I've read a couple articles saying the Taliban are embarrassed at the bombing in Afghanistan. DON'T get me wrong, I'm not sticking up for the Taliban but at least they are trying. They want to be seen as an actual governing body to the rest of the world and they failed to protect Americans AND fellow Afghanistan's this.
So far they are less corrupt and more trustworthy then the stupidest man in America, Ron Dumb-ass Johnson who took his head out of Trumps ass long enough to embarrass himself in Fort McCoy.
Meanwhile Dunkirk #2 is taking place as countries around the world are sending aircraft to Kabul and I see Special Ops are secretly getting hundreds of people out of that country in Operation Pineapple Express.
Side note - I'm reading a book called "After Dunkirk" and it is so so close to what is happening now in Afghanistan.
OH - I'm also reading a book by my new favorite author Shawn Inmon AND IT'S FREE - it's sortof a Galaxy Quest kind of book.
Kradak the Champion - about a "B" movie star going down hill. HOWEVER Rista and Grint come through the portal from Arkana, they don't understand what a movie is. They think Steve truly is Kradak the Champion.
They kidnap him and take him back to Arkana to help them save their world. Once they discover the truth, it is too late. The portal is closed. Steve needs to become a hero. The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance.
And of course there is Backgammon From Basics to Badass AND his 2nd book Pure Strategy where he explain how a neural net works and how can a human learn from it in the Backgammon world.
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Yesterday network, balderdash, adubya and myself did our 18 holes at The Nag and then the Brewer game at 1:00. HOT!!! I was moist for 11 straight hours. Nothing like August 12 2010 when we played at Western Lakes when it was 94 degrees golfing. adubya sold his car after that. 4 sets of soaking golf clothes fermenting in a 200 degree car for 4 hours . . . . need I say more.
Brewers lost but a good time was had.
Brewers play Minnesota this weekend and weare hitting them at the right time as the yare ranking 27th at the moment in my power ratings - in the last 2 weeks they have the worst pitching in the majors.
Updated every day showing the play over the past 2 weeks. Far right is today's standings
Left you hanging didn't I with that Backgammon problem LOL
The problem was I rolled a 5/4 and am bearing off to the bottom right.
What I did was this - WRONG!!! I felt hitting and slotting on the two gave me a chance of making that two OR perhaps using the builders on 10 and 11 to make a point on my inner board - MAJOR BLUNDER
The correct move was this
The reasoning is that I was ahead in the pip count (winning the race) so playing it safe was the correct response. With this move I had a 52.68% chance of winning the game. With MY move it was only a 47.35% chance of winning the game
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I've been watching the World Championship Backgammon tournament and winning a game is no longer the final answer. In Most BIG tournaments winning AND playing having a lower PR is what wins.
PR is Performance Rating as each move is rated and you not only have to WIN the game but also actually PLAY better with a lower PR. When I play I'm typically a low advanced with a 11ish PR. Casual players are in the 28ish PR and a player that has read a few books and understands the concepts is in the 14PR range.
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OMG - I joined a different Sports book BETUS. MUCH better lines then Bovada. The issue was I could get an extra bonus using Bitcoin to credit my account. What a clusterf*ck THAT was.
I had to transfer funds to my Atomic Wallet and the transfer to BETUS. After a couple hours of floundering with new knowledge I did receive my 160% bonus. Could have been more if I had opted for the casino but no!! Sportsbook. I know what I know. Can't card count in Blackjack online.
ALTHOUGH in the old days bonuses like that were free money and I bet (no pun intended) I made $1000 a month in bonus money playing perfect blackjack online. Three online casinos would give you a 100% bonus every month. Just play 5000 hands of Blackjack.
Elwood and I figured out on average we would lose $30 playing but gain $200 in the bonus. Very rarely and VERY oddly would we actually LOSE money playing. It was like a factory job playing blackjack LOL ahhh the good ol Bonus Whore days when I had 18 online accounts for poker and blackjack.
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For anybody wondering here is the latest Grinders Dailey Power Ratings - BTW - Baltimore has now lost 19 games in a row!
SO - I won a bet Saturday taking NYJets -2.5 over the Packers. YES - Pre season games are awesome for wagering purposes. Seriously. Look at that game. You have a Packer team playing their 3rd string QB and not wanting to give away anything to the rest of the league vs. a bad NY Jet team who are trying to create a winning atmosphere with many players REALLy wanting to make the team.
