iamshack

Let me ask this...do you guys believe Semien will provide significantly better production this year than Beckham? If so, fine, go with it, bench Beckham or super-sub him, and give Semien the regular every day 2nd base job. If not, send Semien back down and let him get at-bats in Charlotte and allow Gordon to either make or break himself with the White Sox. It's really not that difficult.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) Heading to Austin for my bachelor party in exactly one month for 4 days, we have a yacht rented on Saturday (just e-mailed Franklin BBQ for a takeout order to bring aboard the yacht for lunch) and also have a table rented at Easy Tiger on Sunday. I have a list but does anybody have any other recommendations that they have personally done that may be worth checking out? Franklin BBQ...can't wait to hear if it lives up to the hype!

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Apr 13, 2014 -> 06:46 PM) He's like 37 and literally can't get a guy out He's lefty. That's nothing. He was 36 last year and had a 2.45 era. He'll be fine.

Downs is going to be ok. You don't throw away a guy with his track record because of two weeks.

And he hardly mentions it was the TWELFTH pitch of the f***ing at bat. That is one of the better at bats you'll see.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 11, 2014 -> 01:45 PM) That's what Monoprice ships with their mounts. For some reason they ship like twenty of them, though. Well some are to screw the vertical mounts to the back of your tv...the newer tvs seem to use a standard size, but the older ones used all different sizes I think...

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 11, 2014 -> 01:28 PM) There are drywall anchors that are rated for higher than 60lbs, but I don't know that I'd trust a big TV to them. I put lag bolts into studs.

Well, mine is about 5.5 years old, and so I imagine it is heavier than many of the newer ones. More so than the weight, is just how large and unwieldy it is...and then having to line up these little hooks onto this bar that is hanging like an inch off the wall....well, needless to say I struggled to do it myself for a bit and then had to call in the fiancee...

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 11, 2014 -> 12:41 PM) Plasmas are also much heavier and get red hot. My 7 year old plasma owns at watching hockey. However they do not make a plasma large enough for a big room so you have to spend quite a bit to get one of the better LED's. I also only buy samsung. When I went to mount my 50-inch plasma a few months ago (it had always just stood on its base), it was heavy as all f***...what a b**** that was...

There are a lot of different opinions out there, so if you try and solicit them, you may just end up more confused than when you started. My advice would be to check out the reviews on cnet.com, and then pare down your choices from there, based on your specific wants/budget. As for online/in-store, I've done both, and never had a problem. You can find some great deals at places like Abe's of Maine sometimes, but then you run the risk of dealing with an out-of-state retailer if something goes wrong. Best Buy seems to have gotten more competitive in recent years, and they provide the security of a local presence that has to deal with you in the event that you get a lemon.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 10, 2014 -> 02:49 PM) Non-grass lawns and other landscaping. You can use all sorts of plants like clovers, thyme, low-growing flowers, etc. The idea of a watered, fertilized and manicured grass lawn didn't really take off until the 50's. Yeah, not wanting to be the neighborhood weirdo is the reason we haven't done this yet. But if it's well-done its way less maintenance and looks nicer, at least imo. My backyard is getting more and more filled with clover, which I'm 100% fine with. Stays as low or lower than grass, gives nice flowers a few times a year and attracts bees and other insects. Better than a lawn which is actually a pretty barren landscape. clover also naturally pulls nitrogen back into the soil, so you don't have to spread fertilizer everywhere. edit: lots of older homes, like say the cathedral district in Joliet or the older parts of Urbana, will have fully landscaped front yards like this instead of grass: At some point in the next 3-5 years, I need to do this. I have a huge 1 acre yard and while I live in the middle of the desert, one would think I live in Eugene, OR with how green the grass is and the number of mature trees I have. We are on a private well, otherwise there would be major incentives provided by the municipality to switch to some other form of landscaping. I feel horrible about this. We will use a million gallons of water this year. We probably spend $7000-7500 for it. However, I'm not going to just let the whole lot turn brown and have all these trees dying and falling on my house. The plan is to put in a pool next year, then the following year a new fence, and then probably some form of xeriscaping/drought-tolerant grasses the following year. I literally get sick to my stomach watching the sprinklers though. Edit: oh, and my parents live in the cathedral area of Joliet...some of the homes there are just gorgeous.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 9, 2014 -> 02:16 PM) Are you talking PMP through PMI? Well, a job came up that I'm interested in and one of the skills is project management skills. Without knowing what a massive undertaking becoming a pmp was, I made that post. Since, I've picked up a few books and realized the best I'm going to do is learn the lingo and the fundamental concepts. They were helpful though. Interview is Friday.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Apr 8, 2014 -> 08:15 PM) 1-0 loss, guaranteed No s***

