There are about eight birthdays in the last six days of August for people important to me. Time to get them all straight in my head.
84 thoughts on “August 16, 2013: Crunch Time”
Day 3 of my latest ND trip. In Capital City for second day. Tonight: SBGville, where I will encounter wife and daughter. Fishing with my brother and his kids (and Miss SBG) tomorrow. Yay!
Mrs. A went to the doctor yesterday. Her right knee has been bothering her for a long time, but being who she is, she just put up with it for as long as she could. Finally, the pain just got to be too much for her, so she gave in.
The doctor said her knee has lots of arthritis and bone spurs. She will eventually need to have it replaced. In fact, he said he'd like to go ahead and replace it now, but if we did that before we tried some other things there's no way our insurance would pay for it. So, he drained some fluid off the knee, gave her a cortisone shot, and told her to walk with a cane to take pressure off the knee. She did, but she's not happy about it. She thinks she's too young for a cane, and I can understand that. She also thinks people will see the cane and think she can't do things, which she finds really annoying.
You see, Mrs. A was born with a severe curvature of the spine and with a blood clot in her head which left her right side partially handicapped. All her life she's done things that people said she'd never be able to do, including just walking. She's really beaten some incredible odds that she made it this far without needing any assistance. But if you want to make her mad, just tell her she can't do something. She'll figure out a way to do it just to prove you wrong. This is a woman who learned to type forty-five words a minute one-handed. So having to admit that she needs a cane, and knowing people will start doing things for her that she can do for herself, is very frustrating to her.
She'll adjust, and eventually she'll figure out ways to do things with a cane that you're not supposed to be able to do. Right now, though, she's not very happy.
Please tell her she can't will the Twins into a World Series team
The "Twins way" has gotten to her. Trying to play through too many injuries.
In all seriousness, good luck to Mrs. A.
Dido. Find some new things you don't like to do, and tell her she can't do those.
Best wishes. Having been through the "you're gonna need a replacement soon-ish" discussion with my own surgeon, I hear you.
Best wishes to Mrs. A.
She sounds amazing. Best wishes for the struggle. You're both in our prayers.
Familiar as I am with a woman who doesn't like her physical limitations dictating the way she lives her life, all I can say is Mrs. A has the right attitude. Here's hoping the doctors can quit fooling around for the insurance company's benefit and she can have the replacement done soon.
Best wishes to the Missus, reverend. Regarding the insurance issue, I'm not sure how your state is progressing with an insurance exchange but it might be worth looking into. I think registration for the exchanges is supposed to begin October 1st.
Thanks, everybody. And just to clarify, Mrs. A appreciates that people are just trying to be nice and trying to help. She just doesn't want people giving her special treatment. She's never looked at herself as handicapped, and she doesn't want anyone else looking at her that way, either.
I liked the relative respect for my favorite on the list, Louisiana. And seeing some other favorites (Rooster sauce and Huy Fong). But I deny that one can rank these unidimensionally. Different foods call for different hot sauces.
also, the hipster comments are HIlarious.
I'm a little disappointed that I only have 5 of those in my fridge right now. But I agree, to every food there is a hot sauce. (Turn, turn, turn.)
Most of those have passed through my kitchen, and Sriracha is a staple...but no Pickapeppa - original or Hot Mango?
Pickapeppa a staple in this boyo's cabinet. Buy it whenever I see it.
Not enough lead in any of those to match the great flavor of Búfalo.
I didn’t necessarily mean this to be a new man-vs-woman toilet seat debate. I’ve noticed that nobody thinks anybody else loads a dishwasher correctly. If you can’t get one last cup or bowl into the dishwasher, it’s because some IDIOT didn’t load it correctly. It’s like Tetris with a peanut gallery.
Yea, that's me.
My wife always thinks I've done it wrong. I take a very don't-give-a-shit approach, which seems to upset her.
I'm the anal one in the family when it comes to loading dishwashers, but mostly because you should load it so that dishes won't rattle against each other (and break) during wash. Plus I have a packing efficiency that's unreachable by anyone else here.
