Chisoxfn

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 11:50 AM) My Mazda CX5 uses Bluetooth to play any audio the phone is generating: GPS navigation, Pandora, Google Music, Spotify, etc. Yep...most any of the cars with bluetooh should do it, you just need to make sure when you set-up your phone you also activate the bluetooth audio feature. Do note that to play navigation, you need to typically be on the media section (some cars it will actually interject over normal radio but a lot of vehicles it will only interject on the media connection, meaning over Pandora / Spotify / etc).

Have only caught 1.5 of the 2 episodes thus far, but agree that the 2nd episode totally hooked me. In that said, you needed the 1st episode to put everything back. Loved that they stuck with the retro intro. I truly hope this isn't one and done.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 11:26 AM) Gage that is one elaborate strategy to car buying. LOL My wife is the same way though. I get so annoyed in the process that I will usually not buy anything. I don't like salespeople and I always feel like I am being hosed no matter what. Glad you got yourself a nice ride at a good price. Ultimately it is really simple. Step 1: Research (Do your homework and educate yourself in the process) Step 2: Narrow done choices Step 3: Finalize choice (or choices is if it is price dependent) and understand exact packages you want Step 4: Use internet to get lots of dealers in contact with you Step 5: Leverage those dealers amongst each other to grind them down on pricing Step 6: Finalize price and set-up appointment to walk in and buy car (literally a no hassle experience...was done with my paperwork in less than half an hour and the car was detailed out that morning).

