Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 01:29 PM) Interesting breakdown by Deadspin of the decision to NOT evacuate Stade de France, probably saving many lives. Just standing there, watching soccer, while his country is under attack? That's almost as bad as reading a book to children. #halfserious

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 09:27 AM) There is something else I've noticed as well. Dine-in pizza joints simply do not exist anymore. At least any around me. They are all carry-out/delivery only. We used to have a Pizza Hut that had a nice dining room and we would go there all the time. It closed years ago and moved to a different location that is only carry-out/delivery. We also had a Godfather's pizza many years ago. There are a few Italian restaurants around here that happen to serve pizza, but none of the old-school pizza joints anymore. All the chain restaurants are the same. Papa John's, Little Ceasars, Dominos... Carry out or delivery only. We do have one local place that is a buffet style. That's about as close as we get. We have a ton around us. Local pizza places and then specialty places that sell brick oven pizzas.

I'm sure these threats are made frequently and we just don't hear about it as much, but fwiw, ISIS is now threatening to attack DC: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/16/...H3gbJmgwLlT6.97

Goodbye Bennett?

Well France, time to put up or shut up. Time for the world to eradicate this relatively small force. Yes, it's not going to solve the problem, and a new group will form again in the future, but at least you disrupt the ability to plan and coordinate these attacks from happening more frequently. To me that's the best way to fight these guys. If it takes military engagement every 5-6 years, so be it. Obama should tell the world we'd be willing to help, but you all (muslim countries, europe) are putting the majority of the boots on the ground and paying for it.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Nov 14, 2015 -> 09:22 AM) I think they will bet better and that this will be a decent team if healthy. The problem is that in year 4 simply being decent isn't good enough and the fact that before getting Lucas this year the best PG Groce had recruited was Tate is simply unacceptable. Tate wouldn't even be a decent mid major player. I've said since the end of last year that Groce needs to be gone for sure if he misses the tourney this year and that merely sneaking in to the tourney wouldn't be good enough for me. Groce had a good first year and nobody was winning in year 2 with the roster Weber left unless they brought in multiple 1 and done players but by year 3 and year 4 in basketball a good coach can have things turned around and I just don't see things really heading in the right direction. We are basically treading water and that just isn't good enough. Yes, we have injuries right now hurting us but I can't give him the benefit of the doubt on Abrams since Tracy wasn't supposed to be here anyways which would have left the best PG on the team as Jaylon Tate in year 4 which is a joke. Along with Jeff Jordan he is the worst guard that has actually played minutes for Illinois in my lifetime. The bottom line is Mike Thomas correctly fired two bad coaches who should have been fired years before they were but replaced them with coaches who haven't made things any better which is why he was correctly dismissed. The sad thing is I just have no confidence in Illinois getting the next AD hire right. Mostly agree with this. They need to make a move before recruiting dries up and the next guy has to start from scratch. Sadly we all know he'll get a pass this year given the injuries. Maybe that's fair since that would be 4 years with his guys. I'm trying not to overreact after last night. Big programs lose to little guys every year in the first game or two and figure it out by the end of the year. I'm pretty sure UNC one year was upset by a nobody and eventually won the championship. Obviously not where Illinois is headed, but this doesn't have to be a precursor of things to come. Re: Thomas, i'd disagree on Beckman. I mean the guy wasn't a good coach (clearly) but the program is in a better spot now than it was at anytime post 2006-7. They have depth. They have a solid core. They have decent players with a few really nice players. They went to a bowl and have a good chance to go again this year. Illinois isn't getting a coach that will make them title contenders in 2 seasons. They needed a guy to come right the ship and that's what they got.

Brooks is quickly becoming my Hinrich. Infuriates me with his ball hog bulls***.

Illinois loses another starter. Getting blown out. Gonna be a loooooooong year.

Wonder why Paris.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 04:16 PM) I drop by to check on Samardzija's status as this is going on, see that you still think dead people are hilarious, and I'm out again. Yeah, people never, ever make light of terrible tragedies.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 03:59 PM) Hillary just came on TV and said this was all due to a Julia Ormond movie released in 1995

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 03:40 PM) You pay a delivery fee because you're being provide a service. Delivery is an incredible luxury. It's a shame people don't appreciate it. I don't think people understand how small of margins restaurants run under. Even very successful restaurants aren't raking in cash like people assume. That's why servers aren't paid much. Is it? I think it's a nice option. I wouldn't call it a luxury.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 10:56 PM) Why is this in the filabuster? I figured it had a decent chance of devolving into a livable/minimum wage/I hate Trump/you socialist! argument.

