181 thoughts on “April 22, 2015: Bullies and Jealousy”

    1. The jalapeno has been asking when it will be Earth Day, and I told him this morning that today was the day. He responded, "I have to get my rings!" We dropped him off at preschool wearing two rings--one was a butterfly and the other might have been princess-related. I have no idea what the connection is, but I do enjoy the mysterious workings of his 4-year-old brain.

      1. I do enjoy the mysterious workings of his 4-year-old brain

        This has been one of the best parts of having kids.

      2. Could it be Captain Planet? The planeteers use their rings to summon Captain Planet if I remember right.

        1. Not that I know of, but I can barely keep up with what that kid is into these days. Lots of Spider-Man and Superman lately. I've been working on getting some old Ghostbusters cartoons into the mix, though that may be as much for my enjoyment as his.

          1. I recommend pushing MLP:FIM.

            And Wild Kratts if he's not already watching that one. Aquinas has picked up an absurd amount of really cool information from that show, and it has completely kindled his desire to know about the natural world. We have a lot of fun with that.

            1. I've watched a bit of the ponies lately (though I had to look up the acronym).
              I might not have watched a single full episode though.

            2. Agreed on Wild Kratts. My 3yo obsesses over that show and the random stuff she shoots back at us is crazy.

            3. I've now watched a few episodes.
              Pretty good.
              In the first one, Pinkie Pie was a babysitter for some foals. Babies are hard work!
              In the other, a changeling was going to marry Twilight Sparkle's brother while the actual princess he thought he was gonna marry was in a dungeon.

              1. Did someone say Pinkie Pie?

                Actually, thanks for this reminder that I still need to check out Wild Kratts and MLP.

          2. I've tried the "for my enjoyment" route as well. So far, the trinket does like watching the Simpsons, but was bored by the Animaniacs.

            1. I don't want my kids to like The Simpsons yet... I see now how my parents felt about it.

              1. I watched it from day one. So that would have made me...8 I think. Though the first couple seasons were more digestable for younger kids, if I recall. More about Bart's crazy antics and catchphrases. I think I stopped watching once the show got good, because I wasn't old enough yet to appreciate how good it was getting.

              2. At one time, they were the only TV family with regular church attendance.
                But I think most of the jokes would go over the kids' heads. So like Beau said.
                I think they've seen the movie though. I have it on DVD (a Father's Day gift a few years ago).

          3. I don't know where it came from, but Kernel is really into the original version of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. She's alternately (sometimes concurrently) Elsa from Frozen or "Firegirl" [Firestar] from the Spider-Man series - shooting ice or fire or both at the monsters in her room.
            She also digs Barbie and My Little Pony * cartoons, though they're the 2014-15 versions, not the ones my sister would have watched.

            I haven't tried the Simpsons with her yet, but I have the first season on DVD.

            *[edit] Didn't know what MLP:FIM meant - but what Philo said.

  2. As a staff, Twins pitching have a 4.8 k/9 rate. Arizona is the next lowest at 6.2.

  3. Went to ESPN for some reason. Of the top 9 stories, there's a few basketball, one boxing, and three football stories. Just one hockey story and zero baseball.

      1. My dead-tree sports section today featured a large, above-the-fold picture of football players from last season and a half-page story about the newly revealed schedules. I was sooo excited.

    3. I'm actually grateful that that national sports media sucks at everything now, it saves me a lot of time that I can spend doing constructive things. Like bitching at Dick and Bert as they repeat themselves ad nauseum five or six times a week.

  5. Minor Details will be delayed this morning (Wednesday is always a busy day for me), so here's a day game alert: Chattanooga (with Jose Berrios pitching) is at Montgomery at 11:00 a.m. and Rochester is at Syracuse at noon.

  6. We have temporarily adopted two black labs who will be living in our basement for the next week or two. Are there dog people here? I may need to seek consolation consultation.
    So far they only tore off through the neighborhood once. I suppose the kids have to learn that lesson sooner or later - at least it's out of the way.
    They also let us know that, yes, those sneaky deer are coming by during the wee daylight hours.

