Finally closed on the new house today. It has been a non-stop shit show up to this point, but now it is done. Now I have a shit ton of manual labor to do.
Congratulations! We finally moved into the house I bought last June. Remodeling has been extremely frustrating with the worldwide supply chain problems. Hope you fare better!
I'm in the process of buying a second home at the moment, kind of rough because each house is getting multiple offers above the asking price, missed out on two so far that I bid on.
2-day avalanche training which I'll be taking at the end of January. These courses are not cheap, which has made me hesitate, but I've known for a long time I should take this as it could save my life skiing/camping in the backcountry.
I don't want to put a negative spin on what sounds like a highly anticipated trip for you, but I hope you have a better experience than I. I was at Northstar this past Saturday (my friend drug me there with two of his kids and one of m ine). It was a shitshow, 4 hours to get there from Nevada City, no parking when we arrived, and they were cramming people into chairs and the gondola with strangers, shoulder to shoulder as though there was no pandemic. The Village exploded into a madhouse once the lifts closed. Since there was no parking, my buddy dropped us all off, parked some distance away, then skinned his way up one of the backside mountains to get into the park. He then had to ski back to the car at the end of the day while we waited for him in the Village. It completely confirmed my unfavorable impression of destination resorts. I just prefer my outdoor experience with less people around. I'd say plan accordingly for traffic and stick to the lifts if you are nervous about being shoulder to shoulder in the confined space of the gondola. I had to take the gondola as it was my daughter's first time snowboarding and she was nervous about exiting the lift.
My understanding is that Northstar sold 180k Epic passes this season. Sugar Bowl, which is more local and on the western slope of 80 put a limit on passes and single day tix. I've heard the experience there is much more pleasant.
It sounds like your experience will be much better than mine was, which is good since you are traveling so far to make it happen. Definitely a good base, but long-term forecast (2 weeks or so) looks pretty dry. :( I hope you have a great time!
Well where does HSB live then? Sorry, I know we had some of these conversations a while ago and I've lost track. Doesn't help that I haven't met any of you in person. AIARE, I believe is the outfit providing the class.
I maintain that the best Christmas presents are things you would never buy for yourself, but once you receive them, you love them. My daughter crocheted me a A.F.C. Richmond scarf, which I have been wearing around, but nobody has recognized it yet :(. My wife got me a Taschen book - The NASA Archives - about 45 lbs, huge format chronicling 60 years of space exploration. It's awesome.
The kids got me a whip antenna for the Miata to replace the automatic one. We put it on and I'm not sure if I get better reception or not. I don't use the radio as much as I used to.
I like the use of swearing by Roy Kent in Lasso. Works very well as a mechanism to build out his character - his frequent use of it but also his having to deal with his niece’s emulation of it
If you are married filing jointly, it is best to buy investment properties via LLC in one spouse's name because you don't need to file a separate tax return for the LLC.
I'm excited about the return of Ozark on Netflix next week. It's got a serious Breaking Bad vibe that I love. So too -- of course -- does Better Call Saul which I believe will be back in the spring.
Love both of these. Ozark release date is my wife's birthday so of course I told her I arranged this with Jason Bateman as her gift to cover up for the fact that I am struggling with what to do for her.
Oats Studio (Netflix, 12/19 WB). A grab bag of short sci fi films. Some are good, some head scratchers. Favorite was the first one. Not as good as, say, Black Mirror. But short enough where you don't feel like the below average ones are a waste of time.
Making pizza tonight in the Ooni. One or two cheese and spinach pizzas, one pesto sauce with grilled chicken and sundried tomatoes, and two or one with pepperoni, hot italian sausages, spinach. Making 4 total
Sumac. It's a spice popular in Middle Eastern and Persian cooking. It's sour taste without a sour smell, but not overtly so like other sour powders like amchur.
Well, it finally happened: my daughter's preschool has shut down for a week due to staff shortages and a reported COVID positive from one of the students.
