Cup of Coffee

July 3, 2017: Awkward

45 Comments

Living in the suburbs means they all compete with each other. However, since this is basically an extended weekend, by traveling 5-10 miles we can skip between them (sorry, my suburb) and see 3-4 full blown fireworks displays this weekend if we want to.

(At the same time, are fireworks displays losing their power? The boy is still kind of interested, but not thaaaat much...)

45 thoughts on “July 3, 2017: Awkward”

    1. *does not raise hand*

      Luckily, it seems like a lot of other people DID, so I should be able to get quite a bit done today.

      3. I'm not accomplishing anything more even with the other managers mostly gone- instead I seem to be babysitting their departments...

      1. My institution looked at the number of PTO requests for Monday and decided that it wasn't worth the effort to open the building. Four day weekend for everybody except the poor bastards that work a tuesday through saturday schedule of which there is a not insignificant number. There was a lot of grumbling at the company bar-b-que on Friday.

    3. I'm in the office today, but I'll be out the rest of the week. Its dead silent here, so there's a high probability I'll be leaving early as well.

    4. I could have taken it off, but the work would've just waited here until I got back, so there wouldn't be much gained by it. I will be taking Wednesday off to go to a family thing of Mrs. A's, but I don't really consider that a "day off".

      1. I could have taken it off, but the work would've just waited here until I got back

        This. Being self-employed is a very different world from what I ever did before. I've got some things happening Wednesday morning, so I came in for a short spell this morning to make sure everything is set up, but then I'm giving myself the rest of the day.

        1. I also am self-employed, so taking days off just means one less day of income. I like it because it allows me to work whenever I want (as long as work is available), but I have to plan ahead for vacation days and holidays to cover the lost income, which is why when I had the chance to work on a long project this weekend, I took it, knowing that there was probably very little work available before Thursday this week. At least my wife and kids are on vacation.

      2. In my job I have never been caught up so that's always the case. Sometimes I work 10-12 hour days so I can use part of my 6 weeks of PTO. Full days off do help turn my brain off at least.

    5. I'm at work because we were just going to go to SiL's house in Bloomington tomorrow because they have a swimming pool and baby daughter.
      But then the forecast was cooler, so they decided to head to their cabin near Rush Lake, but I'd already committed to being in the office.
      So I drove my family up there yesterday, back last night (with a short break near East Bethel around sunset to see some Red-headed Woodpeckers).
      I'll leave a bit early so I can get back up there by 6 tonight for the family "Ribfest" competition. EAR has a new recipe using a pressure cooker that turned out great on Saturday night.
      Fireworks tonight, home tomorrow.

      I was not very efficient this morning.
      We'll see how this afternoon goes.

    7. Best part of the academic lifestyle: I'm far enough into summer break that I have started to forget what day of the week it is. Though, I will be going in to the office today anyway, to drop off some forms while the offices are open.

  2. Ah geez, today I am exactly as old as Kirby Puckett was the day of his last game.

  3. Fun fact, the entire Minnesota Lynx starting lineup is in the top 25 in WNBA history in terms of Win Shares. If Seimone Augustus has a particularly good season, they could all be top 20 by season's end.

    1. Thinking about this some more, probably more than it deserves. You would certainly want the pitcher to know what the defense was doing. I wonder if nobody told him. Or, maybe the Twins' system is that the pitcher is supposed to check the defense for each batter. Or, maybe he was told and he wasn't paying attention or forgot.

      I also wonder what the role of the catcher is in all this. He should know there's no one in right field. Did he call for the pitch anyway? If not, if it was Santiago's idea, shouldn't the catcher go out and talk to him and say, "Hey, there's no one in right field, this doesn't seem like such a good plan"?

      And as far as the velocity, shouldn't either Molitor or Neil Allen ask Santiago about that during the game? It would seem like the most natural thing in the world, especially when the pitcher's coming off an injury. "Hey, your velocity's down, do you feel okay?"

