Cup of Coffee

September 21, 2015: Bullet Dodged

82 Comments

For the second year in a row, I avoid having to do product inventory by being the lead on the sales floor. If I can't be done with retail yet, hey, at least I can be done with PI.

82 thoughts on “September 21, 2015: Bullet Dodged”

    1. I know concussions are ubiquitous in football, but it sure seems like Peyton Manning's receivers were especially hit hard. He practically murdered Austin Collie with his passes across the middle.

    2. wow. Thanks for that link, free. Shared on the Bookface.

      I know that I'm a semi-apologist and enabler, because I still enjoy watching the NFL (in limited doses). But people really, really need to understand the extent of the risk. And they need to understand that concussions are indeed traumatic brain injuries that can have lasting effects (looking at you, all you Mauer-hating ijiots).

      1. It probably should be noted that Mauer was a big-time QB in high school, so who knows how many concussions he had before he became a pro. Morneau and Corey Koskie both played hockey as well.

        1. I think it's the other way. There's a lot of focus on concussions but research has shown subconcussive hits are damaging too. Being a QB might have gotten him fewer of those types of hits but I would think foul balls off the face mask have to count for something. His concussion in 2013 could have been his first ever but I doubt it's the first damaging blow to the head.

          1. I wonder if the consistent hitting that seems to lead to CTE also causes you to be more susceptible to concussions and to worse effects from concussions in the way that having multiple concussions will do.

          2. Isn't it safe to assume that Mauer played on defense for a number of years, though? As a QB, he'd be better off than as a tight end, and I'm sure he wouldn't have been a lineman on defense, but could have gotten plenty of sub-concussive hits nonetheless.

  3. I went to a rugby practice/scrimmage thing on Saturday and absolutely loved it. Then FW and I met up with that same team Sunday morning at Brit's and watched the USA-Samoa match. Rugby is sucking me back in. I hope I don't test FW's patience too much.

  5. Invisibles Quiz time! I managed to get 4 of 8 this week. I feel like I should know number 2 and 8 as well, but just can't seem to put my finger on them.

    '1, 3, 4, 5' SelectShow

      1. Nice. I never would have gotten that one. It seemed familiar, but I've never seen it, and don't think I would have ever gotten it seeing her just without an appendage like that.

  6. On our first car purchase, we certainly made the salesman's day. We got more car than we needed and paid waaaaay too much to boot. While I certainly can't fault the dealer for fleecing a couple of rubes like us, I wasn't happy about it.

    We just bought a new car this weekend, and let me tell you, the advantage is now fully in the buyer's court. After figuring out what we wanted, I pitted 7 different dealerships against each other via email. Got the car for over $3,000 under the MSRP. Even lower than the lowest Truecar price. Boo-yah!

      1. Most assuredly. Pretty much each dealership has an internet sales department these days, and the people in those departments are used to jackwagons like me by now. First I got quotes from everyone via their websites (which also will get you your contact at each location). Then, I included each dealership in the BCC field (not sure if that was necessary, but whatever), and sent an email informing them of exactly what I wanted, the fact that once I receive a lower offer I was going to share it with everyone to give each of them a chance to beat it, and what the current lowest offer was.

        Some caution should be exercised as not everyone will give you an honest offer. Some will try to stick in extra fees (for example, always make sure the destination fee is included in the offer), but I noticed a couple were completely transparent in their offer, even including what all the valid extra fees (title, tax, etc.) would be.

          1. Exactly. I was 100% prepared to do that throughout the entire process. Thankfully the dealer I ended up going with made things real simple. Pretty much everything was wrapped up before I ever set foot in the dealership. If, for example, I had showed up and all of the sudden there were a bunch of extras included: bye bye!

          2. We actually did that on our new-car purchase a few years back. Salesman called me the next day and agreed to sell at the price I'd been set on. Basically, he agreed to pay more for the trade-in as he "wasn't allowed" to go any lower on the new vehicle.

            1. Or you could have your wife blurt out our maximum price in mid-negotiation!

              Yea, i've never had that happen to me.....

          3. My parents walked away from a house they built because the builder didn't finish on time. I have no idea how they did that. I've never asked for the details.

              1. Yeah, I'm sure Dad had plenty of provisions and whatnots to work with. But I couldn't tell you more than that.

            2. We walked away from a refinance once; it wasn't properly communicated to us that when refinancing an FHA loan that (somehow) there is another month of interest in the mix. The refinancer called the next day and agreed to eat the amount. Didn't want to be a d!ck about it, but money was a lot tighter back then and we wouldn't have done it otherwise -- eating the $100 fee was cheaper than the refinance.

            1. We just got a second car a few weeks back and went with a Rav4. The hybrids were a bit pricy for us, but man the CR-V/Rav Gas mileage for a Suv is great. At least IMO.

              1. Our short list in 2010 was winnowed down to the Rav4 & CR-V (when we walked out and the salesman called the next day to make a deal.) We went with the Rav4 and have been very happy with the purchase,* but around the same time, my cousin and a neighbor both went with the Honda and have also been happy.