      1. I've never been in a dog family. Wife doesn't much care for them. The kids are thrilled. The cat is terrified.

        1. I was not in a dog family growing up but my wife was. The dogs we currently have are the first I've ever owned. We got them when each was just under a year old (beagle & golden retriever) - that was about 9 years ago. We've been through the "Fun, new pet/puppy-adolescent dog" stage through to the "Insanely large and unexpected vet bills, incontinence and fearing their impending demise" stage.

          I've learned a lot in the interim and would be happy to share & respond to any questions you may have.

          First point of order, assuming they're old enough, have your kids walk them, feed them, get them water, pick up poo and otherwise be fully invested in the daily responsibility (i.e., work) of owning a dog. I quickly becomes a chore. My kids are too young to do any of it alone, though Kernel helps me feed & water them in the afternoon, but my nephews (11 & 13) got dogs for the first time 3-4 years ago and are no longer as excited about the development as they once were.

          This is not to say that you shouldn't enjoy what a dog brings to the table, but being aware of the costs, time and effort they require catches a lot of people off guard, and kids generally don't see any of that.

          1. Neighbors' dog of many years was just put down a couple days ago; we knew it was imminent, with the arthritis, tumors, and other issues, but it was only this weekend I gave him a "Good boy!" for telling a large dog in the street a few houses down what for.

      1. We're pushing all social development and awkwardness out until college, where alcohol is widely available both as agent and as salve.
        httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUVwR0rw5fk

        1. I have fondness for this phrase, as someone modified it at my wedding to make a toast: "To [Wife's Name], the cause of, and solution to, all of Chris's problems." So true.
          There was a lot of Simpson's watching among that crowd.

          1. I stopped watching sometime around when we had HPR (the second kid). 7pm on Sundays was just the wrong time for something I wasn't ready to expose the eldest to at 3yo, and I couldn't keep up with videotaping episodes.

          2. There was a lot of Simpsons watching among that crowd. Indeed, that was how I came to be part of that crowd... invited down to watch The Simpsons every day, followed by dinner at the Reef.

            1. dinner at the Reef
              I know Spooky didn't go to the same school*, but even if he did, he wouldn't have hung out with y'all.

              *intended pun

    2. We're starting homeschooling next year with GRZ. Looking into it, there are certainly advantages and disadvantages, like anything else. Do you use a set curriculum?

      1. Do you use a set curriculum?
        Yes. Can't imagine the difficulty of developing one's own unless one has been a professional educator.

        What year will GRZ be?

        1. Unless the parent/teacher were entirely proficient in all facets of academia, I cannot imagine going without a curriculum.

          If you do go the homeschool route, make sure to get the kids involved in a number of social groups (baseball was good for me, alongside various other things, we also had a homeschool group of about 30 kids that got together infrequently). I saw lots of lots of homeschooled peers that had zero idea of how to function socially, because they never had any interaction with non-friends their own age growing up.

          1. So you're a homeschooling success story? Did I know that?
            Church groups, Homeschool Groups, Scouts, neighborhood kids, one-off parks & rec type things.

              1. Did I know that?
                Even if, I'd say yes because
                1. Nearly. Sounds like the structure's still standing.
                2. Better his own house than a school with all those students in it.

                1. Did I know that?
                  I doubt it; I've been waiting months for the right moment to deploy that bit of intelligence.

                  1. I've been waiting months for the right moment to deploy that bit of intelligence.

                    Now this is good spycraft.

            2. I don't know if I've brought it up here before. The stigma associated (think the beginning of Mean Girls), means that the conversation usually ends up being sort of defensive in tone, as in "yeah, I was homeschooled from 3rd grade to graduation, but I promise I'm not too weird!"

              Yeah, any sort of organized groups are good - vitally important, really. The most important thing is for them to get in different social situations besides just the ones they'd see with close friends.

              1. The older two already are in dance, though we're thinking of moving OGZ to gymnastics next year. We're going to be joining the YMCA pretty soon for unstructured play and good rec facilities. There are several homeschooling groups we're looking at, from weekly to infrequent meetings, to go along with memberships to the MN Children's Museum and the MN Zoo.

