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QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 05:29 PM) 50k miles a year? That is a lot of driving! Yes it is. If I could've found anything closer to me in the last 10 years that would've paid me anything close to what I'm making now I would've taken it. Rockford sucks for IT jobs.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 03:17 PM) Used cars right now are getting better dollars in relative return then they have in decades - so I wouldn't definitely buy new, which it sounds like you plan to. Look up reliability numbers, and resale value numbers, both good indicators of cars that age well. I don't need to have brand new. If I can find something with 10K miles or less for a few thousand less than a new car, I'll be happy. We are looking now with the hopes that we can get lucky and stretch another 12 months out of our current car. By then the 2013 models will be starting to come out and the 2012 models will be older. QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 03:20 PM) Civics run forever with great mileage. QUOTE (SnB @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 03:22 PM) If you're looking for longevity - the civic would probably be the choice. I'm just not a big fan of the "spaceship" interior of the current models. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 22, 2011 -> 03:29 PM) 06 civic here, haven't had a problem requiring service other than just put new tires on it last Friday. That was also the first year that the new model was introduced, just like this year's. I sat in a Civic but didn't get to drive it. I though the dash was kind of interesting. It was also the cheapest price we saw. On the other hand I have a family friend who works as a salesman for Hyundai that I've known my whole life and I know I can get a good deal through him.

My odometer is going to roll over to 200,000 sometime this week so I figure we are going to be in the market for a new car before too long. Probably in about 4-6 months. Longer if the car continues to hold up, sooner if something catastrophic happens. We have spent the last 2 weekends researching and information gathering, including going to a few dealerships to test drive a few cars. I need something with 4 doors, gets at least 35 MPG on the highway and is going to hold it's value to 200,000+ miles. New or used doesn't matter to me but I want something with less than 10K miles on it. I rack up somewhere around 50,000 miles/year, mostly highway. Right now at the top of my list is the Hyundai Sonata with its 10 year/100,000 mile warranty. I've read that people are getting 38+ MPG out of it too. I also like the Ford Focus and my wife like the Honda Civic or Honda Accord. I test drove a Chevy Cruze but it felt really small to me. I'm so disappointed because I've owned nothing but GM products my whole life. We looked at Toyota's Camry and Corolla but the salesman didn't seem real interested so I didn't get to drive either one. They are all right around $20K give or take a few thousand depending on the trim level and options. Everyone but Hyundai has a 6 year/60,000 mile warranty. So it's just a matter of figuring out which we like the best, paying off a few bills and saving a little bit of money. I've heard Dodge is supposed to be coming out with something new that gets 40 MPG in January and Chevy has the Sonic coming out in a few weeks. Any thoughts?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 19, 2011 -> 04:09 PM) My thoughts exactly. If we're supposed to believe that it's a dog that can be spoken to, and acts like a dog in some cases, why is it smoking a f***ing bong? Reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes.

If BK wants to give McD's any competition they need to change their fries back to the way they were about 15 years ago. Now they taste like salted cardboard. Also offer honey as a dipping sauce. I can't figure out why they stopped.

QUOTE (SoxFanForever @ Aug 18, 2011 -> 07:14 PM) The second reason is that I really don't trust my investment adviser. I just recently re-connected with a friend of mine that I knew in grade school and lost touch with. Turns out he's a financial advisor now. He's been helping me the past couple of years and he's pretty good. He's based in the Rockford area but I can give you his info if you want.

You should've went outside and told them that they can have them but you charge per bucket.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 16, 2011 -> 12:00 PM) Yes, you can cancel them after 3 months. Make sure you read your bill, it got very confusing to me for those 3 months what I was actually getting billed for (they were billing me for Sunday Ticket but not for the channel package, it was bizarre). That might make it worthwhile for me then. I'd be paying about the same price that I am for cable except I'd get an HD DVR plus another 4 receivers for my other TVs. Right now we only have 3 TVs actually connected to cable.

