Cup of Coffee

July 22, 2013: High Society

158 Comments

The last couple of days, my wife and I spent a lot of time in a rich area full of rich people. We went into some stores I figured we'd never go into and blew our minds with the price tags, and had drinks and a glorious hotel in Scottsdale. It was a very shallow universe in many ways, but it was fun to visit for a while.

158 thoughts on “July 22, 2013: High Society”

    2. Did you happen to notice this unsourced quote from later in the article?

      Baseball is a game played by idiots for morons.

      1. Yikes - I suppose the game isn't for everyone, but that assessment seems a bit harsh. Perhaps he just wasn't a fan of Murderer's Row?

  2. So for one reason or another (United Airlines being a garbage company that screwed us over last year), New Gal and I have a couple of airline travel vouchers. Our original plan was to spend a week in St. John's, but now she's just starting a new job in the school system so we're unfortunately limited to Labor Day weekend only and the lower 48.

    Does anybody have any recommendations as to where we should go? We've been discussing the Grand Canyon, but that idea doesn't really thrill me. What's the best place in America to visit for 3 days?

    1. That is a fantastic question.

      I'd vote Yellowstone, but there are transportation issues, I think.

      1. Yeah, any place where we'd have to spend a lot of time in-transit would be difficult. We're looking at a very short timetable.

        1. I'd suggest Portland or Seattle, but I think you've done your time in the Pacific Nor'west already, right?

          1. Yeahhh those places aren't exactly exotic to me anymore. I'm also going out there for a wedding the weekend before Labor Day, so I think I'll have gotten my fill.

      1. I actually mentioned Vegas as an option, but was told by New Gal, and I quote, "I hope I die without ever having been to Las Vegas." Which, I mean, whoa. But okay.

    3. Wrong time of year, but Ft. Myers is nice. Beautiful beaches on Sanibel and Captiva islands.

      I'm still peeved with UA's website and misguidedly purchasing more miles than I needed to for our January Hawaii flight. I'll be looking forward to that trip so that I'll never have to fly with them ever again. /SWAforlife

      1. Or for somewhere less densely populated, try Portland, Maine. I had a great visit to Maine/Vermont/New Hampshire a few years ago at around this time of year.

      2. I agree with Pepper, NY is a great city to visit for 3 days.

        Another one I'd recommend is San Francisco. Lots to do and see and the next few months should be great for weather: Avg 55-70°F and .06-.21 inches of precipitation. Pretty great public transportation.

        1. I just did San Francisco for three days and liked it a lot. You can buy 3 day MUNI passes for unlimited use of public transportation for just over $20. The hotel we stayed at served a free hot breakfast every morning and was just half a block from the Powell cable car line in Nob Hill (also it was a pretty good deal price wise all things considered). It was pretty easy to get almost everywhere from where we were. I'd recommend it highly.

          We did LA for 5 days just before that which I liked basically just as much but I felt even more like I only scratched the surface of the area.

            1. We are planning for a return visit to LA next summer, and I think I definitely want to make a short trip to San Diego a part of that vacation.

        2. I disagree with both pepper and coc. My feelings about NYC are very similar to New Gal's feelings on Vegas.

          Of course, this isn't my trip to be planned, though.

            1. I always think back to this eposide every time my wife says she wants to see NYC some time.

              1. Ah, you just need a trip in which you're as far as possible from Times Square at all times. Or possibly a trip in which you never set foot on the island of Manhattan. Living in NYC about killed me, but I remain convinced it's a fantastic place to visit.

                1. Well, I generally hate large cities. I've been to Chicago and would be quite happy if my life ended without a return visit. It might be a personal fault of mine, but whenever I get into a really large group of people, I only notice the assholes in the crowd.

                  I moved to Madison because its just about perfect size to not offend my small town sensibilities while still providing an adequate job market.

      3. I've only ever spent five days in New York City and I still felt more at home there than anywhere I ever visited or lived until my first trip to Seattle.

