Cup of Coffee

July 3, 2013: Long Way from Home

141 Comments

People who were single when I left Minnesota are now married with kids, and it's driving home just how long I've been away from where I belong. I still can't see an end to this, though.

141 thoughts on “July 3, 2013: Long Way from Home”

  1. Well, I didn't expect to wake up this morning to see that the Wolves are going to sign Kevin Martin. (I did expect Bud, though, and I couldn't be happier about that.) I was thinking more on this as I was driving in to work today, and I'm completely pumped about next season, even though it'll be sad to not have AK anymore.

    It removes some funky flavors from the draft (Shabazz to the bench!) and means Flip saved himself from doing something stupid in regards to OJ Mayo or Nick Young. I also adore the idea of having two wings who are Adleman-system guys. They'll go from getting none of the threes to getting all of the threes.

    Man.

      1. I see a lot of people over at CH pissed that the Wolves decided on Martin over AK, but I don't believe that he was coming back anyway. I know he reportedly liked it here, and he was universally loved by the fans because he's awesome, but I have to think when SA became interested that he'd want to go there for the best shot at a ring.

        1. AK opted out. It was his decision. Once he became a free agent, he wasn't coming back here. I liked AK, but man, this team needs to score. If Bud and Martin can stay healthy and make shots, this club has a chance.

          1. Kevin Martin is a pretty big name, too. I wonder what that will do, pending a playoff appearance which I think is entirely likely next year, for Love's willingness to re-sign.

        2. gundars at Canis pointed out the T-Wolves backcourt is now Ricky Martin. How does that not make you smile, especially with a little bit of Love sprinkled in?

    2. I have to say that I am super-pumped about next season. I'm excited to see the Wolves improve, plus I think that the league has so many intriguing teams. Just think about it:

      Miami: three-peat?
      Chicago: they were competitive with the Heat without Rose...
      Indiana: they were competitive with the Heat
      New York: they are trying to eff everything up. Bargnani? Elton Brand? Bwahahaha!
      Brooklyn: they got some old guy to play for them.

      OKC: what now?
      San Antonio: can they make another run?
      Clips: what happens when they actually have a coach?
      Houston: Kevin McHale, great coach or greatest coach?
      LAL: can they win a title with a hobbled Kobe Bryant, a 40 year old Steve Nash, an idiot on the bench, an overrated "superstar", and an underappreciated big man?
      DEN: what happens there without Karl?
      GSW: how much more will T-Wolves fans regret Jonny Flynn?

        1. Yes, yes it is. The one thing I'll say negatively about Curry is that he's undersized. But, Ricky can guard 2s. Man.

      2. I just have to say that I love NBA basketball. I think I love it more than baseball. I don't watch a lot of baseball that doesn't include the Twins, but I watch a ton, a ton of NBA basketball outside of the T-Wolves. Maybe it's because basketball is on in the winter and I'm not going to be outside when games are on, but I can watch basketball every night without a rooting interest. I really didn't care who won that Finals series, but I spent the whole two weeks impatiently waiting for every game. I watched the whole NBA draft and loved it.

        I was a better basketball player than a baseball player, I enjoyed playing basketball more than baseball. I love baseball on a lot of levels, but man, basketball.

        2. I do wish I had the money to spend on the NBA Season Pass, or whatever they call it. I was similar toward basketball when I was in Minnesota and had cable...whatever was on, I watched.

          1. I wish I could afford the dish/cable/whatever to even be able to buy the Season Pass. I would definitely watch many basketball games if I had it. I'll be pretty content settling for the less than above board ways of watching the Wolves for now, though.

      3. Am I the only one who thinks that Rose will never be close to as good as he used to be?

        1. No, you are not. I think I am in that camp as well, although even a reduced Rose is better for Chicago than Nate Robinson or Marco Balinelli were last year.

      4. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA to the new Big East or whatever the name is of that conference those sanctimonious punks up at Georgetown formed. Enjoy having Butler without Brad Stevens. Ooh, I'm really excited to turn on that great DePaul-Xavier matchup on ESPN2 next year!

    3. Canis Hoopus is weird. The commentors have been talking, up until yesterday morning, about how much they would like to see a 29 years old JJ Redick on the 4 year/30 mil deal the Wolves threw out only to start complaining about the 4 year/28 mil deal they agreed to on a 30 year old Kevin Martin due to concerns over defense? Just weird.

      1. over at the STRIB I saw this and almost choked on my lunch.

