Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Not more!

So Kim Jong Un fired off another missile and called Trump a lunatic old man of which The Donald disputed the "old" part . . . but the real news is Matt Lauer getting fired just before he goes on  the air today for the Today Show leaving Savannah Guthrie in tears to explain why he was no longer with the show but having zero real information.

Seems one co-worker made a complaint and HE GONE!

OH - add Garrison Keillor to the "I got fired" mix.  Good God people, KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!! 

If I hear one more asshole conservative wave a finger in my face saying it's all liberals fault I will hit them in the face.  This is not a liberal/conservative issue, it's a power issue that extends beyond politics.  Yea yea Rush Limbaugh is blaming the female Hollywood liberals for creating this mess but it's a world wide issue.   I'm pretty sure you can read about this on other blogs so I'll just keep my fingers off the keyboard for this subject.

The real good news is they caught that serial killer (where ever he was).  Someone saw a guy with a gun at a McDonalds and reported him.  hmmmmmmm   I saw a guy openly carry a pistol in the small of their back in Walgreens in Columbus last year but figured by the time I informed anybody he would be gone.  I made sure I was close to one of the exits.  He was purchasing something on his way out so . . . . .   

ANYWAY - not sure how the police put two and two together but well done.

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In much more important news - The Tonight Show ratings are dropping like a rock.  Fallon is down 26% from last year while Colbert is up 23%.  Fallon is nearing 3rd place now with Kimmel almost overtaking The Tonight Show.

And then there is bitcoin.  One bitcoin is worth $10,000 . . . . . I literally have no clue how a bitcoin is used but I do not have one so I won't worry about it . . YET.

A movie poster of Dracula from 1931 was sold for $535,800.  I have a movie poster (4x5 feet) of Public Enemies that I will part with for only $300,000.  Just sayin.

Arby's bought Buffalo Wild Wings for $2.9 billion (or 290,000 bitcoin).

Giannis Antetokounmpo is getting honorable mention for one of the best defenders in the NBA along with leading the NBA is scoring.

I also will not go into our elementary school situation in Columbus with it's bad report card since I really don't know that much about what is going on (never stopped me before but . . ). It's sad though as that was one of the reasons we moved to Columbus in the first place - great education (for my daughter in laws kids).

First our buildings SUCK and now the elementary school got a pitiful report card.  sigh!   Who needs education anyway right?  Educated people just bring up problems.

Speaking of the historically unpopular GOP tax bill.  The Trump Tax Cut is even polling more unpopular then the 1993 Clinton tax hike AND the 1990 GWBush Tax hike. It is the most unpopular tax ANYTHING since 1980. 

Corporations are making record profits yet . .where is the trickle down?  Banks are making HUGE HUGE profits this year and the Trump Tax Cut will REALLY help banks.  Where is the freaking trickle down?  Did I miss it?

What a scam job by the GOP that will hurt the middle class but help large corporations and the really rich.

Speaking of scams. 

A few decades ago I was a tout they sold NBA and NFL picks to subscribers from a 1-900 number with GHoddess and when we did some research most touts were pretty much scamming people while we were selling some pretty darn good picks.  I was hitting over 60% in the NFL which most people say is impossible (yet I did it for 20 years) while the pro touts were SAYING they were hitting 70%.

Well, in reality 95% of the touts were hitting 50% OR LESS. Danny Sheridan was the worst BIG tout and basically a scammer.   This year Sheridan picked the NY Giants to win the Super bowl . . . OH - if you buy his picks and you lose . . .you get free picks next week . . really?   If you get sick from a burrito and complain you get a free burrito?  Seems like a deal to me right?

Bottom line - don't buy picks and bet on them unless you have actually tracked their picks and kow they are telling the truth.

OH - looking for picks?  Here is a simple thing to do. Bet ON the COLD COLD team when they are playing the best team. 

For instance - last weeks Packer game.  Who in their right mind would have played the Packers.  Well, nobody.  The linemakers know this and they have to adjust their lines to get ANY play so they have to give the Packers a few extra points from the REAL line.  Thus - you get a back door cover.  Meaningless touchdowns at the end of the game because nobody cares.  It's GOLD. 

In 20 years I was 384 - 238 for 60.76%  and in certain situations 63-17 for 78.75.  HOWEVER - we kept getting charge backs "I can't play those games - those are LOSER picks, give me my money back".   sigh. 

Sorry sorry - just reminiscing once I heard that Sheridan picked the Giants  LOL  OH - it's late in the year - can't pick games after week 12 as teams start to play differently. Winning is not always the focus this time of year.  Draft picks come into play.

Nuff said - have a great day. 