I've heard the graphics are laughably bad on the consoles. Is that true?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 12:30 PM) They struggled against a completely run down Cavs team and had the rest of the west collapse from injuries. Yes, they won and yes they are a great team (and were a deserving champ) but the only team's I ever annoted pre-season were basically the Jordan era Bulls and the Shaq / Kobe Lakers (and that was a poor mans domination) and mistakenly the big three of the Heat. Struggled? Not sure how winning 4-2 is a "struggle." Already this year they've beaten western playoffs teams by 20 (Rockets), 14 (Pelicans), Grizz (50!!!), Clips (4), and the Grizz again (16). Yes, it's early. Yes, they could still lose. But there's really no reason to think they've lost anything from last year and they seem to be even BETTER now. The reigning MVP also appears to be better. Not sure how they aren't the favorites. We can all keep saying "Lebron cuz Lebron" but statistically he's likely to get there and lose, not get there and win.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 12:17 PM) By the way, I'm still not annoting the Warriors. It is freaking November...you don't win championships in November. The Spurs are adjusting, the Cavs are hurt (but should get healthier), the Clips seem to be ascending, and of course I'm a homer whose always optimistic and the Bulls clearly are still in the early ages of a new system and have played well against the better teams in the league. Oh and Doug Mcdermott is looking like the most improved player in the league. Not sure why not. Last year wasn't a fluke. They beat everyone they played. They're a better team this year with Ezeli starting. Cavs, IMO, are worse with Love given his defensive issues. It'll be tougher to get out of the West, for sure. Spurs will eventually get it together. OKC is going to be tough. Though it looks like the Clips and Rockets are/were vastly overrated. Clips still have the same problems as last year, and Houston, I dunno what is going on there.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 08:28 PM) The Warriors just dropped 75 points on the Wolves in the first half. I don't even know what to say anymore. These guys are going to completely change the way franchises operate (scout, draft, scheme, etc) for the next decade. They will all fail miserably. That's like saying every team is going to start molding their franchies after the 90's Bulls or 00's Lakers. I'm pretty sure they all try to find superstar talent. That's the missing ingredient there. The Warriors have Curry. No one else does. Without Curry the Warriors are just a good shooting team. He makes them historically elite. I'll steal a play out of your playbook and make a definitive statement (that I 100% believe): he's the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA. I think we can anoint him that title now. He's on pace to break his own record for 3 pointers made. He's got more made himself than like 5 teams in the league through 10 games. He hits circus shots from every spot on the floor. The dude, to me, is more exciting to watch than anyone since Jordan. And that would include AI, Vince, Kobe, Lebron, etc. My mouth drops with some of the stuff he does on the court.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 01:13 PM) If you like Lemont and the surrounding areas, make sure you stay on the Will County side of the border. Cook county is a pain to live in. I'm from a neighboring suburb of Lemont and commute to the West Loop. 35 minutes when it's not rush hour, 60-90 minutes when it's rush hour. I presume you take I-55? Metra only has like 3 trains per morning/evening rush. Not very flexible. The problem is my wife has to drive to Rush everyday. Right now it's 45 min with rush hour traffic, like 20 without. So that's be quite the bump up.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 04:07 PM) Are you willing to go through a different lender and refinance? Eh. I'm at a good rate so probably not.

Yeah I was trying to avoid going through our mortgage lender for that exact reason. Why would they want to appraise the house for more, resulting in them getting less money from me each month?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 11:15 AM) Good advice, we're going to have to figure out the timing and logistics for sure. Luckily, we should be closing on our sale right after the new year, so my wife will have two weeks off to pack prior to that. Did you have them take it to one of their facilities for temporary storage while you were between houses? You guys in the same area out west? We've been looking in Lemont a little. Big homes, huge properties, low taxes for the same as a moderately small house with high taxes in La Grange. The freakin' commute though. All comes down to the commute.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 10:38 AM) If you're trying to tell your current lender to remove the PMI, I'm not sure how that'd work. We refinanced to both take advantage of lower rates and to get rid of PMI, so the new lender was eager to help us along. I was going to look into that too. We refinanced almost 3 years ago and got a 3.75% rate. Wonder if they've improved since then.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 10:22 AM) A surveyor? I think I just googled someone. I was just finding my plat of survey last night, so I can tell you that it was Nekola Survey. They did a good job (as far as I know), price was around $350. The lender can probably recommend you one as well. That's why we did the refinancing, too. Word of advice to anyone looking at loans in the future, FHA loans had their rules changed this year. You pay an upfront premium (something like 1.5% of the loan) and then you pay PMI every year forever regardless of loan-to-value. We're going with a conventional loan on our new place. edit: if you mean appraiser, yeah, the lender had someone they used. Yeah I need an appraiser, someone to tell the bank the value has gone up and we're beyond that 20% mark.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 10:16 AM) Yes, we did a couple of years ago as part of refinancing our mortgage. They won't care about permits. How did you go about finding one? Through the lender? I want to stop paying our PMI insurance, but it's still going to take another year or more. Our place hasn't been appraised since we bought it (5 years) and i'm confident it's going to appraise for a lot more. It'd be worth the 3-400 bucks to get it done.

Has anyone gotten an appraisal before? I want to get my placed appraised. We did some finishing work in our basement and didn't get any permits, I wonder if the appraisal will somehow note that. The place was a "partially finished" basement when we bought it, and that's basically the same now, though we did run some new electrical.