America at full employment SUCKS

I seem to have a small bout of writers block so I'm just typing.

FIRST - GREAT job Columbus City Council and or police department - having NO PARKING on Avalon on Trick or Treat was brilliant. Avalon is a catastrophic accident waiting to happen.  I swear a kid will be hit by a car before sidewalks are put in in that section.  I've almost been hit and I have almost hit pedestrians - ESPECIALLY when the sun is directly in your eyes.  Mark my words, there will be death on that street.

BRAVO!

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Yesterday (Tuesday) DJ and I went up to Kewaunee, about a 2.5 hour drive.  Rather boring but as we enter the city the trees just EXPLODED with color.  Where is this in southern Wisconsin??  This put me in a better mood as after 2.5 hours of CONSTANT Walker billboards with a ratio of perhaps 30 Walker and cronie signs to 1 Evers sign  it's rather an infuriating drive.

Seriously - how can so many Wisconsin residents be so gullible and believe all the lies we are hearing from the Walker people, they just make up shit now and people believe them. 

ANYWAY - we were looking for a good burger joint and drove to Algoma as there was a REALLY good place called Skaliwags.

Sadly the "burger" part was closed for the season but around the corner was a little bar that shared the kitchen also called Skaliwags.

    
We walk in and it looks like a typical dive style bar with 4 or 5 tiny tables and some worker people sitting at the bar.  We take 2 tables (they are tiny tables) and order some drinks and ask for a menu.  Well, the menu is on the chalk board. 

hmmmmm - not EXACTLY what we were expecting

That's it?  No burgers?  hmmmmmm  Well . . . . . we decided to be adventurous and it was late and we did have a 2.5 hour drive home so it was not like we were up for driving around to look . . . . I ordered the Cajun filet, Ralls (brother)  had the Bleu cheese filet and DJ and Stacy Grilled Romaine.

WOW - AMAZING.  Seriously.  I cannot remember having a steak where a knife was never needed.

  So - still have no idea how good the burgers are. Maybe next summer when the other side of the bar opens again. As we left the place was packed (meaning there were 10 people there).

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Monday DJ and I went to see First Man at the Palace Cinema.  It was a 1:00 show with maybe 10 people in the theater.  We got a baby size popcorn (for $1 more we could have had a HUGE bucket) and the very first thing I did was tip it totally upside down on floor next to me.  DAMN IT . . and then the movie starts.

The first scene is Neil Armstrong test flying the X1 and it is TENSE . REALLY TENSE!. Shaking camera and OMG it was tense.  However - as the movie continues that shaking camera is a thing.  It's constantly shaking like a hand held non-stabilized camera.  It's a little irritating actually.

When I am talking to someone close up he is not CONSTANTLY moving around jittery.  Not still for one second.  After 40 minutes DJ starts to get sick from motion sickness and leaves just before a puke fest would have happened as Gemini starts twirling in a circle once every second.  It would have been bad.       

Another person left after that.  I endured (no issues here) but it's not a stand up and cheer kind of movie.  A lot of deaths and a real somber movie.  Very good but certainly not a happy happy flick.

I would give it 4 out of 5 starts except for the audience getting sick part so only 3.5 out of 5 (or 7 out of 10). 

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Packers dumped Ha Ha as he was gone at the end of the season anyway (Free Agent) and Monty for reason we all know about.  McCarthy will be gone at the end of the season unless they go DEEP into the playoffs . . . . .which could happen as nobody in our division wants to win.  Get hot at the right time and all that.

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Milwaukee Bucks are the last team standing with zero losses and are 7-0 playing VERY good teams.  RPI-wise (balderdash is turning red) the best in the NBA.

RPI - I think RPI is horrific for NCAA football, makes zero sense. But in the NBA where all teams are a lot closer to being evenly matched (not like in football where you can be a 30 point favorite) and play a lot of games.  NHL might be good also.   NCAA Basketball might be good once they are in league play.

The Bucks are 7-0.  The teams they have played have a .557 winning pct before they played the Bucks. THOSE teams opponents have a .557 winning pct and the Bucks have had the 5th hardest schedule so far. So good teams beating other good teams are losing to the Bucks.   

With that said - the 4th quarter in-game strategy where you bet ON the team that has lost the first 3 quarters to cover the spread is now 17-6 this year for a sweet 73%. 

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OMG - I have a meeting - gotta run -  sorry - we're looking into a deck augmentation and had a meeting. MAN things are expensive these days.  With a lack of skilled craftsman it's crazy.  My brother LITERALLY could not find one company to pour his driveway.  Called like 3 places and not one showed up for an estimate.  He has a new furnace but nobody will install it.

America is at full employment and it SUCKS because of the lack of workers.   A friend wanted to build a brewery - NOPE - there are no construction companies that could do it, found one but they were charging almost the entire project as overtime.  No workers. 

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Anyway - that is it for now.   

 

NBA - Survivor / lithium / and political garbage

Being the only NBA fan in Wisconsin I feel I need to say this - Giannis Antetokounmpo is the first NBA player since Wilt Chamberlain to score at least 25 points and 15 rebounds in the first 4 games of the season.    A bona fide Hall of Famer.  Geez the guy is 23 years old and is in his 6th NBA season!

OH - nobody seems to mind there are now advertisements on players uniforms and how the NBA is thinking about changing the 3 point line to NOT be in the corners.  Getting too easy it seems.

Heck even Milwaukee is throwing up 45 attempts now - AGAIN - analytics are killing sports. All that sciencey stuff.   I KID! 

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Survivor - of COURSE I am watching Season 37 of Survivor. It's outstanding.  First there was a typhoon during the 1st three days where everyone was freezing and wet. No fire and poor shelter no food.  Three Days.

Then one contestant, because of the weather had to be airlifted out with a REALLY bad back injury, another one quit a few days later with a knee injury. Then 2 weeks later the entire operation had to be evacuated to safety as a Cat 2 typhoon decimated the islands.

And this is not even going into the outstanding cast of characters.  One is a totally nerdie geek who should be on The Big Bang Theory that is literally a puzzle genius. He writes computer programs on how to solve puzzles which is a key to many of the competitions.

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I finished season two of "The Man in the High Castle" which is a slow moving alternate reality thriller.   I purchased Amazon Prime JUST for that show. Watched 3 episodes and thought it was slow moving but then when I saw the Season 2 trailer, AHH HAAA - THAT is what it's about and the last 5 episodes were outstanding . . . in a slow moving thriller kind of thing.  BRAVO!!

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Remember to buy STUFF before January 1st when the 25% tariffs go into effect.  Almost EVERYTHING will go up in price.  We got an email from Steinhaufels saying they are buying more warehouses and stocking then to the rafters with furniture because furniture will zoom up in price in 2019.  Luggage, bikes, toys, cars  . . you name it.

