What? no sledge hammer?

We have always prided ourselves in being good people and keeping the temperature in the house cool in the winter and warmer in the summer.  We rarely use the AC in summer as we have a pretty constant wind coming down Enerpac hill.  Enerpac hill is the displaced dirt that was dug up for Enerpac. What was once a 30 foot deep quarry is now a 60 foot high hill with entire trees buried whole.

So when Gus ate the controller for the gas fire place and we had to get a knew one it has a thermometer.  The odd thing was that the reading on it did not really match what the thermostat was set at.  SO - I got out my Kestrel 2000 pro thermometer (the same one Jim Cantore uses on The Weather Channel) and did some temp testing.  

It seems when our house was set at 70 degrees - the REAL temperature in the house was 65. WHAT THE F*CK. No wonder DJ was always cold. This also meant at night when it was set for 63 . . it was REALLY 58!  

Electronic thermostats DO save you money I guess. Just like my old Subaru which was 3 MPH off the real speed.  Probably why I never got a ticket (actually it is tens of thousands of hours on racing games - never a MOVING violation or accident . . .I don't think . . plus - I'm a law abiding citizen).

This is good to find out since we are finishing our basement and need more heat down there.  Ten years in the making for this project.  We didn't have enough money when we built the house (thank you GOP for freezing my poker $$ overseas for 6 months JUST when we needed it to build).  

SO - it begins. 

             

HOWEVER - there are some issues to fix before things get to far along.  Remember the refrigerator leaking issue?   Gotta get that floor fixed before the ceiling gets put in (we thought) so we had a guy come over and look at the dry rot and he said it MIGHT have leaked under the cabinet next to the frig so that might need to come out.

ALL RIGHTY THEN - DEMO DAY just like on the fix-it shows and I was ready to get the sledge hammer just like Chip and Joanna. YEA BABY - I'm gonna be like Chip!  

Wait, what?  The cabinet, it just screws out?  hmmmmm - and this is why you never want to see me with a hammer in my hands. 

SO for the last few days we have had worker men in the basement hammering away and pounding and so forth.  Gus was fine with all of this until it sounded like 3 guys with hammers all pounding on the cross beam at the same time.  Iggy is worried, Sophie is freaking and Gus is ALERT. 

Then Steve comes upstairs and looks at our kitchen island (more of a peninsula actually) to see if our granite counters were broken.  Luckily we do not have granite counters. He said the area under that island had sunk 1/4 inch from the island weight which made some framing of a wall problematic. 

All fixed.
    

So that is my world.  OH - DJs right side mirror and dumpster had a fight, dumpster won. Mirrors on newer cars cost $600 to replace.  Just sayin' 

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The sad news is La Tolteca closed for good in Columbus and don't even say Columbus does not support businesses. They were busy all teh time but it seems they had to close the lowest performing restaurant and because of James Street - GONE!   

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https://youtu.be/CTyiysI2Kh0

Watched episode 1 of The Deuce on HBO (if you have AT&T and DIRECT TV you get Free HBO for life - sweet). It's an "X" rated series about Times Square in the 70s. Not XXX but X and it stars two of my favorite actors James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal (who I get to see both naked - not that I REALLY wanted too).

Lots of full frontal nudity a sex by everybody . .even Terry Bradshaw . . oops wrong show . . more on Terry next.

It's gritty story with whores, gambling, drinking, sex and everything raunchy and we could not stop watching it. 

+++

Then there is naked Terry Bradshaw which is also raunchy and rather disconcerting and funny in the show "Better Late Then Never" and yea - it's actually good. 

This is season #2,  we watched Season #1 and were totally surprised that it was not as hideous as we thought it would be and actually funny.

Basically Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw, George Foreman and Jeff Dye have a vacation across Europe.  These guys did not know each other before Season 1 and while many of the adventures are scripted "reality" in between there are so actually funny parts. 

For instance, they are in Germany and Jeff Dye (their handler) takes them to Germany's largest park not telling them that clothing is optional.  WELL they are astounded and then wonder where Terry is.

Terry is behind them buck naked except for a cowboy hat and having a great time.  At one point Terry spots two clothed woman walking on a path and yells out "HI LADY'S WE'RE FROM AMERICA!! and starts waving!

The 4 stars are completely different.  Winkler embrace's his celebrity-ness, Shatner wants to embrace the culture, Bradshaw just wants to drink and Foreman  wants to survive.  Yes - they have real anger and drink a lot and so forth but it's rather a fun ride.  Seriously - check it out Monday

https://youtu.be/okpYPQBxjKs


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So ya want to move to the west and be a pot farmer - FORGET IT!  The legal weed business is not for the small entrepreneur.  Huge drop in cannabis prices cutting into the bottom line for one thing.

In 2014 a gram of legal gram of cannabis wholesale was about $35.00 and retail it was about $9 a gram.  In 2017 a gram retail is $7.45 a gram and wholesale $2.53 a gram.

Add to it that you need some high class equipment and now cannabis is the new craft beer with hundreds of strains that do different things, some increase your productivity (sativa's),  and some glue you to the couch (indica's - or in da couch).

Prices are declining, the industry is consolidating, product variety is exploding and really nobody is surprised.  The book "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know.” written in 2012 has predicted everything perfectly so far.   The one thing I'm not sure about is that it says midrange cannabis will be so cheap it will be given away like ketchup packs.

My feeling is that if you want to reap some rewards of the coming of cannabis explosion don't grow - sell what the growers need.  Like the gold rush, the people that made millions were the ones that sold the shovels and picks.  The green rush will be the ones that sell the grow lights and so forth.

Want to create jobs? Want to fund Police Departments with an extra million a year to fight real crime? Want roads and education? 

Top news stories for 2017

Cannabis will be legal in Canada soon and will be exporting medical cannabis to Germany, Croatia, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Portugal and Chile and Mexico will import infused medical cannabis FROM Canada.

July 1 Nevada opens it doors for legal cannabis.

Germany is 100% medical cannabis and insurance companies now cover the cost of  medical cannabis.

Mexico is now 100% legal medical cannabis.

California and Massachusetts opens legal cannabis Jan 1

Cannabis has become the goto for opioid alternative and states with legal cannabis has sen a huge drop in opioid-releated deaths.

The two stats that legalized cannabis in 2012 has seen an overwhelming success.  Teen use has fallen, arrests are down by 95%. Traffic fatalities did NOT increase, Violent crim did NO increase and Washington has used it's 185 million a year to fund drug abuse education and prevention and school construction.

149,000 new jobs nationwide in the industry.

And here is the weird thing - the more conservative, the more cannabis is wanted. Cannabis has become a conservative cause.   

ANYWAY - that is my take on THAT!

Then there is the NFL.  Hue Jackson the coach of the Cleveland Browns is 1-30 at the moment.  How does a coach get to be 1-30.

The Weather - I suppose I need to mention the weather. sigh!  The warm up is still 10 days away when we can get above 20.  Lots of single digits still in the forecast.  I figured if we are this freaking cold, where is it warm so I checked the Short Term forecasts for the world.

Basically EVERYWHERE NOT America - it's warm.  No seriously, any region that does not have America in the name is above average.  South America? Cold. Europe - super warm. Asia  pretty warm. Australia way above average. So yea - it's all about us.  TRUMP!!!!!

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OK - nuff said - Have a great and very very cold weekend.  Be careful driving. 
 
 

 


   

QLED and OLED, the blue tsunami and dendrites

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So we cleared out all the garbage in the basement. Got rid of the really good but old DLP large screen rear projector TVs and now I'm looking at new TVs for the basement once it's all finished. Probebly look for real as we near the SuperBowl looking for deals

I see there is a war on between QLED and OLED technology. Samsung makes QLED and LG and Sony make OLED.