    5. All the big Cities have a lot to do for three days:

      NYC
      Boston
      Washington, DC
      San Fran
      Los Angeles

      If you're just looking to relax, the Atlantic Coast in NC is nice at this time of year. Also a drive down the Oregon Coast from Portland to the California border takes three days.

      1. In addition to NYC, Boston, and DC, Philadelphia is a very underrated east coast city with three days worth of things to do. If Vegas is off the table, New Orleans would be very fun (but will still be oscenely hot this time of year).

      2. The problem with the big cities is that we seem to have friends in every single one, and I'd rather this trip not be about visiting people. We really need some time together without friends or family.

        I really like the North Carolina idea... I'm going to look more into that.

        2. Maybe it's just because I recently took a trip to the Badlands, but if I were doing it, I'd be looking for somewhere where hiking and other outdoor activities would be more of a thing than the urban experience. 3 days seems right about right for an unplugging experience. I've heard good things about NC beaches too. Or try for the Appalachian trail, or something like that, perhaps?

          Of course, again, these suggestions require time in a car driving away from whatever airport you fly to, so... nevermind.

          1. Or try for the Appalachian trail...

            I always thought of a trek down the Appalachian trail as more a solo journey...

        3. Key West? United has direct flights from Ft. Lauderdale or Tampa, but it might be nice to book an early flight to Miami and drive the rest of the way down the Keys.

          1. also, a buddy of mine just returned from a NC barbecue tour. He raved about whole hog bbq. NC bbq is pretty much sauce-less (a bit of vinegar sauce poured over) and is all about chopped pork.

            1. Oh I could definitely get on board with that. And after bringing up NC to New Gal, she sent me this link with about a hundred exclamation points. I have a feeling that Wilmington, NC might be our destination.

              1. I drove down to Wilmington about ten years ago for a weekend and it was great. After having first experienced Virginia Beach, I was amazed that all of the white trash apparently don't go to Wilmington.

              2. from my buddy's FB description of the tour:

                The top tier: Skylight Inn, Wilbur's, Bunn's, and Lexington BBQ, probably in that order. Next tier: Backcountry BBQ, Parker's, King's, Little Richard's, Shaw's. I'd say in about that order. Bringing up the rear was The Pit, but hard to compare as our main fare was ribs, which turned out to be unusual in NC. Also, to our disappointment the fried pork skin sandwich we had at Lexington BBQ was not ubiquitous for it was a delightful part of a magical animal.

                1. Yeah, I discovered ribs were rare in that area during a trip down from DC many years ago. Kind of sad. Still, enjoyable food.

                  1. Especially if you stop at Waffle House for breakfast each morning (which you should!).

                    1. I've been to the south numerous times but never actually managed to stop at a Waffle House. (its tough when there's complimentary breakfast at hotels, even if its usually really crappy.) I'll do my best in the future, though.

                    3. The last time I ate at Denny's was probably a dozen years ago. The power had gone out west and south of the Denny's, it was the only restaurant that had power and was within operating hours. It was shining like a beacon to us.

                      We all ate there and all got violently ill. Never. Again.

                    4. my wife and I went to one in Nebraska on our road trip as the first two hole-in-the-wall breakfast places Google sent us to were boarded up. We didn't get sick, but man was it awful. I asked for hot tea and got room temperature tea. The waitress apologized, then a few minutes later brought me lukewarm tea.

            2. Pertinent to the pork discussion, we held the first annual pork off last Saturday. I smoked a boston butt for 6.5 hours over apple and cherry wood, and finished in the Dutch oven with gingeroo and caramalized onions. (Gingeroo is a ginger ale with rum... Yeah, it's awesome). My competition dried out her meat by over cooking. The decision was unanimous. Next year pork ribs are the cut.