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How are those bike rakes in downtown Columbus coming along.  I remember the CSS task force actually had plans on where they would go in and we set borrowed money aside for them. Are they in yet?  Along with the trash cans?  Or was all that just talk.

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Then there is Brad Schimel who attended the Alliance Defending Freedom get togather AND kept it a secret (not too well I guess).  Alliance Defending Freedom?  Yea - their goal is to "re-criminalize homosexuality"  It's a "Christian" extremist hate group with a long and inglorious track record of spreading the most vile and deceitful lies about the LGBTQ community.  And he is our AG.

After travel records of his Ass't AGs came to light Schimel was confronted about why he hid it from voters that he attended a hate group gathering in secret. Schimel responded to paraphrase him: All I felt was love at their meeting. Maybe the love of hating the LGBTQ community but that is it. He lied about attending a hate group and then spun them as a loving group. People who claim that all LGBTQ people are pedophiles, alcoholics, etc.   

It's always good to have more hate in Wisconsin Government. Right? Hate thy neighbor . . unless he is an old white straight male it seems.

Anybody watch Making a Murder 2?  Pretty much shows Wisconsin only protects their police and not the citizens.

DJ dealt with that family BEFORE the NETFLIX shows and she was NOT a fan of the show. Yet - she has changed her mind when police decide to cover up their cover ups. They know who the REAL killer is but  . . . . .  it would look bad

I mean - a guy spends time in prison on a false, trumped up charge. They let him out with $32 million dollars of tax payer money . . . . and THEN he decides to kill for real?  Seriously?  They KNOW who the real killer is but it would look bad to admit there was a MASSIVE cover-up.

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Take your lithium.  It seems there are trace amount of lithium in many communities drinking water. Oddly in the areas with those trace amounts there is a large drop in suicides. In some areas 40-50% less.

When water companies started putting fluoride into our drinking water there was a drop in cavities of 25%.  Maybe we need lithium . ESPECIALLY now with the woman groper who blames CNN for bombs is President.

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An interesting thing about CBD oil. The non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Nobody really knows if it works on it's own.  There have been no studies.  OH - it works with THC - that is a for sure thing.  But on it's own, nobody really knows except for anecdotal evidence.

Meanwhile, in Canada, four days after legalizing cannabis for recreational purposes Canada is almost out of pot. The weird thing is in Canada you can only buy beer in grocery stores and only liqueur in SAQs of government run liqueur stores.  You can only buy cannabis in those government stores and they were sold out.

$6.5 BILLION in sales is predicted for year 1.

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Weather - pretty much an every other day thing - showers, sun showers, sun showers, sun. Nothing really to get excited about, highs 48 to 55 . . . . EXCEPT, I will be in Las Vegas a week from now with temps in the middle 70s and sun. 

Cheers
 

Arby's Ham sliders SUCK. / RPI / upcoming election

The rest of the story.  After contacting AMS about the home theater weirdness they sent a link.

help! someone else's device are connected to my spotify

Seems we're not the ONLY ones to have this issue.

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Brewers - WOW - that had to be the best 6 or 7 weeks I have ever enjoyed.  The Dodgers found the Brewers weakness and exploited it.  Not that it was a secret.  The lack of being able to hit GOOD left handed pitching. 

One other thing that most people are ignoring, after LA won the series Manny Machado pointed at the stands and grabbed his crotch. What a classy guy THAT guy is.

119 days to pitchers and catchers reporting. 

OH OH - the 7th game of the NLCS was the ONLY game of game 163 and ALL of the playoff games where the Brewers were favored. 

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Got a trip to Las Vegas coming.  My two systems are doing well.  Bridgejumper, my NFL system is a pedestrian 6-4 but (as I have been told) if anybody can hit 60% in the long run in the NFL they are probably the best handicapper in America.  I was bounced off the Two-Plus-Two forum for arguing I had done it for 15 years.   

I was told NOBODY could do that.  Yet - there I was with a 383- 252 record in real time (not back tested) which was 60.93%   I even bet a guy $100 I would do it posting the games.  I was then banned from the forum and I would have won that bet. sigh! 

THEN - as I was running an NBA forum we were talking about a situation where if an NBA team outscores their opponent the first three quarters they will lose to the spread in the final quarter.   So far this year the system is 8-3.

Looking forward to LV but MAN - the Wisconsin games starts at 9 in the morning.  Early morning beer?  Maybe a early early morning breakfast buffet Saturday LOL 

Speaking of the Packers - I have software that gives me the RPI for the NFL.  RPI is like a power rating that ONLY uses victories and losses.

It looks at what a team has done using only won or lose, home or away, then it looks at the W/L record of the team you played and THEN it looks at the W/L of all the teams opponents their opponents have played. (3 layers)

The Packers are ranked as #21 out of 30.  In the next two weeks that play the #2 and #3 ranked teams. Kansas City is #1

For my Eagle fan - sorry - by this type of  RPI the Eagles are ranked #29. Losing at home really hurts the RPI.  I'm not sure how much stock I put in RPI but it's interesting.

OH - I have that for all major sports -  the Badgers are ranked #53 out of 130 teams.  Clemson is #1. 

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Just a quick note on Politics.  at the moment the blue has 84% chance of taking over the house and red has a 80% of keeping the senate.  HOWEVER - what that means is there is a 40% chance of  ONE of those not coming true. 

In Wisconsin - Slow leak Walker, has sunk to outright lies and misinformation in his political ads while Tony Milk Toast Evers continues to play Mr. Bland Goody Two Shoes.  But now Walkers sugar daddies and sugar mommies are pouring millions of dollars in more attack ad's and lies. 

Tammy Baldwin is a shoe in over the nutcase Vukmir who LITERALLY said cannabis is more addictive then meth or heroin in their debate.  SERIOUSLY?

For Columbus there is the Wisconsin 6th district where Grothman the Deplorable and Kohl are in a heated battle.  Not ONE poll has come out the the 6th.  Grothman is a Trump groupie. If Trump said unicorns existed Grothman would look to buy one and then say the liberals ate all the unicorns when he could not find one.  You can NOT get farther to the right the this moron.  Grothman is outright offensive and truly IS deplorable.   

When I went to Washington he would not meet with representatives from Columbus. He hates  anybody not white OR not male and is not a friend at all to the gay or LGBT community (according to my gay and LGBT friends)

BTW - speaking of immigrants. 

All of those non-white people marching to America that TRUMP has been warning his gullible groupies.

This is where they are now.

So we have 7000 people, families carrying children, many with no or rotting shoes that have walked 1000 miles already with only another 1000 miles to go, no food, no shelter, no hope but it's better then where they were and Trump and his lemmings are AFRAID of them?  Is this what America has become? 

