MiddleCoastBias

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Feb 26, 2012 -> 01:28 AM) Nobody watches the NHL. It's by far the 4th or 5th most popular depending on how you view nascar/ I feel it's necessary for someone to note that his avatar says he's from Sweden.

Folks, that isn't on JR or the Sox- that reflects the changes to the City budget. The City of Chicago has implemented a congestion fee of an additional fee of $2 on weekdays this year. And if you want to say that the parking is a private fund, the recreation tax has also increased this year so I feel it's a fair business practice for the stadium to mirror the increased cost of the city parking to offset the increased tax they are charged.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 25, 2012 -> 12:40 PM) I went to Culvers yesterday and received outstanding service, and I don't believe they get tips. I rented a car with Hertz & there were some issues, but the non-commission employee was great the whole time. I'd say over 90% of employees don't receive any kind of tip whatsoever, yet customer service is still great in most places. If a server was getting much a better wage, I don't think they would purposefully give s***ty service for risk of losing their job, as in any other industry. I'm not saying servers would intentionally just not care or give you poor service. I understand most every other industry DOESN'T rely on tips and they do just fine. But how many times have you hung up on customer service with your bank or someone and been pissed off that you weren't treated properly? Or stormed out of a store that wouldn't take your returned items with a receipt? While there are many examples of great helpers in a clothing store, you can also remember those times they weren't helpful at all. Tipping gives you a way to express your gratitude or disgust with the service, allowing the consumer some level of discretion as to how much they pay; s***ty service at the hardware store still means you're paying the same price.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 25, 2012 -> 12:11 PM) When you tip, you are paying 20% over the cost of the burger anyway, so what's the difference if they raise the price. Mandatory tipping is stupid IMO. Pay the restaurant workers a better wage and let me decide if they deserve an extra tip. I am already paying 20% over the menu price now anyway, so if they raise the prices it will work out the same. It was nice in Australia & New Zealand, tipping is not expected all because the servers make a much higher wage. If someone's service was was that much better, then you can give them a little extra at your discretion, but not be required too. Right, but the tip is a discretionary increase. If they gave you great service with your burger, you tip them the extra money. Meanwhile if you have s***ty service but the price is already included, you end up paying the same without receiving the same quality of service. Having a tipping system allows the the consumer to justify spending $13 on a burger plus good service versus $13 for a burger and potentially poor service.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 24, 2012 -> 05:14 PM) That is f***ing GREAT hustle. (*slaps ass HARD*) That needs to be an emoticon.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 25, 2012 -> 09:56 AM) I recently gave a server at a popular chain restaurant a smaller than 10% tip because she was inattentive to my table while bestowing great attention to a larger table. When I finally have to get up and find someone to get my check, that sucks. THe reply was my server was very busy with that other group. To which I said, so she was working and taking care of customers, just not me. It was the first time I can remember tipping below 15% in a long long time. I usually bounce between 15 and 20% unless the tab was small for some reason then I will tip a higher percentage. There is one place in particular where the owners will usually comp my meals, I will always calculate the tip on what the bill should have been, not what it actually was. This guy sounds like a pompous dick. If I was in the group I would have to go back and later and tip the server myself. And, while we are on the subject, I hate the tradition of tipping. Pay the servers a decent wage and leave me out of it. The restaurants are not going to eat that added cost of paying their servers more, they'll just raise the price of that $9 burger to $13. I think the tip is most fair: with no tip and the raised price of food, there is no disincentive for s***ty service. In that regard I think we should be so lucky to decide what tip we give.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 10:28 PM) Been watching a lot of movies lately: Shawshank Redemption (rewatch)- Still one of the greatest movies of all-time. Fight Club (rewatch)- I think I finally got bored of this movie. The Social Network (rewatch)- The more I see this, the more I realize how amazing this movie is. The Wrestler (rewatched) -Still one of my favorites Ides of March- One of the best movies of 2011. Not that says much at all. Safe House- Pretty much by the books, and a bit of a sloppy plot. Could have been a lot better. Drive- Meh, expected a lot better of this movie. Still probably better than anything I've seen nominated for Best Picture (other than Moneyball). Mystic River- Loved this movie. Definitely deserves its acclaim. I agree with Fight Club, I probably wore that one out as well. Watched it again a couple months ago and realized I need to put that back on the shelf for a long while. I've heard Ides was pretty flat. Granted, I've worked on political campaigns for a couple years so when I hear from my campaign friends that it wasn't at all realistic I know I can't expect too much out of it. In that same vein, I'm sure NASA scientists spit all over Apollo 13 but it doesn't make it a bad movie. Ides is still at the top of my queue, I'll just make a judgment for myself. Mystic River has been sitting on the top of my DVD player for the longest time, just haven't been in the mood for it as it gets passed over for countless movies. Now that you bring it up, I'm going to make a conscious effort to find the time to finally get around to it.