This past Sunday I was outside changing the oil in my car and my wife came out yelling about some sort of bug. I went inside and it was some huge flying thing. It looked sort of like a housefly but about 5 times as big. I have no idea what it was but it was pretty creepy. It actually wasn't flying but slowing crawling around on the carpet while my cats batted at it. I got a plastic folder and bowl, scooped it up and let it go in the field across from our house. Junebugs freak me out a little bit too. Anything that's the size of my thumb, can fly and makes a "crunch" sound when I step on it is creepy.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 15, 2011 -> 10:00 AM) That's what I do is the MLB package. It costs less than the football package and instead of 17 days with games I get ~170. If you have a relative who has DirectTV, they'll usually spread around an extra $100 if you tell them that relative referred you. Or you can tell them I did (you'll need an account number). That's what we were figuring. She'd get $100 and so would we. I was actually on their site checking prices and they have a package that offers 3 free months of HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Starz. The problem is that after that first 3 months, they make you pay for those channels. I don't really care about those channels and don't want to have to pay for them, but I can't figure out if there is a package that I could get without those channels. Or if I could just cancel them after 3 months I 'd do that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 12, 2011 -> 03:21 PM) DirecTV is simply not cheap. It is the "You're getting what you pay for" service. My wife's aunt has had it for years and loves it. She is the reason we are thinking about switching. From the prices I've seen, it would be about the same or less than what we are paying for cable and we'd get more channels. The only sports package I'd really want would be MLB. I could do without the other sports.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 12, 2011 -> 02:45 PM) So I am sick of paying DirecTV so much money every month. Currently, I get the Premier package, which includes every channel, and then I purchase the MLB Extra Innings package as well as the NFL Sunday Ticket package. All in all, I figure I probably give about $1800 a year for programming. Yikes. I don't really ever watch the movie channels, except to DVR shows like True Blood, Spartacus, Dexter, Camelot, etc. I primarily watch baseball in the Summer via the Extra Innings package, with heavy doses of the History Channel, and other like channels that come with the basic package. I love the Sunday Ticket, and am not sure if I can give that up, but I do live in Vegas, so I could go to a sportsbook and watch Bears games if I really needed to. I just realized I can buy Apple TV and then buy an mlb.tv subscription for $50 a year instead of paying the $250 or whatever I pay for Extra Innings. I can watch shows like Dexter, True Blood, etc, by renting them with my monthly Blockbuster mail account, buying them on dvd, or buying them on Apple TV. Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to lower bills and still get access to the shows we all love? That's interesting because we are debating on switching to DirecTV because we are sick of paying $70/month for cable.

Since 1996 the ALC division winners have averaged 92 wins. The ALC division winner has never had less than 86 wins.

Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey > Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I also heard they are thinking of making a 3rd one.

Airplane 2. Horrible.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 10, 2011 -> 10:22 AM) scottmerkin Scott Merkin White Sox since ASB-- July 19: 3 under, 4.5 back. July 26: 2 under, 4.5 back, Aug. 2: 3 under, 5.5 back. Aug. 9: 1 under, 4 back That just shows how horrible the ALC has been all year.

Beavis and Butthead. Although they are coming back.

One of these days I need to sit down and watch a "best of" Simpsons episodes. I've always kinda liked the show but I've never loved it like so many people do. I remember watching it as a kid mostly because it was on Sunday nights right before MWC. I've watched a few episodes here and there over the years but it's never been a "must watch" show for me.

QUOTE (The Sir @ Aug 8, 2011 -> 07:15 PM) Interestingly enough, a dislike for Jackie O was my ultimate downfall at WSI. I don't think you're allowed to have a negative opinion about anything over there.

If forced to narrow it down to just one, it would be Married With Children easily. 1A would be the Wonder Years. After that it gets difficult. Honorable mention to South Park, Beavis and Butthead, Family Guy, Rosanne, Home Improvement, That 70's Show and Sons of Anarchy. Also MST3K even though I've mostly seen them on DVDs rather than actually on TV.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 5, 2011 -> 02:37 PM) How many more wins would we have if Dunn batted 9th and never against lefties? Zip. He has what, 3 hits against lefties this year? I would think that if you put just about any other player on the team in that spot they would have more than 3 hits. Some would come with RISP, which would lead to more runs scored which would probably lead to more wins.

QUOTE (MEANS @ Aug 5, 2011 -> 01:12 PM) thank you, this crap pisses me off, the Reds are a lot closer to Indy, I have Comcast Cable and I can't even get CSN, wtf? Anytime they are on ESPN they are blackedout.... QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 5, 2011 -> 03:57 PM) You think that sucks... I'm outside the CSN viewing audience (can't get CSN with cable) but inside the national blackout area (can't watch it on ESPN/MLB Network when it's a national broadcast either).

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Aug 5, 2011 -> 02:05 PM) Id just wait and get her in the class in summer school or first semester next year, it won't kill your daughter to wait a little while longer no matter what she tells you. Actually, we are pushing her to get it sooner simply because I'm the only person in the house that can drive. It'll be nice to finally have a second driver. Summer school would suck because we have no way to get her there everyday. They don't offer driver's ed to Juniors as far as I know.

QUOTE (The Baconator @ Aug 5, 2011 -> 10:46 AM) For some reason that Darkest Hour movie is giving me a Langoliers vibe. Some unknown entity is destroying the world/mankind but we don't know what it is or how to defeat it. Having said that, nothing can be as bad as the Langoliers was so I'm still interested to see more about this. The Langoliers only destroyed "the past".

We registered our kids for school yesterday and we had assumed that our oldest would be taking Driver’s Ed sometime this year. Turns out since she is one of the younger kids in her class (turns 15 in 9 days) and there are way too many kids in the school district, she doesn’t. We talked to a counselor and there are about 20 kids ahead of her also waiting. But they base it on age so if 20 more kids show up and they are older, they get first dibs. Our only options are either 1) summer school next year 2) an independent driving school at nearly twice the cost or 3) simply waiting to see if an opening shows up before the second semester of school. The first two options require us finding transportation to and from as well. I’m torn because the driving school would be more expensive but she could get all her required driving time in by the time she turns 16. We just have to find a way to get her there for the classes. But there’s still that slight chance that some kids might drop driver’s ed for one reason or another and she could get it through school.