Texsox

Mmmmm cold. The local utility is using rolling blackouts due to the overloaded demands.

I don't think we'll be b****ing about this contract for at least 4 or 5 months. This is one of those unspectaular moves that great franchises make.

Happy Birthday(s)!!

Currently: Teach kids, not subjects All time: When elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled Bonus: When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Keeping warm is life or death today for some people.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 1, 2011 -> 09:41 PM) Off-topic... did you parents get taken care of? wtf, that sounds like a hit for the inheritance.

Zzzzzz, I am so sleepy. I am just not sleeping well lately,

Xantham, I have no idea what it is, but it was the first thing that came to mind

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 09:45 PM) It's really nothing to bring a small grill and a cooler full of beer. Get a group together where you carpool, get whatever tickets you feel are necessary (cheapies are nice if you're planning on spending a good chunk of time in the bar) and have each person bring a little something. It's really easy that way. You end up with a lot of good food at a cheap price and you have fun that lasts for hours. At Miller Park you could probably just sleep there if you wanted to. I've stayed there hours after the game, until literally being one of like 5 cars left in the parking lot, and nobody gives a s***. It's like heaven over there. But anyway, it all depends on the person. You may be a hardcore fan but you don't mind hosting tailgates and bringing along a revolving door of friends/family/co-workers (some of whom don't give two s***s about baseball) throughout the season, because the main thing is that it's fun for everyone and you get to go to the ballpark. And it's a little cheaper that way, too, plus some added benefits occasionally (it's not unheard of to bring a bigass cooler and end up leaving the park with more beer than you yourself bought in the first place). Or OTOH maybe you are just one of these (in my eyes rare) people who don't care about baseball much but just want the ballpark experience. Like another poster mentioned, maybe you do it for the kids. Why would you want to make it a big hassle having to fight traffic to get there, then after parking rush to get into the park, then having to buy all park food, and then sitting in your seats all game like it's a chore, and then leaving as soon as the game is over? Why not instead get there a couple hours early, bring a small portable grill, easily obtainable for $20 or so if you don't have one, maybe even cheaper, throw a few burgers/brats/dogs on, play catch with the kid, have a beer, sit around and chat for a while? Then when it's time to head in, instead of feeling rushed, or feeling like you have to kill time, you're leisurely strolling up to the turnstiles with the taste of beer brat in your mouth, and a nice little buzz going, and you're enjoying the summer sun, and you're just happy to be there. And to top it off, you're not going to be pressured into buying Nazi ripoff ballpark food. But yeah, everyone tailgates. Non-tailgaters don't even know what they're missing IMO. It all makes sense, I guess I was always around regulars and never noticed the one timers. Tailgating always seemed like the next level, not the first level. Deciding to go to a game, buying the ticket, finding the parking lot, etc. Then expanding the experience from there. Tailgating seemed like something for later trips.

SNOW! the word of the day in Texas

Anyone else having their returns delayed because of last minute changes to the tax code? Mine will not be processed until mid Feb at the earliest.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 01:37 PM) I know a bunch of people who tailgated for the Rose Bowl and didn't go to the game. I'm sure if I walked around here during a home game, I'd see the same thing. So they are casual football fans and were looking for a place to have a cook out?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 01:04 PM) Casual fans tailgate all the time. Really? So the guy that goes to one game a year drags his grill and everything? I find that so interesting. It always seemed to me the tailgaters were loaded down with so much extra stuff that I assumed they did it more than one or two times a year. I guess I learned my new fact for the day.

Perhaps we have a different definition of a casual fan. Maybe it's a Brewers thing, but I struggle to comprehend someone saying I want to grill in a parking lot, hang out, throw a ball around, *and* spend $100 in tickets and stuff for a baseball game? Or I'm only going to one game a year, I'll figure out all the tailgating ins and outs for that one game. They will understand which parking lot, what to do with the charcoal afterwards, etc etc? For one game a year? The budget thing comes from do I want to spend $150 on a baseball game this month or two movies, a nicer dinner out, and a concert?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 31, 2011 -> 11:54 AM) I have a lot of crap to enter, along the lines of what Rock said. Takes me a solid half day. I don't miss those days at all.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 30, 2011 -> 08:24 PM) I am now the least sick of the four sick people that make up my household, so I am Daddy Nurse. Yeah, I'm starting to feel sick, at first I thought it was all the beer last night and Doris Day.

