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No_Pressure

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Everything posted by No_Pressure

  1. I'm 26 and I grew up in a household where we didn't have cable TV. There was broadcast, sure and we watched some shows here and there, but the television was not really the center of entertainment in our household in the way that I noticed it was with, say, my friends at school. My dad always saw it as an unnecessary expense. He always said "you're paying for commercials and 90% of the channels are special interest things you probably don't have much of an interest in." I still agree with that sentiment, and television has always been the sort of thing I could take or leave. It isn't where I derive much entertainment. Even when we were kids we usually just watched the news, maybe watched the simpsons (if my mom let us, she hated the show) maybe some saturday morning cartoons, and a movie here or there. My wife's family however always had cable and they have always watched what I consider to be far too much television. They will sit around for hours watching shows, catching up on other shows they recorded, etc. I think it's all a bit odd and unhealthy. Not to say that I have the healthiest of entertainment habits. Sure I work out, like to go play basketball, etc. but I also have played a great deal of PC games in my lifetime. The thing is, those games are social and interactive. I'm actually doing something far beyond mindlessly watching something. That's my justification for why my vice is better at least, and even with age and responsibilities my video game hours have gone from insane to barely anything at all. When we got our house I had to battle my wife over cable. It's so ****ing expensive! She was freaking out saying she couldn't live without it, and what was she going to do. I compromised. We had an internet connection because it's an absolute necessity for my work (plus videogames I mean c'mon...) and that was expensive enough, she could just get a netflix subscription and stream shows on the TV. She found this to be acceptable, and so we've avoided the cable bill by going for streaming netflix. When there is something current that she wants to watch, she goes to her parent's house and watches it with her mom (with whom she would rather watch shows anyway because I constantly critique the quality of programming) and we save money. I don't think the high price of tv is justified. Comcast and Verizon try to keep it at a high point by controlling channel packages and adding technology which is largely unappealing to me at least. I already pay far more than I should for cell phones with a data plan (which I wouldn't use if I didn't need it for work), and I don't want to bump the total payment to Verizon up to essentially a car payment...a NICE car payment just so my wife can sit on the couch with dead eyes and stare at reality TV shows.
  2. From all of my experiences with this crap (and no, I don't have time to elaborate), it is the worst of both worlds. That is to say, it neither brings the actual admirable aspects of socialized health care, or the useful aspects of free-market health care. It's a disgusting merger of bureaucracy and corporate health care. It's such a ****ing disaster, and since they neither changed enough by implementing it but changed just enough to somehow create a system most people dislike even more than the prior one, I'm totally looking forward to the day when this stuff all goes away. Either go a full measure or scale it back, but this half assed **** is supremely frustrating.
  3. Its nice to see the Chinese seem content to let the North Koreans stew in the crap they've been stirring up. The Bank of China cut off their business with the North Koreans just a few days ago.
  4. Guys, in NBA2K13 I developed Jan Vesely into the white Shaq, so clearly he has great potential!
  5. This just is: cross dressing guy whose only talent in life was jumping up and grabbing a ball out of the air better than everybody else caught preaching in hotel bar about how the dictator of a totalitarian government which has been perpetually at war since 1950 is actually a really great guy.
