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Well, I just wrote a long post, which disappeared. Then, I wrote another long post, which also disappeared. Great to hear from you guys. I have to go rest my fingers before I write again. I'm looking forward to my new license plates, so I can curl my lips at those who have JO or WS on theirs - but I'll be sure to defer to those with CS
LOR, from FC
You'll have to squint--it's just a little sticker now. Used to be great big stamped letters. Now, it's easier just to look for broken antennas and tail light lenses.
Well, I just wrote a long post, which disappeared. Then, I wrote another long post, which also disappeared. Great to hear from you guys. I have to go rest my fingers before I write again.
I'm looking forward to my new license plates, so I can curl my lips at those who have JO or WS on theirs - but I'll be sure to defer to those with CS
LOR, from FC
The other poster is right, as you'll see if you wander past any old barns or garages with old tags nailed up (quite common). Used to be two letters vertically; ours said RN, as I lived in Hutch (Reno). Family's all said CS (Chase) or LY (Lyon). They were blue in those days with no extraneous emblems.
Hey, I have a spare copy of my 1000 Kansas place names book (includes pronunciations and origins, mostly even true!). When you get settled, DM me a mailing address and I'll send it to you. I bought an extra, forgetting that I already had one, and I cannot think of a better way for it to continue its booky life.
OK, I didn't click anywhere near "post reply" (or anywhere else) on that last message, which I was just starting to write. Evidently, in a momment of capricious rebellion, the server or City-Data, or the computer gods just decided to post it for me on a whim.
Okay, one more time.
Gee, thanks, j-k-k! Your offer is generous and kind. I know I'll put the book to good use - I've already mispronounced Salina. Thanks!!
Thanks to all who sent welcoming messages. Weathergal, I hate to tell you this, and I' can just see most of the forum rolling its collective eyes right now, but I just don't believe in zoos. Well, there are a few exceptions, but I won't burden everyone with my opinions here - (yeah, yeah, keep your shirts on (: I'm practically living next to a meat packing plant and you don't hear me squawking - in fact, I'm quite chummy with some of the guys who work there) But, anyway, weathergal, what matters is that you took the time to think about something that might interest me, and to let me know about it. Thanks!
j-k-k, your posts are, as ever, packed with info, insight, and humor. You know, I realized that my self-deprecating sense of humor isn't an astute response to southwestern Kansas (although I'd love to take credit for that), but comes from my Boston Irish-Catholic background. Hmm ...kind of ironic. I mean, its hard to think of two more different (well, white American) cultures than those of rural, Great Plains German Protestants (and THE original Protestants, no less, the-nail-99-theses-to-the-door-of-Wittenberg-Cathedral-and-start-the-Reformation-Lutherans) - and those Potato Famine refugees who took over Boston politics by bringing all their relatives over from Ireland and then telling them how to vote. It's interesting how some of the same traits emerge from such different cultures, but for different reasons and with different roots.
Are Illinois Lutherans also in the Missouri Synod, j-k-k? You guys are hard to cover! No one ever wants to take credit for anything, say, for example, a charity fundraiser: "Oh, I didn't do too much, you should talk to Warner". Well, Warner invariably declines, and passes you on to someone else, and so on and so on. Sometimes, I have to get a little tough with the Lutherans: "Now, Mrs. Schultz, we both know you baked all those cakes. Do I have to call Pastor Einhorn?" No one wants to be seen as putting themselves forward, or of getting a big head (something Boston Irish-Catholics have no problem with). Then, when you're writing the story, they all call you up to make sure that you haven't left anyone out: "Now, Henry put up all the tables, even though he couldn't be there, so be sure to put that in - and don't write that I was the leader like you did last time."
Actually, it can be pretty refreshing.
I guess the housing market has changed in Dodge City because of all the immigrants. There are some real slumlords here, and they charge $400 -$650 for terrible houses, which families crowd into, splitting the rent. I did find good apartments on the north side of town, and they are about $500, but they don't accept cats. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though, because I think I may have convinced one apt landlord to accept a grossly inflated pet deposit and take a chance on me. (actually, $650 will be a hardship for me, but we cat fanatics will live in a treehouse if that's what it takes to keep our cats - and while we're up there, we'll probably hug the tree, heh heh)
It was pretty dumb of me to name myself laidoffreporter. How many newspapers did I think were published in Dodge City, anyway? Well, I've written for big, midsize, and small papers, and I've learned that the smaller the paper, the more public a reporter's life. So, for those of you in or near Dodge City, I ask a serious favor. I really want to do your town justice, and if my personal opinions re meat, the beef industry, etc, become known, that will seriously handicap me. People will rightly suspect bias, not only in any story related to beef, but on every other issue. But I'm a professional, and I'm here (don't laugh) to serve the people, because I still have faith that an informed public is essential to a democracy. So, I ask you to give me a chance to prove that, and not tell your neighbors that the Globe's new reporter is anti-beef. I'm the education/features reporter anyway, so I probably will only cover government and business when they need someone to fill in. If I do get assigned a beef story, Ill go out of my way to be even more balanced than I would normally be.
