State motto

On a recent road trip back in the States, in passing across the entire length of Kentucky, we decided that their state motto must be:

Kentucky - Get the F**k out, and take your piss with you!

I swear...their whole highway system must have one singular rest area, and you have to know the secret code to deactivate the camouflage shield to find it.

Although admittedly in WV, we mostly hear "Family wreaths" rather than "Family trees".

And as for Ohio, it was said best by my friend from Cleveland:

Ohio - Ask us about driving in the 'third lane'. (ie: the shoulder)

Spot on with Pennsylvania... Becky

Several rate a chuckle. This:

is, sadly, all too true.

This, however,

ia not. Kansas is not a rectangle. _Nearly_ a rectangle, yes, but part of our eastern border is frimed by the Missouri River which is definitely not a straight line.

Karen E., admittedly sensitive about misinformation about her state.

I have heard that "IOWA" is actually a pneumonic device for "Idiots Out Walking Around"

As it is with ND:

Don't believe me? Watch the Weather Channel sometime and see how they picture the country: Minnesota and east, SD & south, Montana & west.

Joan "Yes, Viriginia, there *is* a North Dakota!"

You'd be amazed how many people in Scotland think that Orkney & Shetland are located in the North Sea just to the east of Aberdeen. And all because the maps usually put it there in a little box because to put it in its correct place would make the map too long & thin. And as for the weather forecasts - "the north" usually means anywhere up to by not necessarily including Aberdeen or maybe even Inverness. Grrrr

It's inflated?

That's similar to how many American kids think Alaska and Hawaii are just off the California coast since that's where they are placed in little boxes on maps of the US.

Marg

ROTFLMBO!!!! Although I can see how she mixed up the words from a purely auditory perspective...mnemonic/pneumatic (n.b. mnemonic being the proper term for the OP).

Thanks for the laugh, Darla!

Joan

Very funny. I'm from Florida, but I'm 22 and I live in a college town. Thousands of half naked girls and lots of eating disorders, but few senior citizens and not very much voting (until someone decides the bars should stop serving alcohol so late).

Speaking of road trip observations, I was pulled over in Louisiana for going 73 in a 70. They are also serious about the speed limit in Texas. After puttering through both states, it was nice to come back to Florida on I-75 going 76-78. I think in TX they should add "No, seriously" on all the speed limit signs.

Johannah

LOL - that is never going to happen. Never. Not since the blue laws went. I certainly can appreciate the Florida school picture. Many friends went to school there - less eating disorders 25 years ago, but same basics.

Personally, I went to UM, and it was a shcok moving to Pittsburgh for grad school - the first early horrible snow I was thinking - 2 months ago - shorts and sandals, and now I'm trudging hip deep through wet. You've forgotten the remnants of the old south that live in Gainesville. My DB went to UF (undergrad and law) and was hyesterical about ducking the mother of my annulled mistake for a husband. They're old south, and I would be astonished at the very, old family retainers that still worked for them - in the house that I guess the grandparents had built in early 20th century, called me "Missy Ellice" . Very lovely, nice family retainers - though I thought of them as slaves still. One came just to polish the silver, etc. But , that old south is the other part, and the working folks. Not all necessarily part of the U, but certainly the economy is dependent. The mother owned "the ladies shoppe", I think his sister - very nice woman a bit older than me - ran it, and probably owns it now. It was the pricey, exclusive boutique in town.

We don't even talk about the traffic speeds here. If you're not going 65-70 on the beltway, you better be darn sure that you're in the slow lanes (limit is 55). Mostly the norm is 70 on the beltway, except for the 4 hours a day when it's under 10 mph. In the neighborhoods now, it's gotten quite strict about the 25 or 30 zones, and many have additional $250 fines if caught speeding in certain areas. The interstate speed limits have to be 55 when in certain proximity to an urban populated area, then they can go back up to

65 or 70 in less populous areas. Out here, the toll extension "greenway" which runs through the further 'burbs is 65, so it's safe to go 75 or so.

Wait til Texas, and learn the locals. When I was in NM, which has lots of open road - there were places it's easy to fly down the road at 80 or 90 , but other places where it's very likely to get you a ticket at just a few miles over the limit.

