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Playstation Vue just dropped this week. Anyone have it or planning to sign up? If so, do you like it? Strongly considering going that route. I just moved into a new place and I noticed the other day that my landlord still has an antenna set up on the roof from when he lived there. So in theory (correct me if I'm wrong here) I should be able to get non cable channels over the air throughout my house without issue. The top PSV plans are very reasonable and come with a lot of viewing options. It seems to me that for less than what I'm paying for X1 with two STBs and a receiver, internet, and phone service that I don't even have a phone hooked up to, I could have more channels and more options than ever.

What's the TV status of this match stateside? 3pm American EST correct? Believe I'll be able to catch the first hour at least from the office.

Fantastic first week of MLS play (Minus the DCU drubbing of course). Most goals ever in an MLS opening week. The "Soccer Sunday" coverage stream on the website was awesome. Two, three, and even four game split screen. I think the panel could use some work in the way that they pointed out the action, but it was great other than that. Also, MLS Fantasy is still opening leagues. I just created my squad. If we could drum up any interest I would definitely be interested in joining an ES league.

My hope, as I said in the DCU thread, is that the acquisitions of all these midfielders starts to put a jolt into the offensive play. It had been mentioned at some point last year that Ben intended to convert the standard 4-4-2 into a diamond. My guess is that all of the new midfield acquisitions have something to do with that and I'm hoping it shows results. What sucks though, is that there isn't much acclimation time before we start MLS play. So I think we're going to struggle out of the gate. Still holding out hope the offense improves as the year progresses and really hits stride once Bill comes back. Pretty much all very optimistic thinking though lol.

CONCACAF CCL starts out rough for DCU. If there was a team that I would've figured we could stand a solid chance against in this tourney it would've been Queretaro. Really hoping we see a better performance when they come to DC in a few days. I know I shouldn't be too bummed since we're still in preseason form and the Mexican sides are further along. But any loss, especially a clean sheet stings. Also doesn't help that Seattle played a solid match against America. Hoping this isn't a sign of things to come once MLS play starts. I blame Chris Rolfe cutting his hair lol. Vamos United

I personally prefer Grant and Danny over anyone else on the fan.

Can't lie, that **** kinda irks me too lol. I've really been more so annoyed by the bits the Junkies have done with the people in studio. This lie detector test on A-Wad, then shaving LL into the back of his head. The campaign to get the one guy to lose weight. That's the kinda stuff I would expect to find on Elliot, who I really like. Just saying that kinda stuff is definitely more his avenue than what any sports show is supposed to be. But of course, those moments got them serious ratings from what I'm to understand so I'm sure I'm in the minority.

