115 thoughts on “October 2, 2013: Pirated”

  1. I miss JeffA's daily affirmations of what we're still on track for or we'll have to settle for.
    Pirates still on track for World Series?

  2. Now that the Twins season is over, apparently people feel visiting isn't so depressing. We had our two busiest days in terms of LTEs in two months. 274 LTEs on September 30th were the most since August 9th when there were 336 LTEs. Yesterday we had 334 LTEs. Welcome back!

  3. Do any other Citizens play OOTP? An exchange with HomerDome last night confirmed my desire to gauge interest in a WGOM OOTP online league. I thought we could use 2013 or 2014 rosters, but try a few things HD and I talked about.

    2. I'm a Diamond Mind guy. Also, I wouldn't have the energy to put into it. Sounds fun, though

      1. I used to be a Diamond Mind guy, but when they went to crap a few years ago and let all their staff leave, OOTP has become wayyyyyyyyy better.

        1. In what ways? I realize Diamond Mind hasn't added any features in a few years being that they essentially gave up on the product. But to my knowledge the stat accuracy is very good and the play-by-play is still top-notch. I'm obsessed with collecting all the individual seasons for the game (I only play against the computer), even though I know the product could die any time.

          1. Diamond Mind is better for perfectly reenacting a past season. OOTP is better for having a little bit of realism (unexpected injuries, contract issues, not being able to stockpile all the All Stars at one position) if you're going to try to build a franchise. I guess it depends on exactly what you want, but I prefer the variet of OOTP.

            Also, some of the past season discs are complete crap (wrong stats entered for some players) that we find in my one league in which we're still using DMB.

            1. Which seasons, may I ask? Pre-1976? Even further back? Just curious for my future buying needs.

              Your summary is basically what I thought. I'm not a huge fan of franchise leagues and much prefer reenacting past seasons, so I'll probably continue where I'm at.

      1. In the historic league I'm in, the time commitment necessary can be as minimal as 5 minutes a week or as much as you want it to be. I usually spend about 5 minutes/weekday just glancing at my team to make any needed tweaks.

        I will say, starting a league will be a time commitment, but once it gets rolling it should be easy.

          2. Provided I could still run a team
            You live in Wisconsin, but you don't have a daughter (so far as I know).
            Have your wife run the team you would have been running so you can be an impartial commish.

    6. CH, I've mentioned trying to set up a league through spooky's site. I'm in one historic league (I just drafted Bobby Bonilla with the 5th overall pick in 1981), and it's incredibly fun.

        1. I think nibbish and TDO (a werewolf guy) also stated interest. My friend who just joined spooky's Cutthroat Junction (apparently he's going by "Jump") has also told me he would be interested in an OOTP league.

            2. I don't know. Do we want to start with current MLB rosters and then go forward with fake players in a draft or do we want to do a historical reenactment? If historical, we won't need as many owners until we get to some expansion season.

              1. Maybe forward from an arbitrary point in the not-too-distant past?

                I had originally been thinking if enough people were interested we could start in 2010 or so, but with fewer human owners we might need to start earlier than that. Unfortunately, the teams I'm most interested in GMing are all expansion era. I suppose I could handle the Milwaukee Braves...

    2. So does that mean he won't buy the Vikings and spare us from the New Jersey organized crime?

    3. His first book was published in 1984, and his publisher estimates that there are more than 100 million of his books in print. Quite a run. He also has a new book due out in December.

  5. Don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but UP has purchase one of the few Big Boy locomotives remaining in any kind of useful shape and is prepping it for movement to Cheyenne, where it will be made operational again (and converted from coal to oil). There were only 25 of the Big Boys manufactured, all for UP, and they are the largest steam locomotive every made. All 25 put in over 1,000,00 miles of service before they were shut down by 1959. I'm pretty excited to see this guy back in action, along with UP's other two steam locomotives.

    (check out 8:13)
    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqHybxkfhXg

        1. I think you can start a Yahoo league after the NHL season starts, if there's interest around here.

              1. This for me as well. I'm especially excited for the season after reading about Pominville (I'd nearly forgotten he was with the team this year.) The Wild's top line is made up of three current or former captains - kind of cool.

          1. I'm waiting for someone to come and tell us GOML that the wave is irritating and should never be done.

                  1. When we were at the game last Thursday. Linds poked me, nodded in the direction of a couple of drunk idiots a section or two over who were trying to start the wave and rolled her eyes and gave it a thumbs down.