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 7, 2014 -> 11:19 AM) A look at "donut" contracts. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/seduction-of-...-043829125.html I find it a bit difficult to be sympathetic to the union, considering the fact that the money is guaranteed. Additionally, I find it interesting that the article really makes no mention of how odd the service time arrangement is to begin with, but tries to poke all kinds of holes in club options. Just seems like they are missing the real issue here...

I'll just say I don't have high hopes for him. I think he'll be a tantalizing cocktease for the next few years.

Congrats Rock!

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 29, 2014 -> 11:05 AM) So much wrong packed into ~25 words. Just stop bringing up Jimenez. If you haven't noticed you annoy 99% of the posters on the site with this repetitive garbage. You and The Ultimate Champion should get an apartment in Baltimore and go troll an Orioles' board. Why the apartment in Baltimore?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 28, 2014 -> 03:43 PM) Thanks for understanding my point. Quintana's contract could give the Sox some nice leverage with a GM hellbent on winning. The GM could give up a top-of-the-rotation prospect and sell it to his fan base as getting a solid if not spectacular SP signed to a well below market value deal. Is it likely, no, but it's possible. I understand your point, Marty, and I think it's a reasonable one. There are many ways to skin a cat. There is nothing about Q that says "untradable." Hell, I don't know that there is anyone in the League that is untradable. A team can accomplish any number of objectives in a given trade. If you feel like you are accomplishing that objective(s), and you feel like you are winning the deal, then you can make the deal. Especially given our level of competitiveness in the foreseeable future. It is certainly not out of the realm of possibility that someone approaches us about Q and offers a package that makes sense to us, extension be damned, you may want to make that deal.

