bigruss

Heineken Brewery, Amsterdam-

De Halve Man Brewery- Fave beer is the Quad, just absolutely delicious THe tour- The old parts of the brewery- From on top of the brewery- Donated glass set to the brewery- And the drink afterwards (their original), it is quite good and Binny's carries it (along with the Bruge Zot Tripel and the Staffe Hendrix Tripel)

Bruges, Belgium: Beer wall, all 700ish Belgian beers- De Garre, a microbrew that is only available at their pub located on the smallest street in Bruges (it's an alley). 12% but damn good-

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jun 7, 2011 -> 03:42 PM) LOL. Methinks you've never been part of a team, led a group of people, had a kid, had a wife, or just about had a relationship with any human being on this Earth. Good stuff man, keep it comin. The way you talk down to people Im surprised if you ever had any of those experiences either.

Ill post them tonight.

My boy Zach Putnam (played ball at the same high school, 3 yrs apart) is just killing it in the minors for the Indians, he really could be a stud pitcher. Looks like they converted him to a reliever but his stats are pretty insane: IP: 32.1 ERA: 2.51 WHIP: 1.021 HR/9: 0.8 BB/9: 1.7 k/9: 7.2

Would've been cool to draft Now Ramirez right there, born on the exact same day.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 7, 2011 -> 09:50 AM) Balta, not sure why you're quoting me about the board's response to our first round picks, and then what the Walker pick means about Mitchell. I wasn't terribly upset about Mitchell, as there were a lot of other people a lot more upset. I liked what I saw from him in the College World Series, and had high hopes for him. However, when you draft someone with the same skill set two years after drafting Mitchell (while he's struggling in the minors), then you start to think the organization has little confidence in him. Or is it more confidence than you would think? Since the Sox already drafted a similar player and that player struggled, they are showing confidence that these types of guys can rebound from slumps/injuries and still be effective players.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 7, 2011 -> 09:37 AM) Starting salaries in most industries haven't changed much since 2008. That's what I figured, but IT is pretty different from what Ive seen. I do have a ton of accounting friends whose offers are actually worse overall than those going into the industry 5 years ago (no signing bonus, salary pretty much the same, etc. Hell, the big 4 used to give signing bonuses to their interns!!).

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 7, 2011 -> 09:32 AM) I think it's good that you have been honest with him in regards to how you feel about working there. However, make sure they realize you also understand you have options and a market value. Regardless of how dreadful the economy is and the job market is, there is still quite a high demand for bright, young college graduates. Don't make any oral agreements to do anything. But it is fine to express continued interest in a permanent opportunity there. There is nothing you can do until they make you an offer. When they present you with that, acknowledge that you understand the offer, but would like to take some time to think on it. Then you can commence negotiations once you determine what the minimum package is that you would accept, what your market value is, what a competitive wage is in the industry and in the region, etc. But it sounds like right now you are handling things very well. Thanks shack, appreciate all the advice and comments!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 7, 2011 -> 09:29 AM) Are you actively looking for anything else? If not, then you've got 2 choices...sit back and wait for a full time offer from wherever you're working now, or put yourself out there a little more to see if someone will make you a better offer before this place gets around to it. Im not actively looking right now, most college hires occur early to mid semester in the fall, so my original plan was to see what this company offers at the end of the summer which would give me more time to look for other offers. I have a figure in my head (pretty much I think I should get paid the avg starting salary for IT majors out of U of I, unfortunately the timeframe that data I have is from 2008). Im very happy that my manager already wants to get me an offer sheet, but at the same time I don't want it to cause any conflicts this summer if I am unimpressed (which I doubt, but I like to be prepared for situations like these).

My manager and I have talked extensively about working fulltime after I graduate, and it is a high interest on both sides for me to return to the company after interning for 2 summers under him. He told me this morning that he reached out to HR to see what is the process in terms of getting me an offer but wanted to know that I was still on the same page. I have been telling him the whole time that this company is who I want to work for, especially for him, but at the same time I have a competitive number in my head in terms of compensation. He said to not worry that much, the company tends to pay well, but he believes there should be a window for negotiation but he needs to talk to HR about the process since they tend to have more say in college hires. Any advice for my part? Both sides are extremely happy with each other but at the same time I dont know what the offer is yet and I want to be prepared if it's too low, etc.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 6, 2011 -> 07:19 AM) I just got done watching an episode of Boy Meets World. God, I love that show. The college years were great episodes.

Happy birthday to the birthday announcing king.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 6, 2011 -> 10:59 AM) So what round are the Sox taking Ozney in? And is he even a legit prospect at all? I know a couple years ago he was mentioned as someone worth paying attention to. Two things could stop the Sox from taking Ozney: 1) He's not draft eligible 2) He asks for overslot

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 6, 2011 -> 10:36 AM) Relying on your first and second rounders to be your only significant contribution to your MLB team will be a major fail for any organization. Teams have to find talent deep in the draft if they want any depth. Or have 12 picks in the first 89.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 6, 2011 -> 10:28 AM) I always assume the Sox will take a college arm with their first pick. I don't think that's a bad thing either. Most people are complaining about draft spending, but we've all been really happy with the last three first rounders when the picks were made. Heck, two of those are in the Majors already. They are starting to deserve our faith a little bit. Relying on your first and second rounders to be your only significant contribution to your MLB team will be a major fail for any organization. Teams have to find talent deep in the draft if they want any depth.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 6, 2011 -> 07:23 AM) That Fullerton game was awesome, great win! The closer had given up 5 runs in 24 innings all season, and they put up a 3 spot. I didn't stay up for the Stanford game, but I imagined it would end up the way it did. It was awesome to see Illinois baseball somewhat relevant, I don't remember really hearing about them when I was in school. They only finished like 3 games over .500 this year, so it's not like they were a powerhouse either. They had a better team last year, hell they even swept the #1 at the time LSU in a series. This team got hot at the right time and it was a joy to follow them. They didn't have near the talent or depth of the other teams but they played their hearts out.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 06:46 PM) <!--quoteo(post=2396592:date=Jun 5, 2011 -> 05:55 PM:name=FlaSoxxJim)-->QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 05:55 PM) <!--quotec-->Where lesson?? Love that quote.

If interested, I can post pics from a Belgian brewery and the Heineken brewery.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 05:16 PM) Schwarzbier and sausage...yes please.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 06:15 PM) this is what I read Hahaha well that too, she is stunning.

Finally getting around to putting up some pics here, but these are the ones of the Pratergarten in Berlin:

It all started with a sqwert. Congrats!!

That better be a damn good reliever.