Samsung is the #1 TV maker while LG is the #$2 TV maker  and Sony #3 which also features OLED but they buy all of the OLED from LG. Consumer Reports has done side by side testing and OLED still beats QLED and one thing I have seen many times is that QLED can "burn" images on the screen.   It all comes down to do you want quantum dots or do you want passive backplanes.  YEA - think about it.  pffftt!  No brainer right?

OLED stands for "organic light emitting diode."

QLED (according to Samsung) stands for "quantum dot LED TV."

OLED is a fundamentally different technology from LCD, the major type of TV today.

QLED is a variation of LED LCD, adding a quantum dot film to the LCD "sandwich."

OLED is "emissive," meaning the pixels emit their own light.

QLED, like LCD, is, in its current form, "transmissive" and relies on an LED backlight.

Yea - THAT clears things up doesn't it.

Basically quantum dots are microscopic molecules that when hit by light emit their own differently colored light.

ANYWAY and perhaps I mentioned this before (sorry) - When I was researching TVs at BEST BUY, their 55 inch or smaller 4K TVs were all some of the higher rated TVs but above 55inch they were some of the lower rated TVs.

For the BIG screens Costco had some of the best screens.

So that is one thing I'm looking into.  Another is video cards for a commuter.  My desk top is maybe 7 or 8 years old . . the only thing stopping me from buying a new one is it is such a pain in the ass moving software, particularly photo editing software.  But alas. I have some that will no longer work and there software I really want that does not work with my current video card.  And sadly I cannot replace what I have because my tower is too small.  sigh.

So I need to research awesome video cards and buy a tower that can be expanded 7 years from now.

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I know a lot of people are disappointed in the polls from last election. It seems when somebody has a 45% chance to win many people feel 45% means 0%.  How can Clinton lose when the polls say she has a 55% chance to win.  Well. . . . . .that DOES mean she as a 45% chance to lose right?

Well the latest generic polls which have done very very well in the past show that the left now have a 50.1% chance of winning Congress while the Right has a 37.3% chance of maintaining Congress.

50.1% is the highest percentages ever for this poll which started in 1938.  I don't think there is a blue wave about to happen.  It's more like a blue tsunami.  The 2nd largest margin was 2006 and we know what happened to Congress that year.

Some issues that the GOP have is 63% of Americans believe our economy is doing well, the most since 2001. 

73% believe the world is less peaceful then 2016 (I wonder what changed)

60%, say Trump’s election to the presidency has made race relations in America worse - I brought this up on facebook and one Trump supporter literally said "What has Trump EVER done to make this - FAKE NEWS".  Seriously?  how about saying the KKK has some good people in the group?

The blue tsunami is on the doorsteps.

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Some of you may know we have a dog again.  WELL, one of the little awesome things about winter and dogs is that when it is FREAKING cold out and you have to stick your hand into a plastic bag to pick up a fresh blob of gooo  . . . . the warmth emitting from the bag . . . . feels so nice for a few seconds.

As we were watching It's a Wonderful Life which I believe, even if it's black and white, will become a yearly hit, I noticed one line that they got wrong.

When Zuzu says  "Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings"

No NO! - it SHOULD say "Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings a doggie has to go poop".   But they changed it for the more popular "angel" saying.

and in 1946 who names their kid Zuzu anyway.

And at one point in the movie George calls Violet (Gloria Grahame) . .Gloria  OOPS

Back to Gus - he does not appreciate -6.  Not a fan at all.

Speaking of COLD - you think today is bad? Some Spanish exchange students in Columbus do.   WELL - IT IS.  The air you are trying to breath was literally at the Arctic Circle a few days ago.  But this is warm compared to this weekend.  We might not get above zero Saturday and it will be windy. The HIGH windchill for the day will be around -17 and we should be near -30 at day break.

FEED THE BIRDS!

Some snow coming Thursday, perhaps 1-2 inches but the concern is "will be if temps aloft are too cold to get decent dendrites and may dampen the snowfall amounts some"

Meaning - the crystals may not grow into pretty snow flakes.  After this short wave moves off another fresh batch of arctic air hits Wisconsin with a vengeance as the "cold snap" continues for . . .the foreseeable future (which is 10 days +) . SUCK!!

Going our in your little black dress?  NOT ME!!  Too cold News Years Eve. Wind chill as we enter 2018 will be about -13.

SO LOVE 2017.  I have lost family members the last 2 years and I refuse to lose any more.  PERIOD.

++++++++++++++++

Did you know mistletoe is actually a tree killing parasite? YEA - Mistletoe is actually a parasitic plant. It crowds trees in densely packed balls. Weighing up to 50 pounds, it absorbs water and nutrients. Its berries are toxic to humans and pets, and will cause vomiting and stomach pain if ingested.  How awesome is that!

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OH - we all heard about AT&T giving $1000 bonus's to 200,000 employees because if the Tax plan? Did they fail to mention that they also gave out 600 pink slips?

$1000 is nice - how about a wage increase as a long term solution.  19 States have raised the minimum wage  . .not Wisconsin.

HOWEVER - Walker did do something I agree with.  Now K-12 much have "personal finance" in their curriculum.  Why the F is that not already IN THE curriculum.     

So that is it for the post Christmas blog.  Be safe and warm.

OH OH - we stop playing Fan Duel with 3 to 4 weeks in the season.  The NFL is actually 3 seasons.  The first 4 weeks are chaos, the middle 8 weeks are are the real deal but with 34 weeks to go teams start playing differently.

RM

BTW - VOTE FOR JASON THEILEN (when you can). I did not want to end my City Council days until I could find somebody to run that would be better then I.  I believe he will be a GREAT addition to the already informative council.   

Winter "Storm" Dylan - pffffft

Well this storm is turning into a big dud! Just not enough moisture getting sucked in from the south.  The atmosphere will continue to slowly saturate into he afternoon but  zzzzzzz.  The State line will get the freezing rain and up north will get more snow but us?   blah.   At least it's the darkest day of the year.

But the BIG news is that the polar blast will not be as bad as first thought. OH - overnight wind chills will be shitty (-12s) but MOST people will be in their cozy warm beds.

*******************

The Survivor finale was last night and it was once again excellent as the most deserving and good player one (which is typical). The guy was a Marine with PTSD and you saw his suffering during the show, especially when a piece of bamboo POPPED in the fire one day and he almost lost it.  But the emotional part was once he had won there was a special reunion.

The producers found 3 of his combat buddies and flew them to the show as a surprise.  All four had tears as they had not seen each other for 12 years.  One guy was so proud as he said "Ben (the middle guy in the photo) was in a very very dark place the last time we were together".

Probst said that during the show they were getting hundreds and hundreds of communications from veterans suffering with PTSD and how Ben was helping them through their ordeals by talking about it and showing what it does to people.

Survivor really is the greatest social experiment ever.

Crissy (right) was one of only 4 females out of 256 that have won 4 individual challenges and played a great social game.  She had applied for 16 straight seasons and her very first tribal council she was so nervous she was hurling (we only got to see one hurl) but Ben was the hero.

Doctor Mike (left) was so close. He was funny and totally 100% out of his element.  His son, when he found out he was going to be on Survivor said "Dad, you are going to die on that island"  No one has actually died yet although there have been a number of medical evacs and close calls.

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Don't believe all of what you hear from EITHER side of the aisle when it comes to The Tax Bill.  Both sides are (or were) ramping up their propaganda but the high fives and victory laps will be very very short lived.

Remember - to pass The Bill the GOP had to re-fund Obamacare and now cannot do a crap load of things the GOP wanted to do (no huge boost for the military as promised).  Enjoy the extra money in your checks.  It will give the economy a boost, just not enough as they believe.