                    She's a keeper, that one.

  8. It turns out our cat is diabetic, which is what I suspected from the symptoms. Her glucose levels were 4-5 times what they should be. I was worried about kidney disease, and the vet says almost all older cats eventually experience some level of kidney failure but so far Isabelle is okay in that regard. We'll have to make some changes to regulate her diet (no free feeding and a low-carb cat food twice a day) and she'll need insulin every 12 hours right after meals, but at least it's something that can be managed for now. I gave her the first injection last night and another this morning and she tolerated it pretty well.

    2. how much does that cost? You don't have to say if you don't want, but I know there are times when extending he life of a pet is a cost/benefit analysis, both from a quality of life perspective and also a "paying the bills is more important" perspective.

      1. I did a cocktail napkin analysis last night and figure it will run about $30-40/month for the insulin and syringes. Assuming we can get by with an off-the-shelf cat food instead of a prescription variety we're not adding any cost there. She's already 13 years old so I don't realistically think it will be a very long-term expense.

        1. Probably. But my sister-in-law gave insulin to her cat for nine years until she died at 22. Not that that isn't a good thing. Just saying.

          1. Maybe I'm being too pessimistic about the long-term outcome, but average life expectancy for a female housecat is only about 15 years.

            1. average life expectancy, and average life expectancy from Age X are two different things. My guess is that there isn't very good available data on life expectancy at age 13.

        2. Our cat had kidney problems and we extended her life by about a year with daily steroid pills. She lived to be 18.5.

    3. Really glad to hear it's a condition that can be managed, Twayn. We've had to switch to a special diet for two of our cats because of food allergies, which contributes to IBS/IBD, which (as I learned this summer) themselves have proven links to lymphoma (in cats and people).

      One of the facets of the early days of the old basement which was kind of neat were the occasional SBG family cat updates.

      1. Still have the three cats. Jags is 10, Theo is 9, Ellie is 8.

        Jags has gotten really cranky over the years. He's generally pretty good around us, but not tolerant of strangers, and he gets pretty jealous of Theo. He likes to run out of the house and run away for a couple of hours. I'm totally against him being outside, but I'm not in control of that situation for long periods of time. He knows where the food is though so he usually comes running back after a while. His longest time away was two nights. Lucy papered the neighborhood with fliers and it worked! A neighbor on the next block spotted him hiding under an evergreen. Many's the time that Lucy has walked through the back yards yelling out for him. I simply look out for him when I leave or enter the house.

        Theo is just about the best cat around. Never hisses or growls. Spent five years being pretty aloof and then all of a sudden, he became super, super affectionate, especially toward me. I have been gone for 8 days. When I get home tonight, he will be on my lap within five minutes. When I work from home, he will crawl onto my lap and sit there all day, getting up only when I do. He doesn't crawl on my desk, he sits on my lap and remains motionless.

        Ellie hates people, hates the other cats, and is pretty much isolated from everyone and everything. She regularly is involved in late night fights with one of the other two, and she will screech like you wouldn't believe. She's kind of worthless as a pet, except for one thing: she loves and is very accepting of our daughter. The lesson here: if you are going to pick one person to be affectionate toward, pick the kid.

        1. Isabelle is a tortoise shell and the most affectionate cat I've ever known, at least with the family. She's pretty suspicious of strangers and makes herself scarce when people she doesn't know come over. She has huge expressive eyes but she's not very vocal unless she's craving attention (or if she's hurt). When I get back from trips she's always pretty aloof for the first several hours to let me know it's not nice to leave your kitty cat like that. As a kitten and young cat she usually slept with Elder Daughter and they're especially close. We don't let her sleep with us at night but if I'm taking a nap, reading or watching TV in bed she'll curl up and cuddle for as long as I let her. Also, you can pet her forever and she never gets overstimulated and aggressive the way some cats do. She also knows her name and will come when called. We like her quite a bit and I hope to have her around as long as possible. The dog, on the other hand, is 14 years old now (Yorkie/Maltese mix), mostly blind and going deaf, has pretty bad hip dysplasia, can't get up or down the stairs anymore, has a weakened immune system and is getting increasingly incontinent. We've been talking about sending him on a trip to Belize, but haven't made a final decision yet. He spends most of his time sleeping and usually only gets up for meals. He's not much bother, but I have to gauge his quality of life as pretty low now.