Yea. My wife is the queen of loading the car with luggage, but she can't load the diswasher worth a c-rap. Kids take after her. They nest bowls so that half don't get clean, throw cups/glasses/mugs in haphazardly, etc. etc. Drives me and my anal-retentive self nuts. I think they do it just to test my blood pressure. There IS ONLY ONE RIGHT WAY!!!
My wife is the world's worst dishwasher loader, so much so that she's damaged the top tray on our new dishwasher by jamming items in it to the tune of $150 in parts (in two separate incidents). Plus, she will start a partial load RIGHT BEFORE DINNER! But, having seen this as being a major point of argument, I resolve to not let this bother me anymore.
You could just print out Carl's comic and put it up on the fridge without saying anything...
Our kitchen still has the original cabinets, and since the house was built before dishwashers were really a thing regular folks had, that means there's a lot of hand-washing going on. I understand why Mrs. Hayes would like to change things so we can get a dishwasher, but I figure as long as it's just the two (or even three) of us, there's no real need.
Now, the stupid Bertin' ceramic-top white electric stove? That thing needs to be gone yesterday. I can hand wash a load of dishes faster than I can clean that stupid thing.
I've got Carl on Facebook so I'm a regular reader. Love his humor.
The comment is perfect.
I have a friend who is an industrial designer. When an office where she used to work (not a design firm) got a dishwasher, she created a diagram showing the optimal way to load it because she couldn't stand her coworkers doing it all wrong.
Also, I went to high school with the guy who made the discovery. I was Winthrop to his Professor Harold Hill.
Before I clicked on the link I knew who you were talking about. Brilliant guy
I literally ran into him once in D.C. I was getting off the train, he was getting on. Later that day I found his contact info and tried to set up a time to get together, but he was leaving a week later for a 6-month (or more?) trip to Borneo.
The small, bushy-tailed, rust-colored, furry mammal they named the olinguito was a rare find — revealed Thursday by Smithsonian scientists as the first new carnivore species found in the Western Hemisphere in 35 years.
Although the new animal is in the taxonomic Order Carnivora — a group of mammals that include cats and dogs — it is not carnivorous because it does not primarily eat meat.
So it's a carnivore, but it's not carnivorous?
Let no one suggest that science is a means to understanding the world around us.
yeah, that's really misleading. no mention of it being omnivorous or anything.
There is no order Omnivora
If this actually happens, I'm going to have to reevaluate how I think about the Rays.
But no one doubts his talent!
I do.
If they use him as Gleeman mentions, I think it could be a smart pickup. I don't know how much they need a right-handed platoon DH though. If Luke Scott is their regular DH, then maybe it makes sense as he's left-handed.
I have noted this in the past, but Delmon has really big Power/Finesse splits and the split is pretty consistent from year to year, given that splits are more prone to SSS. It's not a split that I usually look at, but I could see there being something to it, given Delmon's lack of approach at the plate. Against pitchers who are around the plate and don't tend to get many strikeouts, his lack of discipline shouldn't hurt him as much as against someone who throws hard and all over the place. If you have space for someone on the bench to just situationally DH, I suppose he could bring some value.
Even though the Rays have pretty left-handed heavy lineup, that would mean carrying two guys who essentially can't play the field. I'd rather have Mark Reynolds (who just signed with the Yankmes, so maybe the Rays lost out on him).
The Rays shift a lot, so maybe they can hide it better. Or, maybe Delmon can play first poorly as an improvement.
In order to boost his UZR, the Rays should dress Delmon up in goalie pads and make him stand three feet in front of the batter's box.
I would love to see a team do that, but I'm pretty sure there's a rule against it.
After a couple of pretty slow months in the job market, there is suddenly a flurry of job opportunities in my field than I'm pursuing. I got a call yesterday and a call back today for a great opportunity with a medical device company (not Medtronic or Boston Scientific). Phone interview scheduled for Tuesday morning. A recruiter friend of mine says this is pretty typical, summers are slow and things pick up in the fall. Wish me luck!
Yay! Good luck to you. You remain in our prayers.
Fingers crossed.
Luck, Bro!
Has anyone else been following BeerGraphs?
Um, no, but I wanted to say thanks for the 99% Invisible recommendation the other week. The most recent episode, having to do with Chicago and engineering, was fascinating.