+++++++++++

Remember that statehouse election in Virginia decided by one vote?  The court ruled there is one more vote which makes it a tie.  Guess what happens next - yup - flip a coin to see who wins.

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October 14 1992 an embryo was frozen by anonymous parents attempting in-vitro fertilization.   On November 25, 2017 a baby girl was born after spending 24 years on ice.

Science is awesome.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Wisconsin vs. Miami in the Orange Bowl is rated as the 5th best bowl game of the season. In order of Good games The Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and Peach Bowl are suppose to be better.

-------------------

There is a thing called the generic ballot which has been really really good at predicting the race for Congress.  The blue has been in a steady rise and now has a 49.6% chance of the DNC winning enough seats to take control.  The GOP has a 37.5% chance or maintaining.  Only 319 days to election day.       

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Lots of people taking Friday off so have a happy holiday and BE SAFE. 

2:40 and 9 years

It's funny how we have had 3 systems come through Columbus in the last couple weeks each with less then an inch of snow - BUT NOW - WINTER STORM DYLAN is coming with maybe 2 inch's and it's all the big news.

Be happy it's snow - If the storm tracks as "we" think southern WI will get more freezing rain the snow.  But let this thing wobble (it's like a top spinning) and anything could happen. This is not a HUGE storm by any means but will be a headache one way or the other. Get the salt out.
________________

In city news (as the City attorney sits up a little straighter) there was a prediction that the 2nd closed session of the night would last "thirty-five seconds" - NO - YOU ARE WRONG.  It lasted 2 minutes and 40 seconds which is four hundred and fifty seven percent longer then predicted.

DROP THE MIC!!

However - the real good news and if you have been following this mindless word diarrhea for the last 3579 days you know I have been all in on getting a speed radar sign for James Street. It's a no brainer. Actually I first mentioned the radar on the blog 1202 days ago - - but anyway - - - -

It seems Columbus applied for a mobile speed radar sign 9 years ago and FOR NINE YEARS has been working with the State to get this.  NINE YEARS!   Just buy the freaking thing and then we will have two . . . . . but we got it (not the one I have been itching for - I wanted a permanent one).

One small problem.  There are no squad cars with bumper hitches so it's a little immobile at the moment.  A first world problem.  An easy fix  . . I hope.  The good thing is that in those 9 years they have gotten better.  This one will not only tell you how fast you are going but will also track all sorts of other information like traffic counts, average speed and so forth.

I hope it keeps high score and I hope nobody runs into it the first day it's on James Street.

You know - if we lived in Ethiopia we would not have this problem as only 1 out of every 500 Ethiopians own a car.   FUN FACT

Did I mention that in Singapore you have to apply for a car which costs $50,000 BEFORE you can actually BUY a car? 

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Remember that awesome car I had (AWOOO #3)? The Subaru with 253,000 trouble free miles that will run forever?  I sold it and literally 2 days later the engine sort of blew up.  Threw a rod or something.  sigh!  I refunded the money and it's all fixed now thanks to Big Mikes.

I really hate selling cars to friends exactly for that reason.

I had a friend that purchased a car for like $300 and drove it all around the country.  He was sent to Guam for Desert Storm and he sold the car to another friend. That car never started again.

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In Football - according to Football Outsiders who run 50,000 simulations  - New England is the fav to win the Super Bowl, next are the LA Rams with Philly and Minnesota in a virtual tie.

Their is a 10.4% chance that we will have a Super Bowl XXXIX Rematch between NE and Phi  - zzzzzzzzzzz  talk about boring and not caring one iota. This would be an NFL ratings nightmare.

WHY did the Packers play Rodgers - he cost us the game by under throwing on all three interceptions. He was NOT as healthy as was promised.  What was his QB rating for the game 71.5? 

And that final dagger, the fumble by Allison, you know that play was designed for Adams who was taken out of the game by dirt bag Thomas Davis who wept crocodile tears on the sidelines. 

I'm so sorry I purposely hurt him and got caught! 

*****************

I posted this on Facebook where I get all political (yea - even more then here).

This is a deficit-increasing bill tilts heavily toward the very rich, financing tax cuts on the backs of our children.  These policies not only face the risk of being undone by the near future Democratic majority, but also could prove to be so lopsided as to alienate the more moderate Republicans.

The left, who will be in control soon, will be burdened with the HUGE deficit the GOP is creating. When the economy sucks because of the huge deficit the GOP will tell everyone that the DNC can not govern and handle the economy even when it's their fault in the first place.

Paul Ryan in one sentence said the future will see "so many new jobs and opportunities" and then 5 minute later he said "We can't predict the future".  The GOP is selling Republicans snake oil and forcing all Americans to take out a loan to buy it.

'Are you living in a fantasy world?': 'Today' show host grills Paul Ryan on tax bill.

Well, we shall see.  Everyone will say - it's GREAT the first few years because their pay checks will be bigger . . .until it ends.

And really the bill is not just about economics.  What this bill does is that it tells us the GOP is run by corrupted lawmakers, and easily bought. It tells us they are willing to steal from the young to give to the old, penalize the poor, ignore the sick, and they treasure the idle rich over the working man and they are applauding themselves over their shrewdness.

DILLY DILLY!

---------------------------

Speaking of Trump - he has surpassed expectations.  In November 2016, 46% of Americans said they thought race relations would be worse off (with a racist President). The same poll (Pew Research) says now 60% of Americans say the county is worse off in race relations.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ever think your vote does not count?  In Virginia’s 94th House District, after a recount Democrat Shelly Simonds beat Republican David Yancey by 1 vote.  Yancey was winning by 10 votes before the recount. The Virginia House of Delegates is tied 50-50.  What a nightmare - they will have to work together.

++++++++++++++++++++++

OK OK - I'm getting all worked up. 

Happy Storm Dylan tomorrow.

Grinder out

Winter is coming - and TWA Flight 800

A lot of people complain about the weather and particularly forecasting but forecasting has gotten a lot better in the last few years.

For instance - "we" have known about the coming storm that will hit Thursday for more then a week now.  It was not even a storm but fluid dynamics 2000 miles away gave NOAA a clue something would hit the Midwest somewhere Thursday.   

This is a complicated one.  Right now the unnamed storm is traveling south east and just about the time Columbus/Madison gets the snow, it changes direction and moves north east bringing more rain.  But with this one we are JUST in the dividing line.

A forecast for Madison and a forecast for Columbus could be a difference of 6 inches of snow.  That is why nobody knows nuttin' at the moment except WINTER IS COMING!

The high temp next Tuesday won't hit 0 (ZERO).  But back to the storm.  This will be a 36 hour two pronged event with some sort of precipitation all day Thursday into Friday morning. A break during the day Friday and then the 2nd part of the double hitter Friday night.

 We are looking at  0.3 to 0.4 inches of water which could be 5 inches of snow or wet cold rain. Once this passes it will get REALLY cold with lows 0 or colder and highs near 10 for a week.

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The coming tax breaks for corporations will really help small breweries.  Currently they are charged $7 a barrel in taxes.  The tax break for the first 60,000 barrels will go down to $3.5.  So if you have money in the stock market,  401K OR are a craft brewer - it will be grand. Otherwise, you are screwed.

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TWA Flight 800 - any conspiracy theorists out there?

Remember a long time ago TWA Flight 800 took off and 5 miles off the coast it exploded?  1996.  There were over 200 witnesses that said a missile rose from the water striking the plane.  There were 50 boats in the area and 49 of them confirmed they saw a missile, one boat never answered and was last tracked heading out to sea and never found.

All 230 passengers died.

