Cup of Coffee

August 16, 2019: Back To School

97 Comments

We had Back To School night yesterday where you drop off your supplies and meet your new teachers. I thought some kids from the local high school were volunteering as guides or something. Nope, turns out those are the boy's new teachers.

97 thoughts on “August 16, 2019: Back To School”

    1. There are multiple teams listed for some season totals. CH condensed those down to a single, non-Yankees team.

  2. to celebrate the county fair this weekend, we bought a house. In escrow, now scrambling to get ours on the market and sold ASAP. So much fun....

    The Mrs has been pining for several years to sell our subdivision tract home and move into the central part of town into a "character" home (i.e., money pit). We were looking to downsize and find a single-story home that we could age into gracefully. So, we bought a slightly larger house with a small basement and with the master bedroom suite on the second floor. As one does.

    1. Congrats! I hope everything goes smoothly.

      I really enjoyed Land Park & Curtis Park during my visit there. It had been quite a while since I’d been among so many California-style bungalows. I’d take long walks along the shady boulevards on the way to other destinations, which themselves were very different from most of the California I’d experienced down south. It was on one of those walks I realized how many of those houses still have their original, single-pane windows.

      1. We are across the river and past the airport up I-5. Land Park and Curtis Park are very nice, but not our turf.

        There is a very nice area south of our downtown. We will be a longish walk from our Main Street.

    2. I still have 5 years until kids are all in college but I've pretty much come to the conclusion we'll stay here. Downsizing but to a cooler location would cost more than our house is worth.

      We've gotten new windows, siding, and kitchen counters in the past year. Need to get new carpet and then we're done for a while (hopefully).

      1. Being one guy in a 3 bedroom house, I've been threatening to move for 3 years. May actually do so next year. Having a realtor over next Friday to start thinking on what I need to do to get my 107 year old house ready for the market. It helps that I have equity coming out of my ears (thank you SW Minneapolis!) but I think I may go for the rent option.

          1. Spoiler SelectShow

            1. Also, lucky timing. I made 80% from 1997-2005, when we moved. I've probably lost money since then.

            2. My problem is less that and more that I bought my house in December 2007 and 100% financed it...

                1. It's less bad because we're still in it, so everything is nice and above water, but those first few years were less pleasant with the idea that there was no chance of being able to sell it if we wanted to move.

            3. Spoiler SelectShow

          1. We've kicked around the idea of moving back into the cities, but no way we can afford where we'd want.

  3. Today's starter for Texas, Mike Minor, has been really, really good this year. He's on pace for a career high in innings pitched, and career bests for pitching WAR (he's a clear Cy Young contender), RAA, ERA+ (he leads the league), and Ks. He's holding opponents a full 2 runs below their runs/9 average.

    So, I'm picking MarWIN and Sauce.

  4. An administrator mistook one of my colleagues for a student when she brought her kid to high school orientation. That had to be an awkward conversation.

    Also, I haven't purchased a single school supply yet. It's not a task I enjoy...

    1. That's because you guys don't start until after Labor Day, which makes total sense. Labor Day weekend is like the unofficial official end of summer. We go back on Monday.

      1. I always thought the Wednesday before Labor Day was good. 3- day week followed by 4-day week to ease into it.

        1. That sounds pretty nice to me. On the other hand, my kids are wrapping up their second week of school already. It's not a big deal now, but when they get out the Wednesday before Memorial Day, it's an issue.

          1. Ours start Thursday next week this year. They normally go after labor day but they're starting early this year so they can get out a bit earlier at the end of the year to allow construction in the elementary school to get going. Next summer is going to be looooooooong.

        1. Credit to the Cubs pitcher who stopped and let him run past. A bigger man than Shawn Kelley.

    2. It’s weird to see a team walk-off while wearing powder blues. That said, the Phillies should wear those retros more often. Maroon is underutilized in MLB, and it looks awesome with powder blue.