     
 
 


Monday, November 27, 2017

Nine and oh, The Hill of the Dead and lipstick feces

At first I was torn with the Packer game.  You see Elwood and I had Pittsburgh and Antonio Brown on our Fanduel teams and we were kicking ass again. After going 6 and 2 last week we were going into the last game of the night 6-0 and just a few points out of the money in the last 3 games.

The good news was that the two fanduel games that we had the Steelers defense were solidly in the bank as we were in 6th and 8th place (top 50 pay) so when the Packers scored we actually moved UP as the few people above us also had the Steelers.  All we needed was Antonio Browne to get 16 points and he ended up with 36 points.  We swept and are now 15-2 in the last 2 weeks.  ching ching

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We were driving back from Kewaunee and crossed Lake Butte des Morts when DJ decided to look up what "Butte des Morts" means.  WELL - it means "Hill of the Dead" and there is quit a story behind it. 

The Hill (which is still there) is part of burial mound that was created 2000 years ago.  There are many story's of a massive slaughter of American Indians by the French but they have never been substantiated - HOWEVER - in the 1700's The French systematically did slaughter hundreds of Indians in a 25 year war.  

Bones are still being discovered when new buildings are being built as thousands of Indians were tortured and killed by the French. 

Sadly many of the burial mounds have been dug up and used as fill for the railroad that was built in 1863.  The bridge is built right on top of one burial mound and is now used as a pedestrian bridge   BUT WAIT - there is more. 

For generations there have been many many reports of paranormal events. People getting sick, sounds of drums, gun shots (shots fired) and screams along with reports of shadow people.

The MPIN (Midwestern Paranormal Investigative Network) is in the research phase of a full-scale paranormal investigation.  Stay tuned. 

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Then there is Wisconsin and I am the Badgers #1 fair weather fan.  GO BUCKY. 

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Need a cheap, slightly used  (253,000 miles) car?  The plan was to keep the old Subaru Outback as a "truck" but man it takes up a bunch of room.  So I'm thinking I might sell it for $1000.  Needs a few things but engine is excellent.

Also - we have a Mitsubishi WD-52631 52-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV for $100 (see link for more info).  Brand new lamp.  We all of a sudden have too many TVs and this one is old but has fantastic color.  DLP's are outstanding with great with color but have two other big TVs so . . . . . . plus every 2 years we have to spend $50 on a new bulb.

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The Koch Brothers are buying TIME magazine.  Good-by fair and balanced. They also own Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune.

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“SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical”  REALLY?   Well, SpongeBob SquarePants, since 1999 has created 13 BILLION in merchandise sales.

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Getting pissed at a local neighbor that seems to let their dog out to poop in an open space and they never clean it up.  So when I take Gus over there to poop AND CLEAN UP - there are dozens of poops already there that get stepped on.

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DO NOT LET LIPSTICK TOUCH YOUR LIPS - if you are at a store testing cosmetics.  Seems a test showed tester lipsticks contain a good amount of staphylococcus.  In fact these tests show you are basically wiping feces on your lips and one test showed that if you had a choice between lipstick testers of feces, you would be safer with feces.     mmmmmmmmm feces.

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What the hell happened to Columbus School test scores - sort of embarrassing. Maybe it's time we bring in electricity and running water to our schools.  Class size is zooming which is one issue.   SADLY - one person told me the schools were good enough for him 50 years ago and we do not need a new school.

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OH - the lights downtown still need some added bling - not sure when those will be installed but sooner or later.

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I sent an email to the Mayor of Sun Prairie.  The America Flags in SP are hideous,  They are all ripped, tattered and black with dirt and totally disrespectful.  I might be a liberal but I still feel the American Flag is not just a dirty rag to fly over our streets. 

Don't make me escalate this issue.

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I happened to be at the Apple Store and saw Zepp Golf 2 3D Swing Analyzer and it has me intrigued.  $150 which sounds like a lot but $150 is a few golf lessons so . . . . . . Looks like a Christmas list thing.
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And today I have to go to Madison for YET ANOTHER root canal fail (consultation).  That is three root canal fails in the last few years - seems they only last 30 years.  They can do ANOTHER root canal (which are not as bad as you think)  or just pull the tooth.   sigh!   Just turn up the nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and I'll be happy as a clam.

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Kelly Oxford - "If your kids ever want to know how important education is, show them an Obama speech and then show them a Trump speech."

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Gus Gus Gus - so long manhood - you are getting de-balled Thursday. shhhhhhh  don't tell him.

WEATHER - high of 53 today (man was I wrong Friday). Mid to upper 40s for the next 7 days but still above average for the 10 day outlook.  Looks like showers NEXT Monday but that is a ways off yet.