Investigators conducted interviews with 200 eye witnesses and not one interview was recorded and only the investigators notes were used.  Those notes were never ever shown to the witness to make sure all was correct.  Not one witnesses was ever allowed to testify in court.

ANYWAY - I finished reading a Nelson DeMille book called "Nightflight" which looked into this and the very end DeMille is being interviewed about this.

At the time of the incident he was writing "Plum Island" my favorite DeMille book and it got him thinking.  He started looking at all the weirdness and was amazed at  . . .all the weirdness.  Especially how so many witnesses had drawings of what they saw but every one was called an optical illusion and dismissed.        

At the time of the explosion the internet almost broke as web traffic quadrupled and a Former NTSB investigator Henry Hughes has been quoted that he believes a bomb or a missile caused the crash but, it was ruled a fuel air disaster and case closed.

We shall never know what REALLY happened.

The book?  Weird ending.  It ends with the bombing of the World Trade Centers just as our hero was about to confront the the people hiding the truth.  Everybody dies (except our hero and his wife) along with the tape of the missile that was made by 2 lovers who were making a video of themselves (explained in vivid detail) on the beach.

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Did I mention that 52% of the human race are 100% against the tax bill and 33% are for it? Our democracy at work.

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Of the 3000 largest companies in America.  624 do not have one woman on the board of directors. Woman occupy 16% of all seats on board of directors.

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I've been doing some deep research into 4k or UHD TVs (not the same) and I see 8K TVs are on the horizon.  The 2020 Olympics will be broadcast in Japan on 8K.


I'm not sure my eyes are even 3K.  It's hard to find any TV over 55 inches NOT UHD.   Don't go to Best Buy for BIG TV's  as they have the cheaper models but outstanding <55 inch="" nbsp="" p="" sets.="">
When you see 55 inch UHD going for $1000 but 65 inchers going for $700?? . . . . .there has to be a trade off somewhere.   

SPEAKING OF TVs - we have a 65 inch DLP, rear projection TV that is great - FOR FREE! (no really - FREE).  Come and get it.  It needs a new bulb every 2 years ($40 - super easy to install) but otherwise - a great TV.

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Nuff said

Badugi - the rest of the story

I guess I never finished the Badugi story.

We were all pumped up ready to make our second million with Badugi . . . as soon as it caught on. 

There were only 2 sites that had Badugi ( we had accounts to 27 poker rooms LOL) and the problem was you could either play in dime games (like 10 cents) or $10 games which was outside of our comfort zone.  So we played for dimes and raked in dollar after dollar with hours and hours of play.
I think we won near $10 total just waiting for teh game to catch on . . and nothing ever happened.  Lack of players killed this awesome game.

I tried Omaha Hi-Lo out of boredom.  Entered a tournament by accident my very first time.  OOPS!  So as the first few rounds were being played I was busy reading how to play the game.

The key to winning any long term poker adventure is NOT LOSING.  Winning is easy, not losing is really hard.  So while the tournament was progressing I was on their help page reading the rules and folding every hand.

I played one hand in that entire tournament.  It was the final hand and I came in 2nd.  Love Omaha Hi-Lo but it's like betting on baseball, totally NOT a game I can beat. Way too many things can go wrong.

****************************


Got a cat issue.  Iggy, our large laid back cool cat that DOES NOT want to ever go outside because the food is inside, is having an issue.

We noticed this in the summer and thought it was from a cat fight or something but no, still there and on some other paws also.

Iggy is the "whatever" cat but when Gus was introduced, Sophie the skittery high strung cat was fine after a week and they play together.  But Iggy was the one with issues.

We have never ever seen him licking of fussing.  Looks like a trip to the vet.

The thing is Iggy and Gus have now been seen sleeping together and actually touching.  So that problem is getting a little better.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
In city news - the railing issue is moving forward at government pace.  I think people think that we can go to the local railing store and buy a railing so patrons from The Cage will not stumble out the door and break their ankle.

You would THINK that being inebriated you would be loose and bendy and not stiff.  The worst thing you can do when you fall is try to catch yourself with a stiff arm or whatever.

I don't get drunk (it's really not that much fun) but when I do . . . or the few times I have in my life I get REALLY drunk (like once every 10 years) and the last time I was over loopy I took a magnificent fall out of the bath tub.

OH - I knew I was going down and went to grab the shower bar.   BUT NO!  In that split second my alert brain told me

"DO NOT GRAB THE SHOWER BAR, IT WILL BREAK" so then my brain asked itself  "Brain, if I can't grab the shower bar, what will keep me from falling" and my brain answered.

"FOOL! GRAB ONE END OF THE TOWEL, IT WILL SAVE YOU ".  So I grabbed one side of the towel that was hanging on the bar.  Well, that was a balance fail and I went down flailing at the air.

OH - it was a bad bad fall.  I lay there looking at the ceiling and realized heaven would not have a ceiling. 

I got up, both arms and legs could move and was all good.  In fact the next day it was like it never happened. No bruise, not stiff muscle, nothing. It was like my feet were never above my head at all.

The moral of the story.  If you fall, make sure you are a little tipsy. 

**************

Well . . . that must have been the coffee typing, I got off course.

I walked into the living room and saw this. Sophie sleeps here when the blanky is not on the couch  but Gus decided that if Sophie can do it, he can.

 ****************

New rule in professional golf.  The USGA will no longer allow viewers to call in penalties which have had some stunning results in tournaments.

************

Baseball - I have Yu Darvis on my Strat-o-matic team so when he was pitching in the World Series I was elated . . . except he was a nightmare.  WELL, seems he had a really really simple "tell" and the batters knew exactly what the next pitch was which is why in 2 starts he only lasted 10 outs.

Darvish holds the ball at his side when he gets the sign from the catcher. Whether he re-grips or not as he brings the ball into his glove was the tip-off whether he was going to throw a slider/cutter or a fastball.

WELL - you would think that some very highly paid somebody would have seen this besides Houston Astro players.

++++++++++++++++++

We all know the Eagles lost their starting QB.  There have been 7 times in NFL history where a team that has won 10 games will have a back-up QB in their first post season game.  5 of those 7 times that team has lost their 1st game. But one time the back-up made it to the Super Bowl. Jeff Hostestler.

**********

Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown will end the season with approx 62% of the total yards that Pittsburgh has gained.  Most ever by a duo.

**************

Voting along party lines the FCC dumped Net neutrality.  When your internet service raises rates for access to social media sites, will you pay?  When NETFLIX has to raise rates to get the internet speed needed will you dump NETFLIX?  Thank you GOP for allowing big business to raise rates and making life more expensive while allowing same big business to rake in even higher record profits.

We SHOULD have trickle down already shouldn't we? 

*****************

Business Insider came out with the 6 worst shows on NETFLIX -  I watched 2 of them and DJ watched another one.  We are pathetic.

2nd worst - "Disjointed"  Kathy Bates runs a cannabis shop.  Watched MAYBE 15 minutes - it was 100% trash and did not even raise a smile. An embarrassment to the cannabis community.

WORST - "Iron Fist".  I trudged through this entire series and wish I had those 10 hours back. 

6th worst -"Girlboss"  I know nothing about it and DJ will not admit to it.

***************

WEATHER UPDATE - pretty calm and normal for the next 6 days but there will be a storm somewhere in the Midwest by this time next week.  Starting as rain and ending as snow as the temps will be in the low 40s Thursday and Friday wind chills will be near 0 (ZERO).

Cheers


 

Badugi

During my poker playing days which actually started me blogging, one thing Elwood and I would do was find situations where it was easier to win.

Winning poker was not a problem as we were raking in the money.  I actually took a year off playing because I started to ignore my family . . . YET, I was making $200 a week play $2 poker (4 tables at once for 20 hours a week).  I was getting addicted to winning low stakes poker.