Honestly, it's not the worst thing since my kid was already out sick and was going to miss most of this week anyway (testing negative for COVID so far, so right now I assume it's just a cold).
that's almost exactly what happened to my 4 year old niece - started showing signs of having a serious cold, my brother and SIL had her tested, not COVID - then while she's been at home, someone else at the nursery school class pops a positive test, and now everyone is at home
It does make me wonder if this is actually COVID and it's just not being picked up by the tests. Though we've also tested the rest of the family and so far all negative.
It is the peak of cold and flu season, and there are usually a lot of both with no assist from Covid. With variants, we are now looking at a half dozen or more such agents as once. Entirely possible to have more than one at a time too. Already really looking forward to spring and more fresh air!
Yes, and since she's 2 and we basically kept her away from people for a year, she was bound to start catching stuff constantly once she went to a real preschool. That little immune system needs to build itself up.
Exactly...they struggled down the stretch with Jackson and Clarke's size...matchup nightmares for the small ball W's lineup. Plus, you can't let that Chris Kattan-looking mother-f--ker from Duke have the best night of his year...always disliked Tyus Jones.
Memphis is W's kryptonite right now...look forward to seeing them at full strength.
This. They are the Ws achilles heal this year. It'll be interesting to see them match up again in March when Klay is presumably at full strength/minutes and Wiseman is back in the lineup.
The thing recently with the Warriors is they're missing open 3 point shots. The ones everyone was hitting early in the season, aren't going in now. Even Steph.
Steph's slump will end at some point and he'll get more and more shots as Klay's minutes increase. They were riding made 3s by Wiggins and the bench, which aren't falling right now. Their zone was rather effective and GP2 on Ja is a fun match up.
But, I think ESPN suffers most from an SEC that is middling, not that would ever happen, no? I am basing this on the coverage I see on ESPN and the fact that they carry the SEC network, correct?
It's part of the reason why Cal to the Sun Bowl holds such cache for me...
Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson do that G-d damnned weekly SEC game for CBS, and the Sun is the only bowl CBS does, IIRC....plus Cal has never gone to the Sun, and I'm always up for them to go to new bowls....
I was not making a case for Cal. The Bears are nowhere even close to a top 25 program, and will remain on the outside looking in until they field an offensive line that can consistently win at the line of scrimmage....
My comment was in reference to 3 of the top 5 teams, and 5 of the top 10, being SEC schools.
Ah, ok! I detest the SEC, but dude, one must recognize that we are still smack dab in an era of near total SEC dominance. It won’t last forever, but we certainly are not out of it yet
Agreed, and unfortunately it just may actually stay that way forever given the resources that SEC schools put towards facilities and recruiting.
So long as the University remains far and away the biggest "corporation" in its respective region (with the exception of maybe Vandy in Nashville), then the SEC is most likely going to continue to dominate.
I am not sure that SEC dominance will last forever and the reason for that is Texas. Texas has all the money and resources and they have basically been irrelevant in terms of CFB competitiveness and a threat to make the playoffs or even win their conference. This isn’t due to a lack of resources, institutional support or talent, it is due to hiring bad coaches.
All it takes is for Saban to retire and Bama to hire an average coach for the SEC to come back down.
Conditions are perfect for SEC to forever dominate. The SEC, even without specifying a team is CFB equivalent of the Lakers, Patriots, or Yankees for those that want to follow CFB and maybe didn't got to college or have an affinity for a specific team, though an SC return to relevance could recapture some of this market.
I’m not sure. For one, there is a natural bias to assume current conditions will continue forever when in fact change is almost always inevitable. Two, we have had two recent seismic shifts in the CFB landscape - the Supreme Court ruling on name and likeness profits and the liberalization of rules around transfers - and I do not think we yet know how those play out. It may be that they only entrench the SEC’s dominance, but I don’t think we yet know
The SEC dominance is mainly built off of Bama and Saban. When Saban retires and Bama comes back down to earth then you’ll see the entire SEC take a step back.
Similar to what happened when Pete left SC or Mack Brown left Texas. It impacted both the schools and their conferences.
And there is also likely to be an expansion of the playoffs soon, which will allow more teams from other conferences to get in. That might help redirect some of the talent.
