OldHoss

I'm gonna hijack the thread (or at least take it on a related tanggent) here: My wife is going back to school and we're going to get her a laptop. My question concerns home wireless connections. I currently have Roadrunner at home with the modem connected to my desktop. Is there any reason why I should, or should not, use their Wireless router? As far as I can tell, there is no additional monthly charge for the router, just a $50 install fee. Thanks.

Interesting Win Shares calculations regarding Kent: http://www.truebluela.com...729944/the-grinch-is-gone

The Force Unleashed: Awesome, awesome story. If you're a Star Wars fan you need to play this at least once just for the story. The story takes place after episode III and just before episode IV. The playable character is Darth Vader's secret apprentice. You wield theWii Remote like a lightsaber and use your force abilities to defeat enemies. Although you're tempted to just slash you're way through the levels with your lightsaber, you won't get very far doing it...you'll need to use you're force abilities to be successful and you learn and perfect your force abilities as you progress through the game. Although the camera sometimes lags behind your movements, I really enjoyed playing this to completion. However, once completed, there's no real reason to play through again. If the game allowed for free play with the unlocked characters, it'd be worth replaying...over and over. But as it stands, it's a one and done sort of game. Star Wars Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels: Just slash with your remote -- gets boring and tiring quickly. I bought this one for my kids. They were bored with it that same day. Mario And Sonic at The Olympic Games: The whole family loves this one. Some events seem impossible to master, such as skeet shooting and archery. But the track and field and swimming events, while they take some skill, are easy enough that my 4 and 6 year olds can play. Great family game. Resident Evil 4: I like it, but not as much as others here. I love the way the game uses the Wii controllers. But, I was hoping for more of a story. I don't know what it is, but I have a hard time mustering any empathy for Leon, which takes away from my enjoyment in playing as Leon. Good, just want more from it. Super Smash Bros. Brawl: So far we have played one-on-one-battles, which barely scratches the surface of the playing experience. But, those one-on-one battles alone, are worth the price of admission. Kirby is unstoppable. Lego Batman: Fun game and not too difficult -- but hard enough to keep it interesting. My 6-year old is obsessed with it. It is literally all he talks about. Rayman: Raving Rabbids: Fun for the whole family -- except for the minigame where you have to trace over shapes on the screen with your Wii remote -- so frustrating that I want to chuck my remote through the TV.

Kath and Kim. That show is so horrible, I can't even stand having it on for the few minutes before The Office starts. But since I'm afraid I'll miss some of the intro bits to the Office, I force myself to endure.

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=t&chs=440x220&chtm=usa&chf=bg,s,336699&chco=cc0000&chd=s:999999999999999999999999999999999999999&chld=ALCAFLILKYMONCORSDVTWICOGAINLAMIMTNJPATNVAMEMNNENMTXWAIDNVNYSCUTMDMAWYAZWVOHDE visited 39 states (78%) Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president I can't believe I've never stayed in Iowa. Unfortunately, not true. I've been lots of times; just never spent the night -- usually staying in either Vermont or Maine.

If you like Belgian beer, burgers or mussels, there is no place as good as: http://www.monkscafe.com/

Another shameless plug for guitarfetish, but I've read about people buying a cheap used Ibanez artcore and then throwing some of the guitarfetish retrotron pickups in and getting that real Gretsch-y sound for real cheap. You can do it yourself if you know how to solder. If not, a guitar shop can do it for cheap. Guitar Fetish Sound Samples And regarding epiphones, I think it's totally hit or miss. I've played some that sounded just as good as a Gibson and some were horrible. I wouldn't buy an Epiphone without playing it first. I have an Ibanez acoustic, which I like. And I've never heard of any quality control problems with them. Not sure if they're still made in Japan or if they've been outsourced to China or Indonesia. From what I read the quality heirarchy in Asian-made guitars is as follows (from best quality to worst): (1) Japan; (2) Korea; (3) China; (4) Indonesia. the only thing I don't like about the Ibanez electrics (never an artcore) that I've played is that they have a very wide, thin neck, which isn't for me. Again, best of luck. I've also been reading about his guitar company, which now has me jones-ing.... Reverend Guitars