Afraid of starving families fleeing bloodshed. So Trump and his cronies say he will send in the American Army to stop them.  What - by shooting them?  We're talking MAYBE mid December for the hardy ones if they walk 30 miles a day, every day for another couple months. 

Have you ever walked 30 miles in a day with no food, no water?  I have on hunger hikes (remember those?)  I was in pretty good shape and 30 miles walking is a LONG walk and I did not carry a heavy backpack with all of my worldly belongings but I did have rest stops with food and water.  Even when you have food stops and good shoes and no backpack it's a LONG walk.

Trump sickens me.

I voted - and across America early voting is up 350% compared to the midterms 4 years ago. .

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 OH - went to Arbys the other day. I really love the sliders they have.  So I ordered a regular roast  beef slider , a jalapeno slider and a ham slider.   Two of the three were great.  The ham slider?

this is what they gave me.  1 half size slice of hard crusty ham.  I spit it out.

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 Weather - Pretty even temps coming the next 10 days  all between 48 and 52. Pretty cloudy (except for today) until after the weekend.  Just sort of in a holding pattern.  Nothing exciting.

Carry on.
 

This Actually Happened.Last Night - It's fighting me IT'S FIGHTING ME!

is what I was saying at the top of my lungs last night as my Marantz  is BLASTING the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song REALLY REALLY loud in our "home theater".  REALLY loud. 

In desperation I physically turn off the receiver and we take a breath . . . . . . and then it turns on by itself and the decibels start to escalate .  .  .  .  . seriously?

This all started innocently. We are nearing the end of S1E2 Loudermilk (it's really a good comedy so far) watching upstairs when there is a darkish scene and we start to hear the theme song to Curb Your Enthusiasm  . . softly.

We take it in stride as it lightens things up a little  . . .but it gets louder and louder and louder and wait, it's downstairs!  WTF?   I run down and I'm turning it down   

It's fighting me IT'S FIGHTING ME!    I turn the knob and as soon as I let go it starts going UP again 

In desperation I physically turn off the receiver and we take a breath . . . . . . and it turns on by itself and the decibels start to escalate .  .  .  .  .

I start to unplug things . . all the wrong ones and now the clock is blinking 12:01 and I'm yelling at DJ to turn off the receiver if it turns on. . . . which it does.  ON off ON off ON off   WHAT IS HAPPENING and I find the master plug and pull it.

We stare at each other, the cats and Gus are all on the perimeter looking at us.  I wait for a minute and plug it all back in and we wait.  Nothing.  We go back up stairs and relax . . . . .for 5 minutes and. OH MAN there it goes again and I run downstairs.

I go down unplug and we go on with our lives and I'll call AMS tomorrow.

I post a question on Facebook about hacking and Wi-Fi and so forth.

About a half hour later Matt my cousin in Texas reply's that that is weird because his Spotify was acting weird and he was not getting any volume. . . . . . .wait . . . what?  We turned on the TV and it was SPOTIFY!

A few cryptic message on Facebook and "I'll call you".

It seems his Spotify app had a weird room on his phone (like Wf93472tT or something) and he was trying to figure out where those speakers were and the app was acting weird. He kept turning up the volume trying to find the speakers . . . .which were 1000 miles away it seems. 

Those speakers must be in our house that he visited in the spring.  However, they never used Spotify and as of a few weeks ago we have a totally different router and passwords.  So how did he connect with my Marantz is the question.

ANYWAY - he deleted those random speakers/system from the app.

WHEW
   
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YesterDAY DJ, Gus and I went to Devils Lake.  Gus put his toes in natural water with waves for the first time and we did some moderate hiking with a dog that was having his best day ever I think. .

Took a few shots.

Northern Entrance to Devils Lake 

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Why don't so called Christian Conservatives GOP people practice what they preach.  

"and if you offer yourself to the hungry,

and satisfy the afflicted one, then your

light will shine in the darkness, and your

night will be like noonday.  

Isaiah 58:10

The big difference between liberals and conservatives is that conservatives believe, right or wrong, that looking out for #1 is the most important thing even if it hurts others.  DON'T help the poor or oppressed because it hurts YOU if you do.  They have their own issues that have nothing to do with you.  

While liberals, right or wrong, believe that helping ALL mankind is more important, even if it hurts YOU. 

Neither side is all right or all wrong.  I mention this as I got into a disagreement with a conservative christian who felt the poor are that way because they are lazy and should not get help if it involves paying higher taxes for food stamps and health care.  It's THEIR problem.   

Why should he pay for entitlements that do him nothing but hurt his goal of getting rich. The government is taking money away from his family.

Well, how can you argue with that right?  Looking out for #1 because that is really the only thing you have in your life when you think about it.  YOU are the most important person in your life.  

The ol' save yourself and screw the rest argument. 

I tend to differ in my non-christian agnostic belief.  I believe I am just a player in humanity, a cog in the wheel and I believe if I help my fellow man we ALL benefit a little.  And if EVERYBODY did that would it not be a wonderful place to live?  

OK OK - I'll shut up.  It just bugs me now Conservative Christians screw the poor and oppressed yet call themselves "Christians". 

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Is the new Hotel REALLY going in  near the commerce center (former Sentry foods)?   Even with a developer that continually screws people over and lies (remember when he told council that all Sentry employees would have health insurance).  Has anybody warned the hotel people of his constant shenanigans. Anytime Fitness got so fed up they decided to screw it and go elsewhere. 

Nuff said. 

OK OK - go to my happy place.  

I have Q-school coming up starting Sunday on TGC19 . Eight rounds will decide which of 12 tours you will start on.  The two course are like boot camp for golf.  

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85% of the luxury market for cool things are purchased by 35 and under.

Are we seeing the end of NASCAR?   Viewership is of the Daytone 500 down 45% in the last 13 years.  Revenue is down 145 million per year 

  

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Weather - 50s for the foreseeable future except for Saturday - VERY VERY windy with gust that could near 40 mph and a hi of 41. A chance for waterspouts on Lake Michigan Saturday with 3-5 foot waves and gale warnings. 

Sunny after that until next Friday.  

Cheers 

BUCKS WIN BUCKS WIN BUUUUUUCKS WIIIIIN

But there were 2 losses the Brewers had to endure.

The Dodgers are a better team - NOT saying the  Brewers can't win.  No no but  the Brewers are bullpenning tells you that they are doing what they can to over come a starting pitcher weakness with their strength the bullpen.  Yesterday?   Kershaw was just damn good.

The problem with the Brewers (besides starting pitching) is that they have lineup issues against GOOD left handed pitching which sadly is a strength of the Dodgers.  Can the Brewers make it to the world series?  FOR SURE!  It's not like they have no experience in a NEED A WIN situations.  The Brewers are good enough to get to the World series.  But I do not believe they are the BEST team.   

