Shifting Gears, Alliances and Compasses
I recently joined the Old Dominion Blog Alliance, so I guess that finalizes my move from sea to shining sea. Query whether it is proper for me to remain a member of the Bear Flag League. Do these alliances allow dual citizenship? One side of me says “no,” the other says if I can be an active member of three state bars, and Arnold Schwarzenegger can be a governor of a U.S. state without renouncing his Austrian citizenship, then dammit, I should be able to remain a member of two blogging alliances associated with two different states. But I’ll defer to my fellow Dominionites and Bearflaggers on this issue in case either group has a problem with it.
Speaking of moving, if you move, be sure to readjust the compass on your car if it has one. North is still north, and magnetic north is still magnetic north, but the correction factor between them can vary significantly. I didn’t even think about that issue until about a week ago, while looking for my new vehicle (which I bought yesterday - more on that later). It occurred to me that since my Chevy Tahoe was originally purchased in Southern California, its concept of north, south, east and west may be a bit off. Turns out, it was a little off, but not as off as it had been while in California! Southern California is in Zone 4, while eastern Virginia is in Zone 10, but the damned thing was set for Zone 8, i.e., Detroit. The losers at my auto dealership never bothered to calibrate it for CA in the first place! Lazy *%^#ers. Oh well, I got my “new” car, a 2004 Chevy Blazer that looks exactly like my Tahoe only much smaller and has a lot less miles on it,from a local CarMax (Zone 10), which had been transferred from the CarMax in South Carolina (Zone 9) after being owed for 2 years by a company in Pennyslvania (Zone 9 or 10). Guess which zone this compass was calibrated for.
July 11th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
Well, if it helps, I was in the BFL the entire time I was in NC.
I vote we keep you :)
July 11th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Hmm, I see you’re still a member of the NC alliance, as well. So there is precedent for dual citizenship, at least on the BFL side. Q&O has managed to be a dual citizen of BFL and Old Dominion for a couple of years now, but that’s because it’s a group blog (Dale Franks is in CA, Jon Henke is in VA).
July 12th, 2006 at 12:50 am
I’m gonna guess either Zone 8, or for maximum irony, Zone 4.
July 12th, 2006 at 6:40 am
Zone 4 would have been extra cute, but your first guess was correct. I don’t think anybody ever touches these things once they leave the plant.
July 12th, 2006 at 11:56 am
That “correction factor” is called the variance - the difference between true north and magnetic north.
As I recall, the variance for Detroit is zero. Other than being a GM product, maybe that’s why it was set to that “zone”?
July 12th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
Quite obviously (re:Q & O) We in the ODBA have no problem with it. If California wants to keep you, it’s fine with me.
Welcome to the ODBA.
July 13th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
Well, patheticearthling was a member of the BFL and RTB.