It's not about which team is better but about what each team is trying to do in the game. For instance, a couple years ago the Packers were playing . . somebody and the coach told the world, "we are putting our CB on an island all by himself to see how he does".
He got burned and I won a wager. Pre season games are gold for wagering.
So - since I have been doing well in baseball I found a Sportsbook open for American and was checking them out with their 200% bonus. The lines are all better then Bovada so with the NHL being on my radar this year (the most exciting sport in pro sports) I might have to do some moving.
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Backgammon. I've been doing well on my tests averaging High Advanced. Elwood was over Saturday and we played 5 games against the World Class opponent who LITERALLY did not make one error. We were in the high Expert range.
I never had a clue if I was good or bad since it depends on who you are playing and winning or losing is really meaningless in telling if you played well and made the least mistakes.
As Elwood said "I never knew there were so many critical moves in a game". On average I'm averaging 3 errors and one blunder a game. SO - I'm printing off every blunder and creating a book of blunders.
The book is called "Don't Make a Blunder" The interesting thing is that the way you play certain situations has changed since the 1980s and the advent of AI and the neuro net. A computer can play a game 50,000 times in seconds and show you exactly the correct move.
For instance - the Opening rolls have changed slightly. All fascinating.
Here is a MAJOR Blunder against an Intermediate player - I'm bearing off to the bottom right and am WHITE (goign counter clockwise). I rolled a 5/4. OH - I gammoned the guy.
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OH - looking at BETUS I checked out the Presidential race. Harris is at +350. The closest Qepublican is Ted Cruz at +3000 (30-1 chance)
WILL DONALD TRUMP BE INDICTED BEFORE DEC 31ST 2021? pretty much a toss-up 50-50
Who in the criminal party/family (my words) will be indicted first?
Rudy leads the way with Donald Junior a very close second. Who is Glenn Dubin, he is a close third.
OH - back to sports
Packers Over Under in wins -10.5 is the number Will the Pack win more or less than 10.5 games
Brewers to win World Series 8 to 1 chance hmmmmmm
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I'm doing some work for the Columbus Area Endowment group and was looking at my Columbus folder of photos and found a video from October 21s 2016. I had put my GoPro on my car and drove down James Street BEFORE the reconstruction and was SHOCKED.
How horrible it looked. Mangled old trees split down the middle with overhead lines - just clutter deformed trees too close to the road. I'll have to do that again this year to compare.
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I REALLY need a new desktop computer - this one has been running 24/7 for 12 years. $300 new seems to be a good deal. WIN 7 but now WIN 11 is coming out soon? I REALLY hate getting a new computer. All my stuff is on the old one but once every 13 years I need a new desktop it seems. LIKE CLOCKWORK. Sadly I can't get a new graphics card - they are physically bigger then the box now LOL
HA - so NOW insiders of the Trump administration are saying they had absolutely no plans to get out of Afghanistan - it was all a clever ruse to trick the Taliban. Like Trump's infrastructure plans - never had any - just verbal diarrhea for his lemmings to suck in. Like a dog eating throw up. They will lap it up like it's the most tasty thing in the world.
Typicle.
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Brewers - WOW - one of the best games of the year last night - CRAZY good. HOWEVER - as I was working on my spreadsheets for my power ratings I noticed something.
The Baltimore Orioles have given up 8 or more runs in 11 of their last 13 games. AND the Toronto Blue Jays have scored 8 or more in 10 of their last 12 games (they have only played each other 3 times)
The Brewers need to win 9 more games for my OVER 83 bet to win.
Remember when Bill James predicted the Brewers would win 100 games and people laughed (he uses science)? Since the crew got Adamas they are 53-24 .688. If they play .688 the rest of the way that would be 102 wins. Right now they have a .612 winning pct. If they play at .612 they win 99 games.
I think my OVER 83 is looking good.
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We went glamping at Harrington Beach last week. It's near lake Michigan and the town of Belgium. About 20 miles from Sheboygan.
Millions of dead Ash trees everywhere. But the campsite was HUGE.
We drive in and there is zero shade but thick surrounding brush and instead of dirt it was all grass. SO SO NICE. It was HOT setting up in the sun and at that first moment we were a little disheartened but that changed over time.