        2. Theo is just about the best cat around. Never hisses or growls. Spent five years being pretty aloof and then all of a sudden, he became super, super affectionate, especially toward me.
          Interesting. Our oldest cat, whose name was inspired by a certain 1963 Opel Kadett, is very similar: aloof, but never hisses, growls, bites, or even scratches people (the other cat is a different story). He does have periods where he wants a lot of attention but most of the time, will leave if you start petting him. I'm not sure I want him to become a lap cat as he's kind of big.

          What most surprised us is despite being spooked easily (he still gets a bit scared when someone walks on the wood floors with shoes), he is unperturbed by a screaming baby. He does like the outdoors (he was a stray when I found him), but the wife and I are careful when opening doors.

          Now, the other cat did suddenly become a lap cat, but just for me. The hypothesis is that he was lacking attention due to the baby. I'm okay with it as he mostly fits in with the laptop.

        3. Just reading this update made me happy, Stick.

          We also have three, all big males – Sammy (10), Wally (almost 3), and Charlie (2). None of them are allowed outside; we're against it for the cat-generated songbird devastation, and because we have large owls and hawks living in trees on our block.

          Sammy is mentally challenged, hopelessly frightened of the other two, and very possessive of Mrs. Hayes, especially toward me. It's comical, and at times very annoying. Most of the time Sammy can be found soaking his old kitty bones in the living room picture window, half-drunk on sunlight.

          Wally and Charlie are basically brothers – we had Wally for about ten months when we rescued Charlie. Wally readily adopted Charlie as a student (Charlie learned how to hunt in our old mouse-filled rental house) and occasionally overzealous playmate. Wally, who is "my" cat, has always been very social and affectionate, and he's taken to greeting me at the door every time I return home to the pride from campus or errands. Charlie's learned by watching Wally, and now follows him to greet me. Both of them are pretty dang smart, but Charlie's fat (over 18 lbs despite not feeding them any snacks or people food) and lazy, while Wally's a bit of a high strung hunter and needs to patrol the house. He won't sit on your lap if you pick him up, but he loves to come sit on my lap if it's his idea, or he's ready for a bath or nap.

          1. Ours are indoor-exclusive, unless they jail-break the front door, as happened with our late Leo. Willow was barely weaned when she was rescued and we acquired her via a vet friend from the UCD monkey lab. She was an @sshole to Leo as a kitten, and not wildly affectionate. But when he went AWOL and got mauled by the neighbor's pit bull, she got religion. Plus, we then acquired a second rescue, Ivan the Terrible (nickname: Biggus Dickus), also from the monkey lab. She sleeps on our bed almost every night in the non-summer months, and includes in her bedtime routine a major make-out session with mrsS (and she throws me a bone or two in the process).

            Ivan is happy to chase Willow off of laps, and then settling in himself. Or just sucker-punching Willow in the occasional drive-by assault, or chasing her around the house. Yet he is easily spooked. Her less so. Go figure.

            1. The nice part of a fenced in yard is being able to occasionally let Abby out (closely supervised so she doesn't jump the thing.) She loves chasing a tennis ball around, for some reason but mostly just likes to lay in the grass. She's certainly an interesting one. I don't know if it's the reason, but i did most of the bottle feeding when we first got her. (Found in a heating vent at the mother in laws) i often wake up at night with her busy tail smacking more in the face and i get lots of the head butts when i go to bed. Otherwise she mostly keeps to herself, hanging out in the basement our laying in weird places.She's a good cat.

              1. Reading these makes me wish I had a cat. I've thought about it many times, because I love cats, but two things have kept me from doing it. 1) Mrs. A is not a big fan of cat hair; 2) I'm never home. Yes, I know some cats can handle being alone; it's just that I don't see much point to having a cat if I'm never going to be there to play with it. So, I've settled for finding people to visit who have cats.

                1. Cats are good for the soul, Jeff A. I love dogs, but cats are indeed perfect for those of us who are out of the house a lot. Dogs are just too needy.

                  you could look for short-hair cats to appease Mrs A. Or consider getting a hairless cat such as a Sphynx! (not that I would want to encourage that sort -- or any sort! -- of cat breeding; I'm a rescue kind of guy)

                  1. There are other problems with cats besides hair (i.e. puke). Despite the down sides, I love my two boys. The third one, eh.