        2. She'll be entering kindergarten. My wife will be doing Pre-K with OGZ (3 yeas old now) as well, and sometime around November a little z will be showing up to complicate things.

          1. Nice!
            I've lost count, but I'm pretty sure that we could fill a full 25-man roster by now, from crafty veterans (families Rhu, bS, Twayn) on down to an upwelling of minor league prospects (off the top of my head: families cheaps, UW's, Pepper, Pirate, Corn, nibs and now z)!

            1. GRZ is a righty, but naturally bats lefty. OGZ is a lefty but had no problems catching and throwing with a righty glove. I may certainly look at softball for their futures. RMZ is still undetermined. She mostly just runs after the balls.

    4. AMR, we're refreshing the what to do with you-know-who debate. Homeschool is on the list, but my stance on it is that wife won't be able to stand going toe-to-toe with him all day long.

      1. That's a valid concern. I butted heads with my mom a LOT with it. She was very patient, I don't know if I could've done the same in her situation.

      2. I see. The group my wife belongs to is based out of the Catholic Church in Coon Rapids.
        Not much at our church, but we might be hitting critical mass soon.

        1. I could tell you lots and lots and lots of things about the Catholic Church in Coon Rapids. Short version: do what you can to create critical mass at your own parish.

          Edited to add: I wouldn't have said that before the current pastor.

          1. I don't know him.
            All I know is that they're definitely on the traditionalist side when it comes to liturgy, and it's nice to have that as an option on holy days and feast days.
            Send me emails.

            1. I tend to be more conservative, and often agree with what the pastor has to say. Unfortunately, I think that the manner he preaches tends to reinforce far too much and gets to be a bit of an echo chamber.

              1. 'Only read if you really care about what I think of the pastor at Epiphany and won't be offended at a critique of him' SelectShow
                1. 'Spoiler' SelectShow
                  1. 'Spoiler' SelectShow
                    1. 'Spoiler' SelectShow
                    2. 'Spoiler' SelectShow

                      As for Fr. Reiser... I suppose the guy had his faults, but I couldn't tell you what they were. I'm probably idealizing my own past, but he strikes me as the ideal all priests should aim for.

                    4. I'm quite fond of the guy we have in Osseo (technically still Brooklyn Park, but there's another church, our former, that's fully in BP).
                      I liked our previous guy (now in Anoka IIRC), but I like our new guy more.
                      I like the associate, too, but he's more "new priest".

                    5. 'Spoiler' SelectShow

                    6. AMR - Yes, your old priest is in Anoka. Several of my siblings switched to that church from the one in CR, so he's now their pastor.

                    7. Phil - EAR had some complaints about his preferred liturgical style, that I would have never noticed without her pointing them out.
                      Nothing worth leaving a church over, though. (We moved to his church from another, for many reasons.)
                      Would your siblings have similar things to say about him?

        2. We've looked at St. Paul's in Ham Lake, as they have a really vibrant weekly homeschool program, but it's a bit of a trek.

          1. We attended mass there once when considering parishes and potential places to move (before we bought the house a half-mile from the old one).
            I remember a) being disappointed that the lake wasn't visible from the highway, b) thinking I could climb the bricks that make up the walls behind the altar, and c) acting disappointed that it wasn't soup.

            1. You could totally climb those bricks (are you into climbing as a sport?). We were considering moving last year and probably would have ended up in that area if we had. We were there for Easter, and that Church is remarkable in how many ways there are to walk around with an unhappy toddler and still catch the audio of the Mass.

              1. No, but I was into creative trespassing in High School.
                Catching sunrise from the top of the Marktplatz Mall or NUJHS.
                I went away for a week to Boy's State and all my friends got stopped by the cops coming off the NUJHS at night. (Wrong time to go, cops aren't looking for High school aged deviants between 5-6:30 am.)

            1. 20 minutes or so, depending on traffic. We're in NE Minneapolis, so 94 is the most straightforward way to get out that way.