        The Wolves’ biggest need now appears to be a defensive-minded small forward, preferably one who can start. They could fill it by signing a free agent such as the Clippers’ Matt Barnes, Denver’s Corey Brewer or New Orleans’ Al-Farouq Aminu or by trading for a player such as Philadelphia’s Evan Turner or Washington’s Trevor Ariza.

        as Count von Count would have said, AHH AHH AHH!

      2. also, what cheaps said. It makes no sense to me to bitch about the Martin deal if you were excited about the Redick offer. Martin is better.

          1. Yeah, that one is crazy. Pek will be swimming in his money bank partly because of that deal.

    1. Same. It was supposed to start today, but cars breaking down and appeals and such have prevented that from happening.

  3. Spoons - Following college (2003 give or take), my sister went to SF for a "year-long" volunteer opportunity/internship. She is now a happily married mother of two, still living in the Bay area. She misses MN and was close to moving back when her husband was searching for a new job. Instead of MN, he found a great opportunity in Vallejo and they bought their first home about 2 years ago. I doubt she's ever coming back here, but, if pressed, I guess that she'd say "where she belongs" is wherever her husband and kids are. I know what you're saying - I spent the majority of my 20's living in places that were not the Land of 10,000 - but you're where you belong.

      1. You are always free to visit. It is lovely here this time of year! Beautiful warm (not hot!) summer days, lakes, trees, grass. You can go outside and just bask in the greatness of a Minnesota summer. The air conditioner is running, but we won't die without it!

        1. This - I've moved, but we're still not far from brotherS (I believe). Same goes for you cheap - we're still on the east side of the Cities.

        2. The air conditioner is running, but we won’t die without it!

          You say that now, but given a run of a week or so of 90+/90+ (temp and relative humidity) days, and you might wish you were dead.

        3. I always thought Minnesota summers were uncomfortably hot in general. Plenty of humidity when you reach late July and August. If I had to rank seasons in Minnesota, summer would probably be my least favorite. I miss autumn in Minnesota, and I miss winter, too, but not summer.

      2. I certainly don't have any plans to move back any time soon because I love living near Madison and I'm doing well here with my career, but I have to admit I miss it. I feel like I would better appreciate Stillwater now than I did when I grew up there. Mostly, though, I wish I was closer to my family for help with my daughter (and soon to be son). Its really hard being down here essentially by ourselves (her family is an hour away, but, yeah...) with a toddler and a pregnancy going on at the same time.

        1. That's probably been the biggest blessing (and it was by design) of moving back to MN before we started our family. My parents are about an hour-and-a-half away but are willing to come in whenever they're asked. Doesn't hurt that Kernel is the only grandchild living in the same time zone. SiL lives like 10 minutes away and my brothers, though not all that reliable, can be to my place within a half-hour.

          1. Dido here. All of my wife's family and most of my family is within 40 miles of our house. Working with people who have family all over the world, I feel downright spoiled that I have at least 3 potential (free) baby sitters and plenty of cousins, aunts and uncles available to visit on little notice. While we have never moved too far away, it sure is a major deterrent to even considering it in the future.

            I have no idea how we would have handled OGZ's birth and the last few weeks of my father-in-law's life without having my sister frequently available to assist.

          2. Secondy second. My parents are 25 minutes away, are both retired, and the only other grandchild is out of state. I really need to come up with a good idea for how to thank them for all the help they've provided, especially in the last couple weeks. (I want to say that simply providing grandchildren is thanks enough, but I'm pretty sure some other gift of some sort wouldn't hurt...)

          3. Family is why we moved back from DC. It was a fantastic decision, even given all the other hassles we currently face.

            1. I can't imagine trying to raise a family without that sort of support network around to rely on. Because while I love spending time with my kids, I also love spending time NOT with my kids.

              That said, before having kids I couldn't have imagined half of the stuff one can do without for their benefit. Mostly money and sleep.

              1. It definitely makes things more difficult. Our closest family member is 9 hours away most of the time.

                Our summer nanny is taking a week off in August and we decided to fly my father-in-law up for the week. It is actually much cheaper than finding camps for all the kids.

      3. My wife has made it clear we aren't moving to Minnesota. We have no family here other than a second cousin an hour away and an aunt and uncle 2 hours away. Her parents live north of Seattle and mine are in Maple Grove. Still, we've decided that we'll stay in SoCal because we've made a lot of friends and so our kids can have a stable home and school life. That might change someday, but it won't mean moving to Minnesota if my wife has anything to say about it.

