No meaning. Just the word that's stuck in my head.
37 thoughts on “June 7, 2014: Ragamuffin”
A bad time for the Twins to sputter because Detroit has been playing awful baseball lately. I count 5-13 in their last 18 games.
Considering I expected the Twins to sputter last month, I'm ok with it. I don't want to get any playoff chase hopes up, at any rate.
Only 5 games out of first place. There is a chance to win the division!
The Twins won 2 of 3 at NYY and split four games with the first-place Brewers. If this is sputtering, this is going to be a fantastic season.
I don't think DW was saying they ARE sputtering, he's saying it would be a bad time to be sputtering.
during this 2+ week stretch, the Twins have only gained 2.5 games in the standings (bottomed out at -7.5, now only 5 games back)
Greetings from Lexington, KY. I drove 820 miles yesterday through Madison (hey fellas), down I-39 and then across I-74 to Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Once I got out of Wisconsin, the traffic was almost non-existant. Pulled into my sister's driveway at 1:03 AM EDT.
I think you need to take the Avenue of the Saints on your return trip 😉
The very first thing I saw in KY was a sign for the Creation Museum.
On the first day....
One other thing. I made this trip with a seven year old in the car stopping only one time. Once! 820 miles! I still have about 50 miles worth of fuel left. The key here was that my wife slept the last three hours. I wasn't about to stop with her sleeping.
As someone who has experienced a blood clot from too long driving without stopping, I will say there is no shame in taking a couple breaks.
I don't like to stop once I'm on the road for various reasons. When I was little my parents lived 450 miles apart (Pops in a village north of La Crosse, Mom & Pa in Thief River Falls). For years we made that drive every 2-3 weeks. I got an early and lasting introduction to long distance travel, with the bladder endurance to match. (This later helped on long convoys in the desert.)
Mrs. Hayes, because of Crohn's and lack of early training, needs to stop much more often than I do. The non-Crohn's part of this was a source of tension for quite a while. "You can't go even two hours in the car without a pit stop?!," I would think. She's gotten a little better about consuming liquids before we hit the road, but I'd say I've had to learn even more patience. Nothing burns me more than fighting through a knot of lane hogging semis and slow traffic on I-90 only to get a pit stop request a few minutes after we hit open road.
I was surprised, though, that our road trip to & from the Outer Banks went as well as they did. Partially it was because I wasn't driving much - we didn't bring our own car, instead sharing with friends with bigger rigs. I only drove the mountainous stretch on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the way home. So I wasn't in control of the pace, which probably lessened my need to stay moving. But the other thing was that I've gotten older and lost my endurance a bit. My last really long road trip was in 2006, when Mrs. Hayes and I drove from San Diego to Chicago. Most of my long haul trips are only 2-3 hours these days. I can still get in the car and only stop for gas, but it's less natural now and I'm more tired afterward.
When I moved to Texas, I didn't stop except for gas. KC, some small town just over the Oklahoma border, and Waco over a 16 hr. journey.
When we used to go to Indiana for Easter & Thanksgiving, we used to make so much better time at night because of the combo of lessened traffic and sleeping passengers. As we got older, we cut 2+ hours off the travel time. It used to take nearly 13 hours because of the stops for elementary school-sized bladders. Now that we're all adults, it's <11 hours.
I can't drive for more than a couple of hours straight without taking a break to stretch my legs. Fortunately, the Mrs has never met a rest stop she hasn't needed to pee at.
I need to get out and stretch my legs periodically anyway, and blood clots run in our family (although I don't personally carry the particular blood factor), so I go ahead and nurse a large soda and take a break every couple hours or so.
I'm totally with you on the desire to just get the long drive done with, but I drove up to St. Cloud from madison the weekend of those awful storms in 2008 that caused all that flooding (A fact my brother was not even close to sympathetic towards, it was for his wedding). Because of sitting in the Prizm for 6 straight hours after a very stressful leave of Madison, I got that blood clot in my leg that eventually broke off and entered my lungs. I nearly died from that because Lakeview in Stillwater misdiagnosed it as a likely hernia, then the Edgerton hospital misdiagnosed it three f'in times as something with my diaphragm. Because of that, I make it a point, no matter how annoying, to get out every 2-3 hours.
the Kansas City Royals have hit 26 home runs in 35 games played. The next lowest AL team is Texas at 42/39
That was a damn good women's final at the French Open. Nadal-Djokovic tomorrow morning too.
