<<Midwest Coffee Talk: The Tens>>

[ChiSoxRox]

Originally Posted by Robert Pence

I'd bet there's some amount of atmospheric refraction that affects the view, just as the sun gets distorted sometimes at sunset.

Yeah, there would be. Refraction would have the effect of letting you see farther down on the skyscrapers than you otherwise would be able to, in effect "flattening" the apparent curve of the earth. (Refraction at different wavelengths of light is what causes the elusive green flash of sunset.)

[Ayreonaut]

Growing up near the mountains, we were always in the rivers. But these are certainly different rivers. I've never worn a life jacket, nor have I even seen one here (and I couldn't even swim as a kid). We have them on the boats at lakes, but never in the rivers (well, rafters on the Bow might). Difference being that in rivers here, the biggest challenge is finding holes that are deep enough to swim in / cliff-jump into). You jump in, and a few metres downstream the water is barely knee-deep.

I doubt I would ever get into a deep river without a kayak and life jacket.

[vid]

Rivers here are either fast flowing rivers with lots of rocks in them, but a low water level so you can lay on the rocks and tan and in many places, walk across the river (as long as the water level is low); or they're slow moving winding rivers that have muddy bottoms and aren't worth swimming in. One that goes through my neighbourhood smells like poo.

[rockyi]

The Mississippi and Rock Rivers that flow through here are always a nice shade of mahogany brown with a nice dead fish/mud stench and with a lock and dam in the Mississippi running between Davenport and Rock Island, currents that can swallow a semi trailer.

[Ayreonaut]

I love the colour of mountain rivers.



Ours are brown right now because of the runoff and flooding, but are usually clear/grey. I have no problem drinking out of most of the smaller, faster ones.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by rockyi

The Mississippi and Rock Rivers that flow through here are always a nice shade of mahogany brown with a nice dead fish/mud stench and with a lock and dam in the Mississippi running between Davenport and Rock Island, currents that can swallow a semi trailer.

Sounds a lot like the Ohio

[rockyi]

Yep, I'm guessing the Ohio has the same purdy smell.....like fish farts and death......But homes with a river view always cost more.

[ChiSoxRox]

Fun fact: When the Ohio joins the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois, the Ohio is both the wider and larger by volume river, meaning that technically, the main stem of the Mississippi River system is the Ohio, not the upper Mississippi.

[Strange Meat]

Originally Posted by Dralcoffin

Fun fact: When the Ohio joins the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois, the Ohio is both the wider and larger by volume river, meaning that technically, the main stem of the Mississippi River system is the Ohio, not the upper Mississippi.

I... did not know that.

But yeah, most rivers back east are brown and muddy. Slower rivers tend to be that way. They are more laden with sediment, whereas smaller creeks and streams, especially in the mountains (also aided by the source being snow runoff) tend to be more clear and pure.



Hey rocky, guess who got a job in a warehouse!

In related news, screen printing kinda sucks. But, gotta do this for at least a month so I can get back in class and pay for my fucking truck to get fixed...

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by rockyi

Yep, I'm guessing the Ohio has the same purdy smell.....like fish farts and death......But homes with a river view always cost more.

True that. Parts of Newport and Covington in Kentucky, as well as certain hilly neighborhoods in Cincinnati cost an arm and a leg.

Sometimes, you catch a glimpse of an occasional steamboat, which I guess makes it all worthwhile?

As for the Ohio River itself (which I've only ever stuck my feet in, never going any further than ankle-deep) there always seems to be people who drown thanks to under-toe or misjudging the river's currents or whatever each summer. That river is nasty...

[rockyi]

Originally Posted by Strange Meat

.....Hey rocky, guess who got a job in a warehouse!

Hopefully, like me, you get to operate heavy equipment such as forklifts.....they're great for terrorizing other employees. "I'm soooo sorry....I didn't seeeeee you."

[rockyi]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

True that. Parts of Newport and Covington in Kentucky, as well as certain hilly neighborhoods in Cincinnati cost an arm and a leg.

Sometimes, you catch a glimpse of an occasional steamboat, which I guess makes it all worthwhile?

I was looking at condos that are smaller than mine but because they have a river view, they were starting at $125,000 going up to $289,900. In Chicago? Nope, that's in a formerly empty warehouse in downtown Rock Island. (truth be told, if I had the money, I'd buy one in a second, they were pretty nice)

[Strange Meat]

Originally Posted by rockyi

Hopefully, like me, you get to operate heavy equipment such as forklifts.....they're great for terrorizing other employees. "I'm soooo sorry....I didn't seeeeee you."

Pallet jacks, screen presses, and conveyor belt dryers...

Lots of chemicals though! And ink!!

[LMich]

I always liked that everything else in Detroit could be drab, but you could always count on the river being a glassy blue.


Red Bull Air Race Detroit 2008 by Red Bull Air Race, on Flickr


DSC_1827 by Applejack 25, on Flickr


DSC_0545 by Applejack 25, on Flickr

And, yeah, it's both a strait and a river, and a river because the source and mouth are actually at different elevations if only slightly.

[mobyhead]

Driving in to work this morning there was this distinct road kill/sewage smell. Then I realized I was driving parallel to the White River. We are in a drought and water levels everywhere are very low. I won't be surprised if a corpse or 2 doesn't turn up in that river.


http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4077/4...63ea530a9d.jpg

[touraccuracy]

Indiana stunk. That's my only memory of it.

[Ayreonaut]

I drove through it at night. Indy's skyline looked cool. Other than that, my only memory is changing a flat tire at 2:30am halfway between there and Chicago.

[rockyi]

Originally Posted by touraccuracy

Indiana stunk. That's my only memory of it.

Where you up by Gary/Hammond? It's pretty pungent up that way.

[Buckeye Native 001]

We used to go to Chicago a lot when I lived in Cincinnati. More often than not, my mom, brother and I would beg my father to go out of his way to avoid driving through Gary.

[ChiSoxRox]

Here in Iowa, we have several smaller stinky cities: Muscatine (probably the worst), Ottumwa (huge meatpacking plant), and Cedar Rapids (the City of Five Smells).