                1. Probably not. I can talk to the wife since she's the one who's doing all the work. This may certainly be worth an offline discussion, as well. My email is in the cribbage thread below. Of course, we could also meet and talk at a kiddie caucus.

    5. My daughter could not possibly be home schooled. Not possible. She desperately needs to get out of the house and go listen to someone else.

        1. I suspect I will be in this camp as well. I think my son could handle it, but I'm a believer in public schools (or at least, working to make them good.)

  8. Apartment hunting continues apace for me and the lady. She's got a line on a 1br+ den/sunroom(or bar/library/music room if I have my druthers) that seems to be a good fit for us only three blocks from her current place in St. Paul. She's out of her current place May 31st.

    1. You are going from Austin, TX to St Paul? Won't the drop in cool cause shock to your system? You should at least move to Minneapolis first to ease the transition.

      - said by the suburbanite.

      1. I'm not sure I ever was cool enough for Austin. I did, however, nix the suggestion of the suburbs. I'm not that lame yet 😉

        2. I have been my whole life. I live close enough to Madison the the cool parts are within driving distance.

          (Although it is entirely possible that the parts I find cool are very much not so.)

        3. I'm not sure I ever was cool enough for Austin.

          As a long-time Austinian, I'd say you're ok. 😉

      2. Hey! Them's fightin' words! Minneapolis is where you go; St. Paul is where you live.

            1. I'm very close to NE. I wonder if we've crossed paths (perhaps at a playground?) without knowing it!

              1. It's certainly possible. We're not to far from Lowry and Central and frequent a wide variety of parks in the area. Maybe we'll have to plan a kids of wgom get together.

                2. Now that it's warming up (excepting the last few days), this would be great to do some weekend! NE has lots of excellent parks to choose from.

                    2. Figured, however:
                      "And if your kids are too young to play unsupervised, stay with them! That way there are even more people in the park."

                  2. Oooh, that date and location would work for us. Naturally, the fact that it's a semi-hidden location appeals to me.

      1. Give them a break. If you're doing Muppet puns, you've gotta just kermit and go for it.

    1. I've been meaning to ask, since I was not involved originally... do you guys use an app? on online interface? I may be interested in the future, but I have to learn the game (and I recently got a smartphone recently, so yay apps)

        1. I keep talking about scheduling a match and then not actually settling on anything.

            1. How late? The kids should be in bed by 8:00 and I usually hit the sack around 10:00. Maybe email me at robzk (at) googles mail with what works.

                1. For us he's in the bedroom by 8. He's great at stalling in getting dressed and choosing a story so it's more like 8:20 until he's in bed. We wake him up at 8 and from his nap around 2:50. Dinner is at 6. I'm a later dinner person but the wife and child are early meal people so 6 it is.

                  1. We eat pretty early, which helps. I get home by 4:30 and we eat shortly after. The kids have a routine of bathroom, brushing teeth, changing into pj's, prayer, then stories. If something slips, the stories are the first to go, which also helps the girls stay on task. They are also natural early sleepers. With the second one, if we didn't have her in bed by 7, we were in trouble. Of course, the other side is that they are all awake by 7...

                2. If I don't get the peperoncino into his crib at the right time (generally 4.75 hours from the time he woke from his nap), I pay for it in the form of middle-of-the-night screaming. That's a pretty good incentive--especially since I'm the one who has to deal with him when he wakes. (Also, having lived elsewhere, I feel like MN workplaces are more accommodating of parents of young children people leaving the office early. I suspect commutes are shorter here as well.)

                  I wish the jalapeño had an earlier bedtime; he doesn't nap anymore, and I aim to get him in bed at 8:30. Then comes the recitation of the WGOM birthday list (and discussion of the cake photo; today's cake is what he terms a "foot cake") and I sit on his floor while doing work or random stuff on my laptop while he falls asleep. Lately he's been falling asleep around 9; tonight was a bit later that that.

