Cup of Coffee

December 3, 2012: Vacation?

104 Comments

Due to a series of meetings I have this week, I don't have to be in my store for a full seven days. I'll be "working," but elsewhere. That's about as close as I can get to a real break.

104 thoughts on “December 3, 2012: Vacation?”

  1. Remember when the Heat with LBJ started 9-8? The Dwight Howard Laker era has started 8-9, with 12 of those 17 games at home.

    1. Having Nash and Blake out might have something to do with that start. But the Lakers have been pretty bad so far.

      Pau Gasol is one of my favorite players in the league. He's shooting 42 percent, which would be a career low by several miles (he hasn't shot under 50 pct since 2003-04). Obviously he's having some difficulty adjusting.

          1. I'd have to imagine that every other team in the league would be happy to take Gasol off the Lakers' hands.

            Apparently the Lakers can't play defense down the stretch with 3-time defensive POY Howard, one-time defensive POY Metta World Artest, and nine-time All-Defensive 1st-teamer Kobebean on the floor.

            D'Antoni also better figure out that he has to get Howard off the floor if teams are going to play Hack-a-Howard down the stretch. Gasol is a career 75 pct FT shooter.

            1. that was supposed to be in response to the Boss's comment below on Orlando scoring in 16 of 17 possessions.

              1. I don't know, I think all discussions of Kobe should start after a post of "what a loathsome individual".

      2. The Magic scored on 16 of their last 17 possessions. I'm not sure either Nash or Blake helps in that regard.

    2. Let this union produce at least one male heir.
      Can you imagine the grittiness? The power? The moustache?

        1. Trailcam took photos of our gate being open this morning. Cocker spaniel walking through it. Trespasser took the sign, but his pic wasn't taken. We've been assuming it's the cocker spaniel's owner all along but this pic isn't enough to prove that he did it, just that he was there after it had happened. Spaniel's not on a leash, so there's no connection.
          I might have to hide in the weeds early tomorrow morning.

            1. It's a two-foot-high decorative gate. No place for a padlock. And if we did that, our suspect ("Joe Cocker" or "Spaniel Man"?) would just either trip while straddling it, or beat a new path around the gate through the weeds.

              The point is "This is not a public trail from this paved public trail to the steps of our deck (or, if you wish not to ascend to our deck, then through the rest of our yard to a public street."

              EAR and I repositioned the camera tonight, put up a bigger and uglier "NO TRESPASSING" sign.

    1. but the Boston media says Mauer will be willing to play 1st base in Fenway
      there is still hope!!!!

  6. Here's all you need to know about the organization I work for:

    I'm currently on a 5-minute break from a mandatory all-day introductory training for Microsoft Office and Excel 2010. We're paying someone to train us on this stuff, even though we don't have it on any of our computers yet. Oh, and 2013 versions have been announced.

      1. And plenty of my co-workers - basically, the ones in charge of the organization - have repeatedly had problems. The instructor has been absolutely baffled by some of the places they've gotten to and some of the things they've managed to delete. It'd be hilarious if I didn't have work to do and/or these people didn't really have such a large effect on my life.

        1. we went through a similar exercise of training staff on Office 2010 several months ago, well in advance of the roll-out in many cases. Then we bought an add-on that gives 2010 a Office 2007(? 2003?)-like interface.

    3. i've been told by my MIS department that it takes at least 2 years to approve any new software for use on our computers. also, when i asked to get adobe acrobat, they told me they would purchase the licensing for acrobat 9, but they would install acrobat 6 on my computer.

      1. Oh wow.

        At the job I went to last year, we were running Windows XP & Office 2007. It was extremely painful coming from Windows 7 & Office 2010. Worse yet, though, was that the only things that could be installed on your machine had to be pushed out in overnight updates from IT on their build management tool. You couldn't do a darn thing with the computer. I had a keyboard with a non-working letter. They had to send someone over to install it so I didn't touch it. Sheesh.