Cheers


 


Monday, November 20, 2017

Catching up after computer outage

Central Dairyland Farm Supply, Inc. AND Country Store (also called CD Farm Supply) has a big sign in front of their building.

PEANUTS ARE HERE!

Really?  This is a big thing?  We stopped in looking for Native Dog food which they have but only in 50lb sacks which is a little too much for us - HOWEVER - being a peanut loving guy I purchased a bag of peanuts.     WOW - They are good!  Very fresh and crispy!

+++

Packers

WELL – that was a fun game wasn’t it.  Seems some people want to fire everybody because the Packers totally suck.  My response is . . . how many losing years in a row are you complaining about?  

I WILL say I am over Dom Capers defense and his excuse on “injuries”.  The problem is that his plan is GREAT when you have no injuries . . but this is football and injuries happen.  You really need a scheme that does not depend on 11 healthy players playing their parts.

Badgers

Being a bandwagon fan of any Wisconsin Badger sport and still not having seen more then 5 minutes of a Badger game this year – they are so awesome exciting.  We are on our way.
  
Bucks - I have seen more Bucks games then all of Badger sports put together LOL 

OUCH – they totally sucked against Dallas.  The issues with the Bucks (2nd place) is that they have bonafide stars but not enough surrounding players.  Sort of the opposite of what normal Bucks teams have been.  Getting stars is the hard part but now with a handful of All-Stars they need back ups.

Fun Fact - I listened to every single Milwaukee Bucks game in the 70s on the radio . . . . I find out DJ listened to every single Bucks game on the radio also.

Fun Fact - Oscar Robertson let Elwood and I into a game for free once when they played at the Coliseum. We were hanging out near the back exits just sitting on some steps when Oscar and Bob Dandridge were coming to the game.  They let us in!

Those were the days when there was really no security.  Heck, we could have gone back stage with Roger Waters at the Pink Floyd Dark Side concert.  Nobody cared - no security at all.

Fanduel

Won 6 of 8 contests yesterday and 14 out of the last 18.  The great strategy was picking BOTH running backs for The NO Saints.  GOLD!   I should sell our picks like the old days when I sold them on Collage and Pro Football weekly (1-900 number). 

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There are 3 revenue streams for collage sports - ticket sales, media rights and donations.   Donar’s get free access to the GREAT tickets and can write off 80% of their donations – well, the GOP tax cuts plan takes away that 80% write off.  Just like school scholarships are no longer free but are income. 

The Landing Strip.

Heard some people at Home Brew Club talk about Columbus and “The Landing Strip” (James Street).  They called it that without my intervention.

Interesting thing about the Sun Prairie Worthogs.  In the last 2 months we have had the Quality Control dude from Ale Asylum talk to us. Seems their beer goes down almost immediately if not kept cool. Any Ale Asylum beer you might have that is 3 months old. Not that great anymore. 

And last Thursday we talked about oxidation and how home brewers are better than breweries when it comes to oxidation.  Yea yea – they can bottle 30 bottles in 15 seconds but they are full of air. Home brewers have foam to protect their beer when bottling.  MUCH better.

Of course oxidation is what SOME people like (Corona).  That skunky taste in beer stored in clear glass.  The WORST container for beer in the world.  Clear glass totally blows for storage.

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A kilo of  Mexican cartel cannabis is now $26.  A KILO!  Down from $74 a kilo 7 years ago.  Yea – Colorado is putting the hurt on Mexican cartel so much they are switching to heroin.

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Self driving cars

American drivers are so bad that even if we used the technology we have RIGHT NOW and put the self driving cars on the road TODAY – we would save tens of thousands of lives.  There is no need to wait for perfection.  Just like traffic circles - people will resist safety. 

New York terrorism    

Remember that bike path where the terrorist mowed down the bikers?   New Your City cops have given out 50 tickets since January 2017 for people driving on that bike lane.   A known and ignored problem.

Zimbabwe - Robert Mugabe has been in charge for 37 years – inflation during that time has up 500 BILLION percent !! Seems excessive.

And - I gotta say thanks to Mary who suggested we watch “Halt and Catch Fire” our newest BINGE on Netflix. It takes place in the early 80s when Tandy, TI, Commodore and all those other companies were looking for the NEXT thing. These guys are out to create the impossible a portable computer. Insert Graph TV And looking for something new in gritty westerns? Check out this trailer for GODLESS.

Halt and Catch Fire Trailer - any computer people will love this
https://youtu.be/pWrioRji60A



And Godless which starts Wednesday?   Both are on Netflix

Godless is about a western town where all the men are killed leaving these helpless poor woman to fend for themselves - LOL

Starts a Downton Abby alumni

https://youtu.be/mMUiRYoc76A

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Washington - the dude

There is a new book out called "Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations" which goes into my Longest Title for a Book file and is pretty interesting.