      1. I felt similarly until we moved to New Orleans. While I'll never be 'from' here, it's someplace I want to be. When we lived in Texas I dreaded the return flight from wherever we had just been. I would get a full on panic attack at MSP, and would often get depressed and ruin the last day of vacation. I lashed out at my brother one night and had to spend a week apologizing to him. It was miserable. What made the situation worse was that no one would come visit us in Texas. Now, we have a waiting list for folks who are visiting us, and I don't mind boarding a flight for 'home'.

        Overall, I don't feel like I'm from anywhere anymore, but I'm more settled with that feeling.

        1. also, in New Orleans, you can feel like you belong to your whole ward. Or at least that pieces of your property (e.g., grill) are scattered about throughout the ward...

          1. Shit. I'm still pissed about my grill. I still haven't decided what I'm going to replace my webber with. I haven't been able to justify the price difference between the webber 18 inch and webber 22 silver. I may just buy a cheap ass Aussie and not care when it gets stolen.

          1. All snark aside, this really is one of the only two places I can go that feel like "home." Another is the CdL. The other is my job, which is sad in a way, but I'm glad I found a company that I actually like.

            I'm also always at home with other actors, but those days haven't happened much lately.

          2. I enjoy it around here (obviously, or I wouldn't be here, I think), but I haven't had mlb.tv in years now and it makes me feel like an outsider to a degree.

            1. Without MLB tv subscription I feel a little lost as well. Thank goodness there is so much content that doesn't pertain to the twins here.

        2. Have been in H-town now for 8.5 years - man does time fly. I don't have a sense of belonging here, but neither Minny now either. Bürger der Welt.

          Since I came out here tho, have enjoyed biking/swimming/running a lot more. There was nothing preventing me from doing those things in Scandia, but I've gotten into doing group rides at my bike shop (like tonite we will go out for 2 hr ride). And started doing triathlon and half-M. out here.

          It's great to be able to bomb down to NYC for a weekend, or do a day-trip to the shore or Boston.

          But I haven't been hunting/fishing in a long while - or done boundary waters-type trip. I miss those.

  4. Top Jimmy wrote the mandatory "Mariano Rivera is retiring and he thanks the local staff" article that has popped up during every Yankee home series. One note, though, is that Barb Barnes was among the staff chosen to meet with Rivera. Barb was my usher!

    Back when we had a partial season ticket plan at the Dome, she was the usher for our section (123 right behind the plate!) beginning around 1991 and all the way up to the move to Target Field (she's now stationed right behind the visitor's dugout). She watched my siblings and I grow up and was always beyond friendly and helpful. Every year when I came home from DC to go to a game, I would swing by and she would give me a huge hug and lvoe to get caught up. Plus, whenever we went to games without our usual tickets, she always was more than willing to turn a blind eye as we snuck into the great seats.

  5. Any poker players in this crowd? This weekend I fulfilled a longtime dream of mine and played in a WSOP event. I got to experience all the best parts. Won some big hands early, got to lay down some stone cold bluffs, doubled and tripled up, and made it to the money. Lost early on day two with AK vs. AK (he hit a flush). Finished 218/2883.

      1. $1000 buy in, won $2075. Would have needed to make the top 40 or so before the money really started escalating.

        2. I like the hoodie/sunglasses thug look... O.K so I really think its stoopid.

    2. I've only ever played poker in a casino once. I about had a panic attack. Can't imagine playing in a WSOP event. Congrats on making it to the money. That had to feel good.

    3. I am obsessed with poker, which should surprise no one. I haven't played for money since all the irritating legislation, but I always came out slightly ahead in money, which isn't all that common over time. There aren't a lot of opportunities for live play here. I actually haven't run into a single non-casino that has poker nights, and casinos always make me feel like trash (all these years later, I still don't like being in a building that allows smoking, both because of the health thing and because it brings back the age-old cravings).

    4. I used to play a lot in college with my friends, $5 buy-in and the like. We had a regular mid-week game in which we'd order a bunch of pizza-pocket things from a local pizza place, drink beer, and make fun of each other. Good times.

      Nice work on the winnings. I agree with DG, not sure I could handle the pressure of an event like that.

      1. That's exactly how I started back in high school. Only in the last year and a half or so I started going to the casino somewhat regularly. I don't know that I'm appreciably better since then, but it definitely helped with the nerves going into this tournament.