When the sun set it got cool pretty fast and was near 50 they first night. We had a fire that was 12 yards away from the camper. There was enough room to toss the ball with Gus and all was well.
Monday we went to the dog beach which was AMAZING. We had literally never seen Gus so excited. The water was only a foot deep 20 yards out and clean sand bottom. We threw a stick and he went after it over and over. He would get back drop the stick at my foot, bark 4 times pleading me to throw it again. He was in heaven. I think he was playing a game of jumping over the waves. MAN he loves swimming.
OH - unlike Lake Superior which was warm water - Michigan is freaking cold.
We took a walk around Quarry lake which is literally 200 feet deep one foot off the shore. Tons of fish and a lot of people fishing all kinds of fish. Wonderful shaded hike.
In the afternoon we decided to take a trip to Sheboygan to check out all the burger joints we kept hearing about. ALL CLOSED on Monday! damn it. Ended up going to 3 Sheeps Brewing.
Now THIS is camping. DJ fell in love with (a little too much) I Scream IPA and I always love their Cashmere Hammer Stout.
It was not a long stay at Harrington as it was our first off the grid camping. We wanted to test the solar. Worked out perfectly but when we turn on the inverter the battery would drop 25% within minutes and we were not really using anything. However the solar would recharge in a half an hour.
Have to figure out whet these mean - I THINK I have a clue but . . . .
This shows what lever our batteries are at 88%
This is how many amps we are currently using - I think
I THINK - this is the solar and how many amps we are recharging at the current time
and this is totally meaningless at the moment
The biggest issue was seeing what happens when we turn on the inverter to use the sockets and the battery would zoom down. Plus a few things just did not want to work like our electric kettle which heats a whole pot of water to boiling in one minute. It would go on and the off in 10 seconds.
So we are unsure about the inverter.
OH - you know how RVs all have names on their sides? We drove past the dump station and 4 RVs were lined up with the following names.
Four Winds, Zinger , Solitude and last was Reflection. I WISH I had a camera as were were laughing so hard.
Harrington Beach is planting many trees but the sheer number of dead ash trees was amazing. The lots are HUGE and Gus was off his leash the whole time. You can not see any other campers when there. you can hear them but its thick thick brush. ZERO mosquitoes. In fact we have not seen a mosquito in any of our camping trip yet.
All you can see are the tops of campers when you walk the park
We will go back but NOT is summer - more of a fall area with the lack of shade
About 15 years ago I had a boss that was from Afghanistan and he was taking his family on vacation back to Afghanistan. When he got back 2 weeks later we had a meeting and he told what I still literally believe the most amazing story I have ever been told.
After he finished all of us pleaded with him to write this down as it was edge of the seat excitement. From people being hung in the town square 10 miles away to his constant bribing government officials. all the way to his family having to bribe officials to get into the airport to his family RUNNING to the plane. If you have ever seen Argo the movie . . sort of like that!
I will always remember him for his story.
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I see the shit hit the fan in Afghanistan while we were camping. Let's all remember that this was actually Trump's plan, and all of the Republicans seemed to love the idea back then, only he wanted out even sooner.
Now those same people are blaming Biden for the outcome that everyone knew would happen. Personally I think it was the right move. It is not our job to spend our blood and treasure in any foreign country indefinitely after we did what we came there to do.
This was always going to happen there, the only question was when. The Taliban will be back up to their old tricks and it will probably become a breeding ground for more terrorism aimed at America, but everyone knows that and we will be watching.
The next time there is a terrorists issue, it should be a quick strike to end whatever imminent attack they were planning and with excessive force, and then we come back and let the Afghans and Taliban sort out the carnage they brought on themselves by not being willing to fight for their own country.
It is not our country, and we shouldn't be running it or babysitting it.
My only criticism is there was no plan to get all those that helped us during the last 20 years out of there before they get beheaded in the town square.
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I'm a fanboy of Rick Steves. He has traveled the backroads of the world for 50 years writing travel books and had a hippy tour Afghanistan in the late 70's. He has written a lot in the last few days on his thoughts.
It’s easy to point fingers: Should George W. Bush have invaded the country in 2001? Should Donald Trump have made a deal with the Taliban in early 2020? Should Joe Biden have withdrawn American troops so quickly? But ultimately, nobody has the answers...which is exactly why we keep finding ourselves in this same place.
