Cup of Coffee

July 28, 2016: Off the Grid

89 Comments

I've been a tad elusive of late. I feel pretty disconnected from everything at the moment. What's the story? Twins winning any games? I have a six-day vacation in a couple of days and can't figure out how that relates to the rest of this paragraph, but I started typing it, and I can't turn back now.

89 thoughts on “July 28, 2016: Off the Grid”

  1. Stopped to get gas on the way to work. After filling up the tank, the vehicle won't start (just keeps turning over). Now I'm waiting for a tow*. Not the way I wanted to start the day.

    *not from Mark's Towing in Eagan, of course

    1. Let's run a citizens' analysis on this one and see who can come up with the answer before DP reports his findings.
      I'm going to go with...Ignition Control Module. I've had a couple of those.

      2. Definitely will need more info from the DPWY. Like, did it try to turn over and it wouldn't? Or was there just dead silence?

        Preliminary guess - starter motor.

        1. Seems to say it was turning over (though what that means, exactly, may be up to debate).

      3. Now that Zee German has enlightened me, my new guess is something with the fuel delivery system. Maybe the pump decided to crap out or the filter's clogged? Something's preventing fuel from getting to the engine properly.

          1. We could be cynical and guess how many things his mechanic fixes before getting the right one.
            Fuel pump!
            Spark plugs!
            Very small rocks!

      2. Gas was the first thing I was asked about. Apparently there has been a big problem lately with SuperAmerica watering down their gas. (I didn't get gas at SA.)

    4. Dead battery. Twin Cities Towing took a look, identified the problem, gave me a jump so I could drive myself in to get it fixed (and not charge me for a tow).

        1. Totally understandable...and how was it turning over if the battery was dead? And why would it start fine, make it to the gas station, and then have no juice? Does DP need to keep an eye on his alternator?
          This reminds me that my shop told me my battery was weak and offered to replace at my February oil change, then said it was fine at the most recent change. On that account, we'll probably get to play this game again soon...

          1. Once I got it to the shop and turned it off, it needed to be jumped two more things there before I left.

            It would turn over and the radio would come on, but never die all the way up.

              1. That does seem like a strong possibility given our current information. Guess we'll find out tomorrow!

          2. I once took my car to Fleet Farm in Winona for a new battery. They told me my alternator was dead and the guy referred me to a local shop. I decided to take it to my guy back in Coon Rapids after I got a jump. Alternator was fine. My guy thinks the Fleet Farm guy was hoping for a kick back referring me for a phony problem.

    2. Also, I just read The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisen and it might be my favorite sci-fi/fantasy of the year. I bought another of her books just yesterday (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms).

  3. I don't normally post stuff like this here, and I don't intend to make a habit of it, but I need to put it somewhere and there's really nowhere else I can:

    'forbidden zoney' SelectShow

    1. Big pet peeve of mine. I actually introduced "home church" to the kids a couple Novembers ago. We'd watch a YouTube clip and discuss it. Some were pretty good. Some weren't.

      We went back to Church after the elections were over.

    2. 'As in, who would Jesus vote for?' SelectShow
      2. 'What Algo said' SelectShow

        1. Our denomination is known for providing well-reasoned guidelines and letting people wage their own internal debates and make their own decisions. I personally haven't heard this done with any political overtones. Maybe I'm just lucky.

          1. 'You're just lucky' SelectShow

            1. Don't they risk the loss of non-profit status/benefits or something for directly engaging in political advocacy?

              The large, foreign-based, hierarchical, and authority-centralized denomination to which I subscribe has generally seemed to have the good sense not to be direct in their political favoritism. I appreciate this. I may be lucky to attend where I do, where no doubt a mix of political leanings congregate. Picking a side would be problematic.
              Others may have examples that refute my broader assessment.

              1. Yeah... I've had it from both sides multiple times at different churches of the denomination (does that word really work for Catholics?), so I would equivocate by saying the centralized Church is good about not being direct, but individual parishes are hit and miss.

                  1. Real thoughts SelectShow
              3. 'excuse' SelectShow

            3. I agree with you that a pastor or spiritual leader shouldn't tell people how to vote, but I do think it is important to encourage people to vote.

    3. Actual Spoiler SelectShow

    1. Garza pitched this year and is signed through 2017. Breslow pitched this year but was released a few weeks ago. Neshek is doing well in Houston. He has Gomez for company there too.

      Julio DePaula is still active, albeit in Mexico. Joe Beimel pitched in MLB last year and is at AAA.

      1. Did I ever tell anyone about the time I got a hit off of Major League All-Star Pat Neshek?

      2. Garza and Gomez are the 2 big ones as far as former Twins that fans could complain about getting away. Gomez wouldn't be much to complain about if the Twins had just held on to Hardy or at least traded him for anything close to equal value. And Garza and Gomez have not been good the last couple seasons. Neshek I will always miss. Reminds me a lot of Perkins. He had decent ERAs but bad peripherals after leaving the Twins and then found the Fountain of Youth they have in the St. Louis clubhouse.

        1. Wasn't St. Louis supposed to be a bottom dweller this year? Is this what happens when you have a well-run organization? What's that like?

        2. Span, Revere, Liriano, Swarzak, Parmelee, Colabello, Valencia, Nathan, Butera, Manship, and I'm sure lots more. If they have to be players fans are upset about not having, Hardy probably counts, and Wilson Ramos.

    2. I would definitely have gone to Dairy Queen yesterday if there was one closer than a hundred miles away.

  7. On the theory that prayers are good in general, I'd like to ask for prayers for my uncle and his family. He died today after battling cancer for the past few months.

      1. Yes! Adalberto Mejia, a 23 yo lefty starter averaging more than a K an inning in AAA this season, 7.7 career w/ 2.2 BB/9. Never more than 108 IP, so might have durability concerns. I think Giants are a good team to try to get a big left-handed minor league Hispanic starter. We have a pretty good history there.

        1. I agree, nice trade. The last couple years have been so bad that you'd expect the Twins to extend Nunez rather than cash in, this move makes a lot of sense for the next good Twins team (whenever that might be).

      2. There was talk of Twins trading Escobar because Nunez doing so well, which would be so TR like, keeping the guy that had, had 2 good months (and was not good the last 6 weeks) and trading away the player that was having a poor season after being real good the previous 2 seasons (103 OPS+ and average to good defense at SS). I really like Antony's first deal. Hopefully, not his only one.

    2. egad, don't read the comments. Lots of people thinking Twins should be able to get perennial MLB ready all-stars in exchange for Nunez.

      1. A lefty with success in AAA is a huge get. That's not a lot of waiting time, hopefully.

        1. The Twins need to flip Meija for Chapman. I want to see Trueblood's head explode on Twitter.

      2. Actually, started with Travis Bowyer and Scott Tyler, 2 Twins draftees, traded for Luis Castillo, who was traded for Butera and Dustin Martin. Castillo trade is probably the best comp for Nunez, who is younger but with a much shorter track record of success. I think Nunez deal much better.

    5. I think it's a good enough trade. I don't think Mejia is a superstar, but then we traded Nunez for him. If Mejia simply becomes a competent major league pitcher, that's about as good as you can hope for in a trade like this.

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