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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 2, 2015 -> 02:00 PM) So he went from the assistant to the GM to the assistant GM. Dwight Schrute

https://twitter.com/ken_rosenthal/status/571841632275976192 Viciedo to the Blue Jays

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 26, 2015 -> 02:00 PM) Police report doesn't really sound bad. I agree. There must be much more to this. That, or people are speculating that this is the incident since they found a police report with this info. Anyone else think this could be something else entirely?

Leftover Papa Murphy's pizza. Double pep

Man, I can't wait for the season to start!

I am curious if I am covered by renters insurance if I didn't sign a lease for the house that I am living in. Does anyone know?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 12, 2015 -> 04:33 PM) I think it depends on the type of loan, at least with federal loans. I have a bunch of loans, some were on 10 year terms, others (I think some of my consolidated loans) were 25. Not sure about private. My interest rates range from 1.75% to 6.5%. It varies based on when you obtained them I think. Back in the early 00's they were giving away money for free practically. Then that started to rise right before the recession. My wife (masters degree) and I (law degree) have an ungodly amount of school loans. I'm planning for us to have everything paid off by the time we're 40, which is f***ing depressing, but we'll see what happens as we add more kids (and more ridiculous day care). That would make sense that the federal is a 10 year term and the private is longer. My monthly payment on the federal is higher than my Chase private loan even though it is about 12-13k less in total debt. I just did the calculation and it will be paid off in 5.9 years, which would be 10 total. With the amount I pay on my Chase loan per month it will be paid off in about 11 years, which would make it 15 total. The Discover one calculates to being paid off in about 7 years, which would put it at about 11 years total...odd.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 12, 2015 -> 02:57 PM) Just keep in mind that consolidation resets the term. If you were on a 10 year term and you have been paying for 4 years, you're going back to a 10 year term. At least if you do it via the federal consolidation program. Not sure if you can negotiate that or not with a credit union. Is the standard term a 10 year term? I never changed the term, but with the pace of how I am paying them off there is no way they will be paid off in 6 more years. About 40k of my students loans are private and about 19k are federal. The federal has an int rate of about 6%, my Discover private student loan is surprisingly only 3.12%, but I only have about 7k of debt on that one. My chase private loan of 31k has an int rate of 4.76%. How strange is it that my federal student loans have the highest int rate?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 12, 2015 -> 08:57 AM) Well she got the loans before we were married so I'm not sure exactly how the front end worked. I do believe they were government-backed but when we got married she had just finished school and the loans went from a hold of some kind to active. They were both with Great Lakes Credit Union or something, they consolidated the two automatically into a blended rate around 3%. That was in 2004. After I think either 3 or 5 years of making all payments on time, it automatically went down to 1.75%. Nice, thanks for the info. When I head back to MI this summer to visit family I will probably go the Credit Union that I have had an account with for most my life and see if it is worth consolidating with them. I know their interest rate on credit cards is much lower than anywhere else that I have had a credit card with so hopefully they can help with the student loan int rat.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 11, 2015 -> 08:26 AM) Exactly. We still have my wife's student loans. We've paid off car loans and equity line balances, but always pay the minimum on the student loan. Heck, better to put your extra money in investments than pay off that debt, unless you have capital to reach out and pay it off entirely AND monthly cash flow is a problem for you (which is an unusual combo that doesn't apply to many people). My wife's loans started around 40k, they are now around 17k. Payments are about 220/month, but the rate is just 1.75%. At that rate it is basically free debt on an inflationary basis. Compare that to the car loans we've had (say 3 to 5% rates and higher monthly payment amounts), for example, and it's obvious you pay the other debts first. Or investments - if you do your garden variety mostly-large-equity mutual fund or ETF type stuff, in the long run you can expect an average return of around 8%. Again, gaining 8% is way better than 2%. Now if your student loan rates are high, that's different math of course. But in the example above, we are going to basically continue paying the minimum until it pays off around 2018. Northside, I am extremely envious of the 1.75% int rate and a $220 payment on 40k student loan debt. I have not consolidated and pay $585 per month for 2 private and 1 federal student loan. Started with about $72k and am down to about 59k in debt. Did your wife consolidate through a credit union or how did that work out?