Casual fans don't tailgate. Casual fans who decide to see a professional baseball game will have reasons like location of the stadium, the day and time of the game, promotions, and of course if there is buzz about one team. Some people actually do have family budgets and like any budgeting, small items and big items will occupy the same budget category. So yeah, movies are mixed in with ball games and trips to Six Flags.

My gf has a Doris Day movie on. Zzzzzzz

The tax software will generally always err on the safe side, but garbage in gets garbage out. The area I would look at is are both of you taking a full deduction that only one is entitled to, or onoe that should be split in half. In your situation I would take your last couple years returns to a tax expert and see what they come up with. You just saw what could be a $5k difference, spending $200 getting an expert seems cheap.

They are forecasting 40 degree here. I was just walking the beach in shorts and thinking about grabbing a board without a wetsuit it was so nice.

I pressed send and e-filed a few minutes ago. There were a couple nice surprises involving my son and his tuition.The not so nice surprise was that due to changes in the tax code involving teachers, the IRS will not start processing Texas teacher returns until mid February at the earliest.

First, accept that there is very little spending from the federal government that us totally without merit or a justification. Certainly not 1.5T worth. So if cuts are made, good programs, and worthy people will be hurt. Second, accept that it is better to be loaning people money than borrowing money. Third, accept that America does not function based on what the lowest earners can afford. It functions on what collectively we can afford, which means those with greater resources will shoulder a higher percentage of the budget. Begin cutting from programs that have a likely opportunity to be picked up by private donors or enterprise. "Non essentials". Sorry items like arts will be cut back for a few years. Keep programs that benefit the widest range of citizens. Be careful in grouping agencies. Sometimes there are reasons for dual agencies seemingly in related fields. Encouraging and regulating off shore drilling are opposite relationships and should not be combined in the interest of budget savings. Allow agencies to have a surplus one year without cutting their next year's budget. If you want a new program, pay for it. If you want to cut taxes, cut the budget an equal amount.

Wow, 6 weeks or so and nobody here is interested in what Biden is doing? here is his schedule for today 9:30 am The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing Oval Office Closed Press 10:00 am The Vice President meets with Vice President of Colombia Angelino Garzón Closed Press 11:00 am The President and the Vice President receive the Economic Daily Briefing Oval Office Closed Press 1:15 pm The Vice President holds a meeting to discuss the steps the Administration is taking to protect intellectual property rights, combat piracy, and prevent the proliferation of counterfeit goods Roosevelt Room | Show DetailsAttorney General Eric Holder Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President Jack Lew, Director, Office of Management and Budget Victoria Espinel, U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator John Morton, Director, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Ambassador Phil Verveer, Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State Carl Bass, President and CEO, Autodesk John Lechleiter, President and CEO, Eli Lilly Thomas Rothman, Co-Chairman and CEO, Fox Filmed Entertainment Ajay Banga, President and CEO, Mastercard Glen Barros, President and CEO, Concord Records Paul Almeida, President, Department of Professional Employees, AFL-CIO Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon Gigi Sohn, President, Public Knowledge Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology Officer of the United States Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Alan Hoffman, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Vice President Jason Furman, Deputy Director, National Economic Council Pool

X is toughest letter in this thread.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2011 -> 12:27 PM) Who ever walks in will be in a world of hurt. I am going to bet today that whoever it is, ends up being a one termer. The City of Chicago is a house of cards right now economically. The budget is a scary mess, and it is at the revenue max with as high of taxes and fees that it has compared to the rest of the nation. The next Mayor is going to be responsible for some brutal decisions that need to be made. I good friend of mine is the major of the town where I work. Yesterday he was telling me how difficult the job is right now because of the economy. They are slashing cost and it makes things tough. He knows he will be a one termer because of the people he is pissing off. They aren't getting fat off the city anymore and that hurts them.