        1. It goes away eventually. I don't get nervous about much, but early on in my poker-playing career, the longer I remained in a tournament, the more frantic I became.

          1. It always used to be the opposite for me. I would be nervous the first few hands and then I would settle down.

            1. I'm more like Spooky in that I get nervous the longer I'm in it. And, like most novice poker players, I tend to get visibly nervous when I have the nuts. When I'm bluffing, I'm usually cool as a cucumber. But damn I can't hide a great hand.

              1. What's really fun is messing with the good players who look for that sort of thing. I got a guy to fold on a bluff because I purposely made my hand shake.

                1. I do that crap all the time in live games. A tremble of the hand, a near-second look at my cards, which I have no problem memorizing. Fun stuff.

                  1. ugh. If I have pocket aces I'll look at them like eighteen times throughout the course of the hand.

                    2. I have the impression there is much money in acting, but there isn't much dissemination.

      2. I did that last winter up at a friend's cabin. Both nights we played, I convinced someone to split the pot with me 50/50 when I was in a weaker position just because they wanted the game to end and they were tired of my mental terrorism.

    5. That's awesome. Like cheaptoy, I played all the time with friends in college. I was never all that great at it, but dang it can be fun. My roommate goes to play the low-stakes pot limit tables at Canterbury Park almost every week. I always think about joining him, but I can't imagine I would do well at all.

      1. playing with strangers doesn't sound nearly as fun as poker night with friends. We played regularly in grad school, then, for a few years, would get the band back together at the main annual conference. Nickel-ante poker with really low limits on bets, but high limits on verbal abuse.

        1. We're getting the band back together in a couple weeks for a bachelor party. The plan is to play a lot of Halo and drink beer, but after this discussion, I might push for a friendly game of Hold 'em as well.

      2. A friend of mine says he wins every time he goes to Canterbury. He goes there at 2am when the bars let out. He only plays really good hands. Most of the people there are drunk and are just playing until they run out of money. And they don't really pay attention to the fact that he folds 90% of the time.

          1. In fairness, I'm playing online for money at the moment for the first time in a year or so, and I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I'm doing.

    6. I played every week at Sandia when we lived in NM. I won a few tournaments for small change, give or take a 200 bucks, and would play low limit (I started at 2-4). I always got nervous before the first hand, and would fold out of decent hands until I settled down. After the poker boom the low limit games became a wild west shoot out of whole tables going to the river on deuce - 7 off suit.

      I went to play at harrah's this weekend, and couldn't pull the trigger on 4-8 as I didn't have the cash to see two hands to the river. I may have lost my game.

      Also, congrats on the winnings. That's pretty sweet.

    7. A lot of games in law school (weekly, give or take), usually $20 buy-ins, with re-buys for an hour or two. Usually placed in or near the money, but I don't think I ever won it. Maybe once... I remember a multiple-hudred dollar win once. Maybe we split the pot that night? A few of the same guys were consistently at the top or out among the first people. I play pretty conservatively, which was always reliable for making it a long way. I definitely ended up plus a bunch of money.

      1. Possibly not, but I can't imagine a Premium hangover is any worse than a hangover related to any of the other beers on that list. It is a cheap beer list, afterall.

        1. Fair enough. But something about the sweet fruitiness of Premium always seems to make the stomachaches more severe.

          1. Also fair enough. Maybe the problem is you didn't have as much to spend on bready or fatty food to reduce the hangover becuase you spent a little more on the Premium over another cheap beer?

            1. Probably also for this reason, but I still have a more adverse reaction to too much PBR v. too much Premium.

              also, I've never had Olympia, but this review made me laugh:

              This one smells a little bit like the produce section of a carpeted grocery store, but it goes down pretty smooth otherwise.

    2. I had a couple of Premiums last weekend. Considering the paucity of my beer intake over the past year, that's a big deal. It weren't bad.

    3. Premium = great, with Yuengling in a close second for me on that list. I also still like Schlitz, but it comes with a side car in DC, so my POV might be skewed.

  7. I find I suddenly have a lot of time on my hands. (Well, not hands so much as ears. But that just sounds odd.) Anyway, what I'm really trying to say is that I'm thinking I should check out some podcasts. Does anyone have any favorites they'd recommend?

    2. Spookymilk Survivor podcasts. But, yes, I have a lot of other favorites. "Mustache Rangers" is a good comedy podcast, though I haven't looked in a long time so I don't know if they still exist.