    6. Other than nola I would highly recommend a trip to Nashville, TN. Three days would be about a perfect amount of time to get the flavor of Nashville. There is great art at the Frist, hatch show print, local galleries, and the academic galleries at Vanderbilt. The grand ole' is worth a trip, and the live music on the strip is pretty awesome and mostly free (!). Layla's blue grass inn is a must stop for us when we're in town. Good eats and booze are easy to find, and yazoo brewing offer up excellent suds. I really enjoy Nashville.

      1. I went to Nashville last summer and hated it. We hung out on the strip and it was bachelorette party central. I think I stopped counting at 13. I think I was in the wrong part of town.

        2. Did you make it to the Blackstone Brewery (and restaurant)? I really liked that place. Nashville also has some great historical sites worth a visit. The Hermitage, the Capitol and the Parthenon replica are all pretty cool.

          1. I did when I was there and can concur that I also really liked the place. I wasn't in town long enough to see any sites, though.

    4. Whoa, geez, all this discussion of movies/shows he was in delayed the reminder that I nearly bit it from blood clots in my lungs. I really wouldn't want to go out that way, if memory serves.

        1. Five years ago i developed a clot in my leg from driving from Madison to saint cloud without stopping. It was misdiagnosed,broke off and got to my lungs where it was misdiagnosed three more times.

  4. Via a friend on Facebook who reads Andrew Sullivan: "Where is the Midwest?"

    Said friend, a native Wisconsinite, excluded both Dakotas and only tentatively included Minnesota and Iowa, saying if forced to choose he'd leave them out entirely rather than include them along with the Dakotas. Basically, the Midwest looks like the old Northwest Territory to him, and anything west of the Mississippi too attached to the Plains (economically or topographically) to be decisively included.

    Given the multitude of likely viewpoints on this in the Citizenry, I was curious what you all think of as "the Midwest."

    Going from east to west, I'm looking at Michigan, northern Indiana, northern Illinois (cut-off in Joliet?), Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota east of the Missouri River, and a less definite line through both eastern North Dakota and eastern Nebraska. My main criteria for sorting is culture and not topography, which I think creates far more problems than it appears to solve. (Arguments for excluding Minnesota based on some line meandering from west of Rochester to west of Detroit Lakes and then west of the Red Lakes strike me as unhelpful.) One could make the very same arguments about Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois as are frequently made about Minnesota if topography is the main means of classification. Heck, there's plenty of prairie in western Wisconsin!

    Anyway, I'm curious to hear what you all have to say.

      1. I see fair amount of consensus for what's not Midwestern, at least as far as Ohio is concerned. What I'm truly curious about is what criteria help us positively identify a place as Midwestern.

        1. Having watched Deadwood, I find I can't separate the Dakots from the west anymore, and the more I think about it, the most Minnesota feels like Canada to me because its definitely colder than it is down here and living so close to Illinois puts Minnesota passive-aggression more obvious (whether that's true or fair or not). I think I put roots down too far south.

          1. I think I put roots down too far south.

            I worry about this, too, both from a climate and culture standpoint. I wonder if our kids will find my Minnesotan relatives strange, and the weather there too cold. I hope not.

            1. Well, my Minnesota relatives are fairly strange, so that's more of a given for me. The weather thing is concerning, though.

          2. Before traveling and the service, I only thought of whole states as part of the "Midwest" and it was basically MN, WI, IA and, if pressed to expand a bit, IL & MI.
            I never included OH or IN (too far east), SD & ND (The Dakotas were their own thing in my mind - not "The West" but certainly not the Midwest), NE (where's that?) or Canada (not a US state).
            Meeting people in the Navy expanded my definition to include: IL, MI, IN and OH as far east as Columbus, MO and KS as far south as St. Louis and Kansas City, and NE north through Pierre and Bismarck. Still no Canada.
            When law school came along, I just laughed at this distribution.

            1. I grew up 30 min. from the ND border, so it's tough for me to exclude ND from the Midwest. I think I'd at least include the Agassiz valley.

              I definitely include MO in the Midwest, but really when you get south of Springfield you're taking about the Ozarks, and that's a bit too much like Arkansas for my taste. I'd probably only include the northern 2/3 of the state or so.

