 blocks/mile, or 800 house numbers per mile. I have an old Fitbit (my daughter was going to toss it because the wrist strap was coming loose from the mechanism, but I just superglued it), and the grid distance matches almost exactly to the Fitbit distance. So when I said I saw the deer 2.25 miles east of the origin (Division and Fulton), I got it by thinking, "I was just east of Plymouth Ave, which is 1800, or 2.25 miles east of Division along Fulton."

My mom grew up in Chicago, and I remember her telling me decades ago that Chicago was set up 8 blocks to the mile. I'll bet that's true of many Midwestern cities, and I'll bet it's related to so many Midwest states being originally surveyed in "sections" (1 mile x 1 mile squares) that were broken down into 64 10-acre "plots" that were an eighth of a mile square.

- GT

 

I live in a colonial state, so I’m not too familiar with the public lands system, but if you are interested in how it came to be, I recommend the book Measuring America by Andro Linklater (light reading). If you are at all interested in grid mapping projections and how they relate to our irregular but generally oblate-spheroid Earth, I can recommend this: https://geodesy.noaa.gov/PUBS_LIB/ManualNOSNGS5.pdf (very technical).
I only understand the math just enough to implement the equations presented...

 

Thanks for the recommendations, Tom.
I have Measuring America on hold at my university library, and will pick it up tomorrow.
The way 2020 has turned out, I'm sticking to only light reading!

- GT

 

Or maybe some light math:

 

Chemo and the outcome.
I’ve mentioned in a number of conversations that I’m taking chemotherapy for cancer. Many of you have done the same. My prognosis is that once this round of chemo stops working, I will go into hospice here at home and let nature take its course. Could be months yet but that is the inevitable outcome. I just want to be clear. No condolences needed. It’s just my life and I live each day grateful to see the sun rise and I make it as good a day as I can.

maybe buy a new knife …

 

I feel like your bravery in putting this out there deserves some sort of response, but I don’t know what to say.

 

Well, I'll just say "Give it hell!" and hope for something miraculous for you.

 

Those words right there carry much strength! May each day you have be a blessing. We all will reach the same destination in our own time, and none of us know the hour or the day...no matter what is going on in our own space and time.

 

@Mayonardo You got your priorities right and that's a strength I admire that.

Also, get some more knives in, they're always welcome and nice new avatar there .

Best regards, Will

 

I can tell from your words that you are strong willed and filled with the grace to accept the things that you are facing. We will all face a time like this at some point. I pray that all your days will be good ones. I hope you can spend much quality time with your family and friends. That includes your friends here on the Porch. I find this to be a place I can come to and however brief it may be, I can forget about the other things happening in my life.

buy that new knife .....

 

Yeah- get a new knife.

 

That's a good one!
Abbott and Costello did a similar routine. Here's one version of it:


- GT

 

Best wishes to you, whatever course nature takes.

Absolutely!

 

@Mayonardo
I admire your strength and positive attitude. I hope I can display the same courage when it's my turn.
And yes, get some new knives!

 

@Mayonardo
Give ‘me hell my friend and of course buy a knife.