  12. That Houston-Dallas game last night was amaze-balls. Simply spectacular.

    Part of the storyline, for sure, was Rondo's "effort". He's fallen so far from grace, he might be sliding into veteran's minimum territory (not quite, but who's gonna pay this dude?). Anyway, Dallas benched him for almost the entire second half, choosing to with J.J. Barea. He was the J.J. that every T-Wolves fan knows. Today, reading about the game, I came across the perfect description of his game:

    Instead, Dallas welcomed 33 minutes, 5-of-14 shooting, and four turnovers from backup J.J. Barea, better known as that short dude at the playground whom you equally hate playing with or against.

    Yep.

    1. did you watch the halftime and post-game shows? Sir Charles, Kenny, et al. were going to town on the Rondo theme.

      What the hell is wrong with that dude? Does he have a mental health issue, or is he just a dick?

      Contrast with Josh Smith. I don't recall him not giving effort in Detroit (maybe?), just that he played too much hero ball and took too many bad shots. Last night, we got the Good Josh Smith, albeit against really turrble defense by Dallas.

      Also, Raymond Felton stinks.

      1. I didn't see the postgame or halftime shows. Butch was controlling the remote.

        That game was like sensory overload. Just exhausting to watch.

  13. The Thunder fired Scott Brooks today. The Wolves beat guys I follow on Twitter have already posted updates about how they don't see Brooks being the guy that gets "Flip to step away from coaching." I don't think Brooks is any great shakes, but honestly, who is going to come along that meets the hyperspecific criteria created by Flip the POBO and Taylor's need for comfort in the hire that will get Flip to "step away." It's in his best interest to torpedo any candidates to keep his power.

    In his season ending presser he thought he was the best choice to continue to develop the kids. He's done a great job of that so far!

    1. I don't think Brooks is particularly good, either, but Flip is both a bad coach and a bad coach+GM. So, really, just hiring someone to keep the jobs separate is a huge improvement over the crap they have. I honestly don't know why (well, I know why, figure of speech and all that) they haven't just hired Mike Malone already.

      I'm rooting for Washington to beat Toronto in the first round so that the Wolves don't hire Wittman.

      2. seriously? What was wrong with Brooks as a coach?

        I don't get it. He gets fired because one of the top 5 players in the league missed most of the season, the GM traded away their defensive-stopper SF, Dion Waiters stinks, Kendrick Perkins got old, and Reggie Jackson decided that he needed more shots?

        1. I admit my opinion on Brooks if based on very, very little observed data. But, he did still have those two top 5 players for a chunk of this season and was still not able to get past the New Orleans Anthony Davis's. Mostly, though, there seems to be a perfectly reasonable choice right there who's even spent some time with the club and has a defensive reputation, which the Wolves are.... um.... lacking.

          1. this is the same Scott Brooks who went to the conference finals last year, amiright?

            Durant played in only 27 games, Westbrook in only 67. They were on the floor together for a total of 713 minutes and 44 seconds. During that time, OKC outscored its opponents by 10.6 pts per 100 possessions.

        2. I'm agnostic on Brooks, but there are quite a few talking heads who think he's a terrible coach.

          1. I'll readily admit I'm no close observer of OKC, but talking heads get paid to be talking heads. Brooks is a much better coach when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are both healthy.

          2. My buddy had a pretty good point this afternoon. He's not great with the Xs & Os, but he seems good at developing young talent. I don't think the Xs & Os are going to matter (as much) for 3-4 years while this team gels.

            And I don't think his offense could possibly be worse than Flip's.

  14. Chattanooga loses to Mississippi 4-3. Berrios pitched four shutout innings, then surrendered all four runs in the fifth.

    1. He also only struck out only 3 of the 24 batters he faced, so I would say he didn't have his usual stuff today. Didn't walk anybody though and had a 9-1 GO-FO ratio. Two of his strikeouts came in the fifth inning. Baseball is a crazy game.

  15. Trivia time: who are the two players in NBA history to win the league MVP and not play a single game the next season?

    'Spoiler' SelectShow

  16. I get down on major league broadcasters sometimes, but I'm listening to the Red Wings/Chiefs game and the Syracuse guys are awful. Give me Cory and Danny, or even Dick and Bert, any day.