One thing is clear: The repeated failures of mighty nations to force our will on the Afghan people is a reflection of our ethnocentrism...our inability to understand what motivates them. And using Afghanistan to score political points with the American electorate ignores the horrifying human cost of the instability that has wracked the lives of everyday Afghans for generations.
The Russians are watching America and laughing - YUP - been there, done that! The Taliban now in control AGAIN are the same ones that defeated Russia.
We suffered 20,000 casualties and 20 years teaching the Afghanistan males how to fend for themselves, how to protect themselves, we gave them weapons and infrastructure and told them years in advance that America might leave. When we did leave - the males laid down their arms and surrendered without a fight!
WELL - I have now played 11 games of backgammon on eXtreme Gammon and it's rating me as an "advanced player" taking the best 8 of my 11 rounds (I had 2 "distracted" games. eXtreme Gammon, from my research, is the goto software for improving your game as you can go through (or during) a game and it will tell you your errors AND blunders.
I seem to have an issue with hitting a checker on the #1 blot which I thought was a waste but it's a blunder early in the game BLUNDER!! I put the idea of a get-together on Facebook for backgammon just to see if there was ANY interest at all. We never played with a cube back in the day but I have no issues with using it. I did have to look up things I had never heard of like the Jacoby Rule which seems common (no gammons or backgammons UNLESS the Cube has been used). and I'm still confused of what a Beaver Raccoon is.
PLUS I can't win a damn game LOL The software tells you EVERYTHING and my dice have been unlucky 67% of the time against a "Beginner" (which is a pretty good player with a 1600 ELO).
I have 28 Hold'm books collecting dust and 1 BG book which is fascinating. Backgammon From basics to badass When did educational books get so expensive. I saw the author of the book explaining double match point games (also called 1-point matches) and the different strategy when you cannot get a gammon or backgammon and really liked how he explained things. Love his book.
So that is my backgammon spew. Gotta keep the brain working on relearning and learning new things. Can't get stagnant!
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I talked to the organizer of SAGBRAW yesterday and they will be coming to Columbus for the next few years. I told him NEXT year Columbus will be a little more ready with more things to do and see.
I've seen first hand how other small towns really help the riders on these long rides although nothing like what I saw on RAGBRAI. What I saw in Iowa was AMAZING. Can you see Columbus with 13,000 riders in the middle of town? The money to be made was amazing. SADLY this year SAGBRAW only had 50 riders down from the 500 I was on but Covid killed a lot of clubs and rides.
I've already started to form a small group (2) for next year's ride to promote Columbus. HEY - it's a start! Columbus seems to never want to be seen or heard when it comes to advertising ourselves. shhhhh! Don't tell anybody we have a awesome great town. Let's keep it a secret.
For instance - The Columbus Historical Museum should be open today (not blaming them), The farmers market SHOULD have been at Fireman's Park where the riders are. Any local food carts in the area? Maybe a hotdog and brat stand? These guys need 6000 calories a day and will eat ANYTHING!!!
A movie in the pavillion last night or tonight selling popcorn from the popcorn cart would have been great? Carriage rides around town? sigh!
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Leaving The Oaks last night the sky was orange and check out the mammatus clouds to the left.
I scored poorly but it was cart path only and I swear I got more walking in then the walkers. If the ball was on the left side of the fairway my cart was on the right and vice versa. Knee hurt a little after the round. Too much "jogging" back and forth across the fairway.
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1 acre of hemp produce 25% more O2 than 1 acre of forest. One acre of hemp grows in 6 months while a forest takes decades. MAYBE use hemp to produce paper? It would save millions of acres of forest every year . . . .just saying.
OK OK - seems many communities are wanting to decriminalize psychedelics. WHAT? I'm still not up to speed on this. OH - I have taken my share of psychedelics way way back in the 70s. MDA, windowpane, purple and cherry haze, shrooms and so on and so forth but back then things were pure. But now? decriminalizing? - I need a LITTLE more information. But frankly, I'm not THAT interested.
Been there, done that - moving on.
A study of mice "highlighted the prosocial effects" of nonpsychotropic cannabis. You know - it seems mice are all getting the good shit. To be honest I went to the link and got bored REALLY fast!