ANYWAY - we would look for games and websites from countries where the players were just learning.  We also noticed that players in the UK played a different style of game. Americans are very analytical going by numbers and percentages while in the UK players would just bludgeon there poker games with aggressive bluffing.

SO - when an Asian game called Badugi started showing up and there were no books or basic strategy to be found - it seemed perfect.  All we had to do was figure out basic strategy since nobody knew what it was we thought this would be yet another way to make money.

Badugi?  Awesome fun game and we even played it on our bowling team when I used to bowl (I had a 299 once - overcooked that last ball, went Brooklyn and and left a pin).  Maybe I'll introduce it in golf next year.

It's like draw poker - you are dealt 4 cards and there is a blind and a small blind like in Hold'm.  There are 3 rounds of betting with 2 rounds of drawing and discarding.

The goal in Badugi is to have a four-card low hand with four different suits, and no pairs. The best possible starting hand therefore is 4-3-2-A (with each card a different suit).

Hands are ranked by the lowest highest card and Aces are always low and straights are ignored. A player with 9-8-4-3 of different suits will lose to a player holding 8-7-3-2 (an ‘Eight Badugi’) of different suits. 6-5-4-A (a ‘Six-Five Badugi’) would lose to a 6-4-3-2 (a ‘Six-Four Badugi’). If the top card is a tie the next card is looked at.

The trick is to have 4 different suits with your 4 cards. If nobody has 4 suits then it goes to the best (or worst actually) 3 card hand.

Try it for fun some night.  It's an awesome little game that died when the NFL and Republicans froze everybody assets overseas.  If you want to piss off people, don't piss off poker players.  There were 8 Republican sponsors for the bill that froze our assets for 6 months overseas and they tried to make online poker illegal by not allowing gambling money into our banking system. The NFL is still around but all 8 sponsors lost their next elections.  Bernie Sanders was the head of the American Poker Alliance.

*****

Football Outsiders says the Packers, with A A Ron R Dogers', have a 1.9% chance of making it to the Conference Championship and a 0.3% chance to win the Super Bowl

The Eagles with Foles have a 56% chance and 14.3% chance to win the SuperBowl right behind Pittsburgh.

The chance for a Keystoned Bowl (Pitts / Philly) is 10.7%

The chance for a rematch of SuperBowl XLV (Pitts / GB) is 0.2%.

*****************************

Side Note - Trump, this morning is at his lowest approval rating ever when you combine all 100 polls into an average. Beating his August 29th rating.  He is at 36.7%

Think one side is fired up?  I saw a graph of the last 20 elections cycles and how many people on each side are running for an office across the country.  By an astronomical number the left is in a feeding frenzy with candidates.   For instance - for the first time EVER, Texas will have at least two candidates in every single house seat. 

I wish I could find that graph but looking at the last 20 elections lets say the average number of liberal candidates for those 20 elections Nationwide was let's say . . 8 and the number of conservative candidates the average was 7.   For the NEXT election the number of liberal candidates is close to 90 (no, really it's THAT crazy) and the Conservative candidates are still 7.

Who is fired up?

++++++++++++

Interest rates ticked up yesterday for the 3rd time. Credit cards, mortgages and loans will all soon go up (if that have not already).

++++

Ever hear of Outreach calling?  They are a telemarketing group that asks for money to help veterans. They keep 90% of the money they collect.  OH - they are a Republican SuperPAC fund raising company that funnels money to support their tea party agenda, NOT to help veterans.

********************

The Russian economic deficit has doubled in  the last year - Trump wants to mirror Russia I think.

*******************

WEATHER - weekend is look good.  36 Saturday and some sun. In fact starting Saturday we will be in the upper 30s and MAYBE even a low 40 by next Thursday and then the bottom drops up for NEXT weekend.  No snow for a while and lost of sun with a few clouds.







   

Charles Barkley dunks Roy Moore.

So while everybody is complaining about their property taxes going up (we went up $300 but are still over $1000 below 5 year ago) something happened down south that drew my attention.

We all know by now that while Trump is somehow claiming victory (no he really is) Roy Moore lost.  I'm giving Charles Barkley a big high five as I believe he was a huge deciding factor.  When The Round Mound of Rebound came out and told his fellow black community members to  "Stop looking like idiots" it had to help as they came out in huge numbers even with the voter suppression.

DJ and I laughed when we saw the two campaign headquarters.  Jones had younger people of all colors celebrating and the Moore camp was literally nothing but old white people sitting glumly.

So Trump has now backed 3 candidates in 3 months and has lost every one. But the BIG loser besides Moore is Steve Bannon.  Bannon lost this for the Republicans, clear and simple. He and Trump were the ONLY ones that wanted Moore to win.

Yesterday I was looking at Twitter because Strat-o-matic is putting out fielding ratings for next year (more on this later) and I saw Chuck Todd tweet something interesting in the afternoon.

He said if the Alabama race was an NFL football game Moore would be a -3 point favorite only because he has home field advantage. This means that Jones would be a +3 underdog and the SMART money would be all over Jones.  This was my first indication that Jones actually had a chance although I was still pessimistic.

ANYWAY - America did not change when Trump was elected.  America was exposed but not fundamentally changed.

OH - last night DJ and I decided we needed to celebrate and open a beer.  Gus decided to celebrate by going to the cat box and munching on some cat poop.  We all have our own way of celebrating  I guess.

OH2 - remember the seat Jones won was held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

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Trumps Department of Labor is trying to pass a bill that will allow restaurants to take wait staff tips and redistribute them to the non-wait staff. This will allow restaurants to take the tips from servers and redistribute them among un-tipped staff such as dishwashers. But it doesn’t require that those tips be redistributed among un-tipped staff — so legally, as long as the tipped employees are paid minimum wage, the restaurants can just keep the confiscated money.

Seems fair doesn't it.  Is this anti-trickle down?

++++++++++++++++++++++++

People, even I, do not understand fully what it's like to be poor.  Elwood has had a track phone with limited minutes for the last decade. His sister would up his minutes every month.  I think he would he 1 hour of talk time.

Big deal right?  Well, we put him on OUR family plan and purchased him a new flip phone. WELL, his elation is significant.  I never realize how much he would appreciate unlimited minutes.

He said he has friends he can finally talk too because he is not worried about minutes.  How can you have a nice conversation knowing that every minute of talking is taking away future minutes you might REALLY need.

Small things like pens.  He asked if I had any extra pens.  REALLY?  I have BOXES of pens.  But the poor literally have no money to buy a pen and they don't go banks for a free pen or dentists offices for free pens.  All the places with free pens, poor people do not go too.

It's funny and sad when I hear "rich" people like you and me say "just take a bus and get an ID" when buses cost money. If you can't justify buying a pen because it takes away from food money . . . . . think how expensive an extra bus ride is

*************************   

We have heard of the fatbergs that are crippling the water distribution systems in the UK.  We have that problem in Columbus which is costing the city a pretty penny but the REAL problem is baby wipes.

93% of the clogs are from baby wipes  - PLEASE PLEASE - do not flush ANYTHING down the toilet that is not poop or toilet paper.

+++++++++++++++++++

So some fielding ratings came out and Ryan Braun is listed as a 3e4 in the outfield (LF I presume) which is average range and good glove.  Errors are really meaningless in the whole scope of things in fielding as range factor is much more important.  You can make 1 error a year if you never get to a ball.  So Braun being average (one of his best ratings ever) is a good thing.  Now where will they play him next year.

Remember Jean Segura former Brewer SS?   He is rated as a 4e27 which is literally one of the worst fielding SS's in the Majors.

**********************

Seems our DIRECT TV was a Genie issue.  Our mini Genies were upgraded but the software in them did not really talk to the software in the old Genie (the main box), so they gave us a new main box.