                Last summer ('14) we traded in a 2-door Civic and bought a brand-new Outback. My wife got the new car and I got the Rav4 - it doesn't get mileage anywhere near the Civic, but I'm working in St. Paul now and it's not a huge deal. The Outback gets better mileage (like 28+ mpg vs. 23ish mpg) and my wife really likes it.

                *I lost my little Tacoma in the deal - got her '02 Civic. The new Outback went to my wife, and I got the '10 Rav4. Next new vehicle is mine...I hope

              2. A hybrid would be great for me since I have a 35 mile commute each way, but there's now way in hell I could drive one and not be bored out of my mind since none have manuals. The only one that does is the Honda CR-Z, and at 37 mpg would still be less than I get out of my 2002 Golf TDI.

                    1. I read hip wrong the first time. We both miss our manuals. I mean shouldn't everyone start on one still?

                    3. Yes, everyone should start with manual. But our generation may be about the last to teach stick to our kids. Robot cars are coming fast.

                  3. The last time I said anything about me getting a more recently manufactured car, she said I wasn't to get a two door or a manual. I said ok ok the door issue as long as it's a hatchback, but since I drive so much and need a car that's too small for family trips, we'd never take it anywhere anyway, so I'm getting a stick.

                1. We liked it too, but the same thing kinda surprised us.

                  Its still no TDI or Hybrid but I was happy with 32/MPG on my last trip to Fargo which was barely less than our 2003 Honda Civic gets.

                2. Yeah, it was down to a CR-V or a CX-5.

                  I looked in to crossover hybrids, but the difference in MPG is pretty paltry. For example, if you got a Crosstrek hybrid, you save a whopping 4 MPG. Not really worth the extra thousands.

  7. From Jeff Passan on a possible 4-way tie:

    Put the Twins aside for a moment. The first tiebreaker among the AL West teams is head-to-head record. Right now, the Rangers beat the Astros, the Astros beat the Angels and the Angels beat the Rangers, which means the team with the best combined head-to-head mark among the three gets to choose a letter: A, B or C. Right now, naturally, the Rangers and Angels are tied there, too, so the Angels would get their pick for winning the season series.

    Team A would host Team B, and Team C would host Team D – Minnesota. If the Twins won, they’d get the wild card and the winner of A vs. B the AL West title. If Team C beat the Twins, it would travel to the winner of A vs. B for another game whereby the winner would claim the division and the loser would get the wild card.

    So it’s possible that the …
    1. Texas Rangers could host the Angels in Game 162 on Oct. 4, play the C vs. D game in Arlington against Minnesota on Oct. 5, travel to Anaheim to determine the division title Oct. 6, fly to New York for the AL wild card Oct. 7 and start the division series in another country Oct. 8.

    It would be almost worth it for the Twins to lose the C vs. D game to cause that much chaos because I'm guessing if the Twins win, they would be the second wildcard team since they would have a better record than the A vs. B loser and the A vs. B winner would be the AL West champs. I can't imagine anyone choosing to be C since they would have to win twice to win the division, whereas, Team A could get help from the Twins and would only have to win one game. Either way, the first game is an elimination game with the winner in the playoffs. The second game, if needed, would determine who wins the AL West, so the Twins would only play one game, but they have to play it on the road (I guess they get the disadvantage of being on the road because they aren't tied for first place in their division).

  8. I broke down and bought a brooks saddle for my commuter. I've been in need of a new shape since converting my drop bars to up right French style cruiser bars. I'd been resisting the purchase of a new saddle for a year or more until a smoking hot deal came along from Amazon. My rear has never been happier.

  10. No Twins game tonight, but Chattanooga and Cedar Rapids are each playing a decisive game five starting right about now.

  11. For you bird-loving citizens, we delivered the Northern Flicker to the rehab center on Saturday and left a donation to help with the cost of treatment. She was pretty feisty when I put her into a pet carrier to take her, but the right wing obviously needs some help, not much mobility in it. We got an info address and emailed it so they'll update us on her status, but we won't hear anything for a week or more.

    1. The Vikings have a policy of not commenting on contract negotiations, but a person "with direct knowledge" of the negotiations leaked this. What we don't know is what he was paid previously, if anything, what the Vikings offered him, or if he backed down from that number. Instead, we have the Vikings getting their story out and Krawczynski working as their press secretary along with a misleading tweet saying it was $1.6M for 8 games. (Uh, no, that's $1.6M for 80 games.)

      1. yeah.

        I say good for the guy who is Ragnar. The Vikings aint hurting for cash(they recently bought the old Northwest Airlines land in Eagan and is going to build a new Headquarters and a 10,000 seat practice facility. No, really)

        Ask for the moon.

        1. As an Eaganite, I'm not thrilled, especially if they come around looking to extort our city to help pay for it.

                  2. I grew up in ND, but to say I'm from oil country is one helluva stretch. SBGville is about 400 miles from Williston. You almost can't be any further from oil country from where I grew up and still be in ND.

      3. SBG, one of your former colleagues passed on the opportunity to help Ragnar with his licensing needs awhile back. Otherwise, you may also have access to a person "with direct knowledge."

          1. I'm sure you know that most things coming from said former colleague's mouth are half-baked.

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