{"id":448,"date":"2025-11-29T03:40:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T03:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/omp.space\/?p=448"},"modified":"2025-12-04T17:01:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:01:50","slug":"oddities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/2025\/11\/29\/oddities\/","title":{"rendered":"Oddities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

These may be incredibly silly, boring, or inconsequential. Think of them as Polaroids – and if you don\u2019t like what you are reading or seeing, shake it. Maybe like an Etch-a-Sketch it will give you something more appealing.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

=======<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campground I am staying at seems to have a number of feral cats. As I was working in the van this morning, Wilson snoozing at my feet, a little orange cat poked his head around the corner. He had climbed into the van \u2014 he looked so much like Kofi (no heterochromatic eyes). Both Wilson and I were startled \u2014 of course Wilson gave a welcoming bark – the cat, almost a kitten, small like K2, started, then ran then Wilson ran, then I ran hoping to catch a photo for all the unbelievers. (By the by, I have always wanted to use \u201cheterochromatic\u201d since I learned that was the term for two differently colored eyes). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

===========<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u201cI spy with my little eye, something beginning with \u201cF\u201d.\u201d Hint: it\u2019s two words. The building often stands alone. Frequently at the edge of the business district, especially if the town is so small it does not have a stoplight. The building is often of brick, despite the local building materials. It always has a flagpole flying the American Flag, sometimes, usually in more populous areas the black POW flag too. \u201cWhat am I?\u201d There is always parking. People visit, but often don\u2019t stay long, or when they do, it\u2019s not the business of my place but an easy place to chat. The counters are high. Easy for leaning against. \u201cI got it, The Post Office.\u201d Hint, that is close but does not begin with \u201cF\u201d \u2014 it is more a concept than a thing. \u201cThe Federal Government.\u201d Yup \u2014 I have been surprised by how often on the minor roads I often travel I am surprised by a Post Office, a reminder that we have a Federal Government. I do have to note that pressures to privatize, and those forces have semi-succeeded, meant during the government shutdown the post office still operated. There may have been no checks forthcoming but the rest of the mail happened.

=======<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Road Games: Alabama license plates seem to be mostly letters, at least those on sedans and SUVs. As a former database instructor, I look at the sequence and try to uncover the pattern, there is some sense of intelligence in the sequence of letters and numbers, Like the Social Security number, whose first triad references the state of issue, of the quartet on a credit card that identifies the issuer, there is some key, the letters are not random. Currently, the initial three characters seem to have an embedded chronology, especially as newer vehicles have the same sequence, \u201cA0C\u201d. To me driving, this looks more like \u201cAOC\u201d, the moniker for the sometimes lauded, sometimes reviled, representative from New York. \u201cAOC\u201d is only the first part. I wonder if the DOT examines all: AOCBAM, AOCC0MM1, AOC4EVA and the ridiculous, AOC8HAM<\/p>\n\n\n\n


=======<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mississippi has more handicap plates, not review-mirror-hang-tags whose honor belongs to Florida. The web says that West Virginia is the leader. Whatever. Is it because health care is so poor \u2014 MS ranks last nationally?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

=======
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

I\u2019ve crossed the border to Florida. At the campground, I often double take on seeing Florida tags, on say a car parked by the seawall. I flash back to RI \u2014 those plates started showing up in the spring. I have to remind myself, I really am in Florida and this is normal. It still surprises me. I see shadows of Wilbur\u2019s Store with cars parked in front.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n


=======
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d been in the mid-tier of the southern states \u2014 Memphis, TN to Jackson, MS or Huntsville, AL to Montgomery, AL. Lots of trucks \u2014 battered pickups with saggy springs, multicolored rebodied pickups with no springs sporting the lo-rider look, Ford Cummins big tire lift kit monsters usually white, RAM trucks, now a separate division within Stellantis, and the bow-tie Chevy 2500s. As I get closer to the coast, the SUV dominates, with KIA, Lexus, the occasional BMW and a surprising number of Mercedes to say nothing of the Expeditions, Explorers, Tahoes, Denalis, and black with blacked windows, Suburbans.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

=======
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Bad gas station coffee has become my daily marker. I get one about 10 AM \u2014 almost always on travel days and often on casual out of camp errand or visit days. I\u2019ve come to enjoy those 12 oz mediocre coffees. None tastes the same! I don\u2019t drink them fast and by noon I question my judgement.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These may be incredibly silly, boring, or inconsequential. Think of them as Polaroids – and if you don\u2019t like what you are reading or seeing, shake it. Maybe like an Etch-a-Sketch it will give you something more appealing. ======= The campground I am staying at seems to have a number of feral cats. As I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":483,"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions\/483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/omp.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}