  6. If you're going to replace what is already there, I mean terraced levels rather than one wall. Typically when one makes a retaining wall, they level everything leading up to it. Putting down one wall would leave a hillside and then a small retaining wall at the bottom, or you would have a gigantic wall multiple feet high which must be back filled with dirt to match the level of the ground in front of your house. Neither option is appealing. If you made two straight walls extending to the outer portion of the existing mulch bed you could get some extra soil and fill/level the space for each terrace. The end effect/desired result would be something like this: Though yours would be on a smaller scale, and of course you could choose to landscape that any way you please. The alternative with one wall would be a very high wall and back filling it with a whole lot of dirt which would likely not look all that nice, it would be difficult, more expensive, and create a greater safety hazard on your property. I'd go with terraces. Just remember, if you do something like this you're going to want to build the lower wall first and then prepare well for the 2nd. You will need: - A hand tamper. - A good shovel. - A good level. - A measuring tape. - A chisel for prepping your lower level of blocks. - A rubber mallet for knocking things into place well. Measure out how long you want your wall to be, and make sure you have space enough to mark and dig out your base. Try to calculate your aggregate needs in advance- a 10 foot wall will need to sit on a base which (ideally) is about 10 feet 4 inches long, and depending on the width of your block (let's say it's half a foot wide) your base is going to be a foot and 2 inches wide. You may be up against a driveway which restricts the "4 inches on each side" rule, and certainly when you're up against the house you can't observe this rule. Anyway, you would have 10'4 by 1'2 base ideally at a depth of 6 inches. V= L*W*H so 10.33 times 1.16 times .5 = around 6 cubic feet unless my math skills have become atrophied from lack of having to calculate crap like this anymore. The point is, in order to make it cost effective for yourself you should calculate in advance the volume which will be needed for the base of each wall. Also keep in mind the source of your gravel. If you have a work truck which can take a load of gravel being dumped in the bed, I'd buy in bulk and shovel it in. Sure, it's extra work, but buying it in bags or having bulk loads delivered can get pricey. Level the ground all the way across, in small sections at a time. Be mindful of getting it perfect. Tamping the dirt prior to adding the gravel base and leveling the dirt will help make this a quicker process. Tamp, level, tamp again, level again. It's time consuming and tedious. I've also seen work that I did in year 1 landscaping which is in excellent condition today alongside work of a corner cutting crew which is lopsided and looking quite aged. You won't notice mistakes in months or a few years. After a decade however you'll know the difference between quality work and shoddy work. When you complete your first wall, and after the glue is dry, I'd fill in, tamp, and level the dirt behind it so you have a flat surface. For the upper terrace, you will likely need to do a decent amount of digging to give yourself space to once again dig out a 6 inch base and repeat the process. Be mindful of keeping straight lines when putting together your wall and digging out your base. Tamp the **** out of everything- the dirt your base is sitting on, the dirt around your base, the base itself. You need solidly packed ground and a strong foundation. When you make the 2nd tier fill dirt in behind that, and level it off. Plant something nice in there for god's sake!
  7. I did landscaping for 7 years, and did pretty much every job imaginable. It isn't difficult to stack stones like that, but it's an extremely difficult and time crafted skill to make it look excellent. Furthermore, I wouldn't recommend a wall such as that as a retainer against very much earth, or in an area that gets a lot of fast drainage in a storm. That isn't to say that a stacked stone wall won't work in the area you're talking about, but from my experience there are better alternatives. On top of that I don't think it would look as nice as it could. Dry stacks are best left to encircle a modestly sized tree in the front yard, or to outline a mulch bed near your front walk. I wouldn't use it as a terraced retaining wall on the side of your house near the garage, it would be sort of like putting a beautiful and ornate chandelier in a double-wide. If I were assessing this as a potential job, I'd of course say if you want dry stacked walls I'll go right ahead, but my professional recommendation would be a short retaining wall with grooved wall block. This video on Lowes' website is fairly comprehensive and goes through the