      I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill here, but it just seems like these are things that shouldn't happen, and I wonder why they did.

      2. It seems to me pitchers typically take a look around at each new batter. I just can't put him not knowing where the fielders are on Molitor. It only takes a second to turn around and look.

        The velocity thing, though, sounds a bit like a communication problem, though I could just as easily see them asking and just being told "yeah, I'm ok" without any more info. (especially from a guy who apparently can't be bothered to check his fielders)

        Mostly, I think we're just talking about a bad pitcher.

    2. Shifting defense creates an interesting dilemma because if you move the defense to where the batter likes to hit it more often then you leave an obvious hole for him to shoot for. The pitcher can compensate by making pitches that would make it more difficult for the batter to hit against the shift, however, the batter would probably expect the pitcher to do that and would make the adjustments at the plate. So if a pitcher is trying to get the batter to hit the ball where he normally likes to hit it, wouldn't that be pitching to the batter's strengths? Santiago got weak contact because he threw something Hosmer didn't expect. Of course, the defense wasn't expecting it either, so the ball fell in. But if you give him a pitch he would expect, wouldn't the batter be more likely to hit the ball and especially hit the ball hard and more likely to hit a home run, in which no amount of shifting defense helps?

      I think it's interesting that over the last 10 to 15 years, the BABIP has changed very little, however, the batting average on line drives in play has dropped. It used to be around .700 but now is closer to .600. So basically, it would seem that shifting defenses help you get outs on well-hit balls, but soft hits are more likely to fall in, which would probably explain why pitchers don't like shifting defenses.

  5. The Padre's link led me to this story of the longest hockey game on record. (Of course it happened in Buffalo, NY)

  7. twayn and I lost a good friend over night. A great person, who I have not seen in years due to kids/work/etc. Makes me realize that sometimes I need to do a better job of squeezing in visits to friends and family that have slid off my radar. This friend taught me a ton during college about generosity, overcoming adversity, and how to enjoy life no matter how tough of a hand we are dealt. He used to open his cabin on a northern Wisconsin lake to any and all during the 4th weekend for decades. Tough holiday week for many of us.

    5. Don't have much to say but me, too. It's so easy to get wrapped up in our own stuff and put off those visits to friends and family, believing that we'll do it "later". I'm guilty of that all the time. Don't beat yourself up for it, but as you said, use it as a reminder for the future.

    6. To share just a bit more: This friend was in an accident in the military that left him no use of his legs, and limited of his upper torso. I met him a few years later at college. He didn't let that slow him down. In fact, I found out today he had started to scuba dive! Amazing guy. A person who's words, deeds and attitude has lifted many of us in times of need. Thanks for the wishes and kind words.

      1. Ditto to all that, zooomie. In addition to scuba diving, he had also taken up antelope hunting and bee keeping in recent years. My life is better for having had him as a friend. He'll be sorely missed. I can't tell you how many times over the past several years I resolved to make it to his cabin for the 4th and then never did, and how hard I'm kicking my ass because of it today.

        1. Yup. Touched base with a few of the crew today. We will have to all get together and share some stories, and maybe see if we are too old for van surfing now.

  10. I'm headed to a BBQ where I was asked to bring a dip. Now, I love to cook, but dips (outside guac or hummus of course) aren't really my jam. I recalled a recipe for elote dip that sounded interesting, and the early signs point to winner winner chicken dinner.

    1. The wife makes a great spinach and artichoke dip, and a dill dip for veggies that I could eat all day.

      1. So was reading about taking the membrane off the baby back ribs, but when I went to it tonight, there really wasn't much to take off, really more of a hassle. Liberal application of Bo's Hooch Rub and super-hot coals led to a frabulous rib-nacht.

        1. My take on the membrane for ribs. If it is a thicker membrane and easy to pull off, I do so. If it a pain to do so, due to being thin and breaking up, I just take my knife and score the membrane a bunch of times in both directions and it cooks off for the most part.

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