I probably should have resigned from ODBA two years ago, when I lost my job at CannedAmerica (which, I’m sooooo sorry to say, has since gone bankrupt) and began working in the Tarheel State. From then until late January of ’08, I could credibly claim Virginia residency since my family still lived there and I commuted every week. After that, my only remaining link to Virginia was a house in the Lickinghole District of Goochland which for some oddball reason, no one wanted to buy. Well, the house finally sold, at a loss of roughly $100k (but who’s counting?), so at this stage, all I have left from Virginia is (1) a concealed carry permit which my NC permit renders largely redundant; a (2) a silly name and (3) no radar detector. If that makes me a Virginian, then everyone’s a Virginian. So with that, and with heavy heart, I hereby resign my membership in the Old Dominion Blog Alliance. I wish all y’all the best.

With Black Tuesday behind us and Black Friday just around the corner, here is the latest Virginia Blog Carnival:

• Jack Yoest has the Reasoned Audacity to describe a political campaign as a shrewd marketing strategy.
• K T Cat of the Scratching post uses every crayon in the box to show how colorful Virginia can be in the fall.
• Dr. Kavokin of RDoctor Medical Portal tells us all we need to know about hip fractures. Take good notes, there’s a quiz at the end.
• Mary Adkins of Writes Like a Girl eschews swimsuits at beauty pageants in favor of snakes.
• Roci of Rocinante’s Burdens asks how long one must live in NOVA before they’ll name a car after you. Or something like that, I’m not sure. Rumor has it that NOVA is part of Virginia, but apparently they don’t take too kindly to people who move there.
• Leslie Carbone looks through the window.
• Xrlq has a bunch of stupid, rambling crap that will not be listed here.

Kilo is hosting it this week. Next week is my turn. Check it out!

Congratulations to Jon Henke, the new netroots coordinator for Senator George Allen.

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.