<<Midwest Coffee Talk: The Tens>>

[touraccuracy]

pretty happy these days despite falling majorly in debt. started working out 1.5 months ago just casually but i'm down 14 pounds. plus found a casual lady. and got a job interview for tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Centropolis

i'll just drag my misery over here from the drunken thread.

broke up with my long term girlfriend. fell in love with someone with a boyfriend. arranged an apartment. got the keys for the apartment and gave half cash, half check for rent and deposit. realized i didnt have money in bank account for check. hit 3 loan store which basically locked the door when i hit the door (i was all sweaty and weird but it was right at 6). called landlord back. something something something. now im in a hotel off of i-44.

how's it going today? are things going to work out?

[Ayreonaut]

The other day I ate a few chocolate bars, popcorn, pumpkin pie, two bags of beef jerkey, ice cream float (orange), and I believe some Cheezies while sitting on the couch writing a paper. Lost 2.5lbs.

If I ever actually work out I'd look amazing in no time, but I don't bother so I'm rather skinny. Even when I do 50-100 sit- and push-ups a day for a while there are noticeable changes. So I should at least do that much, but, y'know, laziness...

[rockyi]

Originally Posted by LMich

Who's your congressperson, and who is the one across the river?

IL. (R) Bobby Schilling (running against (D) Cheri Bustos.....and one of his attack ads is playing right now)

IA. (D) Dave Loebsack (running against (R) John Archer)

[touraccuracy]

i think i saw jada today on the canada line.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by rockyi

IL. (R) Bobby Schilling (running against (D) Cheri Bustos.....and one of his attack ads is playing right now)

IA. (D) Dave Loebsack (running against (R) John Archer)

Just looked at your congressional district - well, at least the iteration of it before the most recent redistricting - and boy if that ain't a crazy gerrymander. I won't complain about the gerrymanders in Southeast Michigan, anymore. Since most of our counties are based on old survey districts, the maps here in the state are rather generic and boring.

[vid]

Gerrywhattering?

Do what Canada does: Take a city of 400,000 and split its ridings up so that each one is 55% rural population and 45% urban population, ensuring the Conservatives win every time. The catch: You can't use more than 6 lines for its border. Good luck!

[rockyi]

Originally Posted by LMich

Just looked at your congressional district - well, at least the iteration of it before the most recent redistricting - and boy if that ain't a crazy gerrymander. I won't complain about the gerrymanders in Southeast Michigan, anymore. Since most of our counties are based on old survey districts, the maps here in the state are rather generic and boring.

Yeah, Illinois 17th congressional district is all over the place. We're almost at the northern end here, it goes down the Mississippi River all the way to to St Louis then over to Springfield. Some parts appear to be only a couple miles or so wide.

More political news....Obama was in town AGAIN this morning (Davenport). I actually think he's been cloned and one of his copies lives here full time and shows up in a new location every few days.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Illinois' 17th sounds an awful lot like Arizona's 1st (my congressional district)


Source

Because we in Northern Arizona have identical needs to those in Central and Southeastern Arizona. Casa Grande, Flagstaff, Safford and Marana are practically identical to one another...

The kicker here is that because of the newly drawn congressional districts, our current representative (Paul Gosar the tea-partying dentist) isn't even running for re-election in this district, opting instead to run in CD4 despite previously claiming residency in Flagstaff for most of his life. Fucking carpetbagger...

[LMich]

I get big districts covering really different areas; it's the really dense districts that snake across blocks that get me. There is one ridiculous one in Chicagoland that narrows to literally a block or two.

BTW, the worst district we have in Michigan is the 14th based in Detroit's east side, but snakes it way up to Pontiac, you know, because:


commoncause.com

They call it the Scorpion. lol It has got to have one of he greatest income disparities in the entire nation.

[Buckeye Native 001]

If I remember correctly, there's some pretty screwed up congressional district boundaries in California, as well. The 41st and 42nd CDs in Orange County come to mind

[rockyi]

Illinois 17th is known as "The Rabbit on a Skateboard" due to it's layout. (I didn't know that until just a minute ago)


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...9/IL17_109.gif

[vid]

Canada's electoral districts make too much sense. They're required by law to be as compact and contiguous as possible.

This is the closest we get to US style weird-shaped districts:

[Buckeye Native 001]

And I'm probably in the minority on this forum (but not in real life), when I say that having a summer/weekend home is an absolutely essential part of being a Manhattan lifer. You can live in Queens or Brooklyn (and obviously Staten Island), and own a single home and take vacations like most people. But to live in Manhattan, as an adult, especially with a family, and not go completely insane... you not only need an extremely expensive Manhattan apartment, but you need to have a second home outside of the city. IMO, that makes living in Manhattan as a grown-up almost twice as expensive as living anywhere else in the country.

Guess who?

[rockyi]

I wipe my ass with only the finest seal skin and I dine on roasted snow leopard drizzled in sauce bearnaise.....Why live in Manhattan and do otherwise?


.....Later on tonight Kip, Corky and myself will have a grand time mocking the inept.

[LMich]

You are worthless in Manhattan unless you have a stable full of rickshaws. It's bloody expensive to keep the boys healthy and well fed, and you have to figure out the right amount of lash lest you injure the help, but, alas and alack, 'tis the cost of living in paradise.

[Buckeye Native 001]

He can take his "paradise" and shove it up his ass. Unfortunately, I'll be one of those tourists he hates so much coming to visit his beloved city next May.

I'm just glad I live somewhere that I can drive 30 minutes in any direction and be surrounded by some of the best natural scenery in the country. Who needs the hustle and bustle of Manhattan and a ridiculous desire to best Patrick Bateman at rampant materialism and asshole-ery when the world's largest hole in the ground is an hour away and offers free entrance on federal holidays?

Anyways, I favorited a couple Cincinnati skyline photos on Flickr last night and received a thanks from the author, who, it turns out, is some crazy neo-con/tea party conservative trying to convince me that Cincinnati is a cesspool of abandoned buildings and a stagnant economy (alright, that sounds a lot like me before I was metaphorically bitchslapped by ColDay a few years back while walking through Over-the-Rhine) thanks to the government or whatnot. He also tried to get me to buy some of his photos.

I left Cincinnati in 1996 when Central Parkway (the dividing line between Downtown and Over-the-Rhine) acted as an unofficial demilitarized zone. Going back home in 2010 and 2011, I've never seen the city look healthier and more vibrant not only in OTR, but also Downtown and the riverfront. Were I not so goddamn allergic to mold and the local allergens of the Ohio Valley (which frequently resulted in hospitalizations and a constant reliance on Prednizone and other steroids), I'd move back in a heartbeat.

[vid]

Flickr isn't as weird as Tumblr but there are times when it gets close to that.

[touraccuracy]

i've been drunk for three days and apparently missed an earthquake and something to do with a tsunami.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by touraccuracy

how's it going today? are things going to work out?

back with my old girlfriend. shes drama-free, i'm the one with the drama problem. i could never be with someone like me.

[Ayreonaut]

I was back with my ex last night, too.

Though now we swear that we can't do that again! The self control just wasn't there last night, but neither of us want to risk fucking up what I would describe as a nearly perfect friendship.