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 10:22 AM) Can you illuminate us on the process you went through? I think that would be a valuable asset. Welp...picked up the car on Saturday (exactly as negotiated and thankfully extremely hassle free). So this time was a little different, since my other car wasn't operable, I didn't get to do my usual longer process to purchase (I enjoy going to auto shows, etc, to research all the different vehicles I'm deciding on and than ultimately conclude on what I'm going to pick). My first starting point was reading the various write-ups, looking at specs, going through the online brochures, etc. Understand pro's and con's of vehicles (roominess, turning radius, horsepower, MPG, etc). From there I than go to the various dealers based upon my write-ups, having came up with a prioritization based upon what I've seen, although my view is to go into the whole process with an open mind...in fact, when I started this process (before online research) I'd have pretty much guaranteed anyone I would have went with a 2016 Pilot EX-L with sensing or Highlander XLE. When I go to the dealer, I told every salesperson that came near me that I am looking at the cars, doing my research, and am not buying anything today under any circumstances. Helps ensure there guard is down and you can just enjoy looking at the cars, taking cars you want on a test drive, etc. Now given I'm not buying that day, I also tell salesman to help someone else if it is a potential buyer and ask them to open up some cars and really let me wander around. Than I take the cars on test drives, etc. Usually in this process, I'll ask the sales people questions, really to figure out if they know anything about the vehicle at all. If they pass my initial test questions (i.e., answer them truthfully), than I'll have them dig in and ask them other questions (as they have passed my smell test). From there I've usually narrowed things down, but want to sit on things for a little bit just to ensure that I'm 100% on my decision or have at least gotten to where it is one of a few cars. At that point, I focus on price to see what the various cars go for. I leveraged truecar and carguru to give me solid "ballpark" estimates of the actual price you'd pay for the vehicle and in this case, my finalist were three options...Pilot, Highlander or Sonata Hybrid. Absolutely loved all three vehicles (Note: My wife disallowed me from considering a minivan....too young for one...blah blah blah). Given our other vehicle is a 2012 Highlander, we had flexibility to go with a car and I happen to do a lot of city driving and have always though a hybrid might be fun (i.e., trying to get the best possible gas mileage during my daily commute gives me something to at least enjoy while sitting in bumper to bumper), but could never get the pricing to make financial sense. Anyway, given the difference between Sonata and the SUV's, I finally decided 100% to go with the car. Ultimately decided I'd rather save the cash for kids 529 or our next house downpayment. Now lets discuss actual pricing process. So I did a 4 process plan, 3 of which are extremely easy. I used Costco, TrueCar, and CarGuru to select the specific vehicle and put me in contact with select dealers in the network, who would than give me there initial pricing (knowing that TrueCar had rough data on what cars had sold for in my area, etc, esssentially giving me my ceiling...meaning I would never pay more than those prices). From there, I also contacted other dealers in the area (going to there websites and requesting quotes from there internet / fleet people). This all was done in a matter of an hour while watching the 1st round of the NFL playoffs from my couch. Over the next day or two, calls and emails would come. None of which I answered. I waited till I had the data (roughly 10 dealers or so) and than once I had the pricing, I gave each one of them a call up, indicated I was gathering pricing, finding out specifics (any differences in the car, hidden fees, exact options / packages, to make sure i had apple to apple basis). As I went through the process, I worked from the highest priced dealers to the lowest priced ones, telling the highest price dealers that they were much higher than my other offers . Some of them claimed other dealers were liars, but I gave each of them my simple pitch, every dealer I've asked, I told them my plan was to finalize my purchase price and pick up the car in a week, but if it didn't work and I didn't get my price, I had time (letting them know I'm a real customer and can be converted, but, don't think I don't have options). I also told them if anything differs one iota from what we discussed when I come in to buy, I'll immediately leave and put up a negative review on your yelp page. During this process, a few dealers that were fraudsters, you could tell, they'd waver, try to force you in, and I'd just tell them no, I'm not and for those dealers, I knew I was ultimately going to stay away, but to the extent they gave me better prices I leveraged them. I should point out, along the way, I always haircut what my lowest price was so that every dealer I called during my initial process got a slightly lower offer than my real offer. After the initial round, I had a pretty good idea of pricing and already knew a rough target price (thanks to TrueCar's data). From there, I waited another day or day and a half (as they were all calling back..again, let the initial calls sit) and than called back saying I was busy at work (which was true) and went through another round or two of discussing back and forth and narrowing price. I also had asked dealers what other benefits they had / could offer (free services, etc). At some point, once I got to where no dealer was moving or only one dealer would go (and they stopped trying to beta a price or refused), I knew I had hit my point and then figured I could at least get some free services out of the deal as well. I than had my preferred dealer the whole time (and I had told him he was that) and thankfully they beat the lowest price I had and after beating, no one else would touch the price (finally one company matched but I didn't care...once you get to where no other dealers are going there, you figure you have done pretty good). From a finance perspective, can't provide much feedback here, I despise the finance people like the plague (so much worse than salesmen) but I wasn't financing so I could give two craps. They gave there song and dance about the warranty and I wasn't interested (you can buy after, so if you want a warranty, don't do it when you are in the room, you can search the car forums and find a dealer who sells the factory extended warranties for practically cost). They also lied about the warranty and I called them on it. (like I said, in general, in the 5 or 6 times I've bought a car in my life, I've never not been lied to by the finance person....its disgusting how they try to screw people who don't understand how credit works or any of this thing works). Anyway, that was my process. If it seems like a lot of work, I honestly don't think I spent more than 2-3 hours (spread out over time...internet helps so much) from a pure negotiation perspective and a lot of it was while watching football. All the rest of my time was researching / checking out cars, which I enjoy. And at all points, I had the upper hand in the process and was never backed in a corner. Key concepts (while are fairly obvious), know what you want going in, understand what the right price is, and get multiple offers. Never buy on the spot without having done your diligence. You should also make sure you understand what incentives are out there (rebates, etc, as you want to make sure you get every penny you can get...also know the incentive expiration dates). Also, make sure you negotiate the price and you don't let anyone run your credit prior to reaching a total agreement (if you are financing, you know your credit situation going into things....they want to back you in that corner and run your credit for everything...but none of that crap is necessary...obviously you aren't going to quality for 1% interest if you have a 400 fico score, but if you have strong credit, you'll get whatever the best credit is and you should understand what your credit union is offering, etc, so you have a concept). Ended up paying about 24K for a car with an MSRP of 31,120. Oh and again, never go in and negotiate by monthly payment. You need to already know what you can afford, but if you go in and are focused on monthly payment, you are a hosed. The payment is just math, you focus on the cost of the vehicle. And if you lease, again, you focus on the cost of the vehicle and the money factor. As far as the car, given I was coming from driving the Highlander (and the Pilot before that), it has been a slight adjustment, but it drives really nice, is super quiet, and is very roomy. The whole hybrid thing is fun. I used to be into fast cars, but eventually decided those were worthless, cause you can't actually use the speed (unless you take it to the track), but the whole fuel efficient is kind of fun, cause you can actually try and drive and test your limits (all while helping your bottom line) and actually do that on the road. We'll see how long that lasts. Hopefully the car lasts a long time as my MO is to buy and own for a while (expect to hold onto this for 10+ years). My kid are lucky as it probably won't be quite old enough for them, that they'll probably end up with whatever we replace our Highlander with in 4 or 5 years. Over the next 4 or 5 years, instead of making a car payment, I just pay myself the funds, which are set aside for our next car.