Just an assumption/presumption I made based on how I feel when running on a treadmill as opposed to outside. I generally run faster on a treadmill and don't tire as easily, even when I have the incline set high. I think it is about the outside environment -- but just not the hills. It's the starting and stopping, the corners and the amount of times you have to vary your speed/stride during an outside run. On a treadmill, once I work up to my mile pace, it doesn't take a lot of effort to stay at that pace -- just enough effort to maintain the stride. Outside seems to take a lot more effort to maintain the same mile pace throughout the same distance with all of the times I have to start, stop, turn, etc. I thought for sure I burned a lot more calories running outside than on a treadmill (even more than the 5-10% obsessed mentioned). But I agree that this could be completely anecdotal on my part.

Go to your nearest Guitar Center and play every guitar you can get your hands on. Play the guitars out of both solid state and tube amps (you'll notice an immediate difference) I'm sure you'll annoy the 17-year old clerk who thinks that he's cooler than you are -- but he probably deserves it anyway. Much like buying a bass, I assume, pay attention to the things you like about a particular guitar: type and number of pickups, width of neck, number of frets, size and shape, access to the frets, and of course the sound. You'll be surprised how quickly you begin liking the sound or feel of one guitar over another. And some guitars just feel right in your hands. Once you know what you like, see what you can find on craigslist, or used in local guitarshops or listed for sale on a brand/model fansite etc. (I own a telecaster -- and one of my favorite websites is: tdpri.com -- you can find answers to any telecaster related question in the forum and find plenty of reasonably priced guitars for sale in the classifieds and a reasonable assurance that you're not getting scammed). And I've even bought a guitar off of ebay, but I have to admit that I held my breath until it arrived safe and sound (too many chances for something bad to happen). Unless you absolutely must have a brand new guitar, a used guitar would be my choice. Unless it's a collectable guitar, like cars, you lose a lot of value as soon as you take it home. Here's what I have: Guitars: Fender Standard Telecaster (MIM) 2002 in Midnight Wine with custom hand wound Rio Grande Tele Pickups. I love Teles. I hate the color and I would have preferred one with the "U" neck, but I found this one used for $200 on ebay. Too good of a deal to pass up. Burns Marquee "S" in Greenburst. Three single coil pickups, like a Strat. I saw this guitar on a website and fell in love. The US importer went out of business in 2003 or 2004 and I bought this one on closeout from a guitar store in Las Vegas in '06 -- the only place i could find one. $600, new. Xaviere XV-600 2007 in Sonic Blue. Two HB pickups. http://store.guitarfetish.com/xvsoblwichdr.html This isn't a great guitar. But for $225, new, delivered with a case, you won't find a better guitar. Also, I had great customer service from guitarfetish. Amps: Orange Crush 15R. Simply awesome tone from this Solid State Amp. Highly recommended. I also have a no-name tube amp from the 60's-70's that's a bit scratchy but has an awesome tremelo. And no matter what you do, I recommend getting the guitar set up professionally -- it'll be $50 well spent. Oldhoss

My son is 5 and is the absolute picture of health and it has nothing to do with anything my wife or I have taught him. For whatever reason, he only eats what his body is craving, when he is actually hungry. When he's not in school, he'll graze all day and never eat a huge meal and you can tell what his body is craving. When his body is craving protein, you can't feed him enough meat. But as soon as he has what he needs, we won't eat another bite. More often than not, it's just fruit and veggies for him, in small amounts throughout the day. The only time I've ever felt like I was in tune with my body and what it needs is when I was running. thus, I'm going to give another endorsement for running. Back when I was running (I'm now in year two of rehabbing from a unrelated-to-running knee injury and side-effects), I had a hard time keeping weight on, no matter what I ate. Granted I was running 35-50 miles per week outside (you'll burn significantly more calories outside as compared to a treadmill). But even when I was running much less, I could eat almost anything and still not gain or even lose weight. Part of this, I think, is because I stopped craving the foods that were not so good for me. I was craving apples and oranges, ie., fresh natural ingrediants. I was hungry for what my body was needing, kind of like my son.