    1. My wife and I JUST got phones from Republic Wireless (mentioned in the article). It's so nice to be paying only $30 a month for 3 smartphones service. Now, I can't use data on cell networks unless I go to a higher plan, but I would rarely have occasion to do that anyway, so it really works for our family.

      The only thing I'd like to see with this advancement is the ability to use the iphone and/or Samsung phones with this model. Not that my Moto G is bad (it really is nice for the price), but it'd be nice to have access to the more popular phone brands.

      1. We've been on Virgin for almost two years now. and it's been great. We pay about $75 for two smartphones, unlimited data and text and 1500 minutes (300 for me, 1200 for my wife). I can use cell networks for data, too, which is really useful for me. It's been fantastic. This is my first smart phone plan, too, so it opened the door for me to get one. I don't even mind not having the phone subsidized in the plan. I got a pretty good (and big) phone for about $200.

        Also, it's pretty easy to set a phone up to transition from network to wireless when in range, so this article definitely needed that disclaimer.

        1. I have the Virgin $35/mo for unlimited data+text and 300 minutes plan. I really like it except for the fact there absolutely no coverage at my parents' house. And this month is the first time in 15 months that I've gone over 300 minutes (long distance apartment hunting). Normally 300 is plenty of talk time for me.

        2. Sounds like EAR and I are paying way too damned much for dumbphones.
          I don't need smart*, but why are we paying more?

          *I seem to have as much success with touchscreens as I do touchless washroom sinks

          1. Good question. We were previously on US Cellular with dumbphones paying $120/month. We felt dumb.

        3. Yea, wow. We pay around $150-$180 per month for three smartphones with Verizon. Not unlimited data, but we never come close because I am on wifi almost all day.

          1. Were the phones subsidized? That I think is how they get and keep you. Plus it's Verizon so you're going to pay even more.

            1. Subsidized phones is how I've operated for a long time. I don't think I've paid anything for a phone, ever. If I remember correctly, though, Verizon had stopped subsidizing dumb phones, and we had to specially petition for it last time. Something like that.

              1. I used subsidies for my first two smartphones. We were on Verizon with unlimited data, and when they stopped subsidizing those plans, I just bought my own device (Moto X ftw!) Paying $300 dollars for it certainly made up for the lack of a subsidy.

              2. I bought my phone, a basic LG F3, outright* for $150 when I switched.

                *I say "outright", but it turns out it is locked to the Virgin network. And also you can't put a Virgin SIM in an unlocked phone bought elsewhere.

                1. I went with the Virgin Supreme, which has been surprisingly good and reliable, for $200.

                  I want to get my wife the LG Tribute, but she just will not let go of her iPhone 4.

            2. my current phone cost me $200 (because I never sent in the $50 rebate thingy). The free(er) market price for a Samsung Galaxy S3 at the time was substantially more, I think.

          2. We moved to T-Mobile when they had the unlimited everything (with no data throttling) family plan deal, 2+ lines for $50/line, so we pay about $115 per month. To make it even better, T-Mobile recently rolled out Verizon's old 700 MHz spectrum, so I am literally getting the same signal I got with Verizon before.

          1. On a Monday? Hmmm... probably not.
            If it were Wheaton, I'd be there.

            (I now see that the Tweet has "Sun" included.)

  21. Exciting day for one of the professors at the SBG College of Law. I was in class with him during the district court trial, so I got to hear some good war stories and he pretty much told us this was going to be appealed on this exact ground from day one. (Not that it's terribly surprising. Craig Calcaterra, for example, has been all over it as well because the original trial made no sense.)

  23. Bases loaded for SFG in the bottom if the 9th, one out. Mattingly brings PUIG in to play third base. Not as a substitute, as a fifth infielder. Sac fly ends it anyway, so it was moot but it was very interesting to see.

    Also, can you imagine Puig's cannon over at third just throwing suckers out left and right? This is something I didn't even know I wanted until right now.

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