              1. I've noticed most folks seem to make a major distinction somewhere in Missouri.

                Having spent a portion of my growing up in Thief River, I hear you on North Dakota. I just have no idea where the line is between Midwestern North Dakota and whatever western North Dakota ought to be called. With South Dakota, the line seems to roughly follow the Missouri River.

                1. With South Dakota, the line seems to roughly follow the Missouri River.

                  Yup, East River/West River is definitely a South Dakota thing. I've been amused by it ever since it was explained to me during my first week of college at SDSU.

                  It's also roughly the line between the corn/soybeans in the east and the hay/pasture in the west, due to the change in seasonal rainfall. Doesn't look like North Dakota has a division like that to make it easy to draw a line.

                    1. If you're referring to me, I often forget that the state goes a whole lot further west. It's like a whole other world outside of my little bubble I suppose.

                      But I always think of "western North Dakota" as that part of the state which falls into the Mountain time zone. A quick check on the map makes me think this would line up relatively well with the Missouri river line in SD. Though really, once I pass Jamestown is when I feel I've entered a different part of the world.

                    2. I was thinking of the Bossman, but all NoDak-ers opinions should be counted here.

                      Related to the Missouri river line and your observation about Jamestown, my parents were once friends with some people from Mandan. If they were representative, I definitely wouldn't count them as Midwesterners.

                    3. Yup, the Central/Mountain Time Zones works pretty well as a dividing line. I forgot about that one.

        3. Do people who live in NYC/LA have any desire to visit? No? Then it's Midwestern.

          2. Down in Atlanta last week. CLO told me that Minneapolis was "nothing but the Mayo Clinic". I had often wondered why his attitude toward Minneapolis was that it was a very small town. Now I know why. He thought that Rochester was Minneapolis! He apparently had taken a deposition in Rochester one time and thought that was our fair city. Oy vey.

              1. He actually came to ATL from NYC, which is nothing more than Newark airport, as far as I can see.

              2. Literally almost true. Paula Deen, big & tall men's clothiers to the NBA, and strip clubs.

    2. I'm more expansive. I'd put eastern Montana and Colorado in mine. Eastern Wyo is still to hilly though.
      Then: NoDak, SoDak, NE, KS, MN, IA, MO north of the Ozarks, Sconnie, Ill, Mich, Ind.
      I'm unsure how much of Western OH, Northwestern KY, and northern OK to include (if any).

  5. Computer question.

    My wife's laptop has started to routinely (usually after 30 to 200 minutes of operation) give STOP CODE errors (0xF4) with the accompanying blue screen o' death. After checking drivers and reseating the drive (connectors all looked to be in good shape), I ran SeaTools last night and the hard drive failed the short self test.

    Now, SeaTools comes with the option for a long test that checks every bit of the memory and can try to repair non-functioning areas, but it says it only works with Seagate or Maxtor drives. The drive in question is a Fujitsu and I haven't had any luck finding a similar program for that brand.

    So, my questions:

    Worth it to try and run the longer SeaTools program? Or is that a waste of time?

    Is there another similar hard disk repair program that would work with our brand of hard drive?

    Should I just buy a new hard drive and start over?

    Everything important is backed up, so potentially destructive methods are on the table, the laptop is not under warranty, it's a 4+ years old HP pavilion that we bought new.

    1. Now that you are a tenure-track dilettante, I'd vote for new hard drive and start over.

              1. I would agree. If you were looking at exhausting all options, it's... an option. There's no particular reason to use it over an actual hard drive software, though.

      1. My wife has been busy laughing and sadly shaking her head at all of her Facebook friends who think it's any kind of anything.

        1. my wife sent me a text saying the Royal baby shared her birthday. I replied "congrats, I suppose." to which she replied "yeah, to him".

          That was definitely the correct response.