Remember - the Dodgers have to WIN the World Series to have a successful season. Brewers already have had a successful season and next year should be better with an over abundance of starting pitching.  The Crew have made Wisconsinites focus on them and not a very very mediocre Packer season (the last season with McCarthy I suspect).

The one thing I'm glad I don't have to do is sign Manny Machado to a free agent deal in strat-o-matic.  That would SUCK.  Mike Trout is so much better anyway.  I'm lucking I was the best team to NOT make the playoffs this year LOL

OH yea - Bucks won by one in a thriller last night.

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Poll numbers now have blue with an 83% chance of winning the House and if you listen to Trump he will throw Republicans under the bus.  He commented that if the House turns blue it's not HIS fault and the Democrats have many things he wants to work with. THUS - making him a winner.

I swear if the Senate turned blue Trump would become a Democrat. 

Don't look now but the U.S. will have a LOT more blue Governors in a few weeks with Tony Milk Toast Evers having a 62% chance of winning and leads by 2.3 points in combined polls.   The issue with Walker is that FOX-GOP gerrymandering does not work in this race.  Can't cheat to win this one. The whole population gets to choose.  Not just the voters the GOP WANT! 

I just wish Evers had a LITTLE more fire in his belly.

The interesting thing is what is happening to young voters.  It seems that in states that have had special elections youth are turning out in big numbers.  A few states that have typically have had 10-15% 18-29 year old's turn out have seen those numbers swell to the 30% range. 

According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, youth turnout looks to be about what it is in a Presidential election.

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If you have not seen an episode of Loudermilk (I'm sure you have not) - it's pretty good.  On the Audience Network and on demand (if you have DIRECT TV).  Season 2 is nearing and you can get caught up.  Check out the trailer.



Have a great non-baseball Thursday

Brewers / Packers / Walker and the FOXGOP

Stat of the day.

At Aaron Rodgers current interception rate. If he plays EVERY game he will break Favre's all time intersection record somewhere around 2049.

Also - he is the first QB to throw back to back 400 yard games without an interception.

Then there are the Brewers - HEY - FS1 announcer bozo's, are the Dodgers in the drivers seat?  like the Rockies were?

I am loving watching the announcers tripping over themselves trying to figure out the Brewers.

Bullpenning is not a new idea at all.  It's been tried a number of times.  Bill James was hired by the Red Sox a few decades ago to do bullpenning and failed miserably. And thus - the old school arm chair managers said - it can't be done.  The PROBLEM is, you need good pitchers.

It's like HDR photography.  There are a LOT of crap HDR images. In photography you need a good image and THEN you can augment it.  Bullpenning you NEED good pitchers and then you can make them better.

And then Arcia - NOT a surprise.  Listening to Milwaukee broadcasters in September they kept saying Arcia was crushing the ball in batting practice.  In September he had a .409 Slugging and August .377.  those are not weak numbers.  I read one article before the playoffs that had a headline something like " Arcia is the Brewers secret weapon".

The crew have been underdogs in every game.  All 7.

Starting with the Cubs game 163
+110 Win
+142 Win
+133 Win
+140 Win
+110 Win
+102 Lose
+151 Win     

and they have now won 16 out the last 19 games and 13 of the last 14 and are underdogs?   OH - big dogs tonight  +130.

The Brewers starters have given up ONE run in 7 games.   And Hader is NOT dominating the Dodgers - he is embarrassing them.

Brewers are now a 61% chance to get to the World Series and 19% chance to win it, and are underdogs in the next 2 games.

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Speaking of Governor Walker  - You do realize that if you are poor and want Medicaid in Wisconsin the Gov passed a bill where you will have to pay for it. Poor people must have a job to get Medicaid.  IF YOU ARE HOMELESS - JUST GO HOME.

YUP - it's passed but the FOXGOP are waiting to implement it until AFTER the elections  - NO MORE FREE RIDE poor people. Obviously you are poor because you are lazy.  But in reality they are poor because they lack money.

Scott Walker, in fight for political life, slow-walks Medicaid work rules

Last night my buddy Elwood could not watch the Brewers OR the Packers.  No cable.  DJ said why does not get Hulu, it's only $6 a month.  Well . . . .that $6 goes for food and transportation. Not entertainment.

Once you get poor it's HARD to get out of being poor without money.  Its proven that if you give poor people money over time they slowly get out of poordum.  The can actually BUY a razor and maybe a new shirt.  They can afford the tiny things you and me take for granted.

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Did you know that Manhatten has the same vacancy rate as Columbus downtown? 

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A new survey found that 42 percent of U.S. voters ages 18 to 29 are not at all satisfied with their choice of congressional candidates this coming November compared with 23 percent of voters 65 and up that are likewise dissatisfied.

So the 65 year old's who love the congressional candidates (not me) make it as hard as they can on working young to vote .. is that democracy?

Wide gaps in how younger and older voters view the midterms



Nuff said. 

Listen to thy self

Listen to thy self . . . is what I told myself - but in reality I heard myself but did not actually listen to myself.

Last night about 8:30 I realized I was not getting my spam phone calls and became concerned.  Was I no longer worthy? Did my advancing (like everybody) age cross yet another line?  and . . . where was my phone anyway?

Wait . . . . . I remember telling myself in Target "DO NOT PUT THE PHONE ON THE SHELF - YOU WILL FORGET IT".  But then on my other shoulder "it's OK, because you just told yourself not to do it so it is literally impossible to forget it now".

FUCK!

I knew exactly where my phone was.  I call Target and 8 minutes later I'm talking to an actual human.  I tell him,  "My find my phone app on the iPad says my phone is in your coffee maker section.  I tell him it's top row, 2nd machine, Cuisinart ((top of Consumers Reports Drip Coffee machines - The Cuisinart PerfectTemp 14-cup (you never know when you need a quick 14 cups) Programmable Coffeemaker)).

"Oh he says - I will send somebody over to look".  A minute later "nope sorry".  My app makes it LOOK like it's right near the front door - near Starbucks where I purchased coffee.  I tell him but now he is all confused about the whole coffee thing . .  Starbucks? Machine?  What?

I drive to Target - go in, talk to the three baristas (because you need three baristas at 8:30 at night at Target) and they have not seen it. I walk to where I know I left it and yup, exactly where I left it 8 hours earlier.  Well done on "looking" for my phone.

SO - the lesson here is the next time you talk to yourself, actually listen.

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I have this photo I'm trying to do SOMETHING with but it just comes out gritty or whatever.  The color is harsh and I can't seem to make it friendly.

And it's really detailed - maybe too detailed.