The Farewell Address was the most read document in history, far far eclipsing the Deceleration of Independence but his address has seemed to fallen by the wayside even though it is a very very important speech.

Washington talked about what would destroy this new experiment, democracy.  Democracy had been tried before but failed.  In his speech he singled out three things that would bring down the democracy.

1. hyper-partisanship.
2. excessive debt.
3. foreign powers disrupting our government.

hmmmmmm seems like he is talking about about NOW.

The author John Avlon was the chief speechwriter for Mayor Rudy Giuliani say's

Donald Trump is "the nightmare image of what democracy can become". 

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And then there is Roy Moore who now has 9 woman coming forward. Of course he says they are all lies and really - one 16 year old had their parents permission to date him ( if you get the parents permission you can marry a 15 year old in Alabama).

But now it seems a mall banned Moore from entering the premises 30 years ago because he was picking up high school girls and many town people say they would always see him at high school football games.  It was common knowledge.

YET - Alabama is fine with this and he will be elected.  Family Values and all that. 

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Getting old sucks.  I consider myself a pretty bendy person for 63.  Elwood and I do tricks with frisbee's every few weekends and I work out and consider myself in darn good shape for an old fart.

YET - Tuesday I was bending over to tie my shoes . . .tweak!!!   WHAT?  You have to be kidding me.  Not a bad back thing but a tiny . . . ting! (insert a musicale note).

and then it was downhill all day. SERIOUSLY?  TYING MY FREAKING SHOE?  Well, I know how to fix this but it takes a few days and in the mean time that particular vertebrae, as explained to me by the best chiropractor I ever had before he was forced to go out of business in Columbus, also controls certain "things" that go on in the bathroom . . . WEIRD.  Anyway, the goal is to be ready for a fantastic weekend . . . . .but the weather will SUCK so . . .

SO since the weather is going to suck.  . .

DING DONG - what?  the WRONG plumbers are here?  We have two plumbers for our stove?  SIGH!   Seems the local plumber who ignored us for 3 weeks even after I called sent a guy over to hook up the gas line.  Well, we gave up on him because he never contacted us back after 2 phone calls.

PLUS - the guys coming in a few hours also do electric which a gas stove needs and not a 240 but a normal plug.  The local plumber did not do electric.

So after contacting 3 plumbers of which two never really communicated with us we get 2 almost at the same time.  sigh!

Was I wrong?  call a plumber - he comes over - looks and says I'll get back to you in a week to schedule.  I wait 2 weeks, hear nothing, call and the answering machine says they will contact me in 24 hours.  Wait another week and hear nothing so I call somebody else.  Like WE NEED A STOVE, HELLO!!! 

So all of sudden a guy comes to install a gas line?  THE WRONG GUY! 

ANYWAY - back to the crummy weather, since this weekend will suck I might as well drive around in A NEW CAR!!    The old Subaru needed a new blinker switch ($250) and an oil change . . .so, screw it. Just buy a new damn car, it's been 11 years since I had a "new" car and the old AWOOO has 253,000 miles on it.

Ordered new AWOOO 10 weeks ago and it finally came in.  2018 Subaru Crosstrek.  All it needs is a subwoofer.



So to celebrate DJ and I decided to go to Dotty Dumplings but SADLY - they changed.   I have been lusting over their cheese sauce hamburger for literally 40 years.  Their cheese sauce burger is what made them famous.  It was messy, goopy and delicious!

So what did they do?  Switched out the goopy messy awesome cheese sauce for a grainy smoked cheese "sauce" which they put a dot on the burger.  VERY VERY disappointed as it tastes horrible and covers up the hamburger taste completely.

If you liked Dotties cheese sauce burger - COMPLAIN - PLEASE - get it back. Go to their facebook page and say something! 

So now the The Caribou Tavern (The Bou) which I considered had the best burger in Madison changed their buns so the bun to burger ratio is totally messed up and Dotty's screwed up their cheese sauce . . I am now looking for the next best burger.

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 The GOP chopped enrollment times for Obamacare in half (and defunded it), yet in the first 11 days there is a 47% increase of people signing up for it over last year the same number of days.

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Did I mention James street is OPEN?  A little chaotic near Walgreens as the stop lights are not working but the few times I went through it everybody was navigating smoothly.
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FoxxCon wants Wisconsin to pay for a new lane in a highway that would be dedicated to FoxxCon. Wisconsin residents are already paying 17% of the wages of their employees, now they want US to pay for a dedicated highway?    How about high speed rail?  LOL

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Watching Survivor and there is one contestant that everyone hates and every time there is a vote one of his teammates gets voted off.  Sort of like Gov Walker and Trump.  Everybody around them gets sent to jail but never the ring leader.

