I guess there was some confusion about the Cubs in my last post. I was not talking about ACTUAL wins and losses but runs scores and runs given up. Looking at those two numbers is a very good predictor on how good a team actually is.
Nate Silver has his ELO ratings which are sort of like Baseball Prospectus's PECOTA ratings and according to ELO the 1939 NY Yankees were the best team ever to play followed by the 1906 Chicago Cubs.
BUT - what was the best Milwaukee Brewer team ever? Yup - the 1982 Brewers which was the 246th best team ever.
The worst team ever? The 1904 Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins) followed by the 2003 Detroit Tigers.
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If you are driving around check out the Water Tower wall. The sedium are looking good for less then one year old!! We're going to put a streak of color in the wall at some point.
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I've been getting some emails asking about assessments - there has been no meeting scheduled yet to go over what will happen so no news is no news.
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McKinny Texas where I have relatives approved a $68 MILLION High School football stadium that will seat 12,000. Seems a little over the top to me!
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Some cool bike things next week
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It will go un noticed by many but the transportation industry is about to get chaotic with the new Panama Canal about to open in June which will allow MUCH larger ships to pass through. This will change a LOT of things in America with different ports getting much more cargo.
Now ships that can haul 18,000 containers will be able to pass through the canal.
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Drones - I hate them, loud and obnoxious and pretty much annoying. Last year there were 6 million drones sold. Industry experts say by 2020 there will be 22 million sold. FREAKING GREAT! I know if I ever see one above me I'll do what I can to knock it down, as a sport!
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Well - I just wanted to post SOMETHING so people did not think I had died or anything!
We are so freaking lucky to live in America and I am so tired of people complaining about how we need to "fix" things.
On Viceland (DIRECT TV 271) there is a show called State of Undress that investigates fashion and culture around the world. The female reporter was in Venezuela. OMG - that is a messed up country.
One out or five citizens of Venezuela has had some sort of plastic surgery yet their economy is so messed up lines start forming at 4AM and you wait 5 hours to MAYBE get a few common goods in the murder capitol of the world. A typical store will have 10 different items to sell.
The reporter had to be in a caravan of five bullet proof cars there are so many kidnappings. SADLY she reported that she was having her period and it took 3 days and black market to get one package of tampons for $45. YET - you need beauty products? not a problem. I think they said 20% of a woman's income will be spent on beauty products.
That network of investigated reporting has some outstanding shows and all the reporters are very good at what they do and relate their findings to the viewers in a way that makes you want to be their friend.
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HERE IT IS. One of the three big USS Indy presentations is out.
USS Indianapolis: The Legacy where my father in law is interviewed is out but not for wide release yet I guess.
The HBO series is still in the works but last night the trailer for USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage was released.
INTENSE - The night before Mel was sleeping on that crate that contained parts to the A-Bomb. The night of the sinking he was topside because below deck it was 130 degrees, when the first torpedo hit he was blown into the water. Since they started filming the movie six survivors have passed away and only 25 are left.
https://youtu.be/eSTC6nnbaRo
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It's been a tough few weeks being a Council members. It seems everybody wants roads and infrastructure but no one wants to pay for them and believe they are paying the entire cost. Actually residents pay about 10% and we are actually giving them a deal as MOST cities you also pay for 1/3 of the street. Then we hear all sorts of false claims at how expensive Columbus is. Such as it is more expensive to live here then Sun Prairie. WHAT?
You really can not compare a city of 5,000 to a city of 30,000+? Our mill rate is a dime more then SP and lets see how we compare when they build ANOTHER mammoth $20 million dollar high school as the one they have is overflowing - LIKE OUR SCHOOLS.
If you want to make Columbus better and grow our tax base to lower the levy? - BUILD A DAMN SCHOOL! It's embarrassing.
Anyway - Water and Light had some numbers to compare because it's been six years since we had a small rate increase.
Comparing "like" systems (soft water, iron filtering) based on 500 cubic feet of water in a household we pay:
Columbus $58.00
Hartford $59.06
Hustisford $100.54
Waupon $68.16
Fond du lac $61.78
Menasha $57.00
Two Rivers $51.85
We could be 7% cheaper if we did not soften the water which is a topic for conversation with a new well being needed in the near future as Well #,1 built after WWII has getting a little old. Do we want to continue to have "soft" water? I believe we have the least amount of softening right now because soft water is not the best to drink. OR - get rid of soft water and everybody has to buy softeners.