Maybe I'll go onto something else and come back

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The MLB / Network nightmare begins tonight.  The last thing MLB and The Networks want is Milwaukee to advance.   A World Series of Houston and Milwaukee would be a ratings nightmare.  Heck - even I might not watch.  No - I bet I would.

According to a couple articles the ranking of World Series popularity

4. Brewers/ Astros
3. Brewers/ Red Sox
2. Dodgers/Astros
1. Dodgers/Red Sox

BET?  Brewers are  +140 to win the NLCS. Bet 100 pretzels and if the Brewers win the pretzel bookie would give you 240 pretzels back.   Seems like a good bet to me actually. I'll take toke odds. Brewers have to win that bet about 41% of the time to break even.

Tonight the Brewers are +135 to win.  Just get to the Dodger bullpen with a 1 run lead.

Is this going to be a series featuring as many left handed pitchers as they can find?  Both ball parks LOVE left handed hitters.  Dodger stadium is one of the better homer friendly parks for lefties and Milwaukee is HEAVEN for left handed hitters.  With both teams throwing lefties that means both teams are putting right handed hitters into the line up.

But that is only where the chess game begins. This will be a most interesting series when it coems to strategy.  LOVE IT!

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Talk about Republican voter suppression.  In Georgia the Republicans have ordered that if you register to vote you must be EXACT on your name compared to the Georgia Department of Driver Services or the Social Security Administration.  Anybody that has worked in IT knows that name matching is REALLY iffy.   Rodney G Melotte is no match for Rodney Melotte.  FAIL - you can not vote. Pat O'Mally can't even be entered in Wisconsin because on many systems a  '   can not even be entered in a computer system. So if you put Pat O'Mally - FAIL!  you cannot vote.

In Georgia 70% of new voter registrations are so called African-Americans (NOT the politically correct way to say "blacks").  In fact 53,000 have been turned away so far because their name is not an EXACT match.

Of course Wisconsin is making news as the worst state in America for gerrymandering making it almost impossible for anyone BUT a Republican to win.  I mean - look where Columbus is.  They just cut us out so our liberal votes won't turn the district west of us blue (which it would). 

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

BTW - the coffee this morning is AMAZING!!  If you have a keurig you are not drinking real coffee and you probably have forgotten what real coffee tastes like. 
 
1. do not buy pre ground coffee - it's stale and old
2. do not buy coffee in the clear plastic bulk bins in supermarkets (exposed to light and air and old)
3. DO buy pre packaged unground beans and grind them at the store.  BIG difference
4. Dark roast beans are lower class beans - it's all about the roast and nothing to do with the flavor of       the coffee bean.

 If you want a coffee maker under $100 get a  Cuisinart PerfectTemp 14-cup Programmable Coffeemaker.

Did you know there is a tablet you can put into RO water that will make perfect water for perfect coffee?  I think that is a little over kill.
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GO BREWERS - GO PACKERS (remember the packers?)  I believe this is Mike McCarthy's last season being a Packer unless the Pack get to the Super Bowl or go VERY deep.

OH Brewers are +500 to WIN the World series.   
 


           

Negative decibels

I will say it again - I did not order all 12 apple pies from McDonalds. Just getting the record straight. I'm getting stopped on the street asking me if I really did that  NO!  LOL 
******************

I did not realize The Circus, the REAL ones (not the kind that used to come to Columbus) were so HUGE!

The Ringling Bros Circus big top was 200 yards long and bigger then the Dane County Coliseum. It would seat 16,000 people and was only 1 of 4 canopy's.  It would take one day to set up and employed 1,200 people.  Along with The Big Top there was the Menagerie (zoo), the museum and the freak show canopy's.

The Circus used 98 train cars to go from point to point and many Americans saw their first moving pictures at a Circus as Barnum and Bailey had a darkened tent to show moving images. 

The last of the BIG traveling circus ended in the mid 1950s.  A fire in the Big top killed 160 people and was pretty much the end.  Here is a lesson.  Do not water proof a tent with  kerosene and paraffin. You would THINK that would be a no brainer.

The Circus paid female employees an equal pay to males (unlike today) and before woman suffrage would let woman vote on Circus issues.  What an amazing documentary PBS put on and I never realized how BIG the Circus was.  It was literally the ONLY large entertainment most Americans ever saw in their lifetime.

I also thought the circus was a world wide thing but NOPE.  In that form it was 100% all American.  Europe had nothing like the spectacle.  When PT Barnum passed away it was front page news in every newspaper in the WORLD.

Then there was the 5 Ringling Brothers - what an amazing story THEY are.  Literally the American dream.  They started with less then 1 dime to their collective names and became the largest Circus in the world.

My views on the circus has changed.  Too bad about the animals but come on. In those days animals were treated as machines.  Horses that built the trans continental worked hard until they died.  SADLY America would not be what it is today if not for the hard work AND cruelty of animals.

I'm glad that has sort of changed.

I strongly recommend watching that documentary if it comes on again.  Even if you are anti circus because of the animals it's an American Experience you should watch if you love history.

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

Took this image of Sharrows downtown.  Actually took a bunch but the clouds came in and I had to stop

     
and while I was at it I still have a crap load of images from Quebec.

The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré

 There is so much weather - a Cat 4 hurricane about to ravage Florida,  Snow in the Rockies and a LOT of rain in the Midwest.

 *************************

My brother Ralls and his wife Stacy perform (read) for audio books which is MUCH more difficult they you can imagine.  One big issue is reading in a room that has negative decibels.

Negative decibels?  Yea - me too (not #Metoo).  Well, I had to look it up.  It seems 0 decibels is not the lack of all sound.  It's the lack of sound that can be "heard" on a recording device.  So an audio book reader must be in a room that has NEGATIVE decibels.  Less then 0 decibels.

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

Venom exceeded expectations this past weekend.  Jenny saw it and LOVED it.  Said it was pretty funny.  ODDLY only 38% who attended were White with Hispanic (26 percent), Blacks (18 percent), Asian (11 percent) and other (6 percent).

Looks like Ford will layoff a truck load of employees siting tariffs as the reason.

And then there is Taylor Swift who decided to come out politically.  In the 48 hours after she told her fans how she felt and told them to VOTE - Vote.org registered 240,000 voters with over 100,000 between 18-29 years old.  10 times more then a typical 48 hours.

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

Coal - there are ZERO new coal plants being considered for construction and the 4th coal plant filed for Chapter 11 in the last few days.  DONALD SAVE US!

China and India have canceled all new coal plants.  Don't invest in coal.

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

Russian support for Putin is at an all time low.  Seems raising retirement age from from 60 to 65 for males and 57 to 60 for females is not a good plan BEFORE an election.  Thus - do it after elected.

And the economy in Venezuela - inflation is 4% A DAY!!   In September inflation was 233%. IN ONE MONTH!   We are at about 2.54% which is the highest since 2011 means Americans are losing money as take home pay is not keeping up.  Thank you Donald.

