129 thoughts on “September 24, 2013: Delaying the Inevitable”

  1. So, I had a guy over last night to quote some replacement windows after the big hailstorm this summer. As the meeting was winding down, I mentioned that Mauer was out for the year with his concussion. He said, yeah, no sense in playing any more this year. Ok, that's reasonable. Ever since he got his [air quotes]concussion[/air quotes], I knew he'd be out for the season. He's got kids to play with! He did this a couple of years ago, when it wasn't even a losing season (remember, that was the year the Twins lost 99 games), so no one should be surprised that he shut it down again.

    Oh boy.

    1. I blame Souhan. Most people eat whatever they are fed.

      I know an Andersen Windows guy that covers your area if you are still looking for quotes.

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        1. It better have been an Andersen window guy, dammit. (Actually, I don't really care as much now that my dad is retired.)

  2. Yesterday, I made my debut in the local seniors bowling league. They told me that since I'll be turning 55 by the end of the year, I was old enough to qualify.

    I have to say, it was a lot of fun. Bowling is the one sport that I ever had any level of success at, but I've rarely done it since high school because I've never been able to devote one night a week to it, the way you have to do in a league. This league, however, bowls on Monday afternoon, which in my current schedule looks doable. Also, in a regular league, you can run into a lot of people who take it really seriously. In the seniors league, most of them are pleased to still be able to do it at all and so, while everyone is still trying to do their best, no one is upset if your best isn't very good.

    I actually did fairly well, especially considering that I haven't bowled regularly in about thirty-five years. I went 153, 169, 165, for a series of 487. I'm really looking forward to bowling again next week.

    1. That's a pretty good score. I have bowled three times since moving to Minnesota, all associated with kids events. I don't put any spin on the ball, I just throw it down the lane. Last time out, I rolled about 300 (in two games). I think it would be a lot of fun to be in a league, especially in a small town where there's not a lot of other things to do.

    2. Great scores! I've been in two bowling leagues as an adult, and both times I had my best round in the first week, making my handicap stupidly high.

    3. That's definitely solid for that kind of lay off. Its been about three years since I left the sport, but I'm in the same boat with it being the only sport I've had any personal/team success. I do miss league bowling. I found a team with a bunch of guys I had worked with when I moved down to Madison that I enjoyed hanging out with. We were also good, winning 2 league championships in 4 years, including my last year which upset a lot of people when we disbanded. Man, I do miss it. I'm enjoying curling more because its a pure team sport (and I'm not too shabby at it), but I've had a couple 700 series and a 279 game (missed the first one, got the next 11, plus finished off the '300' by getting the first one of the next game) and those were really exhilirating experiences.

    4. I had my best game ever out of absolutely nowhere a few months ago. I hadn't played in probably three years and I rolled a 180. In the other two games that day, I managed a 113 and something like 123, which are both closer to the truth (try as I did, I never could put spin on the ball, so I never managed an average of more than about 145).

      1. usually good for 130-150: no spin, and velocity over finesse.

        That describes my bowling game to a tee, Rhu. By the end of three games, my arm is good and tired. I've broken 200 (212 is my top game) a handful of times- about as many times as I've failed to break 100, come to think of it.

    5. Out here we have duckpin bowling. The ball is tiny, no finger holes, barely fits into the palm of your hand and quite difficult to control. Three rolls per frame - can have a strike, a spare, or get the points with the third ball with no point-push into the next frame. Haven't seen it done but wondered if a fast-ball toss in the air would be the most effective way to clear the decks.

      1. I've seen that in a few alleys in South Dakota, but never played. It does look like fun.

        And I would definitely like to try a fastball throw, but I'd likely either a)explode my rotator cuff or b)get banned for life from that bowling alley.