I just peed my pants.

Anyone here remember the days before ATM/debit cards? Waiting in the grovery store checkout lane was like experiencing a level of Dante's inferno. Everyone wrote a check and everyone balanced their checkbook in the lane. If you don't believe me, ask your parents. It took forever. We've just become accustomed to the lightning fast convenience. It's like the internet. 15 years ago, I was just amazed at the fact that the internet existed -- I didn't care that it took 5 minutes for a webpage to load. Now, if it takes more than 5 seconds for a page to load, I'm angry. Sometimes, maybe we all just need to take a moment and enjoy the ride instead of alwasy hurring from one destination to another.

http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/e9335d95990f837e15fbf031ac7908859bdcd50.pjpg http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Charley_Radbourn http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/radboch01.shtml

http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/0d3251298187f1b0f50a02f99c0a1f1d9ea8a9f.pjpg Anyone have one? I've rented one at the Jersey Shore a number of years ago and really enjoyed it. I'm thinking about getting one to follow my young kids around (they're still on training wheels). I don't forsee us going more than 2-3 miles at a time. But I've been calling around to a number of bike stores in the area and asking about the single speed, coaster brake cruisers and have been met either by silence or laughter. Apparently, these stores seem to think that the cruisers aren't enjoyable because they're to hard to pedal, too heavy, etc. (Of course, they then go on to tell me about the $700-$1000 options). Does anyone here have any experience with beach cruisers? And if so, how are they to ride? From my research so far, the following brands are available here in Milwaukee: Trek, Schwinn, Giant, Hampton, Nirve and Electra. If you have any brand-specific comments, I'd love to hear those as well. Thanks in advance for the input, OldHoss

If you're not too particular about the look/features of the house, you might want to buy a builder's model home, you can save a bunch and get a new home. If you're particular about the design/features and if you can afford it, hire an architect to design the house and let them contract the builder, etc. An architect will ensure that your vision is not compromised and that the builder doesn't cut any corners (most will try to). I worked in the paint industry for a number of years and I was amazed at all of the stories about builders sneaking 3/8" drywall instead of 1/2" or blowing texture over the walls to cover up shoddy workmanship, etc. I am certain that unless they're being watched, the builders will always have one thumb on the scale. I haven't build a house, but a number of close friends have. To a person, those who used a builder were disappointed with some aspect of the build. Those who used an architect were happy. Best of luck with the new home!

Dunhams is where I got mine. I think that they're actually bean bags; not corn. I will be ordering some official cornhole bags soon: http://www.cornhole.com/cornhole_bags.htm

Yikes! When did a 10-handicap make you a "mediocre" golfer? I'd kill to shoot in the low 80's and I consider myself pretty mediocre. But I'll try out the putting tip and maybe I'll shave a few strokes...but then again, it's not gonna help keep me on the fairway off the tee, which tends to be the bigger problem.

Callington Mill, "Leave a Forwarding Address" http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/11215b90841df0a1d7fd16ff1e9ffbd2dd7043e.pjpg Actually, this wasn't the first picture. The first picture was a photo of a train on a bridge somewhere that looked like the UK. But, I screwed up the upload and when I hit the "back" button, this red house picture was what showed up.

Yup, absolutely miderable. Worst pain I've ever been in -- was after that surgery. Two knee surgeries and an ankle surgery were all nothing compared to the septoplasty. It was one week of hell, another week of pain and then back to "normal." However, it took several months before I really noticed a difference in my breathing and was better than before. Before my septoplasty, I really could not breathe through my nose at all. But now, I can breathe freely and life's a lot better. So, in the end, it's worth it, but I wouldn't want to go back to those first two weeks after the surgery, that's for sure. Hang in there!