Colorado sold $187 million in cannabis in June adding $54 million to their State coffers. The Republicans in Wisconsin don't want that money I guess. Most of the cash goes to Police and education.
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Who wants to buy a stadium!
The National Stadium is for sale in Tokyo for only 1.4 billion. Build for 68,000 people and has only hosted the Opening and Closing of the olympics and will only cose 22 million a year for maintenance. There are no plans to ever use it again!
PERFECT for you fantasy drafts, backgammon tournaments.
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Most animals actually like to work to get their food. Give an animal a puzzle to get food and they will gladly try to figure it out . . . . .except house cats! In an experiment they just laid there and whined.
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OH - lastly (getting long) The Golf industry has had its best year EVER. Rounds are up 22% from last year which was also arecord. Callaway and Taylormade had over 100% increase in sales and golf instructions at courses are seeing a record number of new golfers taking lessons.
I have ridden on SAGBRAW and GRABWAR and RAGBRAI six times, worked for the organization and started a bike club in Columbus and I find out about this by accident yesterday morning? SIGH. Columbus could have done so much to help out and help people make some money.
It seems some restaurants know about this (probably only the Chamber ones) and there could have been so many things that could have happened. Think if we had the farmers market near Firemans Park or food trucks for the hungry. They would have seriously snarfed up food and beverage. Carriage rides around town showing it's history. These riders are looking for NON-bike things to do. When I did rides getting to a town and looking for things to investigate. Is the Columbus History Museum open? does the farmers market know about this?
I contacted our Mayor . . . . first thing she said was "when are you out of Facebook jail" LOL
sad!
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The Columbus Senior Center is hoping to change it's name to the Columbus Activity Center since the building is used for many many things in Columbus.
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remember my 2 week power ratings? Still going strong. The Brewers were doing great until Covid took down 33% of the team and 50% of the pitching staff. I said a week ago if the crew can just stay afloat for 10 days . . . so far 3-3 since Covid hit with two of those losses directly related for Covid. No bullpen.
Here is the last 3 weeks of daily power rankings
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Facebook jail ends VERY soon, actually sooner than I thought . . . a few hours. OH - I have so many things to say.
From a friends post
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This is for all my female friends:
"Mansplaining" is really just short for "Man explaining."
You're welcome.
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OK - Done with Killing The Mob - next book up is "After Dunkirk" Seems like a lighthearted romp through WWII France escaping the Germans.
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WATCH OUT FOR BIG STORMS after 5:00 tonight. Sadly I think our neighbor has been on vacation and all his south facing windows have been open with our 4 inches of driving rain we have received since Friday.
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Cannabis Science and Health
A review concluded that "cannabinoids may be used in eczema, acne, pruritus, and systemic sclerosis treatment" and that CBD "may enhance hair growth via multiple mechanisms."
About a month ago I saw that Garbage, the band from Madison that formed in 1993 and has sold 17 million albums, was coming out with a new "album". Really? they are still around? YUP! seems new music every 5 years.
SO - I waited and when it came out I thought I would reintroduce myself. I liked many of their hits but never really purchased a whole album/CD before, well, maybe their first album.
Shirley at the Capitol Theatre - Madison
Well, I purchased "No Gods No Masters" . . . and O M G!! I never realized how pure, unabashed, smash mouth, raw lyrics, rock and roll they were on all the NON-HIT songs.
Jenny has had a one on one conversation with Shirley Manson and Shirley actually stopped a concert for her. Jenny was in the front row at the Coliseum and getting crushed. Josh was surrounding her and Shirley stopped mid song and told the crowd to Back the F*CK up, we have a young lady getting crushed BACK THE F*CK UP"!
So it's almost like she stopped the concert for ME!
And DJ went to school with Duke Erickson . . .well, they were IN the same High School at the same time so it's almost like "I" was in the same High School . . .right?
But I digress.
Where does Nickleback come into play?
I like Nickleback. Their songs stick in my head for at LEAST a week and then disappear but for that week, I love the song. Garbage? It takes a little time and each time I hear a song I love it more and more - the complete opposite of Nickleback.
So after wearing out the bytes on No Gods I picked up 2 more "albums" and O M G!! . . they are SO unique and raunchy heavy. Fantastic beat and the ultimate dancing disco hard throbbing rock. I never realized.