The key difference is if you are logging in on multiple places on different networks. If it is on the same network, you are fine. If you login from work and than from home on different devices, than you'll run into the issue. Just consider it a security protocol to provide additional protection to your account.

Caufield....that was an excellent and well thought out post. I'd be curious of the logistical issues / concerns getting something set-up, but do agree that the concept would be brilliant if done right. Not sure what sort of legal parameters need to be in place / MLB rules, but getting in Cuba before others (if it is even possible...not sure if they would be open to it) and from an India perspective, why not. I see little reason why franchises don't at a minimum enter into partnership type deals all throughout the globe to maximize there ability on potential talent and while you can't hit every country, India would be an excellent place to start. One risk is resources are finite so there are real costs associated with set-up, operating, finding other talented players to play with them (if the quality of talent is super poor, harder to be able to get guys to develop / find resources). This likely means the initial costs before hitting on real talent could be pretty high (as you'd have years and years before truly establishing). Might ultimately mean cost / benefit doesn't pan out, but the general thought and line of thought is spot on, and ultimately good for the global brand of baseball.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jan 25, 2016 -> 05:45 PM) Bellamy and Mariani can eat a shoe, but I have a soft spot for Meredith. I'd be fine with him being the last receiver. But I agree with your point. WR depth is a good thing, and we need it. I agree with Kyle. There is zero chance Jeffrey is allowed to walk. Maybe they don't go long term with him, but he's getting franchised this year and if after that, they don't want him, they'll either trade him than (after franchising him a 2nd time) or franchise him again and than let him walk. Either way, he'll be a Bear this next year. Outside of an absurd offer, it doesn't make sense to do anything else. In terms of Mariani, he was the best 3rd down receiver I've seen the Bears have in years (i.e., non #1 / #2 wideout who just could be in the right spot and make catches). I see no reason to get rid of him. He was money and if the receivers in front of him are upgraded, it makes him a nice valuable weapon that will be a tough defend (a 3rd or 4th CB might have trouble...Mariani seemed to have that knack to get open on short routes leveraging quick cuts).

Is this you?

Interesting, Groh, who was rumored for the QB coach job, didn't get it, and is now leaving Bears for Rams. I find it most surprising since Fisher is kind of on the hot seat. Groh gets a mini promotion though (to pass coordinator) which helps him. He's a loss though, I thought he was a pretty good wide receiver coach. That said, hopefully Fox can find someone good to replace him.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 25, 2016 -> 01:05 PM) He should be. Free agency is generally overused and average players get way over paid by usually bad teams. That being said, Thompson has become almost fanatical in his anti-free agent stance. Signing one or two players every year isn't going to ruin your team. Especially if they are just mid level veterans. Julius Peppers was a pretty big signing for them.

Never thought I'd ever see a Hawkeye team ranked #3 in the country. Hopefully they stay hot and can keep this up and make for the greatest sports year in Hawkeye history

Welcome aboard. In terms of Braun, teams would have to get pretty creative to make it work. Would Brewers take LaRoche or would they send significant cash?

New Prison Break will start filming in March. While it will probably be terrible, that first season of Prison Break (timed with Lost and 24 being in there primes) was probably my personal peak of network TV. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&a...4CiJvKXF5zGLiyA

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 25, 2016 -> 09:37 AM) John Fox was the previous head coach of the Panthers and Broncos. Just a fun fact. Something really positive though is that he did help build that Denver defense. I expect Mailk Jackson and Danny Trevathan to be free agent targets of the Bears. I agree. I hope we can somehow get two of there free agent defenders (they have quite a few top players). I was more hopeful when Wolfe was also a free agent. In addition to Jackson / Trevathan, they have to address Ware (who might get cut), plus you have Von Miller, Brandon Marshall and the QB situation.

Oh and I'll also point out that the Thunder (yes the team a lot on here widely consider the 3rd best in the NBA) lost to the Nets. Guess they should blow things up too.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 24, 2016 -> 09:10 PM) Am I the only one who thinks Toronto could take Cleveland? I've watched a few of their games in the last week or so. These boys can play. They're legit 10-deep. They're athletic, versatile, and can go small on you without losing much on the boards or defensively. How great can they be, the Bulls have owned the Raptors and by your accounts the Bulls aren't any good.