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

Health / Brewers / Columbus day? seriously?

No blog yesterday because DJ and I were on a retirement date morning.

What is a retirement date morning?  Get up, go to the clinic for my yearly blood work, Cholesterol and so forth, get flu shots, go to The Jet Room for breakfast and home to for the most exciting part of the day - The Mail.

all went well and the flu shot was easy - no pain at all.  But wait . . NO MAIL?   We get a call about noon from Elweed.  "ROD, IS IT A HOLIDAY?"  Yes it's Columbus day. no mail AND banks are closed.   "WHAT?  THIS IS A TRAVESTY, BANKS ARE CLOSED?"  Yea it totally sucks.

We the next thing to do is wait for the test results to see if I will live.

Sunday I did a Health Bomb (a health bombogenesis).  First eat a package of raisins, then take a probiotic pill since we all know probiotics will not work unless you have prebiotics (the raisins).  Wash it down with yogurt and take a vitamin B or any vitamins you might have laying around.

BAM - a health bombogenesis.

Did it work?

The results are in and I'm fine.  the only TINY worry was Glucose but I have my charts since 2000 and they have been the same for 18 years (a tiny bit higher this time at 146).  My family has always been high on glucose but nobody has ever had diabetes.  My brother is high and was told to keep track of his glucose even though he has never had any symptoms.  The issue is whenever he has a McDonalds meal his glucose drops  . . .so . . . perhaps he need more fast food in his system? 

I do have an issue with my Anon Gap which is low and could mean I have multiple myeloma with symptoms including confusion, constipation, vomiting, and abdominal pain (welcome to Sunday Mornings). 

I also don't have enough GOOD cholesterol but I have very little BAD cholesterol so . . . . . .

Of course the Drs. lied to me like a Supreme Court Judge. He said if I exercise (not exorcise which would be more fun) it will raise my HDL.  NOT.   When I retired I exercised 3 times a week and the results?  NOT ONE BIT OF DIFFERENCE. 

SO - I'm still kicking.

****************************
 On PBS last night and again tonight is a 4 hours show on The Circus.  I watched part one with trepidation. Not a fan of The Circus but it was FASCINATING.  What an amazing thing about America.  Barnum needs to be up there with the great leaders of industry.

But lets talk about elephants for 1 second.  For the most part - once they got to America elephants were treated kindly.  They handlers loved them and took care of them.  HOWEVER, there were bad companies and GETTING the animals was cruel.

When I was on council I would never have allowed the circus to come to Columbus. Especially the one we normally got that was proven HIDEOUSLY cruel to elephants.  But for the most part they were treated "ok" in old time circuses. 

Tonight they start talking about the Baraboo circus, Ringling Brothers.  Barnum has just passed away and Bailey now sees there is no competition but is overlooking 5 brothers living in Baraboo Wisconsin, basically teenagers.

It's really a great show.

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Brewers / Dodgers.  David vs. Goliath.  If the Dodgers do NOT win the World Series the season was a waste and disappointment.  The Brewers are playing with casino money at the moment. 

Dodgers, huge payroll, huge fan base, have been in the playoffs forever.  Brewers, small fan base, tiny payroll, rarely in any playoffs.   America has no clue who the brewers are.  Classic underdogs. 

But - what about next year.  I expect the Brewer team to be much different next year with a new cast of characters.  They can't keep Moustakas, Shaw AND Schoop.   Shaw is cheap and good so he is staying, Moustakas is old and Schoop is REALLY a good player who has never felt comfortable in Milwaukee. 

If it was me I would get rid of Moustakas and keep Schoop in at second.  Not even a 2nd thought.  Power hitting very good fielder at 2B.  I really like Schoop for next year.  He is in his prime. Moustakis is 30 and is on his downhill side of being a MLB player. 

WITH THAT SAID - my Strat-o-matic team will be able to sign Mike Trout to a long term contract meaning I will have Yelich, Trout and Freddie Freeman (1 more year and then he is a free agent).

Check out this slash line against right handed pitchers

Avg / OB / Slugging

Freeman .309 / .385 / .493
Yelich  .321 / .405 / .602
Trout . 318 / .462 / .656
Franco .286 / .325 / .502

Not bad - I could actually bat them in that order.

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

Weather - sort of a winter thing going on. A LOT of rain west with only a couple inches coming our way . . . but move the line 50 miles east and we could get 2-4.   Rain chances start about sunset tonight and continue all day tomorrow as The Front goes through.  Cool after that.

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

Watched Harry Potter for the first time.  CLICKed it off after an hour.  Didn't take.  Sort of a Divergent knock off.  It might be a hit is SOME circles. 

Looking for comedy's on Amazon Prime?  Check out "Nobodies" and "Forever" - FUNNY 

nuff said - see ya

   

Retirement Date

This is what you have to look forward too when you retire.

DJ and I decided to go on a date Monday.  First we go to the clinic to get blood work for me (cholesterol) and then flu shots for both of us and then to the Jet Room for breakfast!   What a day to look forward too. DATE MORNING.   THEN we come back and wait for the mail because you never know what is coming.  How exciting is THAT!

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

Before I get into my hatred of the FS1 pre game show we had some disappointing home news.

Ever since we completed our basement the toilet has not worked.  Tried everything including the most powerful  power flush toilet.  Finally got a real answer.  It seems the plumbing to the downstairs toilet is slanted BACKWARDS!  The pipe was put in is back pitched 10 years ago meaning we will NEVER get that toilet to work unless we smash 15 feet of concrete beneath our floor and lay new pipe.   sigh  son of a bitch!   

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

Then there are the buffoons on FS1 who seem to hate the Brewers and their "gimmicks".  All 4 said the Brewers could not win because they do not use their pitching staff in a traditional manner.  YES - they actually said that.

They all predicted the Brewers lose game one because you cannot win on gimmicks in the playoffs.

BUT WAIT!!  Then Alex Rodriguez actually said after the game that "the Rockies are in the drivers seat because the Brewers cannot possibly win". Their bullpen is spent already.

WHAT?  So the Rockie starter went 5 innings and they used 6 pitchers. The Brewers also used 6 pitchers but their "opener" only went 3 innings . . . and thus our bullpen is tired?  Those 2 innings are the key to failure?

I decided to never listing to the idiots that replaced Rich Eisen on AM 1310 a few months ago  because all they did was complain about analytics and how Council was misusing the bullpen and the Brewers could NEVER sustain it for the next 100 games - ummmmmmmm  They did.  It's a very deep bullpen.

Add to the fact that all those guys that pitched last night CAN pitch today because tomorrow is a day off.  It actually works out pretty well with so many days off in the playoffs.