            1. I think I was using bauble for awhile but don't know that it was catchy enough to stick.

        2. Coworker: Kate is in labor!
          Me: I'm not really sure why this is a 'thing'?
          Coworker: because its like our royal step family, you know, like the Kennedy's.
          Me: I'm pretty sure we killed a lot of people trying to ensure that we'd never have a royal family....
          Coworker: what do you mean by that?

      2. I have the same birthday as Queen Elizabeth and nobody gives a royal rat's ass, not even me.

    1. I guess I'm so far out of the loop that I didn't realize there would be suspensions from the biogenesis list.

  9. The guy doing the Portland SeaDogs broadcast (against New Britain) says Ryan Braun has been suspended for the rest of the season for violating MLB drug policy.

      1. Braun copped a plea deal. He's taking the suspension. Jay Jaffe's take on Twitter is perfect:

        that said, can't blame Braun for copping a plea when the alternative was playing for a team that employs Yuni Betancourt— Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) July 22, 2013

            1. Wouldn't surprise me. A 65 game suspension is only a bit more than the standard 50 and a lot less than the rumored 100 games that MLB wanted.

              1. I really would appreciate someone doing a bit of digging into why exactly so many former University of Miami players seem to have PED issues.

                1. Is my sense wrong that Miami footballers have a high propensity to be the ones with homicide issues?

      2. really?

        Braun has already accepted the suspension and the former MVP issued a statement that said: “I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions.”

    2. Remember how Braun basically insinuated the guy who handled his test sample had maliciously tampered with it? I wonder where that guy works now, and how much he's making after having his reputation smeared.

    3. I see the Twitter machine saying is a bad day for baseball. I say thats not true. It shows that MLB tests its star players and if they are cheating they get a suspension. Its a bad day for Ryan Braun for being an idiot.

      1. Looking forward to sports mediots talking about how this is proof that baseball still has a PED problem, while football clearly doesn't because no one gets suspended for them.

          1. alleged murder.

            I think it is more accurate to say that it has a "homicide" problem. 🙂

    4. So, Regarding this and the Arod story linked immediately above it...
      Suspended players are suspended without pay. What happens to their salaries? Does the club keep the money?

        1. Because it sets up horrible incentives for the club to impugn players' reputations if they're signed to contracts that the club regrets. Or clubs could spy on players and only release the incriminating evidence once a player becomes worth too little.
          Wouldn't the Mets love to get Bobby Bonilla suspended?

          Suspended salaries should go into a fund for educating youth about dangers of drugs. Or something.

          1. So you want owners to essentially pay for a player's stupidity? Unless you can prove that the ballclub coerced the player to use the PED, that's not fair either.

            1. They pay salary when the player is on the DL. Why do they get to keep these salaries when the players are suspended?
              Can you think of another way to negate ownership's perverse incentives with respect to players underperforming their contracts?
              Is ownership any less stupid for these big contracts? Heck, I could even imagine a situation where the club wants to jettison an over-contracted player (Call him "Alejandro Roderick") and would find a way to sabotage his testing by clandestinely providing him with steroid-containing (or just even masking-agent-containing, don't want to run the risk he gets better) supplements.

              1. There is a difference between DL and suspension. A suspension is due to the player violating some rule of baseball or their contract. It is the player's penalty. It is technically possible that a team does not pay a player on the DL as well, if the player was injured doing something his contract strictly forbade him from doing (think Jeff Kent motorcycle stupidity).

                Yes, a club could try to find a way to sabotage an overpaid player's contract, but do you really want to get rid of this form of entertainment?

  10. so to amuse myself, I sometimes wander over to an enviro news aggregator called ecogeek.org. It occasionally has an interesting story. But mostly it attracts the Illiterati.

    Case in point, here's a comment on a story about a new desalination technology:

    Interesting... Where is all the salt going to go though. They can['t] put it back into the ocean, it would raise the salt levels too much.

    because all of the water is used up!

  12. THe Twins are on their West Coast swing? Thank goodness for the day game on Wednesday, otherwise thanks to the Cleveland blackout and ASG it'll be like 2 weeks where I won't see a game,

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