QUOTE (CB2.0 @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 09:38 PM) There was when the Rox signed Parra.... I hope that's dead. I was talking to Caufield12, though. He apparently thinks he's good (which...no). Supposedly CarGo is not the outfielder there are shopping. Parra went there to play with CarGo.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 03:12 PM) I think you are being a little dramatic and putting a little too much power in the presidential position. I think Trump Cruz are insane, but nothing about Clinton, O'Malley, Sanders, Rubio, Bush/etc scream anomaly to our political history. In my personal opinion, Sanders would be a total anomaly. Dude is full blown socialist. Whether you or anyone else agrees with that or not is not my perogative and Hillary has her own massive issues. I would agree if you referenced Rubio or Bush as being pretty normal. John Kerry would win this election in a landslide. Honestly, I've never disliked the top 4 candidates (2 on each side) more than in this election.

By the way, biggest issue with this team is the fact that the young players have gotten significantly worse. Is that an issue with Hoiberg being too melo. Niko and Snell have taken steaming s***s this year (Doug has been better...but that probably happens anyway given his injury last year). I always felt the biggest misconception on Thibs was that he didn't develop people...in fact, I always felt it was one of his biggest strength's (his ability to develop young players). His attention to detail ensured the young players had to be so focused and were so damn prepared to be in the right spots / know there roles. Bright side is that Butler is very good and Rose is starting to play really good. To be honest, if Rose keeps this ascent, long term, this makes things a s***load easier (despite the laying of the egg by the young players). Rose clearly needs to figure out how to be good at scoring and making others better though but this is a process and since that mask came off (and even more the past two weeks), he's been an entirely different player (for the positive). Problem is, as his offensive game has taken off (scoring / efficiency perspective), his turnovers / passing has gone to pure s***.

27.5 pretty much has to assure everyone that he opts out (cause the remaining money on that deal would be way less than a deal a year from now...unless he is hurt or totally tanks). That is a real hefty price to pay for 1 year (that said I don't blame the Mets). Clearly Cespedes wanted to stay in New York and leveraged everyone else and unless someone offered him a legit longer term deal with a lot of guaranteed money, he was going to go to the Mets. Now things are finally going to get interesting. Lets see how the Sox pivot. Maybe Desmond and Jackson or Desmond and a trade.

QUOTE (ozzfest @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 06:34 PM) You are a garpax apologist bro. Enjoy being mediocre. I'm a pax apologist but I could give a s*** about Gar. By all accounts he's a dick and while Pax might be fiery, he changed the entire culture in the org and while he's had his issues, Gar was the guy who ran Thibs out of town (yes, stuff eventually happened that got Pax and JR to side with Gar, but Gar is going to get the axe). He won't be around next year, I'm convinced of it. I honestly wonder if he's even around by the time we sell some assets at the deadline (and I truly think we'll see some retooling...no not tanking or anything like that, but we'll see this team try and reposition and I expect Pax to be the guy leading that process).

How does this team keep starting so f***ing bad. I honestly don't think Gar survives the season.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 07:36 PM) The thing is they brought Hoiberg in because he was supposed to work well with this specific team. That was the talk, thibs was The problem and Hoiberg was the fix. Now the players don't fit? Come on now Yet I still see people whine about Thibs. If one thing hasn't become crystal clear, it is that Thibs was legit. f***ing irritates me that we dumped Thibs. That said, maybe Holberg will learn (NBA is a lot different than college) but I just don't see him having the personality to push this and we don't have a rockstar coaching staff. That said, I have never felt Doc is a great coach and is more of the personality guy but when he surrounded himself with elite assistants, the combo of his personality and ability to get people to get along, to go with having the right people (and obviously having talented rosters) did allow him to win a title. Maybe Holberg can do that too. Hell if I know. I just know Niko is awful. I would really try and build a 3 team trade around Niko / Gasol / picks / others with the Kings and someone else for Boogie.

Bears name Ragone new QB coach. I didn't realize this, but he worked with Josh McCown when he was in the CFL. Given that relationship and how close Cutler / McCown were, I presume that means he's at least on paper, well on board with the move. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0122-story.html

Oh and I realize we all say they aren't electable, but here we are in January and they haven't gone anywhere yet. So at some point are we all going to go, wow, everyone was wrong while one of them is actually elected president?