Iwritecode

A pretty long but rather interesting article about the people that work in "a low, flat, boring building" in a small town in WV that's filled with literally thousands of boxes and millions of pieces of paper. It's certainly not as easy as they make it look on TV or in the movies. https://www.yahoo.com/style/inside-federal-...-151859823.html

Video of Tebow I'm certainly no pro scout, but he didn't look as bad as I thought he would.

It's paid off and only has 124,000 miles on it. So I don't mind putting a little money into it. I'm hoping it can last another 5+ years. It was the fan clutch, not the compressor clutch that they replaced. Seems to be working so far...

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 31, 2016 -> 09:19 AM) So I really enjoy Halt and Catch Fire. I never watched season 1 but season 2 and start of 3 is an enjoyable show with good characters. It has next to no viewers but they are able to do it cheaply enough in atlanta. I feel like I would enjoy the show as well if I ever actually sat down and watched it. Just haven't found the time yet.

So I joined another adult/youth league with my daughter. She's 14 and typically carries around a 160ish average. Last night was our second week in. First game I had a 197 and she had a 204. It's the first time she's beat me at bowling. Ever. Then she proceeded to beat me in the next two games as well. I had a 167, she gets a 175. The last game I managed a 221 and so she shoots a 232. She finished the night with a 611 series which was also her first 600 series. Not that I'm really complaining though. The better she gets, the less I have to spend on her college tutition.

So apparently the problem was the AC compressor clutch, which I didn't even know existed until my parents had theirs replaced on their Suburban just a few months ago. What's funny is the guy that replaced theirs is the very same guy that quoted me $1100 to fix my AC problem. I don't understand how he could diagnose the problem on their suburban but not mine. He's also the one that said all the Freon leaked out while the first shop says it's still full. Somebody is lying here and I'm not sure who to believe anymore. I'm picking it up tonight and we'll see how it goes. They only charged me about $100 for the part and no labor.

I have 2003 Chevy Suburban that we bought specifically to replace an older Suburban that was starting to fall apart and had no working A/C. So sometime early last year the A/C quit working in the new Suburban. Around the middle of August last year I took it to a shop that was suppose to be known for being good at fixing A/C. They did some work, it didn't last and I had to take it back to them a week later. $1200 later they said that it worked great when hooked up to their diagnostic machine but as soon as they took it off the machine, it quit working. So basically I spent a ton of money and nothing got done. Fast foward to about a month ago. We took it to another shop to get an estimate. He figures it will be about $1100 and he has to replace a few things. Says he filled it up with Freon to check it and it all leaked out about 10 minutes later. This is an important point. Last week somebody from the first shop (the owner's brother or son I think) happened to overhear my wife talking to one of her customers about our ordeal. He said we should take it back to them so they can try to make it right. I dropped it off last night and they just called me about an hour ago. The guy told me that he drove it around for about 20 minutes and the air worked great. Said it got down to 42 degrees. That's pretty impressive since it hasn't worked for me for over a year and the other shop said it HAS NO FREON IN THE SYSTEM! Somebody is lying here...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 26, 2016 -> 08:50 AM) Once again you make things up. I didn't praise anyone. I just stated facts. The Cubs had consecutive seasons of 75, 71, 61 ,66, and 73 wins. During those 5 seasons of what you would call unacceptable embarrassment by any team, they averaged almost 2.9 million fans a season, paying prices White Sox fans would not like. It allows your front office to do things the White Sox cannot. But you already knew that because you have been talking doom and gloom of White Sox finances for several years now. Of course, if it doesn't fit what you currently are complaining about, you forget you ever posted it. But please become a Cubs fan today. Of course that ignores the fact that they averaged almost 3.2 million the 5 years before that, had made the playoffs 3 times in the 7 years prior and their attendance trended consistently downward during those 5 years. The Sox are about to hit 8 years in a row with no post-season appearances in a time where more teams than ever make the playoffs. The last time the Cubs went 8 years without making the post-season was in the 90's. Guess what? Their attendance wasn't great then either. Since then they have followed the typical pattern. When they make the playoffs, attendance tends to trend upward. When they don't, attendance tends to trend downward. The biggest difference with the Cubs is their attendance trends down much slower. Even after they hit their high water mark in 2008 with 3.3 million they were still pulling in over 3 million 3 years later. But it's been consistently shown for the Sox that it takes a combination of fans believing in the team before the season starts (season ticket sales) and the team actually coming through on those beliefs during the season (walk up sales) to really move the attendance needle. Surprise seasons out of the blue like 2008 might help IF they could follow that up with a 2nd post season appearance. Something they've never done. Being "in first place most of the season" simply doesn't cut it.

QUOTE (shipps @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 04:27 PM) US Cellular doesnt even offer plans in the midwest. I am sure they were no longer interested. QUOTE (InTheDriversSeat @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 05:46 PM) Yes, they do. U.S. Cellular no longer does business in the Chicago area (although the company still has a large corporate office near O'Hare), the company offers plans in other Midwest states. One week ago I was driving thru Wisconsin and heard a radio commercial for U.S. Cellular on a local radio station. I believe they company has a large presence in Iowa also. I'm in Rockford and still have US cellular service. We still have at least two stores in town, plus a couple of small kiosks in the mall.