I hear what you are saying and agree that change being the only guarantee in life and all, but If I am betting on the future, I am putting my money on SEC. Also, it helps to prevent over-optimism in a different direction.
If they get the OU QB transfer I could see them being in the top 15. The Pac 12 is as down as it has ever been. USC could easily win the Pac 12 next season, that is now down it is.
Easily, I like the SC coaching hire much better than Oregon’s. Oregon also lost a lot of talent on defense and their QB situation isn’t great right now.
Exactly. Along with ASU and an 11th season for DTR in Westwood, the P12 South is going to be the class of the league.
Lanning may someday get Oregon there, but it's folly to think the Ducks will field a dominant, UGA-style D anytime before 2024, if ever, and he may in fact be coaching at Auburn by then after Harsin goes 6-6 for a third straight season.
Finally closed on the new house today. It has been a non-stop shit show up to this point, but now it is done. Now I have a shit ton of manual labor to do.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! We finally moved into the house I bought last June. Remodeling has been extremely frustrating with the worldwide supply chain problems. Hope you fare better!
Congrats! That's great to hear.
Nice...
I'm in the process of buying a second home at the moment, kind of rough because each house is getting multiple offers above the asking price, missed out on two so far that I bid on.
Christmas presents
2-day avalanche training which I'll be taking at the end of January. These courses are not cheap, which has made me hesitate, but I've known for a long time I should take this as it could save my life skiing/camping in the backcountry.
sounds amazing. where are you doing said training? somewhere around Tahoe?
this is on my list of things to do too
Yes, I believe it will be Castle Peak area. You are in Reno, yeah?
no, but HAG and I are going to ski in Northstar/Squaw for a couple days in late Jan
I don't want to put a negative spin on what sounds like a highly anticipated trip for you, but I hope you have a better experience than I. I was at Northstar this past Saturday (my friend drug me there with two of his kids and one of m ine). It was a shitshow, 4 hours to get there from Nevada City, no parking when we arrived, and they were cramming people into chairs and the gondola with strangers, shoulder to shoulder as though there was no pandemic. The Village exploded into a madhouse once the lifts closed. Since there was no parking, my buddy dropped us all off, parked some distance away, then skinned his way up one of the backside mountains to get into the park. He then had to ski back to the car at the end of the day while we waited for him in the Village. It completely confirmed my unfavorable impression of destination resorts. I just prefer my outdoor experience with less people around. I'd say plan accordingly for traffic and stick to the lifts if you are nervous about being shoulder to shoulder in the confined space of the gondola. I had to take the gondola as it was my daughter's first time snowboarding and she was nervous about exiting the lift.
My understanding is that Northstar sold 180k Epic passes this season. Sugar Bowl, which is more local and on the western slope of 80 put a limit on passes and single day tix. I've heard the experience there is much more pleasant.
luckily we are skiing mid-week and staying w/ another HS friend who has a slopeside condo
so hoping for "not shit show experience". that being said. they could use some snow i think!
It sounds like your experience will be much better than mine was, which is good since you are traveling so far to make it happen. Definitely a good base, but long-term forecast (2 weeks or so) looks pretty dry. :( I hope you have a great time!
Well where does HSB live then? Sorry, I know we had some of these conversations a while ago and I've lost track. Doesn't help that I haven't met any of you in person. AIARE, I believe is the outfit providing the class.
HSB lives in NY .. makes frequent trips out west for skiing, hiking, biking.
grew up in Moraga, went to Campo w/ HAG
I maintain that the best Christmas presents are things you would never buy for yourself, but once you receive them, you love them. My daughter crocheted me a A.F.C. Richmond scarf, which I have been wearing around, but nobody has recognized it yet :(. My wife got me a Taschen book - The NASA Archives - about 45 lbs, huge format chronicling 60 years of space exploration. It's awesome.
The kids got me a whip antenna for the Miata to replace the automatic one. We put it on and I'm not sure if I get better reception or not. I don't use the radio as much as I used to.
Swearing
Vaffanculo
I'm enjoying this. I'm definitely learning something today.