steps to making something such as this, though naturally they add extra steps and things you don't need because they want you to buy unnecessary things at Lowes: http://www.lowes.com/cd_Build+a+Block+Retaining+Wall_193857656_ Basically, whenever we did retaining walls that were between 0-3 feet, we used something comparable to this. We would always be mindful to dig 6 inches down, and 4 inches wider than our block base on both sides. We typically used CR6 aggregate which you could probably find at any good landscape supply place. Some people feel that 6+ inches is overkill, and sure- the wall will look fine for a while if you place it on the dirt or do 1-4 inches of gravel underneath. The problem is with the freeze-thaw cycle, and in areas which receive a fair amount of water through all seasons, the blocks will most certainly move if they're not on a super stable base. We always spent 90% of our work time on getting that base perfect and LEVEL (I can't stress the importance of a uniformly level base which is slanted ever so slightly in one direction to foster water runoff moving in a specific and desired direction). The rest was just stacking and gluing blocks together- not that complicated. The interlocking wall blocks are simple to understand, and can be used to make straight or circular retaining walls. All you really need is the glue and a caulk gun to finish it up and the rest is fairly simple. I can't say I recall personally making a terraced retaining wall spaced apart from one another like you would want, but as long as you dig out properly and tamp the dirt in the terrace before adding and tamping the gravel, it should be simple to complete, and if both walls are straight you likely wouldn't have much need to rent a diamond blade masonry saw and cut up your own product. Hopefully I didn't make this sound more difficult than it is, but if you want to build something which lasts decades, concentrate on making a good base, leveling and tamping that base well, and I'd go as far as to level the dirt on the 2nd terrace (perhaps even adding some) so you end up with two flat terraces which can now be used to house some beautiful landscaping. Plants in those areas with non-invasive roots help hold the soil together and will look a lot better than the current barren hillside look you're going with :pfft:
  8. I tried Sam Adams Alpine Spring the other night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am a massive fan of a bunch of German/Belgian wheat beers along with other varieties, so it was somewhat up my alley. It's funny, I like to trips with my cousin down to Philly to go to one of the German bars down there, since they keep stuff I love on tap. Recently however I've been stuck in my local area which only carries local/American/microbrew stuff. I do however live down the road from a Sam Adams brewery. It's always cheap and on special around here, and I gotta say I've developed a love for Sam Adams as my fall-back beer that everyone carries on tap when I go out. Their märzen for oktoberfest was awesome, the winter lager was a little similar to their regular boston lager, I don't care much for their summer ale, but this recent beer takes the cake so to speak. It's nice to have something decent that they carry everywhere...since I wouldn't be caught dead trying to choke down a disgusting miller/bud/insert beer here. Also, I live in PA, everyone loves Yuengling, and I just don't get what all the hoopla is about. IMO it's a little below average at best.
  9. Korean War, 60 year ceasefire with no peace treaty, crazy people caught in personality cult, all in on weapons programs, sanctions on weapons program, US is devil and S. Korea is devil number 2. Was that 50 or fewer?
  10. We should schedule a random test of our anti-missile defense systems for the same period the Koreans schedule their test of a missile which could hit the U.S. Afterwards we should schedule a test launch for all the Nuclear Submarines we have lurking in the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, etc.
  11. Yeah, I thought he was just going to hold on to it and stand still until the clock ran out, like some sort of colossal moron.
  12. Ahahahaha I was actually hoping that Nene would take a shot. :silly:
  13. I noticed this...wouldn't you want one of your best shooters out there? ...and after I type this he misses an open 3
  14. He could have caught that pass, his geico caveman hands didn't permit it.
  15. Looked totally clean to me, he only lodged his knee in his chest...
  16. I'm now glad that I tuned in when I did. I must be a good luck charm. Or we're both good luck charms cause I think we came in at exactly the same time.
  17. Yes! Thank you. I should print this out and tack it to the cork board over my computer.
  18. So I got home late and tuned in to see a massive deficit. I guess I didn't miss anything good. Does anyone have that Seraphin shot flow chart?