BTW - still watching to see who will be on Celebrity Big Brother and is this is jumping the shark for Big Brother?  BB is the best pure strategy game show on TV but I see nothing good from Celebrity BB.  Reminds me of The Mole which was a fantastic reality competition where you needed brains until you got "celebrity's" involved.

Like comparing Jeopardy to The Price is Right, The Mole was a brilliant show that ended after season 2 with the writers strike (along with Deadwood).

Raylan and Boyd - Justified
HEY - if you liked Deadwood - the best gritty western of all time - check out Hell on Wheels on
Netflix.  Excellent gritty western about the Transcontinental railroad.  5 great seasons and a great finale'

And on the subject - best series finale' of all time?   Justified!   

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And lastly - Gus is learning how to pee in the winter wind. Except every leaf that blows by him seems to be challenging him to chase it. 

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A Black and white of County F in Door County WI



Cheers


Monday, November 13, 2017

WISCONSIN is #1 in collage sports

I feel silly putting a 90 gallon trash bin out with one bag of garbage in it.

HA - saw this this morning and was SHOCKED - but not surprised.  LOL


DJ spotted this - because you were interested in . . . . 




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SO - once again I have things going on in the morning that messes up the morning blog - sadly getting a plumber to attache a gas line is not one of my problems - OH - the problem is GETTING a plumber to come to the house (no one seems to want too) so THAT schedule is not a problem. We have had a new gas stove ready for deliver for 3 weeks now. BUT - no gas line.

Today is the DMV calling.  I need to switch licence plates on cars as a new car is in my very near term future.  The old AWOOO with 253,000 miles will become my "truck".

The left blinker does not work 100% of the time and since I could get pulled over at anytime by the CPD who have no problem pulling people over for a broken blinker and I really don't want to spend $300+ on a blinker (yes, they cost that much AND I have to take off the steering column).  So I'm
literally afraid to drive my car in Columbus.

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ANYWAY - Packers won - not a surprise actually. Wisconsin football won (big deal) and fell in the rankings but come on - rankings are a popularity contest, nothing more and totally meaningless.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the NBA is scoring with 31.7 points a game.   And with new PG Bledsoe driving to the basket will help the Bucks a ton taking pressure off Giannis.

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Speaking of water and light.  Did you see Linden will raise their water rates 210% and DeForest 57%.  People complain about Columbus Water and Light rates for water.  I ask them "so how much are you paying per 100 cubic feet of water" and the answer is always - "I don't know" so  . . . . how do you know it's a lot?  Maybe you just use a crap load of water??   ($3.50 per 100 cubic feet for the first 1,250 feet).  Let's get some facts here.  OH - "how many cubic feet of water do you use in a month" "ummmmm, I don't know".  YEA!!!

It's MUCH easier to complain (look at the GOP).

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Speaking of the GOP, Alabama's Roy Moore, the latest devote Christian that loves fondling little girls. 30 people who knew him in those years thought it was common knowledge that he would hang out at High School football games when he was in his 30s and go out with high school girls.  But nobody would mention it since he was pretty powerful.

OH - he can't remember.  Yea - like guys can't  remember girls they had sex with in their past. He can't remember dating a 16 year old girls when he was in his 30s? OH - he remembers DATING them but not the sex part.  Yea - THAT is believable.

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The SF 49ers and the NY Giants met up yesterday. It was the very first time 2 teams with a combined 1 win as late as week 10 met. AND - the game was telecast to the two biggest markets. 

In the Packer game The Bears had one of the worst challenges ever that went from maybe a touchdown to actually losing the ball.  On that one play the chances of the Bears winning the game, according to Win Probability dropped 20%  ON ONE PLAY.

Of the top 50 winningest schools in NCAAB and NCAAF  the number one school?  Wisconsin - As it stands right now — comparing the harmonic mean of the basketball and football teams of those top 50 schools — the University of Wisconsin is currently the best two-sport school in the country.

Greg Gard took the men’s basketball team to the Sweet 16 last season, and Paul Chryst’s football team is currently 9-0 and ranked No.8 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

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Remember that 2 man Montana company that nobody gave a contract too but somehow they were awarded a HUGE contract (that nobody approved) from Trump for fixing the energy problem in Puerto Rico?

They were charging $319 per hour per lineman to do the job. OH - each lineman only got $42 an hour, the 2 heads of the company got the rest.  So much for trickle down economics right?  OH - those two gave a lot of money to the GOP.