We're talking a number of years away - don't panic. We still need to find a place for a new well. Our water is from way way up north and a thousand years old as our wells are 700 feet down. We have OLD but very good (and very rich in iron) water.
here are some random shots of Well #2 & 3.
On the electric side, based on 600kWh for a resident of Columbus we pay
Columbus $77.09
Brodhead $77.04
Cedarberg $76.07
Sun Prairie $68.22* rate increase this year coming for them
Lake Mills $82,17 Madison $98.53
Lodi $77.61
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Then there are the Chicago Cubs who have been predicted to win 100 games this year. Seems the 100 could be on the low side as no team in history, after 24 games, has been as dominate as the Cubs have been this year. If you look at run differential they are farther ahead of the 2nd best team as the 2nd best team is ahead of the 20th best team, and this is after losing a potential 30 HR player to a season ending injury.
The Cubs not only have the highest scoring team in the Majors but they have given up the fewest runs also.
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The NY City Council voted to have a 5 cent fee for all plastic bags in grocery stores.
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It's been 159 years since the last BIG ONE on the southern section of the San Andreas fault (also called Obama's fault by the Republicans) and it's getting people who worry about such things a little worried/ As one Green Packer Coach once said "It Is Time".
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Sheldon Silver, former New York Assembly speaker, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a corruption case. Six of the last seven New York state legislative majority leaders have been convicted on criminal charges. maybe someone should look into this . .wait - I guess they have.
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32 people have been kidnapped by pirates this year compared to 15 all of last year. You won't catch me on a boar on the Crawfish river.
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New York City sent 1,000,000 condoms to Puerto Rico to fight the Zika virus. WHAT ARE THOSE MOSQUITOES BITING!!! This reminds me. In WWII America sent 1 million condoms to the Russian army they used them for guns. But they stamped all of them with EXTRA SMALL.
Those crazy Americans.
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Have a great weekend. Good weather. Except for today (81) and Monday (61) we should be in the mid to upper 60s for the next 10 days with widely scattered rain between the sun on most days.
Wherever you are in America today, the weather you have today is what you will have for the next week, except a little warmer if you are in nice weather or a little wetter if you are in poor weather.
Except for Wednesday. A little cold front will zoom through and then it gets really nice for the weekend.
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Elwood and I worked a little on the water tower wall Saturday filling in more dirt and planting a few more sediums.
Then we continued working on the area under my deck when it started to rain which was all weeds 5 years ago until we found the perfect ground cover that loves shade and blocks out weeds.
That is Lamium in front. Three years ago we planted two fist size plants and it loves the front side that gets a little sunlight. The back is Woodruff which loves deep dark shade
The plants on the rocks are creeping Thyme and they have these awesome purple flowers - in the early summer.
Then Saturday we poked holes in both groups and replanted. That is the awesome thing about this is that once established everything is free. The Water Tower wall is all sedium taking from our rocks beside the house.
Below - Can't even see where we cut all these in half last year to put in the water tower wall - don't look at the long grass - lawn mower is STILL getting serviced (two weeks now) - DAMN YOU ROBERTS - why don't you do small engine work anymore.
Now the big project on the horizon is fixing the butterfly garden. The Clay Garden full of coreopsis is doing fine but a few daylilies are doing poorly like last year - I think I need to find a replacement.
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OMG - we have discovered the most awesome channel on DIRECT TV - Viceland. (271ish?) Operating under the creative direction of Spike Jonze it has some really creative and unique shows. Lifestyle-oriented documentaries and reality series aimed towards millenials.
Seriously fascinating - last night flipping around was a series called Weediquette which explored the Cannabis culture in the middle of the Congo and the Pygmy tribes where the ONLY way to survive is to grow cannabis or literally starve.
What was interesting was they had to travel into the middle of the Congo between 48 warring groups and convince this tribe they were doing a show on cannabis (a common weed) and not looking for gold. It got REALLY REALLY tense for a bit.
Other shows that are interesting
Flophouse—a series where Lance Bangs follows the lives of up-and-coming comedians at underground stand-up events,other shows Fuck, That's Delicious, and Huang's World—featuring Eddie Huang "exploring identity using food as an equalizer"
And more shows we saw advertised States of Undress about the fashion industry. DJ and I decided we had to make a point to make sure we looked what was on that channel.
Watch this trailer to get an idea of what Viceland is all about