        1. I think they're cool with it as long as you order many pizzas and pitchers of beer. DO NOT TRY TO THROW A NESHEK.

  3. So, the Wilfs were ordered to pay $85 million in a real estate fraud case in New Jersey and the state of Minnesota handed them how much to build their stadium? #skol

    Superior Court Judge Deanne Wilson made the ruling Monday after finding, in a decision issued last month, that the Wilfs committed fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty and also violated the state’s civil racketeering laws in a partnership involving a 764-unit apartment complex in Montville, N.J.

    1. Don't get me started....

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          1. I can at least appreciate that it's harder to stay on topic while the Twins are circling the drain and none of the other major sports have started back up again.

              1. maybe we need a chat room!*

                *not really. Even though I am a state employee, I have to work sometimes.

                1. That could be implemented here I think. Mozilla recently released a library that can do that, among other things.

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                    1. I saw someone smoking one of those yesterday for the first time.
                      It seemed weird, somewhere between huffing and smoking.
                      But I didn't stare, so that's what it looked like from the corner of my eye.

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  4. I could get behind this.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl98-HwR15s

    [err, help?]
    [gotcha covered. that junk at the end of the link was mucking it up, whatever it was. -hj]

  5. I noticed this morning that Yahoo has introduced Google Doodle-like animations on their homepage (a little weight-lifting animation by the last "O"). Dudes, I'm pretty sure that's NOT Google's business secret.

        1. Gawd, not Clippy! That thing was horrendous!

          Nice screengrab, btw- that was a poorly thought out design.

  6. SIGH.

    Ryan contends that the signing of Josh Willingham to a three-year, $21 million contract before the 2012 season — a record deal for a Twins free agent — is evidence that he will take a plunge into the rich end of the free-agent pool.

    “I think you are mistaken when you don’t think $21 million is huge,” Ryan said.

        1. Last I checked, coffee is still a nickel at Wall Drug.

          The gas I buy at $1.99 isn't of a high enough quality to make my car run right, but my car is old, so it would be foolish to pay more. Besides, Oakland's car is running just fine by burning garbage.

  7. Did anyone else get an email from the Twins for an online survey? It was about corportate sponsors (as in, can you name any and what they sponsor) and the broadcasts (including the broadcast crew and how much they do or do not suck). It was interesting and I think I represented the nation well.

      1. Yeah, I heard that. MLB and the Twins spam me at least 5 times a day and I haven't gotten it, so it must only be for season ticket holders.

  8. Guess who?

    In the NFL's format, with just four clubs per division, each member team has a 25 percent chance of finishing first, plus a bonus chance of a wild card.

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    1. If he went any deeper than that 1/8", he'd be some glory boy first rounder coasting by on his reputation.

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        1. They are just so darn fun to use!

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            1. Since I stole it from io9, I'll just link you to their article- I thought it was interesting, and oddly hypnotic.

              I think some of the other gifs in the article are even better.

                1. I'm full of cussing tonight.
                  Here, on facebook (Hi Neil!), in emails.
                  If I'm not careful, I'll end up like Geoff.
                  Sorry folks! I'll do better.

  9. You know what really sucks? Unemployment employment determination hearings (for my wife, not me.) Especially after a messy break up against awful people.

      1. Heh, i should have asked you for advice on a good way to approach it then. Witnesses got sequestered, so I'm sitting outside the room waiting for my chance to speak while my very nervous wife is in all by herself with a woman she absolutely despises. Good times!

          1. We might have been able to do it that way, as well, but we have good documentation that they changed her employment status without discussing with her and after delivering initial W2s, so it helps our case to do it in person. Plus, the bauble is on the hospital again (precautionary, likely still related to the UTI he had) 5 miles from heading office. Shop, much mow convenient for us to attend than then.

    1. I'd like to say something about how many companies handle employee terminations, but it might lead me to using the most offensive compound word in the English language. So I won't. Just [redacted] those [redacted].

    1. If there has to be an NBA franchise in my town (boo! I was really looking forward to NOT being blacked out of Warriors games anymore), I want all Shaq, all the time. Shaqrifice for the good of the team!

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