I like the use of swearing by Roy Kent in Lasso. Works very well as a mechanism to build out his character - his frequent use of it but also his having to deal with his niece’s emulation of it
My wife and I have taken to sometimes yelling "OY!" to get our kids' attention, and it's because of Roy Kent and his niece.
Iss Scheiβe und stirb!
Shaka, when the walls fell.
Temba, his arms wide
I've always wanted to visit Tanagra in the summertime...
Wa lau eh...
Dun be so blur
Too late. Blur blur like sotong already, lor.
Dank Ferret!
Deus perdant
"E Chu Ta!"
NNNEEEEERRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!
"How Rude!"
𨳒你老母臭閪
仆街
冚家鏟
DBD Not Official Financial Advice
If you are married filing jointly, it is best to buy investment properties via LLC in one spouse's name because you don't need to file a separate tax return for the LLC.
sounds like something out of Shawshank Redemption
Mr. Hadley, do you trust your wife?
I have the sudden urge to throw you off a roof.
DBD AV Club
I'm excited about the return of Ozark on Netflix next week. It's got a serious Breaking Bad vibe that I love. So too -- of course -- does Better Call Saul which I believe will be back in the spring.
Better Call Saul is awesome. Can't come quickly enough.
Love both of these. Ozark release date is my wife's birthday so of course I told her I arranged this with Jason Bateman as her gift to cover up for the fact that I am struggling with what to do for her.
Oats Studio (Netflix, 12/19 WB). A grab bag of short sci fi films. Some are good, some head scratchers. Favorite was the first one. Not as good as, say, Black Mirror. But short enough where you don't feel like the below average ones are a waste of time.
another of these is a youtube channel 'Dust'. some are great, some are decidedly not.
Thanks for this review. I will check this out now.
Didn't like episode 3 of Book of Boba Fett as much as the first two episodes BUT what a delightful cameo
I was wondering why his name was trending this morning... Also those scooters look like they belong in back to the future part 2.
That's EXACTLY what I told the group chat.
"HEY BOBA, HOVERBIKES DON'T WORK ON WATER . . . UNLESS YOU'VE GOT POWER!!!"
When do the episodes drop? I was hoping to watch the 3rd last Sunday and it wasn't available
Wednesdays late? It's like in the afternoon for me here in Shanghai.
You should re-watch it. 2 rules.
We liked 2 better than 1
2 had more of a payoff plot arc, so we liked it better too.
Adam Driver is fantastic...his SNL sketches are all-time, too.
DBD Test Kitchen
oven baked branzino and a simple risotto. open to wine pairings ...
Chablis would be an obvious choice. I'd stay with a white, maybe one from Portugal.
Making pizza tonight in the Ooni. One or two cheese and spinach pizzas, one pesto sauce with grilled chicken and sundried tomatoes, and two or one with pepperoni, hot italian sausages, spinach. Making 4 total
fired up the smoker last night for its initial test run. Enjoyed achiote chicken tacos last night
I saw yesterday that Traeger is being sold by Costco.
that's where I got my Traeger, can't beat it
Roasted feta, broccolini, red onions, garlic, olives, cherry tomatoes over rice pilaf - paired with a decent CA Zinfandel.
After my first attempt at King Arthur's rough puff, I'm a fan and plan to make more! They use sour cream (yogurt is fine) instead of cold water https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/fast-and-easy-puff-pastry-recipe
Sumac. It's a spice popular in Middle Eastern and Persian cooking. It's sour taste without a sour smell, but not overtly so like other sour powders like amchur.
i like sumac. it is great when paired w/ a healthy squeeze of lemon.
i make a simple tasty dinner salad of rice, lentils, chopped tomatoes and cucumbers. then you just add sumac, lemon, salt, pepper.
it is of course good for many other things too.
and essential in fattoush
Grilled salmon with a broccoli/cheese/rice casserole thing...
Our Crumbling Democracy
Did anyone listen to the NPR interview with trump this morning?
Listen to him? No fucking way, but I did read about it.