Anybody have recommendations (or dis-recommendations) to share on new washing machines? We are looking to replace our ~26-year-old Kenmore (I lied; only ~20 years old, as we didn't get it until after grad school) with a top-loader, preferably an HE top-loader. Have heard just too many horror stories about front-loaders to go that way.
Costco has a Whirlpool model that looks decent if not excellent.
Why not a front-loader? The only issue I've seen is possibility of water not completely draining and make it smell. We replaced our old, but not 26-year-old, top-loader with a Whirlpool front-loader.
every person the Mrs has talked to who has one has complained endlessly. Problems with poor performance, bad seals, etc. I'm not going to get any traction in that direction. And the top-loading HE machines are almost as water-efficient.
The issues with smell that plagued front-loaders a few years ago have been largely dealt with. So, bear in mind that although people have completely gotten away from them, the reasons to do so have mostly ceased to exist.
That said, many of the best models out there are top-loaders now, since obviously manufacturers are going to focus on what people currently want. LG and Samsung have become the most popular models out there - certainly among my customers - but you can save money and get a pair from Whirlpool that you're likely to be happy with. One thing worth looking into is the manufacturer's warranty on the motor. LG and Samsung offer 10-year warranties on the motors (everything else is the usual one year, parts and labor).
We're happy with our LG front loader. Watch out that you have a sturdy room when using HE utilities -- they'll take to shakin'. They make composite base pads that can help stabilize, though.
our laundry room recently was tiled (along with our bathrooms) with ceramic tile.
We had our home built with the utility room upstairs with the bedrooms. Very convenient, but not without its complications.
We just got a massive LG top loader HE with a steam cycle. The 10-year warranty is what sold us on it over other brands, and we needed the steam cycle for diapers. So far, its held up quite well and the drum is stupidly huge, which is great for blankets. Of course, its cost a lot more than I had wanted to spend, but that's life.
The only bit of advice I have is analog over digital. We had three auto water level sensor that went bad in two different units, and then switched to an analog machine with no sensors. Much happier.
I noted a while back that Votto was getting the same treatment as Joe -- being paid too much not to be driving in runs, regardless how great an OBP machine he is
A bad time for the Twins to sputter because Detroit has been playing awful baseball lately. I count 5-13 in their last 18 games.
Considering I expected the Twins to sputter last month, I'm ok with it. I don't want to get any playoff chase hopes up, at any rate.
Only 5 games out of first place. There is a chance to win the division!
The Twins won 2 of 3 at NYY and split four games with the first-place Brewers. If this is sputtering, this is going to be a fantastic season.
I don't think DW was saying they ARE sputtering, he's saying it would be a bad time to be sputtering.
during this 2+ week stretch, the Twins have only gained 2.5 games in the standings (bottomed out at -7.5, now only 5 games back)
Greetings from Lexington, KY. I drove 820 miles yesterday through Madison (hey fellas), down I-39 and then across I-74 to Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Once I got out of Wisconsin, the traffic was almost non-existant. Pulled into my sister's driveway at 1:03 AM EDT.
I think you need to take the Avenue of the Saints on your return trip 😉
The very first thing I saw in KY was a sign for the Creation Museum.
On the first day....
One other thing. I made this trip with a seven year old in the car stopping only one time. Once! 820 miles! I still have about 50 miles worth of fuel left. The key here was that my wife slept the last three hours. I wasn't about to stop with her sleeping.
As someone who has experienced a blood clot from too long driving without stopping, I will say there is no shame in taking a couple breaks.
I don't like to stop once I'm on the road for various reasons. When I was little my parents lived 450 miles apart (Pops in a village north of La Crosse, Mom & Pa in Thief River Falls). For years we made that drive every 2-3 weeks. I got an early and lasting introduction to long distance travel, with the bladder endurance to match. (This later helped on long convoys in the desert.)
Mrs. Hayes, because of Crohn's and lack of early training, needs to stop much more often than I do. The non-Crohn's part of this was a source of tension for quite a while. "You can't go even two hours in the car without a pit stop?!," I would think. She's gotten a little better about consuming liquids before we hit the road, but I'd say I've had to learn even more patience. Nothing burns me more than fighting through a knot of lane hogging semis and slow traffic on I-90 only to get a pit stop request a few minutes after we hit open road.
I was surprised, though, that our road trip to & from the Outer Banks went as well as they did. Partially it was because I wasn't driving much - we didn't bring our own car, instead sharing with friends with bigger rigs. I only drove the mountainous stretch on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the way home. So I wasn't in control of the pace, which probably lessened my need to stay moving. But the other thing was that I've gotten older and lost my endurance a bit. My last really long road trip was in 2006, when Mrs. Hayes and I drove from San Diego to Chicago. Most of my long haul trips are only 2-3 hours these days. I can still get in the car and only stop for gas, but it's less natural now and I'm more tired afterward.