Seems DIRECT TV is having huge issues with ATT especially their help centers.

The sad thing is we lost everything on the DVR including 31 episodes of Outlander.  DIRECT TV wants to have everything in the DVR on the cloud but the FCC does not allow it.

*********************

I've been trying to download the Uber app just so I have it. Seems Columbus has two Uber drivers and I was curious. 

+++++++++++++++++++

Everyone hates Prince Charles but knowing the whole story I feel a little sad for him.  He never really wanted to merry Princess Diana. His one true love has always been Camilla Parker Bowles
 but he was not allowed to marry her because of rules and the issues of Prince Edward VIII who abdicated.  The royal family did not want ANOTHER abdication and disallowed any marriage.

So after years and years of looking and with the brutal murder of his best friend Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and the rest of his family by the IRA he was sort of lost and floundering.

FINALLY he HAD to merry SOMEBODY and Diana stumbled into his life.  Diana was very very immature and star struck and compassionate to his depression and they sort of hit it off.  He never really loved her but was sort of forced to merry.

Long story short and less boring - it was FUBR on all sides. He was put in a horrible situation by the Royal Family but it was not totally the Royal Family's fault.



 

Nobody ever got fired for buying an IBM (as pertained to sports) & Mahlon Mitchell

In the Packer game there are 2 minutes and 39 seconds left in the game.  Cleveland has the ball on their 37 yard line and it's 3rd and 4 and they are up by 7.   At that moment, Cleveland has a 96% chance to win their first game of the year.

Not gonna happen!

Davante Adams becomes the 4th player in NFL history to score the game tying TD to go into overtime and the game winning TD in overtime.  The last time a player did this?

Last year in the Superbowl, James White.

**************************

FUN FACT - in the first 13 weeks of the NFL.  When a team has 3rd and 10+ and the QB throws a pass LONGER then 10 yards, that pass is converted into a first down 42% of the time.

In that same scenario, 3rd and 10 and the QB throws a pass shorter then 10 yards, it is converted into a first down 12% of the time.  DON'T DO THAT!

FUN FACT - NEVER PUNT - well, not literally never.

Look at the actual statistics.

You have the ball on your 5 yard line - you go for it and miss. The other team gets the ball on the 5 and will score 96% of the time.  IF YOU PUNT - the other team gets the ball on the 40 yard line and will score 77% of the time.   A 15% difference - however, that is if you did not get your 1st down.  Punting you have ZERO chance of scoring but if you go for it you have basically a 50% chance of making that 1st down.  Of course if it's 4th and 40 that 50% chance goes downhill but you get the idea.

Bear with me a second - In the awesome Netflix series "Halt and Catch Fire" about the creation of the first laptop by the competitors of IBM.  the line "Nobody ever got fired for buying an IBM" is spoken when they are arguing why people are not buying THEIR computer.

Same with major sports coaches and managers.  Nobody ever got fired for NOT punting, or nobody ever got fired for NOT bunting (weird, same word, different first letter).

NFL and MLB strategy is generations behind where the game is now. BUT - managers and coaches are so afraid of being different there’s no development, no evolution of the game.

Look at the issues in baseball where you now have shifts.  I literally heard MLB announcers state that shifts should be illegal because it hurts the game.  They said sabrmetrics and analytics should not be part of baseball. Science and baseball should not intermingle.

WHAT? Seriously?  are they from Alabama?   

Another strategy that statistically is awesome.  You should ALWAYS onside kick. ALWAYS (unless you are the NE Patriots). There have been high schools and one collage team that onside kicked 100% of the time and never ever punted.  They had great success.

I'm not sold on the onside kick thing as the numbers do not seem to add up.  Maybe it's difference in NCAAF.  However - the average kickoff in the NFL ends up at the 21 yard line (Packers 22.9).  The average onside kick ends up at the 47 yard line, however you get the ball back 20% of the time.

SO - 20% of the time you get the ball on your opponents 47 yard line with a great chance of scoring and 80% of the time you lose 26 yards but your opponents have only a 6% greater chance of scoring with those extra yards.

Worth the risk?

*A lot of these numbers came from advancedfootballanalytics.com     

OH OH  - Speaking of onside kicks.  Did you see The Patriots onside kick last night? WORST EVER (well, besides the Packers)  I guess they never tried one before.

https://youtu.be/8eWp-MGA0cw

***************************

The next liberal dude review from my political professor buddy.

Mahlon Mitchell – Labor leader Milwaukee Firefighters. He was the losing VP nominee in the recall election and performed satisfactorily. Unlike Lt.G. Rebecca Kleefisch, who believes gay men want to marry clocks and tables.

If he can excite (Mitchell is black) Milwaukee blacks to vote it would be important. The falloff of black Democrats in Milwaukee is in large part why Trump carried the state and why Walker has held steady since winning the Governor Chair. How much of the fall out was opting out versus obstructed by the Voter ID Law out? Worth keeping an eye on Mitchell, I voted for him in the past as well he is acceptable at the moment.

+++++++++++++++++++

The Crown.  I've always been sort of a Monarchy enthusiast so watching The Crown is a must.  There is another show on Netflix that covers The House of Windsor and WHO KNEW !  their was not one drop of English blood in The House of Windsor when they changed their name from Gotha.

They were 100% German and changed their name to Windsor (the name of the castle they lived in)  when the Germans bombed London in WWI.

+++++++++++++++++++

You know,  if Roy Moore wins today it hurts Republicans because this child thing will not go away.  In Wisconsin a House Rep has submitted new rules that up the age of Pages and Interns so Moore will not have access to children. 

Our Government protecting children from our government.

Speaking of that vote.  Most polls show Moore leading by 1 to 5 points . . .EXCEPT the Fox News poll which has Jones leading by 10 points.  It's almost like that make things up.

Trump ratings?  2nd lowest ever as of this morning taking 100 polls and averaging them.  August 25 and 26 his approval rating dropped to 36.8%. This morning he is at 37.0%.  ODDLY Fox News has not run a Presidential poll since early October.

++++++++++++++++++

France is creating a 30 gigawatt solar farm that will cost 25 billion euro and create tens of thousands of jobs.  Meanwhile in the US we canceling all of the incentives for solar and wind farms so that 3 or 400 coal miners can head back underground to save America.  LITERALLY sticking our heads into the sand to Make America Great Again. 

**********************

Ever watch Ryan ToysReview on Youtube?  He's a 6 year old that opens packages, plays with the toys and then reviews that toy.  From June 2016 to June 2017 he made $11 million from Youtube - America is already great.  Well, until Net Neutrality happens.

____________

WEATHER

A small "warming" trend is in our future. but these little clippers keep coming.

What is happening is that the jet stream west of Seattle keeps diving south and small little eddies keep breaking off and spinning their way towards Wisconsin.  Another one will hit us tomorrow with another 1-2 inches of snow.

I'm not as optimistic as the talking heads on TV about this weekend and believe it will be colder then they are telling us but we should be in the upper 20s and upper 30s by Monday

0 for 3, DIRECT TV FUBR

WELL - too bad I never really got to see the Packer game.  DIRECT TV Genie issues so three touchdowns and a fake punt all happened while our three TVs were frozen on the last play.  I was FURIOUS and let DIRECT TV know it.

Good thing that happened before Elwood and I lost all 3 of our fanduel games or I would have become a berserk unit (like in an Avalon Hill war game we had called Platoon Leader).

Having Gus want attention ALL DAY did not help my mood one bit. Of course then Gus starts throwing up this morning at 4:30 all over the place (he's fine now) and I'm so so groggy.