Anyway, and on a less lofty level, reporters are pretty near the bottom of the newsroom power hierarchy, so I'm sure the editor and publisher will edit out anything I might write that hints at bias (which I pride myself won't happen
Weathergal, I don't have a blog, but I'm going to start one pretty soon. I'm thinking of calling it "An Idiot's Adventures in Kansas". I'll send the site info to anyone who's interested. I took some pix of a beautiful, tiny, old schoolhouse in central Kansas, built, I think, of sandstone. It stood alone on a huge plain, with two trees and a huge sky. Carved above its perfect doorway were the words " District 34, 1898"
Thanks so much to all of you! I'm going to go out now for an exploratory drive to look for some farms. I want to take photos of grain bins. Don't worry, I'm leaving my ipod at the motel - I'll be listening to the radio.
laidoffreporter
"And I love that giant statue of a steer - unmistakably not a cow, j-k-k, as evidenced by its gigantic horns".
I have not seen the statue you refer to but just to let you know, HORNS do not indicate the gender of cattle. A short lesson in sexing cattle:
Bulls are Males with their equipment still attached.
Steers were born as Males but had a surgical sex change of parts of their equipment.
Heifers are VIRGIN females or at least females that have not given birth.
Cows are females that have given birth or are older than two or three.
Cattle that have no horns by genetics are referred to as "Polled". Some cattle with horns have been dehorned to prevent injuries during shipping etc. However in the breeds that do have horns both sexes will have them. As a rule a BULL has longer horns than steers or cows. The Longhorn breed can have some really huge horn spreads. Longhorn hood ornaments used to be quite pricey in cow country.
Some Illinois Lutes might be in the Misery Synod; just depends on the congregation. The other very conservative Lutheran branch is the Wisconsin Synod. That church was the single worst aspect of my upbringing. 1 star, would not worship again. Now celebrating twenty years free and clear of them. Would not go back at bayonet point.
Might as well go out and take pictures of farms and grain bins now, because before long they will be about the least compelling subjects you can imagine.
Now it is time to learn the two-finger wave. On rural roads, raise the first two fingers off the wheel as you meet people. Just like the cub scout salute. This is the approved method. Evidently waving the whole hand would be considered too outgoing and talkative or something, like maybe what a Fornicalian would do.
Gunluvver2 - I knew it was a statue of a steer because a farmer told me so.
"Turn left at the steer," were his exact words.
j-k-k, I guess the Lutherans I used to cover from time to time were not in the Misery Synod - they were a bit too jolly to fit your description. Glad you got out. Myself, I haven't been to a Catholic Mass in over a decade - it's more of a cultural, Irish sort of thing with us. And we ignore the Vatican as a matter of sound general policy.
I'll practice the wave.
Some times the wave is actually just the index finger. Why, you might ask, does no one worry that it will be mistaken for the middle one? Quite simple.
The one- or two-finger steering wheel wave is a sign of belonging, given only by those who know the custom (which is a brief and pleasant greeting to those one meets alone in rural places), thus given by persons who intend a pleasant greeting, and also likely given by a person one knows or whom one might meet (such as, for example, a local reporter taking a sightseeing tour of local cattle pens and pastures). It says: I know I don't look familiar, but I'm not really an outsider. At the very least I've been around rural Kansas a bit.
Thus if you think about it, there is almost no reason the average person would presume it's the ancient gesture (dating back to the Romans) of disrespect. And because that is highly unlikely, in the brief moment one sees the other person's hand and face clearly, it would take a really convincing bird (hand off wheel, balled up or fingers curled in obvious FY) for them to identify it as such. Or really sharp eyes. I wouldn't test it by withholding the index finger from a standard two-finger wave, but people aren't looking for or expecting a bird, so it's the least likely conclusion for them to leap to.
What would be very, very amusing would be to drive around rural Kansas in something really flashy, like a de Lorean or a Rolls, wearing carhartts and a feed store hat (you need one of those, it's like a totem), giving a brief two-finger wave as if this were the most natural activity in the world. If someone will provide the vehicle on loan, I will gladly do it.
Andrew Carnegie was indeed a steel tycoon around the same time as Rockefellar. He was second only to Rockefellar in wealth and according to a list I stumbled upon on the internet (can't remember where) in 2008 us dollars they are the 2 wealthiest people in recorded history! Bill Gates was like 20th... Both of these men were also called robber barons because of their sometimes sketchy approach to business. (Using the poor to make millions without paying them that well) So, why build libraries? He was born in Scotland into an extremely poor family. Young Carnegie had a thirst for knowledge but his parents could not afford books or an education. However his small hometown did have a public library. Without this Carnegie may never have been the "self made" man he came to be.
Sorry for the lengthy response, I guess that is the historian in me.
It's interesting to look at Carnegie and his libraries (which, as a writer and lover of reading, I consider pretty good compensation for whatever robber baroning he did) in context, then look at Bill Gates and his foundation with Melinda today (which is doing enough good things that Warren Buffet's going to just give them his $). It's quite clear that when some people reach a state where they have more money than they can really spend, they decide to use it to leave a positive legacy.
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