When I moved to Texas, I didn't stop except for gas. KC, some small town just over the Oklahoma border, and Waco over a 16 hr. journey.
When we used to go to Indiana for Easter & Thanksgiving, we used to make so much better time at night because of the combo of lessened traffic and sleeping passengers. As we got older, we cut 2+ hours off the travel time. It used to take nearly 13 hours because of the stops for elementary school-sized bladders. Now that we're all adults, it's <11 hours.
I can't drive for more than a couple of hours straight without taking a break to stretch my legs. Fortunately, the Mrs has never met a rest stop she hasn't needed to pee at.
I need to get out and stretch my legs periodically anyway, and blood clots run in our family (although I don't personally carry the particular blood factor), so I go ahead and nurse a large soda and take a break every couple hours or so.
I'm totally with you on the desire to just get the long drive done with, but I drove up to St. Cloud from madison the weekend of those awful storms in 2008 that caused all that flooding (A fact my brother was not even close to sympathetic towards, it was for his wedding). Because of sitting in the Prizm for 6 straight hours after a very stressful leave of Madison, I got that blood clot in my leg that eventually broke off and entered my lungs. I nearly died from that because Lakeview in Stillwater misdiagnosed it as a likely hernia, then the Edgerton hospital misdiagnosed it three f'in times as something with my diaphragm. Because of that, I make it a point, no matter how annoying, to get out every 2-3 hours.
Johan Santana tore his Achilles. boo
No one doubts his career. It's his future that's in doubt.
I would say the two major shoulder surgeries had his baseball futures in doubt.
In soccer, this is an 18-month injury, pretty much the longest injury recovery time there is. So does he really want to try to come back in 2016?
Howard tore his Achilles in October 2011 and came back in July 2012. He doesn't need to run much though.
Bill Watterson returns to the comics page.
That. Is. Awesome.
the Kansas City Royals have hit 26 home runs in 35 games played. The next lowest AL team is Texas at 42/39
That was a damn good women's final at the French Open. Nadal-Djokovic tomorrow morning too.
Anybody have recommendations (or dis-recommendations) to share on new washing machines? We are looking to replace our ~26-year-old Kenmore (I lied; only ~20 years old, as we didn't get it until after grad school) with a top-loader, preferably an HE top-loader. Have heard just too many horror stories about front-loaders to go that way.
Costco has a Whirlpool model that looks decent if not excellent.
Why not a front-loader? The only issue I've seen is possibility of water not completely draining and make it smell. We replaced our old, but not 26-year-old, top-loader with a Whirlpool front-loader.
every person the Mrs has talked to who has one has complained endlessly. Problems with poor performance, bad seals, etc. I'm not going to get any traction in that direction. And the top-loading HE machines are almost as water-efficient.
The issues with smell that plagued front-loaders a few years ago have been largely dealt with. So, bear in mind that although people have completely gotten away from them, the reasons to do so have mostly ceased to exist.
That said, many of the best models out there are top-loaders now, since obviously manufacturers are going to focus on what people currently want. LG and Samsung have become the most popular models out there - certainly among my customers - but you can save money and get a pair from Whirlpool that you're likely to be happy with. One thing worth looking into is the manufacturer's warranty on the motor. LG and Samsung offer 10-year warranties on the motors (everything else is the usual one year, parts and labor).
We're happy with our LG front loader. Watch out that you have a sturdy room when using HE utilities -- they'll take to shakin'. They make composite base pads that can help stabilize, though.
our laundry room recently was tiled (along with our bathrooms) with ceramic tile.
We had our home built with the utility room upstairs with the bedrooms. Very convenient, but not without its complications.
We just got a massive LG top loader HE with a steam cycle. The 10-year warranty is what sold us on it over other brands, and we needed the steam cycle for diapers. So far, its held up quite well and the drum is stupidly huge, which is great for blankets. Of course, its cost a lot more than I had wanted to spend, but that's life.
The only bit of advice I have is analog over digital. We had three auto water level sensor that went bad in two different units, and then switched to an analog machine with no sensors. Much happier.
Joey Votto is the NL version of Joe Mauer
I noted a while back that Votto was getting the same treatment as Joe -- being paid too much not to be driving in runs, regardless how great an OBP machine he is