Texsox

When friendships and team image get tossed aside and the only thing that matters is winning, you hire the guy!

Now 72 and sunny. I love this weather lol Of the changes that hopefully will come out of this I'm hoping voters remember Rafael Cruz heading off to Mexico during the storm. I can't believe he didn't fly private. Arrogance in the highest degree. Another change is many of the folks that run the grid aren't residents of Texas. I think that will get moved on. It's low hanging fruit for politicians. The latest estimate to bring this up to the level of preparedness for the next storm of the century is about $4 billion. Mostly going to private oil and gas well companies. If the Dems have their way we'll interconnect either east or west and have the rest of the country pay for it. Cruz would have been helpful if Trump had been reelected, I don't see Biden being in too much of a hurry to help out the senators from Texas so I'm assuming that won't change. Of the two links to other grids, Mexico was able to send a little electricity. The Eastern grid wasn't able to send any, they were dealing with their own issues caused by the storm. Some believe the failure of the Texas grid could have caused wider outages across the east coast had there been broader access so I'm assuming folks that run that grid aren't in a hurry to link. There is sparse interconnect between the three grids. Even the eastern and western grids don't connect much. The engineering to truly create one grid is fascinating. Just the AC versus DC decision with changing technology is worth a read. There have been recommendations for years to update the 30 and 40 year old connections between the eastern and western grids. While Texas electricity is unavailable, Texas oil and gas are used to power a lot of the electricity that is generated in the US. And this won't go down as the largest blackout in US history. It will probably be third in total people affected and likely v won't jump start a music revolution.

I have a banquet hall booked for April 1st that holds 250 people. Only vaccinated people will get it. I have a band booked. It should be epic.

You plan ahead. I think oh I'll have this computer next year. Lol

Funny you mention them. Watching what they did to really go all in on a World Series and locking up a former Sox system player on a contract that this franchise can't even dream of is part of what makes me down.

Of course I have to complicate everything. Three different computers in three years. Importing hasn't been easy. And neither one of our employers are one line for easy download.

The media is the message. We're zoo accustomed to evaluating the veracity of edited comments by who is doing the editing. That doesn't make the comments right or wrong, just an indicator of how we filter information. He's got to be fired by lunch.

In Block you just start a new return.

A playoff spot this year would be historic. First time in franchise history back to back playoff appearances. Let that sink in. Based on history they will miss the playoffs and return in about 10 to 15 years. That's the history of this franchise.

When you're one of the worse run franchise in baseball it's just a normal day at the office. Sigh

Actually it's worse than that. The only person who knows for certain is JR. How are you going to prove he's lying? Now, what we can do is make a claim that's an even worse reason to hire him because he's flat out wrong. That old friendships is a better reason.

And been sitting at home in the old old system when you actually had to win something to earn a playoff spot. But thank you for correcting my mistake, I do appreciate it. That 2-8 finish always makes me think it was worse than it was. Third place in your division and that gets you executive of the year. Think a Dodger or Yankee executive could win with a third place finish? If all those years of tanking is a brilliant move why not win executive of the year then? This has been a poorly run franchise for so long that by comparison he looks great. How depressing is that?

I believe that he believes it. I'm not going to call a couple of elderly gentlemen liars. In the south we respect our elders. I believe that at this stage it's a dream sequence that Hollywood has played out in a million ways. Let's get the band back together and ride off into the sunset. We'll see if the screen play will be written by Nicholas Sparks or Stephen King.

I'm sorry. Wednesday I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly. But a couple posters, way smarter than me about baseball, build a case that this is one of the three or four most poorly run organizations in baseball. Now I'm seeing it with those eyes. Yes, because it's the White Sox a third place division finish, a Covid expanded play off spot, and a fast exit from the playoffs will earn a guy Executive of the Year. Yeah! Could it be we've just been so bad for so long he won? How many other teams GM could parlay a third place finish into Executive of the Year? I'll go turn on some Journey and try to believe.