Now today is like a Sunday for baseball fans.  Four games starting at about 1:00 and going to midnight?  It's heaven.

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

The REAL jobs number

2.2% Unemployed, want a job, actively looking
50.1% are employed full time
10.3% employed part time
2.0% unemployed want a job, not looking
35.3% unemployed - don't want a job

The latest numbers were VERY disappointing - the estimate was 185,000 new jobs and the number came in at 134,000 new jobs. However hourly wages increased as the job market tightened.  There are not enough workers to go around.

So if you hear a politician talk JOBS JOBS JOBS - NO - there are jobs - we need PEOPLE.

One CEO said that in order to hire new people those people have to quit the job they already have which is meaning having to raise wages which will spike inflation.

We got an email from Steinhaufels (sp?), that furniture store saying they are doing all they can to combat the tariffs by filling their warehouses to the brim before the price for furniture goes up and the major soda companies are raising prices for Coke and Pepsi because aluminum is costing more.

Here comes inflation.

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

If you are looking for a fun book to read about coffee - purchase a little $10 book called

 The New Rules of Coffee: A Modern Guide for Everyone

it's not a deep thought, all inclusive coffee book but more of an intro to coffee and what it is and how

it came to be.

"An illustrated guide to the essential rules for enjoying coffee both at home and in cafes, including tips on storing and serving coffee, coffee growing, roasting and brewing, plus facts, lore, and popular culture from around the globe." 


Its a fun little book.

Maybe since it's illegal to grow cannabis I'll just grow a coffea plant, harvest the fruit, take out the beans, use natural process (as opposed to washing) and roast the beans for one cup of coffee and wait until next year for another cup.   hmmmmm

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

WEATHER - OK OK - maybe not FIVE inches of rain in the next 6 days . Maybe 2.5 inches.  Expect some sort of rain in 9 of the next 10 days. YUCK

Should get back into the mid 70s Monday and Tuesday and then back to the 50s .

Showers and mid 50s this weekend and then NEXT weekend cooler and rain.  Nothing to look forward too. Sorry

8 days of rain - SUCKS

First some sad news for some of you that no longer live in Columbus - Alice Schmidt passed away a few weeks ago.  I was waiting for some official announcement because I considered her a very  important person in Columbus and am surprised and saddened that this sad event seems to have come and gone quietly.

Alice being interviewed by a Chicago Tribune reporter

She was a good friend and was my treasurer when I ran for City Council.  The last time we talked it was about beer because she did love a good porter and I turned her on to Edmund Fitzgerald which I consider the best porter readily available.

I will miss our long talks and her life was an amazing adventure.

She worked very hard on the 1915 George A. Hasey popcorn wagon and I went with the group to the burbs of Chicago when the other cart was discovered.

I'm wish more would have been done about her passing but perhaps that was her wish.  Columbus lost a very very fine person.

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

WITH THAT SAID - OH - the joys of reading the Chicago Tribune this morning.  Let the crocodile tears flow.  boo hoo.

I actually watched every pitch of that game last night and have sleep depredation this morning with my cold waking me up early.  What a weird weird game. I've never seen a base runner actually hug a fielder holding the ball DURING a play and nobody does anything.  WHAT?

So, the Brewers, who 3 years ago won 68 games and 3 years later have the best record in the NL.  THAT my friends is a fine rebuilding job.  I do love how a 30 year old took over the front office with his sciencey methods and created a winner.  I loved Council from the get go when many friends were complaining about him.   I knew Council would embrace analytics and look what happened. BINGO!!

What SUCKS is that MLB decided the Brewers were not good enough for prime time and put their first 2 games against my second favorite team, Colorado, as afternoon affairs.  WTF!

But, back to ME!   this is a little funny so just bare (bear?) with me for a few sentences.

Next year will be the 8th year for our Strat-o-matic baseball league.  The constitution says that you can draft a player, keep him for 4 years and then sign him to a long term contract for MUCH more  for 3 or 4 more years.

So next year is the first year stars become free agents.  The best team that did not make the playoffs gets first dibs on free agents and it goes down the line.

I managed to be the 1st or 2nd best team (undetermined yet but probably 2nd) so - I finally looked to see who I can get as I have a lot of Free Agent cash I can use.    I have 2 candidates.

Mike Trout (WAR = 9.2)- Baseball Prospectus  compares to the following

Mickey Mantle
Frank Thomas
Willie Mays
Ken Griffy

hmmmmmm - seems like a good group of players to be compared too.

OR - more likely I will can

Manny Machado (WAR = 5.8) a slick fielding SS with power which Baseball Prospectus  compares to the following

George Brett
Ryan Zimmerman
Puddin Head Jones.

PUDDIN HEAD JONES?    I'll let others look him up but I had to see where "Puddin Head" got his name.

Relatives say he LOVED liver pudding and ate it all the time.  mmmmmm liver pudding.  Makes me long for the old days.   McLiver Pudding pie's would be awesome.

I was looking him up and comparing an analytic called WAR. For any baseball fans not familiar with what WAR actually is. 

WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement player.  There are many WAR's out there and it is probably the most abstract sabermetric theory.  It takes everything into account. It creates one number on how many WINS a player is compared to a "replacement" player.   To get an idea - Yelicch's WR is 7.7.  Lorenzo Cain was 5.8

Here is where it gets interesting,  "replacement player".

A "replacement player" is basically a top tier minor leaguer.  As described - if you have a team FULL of replacement players that team would win 50 games.

WELL. The Baltimore Orioles won 47 games  LOL  The Orioles were worse then a team of replacement players.

Nuff said about baseball.

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

Weather - WATCH OUT!   Probably around 7:00 tonight a strong cold front will swing through the state with a bombogenesis** occurring.  Strong strong thunderstorms will develop in front of and along the front.

The high today will be near 80 and the high tomorrow will be about 54.  We will have one sunny day and then expect 8 days of on and off rain.   Get the lawn mowed tomorrow.  Expect up to and exceeding 5 inches of rain  in the next 8 days.

** rapidly strengthening weather system is a process called bombogenesis, which creates what is known as a bomb cyclone.     

Have a day!

Four Bats

NOTE - I actually did not buy all of those apple pies

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

WELL - I did not see THAT one coming.   I believe my prediction for the Brewers was in the 84 win range? 

A Bill James mantra is that if you want to predict what a player will do don't look at the previous year, look 2 years back.  Players rarely get better 2 years in a row and almost never have back to back career years.  Players fluctuate good bad good bad . . . . like my golf.

Of course I did not take into account players like Jhoulys Chacín who everybody is over looking and started 35 games.  Unheard of.  He did not miss ONE start.  I also did not think that the Brewers would win their last 8 games to win the division. 

I did not expect Lorenzo Cain, an actual MVP candidate with a WAR of 6.9 to not even be mentioned because of some kid with a WAR of 7.6.

