lostfan

It's pretty funny to be outside at midnight and there's an empty parking lot of a church with 3 cars full of people in it, and you see the glow of everyone's phone and someone yells out "WHAT TEAM ARE YOU ON?" Then you go slowly cruise to another spot nobody ever actually goes to and see a car you just saw.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 11, 2016 -> 10:56 AM) I mean it's not like he's there now, and I'm talking about just leaving him there, lol. She wants to have family take him up there for like 2 days then we go get him. And then all day Sunday will be driving there to get him and coming back. No thank you.

My wife is trying to talk me into driving to New Jersey to pick up our son like this is anything but a big ass chore, trying to sell me on it like it'll be a productive use of time. I'm having a hard time pretending to be interested.

The RNC is freaking out about Trump's FEC disclosures, since now they have to spend money on campaign infrastructure that the Republican nominee would've had to do. That stuff takes time, you don't start it in May or June.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 22, 2016 -> 04:23 PM) That last boss fight was a bit confusing for me at first. I kept getting killed out of nowhere and then I realized he sends out orange waves that kill you on contact. Then I started running around whenever he was bout to use it and beat it pretty easily. Yeah, if you move, he cancels the attack. I was doing that and just kept getting mad that I had to keep triggering the cutscene over and over, you can skip it but it takes almost as long to load as the actual cutscene. Annoying.

I was playing Quantum Break on the Xbox One and it was a really solid game, but the difficulty jumps up an order of magnitude on the final boss. It's not actually that it's hard, it's that it's f***ing cheap and your whole strategy you've been doing the whole game doesn't really work anymore. After about 15 tries (where it makes you re-load a cutscene to boot) I rage quit. Tried again that weekend and I got it on the 2nd try. huh. I started playing Uncharted and I beat the game and got the gold trophy for all the treasure in about 6 days or so, there's 2 other gold trophies you can get if you beat it on Crushing difficulty so I tried that. I got past a couple of levels but... yikes, the AI rushes and flanks you and does headshots if you pop out of cover.

QUOTE (Nixon @ May 31, 2016 -> 12:15 PM) I think you can get Benevolent Leader with one settler and a bar. That's what I did. And just throw some food and purified water in the workshop so it doesn't get raided. Pretty stupid actually.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 22, 2016 -> 03:48 PM) Terrible deal. Derrick may not be the warrior that would die on the court his first four years with the team, but those four years were special. He was Chicago's own carrying Jordan's legacy. Also, I'm just gonna go with Jimmy Butler is a f***ing diva. Say what you will about Derrick and his injuries, but he didn't force people off the team like it appears Jimmy Butler is doing with Rose, Noah and Thibs (though he wasn't alone on that one). I recognize this but I don't really have any reaction to the ghost of Derrick Rose. It's sad that he won't ever have the career we thought he would have but it was sad when my grandma died in 1995, too. I'm more concerned with the future direction of the team and how I have no idea wtf they're doing, and I don't think they do either.

You'd think I'd have a reaction to this trade, but I really don't. There is this space where I feel like I'm supposed to feel something or maybe at one time did, but I don't.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 27, 2016 -> 11:37 AM) I like Avi Garcia better, personally. We all had a similar discussion about Viciedo IIRC. He could've used some more time down in AAA but we so desperately needed a bat he had to be called up. Never actually replicated his hot run of a few months after that, he never really got a feel for the pitches he should be swinging at.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 27, 2016 -> 03:29 PM) Michael Moore would agree with you on this. His most recent documentary touches on all of these exact same points, looking at the policies of different countries on things like vacation time, maternity leave, overtime, etc. WHERE TO INVADE NEXT? Two of the countries that have much better policies in this regard are Italy and Germany. It's the same argument going on in Europe now between southern and northern Europeans (particularly the Germans, as the strongest economy). As soon as you think the Germans are all working themselves to death, you realize their system is also much more progressive. Heck, I think the US is one of two countries in the world without mandatory (extended) maternity leave, which is incredible when you think about. My wife here in China had five months, closer to 5 1/2 actually, of PAID maternity leave. She ended up taking off about 1 1/2 to 2 months before the baby (I forced her to when she was having some bleeding due to stress/overtime on weekends) and then went back after staying home 3+ months after the baby was born. She also must have left work and not come back at least 6-7 other days to go for hospital check-ups. Note, in China they even provide an EXTRA month of paid vacation if you're over 25 as a mother. (Now, one significant difference is the amount of base pay there is probably 1/3rd what it is in the US, even 1/4th...but that's another issue for another time.) For various reasons, Japan is one of those countries where they work themselves to death. Ridiculous hours, the pay sucks. Their economy has been stuck in 2nd gear for about 20 years now.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ May 27, 2016 -> 03:23 PM) I'm relatively certain Gawker also blasted Grantland for outing that Dr. V person. There was quite a double standard there, which is why Gawker can go f*** themselves. They wanted to get the splashy, tabloid headline. Now they don't want to deal with the consequences. I could see if Thiel was, you know, one of those anti-gay politicians who's hitting up rentboy and has a Grindr profile. But he wasn't, he was just... there. A person being gay, completely in and of itself, has nothing to do with anything.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ May 26, 2016 -> 08:56 PM) So the Hogan verdict and judgment amount were upheld this week. Denton just posted a letter to Thiel in what amounts to a whiny, inaccurate, freezing speech argument. Man, f*** that guy. You outed a rich person and didn't expect him to try and ruin you? They tried to act like there was some legitimate reason for outing him when they did that, too. Gay man is gay, not bothering anyone. WE MUST EXPOSE HIM