  19. I don't want to be too general, but many of the great black sports players I've known personally or known of came from really rough home lives or areas. They're from places where it's difficult to succeed, and people don't exactly have the limitless options we think we have in America. If you're a great athlete, then congratulations, you've got a ticket to a free education or at the very least millions of dollars. I do not have statistics on this but I would wager that there are far more young black men in this situation in American than white men, therefore you have a higher rate of sports participation from young black men in many areas, it's highly competitive, and you end up with some amazing athletes making it to the top. The ratio of athletes of another race, not just white, compared to blacks in basketball especially is heavily in favor of black athletes. I feel part of this is the fact that many potentially great white athletes don't pursue their ability, or don't pursue it to the degree that they would if they were desperate to succeed and leave a horrible home life/area/dim future behind. Many, but not all, non-black athletes likely come from middle class up higher economic backgrounds, and have more options, more support from their families and communities, and are not focused on a professional athletic career, or needing athletics to pay for a higher education, therefore you have sports which are dominated by black people. Football is popular in America, and all you need to become good is your body and a football- just ask Barry Sanders, who didn't play tackle football until high school if I recall correctly. Basketball, all you need is a court (found in many parks, major cities, and YMCA's) and a ball. They're cost effective to pick up, you don't really need many lessons. Sports which see a lower black to other athlete ratios would include baseball (which isn't played in pick up games so much, and typically requires bats, uniforms, gloves, coaching, and a league, increasing costs) and hockey (the most expensive of these four, requires skates, a stick, pads, a frozen and level surface, etc. sure, you can play street hockey and even do it on foot, but that would never prepare you for real hockey). Hockey is typically not played in pick-up games, at least not ice hockey- which is a different type of skating entirely, and is more expensive than many other sports to get into, which could account for a large white population given socioeconomic factors. Look at the NBA players who have come from Europe. Many of them are good athletes, good shooters, guys who can jump and dunk quite well, who are fundamentally sound, and who are not necessarily smarter or less smart than any other players of any other race. In a nation such as Spain, Greece, or Italy where the people in desperate situations looking for a way out are white, you get good white athletes who have shown that they are capable of coming to the NBA and not just compete with our players, but become standouts in their own right. Nowitzki can play underneath as a forward and he can shoot from medium and longer ranges with the best of them. He's a great athlete and a talented player. Ginobli is Argentinian, though he's of Italian descent as much of that nation is. I don't need to tell anyone how good Manu has been. Sure, he doesn't average 20 ppg, but he's always been pretty good on assists and rebounds and is certainly a good athlete. Gasol, from Spain, has not been the same player this season that he was in the past, but in the past he was a guy who could average a double double. He's certainly quite the athlete. I think the idea that black players don't play the "smart" positions like a good passing/assisting PG is ridiculous. Look at a guy like Tony Parker (Yes, I know he's not an American) he wasn't raised in the hyper athletic driven culture, and he's playing a position which emphasizes "smart" playing. Black people aren't incapable of being the distributors, they're just as smart as anybody else is potentially, it just depends on the environment in which that player was raised, and what abilities and traits were emphasized within their community. Look at Russell Westbrook from OKC. He's an outstanding PG, may be the best in the NBA. He averages 5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 20+ points. He's a great passer, a good rebounder, an extremely smart player, and a talented shooter. He's black. Derrick Rose is up there with him as one of the best PG's in the league. White players can be athletic, black players can fill the smart ball handler/offense setter role. Sure, in general the different cultures probably emphasize different things for different reasons. There are more black players, but that doesn't mean black people are inherently good as basketball compared to any other race on the planet just like all white players aren't inherently better at positions that require "intelligence" than any other race on the planet. It comes down to the individual, their upbringing, and their motivations.
  20. I know Europeans have a low opinion of American beer (what with the large brands being utterly disgusting and basically undrinkable garbage) but as a lager fan have you ever tried Sam Adams? I would rate it as "decent" but it's probably the best we've got in large quantities.
  21. You can find many of those at Wegmans actually, I work at one and our beer section is small but very diverse. I don't if they are even allowed to sell it in MD but if you go to one of the ones in VA I'm sure they'll have what you're looking for. The one here stocks the Hofbrau stuff, Paulaner sometimes, Hacker-Pschorr, Franziskaner, etc. I have yet to see Augustiner make an appearance which is a shame because I freaking love augustiner. I was sitting around at the beer garden directly across the street from theresienwiese where they serve a lot of Augustiner getting a nice mellow German buzz going earlier this summer. Good stuff.
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