Sarcasm

All of this discussion got me wondering what knots people use. For a spread collar I stick to the full windsor or the Persian, four-in-hand for casual days, and the Simple Double for narrow ties. Related, just wore a bow tie to work the other day for the hell of it. Took me a few minutes to remember how to tie it but I got a few entertaining discussions in an otherwise boring office environment. What knots do you guys use most?

I finally got around to watching "Gone Baby Gone" (2007) yesterday. Absolutely loved it. Casey Affleck was great and Ed Harris did his thing. Very interesting how the story was kind of split up into three different segments, though I feel the ending was a bit drawn out. I've seen The Town probably 5 times so it was interesting to see how Ben Affleck built off of his directorial debut of Gone Baby Gone (and I'm pretty sure they're both books).

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 08:39 PM) What, no votes for the Minneapolis airport bathrooms? Nope, but we should count the entirety of the Metrodome.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 10:33 AM) Significantly. And it helps the Sox for both. Obviously the bidding isn't over yet but the offer for Cespedes sounds encouraging. I was hoping he would end up somewhere in the 40s (even $49.5M) just to show that the price came down from the original $50+M. If the rumor of the much lower Marlins offer is true, I would imagine that increases the chances that the Sox can play ball in a Soler bidding war.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 09:46 AM) It's truly projectile-vomit and explosive-diarrhea inducing that he's no longer a Cardinal. Sounds like we're about to have a new entry... http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84409

If this is true, how much do you think affects what Soler will get?

Refinance.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jan 24, 2012 -> 09:21 PM) Gordon Beckham is tweeting about the State of the Union Address or whatever political thing is on TV right now if anyone cares. Whatever your politics, I think this Rongey quote is fitting for ALL athletes:

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Jan 24, 2012 -> 10:16 PM) Agreed, no way, let's stop teasing ourselves. Seriously..........hope for Soler. Soler has been my hope from the get-go. Get it done.

A couple buddies and I are looking to make a Trade Kenny t-shirt using the Trader Joe's logo. Looking to replace the food/bottle with something else. My suggestions were the Chicago skyline or something like a white flag in the center where the bottle is. Anyone else have any other thoughts what we could use on there?

I'm hoping this thread sticks around. I started up a pseudo book club with a couple buddies a few months ago (shared Google doc of books to be read, etc) and I looked around to see if there was a thread on here that would have some suggestions. I enjoy legal/spy thrillers like those written by David Baldacci and Michael Connolly. Any other suggestions for authors or titles?

Saw The Descendents with the family as our Christmas movie. I was wholly unimpressed. The script was so flat; even the "emotional" scenes were stale. I don't know why Clooney received a nomination for this one, not nearly his best work. Actually, I was more impressed with the eldest daughter than Clooney's performance. Walked out of the theater very disappointed. Anyone else feel the same?

I have an affinity for drunk eBay and I feel the need to let everyone know that I just bought a signed Brent Morel bat for $40. WORTH IT. Related drunk Sox purchases: Mike MacDougal jersey for $9, 3 Sox hats ('52, '83, and moder-era with the shamrock). There was an "authentic" knockoff Adam Dunn black jersey for $25 but even drunk-me knew that was a garbage purchase. Yep, coming from the guy that bought a Mike MacDougal jersey, I couldn't bring myself to buy a joke Dunn jersey.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Dec 18, 2011 -> 05:36 PM) The Tribune's Michael Phillips came out with his best and worst movies of the year. For some reason Sucker Punch was his pick for worst. I thought Sucker Punch was pretty good. Visually appealing with a different style. Not sure how anyone could think it was that bad. I opined on Sucker Puynch in this thread a few months back, thought it was very entertaining. I watched it again a couple weeks ago and it had definitely lost its appeal for me. It was fun the first time around but watching it again definitely exposed its flaws; I now see why many people thought it was bad.

Balls, totally forgot about this. Thanks guys.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Dec 14, 2011 -> 07:29 PM) f*** that. I thought the same thing when I graduated a few years ago and now I'm about one hour away from completing the last paper of my first semester (admittedly I would be done a lot sooner if I stopped reading Soxtalk but where's the fun in that).

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Dec 14, 2011 -> 07:06 PM) Officially done with college. Just took my last final exam. Time to celebrate. Congrats! See you in grad school in a couple years...