I may or may not be able to check in. I don't have my own computer, and I'm not going to inconvenience ramara over hers any more than I can help.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
I've been playing on Mapquest. I found the listed longitude and latitude for Portland, Oregon (where most of you know I live), and started feeding it to Mapquest, subtracting one degree of longitude heading east. It let me get into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean before it quit on me.
The traditional method gives the location of Portland, Oregon, as 45˚31’12” N, 122˚40’55” W. A different method gives 45.52,-122.681944. I fed Mapquest the one I didn't have to copy and paste to use.
On the 6th, I got the values for Portland, Maine. 43˚40’ N, 70˚16’ W, and 43.666667,-70.266667. Funny how, farther north though we are, we have milder weather.
The morning of July 7th, just for kicks, I entered the latitude for Portland, Oregon and the longitude for Portland, Maine. It gave me a location in Somerset County, Maine, a quarter to a half mile north of an almost right-angle jog in the Moose River, no more than 20 miles southeast of the Canadian border.
I then used the coordinates for Portland, Maine's latitude and Portland, Oregon's longitude and came out in the zip code area for Dorena, Oregon, in the wilds of the Cascades, just north of where Lane County and Douglas County come together. The nearest town of any size is Oakridge, on Highway 58, though Cottage Grove isn't too much farther away.
I found the coordinates on Wikipedia. I entered the city name and clicked on the coordinates listed at the top right. This took me to a list of different map sites, and I noticed up at the top the two equivalent coordinates for the city I had listed.
The Willamette Week comes out on Wednesdays. For several months now, I've been noticing the ad they run for a vegan strip club. Believe me, it's hard to miss. Portlandia, Portlandia. Sigh.
And The Oregonian is selling its printing presses. I think The Oregonian is not going to be around that much longer.
The offspring have been cat-sitting. The kids' father and his girlfriend went to Chicago for a week, and they have a Persian cat. Black, shaved for the summer, every bit the sweetie my daughter has been telling me. The first Persian I've ever met that didn't look fat. Of course, also the first Persian I've ever met with a lion cut.