We learned about the reversal of the Chicago River in my Gilded Age class in college. I tend to regard it as both a marvel of engineering and a huge dick move.
I knew it had been reversed, but I didn't know why.
Glad you enjoyed! I agree – the Chicago piece last week was pretty great.
Cosign on that. I downloaded all their podcasts.
now you guys have got me curious. thankfully with live in an age of instant gratification. checking it out on my phone, maybe it would be best to start from the beginning?
Do you have the podcasts app? It's super easy to listen to it via that. I think all the episodes are self-contained, so any order will work. I'm still blown away by how they jacked up all the buildings in Chicago to raise the city by 10 feet. Freaking crazy.
that's how i was checking it out. all the early episodes are around 5 minutes, and i like to start on the ground floor of new (to me) things if possible.
It's not necessary, but I think in that way you'll be most satisfied by the evolution of the program.
John Lackey doesn't believe in due process. Every other player has the right to appeal suspensions. I wonder if he thinks that pitchers who are suspended for beaning players should be afforded the right to appeal.
If those stats and "greatness" were helping the Twins win I would be a great story. But all his stats and "greatness" are just adding to his search for another batting title and little else
Please spoiler that crap.
the problem is that Joe is too nice. Nobody fears him. We need a superstar who is the most feared hitter in the league!!!!111one1111!!!!
the problem is that Sano is an @ss. Nobody likes him. We need a superstar who can be one of the league's nice guys!!!111one1111!!!
Buxton! The Dark Side of the Moon Mike Trout!
Sounds like Charlie Manuel has been fired by the Phillies. Somehow, Ruben Amaro, Jr. still has a job.
I heard RAJ was crying during the press conference. I assume they were tears of relief.
Gross. Meanwhile:
Jonathan Papelbon (32): $26 million through 2015
Cliff Lee (34): $62.5 million through 2015
Ryan Howard (33): $85 million through 2016
Cole Hamels (29): $130.5 million through 2018
You know, the more I think about it, the Phillies might have done Charlie Manuel a favor.
I have no idea what they expected Cholly to do with that team. It's not his fault. He deserves better than this.
Maybe he can replace Davey Johnson in Washington next season.
So, do I think Cholly is someone that might be an upgrade over Gardy?
All three men I feel that way about (Showalter, Tito, Madden) are currently employed which is why I definitely don't want Gardy to go.
Maddon would be my top choice to replace Gardy, but only if a like-minded front office comes with him. I also like Bud Black for reasons I can't really explain and possibly don't hold up to scrutiny.
Bud Black is a sneaky good name. He makes do with what he has got, even though the Padres ownership situation has been shaky at best over the last few years.
I moved out of San Diego County at the end of the 2006 season and lost my ability to follow the Friars for a few years until I got MLB.tv, but I was reasonably excited about Black getting the job, what with his pitching coach resume and Petco's dimensions.
Dave Wohl, Minnesota's lead assistant, remembers arriving in Minnesota and Kahn asking him whether Rubio and Flynn could prosper playing together. Wohl described Flynn as a good, ambitious kid. He also said that Rubio and Curry would have made a better pairing. He didn't believe either Flynn or Rubio could perform at shooting guard. "He said, 'No, no. I want to play Jonny and Rubio. They remind me of [Walt] Frazier and [Earl] Monroe,'" Wohl said.
"When he said that, I didn't know what to say. I actually played during the '70s against Earl and Clyde and there's just no comparison." Wohl told Kahn that he did not think it was an accurate comparison. "He said, 'Yeah, it is. They are two guys who can handle the ball,'" Wohl recalled Kahn saying. "When he started going in that direction, I knew that Kurt was going to have a struggle in him trying to figure out what to do with both those guys when they came because Ricky was clearly a guy who was a great passer and was going to be able to do some things offensively with his passing that Jonny, at that point, wasn't able to do," Wohl said.
zomg. I know that skewering a guy after he has failed is common practice and often unfair. But this passage in particular really highlights the idea that Kahn had No Idea what he was doing.
I'm not buying everything that Wohl and Rambos are selling on Kahn. There are some things that they assert that I know are flat out l false. Plus listen to what BAJ has to say about how much the triangle was run versus what Rambis says about the triangle. Kahn was worthless, but so was Rambis.