      2. With most large companies, you don't even WANT to install something until at least 6 months after it was introduced. Let someone else shake out the bugs. Like a fine wine, it should be allowed to age first

        1. very true.

          the flip side is the deep concerns for security, stability, and effort-minimization by IT departments tends to stifle productivity for the rest of the organization.

          In my fantasy world, IT departments are service bureaus, not control bureaus.

    4. The state of California has some systems about Butch's age. More comforting, my agency switched a couple of months ago to Office 2010. We had been on Office 2003, IIRC.

      2. Moving from Office 2003 to 2007 was very hard, I knew it was coming, and asked to go to the end of the list.
        Moving to Office 2010 was great, because they fixed so much of the stupid in Office 2007, and I asked to go to the front of the line.
        Some things in Windows 2010 still bug me, but the Office suite is much improved.

        1. Yeah, Office 2010 absolutely blows 2007 out of the water. I toyed with the beta of 2013 and didn't love it, but I figure I'll do a bit more playing with it since it's an inevitable upgrade.

          1. Being able to modify the "Ribbon" and export those changes and the "Quick Access Toolbar" are huge. Now if I could just make the QAT two rows tall, instead of just one, I'd be content for three months.

            Oh, and if there was a quicker way to modify many elements of a chart/graph at once without resetting everything, or saving modifications to a default choice. (I like to do x-y scatters with each item being colored red-orange-yellow-green-blue-purple in order, so if there's a trend between the graphs of each item I can see it through the rainbow-effect. Way easier to see than 3d graphing, but I have to modify each line and its points ONE.At.a TIME. Grrr.)

            1. I really like the ribbon. It's just intuitive for me, and everything I want to do with it is there. I've added maybe 2 buttons on the QAT. Everything else seems superfluous.

            2. there is an easy way: get a stats package (e.g., STATA) with a good graphics engine. We customize damn near everything, and can do it in scripts so that we can reproduce graphics with minor changes at the push of a button. 🙂

    5. My old law firm was running Word 97 when I left in 2010. My hard drive had 8 GB of storage. I had to delete my sound card driver to free up some space to run the operating system.

      Y'all top that.

  7. I hope Terry hurries up and starts signing pitchers. The quicker my optimism and anticipation turns into disappointment the better. It'll hurt less if they just rip the Band Aid off.

        1. The guy in Cleveland who tore his ACL, hobbled after the ball on one leg, and managed to get it back in the infield before crumpling? Yes, that was him.

          1. I remember that night like it was yesterday. I watched him ruin his knee in the downstairs living room of one of my best friends from high school.

            1. I remember it really well too. I just didn't have time to confirm the name (and "Chad Allen" seems common enough).

            2. My favorite Chad Allen memory is when he hit a little league home run in Oakland in 1999. He beat out a base hit down the first base line, pitcher covering first. Everyone walked back to their positions and ignored him, so he ran to second. The pitcher threw the ball into left-center field and he circled the bases.

  9. Freudians in the Nation: Last night (or early this morning, more properly), I dreamed that I was truffle-hunting with a pig. We were on someone else's land, whom I was telling that they tend to grow around oak trees. The pig zeroed in on the sole oak tree on the landscape and began digging while I tried to negotiate a finder's fee for the truffle, which turned out to be the size of a softball.

    What's up with that?

    2. The pig represents a leprechaun, the oak tree a rainbow, and the softball a hailball that will fall on you from the rainbow-producing storm right before you get to the pot at the end of it, knocking you unconscious.

    3. There is a single oak tree at the entrance to our sub-development, which is in a communal area. Now get off my lawn!

    4. Fettuccine, fetuccelle, or mafaldine should suffice. Cook with plenty of water, salted, to al dente, drain and place in a deep-dish with flat plate cover.

      Serve warm, sprinkling liberally with parmigiana reggiano and thin slices of truffle. Let steam in the covered dish before serving.

      1. They should just direct snap it to Peterson, and run an option with Gerhardt. Can't possibly be worse than starting Ponder.

        2. They should snap it to Peterson and he could run an option with Gerhardt and Joe Webb. Put in an extra lineman who wears #49 and two tight ends.

