43 thoughts on “June 3, 2011: Ahoy”

  1. Flood update: We continue to work at sandbagging and getting people moved out. I don't know if our parsonage is in any danger or not, but there are people in more immediate danger. For now, all we're planning to do is put in drain plugs, get a sump pump, and move stuff up out of the basement, which we will do once we've got the others handled. There are some who are under mandatory evacuation, and others for whom evacuation is not yet mandatory but highly recommended.

    Again, your prayers would be appreciated. If the things they're predicting to happen actually happen, this area may never be the same again.

    1. My thoughts will be with you, and the good folks in your community. This has been a crazy year for weather. This is the hottest and driest 7 month stretch that west texas has seen in 117 years, which has fueled record breaking wild fires across the entire state.

    2. I'm hoping for the best for you and your neighbors. This flooding thing is getting old.

      1. just wait until the snowpack starts melting in the west...

        and an echoing of everyone else, jeffA. best of luck towards your efforts. i'm sure they're much appreciated.

    3. Good luck up there, Padre. The Iowa counties on the Missouri were already declared a disaster area by the governor. It'll be interesting to see what happens when what you're getting comes downstream.

  2. In case you missed it, Game 2 of the NBA Finals last night was epic. Miami led by 15 with about 7 minutes to play. Dallas came storming back to close on a 22-5 run to win by 2. The big German was fantastic down the stretch, scoring Dallas' last nine points, including two (one the game winner!) left handed shots at the rim, proving that he would play with the torn ligament in his left middle finger. It was a truly unbelievable finish.

    1. I went out to see the game at a local sports bar. The atmosphere was pretty electric. The lone heat fan was certainly loud and obnoxious until the final 24.5 seconds.

      1. I would have thought that that three by Dirk to put them ahead would have quieted him a little, too.

        1. Oh, no that didn't stop him. The dude carried on more than LBJ's posturing with seven minutes to play.

          In fact, the dude tried to pick a fight we me when I asked him if I could step by him to hit the head. Dude was angry with a sports team loss and wanted to beat somebody up. That's pretty sad. Mostly because I don't give a rip about basketball and wasn't cheering loudly for the demise of the yankees heat.

          1. I assume the guy has been a lifelong Heat fan since about two months ago, too.

    2. I can't recall the last time I jumped out of my chair watching a sporting event. I certainly don't remember the last time I did it for a team I don't traditionally root for. I did it three times last night--Dirk's 3, his leftie flipperdoodle, and the endgame buzzer.

      I am certain that it boils down to me really, really, really despising the Heat. I was giddy in the afterglow of Miami's meltdown.

      1. Dwayne Wade might be my least favorite basketball player ever, although I haven't fully decided between him, Kobe and LeBron.

        1. Just in terms of casually watching them on the court, I don't see the appeal in watching Wade play. It's cliche at this point, and probably an overplayed angle, but it seems like his offensive game is to barrel into the lane and draw a block, which he almost always seems to get, even though sometimes it seems pretty clear when he starts running into the lane that he's going to run into some defenders. I've enjoyed watching, say, AI (in his prime) more, since he seems to do a better job at getting around defenders rather than getting halfway around them and waiting for a whistle.

          I don't like Kobe, but it's more interesting to watch him than Wade. And from what I've been able to tell, LeBron does a better job at involving his teammates in the offense and he generally works hard on defense. Just from on-the-court considerations, I'd rather watch LeBron over the other two.

          1. Nail on the head, Ubes. I believe myself and FT"H"LT are in agreement with you there.

      2. I let out a whoop! when Dirk hit that three and my dad, who was sitting there said, "I'm not pulling for Dallas." I didn't say anything in response to that, but I might have mentioned a couple of times afterwards that Dirk was awesome.

      3. I tuned in just in time to see the Dirk three that tied it. My heart sank a little with the Terry _efense that allowed the game to be tied up again, but it was worth it to watch the game winner. I didn't know I was pulling for Dallas until that point.

    3. I was predisposed last night and so couldn't watch, but I saw the recap. Man did Dirk embarrass Bosh on that last drive. Just terrific. I'm rooting as much for Dirk as I am against Wade and LeBron.

      1. Yeah, Dirk's pretty easy to root for, and ultimately I'd rather pull for one team than just hope one team loses. If this was Lakers-Heat, I'd be a lot less interested.

        1. The Western Conference playoffs were absolutely terrific and the clear best team in that half of the bracket made it out. It's just that no one thought that Dallas was the best team in the West when the playoffs started. The league has to be giddy that Dallas won last night. Absolutely giddy. It renewed interest in the Finals and I'll be that the next game will get terrific ratings.

    1. If you embed a YouTube video that turns out to be infringing, and more than 10 people view it because of your link... you could be facing five years in jail.

      Our guys should be safe. πŸ˜‰

      1. I read something regarding YouTube the other day which had a couple of points that were new to me. Apparently YouTube has software that automatically matches uploaded videos to a repository of copyrighted material that someone has claimed the rights to. That shouldn't really have been so surprising to me, there's no way they can have people go through this by hand, and it's possibly less work to be proactive than wait for infringement claims to pile in.

        Then, once they find someone infringing, they ask the rights holder if they want the vid pulled, or if they want YouTube to slap some ads on it and share the ad revenue with the rights holder. I think the article said that something like 1/3rd of all content on YouTube is hosted under that arrangement.

        I guess my biggest issue with this embedding thing is that it seems easy from the server side to disable embedding. I'd say that if embedding is turned on, then more liability should go to the poster than the embedder.

    2. No ex post facto laws so no one can be punished for things done before the law is enacted, but good Lord, does the Copyright law suck. Criminal penalties!

      1. Yes, yes it does. I would like these laws to be updated to meet the requirements of the current times, rather than just an increase on penalties.

  3. Mauer went 2-for-5 with a walk today as a DH. I'm pleased that he got six PAs the day after catching for the first time. That's a good sign. Hopefully, this means he'll be ready when eligible (June 21).

    1. I think I saw that he was eligible, even after his transfer to the 60 day DL, on June 12.

      1. As long as he plays in the Milwaukee series on the 25th when I'll be at the game, I'll be happy.

      2. Oops. You're right. I'm just feeling a little dyslexic today. The 12th might be a little optimistic, but maybe by the 17th, which would be a nice anniversary present for me.

  4. Hey, guys, I need to find a pinch hitter for tonight's game recap. Elder daughter's graduation is Sunday, I'm behind on getting ready for that, and the kitchen sink just clogged up. This is the one with the drain pipe that runs almost the whole length of the house. Over the years I've added a few cleanouts along the pipe. I usually end up snaking out the whole thing from all the cleanouts to get the thing cleared. Anyway, there's no way I'm going to see tonight's game. Thanks!

    1. My favorite was his role as the creature in the original The Thing. The reason he was cast in the role wasn't for his incredible acting talent...it was because he was really tall.

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