Oh, sure. Plenty of self-interested or sour-grapey quotes in there. Wohl is 64 years old and hasn't coached in the league for two years. He might never coach in the league again.
I would feel sorry for some people but not Kahn. He did his best to throw his scouts under the bus on the way out the door.
Lucked into some free tickets to tomorrow night's game so we're taking the whole fam. If the boy doesn't fall asleep on my shoulder on the way back to the car, I'm going to be very disappointed.
A while back I got into a debate with a couple family members about how the Post Office ought to be run – as a constitutionally enumerated government service connecting all parts of the nation (my view), or as a business which doesn't serve all people equally based on geography and cost of delivery. I can't imagine getting into the same debate with them about NASA.
Ars has a lot of NASA coverage. It does help that the author lives near Kennedy Johnson Space Center and has worked in the industry.
Jon Krawczynski @APkrawczynski
Pek said he never thought about moving to a bigger, more glamorous city: "I'm a Minneapolis guy."
Big thanks to everyone who's participating in the Prediciton Contest this year, especially all the newcomers.
AMR and Spooky are the only two previous participants who haven't submitted yet. And nibbish, if you want a real entry in addition to that abomination you posted earlier. Y'all have until about 6AM tomorrow.
Day 3 of my latest ND trip. In Capital City for second day. Tonight: SBGville, where I will encounter wife and daughter. Fishing with my brother and his kids (and Miss SBG) tomorrow. Yay!
Mrs. A went to the doctor yesterday. Her right knee has been bothering her for a long time, but being who she is, she just put up with it for as long as she could. Finally, the pain just got to be too much for her, so she gave in.
The doctor said her knee has lots of arthritis and bone spurs. She will eventually need to have it replaced. In fact, he said he'd like to go ahead and replace it now, but if we did that before we tried some other things there's no way our insurance would pay for it. So, he drained some fluid off the knee, gave her a cortisone shot, and told her to walk with a cane to take pressure off the knee. She did, but she's not happy about it. She thinks she's too young for a cane, and I can understand that. She also thinks people will see the cane and think she can't do things, which she finds really annoying.
You see, Mrs. A was born with a severe curvature of the spine and with a blood clot in her head which left her right side partially handicapped. All her life she's done things that people said she'd never be able to do, including just walking. She's really beaten some incredible odds that she made it this far without needing any assistance. But if you want to make her mad, just tell her she can't do something. She'll figure out a way to do it just to prove you wrong. This is a woman who learned to type forty-five words a minute one-handed. So having to admit that she needs a cane, and knowing people will start doing things for her that she can do for herself, is very frustrating to her.
She'll adjust, and eventually she'll figure out ways to do things with a cane that you're not supposed to be able to do. Right now, though, she's not very happy.
Please tell her she can't will the Twins into a World Series team
The "Twins way" has gotten to her. Trying to play through too many injuries.
In all seriousness, good luck to Mrs. A.
Dido. Find some new things you don't like to do, and tell her she can't do those.
Best wishes. Having been through the "you're gonna need a replacement soon-ish" discussion with my own surgeon, I hear you.
Best wishes to Mrs. A.
She sounds amazing. Best wishes for the struggle. You're both in our prayers.
Familiar as I am with a woman who doesn't like her physical limitations dictating the way she lives her life, all I can say is Mrs. A has the right attitude. Here's hoping the doctors can quit fooling around for the insurance company's benefit and she can have the replacement done soon.
Best wishes to the Missus, reverend. Regarding the insurance issue, I'm not sure how your state is progressing with an insurance exchange but it might be worth looking into. I think registration for the exchanges is supposed to begin October 1st.
Thanks, everybody. And just to clarify, Mrs. A appreciates that people are just trying to be nice and trying to help. She just doesn't want people giving her special treatment. She's never looked at herself as handicapped, and she doesn't want anyone else looking at her that way, either.
Good wishes for the MofC's gal.
A burning debate.
I liked the relative respect for my favorite on the list, Louisiana. And seeing some other favorites (Rooster sauce and Huy Fong). But I deny that one can rank these unidimensionally. Different foods call for different hot sauces.
also, the hipster comments are HIlarious.