When we would drive back and forth from NY to South FL, we would get the AAA trip ticket map - best thing - it indicates known speed trap towns. And there plenty of them. Haven't done that in years, but it was a worthy thing for my parents.

Ellice

My grandmother is a Gainesville remnant of the old south. Changes the afghans and pillows on her couches for the seasons, keeps a "parlor" with a piano and Ethan Allen sofa that NO ONE ever is allowed to use, has heirloom camellias and azaleas, chides me if I say anything remotely mean to my husband in a teasing way, etc. But she and most of her kind are mostly on the outskirts, I would say. They are successful because of the university but they certainly don't want to live near it. However, I did work for a local interior designer for several years and got to meet some interesting southern old money characters who expected me to pop in and look over their house at no charge so I could tell them what couch to buy and spend hours consulting in the store so they could take my advice somewhere cheaper (where they didn't have to pay me comission). This was all on the southwest side in the Haile Plantation subdivisions (so named because it was once a plantation owned by the Haile family). Now there is a lot of new money--doctors from Shands Hospital and professors and such. When we made furniture deliveries with my African American male crew, they were almost never tipped (I assume they tip their pizza delivery guy!). Yep, still a plantation.

Often on I-75 I am pushed into going 80 in a 70, just so I don't get run down! You do get some slow older folks but not as much as people think. And driving down to Miami I get my doors blown off routinely.

Oh, those speed traps! Around here, folks know about Waldo, which is on the way to Jacksonville. I mutter curses under my breath whenever I have to drive through it.

Johannah

I find this discussion interesting. Gas prices are going through the roof, and no-one seems to be interested in driving so as to conserve gas usage. Wind resistance goes up as the cube of the velocity. Here in Ottawa we are full of Stanley Cup fever, and you see cars flying 4 flags at a time. Each flag adds half a litre per 100 kms. There must come a time when the price of gas gets so high that people change their driving habits, but we dont seem to be anywhere near this yet.

It has been observed that public transit ridership is up a bit, but, no, the price of gas isn't high enough yet to clear out the freeways.

One problem is the "I can afford it" syndrome. I knew a couple who lived about 50 miles from the office. They commuted in separate cars so that she wouldn't have to hang around an extra half-hour until he was ready to leave, and when someone suggested it was better for the environment to carpool, they just shrugged it off that they could afford the extra gas. Given that he makes six figures, it will be a long time before the price of gas reaches the level that they can't afford to do whatever they want. They'll complain, but they won't change their habits.

I agree completely, Karen. But let us look at what we mean by "afford". If one talks in purely monetary terms, I can understand this attitude. But now, everyone is supposed to be worried about global warming, and leaving a small "carbon footprint". What you are surely implying, is that people think we can "afford" to leave large "carbon footprints". Now you know I think this is alright, but surely the followers of Al Gore should not. We ought also to be worried about running out of oil.

We recently got a new Focus wagon and noticed that the cross pieces were missing from the roof racks. We were told they were now a $300 option as most people didn't want them as they cut down on the gas efficiency of the car by 2-3 miles per gallon.....of course you have to consider the source of the information....a car sales man! :)

Mavia

"Mavia Beaulieu" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

Was that at O'Regans ? That monopolistic concern should be blown up. A salesman tried to get the better of me when I was looking for a car, told a huge lie and did I fix his muffler for him lolol

Ouch - that would tee me off - hard to use the roof rack without the crosspieces. Car salemen - yuck. Hard to find a good or honest one -or knowledgeable.

Ellice

We've had a similar Focus wagon for the past 4 years and never used the roof racks. We also found the cross pieces were a real nuisance when it came to cleaning the snow off the roof so we just as soon not have them. The main reason we asked about them is that it's a leased car and we didn't want to get dinged for missing cross pieces when it goes back in 4 years time! I know what you mean about the majority of car salesman. You feel like running home for a shower after dealing with them! :)

Mavia

No, it wasn't at O'Regans. Locally there aren't very many different companies around as they've all been gobbled up by a couple giants in the car business.

Mavia