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 27, 2016 -> 02:24 PM) And that is just your son lol I used to be harder on him than other kids but I eased up on him this year. If he was better than the other kids I WOULD be harder on him, though. When kids who aren't ready to play 2B or SS ask me to play there I say "did you notice my son isn't playing there?"

I gotta write down all the various things I yell at the kids during games/practices. "swing the bat level like you're sweeping an imaginary floor" "I said swing PARALLEL to the ground not a U shape" "Bring your arm back when you throw" "CATCH WITH 2 HANDS WHY DO I KEEP TELLING YOU THIS" "what was that, either swing or don't swing" "get the bat all the way back" "point your glove where you're throwing and your toes what you're throwing at" "No. No you can't pitch please stop asking"

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 27, 2016 -> 01:49 PM) Drink (beer, scotch, or whatever makes you happy)!!! Dammit man, I'm at work

Every time Jason uses a parenthetical clause (like this) in one of his posts in any thread you're reading, take a shot. You will probably be dead before you finish the thread.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ May 27, 2016 -> 01:18 PM) Yeah, I really don't see the problem with giving a 10 year old an award for finishing a season of Little League or whatever. Sports at that age should have an emphasis on learning the skills and doing stuff the right way - not on wins and losses. Case in point, when I was probably 9 or 10, our Little League had a deal with a local baseball card shop. Each kid that won a game ball got a coupon for a free pack of cards or something. My team's manager gave every kid a game ball at some point during the season. I distinctly remember being pissed because I had a great game and didn't get the game ball - the kid who was the worst player on our team got the game ball because he hit a double. It was objectively the highlight of that kid's season, and probably the only time he made a positive play all year. My Dad let me have it on the ride home for being a jerk about not getting the game ball. Now, I look back on that and respect the manager for rewarding that kid for making a play. He was there every practice and every game despite clearly not being a coordinated kid. I don't see the issue with rewarding what was essentially a participation trophy for that kid (and this was in the early 90s, so let's not pretend like awards for youth sports participation are a new phenomena). I've been coaching for a couple years. This is absolutely true. That kid might have been me, I sucked when I first started playing baseball and I got a game ball for hitting a double late in the season, lol.

QUOTE (Tex @ May 27, 2016 -> 01:04 PM) To me, and most kids I know, they are souvenirs. Exactly.

I put Fallout down back in December after getting to Level 28 or so and I've picked it back up to finish it and get all the trophies. The Benevolent Leader achievement/trophy is such a pain in the ass.

I have a handful of trophies from my childhood. Probably about 5 of what people would call "participation trophies" (which even as a kid I knew what they meant - it's associated with the experience of playing on the team, not achievement) and then there's a bunch of trophies, plaques, and medals I got from winning at various things. I knew the difference cuz I wasn't an idiot. I was better at certain things than I was other things.

Being a veteran, let me go ahead and say this: Don't let anyone make you feel guilty about having fun and enjoying your weekend due to Memorial Day being a solemn occasion. Yes, we remember those people gave their lives, but that was the point. Go to a BBQ and get s***-faced. That's why they died. So you can do those things.

I have a confession. One time when I was 11 years old I was offered, and accepted, a participation trophy for playing Little League that year. My team was in second place and I didn't really do anything special to stand out. As a result, my entire life from that point forward (high school achievements, my internship, being a manager at Blockbuster, my military career, college, my current job) has been a fraud. I would like to apologize to my teammates (even though they, too, accepted the same trophies), my parents, James Harrison, and Donald Trump. I let you all down.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 26, 2016 -> 04:08 PM) From what I've heard about Beckham, he probably fails either way. Didn't have the mental fortitude. Not comfortable in his own skin. To some extent, similarities to what I had long heard about Konerko, just nowhere near the quick hands Paulie had (and when I say mental fortitude, it is more the continuous self doubt that drove an inability to sustain swing plans and mechanics). For Paulie it was more just his excessiveness that he was so hard on himself that it caused him to consistently tinker and ultimately have negative impacts on him (which he eventually got more comfortable and obviously he had a darn good career). I remember an article posted on here from 2009 talking about how Beckham was constantly asking the coaches if he was doing enough, if he was doing something wrong, he wasn't sure he was ready, etc. just a never-ending spiral of self-doubt that ate him up.

I don't think Anderson = Beckham though. Anderson has been in the minors for long enough to where that comparison is basically moot. He can't be rushed like Beckham because he's played more than less than half a season's worth of games.