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New York State is the cigarette smuggling capital of the world. They add $4.35 to each pack of cigs in tax for a total of $5.85 for a pack (how much is a normal pack here??)  Well, the States figures it lost $895 million due to black market sales.





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There was a test at an ER - men and woman went to the ER and rated their pain on a 1-11 scale.  The average was 8.6.  After taking Tylenol and ibuprofin the average pain dropped to 4.6.  After taking Tylenol and oxycodone the average pain was 4.4.   NOT a lot of difference. . . except with oxycodone you still feel pain . . .but don't care.

Instead of looking to arrest people with barley legal pullover and searches I feel our police department should be proactive and not reactive - visit schools and educate the children.  Do something that actually works and educate the children that are still able and WANT to learn from adults.

Speaking of pain.  My 3rd root canal seems to have failed.  SEEMS root canals only last 30 years.

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Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross had an undisclosed financial link to 75 ships that carry oil around the world.  Seems he thought that should be a secret to the American people.

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WEATHER - I don't see any 50s in our future.  I do see a CRAPPY Friday and a windy cold Saturday.  Should have peaks of sun all week and upper 40s and a big cool down and sunny NEXT week.  Highs in the low 30s IF we get to 30.

Cheers


Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Eric Bledsoe - well hello!

There was some excitement last night before the Bucks game but first I have to get some other thing out of my brain.

I'm not that into politics and could not care less about what is happening but I suppose I need to make a casual mention.

GREAT NIGHT FOR THE DEMOCRATS  (not that I care)

Oh - did I say that outloud? Sorry

OK - first the obvious - Chris Christie lost - not a big surprise but he lost more bigly then people thought he would.  Exit polls were all about giving the finger to Christie as 50% of the voters were voting AGAINST Christie. You could have run a sock against him and the sock would have won.

Then of course there is Ralph Northam who won the Virginia governorship.

The transgender community had a big victory as Danica Roem, the first openly transgender candidate beat GOP tea party homophobic dude that sponsored the anti-transgender bathroom bill for the House of Delegates in Virginia and beat him bigly.  She becomes the first openly transgender individual EVER to elected to a state legislature.  Also an openly transgender candidate was elected to the city council in Minneapolis, and in Palm Springs. And an openly transgender candidate elected to the school board in Erie, Pa.

Chris Hurst, who's wife was killed on live TV a few years ago as she was reporting the news won.  He quite his job at the television station last year to run in his wife's honor and was not suppose to win.  He Did

Redistricting was a winner for the Dems. As those two Governors are a key to stopping the GOP and their gerrymandering and put a huge dent into the GOP plans to solidify their ground.

Gerrymandering wins elections - look at Wisconsin.

The losers were of course Trump who within minutes of losing threw all the losers under the bus and claiming it was not his fault (even though his voice was on robo calls all day yesterday) and he says because they are gone the GOP will now win even bigger and better then before (sounds like Hitler claiming victory in WWII).

Steve Bannon was a big loser and looks like a fool after bragging about the huge victory's coming.

The problem now for the GOP candidates is that Trump has been proven toxic, do they bow down to the woman groper or do they distance themselves and feel his wrath.

Anyway - a good night.

OH - another big winner last night were 70 immigrants as the Trump Organization just won visas to hire 70 foreign workers at Mar-a-Lago.  Not enough Americans to work for low pay.

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Then their is the Bucks who traded Greg Monroe (final year of his max contract) for Eric Bledsoe who has been a bubble boy All-Star for the last 3 years.  ALMOST an All-Star.

He will be a solid Point Guard to go with Point Forward Gannis Antetokounmpo who scored 40 last night and leads the league in scoring.  This hurts Brogden, last years Rookie of the Year and the first 2nd round pick to ever be Rookie of the Year in the NBA.           

The Bucks also get a first AND second round pick next year and this pretty much guarantee's  a playoff birth this year.

Last night LeBron James said Gannis Antetokounmpo could be the best player ever to play in the NBA.  A once in a lifetime player Gannis (23 years old)  is a one man highlight film, If you watch sports news, every night he plays there is a highlight where the announcers go WOW!!! Amazing.     

https://youtu.be/6kqJyuHgLMY



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Snapchat lost 17% of it's value yesterday . . . . . yea - me neither.

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Phoenix will have it's first 100% driverless car in operation that will cover 600 square miles. You can catch a ride and not have to talk to a human.

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Seems like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross overstated his worth on his job application.  He claimed to be worth $3.7 BILLION but in reality he is only worth $700 million.  More lies?  You might say $700 million is good enough but that is far far far less then $3.7 BILLION!

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OH OH - seems Trump was going make a surprise visit to the Korean DMZ (seriously, is that a smart move? ) but God said  NO!  and moved in fog 5 minutes before they landed.