OH OH - yesterday morning I got out early to take photos of James Street where THE CURB thing in front of The Cage is an issue.  Of course patrons ask if I'm with the Press and I say I'm with the city trying to figure out the curb railing issue and BAM I'm getting yelled at by 2 bar people and one guy that pulls over in a truck. Talk about starting the day off GREAT!

So while I'm being spoken too I decide the best thing to do is some personality mirroring,  head bobbing and I throw in some cuss words on my own and then things settled down, since, well,  they were absolutely right in my view. 

So The Curb is being looked into more seriously hopefully this week.

Yesterday was not a day that will go down as a wonderful day.

I was playing around with some filters with a boring shot.

*****************************

Then there is this election and all other elections and the liberal media are doing exactly what they did to get Trump elected.  Never talking about issues but only talking about how bad and corrupt the other guys is. Anyone know what Doug Jones stands for?   Didn't think so.  It's all Moore and all Trump all the time.

PEOPLE - It's TRUE - even bad press is good advertising.  DID YOU NOT LEARN ANYTHING?

The "liberal" media is the best thing the far right have going for them.  You know more about Moore then Jones don't you?  17% of Alabamans live in poverty yet republicans down there say all is good. Stay the course. Those 17% have a hard time voting anyway.

So, with our own election in Wisconsin I thought I would reprint this from a friend who is a political professor at the UW and his views on the left side candidates.

First off - Tony Evers – Wi Superintendent of Schools: Evers has a few pluses. First he has actually run and won more than once for statewide office. Second, during a time when the Republicans literally are going after public education because they perceive it as Liberals being hurt financially, having a champion of public education is a plus. He can call BS on Walker when he tries to pretend he has been good for education in Wisconsin, as the Ph.D. and "advanced degree holders" flee Wisconsin in historic numbers that are so obvious even Walker himself has noticed. I have voted for Evers in the past. I don’t consider myself decided for 2018 but if I was voting right now Evers would likely be my choice today.

*******************

OH - since I am not running for office I am backing Jason Theilen.  I felt I needed to stay in office until I knew someone with more energy (and smarter) then I would run and this dude is outstanding.  Fantastic ideas and by far a great replacement if he wins.  

+++++++++++++++++++

Did you know Puerto Rico has not gotten one dime of the $4.9 billion short term loan promised from our government for hurricane help?   Seems they are too busy with tax reform to help Americans.  64 people died during the hurricane and 1,052 have died because of no drinking water or electricity SINCE the hurricane.  Your government hard at work making money for large corporations.

They came up with that number by comparing the average number of deaths during that time frame with this year.   BUT - our government does not care for it's citizens since they can't vote.  Only on tax reform for old white people with money.      

One thing that is making people angry is there is a new thing going through congress that will allow all restaurants to take waitress tips and distribute them to the rest of the staff. 

Talking to a few waitresses this is already done illegally if you give a tip by credit card as some large chains will keep a portion of that tip for themselves.  NEVER give a tip by CC, only cash!!  

*******************

Back to football - I HOPE Rodgers DOES NOT PLAY this year.  WHY risk it.  Seriously - the Packers have ALMOST zero chance of making the playoffs.  

I read an article about the current coaches in the NFL and how they are all so . . . bad.  The gist of the article was that the NFL keeps hiring the old school coaches that were really good when they have a great QB but then are so mundane when they don't.  YET - they are hired because they were so good with a great QB.  

Things like punting when it has been proven to be a bad strategy almost ALWAYS.  Or attempting to run kick returns back which is almost ALWAYS bad.  Even if you run the ball to the 45 there is a 50% chance there is a penalty.  

The 23 yard line is the key.  Get to the 24 and you have a positive chance of scoring get to the 22 and you have a negative chance of scoring.  YET - old school thought says go for it. 


Nuff said - I need coffee. 

See ya      

So much sex in 1975

DJ is starting a scrapbook of all of her dads clippings and memorabilia and one of the items was from the Wisconsin State Journal from 1975. We started to look through the paper and were amazed that

there were 5 large ad's for massage parlors.

Along with the massage parlors University Square Four had The Sting and some "X" rated movie and Jimmy Hoffa was being looked for (not at U Square).

I was making furniture in Jefferson in those years and had a GREAT parlay card system for betting on football.  Parlay cards were the only way to bet on football in the 70s and it was gold and easy.  Since the cards had to come out early you would always see the lines change in the newspapers.  If Green Bay was a -6 favorite but by Friday they had gone down to -3  you would take the OTHER team at +6 and with 4 different colored cards floating around there were always good situations.

Only once was there an issue with getting paid when 12 guys pitched in $10 each for a 10 team parlay AND WON!!  Elwood and I had to wait a week to get paid our little bit of winnings.

ANYWAY - just a memory flashing into my brain.

The REAL news is that because I have not had any sexual misconduct issues surface (because like MOST males I'm not a deviant) I feel I am no longer qualified to be a politician so I will not be running for alderman this next election. 

I'm just burned out after 5 years. Yea - I went to EVERY council meeting the year before I lost to Bomcamp.  I will truly miss being on Council but it really gets in the way of vacations and traveling which I now have time to do.

I also did not want to step aside until I knew there was someone else with more energy and some fantastic ideas that would be running for my spot.  I REALLY will miss being on council and hopefully I can get on some committees.  I think I can do more good for Columbus outside of politics as many of the things I WANTED to do had to be put to rest for 5 years so I'm not actually disappearing.

I think the Columbus government has come a long long way the last 5 years and am proud to be part of the unprecedented pro business growth the council created in Columbus.

So that is the big news.

*************

DO ME A FAVOR - call Town and Country Sanitation   (1-800-626-1915) and tell them to stop littering our highways. TWICE I have followed a big truck that is just having all sorts of garbage fly out of their trucks.  I saw one big piece if Styrofoam hit a car ahead of me and it was sickening to see so much garbage mile after mile flying out of the top of their trucks. TWICE.  I even took photos.

**********

The GOP is changing rules for waitresses by allowing restaurants to redistribute tips to non-tip employees.

**************

If baking a cake for a gay wedding is endorsing homosexuality then isn't voting for a pedophile is endorsing pedophilia.

***************

Depeche Mode, one of my all time favorite bands as sold more concert tickets then any other artist in the world so far this year, 1.26 million tickets for their tour.

*****

Rubik's Cube - can you solve it in 5 seconds?  That is the record.  My record is NEVER!  a 14 year old solved it IN 5 SECONDS.

https://youtu.be/vh0W8E4cNkQ

It takes longer to get past the ad then to solve the puzzle


Have a great day

WINTER IS COMING

Every other Saturday I pick up Elwood and bring him to Columbus for food and beer. Since he is 300% below poverty level I feed him up and get him outside.  His apartment is one of those hotel rooms that are now apartments.  $600 a month for a place with no real refrigerator and a rule that you cannot open the windows for fresh air (because they pay all utilities).

ANYWAY - since it was going to be maybe the last good grillin' day I thought I would get some thick steaks and celebrate the end of life as we know it before WINTER.    

I looked to make sure cooking times were correct for a 1.75 inch steak and it said the steak needs to "rest" off the grill for 10 minutes as the temperature actually climbs when you take it off the grill.    

That rattled around my brain for a day.  "The steak will get hotter once off the grill".   How is this possible.  You take away the energy and it STILL heats?   WELL, I think America is missing an opportunity here.  

If it continues to heat OFF the grill, why not make power plants OUT OF MEAT!  Free energy. Get a huge piece of meat, heat it and then for 10 minutes you get free energy.  Could a very large piece of meat heat Columbus for a day?  AND THEN - once the heat dwindles we could feed the homeless - WIN WIN. 