QUOTE (Coach @ Aug 23, 2016 -> 08:30 AM) No one cares who lost the World Series. The fans of the team that lost the world series. Because they knew during game 1, they had a better chance at winning a championship than 28 other teams. Not the mention the attendance boost teams get when they go deep into the playoffs. I'll taking making the playoffs and everything that goes with it (being in contention and playing meaningful games late in the season, the fun of watching my team play in October while everyone else is at home) vs the past few crap seasons we've had with very little to look forward to any year.

My wife and I just finished the second season of Bloodline the other night. Not sure what they are planning for season 3 but I'm looking forward to it. There were a few things that bothered me.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 12:15 PM) Karma's a b**** A Man Who Says God Punishes Gays with Natural Disasters Had His Home Destroyed in the Flood

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 12:47 PM) Probably the best episode of Mr. Robot last night.

Also the Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie is now online. https://www.whoismrrobot.com/massacre/

I was on vacation last week so I just watched the latest Mr. Robot episode last night. Those first 15-20 minutes were pretty interesting. I liked the way they incorporated the 90's commercials in there as well. I actually remember that Bud Light commercial when it originally aired. The pace is still incredibly slow but it looks like it might (hopefully) pick up pretty soon.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 4, 2016 -> 12:37 AM) Now that episode of Mr. Robot was great. A lot more like season 1. I enjoyed it but that scene with the two masked gunmen shooting all the FBI agents felt off to me. Dom seemed a little TOO calm during that whole scene. I also hated that they did the cliché of the bad guy using a semi-automatic gun to uselessly pour bullets into whatever barrier the hero is hiding behind instead of walking the 20 feet over to shoot her at point-blank range. I think they cut that scene before it was truly over but she shouldn't have survived that.

QUOTE (Coach @ Aug 3, 2016 -> 07:11 AM) I tell them to play hard for all 42 outs (7 innings in high school) and the wins will come. I can't imagine how much more difficult it is having to get 6 outs every inning...

QUOTE (FT35 @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 03:54 PM) I can't argue. What you say is true. It IS sad that I have to go back 20 years to get the good times in. All I'm saying is that most other teams are in the same boat. Unless you're the Red Sox, Yankees, Giants, or Cardinals, chances are, you've experienced a drought like ours at some point in the last 20 years. All things are NOT created equal in sports. Look no further than the NBA for unequal distribution of wealth. You think only 10 franchises with championships in the last 20 seasons in MLB is bad...you can go back to 1980--36 years and there have only been 10 NBA franchises who have won championships in that span. All teams are not created equal, and few can say they have ever tasted true success. You're still counting championships though. I think that's setting the threshold for a successful season a little too high. Just look at post-season appearances. The Sox have been around for over 100 years and only have 9. Every other team that has been around that long has at least 10. Half of them have at least 17. Even the Astros and the Angels who have only been around for half that time have 10. The Sox are definitely the outlier here.

QUOTE (FT35 @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 02:58 PM) HA! Not much! A couple Buehrle no-no's?? Does that count?! I don't mean to state the obvious, but we need to remember something obvious...WINNING IS HARD!! If it were easy, everyone would do it! It's not...but let's look at the last 10 years though...in fact, let's cover the last 20. In the last 20 years, 10 MLB franchises have won championships. The White Sox are on that list! Granted...your post was geared towards the last 10 and in that span, there's not much to report. But it just goes to show that with 30 teams chasing the same goal every year, it makes winning very difficult...all the factors that go into a championship. If winning the World Series is your only means of measure, then chances are you will end each baseball season with disappointment and go decades without the feel of gain. At least for us, we have had a chance to raise the banner in the modern era--it happened in our lifetime--unlike MANY other franchises! It might take forever for it to happen again, but we can at least look back on what that year brought us, and smile. First of all, while winning a WS championship is always the ultimate goal every season, most of us would be happy with the chance to even make it to the WS by at least making it to the post-season. That's something the Sox have done far too little of even in the last 20 years. Secondly, it's kinda sad that you choose to go back 20 years to include the Sox on a successful list. Baseball was a much different game 20 years ago. Hell, it was a different game 10 years ago. More teams than ever make the post-season now and they still manage to be on the outside looking in. I just checked and among the teams that have been around for at least 100 years, the Sox have the lowest number of post-season appearances with 9.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 29, 2016 -> 01:19 AM) The pace will pick back up now because of this. They did drag the Elliot hacking hiatus out a bit too long. It's only been 3 episodes but they've all been extended episodes so it feels a lot longer than it's actually been.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jul 29, 2016 -> 07:24 AM) I did a little checking. I looked at satellite news reports from 100, 200, 300 years ago and I couldn't find any reports of attacks in Japan like this. Anywhere in the world for that matter. Then I watched the Andy Griffith Show for what America was like 50 years ago and there wasn't any violent crime in Mayberry. Otis would lock himself up when he got too drunk. Some times some rowdy kid from Mount Pilot would come screeching through town but Andy could always handle that. People only started being mean to each other and killing each other a couple decades ago. That many years ago people were too busy invading and taking over other countries and coming up with new and interesting ways to torture people.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 03:09 PM) Bro, we're living in the safest era of all time.

This 2nd season of Mr. Robot seems really slow moving and the plot is becoming a bit convoluted. I'm still watching it but not enjoying it quite as much as last season. It was good to finally see Elliot back at what he does best at the end of the episode though.

Tim Lincecum is not a good MLB pitcher anymore.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 26, 2016 -> 02:17 PM) A team should not have to plan promotions around what their players like or dislike. Agreed. But they should do absolutely everything in their power to make sure the players are comfortable when they take the field to perform the job the team is paying them millions of dollars to do.