That flame still burns on No Gods No Masters. Part of the fuel is Manson’s turgid contempt for injustice, but what makes the record so good is how the rest of Garbage matches her tone perfectly with keyboard glitches, buzzsaw guitar, and clever but never obtrusive rhythm loops.
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Turn this up and be aware of the base. The entire CD is best on a Friday night after a few drinks (when you can turn it up to 11.
https://youtu.be/JBTg1Yvrn9c
Now with 3 of their CDs on my phone, "Bleed Like Me" and "Not My Kind of People" "No Gods" I'm amazed I missed these guys. It's not their hits, it's the other songs you won't hear that are outstanding.
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Scotch Whisky - not a real fan but I have never compared different whisky. Sort of like Vodka until we had the winter of Vodka and we tried . . . 8+ different kinds. WOW - there is a massive difference. (my favs are the potato vodkas like Luksusowa). We tried the top shelf but they were not that great in my view.
ANYWAY - I was watching a Rick Steve's travel show and he was in Scotland and was at a distillery and was tasting Scotch. The guy gave him some whiskey out of the barrell and Rick said yada yada and then the guy said - watch this, and added some water to the whiskey and swirled.
Rick tasted and WOW!!!! What a massive difference. The guy said ALWAYS add a touch of water to whiskey, it opens up the florales and makes a HUGE difference. NOT ICE as it closes down the flavor.
Scotch Neat is when you add water, not ice. So I looked it up on how much water to add. One place said 2 shots of whiskey and 5 shots of water. Most places pretty much said "To taste".
So after we came back from Uncle Darryl's celebration of life (more on that next) DJ and I were on the porch drinking dark rum and cokes and I said - let's try a Scotch Neat.
So I did the 2 to 4 ratio with some Makers Mark we had laying around. YUP - still tastes like whiskey but can't waste it can we?
And then the Garbage music was turned up!
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When I was growing up my extended family and relatives were my mom, dad and brother. That's it. I never met any of my relatives cousins, grandfathers, or anybody. Just the 4 of use. A big family reunion was at Christmas with the 4 of us.
Now DJ on the other hand has hundreds of family from all over the world. Turkey, Puerto Rico all over.
So sweet, kind Uncle Darryle passed away during Covid and there was no real funeral. Yesterday was the big military celebration of life with a band and 100+ people.
Here is the thing (since this is all about ME). So many people came up to me and asked "When are you out of facebook jail" Over and over people kept asking me. It got to a point when someone would come up to us DJ would say "3 days" before they could say Hi and then they would laugh as they were about to ask! Does the entire family listen to my mindless keyboard diarrhea that gets me in trouble? My lack of filter seems to be breathtaking.
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Is there a container (the kind that go on ships) shortage? No - but there is a HUGe problem as all the empty ones are in the wrong places . Thanks COVID! A container pre- covid cost $2,800. NOW they cost $5,800.
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Don't look now but the Gulf Stream is changing which will have a huge impact on weather . . . OH and the magnetic north pole is slipping and there is so much junk in outer space that it's REALLY dangerous that some bolt traveling 20,000 mph is going to rip a hole in you.
All is well.
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The number of anti-vaxxers and far right conspiracy nut jobs who believe Covid is fake that are dying is amazing. It's all fun and games until you know someone who died. Then all of a sudden the yare saying "I wish I had the vaccine".
WELL - the left will start winning elections because tie idiot right will all be dead.
You know how the Spanish Flu went away? It didn't The common flu is a variant. But it seems that with the so called Spanish flu you caught it and lived or caught it and died. The complete morons that say - HEY 98% recover. OK that means that only 1 million more deaths. They can live with that and call it a victory!
YUP - the far right trumpers know all the numbers to justify their ignorance.
Finished Killing the Mob by Bill O'Reilly. I really love his "killing" books but not a fan of Bill himself. The Mob, Corporation, The Mafia or whatever you want to call them is still alive but no longer "organized" as they were from the 1940s to the middle 70's and as O'Reilly says THANK YOU Bobby Kennedy and Donnie Brasko.
The book summarizes that both JFK and Bobby Kennedy were killed by the mob but there is no evidence of that. When JFK was killed Bobby told his inner circle that he believe HE were be killed and not his brother. BUT - with the really corrupt Hoover (who loathed the Kennedys) in charge of the investigation was not really that deep.