      What are you looking for? The podcasts I listen to most besides my own are all either comedy or Survivor-related.

      1. I used to work with Commander Major Alastair Q. Bastidious.

        I listen to This American Life, Radiolab, Wits... I guess almost exclusively time-shifted radio programs. Hrm.

        1. I would definitely second Radiolab. I generally like This American Life, but I can't listen to many episodes consecutively without feeling really sad.

            1. Yeah, that's my This American Life dilemma, though--the 2-parter about the Chicago high school was also really, really well done.

              1. I will listen to TAL when I'm in the mood, but from what I've heard about that two-parter, I may never be in the mood for it.

          2. I generally like This American Life, but I can’t listen to many episodes consecutively without feeling really sad.

            Ha--I know exactly what you mean!

    3. The ones I listen to each week are This American Life, Stuff You Should Know, and the Thrilling Adventure Hour. Thrilling Adventure Hour is probably my favorite. It's a parody of old-timey radio dramas, and while it can be hit-or-miss it's generally pretty awesome.

    4. We have a WGOM podcast, but we record too sporadically*. Speaking of, Spooky should have another episode to post unless I missed it.**

      As for other podcasts, it depends on what you're looking for.

      Soccer - Football Weekly, March to the Match, Men in Blazers (Occasionally Extra Time Radio, but the dudes can be a little negative for my taste)
      Interviews - WTF is the big name, though I don't listen to all of them, only the ones I want (Also, I fast forward through Maron's monologues at the beginning). The Nerdist podcast (but not too many at once. Hardwick can grate on me). Aisha Tyler's Girl on Guys isn't too bad. And Decently Funny is OK too
      NPR - Wait Wait, How to do Everything, Science Friday, History Now about Irish HIstory (run by my friend Shane from grad school), Binge Thinking History (there hasn't been a new episode since October, but since some episodes stretch well past an hour, there's plenty of material), Stephen Fry's Podgrams (no new episodes in years, but I like to listen to them falling asleep. I like Stephen's voice.)
      Misc. - Alton Brown has a new food podcast out, Star Talk Radio w/ Neil deGrasse Tyson

      *If you would like to be interviewed, email me or Spooky.
      **PS - Also, we should look into re-posting the one you used for a CoC as it's own post so it shows up in the RSS feed correctly      .

      1. We have a WGOM podcast, but we record too sporadically*
        It might have just gotten way, way easier to record things. Chrome and now Firefox support WebRTC. Not sure if either browser supports recording by default, but RecordRTC seems to. I can't guarantee how well it works, but it should soon make it much easier. It might be possible to make a WGOM Radio page that automatically records the audio that someone can then edit and upload.

        1. I'm out in about ten minutes here, but I'm certainly interested, for the sake of both sites.

          I do have a pod of Mags interviewing me after I interviewed him, but I was going to put some other folks between those just so they didn't get sick of us. meat has expressed interest in a one-on-one but otherwise nobody's jumped up. I'm off all day, so after these swimming lessons I'd be happy to record one if someone else is home.

          1. I've gotten in touch with the Dread Pirate, but we've not set a date yet. I'd like to do an "in-studio" with FTLT, but with Calf 2.0 due any minute now, I'm not sure if we'll have the time.

          2. Also, at this point I think enough time has passed to go ahead to put the other episode out. That'd be better than nothing.

  8. For those citizens in MN interested in seeing some professional soccer - $15 game ticket and pre-game field access (during player warm-ups) for the Minnesota United FC here.

  9. Dick'n'Bert were saying last night the Twins hoped/were confident Willingham would be able to avoid surgery. About that...

    1. That decision was made during or after the game. He found out that it was going to take longer than expected to recover from the bone bruise, so he decided to go ahead and have the surgery now instead of after the season.

        1. Also, use the "Embed Tweet" function on the tweet's page, not just the URL, if you were referring to the Zgoda tweet above.

  10. The water pump on my other car is also broken. 2 water pumps? Seriously? Both cars had been into the same shop recently too. I'm immediately suspicious.

    1. I was saddened to see this. Enter the Dragon is my favorite Bruce Lee movie, which is like picking a favorite beer for me.

    1. I think it's supposed to work as a stand alone. However, I read Oryx and Crake first and it's definitely worth the read. I also think it helps establish the world in which both books take place.

      1. I did a last pass through the local library before the move, grabbed some audiobooks for the drive and ended up with Flood but not Oryx. I'll see if I can find a way to get both onto my player.

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