One thing I always remind myself. Refund or paying is a function of withholdings not total taxes paid. If there was a way to be certain of your tax bill in advance your reconciliation would always be zero. We have owed less that $150 each year for most of the decade. If we increased withholding we could receive a bigger return but we prefer to to.

Friday afternoon appointment for the vaccine.

When I was in that position my tax accountant ran the numbers both ways and it worked out better for us to claim them. That was over ten years ago so I've forgotten some of the details. If you have the software I think you can run the numbers both ways.

I have to applaud that pilot out of Denver when his 777 lost an engine.

The article discussed the rising prices on the spot market. I hope Texas is in favor of keeping oil and gas here to meet demand. I'm certain the rest of the world is prepared for Texas to stop the flow. Good news both parties are in agreement to cover those bills.

This is fun. One reason those electric bills are so high is until Governor Abbott blocked the shipments, Texas producers were shipping gas up north for higher profits. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-21/gas-traders-pleaded-for-cash-as-texas-cold-upended-their-market

Ignore the rest if his track record. I get it, that doesn't fit your narrative. What team's fans would be excited about getting the White Sox front office? 28th place in wins over the past 10 years. Sign Rick Hahn and in 2032 we'll have a winner? It's not my narrative, it's the results of the teams he's put together.

"Mr Hahn it says here on your resume you negotiated the largest contract in franchise history. We're a very aggressive franchise so that's interesting. How much was that contract for? " "74,000,000 MILLION dollars!" "I see. That is a lot of zeros. Digging into that I understand that ranks your team 30th of 30 teams for largest contract in their franchise's history." "I'm loyal" "Next!" Those three are the prettiest pigs in the stye. They are meant for each other.

During his time here only two teams have lost more games than the Sox. Or on a positive note the Sox are 28th most winning franchise over the past decade! He might have to settle for Lowes. Actually he'd be more at home at Dollar General.

Those folks all seem to be customers of the same company, Griddy. The plan they signed up for is $9.99 per month plus the wholesale price of the energy they consumed. It didn't matter where the electric was generated. Even if Texas was on a much larger grid the company would pass along the highest prices. The plan wasn't built with consumer protections in mind. In normal times prices fluctuate with demand. So encouraging people to reduce demand during peak usage is considered by national experts in these things a good thing. Much like Uber's surge pricing. Obviously here in this unique situation, it was very bad for the consumers with Griddy. But from our Governor on down it appears as if some help with arrive. Griddy was even telling customer prior to and during the storm to cancel their plans and go with someone else. But many didn't listen or had no where to go. In Illinois you have the choice for example to go with IDT Energy Smart Flex which offers cheap rates but allows unlimited price increases. Roll the dice if you like. If you live in a state that shows flexible rates and you don't want this to happen now would be a good time to talk with your elected leaders. But you probably think it couldn't happen by you. PS. It appears that the wholesale price actually dips to the negative at times (night during spring and fall) paying those customers to actually use electricity to keep the grid in balance. One story I read from Houston the unlucky Griddy customer was an energy trader. So it's not just the poor or uneducated that sign up for these plans.

Perhaps you don't have utility choice where you live. Through most of Texas and 16 other states people have a deregulated choice. I don't know what fucked up electric plan that woman has. Here in San Antonio my bill from Feb 3rd until today for gas and electric is $87.00. I suspect my total bill for February will be around $120. San Antonio has a city owned monopoly for electric, gas, and water. It's one of the few spots in Texas you are forced into an electric plan. If someone signed up for an open rate plan, that was a really dumb decision. That has nothing to do with the power generation or grid. That is on a private company selling a predatory plan to a person who probably didn't understand the possibilities. Ambit for example sells plans in Illinois and Texas. They are the ones that set the price, not the grid. I just noticed Illinois also has deregulated utilities. If someone is paying more than their neighbor for electric is that the grid's fault?