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Sadly my name change will have to be put on hold and I'm glad I did not tell Patrick the City Admin to change my name plate.

Once I heard that P,Diddy was changing his name to Brother Love I felt - FINALLY - I can have my name back and I will official change Rod Melotte to P. Diddy!   HOWEVER - seems he was just blowing smoke down his lungs and did not change it.

I will not have to change my rapper name to . . . Que Tip.  Or maybe Kay Why Jelly

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What's daddy cookin tonight!!  


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Another shot of Columbus from near the top of the hill.



I LOVE the new sidewalks and bike lanes on The Landing Strip. Some people will complain because the liked the old worn out look but old and worn out was more then just words.  New infrastructure was needed to replace the old worn out infrastructure. 


I really need to get a shot of this tonight as the lights are not on yet on this stretch. From town looking up the hill it's just a black hole.  Zero lights. 

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Anybody with chickens in Columbus - you better register them.  You can only have 4 you know.  Just sayin'

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Expect to see snow Sunday. Not really any accumulation but certainly white stuff.  The high Friday MIGHT not make it to 30 but ramping way up to 36 on Saturday.  Mid 40s next week.  Sunny the rest of this week but c c c cold.

Steve Carlton - I was going to mention him last week and forgot.  I was looking at Strat-o-matic cards and his name popped up.  Good lord he was outstanding.   1972 - 30 COMPLETE GAMES. 

He won 27 games in 1972 and his team the Phillies only won 57 games total.  Good Grief! 

Anyway - Have a day.

Thursday, November 2, 2017

NO Beaver Dam - just say no to trees

The mayor of Beaver Dam wants more trees in their downtown.  Does she realize that those trees could randomly fall over and hurt a child?  Does the city want to take on that huge responsibility? 

And what about the leaf problem filling up their recycling center 's which will have to be expanded.

NUTTIN' BUT PROBLEMS LADY!!!   Do not try to beautify your downtown.  INSTEAD, invest that money in cement for parking lots for big box stores.   One square of cement will last much longer then a tree that will be dead within 2 years!

HOWEVER - if you do plant trees make sure you plant them correctly and remember - cement last longer.  ======>

But in reality - isn't this a cool idea?



Notice those bricks!  Yea - that is why we did not ant bricks

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So the Series is over and my opinion is that the LA Manager over managed. Yea - he had a clue but I really liked the Houston Manager who knew about sabrmetrics but also understood sometimes you need to go with what is working.   When a starting pitcher is taken out with a 1 hitter and that hit was a home run . . . it's not a sign that he has lost it.

One of the reason I do not believe you can bet on baseball (I have tried for 40 years) is because baseball is a random game with random events. It's why you play 162 games instead of 16 or 81 or whatever hockey (that niche' sport) plays.

Using a bastardized version of the Pythagorean Theorem  even a game between the very best and very worst team in the American League the best team has only a 71% chance of winning the game. 

In collage football (one of the worst lopsided sports in America) Ball State is playing Eastern Michigan, not close at all to the best or worst teams E.Mich as a 92% chance of winning the game.

BUT - I digress.

Great series.

But the real controversy is Carlos Correa asking his girlfriends hand in marriage after the game.  People are all in a tizzy because it should be a special day, not linked to the 7th game of the WS.

I say look - the one thing he has worked for all his life, the very very best day possible, the top of the pyramid, and his one thought is asking his girlfriend to marry him. His #1 thought was about HER. 

Pretty special I think.

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#IHearYou

So it's OK for our President to grope woman and brag about it but not for actors?  I'm so confused who can and who can not grope a woman now.  If the Conservatives say it's OK for the President to grope and molest and brag but not actors . . . .who is right?  Well, the people in charge of our government say it's fine, grope away.

And don't give my that bull shit excuse that "Well, Clinton did it"  BETWEEN TWO CONSENTING ADULTS!!           

So now - Conservatives say sex between two consenting adults is bad, but a President that gropes woman and brags is, just locker room talk? (which I have never actually heard in a locker room).

Seriously - guys do not talk about groping woman, we don't talk about woman at all, we are too shallow for that. We talk sports, not women!  But then again, we're not rich and powerful and can grope woman at will (like our President).

I have no problem with Republicans when they are in office.  I don't like their faulty economics and social rules (groping is allowed if you are a President) but it's their turn. "We" have a turn and now it is theirs.  But Trump is not a real Republican. He is a con-man who has put other con-men in office and 70% of the country see's this and 30% are just lemmings who will buy snake oil if it will make them rich.

Sickn's me.

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Psychedelic Gus 

There are 3,817 writers that write for TV shows.  Of those 3,817, 4.8% are black.