Two weeks before JFK was shot Jimmy Hoffa told a group at a restaurant that he wished Bobby Kennedy would be shot in the head with a long rifle while he was in his convertible. hmmmmmm
Then there is Donnie Brasko (played by Johnny Depp in "Donnie Brasko") WOW - that guy killed the mob. He went undercover for 5 years infiltrating the highest order of the Corporation. He actually almost became a "Made Man" but he was told he had to kill a guy which stepped over the line for him.
The guy got so high in the mob that he was invited to a couple weddings by the head of the family. He made so many friends that when he came out they took a photo of him with the FBI and the killings started in the many "families". Before Brasko there was almost no info on how the organization was run and how it worked. After. It crumbled.
He could be living right next to you as him and his family went into protection and changed their names. But there was a million dollar hit on him but quietly every head of the household were told if anything ever happened. Heads were literally roll for every family. The hit was taken off. OH - for his 5 years of leaving his family and living dangerously? a $500 bonus.
OH - The Mob LOVED The Godfather. In fact on a day they were shooting a scene in NYC 4 blocks away the head of one family was murdered. They did not like the TV show The Untouchables which was being produced my Desi Arnez. There was a hit out on Desi (he did not know it) but 3 days before the hit he canceled the show and the hit was canceled.
Literally EVERYTHING in entertainment was run by the mob. TV, Movies, music, hotels restaurants, police, most of government, shipping was run by the mob up to the mid 70s. Nixon got Jimmy Hoffa out of prison so he could get the labor vote.
Now the mob is basically in NYC and Florida but not as organized. OH - The French Connection. another movie I need to watch now.
The French Connection was a cocaine and heroin smuggling operation. The French police sort of turned a blind eye to this as most of the bad guys were also resistance fighters in WWII.
Fascinating read as all his "Killing" books are.
I've read
Killing Patton, The Mob, The SS, The Rising Sun, England.
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Went to the Brewer game Wednesday with great seats. I will never buy regular seating again as the Club level are SO nice. First base side is the shade side, We were 2 rows above the sun LOL
The seats are wider which is GREAT. And can I say the air conditioning? behind the seats in the concession area is wonderful on hot days. Carpeting, no real lines for food and a nice bar to get mixed drinks ($15 LOL). Preferred parking is great as it only took us about 10 minutes to get out of the park after the game. They put you right next to the exits or the road to the exit on the north side of the stadium. The last four times we have gone there - BAM - out before the crowds. Just stay in the far left lane when getting near the field.
OH - the game was a little boring until the Rowdy Tellez moment which I believe was the 2nd most exciting thing I have been to (first was the walk off HR in the 9th a couple years ago).
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So I have gottin back into Backgammon and I'm not as good as I thought I was. After playing for free against humans at Backgammon Galaxy and seeing my rating drop I purchased ExtremeGammon
which is the #1 software for Backgammon.
What a great piece of byte engineering, driven by the most powerful gammon AI. I put it in "teaching" mode where you play against easy or MASTER bots and it will tell you how wrong you are BUT, you can't take back a play.
Keeps every game, so you can study your bone head blunders and see just how bad you are.
I'm THINKING (when I get back on to Facebook) about seeing if there is interest in the game at Cercis Brewery. Elwood used to run tournaments and I never knew anybody that could beat him consistently (being all Rainman-like with numbers).
OH - anybody still play Texas Hold'm? I have 28 books on the game. 8 books on Blackjack card counting (we had a team once). I need more Backgammon books.
According the the game I'm a "beginner" which REALLY disappoints me. Hopefully it's because I lost some knowledge in the past 40 years.
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Have a GREAT weekend. Maybe some storms in the next few days.
We saw Wedl's Hamburger Stand featured on the Food Network a couple years ago as one of the best burger stands in Wisconsin and had plans on going there but then the pandemic happened.
Growing up in Fort Atkinson we had Happs Burger stand in Fort and Jefferson was our arch enemy so it was not a Go To place. But I had gone there a number of times but not in the last . . . . .40 years?
DJ, Gus and I took a road trip to go there and were not disappointed. WOW!!!! First of all Jefferson is a nice little town with lots of things going on. Next weekend is Goat Fest with goat races, goat yoga, meet the goats on Goat Island and so forth.