  6. Kids sure are fun, aren't they? It would be nice if mine could stop fighting for five minutes.

    1. I had just missed my bus and so walked around Cancer Survivors Park and the pit next to it to burn time until the next bus.
      I had nothing to pass you.

  8. Speaking of kids, I noticed Pete was wearing one of those random plastic bracelets this morning, but something about it caught my eye. I took a closer look and asked him to hand it to me. It was a frickin bracelet for a certain "conspiracy theorist" group that starts with the 17th letter of the alphabet. It had their name, a Twitter handle, and a website. He said a kid at sports camp gave it to him. He didn't seem to know anything about it, but WTF!?

    2. A few days ago I read a story that explains how young white males are being targeted on social media by white nationalists. It is complex, yet apparently effective. My son is 20 and it has been a battle the past few years with some of the concepts he has been picking up from friends and on line. Just one more thing to worry about as a parent. Sigh.

      1. I think I read that same story, and yeah, sometimes I think we should just turn the internet off. It had a good run.

        1. Do they have internet in Greenland? I could move there. Oops, never mind. I just read today's headlines.

          1. As messed up as that is, I still laughed when I saw this:

            thinkin about how we all know greenland is actually covered in ice and iceland is really green because of D2: The Mighty Ducks— Skoog (@Skoog) August 16, 2019

  10. Continuing the conversation store politics.

          1. Probably other employees for the candidates in the $5 range.

            The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organizations' PACs, their individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families.

    4. I know this is controversial, but I don't consider an owner's politics when deciding what/where to buy.

      1. I was thinking about exactly that last night. My feeling is that they will do that, but I think I would be ok with either that or bringing Castro back to continue the platoon.

      2. The catcher landscape is pretty barren. If Grandal (mutual option) sticks with the Brewers, Castro might be the best free agent on the market. He's in line for a good offer from someone.

  13. Just got back from the vet. My sweet, nearly 14 year old cocker has a tumor in her mouth. This weekend will not be super fun deciding what to do, especially because I think I know what the answer probably is.

      1. I mean, I've always assumed that, at her age, something like this was always right around the corner. She's had a pretty dang good life and at least being able to see the end coming will be better than when my cat died suddenly a couple years ago.

        1. Runner daughter's dog turns 12 in a month, and is still going strong, but I dread the day when the last days approach. I try to reminder her periodically to think about how good a life we're giving her (she was a rescue).

          Here's hoping the tumor isn't causing pain or difficulties for a good while longer.

          1. She seems to be doing okay now, but the vet said she thought it looked pretty aggressive and I only noticed it earlier this week because it's been bleeding. So the decision is probably going to have to be made soonish. We got her at 2, though she wasn't a rescue. She's lived a very good, comfortable life.

    3. Sorry to hear that. Best of luck with the decision, and with whatever ends up coming next.

      We decided earlier this week that the time has come for our beagle mix; we're headed to the vet to put her down in about 20 minutes. I'm getting choked up already.

      She's nearly 18, and just can't do much of anything anymore. She has trouble standing, can't run more than about 3 steps at a time, and sleeps more than 75% of the day. She's got worsening dementia as well, which has gotten to where it's not always clear she even recognizes us anymore. It's to the point that she's just existing, not really living. She fought off a coyote attack about 6 years ago that left her with cracked ribs and a huge gash across her throat. She barely survived that, and we didn't think there was any way she'd make it this long. But, she recovered and had a number of good years after that. Now, though, things just keep getting worse for her.

      She's had a great, long life. My wife has had her longer than she's known me. She will be missed.

  15. How long until Billy Hamilton is the 4th outfielder and Cave is studying the unwritten rulebook?

    2. Cave is much better offensively than Hamilton. Cave's at 88 OPS+ this year and that's 20 points higher than Hamilton's career OPS+. Hamilton's at 46 this year. The only reason to carry Hamilton would be as a pinch runner/defensive replacement.

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