Thread: What Do You Do/What Did You Do?

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

You have a very noble job, and I'm not talking about the fishing and skiing! I've gotta Google VA (is that Vancouver?)

I think that would be the Commonwealth of Virginia.

We're kind of funny about abbreviations in the US. Each state has its own, set by the post office. VA would be Virginia. LA would be Louisiana. But if you're from CA, LA is Los Angeles, and you do say ell ay as a shortcut name for that city. Most states you don't call by their abbreviations. PA (Pennsylvania) is one notable exception I've noticed. DC (Washington, DC) is not a state.

carl i apperciate your last post reguardign the army and yess i have thought it thru and talk to alot of vets that say it is not a job it is a way of life and it will change you forever. AND to you mark Pa is one of the states that a lot of people call by its abreviations, i should know im from pa.

Originally Posted by markdfhr

I think that would be the Commonwealth of Virginia.

We're kind of funny about abbreviations in the US. Each state has its own, set by the post office. VA would be Virginia. LA would be Louisiana. But if you're from CA, LA is Los Angeles, and you do say ell ay as a shortcut name for that city. Most states you don't call by their abbreviations. PA (Pennsylvania) is one notable exception I've noticed. DC (Washington, DC) is not a state.

Oh, right. We're a bit weird with that here too. I live in South Australia, and there's nothing wrong with saying S A ("es ay"), you can say N T ("en tee") for the Northern Territory, "double you ay" for Western Australia (WA), but you can't say "en es double you" for New South Wales (NSW), but you CAN say "Vic" for Victoria (Vic), can't say anything for Queensland except Queensland as far as I know. ACT is almost always "ay cee tee" (no one says Australian Capital Territory) and of course Tasmania is normally Tasmania or "Tassie".

Now I need to find out why it's the Commonwealth of Virginia and not a state... :-)

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Oh, right. We're a bit weird with that here too. I live in South Australia, and there's nothing wrong with saying S A ("es ay"), you can say N T ("en tee") for the Northern Territory, "double you ay" for Western Australia (WA), but you can't say "en es double you" for New South Wales (NSW), but you CAN say "Vic" for Victoria (Vic), can't say anything for Queensland except Queensland as far as I know. ACT is almost always "ay cee tee" (no one says Australian Capital Territory) and of course Tasmania is normally Tasmania or "Tassie".

Now I need to find out why it's the Commonwealth of Virginia and not a state... :-)

You could try calling the queenslanders "Queens". See if that catches on.

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

You have a very noble job, and I'm not talking about the fishing and skiing! I've gotta Google VA (is that Vancouver?)

Virginia. We're a commonwealth. But not communist. Seems like it should be. I cannot, off the top of my head, tell you the exact difference between a commonwealth and a state in the U.S. but iirc it has something to do with taxation as well as budget and a few other things. Virginia (VA, the Old Dominion) is one of only a few states/commonwealths that requires our legislation to begin each fiscal year with a balanced budget. Wonderful as we're not in the mess that California is in but annoying as my job requires government funding to serve people and there have been decreases the past two years while coat of living has increased. But I still have a job so I try not to complain much.

Actually there is no difference between a state and a commonwealth. It's just a moniker a state gives itself. Kentucky and Massachusetts are commonwealths, too, and they're very different. Pennsylvania is also a commonwealth.

Here's the funny thing. Puerto Rico is also a commonwealth, and that's where it matters, since it's not a state but an insular area. If you live here, you are a citizen of the U.S. However, so far as I understand it, you can't vote for the President, because Puerto Rico isn't a state and doesn't have electors who would do the actual voting.

So as states go, commonwealth is really just a title. As for the whole one-two year budget things, many states budget two years at a time, and others, like the Federal gov't, budget one year at a time.

I apologize for the TMI

-Mark