If you really want to go into the CIA or the NSA, contact them and see what types of jobs are available and what requirements the respective agencies have. I know someone who went to the NSA to do encryption stuff. She knew she wanted to do that from early on in her college career. She is a mathematical genius, though. If you really know what you want to do, go to your guidence counsler and find out what schools have the best programs in that field and do everything you can to get into one of those schools. If you don't know, find a program with a good liberal arts program. You'll learn how to write and you'll learn critical and analytical thinking and not just how to parrot back answers. From there, the world is your oyster, so to speak. Take the SAT. Why limit yourself? Some schools, have geographic quotas -- they'll want a certain number of people from the midwest, for example. UVA has a program like this. You'd have a near impossible time getting into UVA as an east coaster, but as a midwesterner, you'd have a shot. But again, only if you score well on the SAT. I'd only consider a two year program if you know how the credits there are going to transfer to your intended school. UW-Waukesha to UW-Madison might transfer ok, but UW-Waukesha to the University of Chicago might be a whole different story. Once you get into a school, don't screw it up. I can tell you from experience, my two years of hard partying (and the bad grades that went with it) at UW-Madison have come back to haunt me a number of times despite how well I did after that. Best of luck!

Good luck in Madison. If it's still the same course it's a very nice race. I'll be hpoing for 60 degrees and slightly overcast for you. When I ran the race a number of years ago, it got up to almost 90 degrees and it was sunny -- my whole body cramped up at one point.

With irons, fit is way more important than anything else. Have a golf pro do a fitting for you to find out what length and lie you need in a club. Then try out a bunch of different sets with differnt types of shafts and grips, etc. The right set will just jump out at you. edit: Oh, and be very suspicious of any launch monitor that has you consistently hitting 250+ yards in the fairway (unless you're always 250 yards-plus and always in the fairway). For example, my experience is that the launch monitor at the Golf Galaxy in Brookfield is very, very forgiving.

I've only done all-inclusive once. I like to explore and find the little out of the way spots. Thus, the all-inclusive is just not for me. I've done the bahamas twice. Once in Eleuthera and once in the Abacos. If you don't mind arranging your own accomodations/schedule, I'd recommend either. Eleuthera Abacos (you'll need to rent a boat to go from island to island) In both places, we only met the most friendly and kind people -- both locals and tourists. I can't wait for my kids to be old enough to go back. Send me a message if you want more detailed info about my trips.

First, sorry to hear about your dog. I'd always go with a reputable breeder over the pet store. By going with a breeder you can learn about your dogs "parents" and any health and temperment issues that it may have in its family line. We bought our Brittany from a breeder who was great and got to meet our dogs mom and a half-brother, who were both sweet and gentle and we felt very reassured about the type of dog that we were going to get (and she turned out in temperment to be just like her mother). Also the breeder guranteed against hip displaysia. If our dog would turn up with displaysia, they would take her back and let us get a dog from the next litter. Of course, we'd never take that option. But for some, it's a nice piece of mind. Also if you're looking for a breeder for a particular breed, try to find the local owner's club for that breed. Most breeds will have an owner's club. We contacted the local Brittany club and that's how we got in contact with our breeder.

I've lived in Albuquerque, New Orleans, Nashville and South Jersey over the years. In each case, I arrived without knowing anyone. The friends I made in each of these places generally came from two places: (1) co-workers or friends of co-workers and (2) Packer bars. If you get to a new town as Packer season is starting, find the local Packer bar (there are lists at JSOnline and Packers.com). While I'm not shy, I'm also not extremely outgoing either. Even though I wouldn't usually be likely to start up a conversation with someone next to me at the bar, I've always been able to chat with people about the game. It helps when the guys next to you are Wisconsin ex-patriots as well. Not only did I make new friends, but after I got to know the Packer bar regulars, I got hooked up with some new job opportunities and interviews.