QUOTE (farmteam @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 03:57 PM) Mine are coming due, and it's not pleasant. What did you guys end up in doing in terms of repayment plans, consolidating, etc? Does anyone recommend consolidating via getting a loan from a credit union for the sum, then paying that loan? Also, any good resources you found particularly helpful to figure this stuff out? If you are looking for a lower monthly payment then I suggest looking at the income based repayment plan. The only reason I don't recommend that is because it just adds months/years to the length of your student loans so you will be paying them longer. I've been curious about consolidating mine as well. I have my gov't student loans then 2 private ones through Chase and Discover. Chase easily has the highest int rate of the 3.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 5, 2015 -> 05:03 PM) I went for a bachelor party in 2011. There is plenty to do in the French Quarter. Eat like a king. Drink like a king. Hit up Cafe Du Monde in the morning for some coffee and beignets. Find someplace with good, fresh oysters. Find a place with a good muffuletta and a place with good po boys. Enjoy the women entertainment (and hold out until you get no cover tickets if they are charging). Find a cool jazz spot (some good ones over on Frenchman Street). Go to Commander's Palace. If you can swing it, it's the best restaurant there. .25 cent (I said cent) martinis M-F for lunch, although dinner is best (jacket required and reservations are a must). Earlier this morning I booked a trip in May for my wife and I. I can't wait. New Orleans is an absolute dump of a town, but man, the food and night life. It's a great time. I actually just booked a trip for New Orleans with my wife and 2 other couple's for the last week of July. I know it's going to be crazy hot but that's the only time all 6 of us could do it. The advice I got was stay out all night when it's not as hot and sleep during the afternoon to avoid being out at the hottest time of day.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 01:52 PM) That bench is BS. I'm not loving the options for the 4th OF, but that's a damn good bench if you ask me. I would be fine with Beckham, Bonifacio, or any of the backup catcher options starting on any given day.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 02:26 PM) Yes. It will be Brantly or Kottaras simply because they are LH and have experience. Nieto will be in AA starting IMO I think it is easy to initially make that assumption, but I don't think they care about the backup being lefty as much otherwise they wouldn't have brought in Soto. I love the major league depth that we have at the catcher position heading into spring training. Let them duke it out for a month and see who seems to serve the role best.

It's too bad Nieto had to be up with the big club all last season since he is still a prospect in most people's eyes. I wonder where he would rank if he qualified.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2015 -> 03:36 PM) To be honest I'm debating why I am, given that they're continually disappointing, have treated their fans poorly and are a terribly owned/managed franchise. But it is what it is, I grew up loving them so I'm stuck. Honestly though I think I'm more of a fan for criticizing and b****ing about them (emotional weight) versus just blindly clapping my hands in agreement with everything they do/have done. Fair enough. Way better than the fair weather fans out there.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2015 -> 02:58 PM) That they've made a competent decision once so I'm not going to forgive 30 years of mostly s***? Why are you even a Bears fan if that's how you view this team?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2015 -> 03:32 PM) 1) Marshall wasn't a blockbuster. They gave up a 3rd round pick for him. 2) I don't know anyone who thought that deal was all that unreasonable. The backend he was being paid more than what he produced, but I think most understand he was probably underpaid for the production have gave in the first few seasons. 3) I suppose, though the complaints are more about waiting too long to fire people. On top of hiring mostly terrible people to begin with. 4) See 3. 5) They're now 1 for 13 in that department. 6) They're now 1 for 12 I'm glad you see the bright side of things...

How many catchers does Houston have now??? Unless Gattis isn't going to play catcher for them. Corner OF or DH?

My 10 year reunion is the night before Thanksgiving this year. I won't be going since it's in SW Mich and I live in Denver and won't be going back home for Thanksgiving, but I think if I lived in that area still that I would go. Like a few have said, I'm sure there are a few lookers now that you didn't even know their name is high school.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 12:36 PM) i am not trying to start an argument, but to me, this seems about right and the same about hawkins. To each their own. I agree more with Sanchez and Johnson being 8 and 9 than I do Hawkins being 6. I don't have much hope for Hawkins reaching the majors, while the other 2 guys should have successful careers in the majors, even if they aren't regular starters. I hope I'm wrong on Hawkins and I'm pulling for him, but he has a ton of work to do.

Hawkins being higher than Johnson just doesn't seem right.

Micah Johnson at #9 and below Sanchez surprised me.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 7, 2015 -> 05:21 PM) Yeah, head coach or not, Mozgov's just a tall guy who's not very talented. I'll disagree with you there. He's obviously not an All-Star caliber player, but he is a starter or very valuable piece on many teams. 25 mpg and average 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks while only getting paid 4.5 mil/year. Also has been steadily improving year after year. Not super young, but 28 years old isn't old either. There's a reason Denver wasn't interested in giving him up for just 1 first round pick like Cleveland has been trying to do for months now.

This could be a huge addition for Cleveland since their head coach was Mozgov's head coach on the Russian National Team, where he was excellent. I'm glad Denver got some value for him at least.