Or how about making meat sleeping bags for the poor (not to be confused with what the urban dictionary defines as a meat sleeping bag).  Find a good spot under a bridge,wrap yourself in the meat sleeping bag, heat it up and  keep warm for the night. When you wake up you can have a little beef jerky breakfast and be ready for the day.

I'm pretty sure I'm onto something.

**************************

I sold my car and am now sad.  The Subaru (AWOOO II) was a fantastic car for the 210,000 miles I put on it.  Only one real issue was about 7 years ago when all of my gauges  stared waving at me. A major tune-up  took cares that.  Our 3 car garage was really only a 2 car because the 3rd spot was REALLY small.  Plus with two huge garbage and  recycle bins in the garbage just no room. 

BTW - loving the barrels. You can put a LOT of garbage in them and the world stays clean. Our neighborhood has a lot less garbage flying around on trash day (but not perfect yet). 

WITH THAT SAID - MAJOR WIND is coming later today as the c c c cold front passes by and WINTER IS HERE.  Plus a reinforcing blast Wednesday.  Expect wind chills Saturday to start out in the zero area.  Once the rain starts later tonight after sunset you know the end of fall is near.  The other side of that rain is WINTER. 

*******************

Fanduel - went 10-3 yesterday thanks to the Packers Jamaal Williams.  Actually 21% of Fandule players had Jamaal Williams but only 13% owned Kenyan Drake of Miami.  Both running backs were key and were in ALL of our games.  Kenyan Drake was an injury play. 3rd string and really cheap.

A rule of thumb is if you can get 2 times the worth of a player you will do well.  For instance  Williams $5,700 so we were HOPING to get 11.4 points (5.7*2).  He earned 19.3 and Drake was $5,800 and he earned 21.6

So the last 3 weeks Elwood and I are 22-4 in Fanduel with 3 of those losses by less then 5 total points (very close)  We lost 1 game yesterday by 0.22 points which is 2.2 yards for ANY wide receiver. 

*****************

       Gus feels so unattractive.  He got the snip on Thursday and when he goes to lick . . there ain't nothing there. 

HOWEVER - he does seem a little more restrained and not so . . . excitable.  My God we take him to the dog park and there are no dogs even CLOSE to his energy level.   Luckily his inappropriate behavior might calm down and he would be forced to testify.

*************************************

Remember when games were good and taught life lessons?

*******************

One of the best economic indicators is RV sales.  This year 419,000 RVs were sold which is the most EVER.   The RV industry has had a tremendous run since Obama was elected and is now in it's 8th straight year of rising sales.  RV sales are sensitive to housing prices and gas prices.

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I'm not sure if Wisconsin would have won Saturday night if they would have gotten to play in the final four anyway if you listen to the reason Ohio State was not invited.  What a sham the NCAAF is.  It's never who is the best - it's who can bring in the most money.

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OH - Green Bay still has a 7% chance to make the Playoffs - I say go for draft picks

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Seems December is a bad time for the gas fireplace to not work.  We are scheduled for a Jan 4th visit for fix it.   hmmmmmmm

A Friday blog full of stuff

Ever hear of Lt Heather Lucky Penney - you really should know her name.  She was the pilot of the  F16 that was tailing United Airlines Flight 93 on 911.  Her job was to give her life by smashing her fighter into the cockpit of the airliner.

Seems she was the only F16 in the area and was not caring any ordinance to actually shoot down the plane. Ejecting was not an option as both planes were going so fast her F16 could miss.  Thus - her orders were to fly INTO the jet which she was prepared to do.

OH - and her father MIGHT be the pilot of that plane as he was flying a commercial airliner on that path.

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I've been seeing some posts about GOOD RIDDANCE to 2017.  In the last 2 summers I have lost a mother and a father in law so yea - good riddance to the last TWO years  - HOWEVER - there have been some very very good things happening in the REST of the world.

The first Miss Wheelchair World was crowned. Thank you Poland

The first usable bionic eye was "installed" and IT WORKS.  A blind mother saw her children for the very first time this year.

Woman are now allowed to drive in Saudi Arabie

The snow leopard is no longer on the endangered list (not so the Trumps can shoot them)

LEGO NASA female astronauts are a hit

Same sex marriage's are now legal in Taiwan

The first trans woman was elected in the US

House cleaning now counts as a physical activity - 30 minutes of house cleaning a day will reduce all sorts of bad body things according to a study

Drinking coffee increases your lifespan.  By drinking 4 cups a day you reduce your risk of death by 64% above people that do not drink coffee

Peanut allergies will soon be cured.  an Australian research team has been working on a probiotic-based treatment that allowed 80 out of 100 children with sever peanut allergies to eat peanuts.  Four years later 70% of those could still eat peanuts

Creepy males are on the run (and no longer doing the news). 

A 9 year old born with HIV as been basically cured.

Wax worms are eating plastic to their hearts content. One worm can eat 92 milligrams of plastic in 12 hours. Only 80 million tons to go - PER YEAR.

A new habitable planet has been found - 40 light years from here. There COULD be liquid water on the planet that orbits Trappist-1

World poverty is decreasing and world hunger is at it's lowest point in the last many many years.

Trans people are now protected in Canada (going the opposite direction of America) 

So - it's not all bad.

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Gus became a non-puppy yesterday.  We pick him up later today.  Last night DJ and I spent a calm, relaxing non-stressful evening to ourselves for the first time in 4 months. It was glorious.  Gus is loved but is CONSTANTLY needing attention.

The cats were calmer also.  Or they were cold because our fireplace is broken.

We could actually eat on the couch if we wanted too.

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According to reports from people that were on Trumps campaign they feel he was suffering form early onset dementia.  Well, at least he controls the nukes and REALLY wants war with North Korea to prove he is a bad ass.

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Puerto Rico still has no real power or drinking water for 50% of it's citizens AND the new GOP tax bill will raise imports and exports by 20% which will crush their fragile economy.

They LOVE the American people but feel Trump is giving them the finger with very very little help in any way even though they are Americans.

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Japan is dying.  Literally. They are losing 300,000 people a year from old age and only 100,000 immigrants are coming to Japan.

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Children 7-10 in the UK are consuming 60 grams of sugar a day.  To combat this the UK is putting restriction on advertising for sugar cereal. WELL, Kelloggs is claiming that Tony the Tiger is an ADULT cartoon not meant of children.

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And of course the fiscally responsible GOP want to raise our National Debt by 1 TRILLION dollars. But don't worry - we will all be rich when the trickle down hits us in 10 years!  Speaking of trickle down, Cisco, Coke-a-Cola and  a plethora of companies are saying any corporate tax cuts will go directly to it's investors which is great if you are invested in the stock market (notice how excited the market is lately)  Seems "trickle down" only helps people that don't really need help.

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speaking of the Packers - REALLY? People are still saying "we"  have a chance at the playoffs?  Are you drinking the orange kool-aid?  The Packers have no chance at the playoffs. "We" need to run the table and hope for 5 other teams to completely collapse.   DRAFT PICKs are what we need.

WITH THAT SAID - Packers should win this Sunday!  In fact in Fanduel I'll be playing Williams as one of my running backs (the very cheap one). In fact I think MANY MANY people will have Williams on their line-ups this week.

Sadly - Ohio St has a 56% chance of beating Wisconsin Saturday.

In the NFL - since 2011, 31 NFL teams have used 3 Starting QBs.  The only team NOT to have 3 QBs  The NY Giants (maybe they should)

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WEATHER - the only chance of ANY rain in the next 10 days will be Sunday night to Monday night.  Tuesday WINTER BEGINS as a rip in the Polar Vortex smashes into Wisconsin and will remain here for most of December.  Below average temps (not reaching 32) for 3 or 4 weeks it's looking like.  WINTER IS COMING! 

Cheers - GO BUCKY.