Twelve Mile Circle
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Glasgow or Madrid?
Think quickly: Which city is further west, Glasgow, Scotland or Madrid, Spain? If you’re a cynic like me you’d guess Madrid. Of course, you’d figure it was a trick question whether you “knew” the answer or not. You’d also be wrong. Glasgow is indeed further west than Madrid. However, if I substituted Edinburgh, Scotland for…
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Nasty Commutes
The Washington Post published a recent article on bad commutes, “A Dubious Distinction: The Longest Ride in U.S.” This was considered so significantly newsworthy that it appeared on the front page of their print edition on February 3, 2009. They determined that the sufferers of the worst average commute in the United States live in…
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Mysterious Plum Island
Plum Island sits off the northeast coast of Long Island, New York. Throughout the last two centuries it has vacillated between civilian and government use. Colonists began settling here in the late seventeenth and into the eighteenth centuries, and named it for the abundant native plum trees. British raiders bedeviled the island during the Revolutionary…
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Junk Drawer
This isn’t a real entry. I have some random topics that I need to empty from the junk drawer. None of these would be sufficient to stand alone but you may find the collected results somewhat interesting. Statue of Freedom Did you ever wonder about the statue at the top of the United States Capitol…
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Bolivia’s Landlocked Navy
Bolivia meets the definition of landlocked. Its South American neighbors, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, completely surround it. There is no way for Bolivia to reach the sea without crossing through the territory of one of its neighbors. Yet, somewhat inexplicably, Bolivia has a robust Navy with upwards of 5,000 sailors. It’s not all…
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(West) Wendover: What Time? What State?
It’s my lucky day. I found both a time zone anomaly and a (potential) border anomaly all wrapped up into one neat little package. Even more exciting, if the border does change then the two anomalies will occur in opposite directions! Those of you who have spent any time on the Twelve Mile Circle realize…
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Lockdown
Twelve Mile Circle is getting ready for Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009. Everyone is excited. Even one of the local brewpubs is getting in on the action. The Looming Traffic Nightmare I’ve watched in amazement as officials have leveraged the local geography to establish a security perimeter. From Virginia it’s a simple a matter of…
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USA Time Zone Anomalies, Part II
I outlined a couple of odd time zone anomalies within the United States in Part I. So here I continue the effort with several more examples. While none of these are quite as extreme as the Idaho instance discussed in the last installment — although one comes pretty close — they all represent places where…
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USA Time Zone Anomalies, Part I
Matthew of the prullmw blog[1] is a regular reader and commentator on the Twelve Mile Circle. Recently he wondered whether I might have an interest in time zone boundaries. Indeed I do! Hopi and Navajo Anomalies I mentioned the whole Arizona, Navajo, Hopi complexity in my response, but I’d been unable to find a decent…
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The British flag continues to fly at Roche Harbor, a couple miles north of English Camp.
Per the 2025 street view in Glasgow, MT, it looks like that Chinese restaurant has been spruced up and reopened…
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I’ve enjoyed your Hawaii reports. I’ve visited 4 times, between 1976 and 2007, but no plans to return. In 1976…