I'm a little disappointed that I only have 5 of those in my fridge right now. But I agree, to every food there is a hot sauce. (Turn, turn, turn.)
Most of those have passed through my kitchen, and Sriracha is a staple...but no Pickapeppa - original or Hot Mango?
Pickapeppa a staple in this boyo's cabinet. Buy it whenever I see it.
Not enough lead in any of those to match the great flavor of Búfalo.
Another reason to love Carl.
My wife always thinks I've done it wrong. I take a very don't-give-a-shit approach, which seems to upset her.
I'm the anal one in the family when it comes to loading dishwashers, but mostly because you should load it so that dishes won't rattle against each other (and break) during wash. Plus I have a packing efficiency that's unreachable by anyone else here.
Yea. My wife is the queen of loading the car with luggage, but she can't load the diswasher worth a c-rap. Kids take after her. They nest bowls so that half don't get clean, throw cups/glasses/mugs in haphazardly, etc. etc. Drives me and my anal-retentive self nuts. I think they do it just to test my blood pressure. There IS ONLY ONE RIGHT WAY!!!
You could just print out Carl's comic and put it up on the fridge without saying anything...
I've got Carl on Facebook so I'm a regular reader. Love his humor.
The comment is perfect.
I have a friend who is an industrial designer. When an office where she used to work (not a design firm) got a dishwasher, she created a diagram showing the optimal way to load it because she couldn't stand her coworkers doing it all wrong.
Neat.
Also, I went to high school with the guy who made the discovery. I was Winthrop to his Professor Harold Hill.
Before I clicked on the link I knew who you were talking about. Brilliant guy
I literally ran into him once in D.C. I was getting off the train, he was getting on. Later that day I found his contact info and tried to set up a time to get together, but he was leaving a week later for a 6-month (or more?) trip to Borneo.
So it's a carnivore, but it's not carnivorous?
Let no one suggest that science is a means to understanding the world around us.
yeah, that's really misleading. no mention of it being omnivorous or anything.
There is no order Omnivora
If this actually happens, I'm going to have to reevaluate how I think about the Rays.
But no one doubts his talent!
I do.
If they use him as Gleeman mentions, I think it could be a smart pickup. I don't know how much they need a right-handed platoon DH though. If Luke Scott is their regular DH, then maybe it makes sense as he's left-handed.
I have noted this in the past, but Delmon has really big Power/Finesse splits and the split is pretty consistent from year to year, given that splits are more prone to SSS. It's not a split that I usually look at, but I could see there being something to it, given Delmon's lack of approach at the plate. Against pitchers who are around the plate and don't tend to get many strikeouts, his lack of discipline shouldn't hurt him as much as against someone who throws hard and all over the place. If you have space for someone on the bench to just situationally DH, I suppose he could bring some value.
Even though the Rays have pretty left-handed heavy lineup, that would mean carrying two guys who essentially can't play the field. I'd rather have Mark Reynolds (who just signed with the Yankmes, so maybe the Rays lost out on him).
The Rays shift a lot, so maybe they can hide it better. Or, maybe Delmon can play first poorly as an improvement.
In order to boost his UZR, the Rays should dress Delmon up in goalie pads and make him stand three feet in front of the batter's box.
I would love to see a team do that, but I'm pretty sure there's a rule against it.
After a couple of pretty slow months in the job market, there is suddenly a flurry of job opportunities in my field than I'm pursuing. I got a call yesterday and a call back today for a great opportunity with a medical device company (not Medtronic or Boston Scientific). Phone interview scheduled for Tuesday morning. A recruiter friend of mine says this is pretty typical, summers are slow and things pick up in the fall. Wish me luck!
Yay! Good luck to you. You remain in our prayers.
Fingers crossed.
Luck, Bro!
Has anyone else been following BeerGraphs?
Um, no, but I wanted to say thanks for the 99% Invisible recommendation the other week. The most recent episode, having to do with Chicago and engineering, was fascinating.
We learned about the reversal of the Chicago River in my Gilded Age class in college. I tend to regard it as both a marvel of engineering and a huge dick move.
I knew it had been reversed, but I didn't know why.
Glad you enjoyed! I agree – the Chicago piece last week was pretty great.