                    1. Ours has taken to puking in the basement on the concrete. Much easier to clean as long as I find it in a reasonable amount of time. Beats the carpet, anyway. But yeah, she's got loads of hair so my mom struggles when she visits.

    4. Our cat had a bladder infection a few years ago. Not fun... at all.

      Long story short, she's only 6 now, and she'll be eating Urinary Tract Blend cat food, drinking distilled water, and peeing in the only cat litter that will get her anywhere near her box for the rest of her days.

      It's fairly expensive, but she's adorable, so it's a fairly small price to pay.

  9. So as to not ruin anything above... Can of Corn, I totally did that right, given we had the double comment above.

    1. Oh, so your take on a comment wave means it needs symmetry, rather than actual rising and falling? 😉

  10. I know there was some discussion on Morneau Bucs shirseys last night in the game log, well for only $10 you can get your very own "Morneau 66" tee and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Morneau Family Foundation charities! Go Bucs!

  12. TWAYN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Twayn signal!

    I've noticed a wee bit of slippage in my clutch recently, particularly when trying to accelerate quickly to highway speeds in 4th gear, before transitioning to 5th, but really any time I try to accelerate hard. As long as I drive like a little old lady, everything is fine.

    But this is the car that my dad will be driving again this winter when the elderS's come back out. So I gotta get it taken care of.

    2003 Camry. Hydraulic clutch. My guy says they have to pull the engine in order to do the work, so labor is gonna be ridonkulous. He apologized to me as he quoted $1,800. Joy. Can't wait to tell mrsS when I get home.

    Bonus points -- my guy said he thought he heard some ominous rattling from bearings on the front end. WTF? I bought this thing only a year ago, and it sure seemed rock-solid at the time.

      1. Yeah, I think I'd check the Haynes manual on that and see if that's really what it takes.I've never known a 'yota to be a pain to work on like that.

        1. these guys have been in business forever, and I'm on a first-name basis with the owner. I think he's dealing straight. 🙁

          and as for Toyotas, well, we also have a 1998 Sienna for which half of the spark plugs are essentially un-reachable by mortal humans without the benefit of a lift. [redacted] Toyoda family! they had like a whole decade of GM-like behavior.

          the compartment on the Camry is pretty cramped. Online estimates I have found seem to suggest that $1,800 is not out of line.

          1. Huh. I remember Pa grumping about clutch jobs on Saabs, but assumed that pulling the engine was one of the brand's many, uh, special characteristics.

          2. Huh, i drove a 2000 Prizm around for awhile, so that's what I've been basing these thoughts on. Pretty easy to get to most things in that car.

      2. Gotta pull the engine or the transmission to work on the clutch, and on a FWD, you're usually not pulling the transmission.

        $1800 doesn't seem too out of line to me, though it's a big chunk of change to sink into an older car. Fun.

        1. Transmission, sure, but the whole engine thing seemed out of whack. A guy i work with fairly recently replaced his clutch in his Corrolla from underneath, so i figured I'd be then same for the Camry. (Unless we're talking automatic here.)

    2. I checked some of the Toyota forums and the 2002-2006 Camrys are prone to clutch problems early on, like before 100,000 miles is not unusual. For comparison, we're just now feeling some clutch slippage on our '88 truck at 178,00 miles and I've been quoted $600-$700 on that repair which would be a lot simpler. Like bhiggum says, you either have to pull the tranny or engine since the clutch is the interface twixt the two. Standard labor would run about $500 but the hydraulic clutch adds anywhere from $500-$1,000 to the labor cost. The parts are cheap enough, about $200 or so for a kit with the clutch disk, pressure plate and throwout bearing. Machining the flywheel runs another $100 or thereabouts. So $1,800 doesn't seem all that out of line. About the front end bearings, was he talking about crankshaft bearings? Because if so you should have them do the work when they do the clutch to save on the labor since they'll be pulling the engine anyway. The bearing is only about a $20 or $30 part, if the engine's already pulled replacing it shouldn't be that much added labor, you just have to remove the crankshaft pulley and timing chain cover and it's right there, I don't believe they would have to pull the head to access it. Also, that rattling could be a worn or stuck timing chain tensioner allowing the chain to slap against the guides, so it might be worth your while to have them replace the whole timing set at the same time. Depending on how your Camry's equipped, Kelley's values it at somewhere between $5,500 and $8,500. You can get a more exact estimate online to help you with the cost/benefit analysis.

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