Trump lost these states. Republican candidates for governor are emulating him anyway.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/12/trump-governor-candidates-526954
Today in Omicron
a brief essay in the Guardian by the actor Rory Kinnear about burying his sister (who died of COVID) and obeying the lockdown rules being flouted on that same day by Boris Johnson et al. It's got a couple of gut punches - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/12/rory-kinnear-no-10-lockdown-party-buried-sister
https://mobile.twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1478834609236238338
It’s almost as if OmicRon Ron is having respiratory issues while he is speaking, couldn’t be from….naw….couldn’t be.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/01/omicron-mild-hospital-strain-health-care-workers/621193/
not great Bob!
Well, it finally happened: my daughter's preschool has shut down for a week due to staff shortages and a reported COVID positive from one of the students.
Honestly, it's not the worst thing since my kid was already out sick and was going to miss most of this week anyway (testing negative for COVID so far, so right now I assume it's just a cold).
that's almost exactly what happened to my 4 year old niece - started showing signs of having a serious cold, my brother and SIL had her tested, not COVID - then while she's been at home, someone else at the nursery school class pops a positive test, and now everyone is at home
It does make me wonder if this is actually COVID and it's just not being picked up by the tests. Though we've also tested the rest of the family and so far all negative.
It is the peak of cold and flu season, and there are usually a lot of both with no assist from Covid. With variants, we are now looking at a half dozen or more such agents as once. Entirely possible to have more than one at a time too. Already really looking forward to spring and more fresh air!
Yes, and since she's 2 and we basically kept her away from people for a year, she was bound to start catching stuff constantly once she went to a real preschool. That little immune system needs to build itself up.
her older sister is getting tested regularly by her (public) elementary school, so a false negative & family spread will get picked up.
"just a cold". All of us have used that phrase often enough. Now it takes on deeper meaning.
That's what I thought I had. Boy was I wrong.
The nephew went back to school yesterday after 10 days of quarantine.
Pro
Warriors lose back and forth game.
i thought they were on the way to another easy win after a big 3rd Q surge but Ja Moraint and co. played well down the stretch
Really missed Draymond in this game.
Exactly...they struggled down the stretch with Jackson and Clarke's size...matchup nightmares for the small ball W's lineup. Plus, you can't let that Chris Kattan-looking mother-f--ker from Duke have the best night of his year...always disliked Tyus Jones.
Memphis is W's kryptonite right now...look forward to seeing them at full strength.
Draymond's second-order effects are huge: better defense all-around, crisper passes on offense, etc.
I mean he's a Dookie!
there were also about 8 million turnovers by the W's!!
Even during the championship era, the Warriors were a super high turnover team.
Teams seem to have figured out the drive and crazy passes out to the arc. A lot of those are being stolen now.
The Grizzlies REALLY play this well. They have a lot of length and switchability.
This. They are the Ws achilles heal this year. It'll be interesting to see them match up again in March when Klay is presumably at full strength/minutes and Wiseman is back in the lineup.
The thing recently with the Warriors is they're missing open 3 point shots. The ones everyone was hitting early in the season, aren't going in now. Even Steph.
Steph's slump will end at some point and he'll get more and more shots as Klay's minutes increase. They were riding made 3s by Wiggins and the bench, which aren't falling right now. Their zone was rather effective and GP2 on Ja is a fun match up.
Other College
Stanfurd's best RB is in the portal
https://twitter.com/RivalsPortal/status/1481324759396745218?t=nqrhuMYI68lFrNNYxJwnRA&s=19
Not just one of them. GOT to be a lucrative business in transfer advising beginning to burgeon.
oh no! anyways.
What? A pre-season Top 25 for 2022 men's football already released?
Yup.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-rankings-alabama-ohio-state-lead-way-too-early-top-25-ahead-of-2022-season/
Hint: Cal is not on the list
CBS is an SEC shill.
More so than ESecPN though?
I would argue yes - ESPN at least keeps up some sort pretense of objectivity, as they have deals with P12, ACC, B1G & B12 as well.
CBS is pretty much ONLY SEC for College Football, IIRC....
But, I think ESPN suffers most from an SEC that is middling, not that would ever happen, no? I am basing this on the coverage I see on ESPN and the fact that they carry the SEC network, correct?