Anybody have a project manager certification? Looking into this and was wondering where the best starting point might be in terms of books...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2014 -> 10:32 AM) Theory from a pilots point of view. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2014/03/mh370-electrical-fire/ That seems sensible.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 17, 2014 -> 08:04 AM) That's awesome. Golf is one of those sports that can teach you good life lessons (patience, persistence, love for the outdoors, etc.). Even when I play bad, I always enjoy my time out on the course. And there's always a new challenge to overcome (and some challenges that you never overcome despite decades of trying). I went to Golfsmith this weekend for a club fitting session and ordered up some new clubs. Got the Taylormade Bladez irons from last year and the R1 adjustable driver, all for about $775 including tax. I'm torn on the adjustable driver because I think it will keep me from correcting my swing, but really on my drives i've had a pretty consistent fade/slice for the last 15 years. I'll go a few rounds with the problem "fixed" and then i'll spend the rest of the summer back in the same funk. If I can adjust the face angle slightly and get the ball to go straight, well, that would be great. You never know...about 2 years ago after not playing for several years, I suddenly have a draw/hook swing instead of a cut/slice swing. I actually think I am capable of "working" the ball now, if I just had the time and desire to practice/play more often and figure it out.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 06:18 PM) Thanks for the reply and insight, Shack. I do supply chain consulting/software implementation. It's a very stable job, and I'm the lead consultant for a Fortune 50 company so it's hard to walk away from. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep this job and finish up my undergrad pre-req's because of how much I travel. I wouldn't be in town to go to class/labs. I don't have a wife or kids. I don't own a home. I do still have some debt from student loans that I'm paying off, and a car loan (which is 70% paid for). I could pay it all off tomorrow if I wanted, but I've wanted to keep that cash on hand. I would absolutely have to take out loans for Med School. I think I could afford the undergrad classes I have to finish by working part-time combined with my savings I currently have. I know I'd have to be patient with the process. In a best-case scenario, I'd be about 29 when starting med school. It's 3 semesters, not classes, that I have left (6 total classes). Then the acceptance process can take awhile. It's entirely possible after all that I wouldn't be able to score well on the MCAT, or maybe I'll realize I don't like it. If everything panned out, realistically, I'd be 30 when I started med school. 34 when I was done. 37 by the time I was out of residency. Doesn't seem too bad, especially considering I'll probably work at least another 30 years after that. What is the average age a doctor starts practicing?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 01:19 PM) Law school tuition was also growing exponentially for a while there, leaving students from 2nd and 3rd tier law schools with $200k+ in loan debt and terrible job prospects. I have a friend who got a late start on college because he was trying some other things for a few years. He's going to finish up his dentistry degree this year, and then he's doing some sort of oral surgeon/MD dual residency program that'll take 4-6 more years or something like that. By the time he's finished, he'll entering his mid-life crisis at age 37....oh, wait, sorry.... Thing is, until what age do most of us expect to work? It is almost certainly going to be until a later age than our parents' generation. Let's just say your friend is 37 when he goes into practice. He will likely be working for another 30-35 years? One would think that is long enough to justify doing what you want or need to do, even if you don't start until 37. He probably isn't married or have kids though, I bet. I dropped out of college (I actually deliberately flunked out of college) after my second semester of my freshman year (spring of 1996). Went to work in a doctor's office (June of 1996 until September 1997) and then at Abercrombie & Fitch (Sept 1997 through March of 2001) before starting back to school. Continued working for A & F and stopped going to school after about 60 credits. Finally quit A & F in 2001 at 24, went to SIU at Carbondale in Jan of 2002 at 25, graduated in May of 2003 at 26. Enrolled in law school part-time in the fall of 2003. Began working for the City of Chicago as a Mayoral Fellow in October of 2004. Switched to a law firm in April of 2006. Graduated from law school in May of 2007. Worked for a startup from June of 2007 until April of 2008, at which point I applied for the trading job out in Vegas. Accepted that position in June of 2008 and moved to Vegas on July 14, 2008. That goes to show how long it took me to sort of figure out what the hell I was doing. I am very happy with where I am now, and actually making about what I figure I would be making now even if I had not taken such a circuitous route (obviously I cannot be sure). So one can certainly make some decisions and change some things later in life, and go down a less-traditional path, and be successful. But I am sure it could go the other way as well, if you're not careful and lucky.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 11:27 AM) For some reason I thought you were younger, shack. My wife quit her job to go back to school to get her teaching certificate. Granted it was only two semesters and I was still working full time, but we were trying to buy a house and were getting married in about 9 months. Plus, education hasn't exactly been a booming field the last several years. Luckily, everything worked out and although it can be very stressful at times, she's so much happier now teaching than she was working an office job. That's because you only know my mental age Usually, I think this is a pretty easy decision...but when you start talking about law or medicine, especially the latter, it becomes a very difficult one, given the residency period. You've got to be really, really sure.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2014 -> 10:57 AM) There will be all kinds of different funding utilized in these packages, there will be property tax credits, TIF money, redevelopment money, employee training etc. It is a pretty interesting process to recruit a company now a days. I've sat on our Planning Commission for about five years now, and have gotten to see a few of things from idea to open and operating. I know the utility companies (power and gas) serving Nevada have already had some preliminary discussions with Tesla. It really is an interesting process.