The one thing we all have in common around the world

[Tone2TheBone]

.....parking lots.

Unless you happen to live in the dirt. I'm talking about striped parking lots.

Was panning around the globe using Google Earth and it's hilarious to me to see parking lots laid out exactly the way they are layed out in my city. Baghdad, London, Melbourne, Rio De Janeiro...pretty much everywhere in the moderne world.

[Tim]

Let's share in the laughter. What website are you using to look down upon this tiny planet?

[Spudman***]

Tim
Download it and see the world in a whole new way.
http://earth.google.com/

[Robert****]

Google earth is so awesome!

[warren0728]

it really is amazing...i'm trying to figure out how recent the images are...some i think are a few years old....i know my neighborhood images are at least 2 years old (because all the roof colors are pre-hurricane hell 2 seasons ago, we were in the eye of charlie and got hit 3 more times) and it looks like the auto in my driveway has been gone for 3 years....

ww

[SuperSwede]

That was a really cool application! I could even find my town (and it is very small)

[Spudman***]

Do you have a mosquito problem in Sweden? There are more lakes in Sweden than I have ever seen. If we had that many bodies of standing water here we'd all have malaria.

I google earthed to Umea and Uppsala. Pretty country.

[SuperSwede]

Well I know that the mosquitos are annoying in the northern part (where Robert comes from), but we dont have that problem in the south. But we really have a lot of lakes and forests here, and it sure is a beautiful country.

I bet Robert can tell more of these "bull-sized" mosquitos in the Swedish northern regions.

[Robert****]

Yes, in Northern Sweden, the mosquitos are vicious and huge. They have been spotted draining horses of all their blood. (boy, were they ever drunk after that)

[Spudman***]

Yes, in Northern Sweden, the mosquitos are vicious and huge. They have been spotted draining horses of all their blood. (boy, were they ever drunk after that)

I found out something about mosquitoes this summer while climbing mountains in central Idaho. And that is...if they want you, really want you, then no amount of Deet is going to stop them. They will carry you away to their lofty mosquito nests and feed you to all their relatives and all your fighting, swatting and thrashing wont help one tiny bit. There is NO time out for mosquito's.
I pity the poor Swedish horses... a little bit. The fact that they got drunk before the mosquitoes got to them makes me a little jealous.

[SuperSwede]

Yes, Mosquitos might be a vicious lifeform. But the really really really evil beings are the wasps. They live to sting people, and will attack unprovoked just to satisfy their evil minds!

[sunvalleylaw]

Yes, Mosquitos might be a vicious lifeform. But the really really really evil beings are the wasps. They live to sting people, and will attack unprovoked just to satisfy their evil minds!

You are SOOO right! And we have some horse flies like that here in Idaho also. The wasps are particularly hard on my kids. They have all been hit. Spuds, it was a big mosquito year, wasn't it? With all the mtn. biking I do, I decided not to overdo the DEET, and just plan on getting the West Nile everyone was talking about to get it over with. I think it happened about mid summer, after a feeding frenzy during a tube (bike tire, not amph) change on the back side of Baldy.

[Spudman***]

and just plan on getting the West Nile everyone was talking about to get it over with.

Oh, isn't getting West Nile fun? I think that along with malaria are my two most favorite diseases to get.

I was once charmed by the horseflies on Fisher Creek. Very hospitible bunch up there. I felt like a true rock star. They were all over me, just couldn't get enough.

[sunvalleylaw]

Oh, isn't getting West Nile fun? I think that along with malaria are my two most favorite diseases to get.

I was once charmed by the horseflies on Fisher Creek. Very hospitible bunch up there. I felt like a true rock star. They were all over me, just couldn't get enough.

Yeah, my most memorable horsefly experience was just around the corner on a trail behind Alturas lake.

[SuperSwede]

Could someone explain "West Nile" please?

[Spudman***]

Here it is from wikipedia. Oh so pleasant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_nile_virus

[sunvalleylaw]

Could someone explain "West Nile" please?

It is a virus (named for a region in Uganda) carried by mosquitoes that is fatal to birds and, in some cases, horses. It creates a flu like illness in humans that, like most flus, can be dangerous to the old, infirm or very young. A lot of people feel nothing at all. Some feel like they got the "hit by a truck" flu. fever, aches, etc. I think I felt tired, with aches for a week or so, and I blamed it on the virus, which is slowly crossing the United States carried by the animals and mosquitoes. This was Idaho's big year.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Nile_virus

[SuperSwede]

uuuhhhh.. Sounds like its worse than the average hangover! Ok, Spud no more roadkills on your dinner plate (especially not if its a bird).

[Spudman***]

uuuhhhh.. Sounds like its worse than the average hangover! Ok, Spud no more roadkills on your dinner plate (especially not if its a bird).

Dude! Are trying to make me vegan? I promised my mom I wouldn't go there.