But we were there for the lard-burgers. DON'T! get all weird on lard. If you ate a couple Twinkies this year you can't get anal about lard. Remember - many 5* restaurants use lard.
SO - they have a grill which has a nice thick sheen of lard and burger juice and when I saw the grill it had maybe 12 burgers cooking. They are smashed flat the height of an iPhone. $3.50 for a single and $4.50 for a double. Onions are automatically fried and they have ice cream and so forth. We had a single, double, fries and a Pepsi for $13.
You wait on a bench and we had three children hugging and petting Gus ( of course) and our name was called. Got the bag-o-food and walked across the street to the parking lot, popped the back open and sat (like many others were doing).
I was going to take a photo but when I lifted the burger it was SO juicy I did not want to touch anything.
First bite? Amazing! No condiments are needed at all as the flavor was out of this world. Was the lard from 1916? when it opened. Does the 100 year old grill put this much flavor on burger? Food Net said they do not use any seasoning. WELL - we were sold. I'm not going to go out and buy a block of lard but maybe a couple times a year I need a Wedl burger. . . . . .
OH - then there is the actual building next to it. I had ASSUMED it was like an old bar. NOPE
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The Vac's
Obviously when I said anybody that does not get vaccinated are assholes - OBVIOUSLY - I'm not talking about people with underlying conditions that prevent them from getting vaccinated. Only the stubborn ones with misleading information.
The vaccine works better then expected. When I hear someone say it's useless because people still get Covid - that is not what the vaccine was made for.
It's not made to keep people from getting sick, it's made to keep people from getting DEAD and in that way it's working better than advertised. Of all the people who were vaccinated AND are getting sick . . . have you heard of more than one handful (if that) of vaccinated getting put on ventilators? NO! So get off your high horses and get the shot!
As for the latest "wear a mask" thing. This has nothing to do with protecting vaccinated people and has EVERYTHING to do with saving unvaccinated lives. The people that got the shot are trying to save the the misinformed from themselves. Once again - we are doing the heavy work for the deniers.
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OH - Gus had his first Gyros Thursday along with us and it was hilarious.
We came home and obviously smelled of food. Gus was all wiggley and excited for a snack. DJ didn't finish hers and gave a piece of meat to Gus who chomped on it and then his lips sort of curled up and his mouth opened a little with wide eyes and a big surprised look on his face. "WTF?" in dog language.
Then once he got over the shock and awe and decided this was not spoiled meat, he LOVED IT! The original look of surprised on his face was a photo op missed.
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Backgammon. I've been playing a lot on apps, online and DJ and I have been playing on a new board we purchased.
The one we had was small and one of those leather things with stitching which sort of sucks if you play a lot. The ordered a bigger board and it came with rounded dice which you can just throw out for accuracy (I keep all dice as you will see).
So - I have this metal box that Elwood made in Shop class in Junior high and keep all my dice in it. had to look for our favorites.
Been kicking around the idea of a Backgammon "club" "tournament" or something to see if there are any other backgammon players in the area . . . . .or not. Just my brain getting ahead of itself.
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NBC sucks for the Olympics. As Giannis Antetokounmpo tweeted last week. "Where can I watch the men's basketball live" Reply - "It's on Peacock, you need to subscribe" Giannis "nevermind then".
YEA - this ain't Tokyo 1964. Who wants to watch a free replay 8 hours later knowing the result. Most people in today's social atmosphere will know all the results.
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Went to an 80th birthday party Saturday. Because of Covid it was held in the Columbus Fireman's Pavilion. The fixed and reinstalled the original window panes. Notice how each group has three sets as opposed to the old middle set. So much beautiful light enters, The original floor is all polished. The place looks fantastic. Bravo !!
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WHAT? July is over already?
We're going to the Brewer game Wednesday - 50% off for us old guys $23 for Club Level seating is a steal. Plus with preferred parking we are almost literally first out of the parking lot. Everytime we have gone and had preferred parking I bet we are in the first 100 cars out of the parking lot!! Worth the extra $5?
Speaking of the brewers. On May21 The Brewers traded Feyereisen amd Rasmussen, both middle relievers for Adams and Richards
On July 6 the Brewers traded Richards for Rowdy Tellez.
So at the moment the trade was 2 middle relievers, Feyereisen amd Rasmussen for two full time players, Adamas and his .926 OPS and Tellez and his 1.038 OPS