Cosign on that. I downloaded all their podcasts.
now you guys have got me curious. thankfully with live in an age of instant gratification. checking it out on my phone, maybe it would be best to start from the beginning?
Do you have the podcasts app? It's super easy to listen to it via that. I think all the episodes are self-contained, so any order will work. I'm still blown away by how they jacked up all the buildings in Chicago to raise the city by 10 feet. Freaking crazy.
that's how i was checking it out. all the early episodes are around 5 minutes, and i like to start on the ground floor of new (to me) things if possible.
It's not necessary, but I think in that way you'll be most satisfied by the evolution of the program.
So, now the REAL reason for the hounding of A-Rod has been revealed. Everybody hates a snitch.
John Lackey doesn't believe in due process. Every other player has the right to appeal suspensions. I wonder if he thinks that pitchers who are suspended for beaning players should be afforded the right to appeal.
JMIVGAB
Please spoiler that crap.
the problem is that Joe is too nice. Nobody fears him. We need a superstar who is the most feared hitter in the league!!!!111one1111!!!!
the problem is that Sano is an @ss. Nobody likes him. We need a superstar who can be one of the league's nice guys!!!111one1111!!!
Buxton! The Dark Side of
the MoonMike Trout!Sounds like Charlie Manuel has been fired by the Phillies. Somehow, Ruben Amaro, Jr. still has a job.
I heard RAJ was crying during the press conference. I assume they were tears of relief.
Gross. Meanwhile:
Jonathan Papelbon (32): $26 million through 2015
Cliff Lee (34): $62.5 million through 2015
Ryan Howard (33): $85 million through 2016
Cole Hamels (29): $130.5 million through 2018
You know, the more I think about it, the Phillies might have done Charlie Manuel a favor.
I have no idea what they expected Cholly to do with that team. It's not his fault. He deserves better than this.
Maybe he can replace Davey Johnson in Washington next season.
So, do I think Cholly is someone that might be an upgrade over Gardy?
All three men I feel that way about (Showalter, Tito, Madden) are currently employed which is why I definitely don't want Gardy to go.
Maddon would be my top choice to replace Gardy, but only if a like-minded front office comes with him. I also like Bud Black for reasons I can't really explain and possibly don't hold up to scrutiny.
Bud Black is a sneaky good name. He makes do with what he has got, even though the Padres ownership situation has been shaky at best over the last few years.
I moved out of San Diego County at the end of the 2006 season and lost my ability to follow the Friars for a few years until I got MLB.tv, but I was reasonably excited about Black getting the job, what with his pitching coach resume and Petco's dimensions.
When you get right down to it and strip away all the excuses, Jonny Flynn just isn't good enough to play in the NBA.
zomg. I know that skewering a guy after he has failed is common practice and often unfair. But this passage in particular really highlights the idea that Kahn had No Idea what he was doing.
I'm not buying everything that Wohl and Rambos are selling on Kahn. There are some things that they assert that I know are flat out l false. Plus listen to what BAJ has to say about how much the triangle was run versus what Rambis says about the triangle. Kahn was worthless, but so was Rambis.
Oh, sure. Plenty of self-interested or sour-grapey quotes in there. Wohl is 64 years old and hasn't coached in the league for two years. He might never coach in the league again.
I would feel sorry for some people but not Kahn. He did his best to throw his scouts under the bus on the way out the door.
Lucked into some free tickets to tomorrow night's game so we're taking the whole fam. If the boy doesn't fall asleep on my shoulder on the way back to the car, I'm going to be very disappointed.
Somewhat Forbidden Zone-y, but Ars Technica ran a good editorial this week on the future of the International Space Station beyond 2020.
Ars has a lot of NASA coverage. It does help that the author lives near
KennedyJohnson Space Center and has worked in the industry.this is fantastic: Man Trolls Paul Bissonnette. Bissonnette Posts Man's Arrest Record.
ONE OF US NOW!
Big thanks to everyone who's participating in the Prediciton Contest this year, especially all the newcomers.
AMR and Spooky are the only two previous participants who haven't submitted yet. And nibbish, if you want a real entry in addition to that abomination you posted earlier. Y'all have until about 6AM tomorrow.