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canyonwalkerYesterday I wrote about Oh, The Places We've Been and the pin map we hang on our wall. Before the holidays I realized that we hadn't updated our map in a while. We needed to add several more pins for places we've been! But our supply of pins was out.
Okay, no problem, I figured. I can jump on Amazon.com and find probably a bazillion different kinds of map pins. But then a funny thing happened.
When I searched for map pins my results also included matches for pin maps. It's kind of an anagram, right? Mathematical property of commutation? 🤣
Some of the pin maps were really nice. Some of them were basically like the DIY project I put together on my kitchen table over 25 years ago except... nicer than DIY. As much as my AAA-map-stapled-to-a-cork-bulletin-board still has sentimental value to me I decided I was ready for an upgrade. I checked with Hawk— because while I started the project we have updated it for 25+ years— and $250 we had a new, custom map in a hardwood frame on the way.
The new map arrived in December, before the holidays. It was like a birthday present for me. A present for the birthday which I otherwise didn't celebrate and received no gifts for. But there was a problem. The custom legend, which you can see toward the lower right of the map in the pic above, was wrong. It was only a slight mistake, but it was still there. I considered whether to keep the map as-is because the error was so small. But at the same time I knew that every time I looked at it— every time, daily, for the next 25+ years— I'd see that error. My spirit sank.
Fortunately the maker was really cool about fixing the problem. I sent a brief note explaining the error and asking what we could do. She immediately accepted responsibility for the mistake (her team had botched the custom message in the legend) and said she'd print and send a new one after Christmas.
Indeed, the new map arrived around New Year. And it was perfect. My spirit once again soared.
Now all we'd need to do was move pins from the old map to the new one. Hundreds of pins, all marking places we've been (in the USA) over the past 25+ years. It'd be another project, a labor of love.
Okay, no problem, I figured. I can jump on Amazon.com and find probably a bazillion different kinds of map pins. But then a funny thing happened.
When I searched for map pins my results also included matches for pin maps. It's kind of an anagram, right? Mathematical property of commutation? 🤣
Some of the pin maps were really nice. Some of them were basically like the DIY project I put together on my kitchen table over 25 years ago except... nicer than DIY. As much as my AAA-map-stapled-to-a-cork-bulletin-board still has sentimental value to me I decided I was ready for an upgrade. I checked with Hawk— because while I started the project we have updated it for 25+ years— and $250 we had a new, custom map in a hardwood frame on the way.
The new map arrived in December, before the holidays. It was like a birthday present for me. A present for the birthday which I otherwise didn't celebrate and received no gifts for. But there was a problem. The custom legend, which you can see toward the lower right of the map in the pic above, was wrong. It was only a slight mistake, but it was still there. I considered whether to keep the map as-is because the error was so small. But at the same time I knew that every time I looked at it— every time, daily, for the next 25+ years— I'd see that error. My spirit sank.
Fortunately the maker was really cool about fixing the problem. I sent a brief note explaining the error and asking what we could do. She immediately accepted responsibility for the mistake (her team had botched the custom message in the legend) and said she'd print and send a new one after Christmas.
Indeed, the new map arrived around New Year. And it was perfect. My spirit once again soared.
Now all we'd need to do was move pins from the old map to the new one. Hundreds of pins, all marking places we've been (in the USA) over the past 25+ years. It'd be another project, a labor of love.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-13 12:17 pm (UTC)My parents have a perfectly adequate pin map, and it makes me sad they aren't better at updating it. It has some of the places dad has traveled for work, but there's no way of differentiating which ones were just him (like the 28 hours he was gone from MD to give a talk in South Africa that one time) and which ones were him and mom and actually getting to see a bit of the world beyond the airport.
I did really like using it to create their Big Present Treasure Hunt, the year that us sibs got together to treat them to a guaranteed family vacation together. In the spirit of our childhood, we wrote clues and puzzles and sent them throughout the house and it ended at The Map with a pretty different-coloured pin to mark the next destination! We're all gonna go spend a week together in Seattle, summer of...20...20. I guess we still owe them that trip!
~Sor
no subject
Date: 2026-01-13 02:48 pm (UTC)