CBS primetime covers only SEC..L
But they lost their contract, whereas Disney/ESPN has gone all-overboard on the SEC and the southeast.
I don't think I knew that, but not surprised. I could see why they may have an SEC bias.
It's part of the reason why Cal to the Sun Bowl holds such cache for me...
Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson do that G-d damnned weekly SEC game for CBS, and the Sun is the only bowl CBS does, IIRC....plus Cal has never gone to the Sun, and I'm always up for them to go to new bowls....
Yes but let’s be honest, as a sub .500 team in 21, we need to earn way into the top 25 and have not done that yet.
I was not making a case for Cal. The Bears are nowhere even close to a top 25 program, and will remain on the outside looking in until they field an offensive line that can consistently win at the line of scrimmage....
My comment was in reference to 3 of the top 5 teams, and 5 of the top 10, being SEC schools.
Ah, ok! I detest the SEC, but dude, one must recognize that we are still smack dab in an era of near total SEC dominance. It won’t last forever, but we certainly are not out of it yet
SEC or the Pandemic?
Agreed, and unfortunately it just may actually stay that way forever given the resources that SEC schools put towards facilities and recruiting.
So long as the University remains far and away the biggest "corporation" in its respective region (with the exception of maybe Vandy in Nashville), then the SEC is most likely going to continue to dominate.
I am not sure that SEC dominance will last forever and the reason for that is Texas. Texas has all the money and resources and they have basically been irrelevant in terms of CFB competitiveness and a threat to make the playoffs or even win their conference. This isn’t due to a lack of resources, institutional support or talent, it is due to hiring bad coaches.
All it takes is for Saban to retire and Bama to hire an average coach for the SEC to come back down.
But they are in the SEC now!
Conditions are perfect for SEC to forever dominate. The SEC, even without specifying a team is CFB equivalent of the Lakers, Patriots, or Yankees for those that want to follow CFB and maybe didn't got to college or have an affinity for a specific team, though an SC return to relevance could recapture some of this market.
I’m not sure. For one, there is a natural bias to assume current conditions will continue forever when in fact change is almost always inevitable. Two, we have had two recent seismic shifts in the CFB landscape - the Supreme Court ruling on name and likeness profits and the liberalization of rules around transfers - and I do not think we yet know how those play out. It may be that they only entrench the SEC’s dominance, but I don’t think we yet know
The SEC dominance is mainly built off of Bama and Saban. When Saban retires and Bama comes back down to earth then you’ll see the entire SEC take a step back.
Similar to what happened when Pete left SC or Mack Brown left Texas. It impacted both the schools and their conferences.
But 5 other SEC schools have also won it all in the last quarter century. Lots of programs that are a lot closer than in any other conference.
And there is also likely to be an expansion of the playoffs soon, which will allow more teams from other conferences to get in. That might help redirect some of the talent.
I hear what you are saying and agree that change being the only guarantee in life and all, but If I am betting on the future, I am putting my money on SEC. Also, it helps to prevent over-optimism in a different direction.
tamu at 4 is comedy at its highest
USC in the Top 15 has no basis other than the new coach...
If they get the OU QB transfer I could see them being in the top 15. The Pac 12 is as down as it has ever been. USC could easily win the Pac 12 next season, that is now down it is.
SC will outperform Oregon next year.
Easily, I like the SC coaching hire much better than Oregon’s. Oregon also lost a lot of talent on defense and their QB situation isn’t great right now.
The biggest competition next season is Utah.
Exactly. Along with ASU and an 11th season for DTR in Westwood, the P12 South is going to be the class of the league.
Lanning may someday get Oregon there, but it's folly to think the Ducks will field a dominant, UGA-style D anytime before 2024, if ever, and he may in fact be coaching at Auburn by then after Harsin goes 6-6 for a third straight season.
TV folks are dying to have $C be relevant again
George Kliavkoff is dying to have $C be relevant again.
Make SC Great Again! (not)
he took a look and went "oh shooooooooot, you mean SC sucks?"
Cal
Go Bears!!!