          1. I don't think Webb is an NFL-level QB, but I would love to see that kind of insano offense. If nothing else, it would keep defenses on their toes. Gotta be better than watching Ponder struggle to accurately throw a ball 5 yards down the field (if Rudolph doesn't make some insane catches, he completes even fewer passes yesterday than he already did).

              1. Four minutes left, down by two scores, and the defense is still stacking the line because they know that they're more likely to give up an 80 yard run than a 20 yard pass. Yeah, just about anything else would be better.

                  2. I'm guessing Vick has seen his last days as a starter in Philly. He'd be a good guy to install an option offense with! Alex Smith & Matt Flynn should be free agents. I'm guessing they go for Flynn, they love signing ex-Packers.

            2. From the Strib:

              Over the past six games, Peterson has rushed for 947 yards, scored six touchdowns and averaged 7.8 yards per carry. Yet over that same time, Ponder has thrown for only 871 yards with a 5.0-yards-per-attempt average.

              While half-watching the game, I was wondering if a team could use a rush-only offense.

              1. While half-watching the game, I was wondering if a team could use a rush-only offense.

                Tebow!

        3. serious. Harvin is the only thing resembling a NFL caliber receiver, and he is hurt and may not even play next week. The Pack showed so little respect for the passing game, they were play 9 and 10 man fronts, and Peterson still averaged 10.0 yards per carry.

          1. I feel for Adrian. Reminds me of Barry Sanders, playing around an underwhelming offense for years.

            1. Maybe that'll be good for Peterson in that he can get tired of losing and retire well early to somewhat save his knees/back/joints/head/etc.

  11. Jayson Stark:

    Ran into Indians GM Chris Antonetti, who confirmed he just acquired lunch. Straight cash deal, reliable source reports.

  13. Well, I still have a job, at least for the next two weeks. The company that was feared to be purchasing my company just to shut it down did buy us, but the new owner stated to all employees that this happened so quickly, that there is no plan, but he guaranteed us paychecks for the next two to three weeks. We all have to fill out applications and we'll know more in the coming days.

    1. So far, the offense has been...well, an offense. Decent-to-good passing generating some open looks and pushing the tempo when they can. I hope they can keep up the momentum during conference play. And cut down on the turnovers.

      Also, the #1 ranked Gophers wrestling squad fell to #3 OK State 15-22 in yesterday's dual meet. Missing 3 starters & they still pulled out wins in 5 bouts but just couldn't hang with the Cowboys at 141 - 174#. Stormed back to win the last three weight classes, but couldn't close the deal (needed pins or majors and couldn't find 'em).

      1. this is why the Big Ten Network is garbage. Instead of showing this, they showed a repeat of the B1G championship blowout at least twice, and a Bowl Selection show, and a Wisconsin basketball game.

    2. Even better, they are 11th in RPI. That would make them a likely No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tourney (if this were March).

  15. You can't make this stuff up:

    But it's ticket-buying fans who might have helped convince Meineke board members which 6-6 Big Ten team to take. "We felt so much energy coming from Minnesota this week. A lot of alumni were lobbying to come down to Houston," said Heather Houston, the bowl's executive director.

      1. Northern Illinois has to sell 17,500 tickets to the Orange Bowl, more than their average home attendance. They are giving tickets away to students. They are totally going to lose a shitpile on this game. And Florida State is going to kill them. Welcome to the big time!

        1. It might depend on how the MAC share their Bowl revenues. The Big Ten pays a slotted amount to each team for bowl expenses but the school has to pay for travel and such. But then the rest of the money is pooled together and split amongst evenly amongst the schools. In 2011, Indiana went 1-11 and netted $2.2 mil in bowl money.

          The Orange Bowl pays $17.5 mil. If NIU can sell 10,000 tix (there has gotta be some rich farmer alums around the DeKalb area), they might come close to break even. (probably not though)

          Someone a lot smarter than me should probably so the math on this.

          1. All bowl games are cash grabs for the towns that they are in. Often not a good deal for the schools that participate because of the ticket sales requirements and the payouts are usually split amongst the conference teams. So in other words, I feel ya.

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