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Here is a first world problem.  Our waste dumps are in trouble because Americans no longer eat leftovers.  23% of our dinner food gets dumped.

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A study by the American Psychological Association sstates that 59 percent of Americans consider right NOW the lowest point in the nation’s history.

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Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley - remember that name. You will hear it a lot in a few years!  Mark my word (November 2 2017).

Have a great Thursday






   

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

100 Days

The Winter Olympics start in 100 days.  The best Olympics in my book.  Not that interested in the Summer Olympics.  South Korea is 14 hours ahead of us.  Just sayin'

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Balderdash questioned my bunting statistics when I said you will score more often NOT bunting.  Actually it's a meaningless stat since there is so much more to factor in, it's not a YES or NO question.  What does the line-up look like, who is batting, is it a pitchers?  Does the batter hit a zillion ground balls?  is the pitcher a ground ball pitcher?

But if you need to narrow it down - according to Retrosheet using all completed innings through the 8th inning (not sure why) since 1950

Man on 1st, zero outs you will score at least ONE run .416 of the time.
Man on 2nd, one out you will score at least ONE run .397 of the time.

What about total runs scored?

Man on 1st, zero outs you will score .859 runs in that inning
Man on 2nd, one out you will score .664 runs in that inning.

But it's all contingent on the situation.  This came up last night as Joe Buck was complaining about the lack of bunting in a situation. He said "play of the tie" and in social media there was an argument going on about bunting and how it was an old school strategy. "We have always done it that way" talk.

ANYWAY - I can't wait for this World Series to get over so I can get more sleep and watch all the shows I have DVRd!

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The Cato Institute - 63 percent of Republicans said they believed that journalists today are an enemy of the American people.  I wonder where they got that idea.  Not sure that is an accurate number - seems high.  Are there that many diluted Republicans running around?

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I wonder how many bars in Columbus have a cabaret license.  I bet not many.  I'll have to ask our city attorney how many we have available.

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Speaking of budgets. We're going through budget season and I gotta say - this is the best budget experience yet. Instead of 100% focus on numbers we are actually talking about visions, problems and so fort as adults.

When I first started on council it was like an ambulance just went through and everyone was trying to get back on the road.  The goal was to survive for a year.  Now - we are talking 10 years down the road with actual plans for the city including FUTURE bonding and things to do 10 years from now.   There is actually a vision for the future and a plan on how to get there.

A stark stark difference (I take zero credit for this).

Since the "new" council (for a lack of a better term) took over 5 years ago the city's assessed value is up 16%. Manufacturing is up 51% , Commercial is up 19%  and Residential is up 12%.  Much much higher then Wisconsin as a whole.

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We drove through Rosendale yesterday. Both times there was someone pulled over in that anal speed trap of a town that I will never spend one penny in.  But what I saw last evening was outstanding and maybe Columbus should do this.

It was Trick or Treat and they had fire trucks and squad cars with lights on slowing traffic at the dangerous intersections.  We could REALLY use this on Avalon as it looks more like a 4th of July Parade then Halloween.  It's crazy busy with cars parked on both sides of the NON-SIDEWALK super busy street.  So you have cars parked on both sides of the road AND kids on the road at the same time.

Avalon is a catastrophic accident just waiting to happen.  Mark my words. So many times I have seen a kid on a bike or joggers come very close to getting hit ESPECIALLY when the sun is in your eyes on that street.  I have almost hit and I have almost been hit on that street. 

Is it trespassing to walk on peoples lawns? 

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Gov Chris Christie has an approval rating of 14%, The Gallop tracking poll (rated as a B-) has Trumps rating at 33%. The combined poll is 37.3%

126 million people have seen Russian troll threads spreading misinformation about Clinton and causing havoc spreading discourse among Americans on Facebook.  Or is that one right there.

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Madison as a new Alt-rock station ( well, there are zero now so . . .) 106.7 The Resistance.  Real alternative rock.  I remember listening to Radio Free Madison (WIBA-FM) when it was only on like 6 hours a day!

I  remember playing Strat-o-matic on the floor listening to 101.5 and using my SR-50 FOUR function calculator figuring out batting averages which was SO MUCH better then using a slide ruler (which I still have).

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oops - gotta run - some curtain people are coming over to talk about finally getting curtains. (no more confederate war flags for OUR windows). 

You know - there are times when I tell myself I need to pull it in and not be so controversial and then someone contacts me and asked why I have become so bland. And then someone else comments that my face book ramblings are what they WANT to say but are afraid they will make enemies.

I'm stuck.  On one hand I need to be more politically correct but then people ask me what is wrong.  sigh!

Cheers - OH - maybe some snow this afternoon??