Yelich's last 22 ABs

3 run HR
Walk
Walk
Walk
Walk
Walk
2 run HR
Walk
Walk
Strike
Walk
2 run HR
Strikeout
1 run HR
Walk
Strikeout
Walk
Strikeout
Single
Single
Single
Strikeout

Of course now we see that kid is a strikeout king with fading power.  HOWEVER - he is saving the Brewers a lot of money.  He has only used four bats this year.  FOUR.

I believe teams give each player 3 dozen bats in a year for batting practice and games.  Yelich used four.  Pretty much tells you he barrels up every ball that comes his way.   His only negative is he hits into double plays because he is not a fly ball hitter.  Line drives.

According to Stat cast his fly ball percentage is about the same as it was last year but exit velocity has increased a tad.  He is also pulling the ball more on flys balls but not line drives.

Yelich is 5th in the Majors for teams NOT shifting on him.

If you are a Brewer fan you are rooting for Colorado tonight (for many reasons). The Dodgers and Astros are still the odds on favs to win the World Series.. . . and Red Sox.

The issue with prognosticators is that with all these systems the starting pitcher is a big deal.  Yet this year in MLB the bullpens had a record number of innings.  40.1% innings went to the bullpen this year.

Last year the number was 38.1% but in the playoffs the number was 46.5%. This year, and particularly in the NL, there could be more innings thrown by the bullpen then the starters.

MEANWHILE - a record amount of batters were hit by pitches this year.

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

I pulled the plug on Facebook.  It just makes me angry when I look and see nothing but anger and everybody is preaching to the choir (not unlike I).  Instagram is so much friendlier. No politics, no anger, no news.  When I want news I look at news.  I don't see news thrown in my face every 6 inches of Facebook.

I feel so much better already LOL

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Polygraphs tests are as reliable as police drug dogs.  Pretty much not really a science thing at all.

Police dogs take subtle non-detectable cues from their handler when looking for "hits" and are unreliable and pretty much used  as an excuse to search.

Polygraphs tests are more on the “suggestive” and “linked to” end of the certainty spectrum rather than the “definitive lie detection”.

THE LIE GENERATOR: INSIDE THE BLACK MIRROR WORLD OF POLYGRAPH JOB SCREENINGS

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

You know those trailers with the SPEED detectors?  many are now equipped with licence plate readers.  In Maryland 47 out of every million licence plate scanners in their speed radar trailers were linked to serious crimes.

In Atlanta 126 million licence plates were scanned with a 0.6% hit rate for serious crimes.

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

Every year business cheat on $126 Billion in taxes.   YET - the IRS keeps getting smaller and smaller (remember - small government is good right?)   Since 2011 the number of audits has fallen 42%

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

Is the Supreme Court legitimate?  In the 1980s  60% said yes.  Five months ago that number was 37%.

***********

Rudy Rose . . .and I had to look her up with MUCH trepidation> According to McAfee she is the most dangerous celebrity on the internet.  Nobody is more likely to land you on a page with viruses and malware then that woman.

She is the most dangerous woman online     OR OR is that article a virus or malware . . . hmmmmm.

 I'll live you with THAT puzzle.

Hummingbird Mint - Kavanaugh

This will show you what kind of mood I'm in

In line at McDonalds . . . . shitty little kid
behind me screaming he wants an
apple pie at his mother.

I get to counter...

Me: Hi I'll have a Number 3, large . . . and
excuse me how many apple pies do you
have back there....

McD worker:  12

Me: I'll take them ALL

HEY YOU KID GET OFF MY LAWN!

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

LOL speaking of bad moods.  Safety Earl Thomas - ended his hold out with Seattle without getting more money . . . was carted off the field yesterday with a broken leg and gave the finger to the Seattle sideline as he was leaving.

Insert burning bridge. 

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

OK OK - sorry  LOL   Fighting a tiny cold that seems to be. on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being in the cold death bed . . . a 2 . . for a week now!

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

Gus was having a fun day among the Blue Fortune Hummingbird Mint Saturday.  When you mow near this you get a wonderful spearmint aroma.   

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

The whole Kavanaugh thing - the ONE thing that gets me is that he did not even listen to Ford's testimony.  Didn't have too?  Did not care?  I tell ya - if I'm being accused of something REALLY damaging . . . I would be a little interested in what I allegedly did wouldn't you?

One more thing - seems his mates are coming out saying he was a BAD BAD drunk.  SURPRISE!

Senate  29.3% chance of Blue taking senate  THERE IS A CHANCE
House 21.9% chance Red keeps the house   NO CHANCE    LOL

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

Baseball - Chris Davis's nightmare is over and congratulations.  The Baltimore Orioles spent 161 million on a guy that just broke the all time record for worst batting average EVER for a player with 400 or more ABs    .168 in 510ish plate appearances.

MEANWHILE - Yelich's last  ABS

3 run HR
Walk
Walk
Walk
Walk
Walk
2 run HR
Walk
Walk
Strike
Walk
2 run HR
Strikeout
1 run HR
Walk
Strikeout
Walk
Strikeout

The three true outcomes of baseball right there.    Get rid of those pesky strikeouts and he might make a name for himself.

It's going to be MUCH warmer in Chicago today then Milwaukee.  High of 74 winds from the east meaning with blowing in.  Another low scoring bullpen games.

OH - won my Bridgejumper 5 star play of the year yesterday - Patriots  - system is now  59-16 in 25 years.   A team getting crushed by the spread playing a team crushing the spread plays a HOME game as a favorite.  This means a team is a good team (still a favorite) that has been playing poorly and comes home to prove they are good.  BAM - MONEY!

My Strat-o-matic team ended teh season with 92 wins - one less from last year.  Next year will be tough.

I'll be able to acquire Manny Machado as a free agent Shortstop and his 37 (.907 OPS) home runs with Yelich (.997 OPS)  and Freddie Freeman (.892 OPS)   all three had 100 RBs  but after that it sort of drops off significantly/  Franco a Philly at 3B (.780 OPS) and then . . ummmmm . .  both my starting catchers were hurt for the year so I have no catchers.  No second base but I'll trade my slick fielding SS for something.

zero pitching - they all sucked this year. 

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

Brewers Cubs - pretty even game and Chicago has a 52% chance of winning - basically that is home field advantage right there.   Brewers starting pitcher will be Chacin going the first 3 innings then bull pen.  Cubs a lefty  No home runs today!   Small ball and bull pen.  Wind blowing in from right field off the lake.  Run line is 8   Cubs are -128 and Brewers are +108 

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

A small study says the more caffeine you drink in a week the more tolerance to pain you have.  Getting a tattoo?  Drink copious amounts of coffee the week before.

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

Nuff said