Well, I can tell you from first hand experience that at 19 years old when I took out the loans, it felt like it was the right decision. Just like so many others in my age group (Finishing up my 20s now), I was told that the only way that I'd end up doing something I liked, or doing something that could pay even halfway decent would be to go to college. I was terrible at high school, so my grades were going to keep me out of most colleges. My only options were NOVA, trade school, or some kind of specialty school. Knowing how much I wasn't good at high school, I went the route of a specialty school. Ironically enough, it made sense to me and others at the time that it would be a waste of money to do community college if I wasn't going to succeed there or finish it out. So I would end up in the hole AND without any kind of degree. So along with a group of friends who I'd known for years who had some of the same interests, I found a for profit school that specialized in media production and other facets of the entertainment industry and pursued the degrees I have now in Recording Arts (Technical training in audio recording equipment and the audio physics behind it) and in Show Production and Touring (Concert/theatre sound, lighting, and video technical training and the physics behind it.). Not only did I get through the programs, my GPA went up substantially from HS and I actually enjoyed school. I found a passion. I was in a bit of a limbo financially. My parents couldn't afford to send me to college, but they made too much for me to receive all of my loans from the govt. Naturally, Sallie Mae was more than happy to loan me all the money I wanted. How kind of them! It wasn't hard at all! So zoony, you're absolutely right. It's not hard to get student loans. And at 18-19 years old, even early 20s, it's hard to see how huge that decision truly is. Especially when it's been drilled into your head that you HAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE or you're doomed to a low paying job you hate for the rest of your life. I've talked to so many people in virtually the exact same predicament. It's so much bigger than it seems and it's only going to get much worse if something isn't done. Absolutely. I can only speak for myself, but my family was far from rich, and I was raised with the mindset that there is nothing worse than a mooch or someone who doesn't pay back their debts. So whenever I come up short or something like that, my brain is always in overdrive with the guilt. Obviously if I woke up one day and the balance had disappeared and I was clear I'd be ecstatic. But until that miracle happens, this thing is gonna be a huge weight on my shoulders until I'm getting senior citizen discounts at IHOP. What really adds insult to injury as well is the stigma that's attached to this situation. I've had so many people, especially folks who grew up in a better economic climate that allowed folks to get an education on loans with much less debt and more manageable repayment solutions tell me and other folks in my situation that I'm just whining and looking for a handout. That I'm lazy, and that I need to suck it up and accept the fact that I made the bed and now I need to sleep in it. After that, they might as well just be covering their ears and sticking their tongue out, because they will listen to nothing after that. That's kind of exactly what we're doing! We're trying to do the best we can. But it's really hard to make any headway in starting a life when you basically already have a mortgage to pay before you even look at a house. And in that respect, I understand what I did. I took out the loans. I'm not asking for a handout. I'm asking for a more manageable payment. $700+/mo before any other bills even hit the mailbox is a tough nut to crack unless you're at a job that pays very well. The cycle typically goes... PERSON NOT IN DEBT: If you want to get ahead and get a good job, you need to go to college. PERSON IN DEBT: Okay. I'd like to but I just can't afford it PERSON NOT IN DEBT: You're making excuses. You have options. There is financial aid available. PERSON IN DEBT: I don't know. That means I'm going to be paying that back for a long time. PERSON NOT IN DEBT: Maybe. But probably not. You're going to get a much higher paying job with a degree so it'll be worth it. PERSON IN DEBT: Okay. You've convinced me. Gets Loans. Goes to school. Gets degree(s). Comes out of school. Economy collapses. No jobs. Any jobs available have cut pay. PERSON IN DEBT: This is tough. My monthly payments are insane! I don't know what I'm going to do! I don't want to default! PERSON NOT IN DEBT: Maybe you should've considered that before you took out the loans. PERSON IN DEBT: I did! It seemed like it was the only option at the time. I need some help. I can't afford this. PERSON NOT IN DEBT: That's what's wrong with this generation, everyone is so lazy. Make a big decision, it gets tough, and now you just want a handout to make it all go away! I went to school and worked two jobs. I paid for my education outright! PERSON IN DEBT: That's awesome. I'm happy to hear that. The economic climate is a little different now though. It's tougher to do that now with the job market and price of school. PERSON NOT IN DEBT: Stop making excuses! And then it's just on repeat...

That's a hell of a jump. That's always a killer. Sounds like you might be on Interest Only for that one year and then jumping to the principle. Had that happen to me about a year and a half back. I was on Interest Only for a couple years and was paying about $370/mo. Then I check my payments due one month and it was up over $700/mo. Quite the shock. Needless to say I was pretty frazzled. Almost broke down talking to the person on the phone when they basically told me that I didn't really have many options. I've been trying to manage it the best I can. But it's really tough. I don't wanna get political, but I really hope whoever does end up in office does something to address those of us in holes like this. I want to do what I need to do to pay this thing back, I borrowed the money, I need to pay it back. I just want something more manageable. I'm hard pressed to find many people that can pay $6-700+ a month on top of their regular bills and not have issues unless they pull in a really good salary.

Got it. I figured that was the case. Just wanted to make sure. Been putting it off for too long now and it's time to get it done. Hasn't seemed to mess anything up yet. At least not noticeably. Every now and then it'll take an extra second or two to get the car started, but I'm chalking that up to the old spark plugs more than anything else. Got inspection next month though so I gotta handle it.

05 Ford Focus... This car has been damn good to me. Got it with less than 50,000 miles on it in 2010. I just went over the 150,000 mile mark recently. I get my oil changed regularly, just got all new brakes, and also new tires in the past year. My check engine light has been off and on for a while, but it's staying on all the time now. I wanted to wait until the weather stabilized a little bit to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. Had a buddy use his tester, he's a mechanic and has a pretty legit one, to test the cause. Came up as the Fuel Rail Sensor being the issue. Those things aren't cheap. Priced them at Advanced and Autozone at around $85-90. I just wanna make sure that would be exactly what I need to replace to cut the light off or is there typically something else that would turn it on in this instance? When I had it tested at Autozone, they said it was the fuel filter. Which I had replaced, but the light stayed on. I definitely need to get some new spark plugs in it as I can't remember the last time they were replaced and would like to get everything taken care of in one stop. Any advice?

Excellent. Glad to see a little bit of interest. Obviously until the CCL matches in a few weeks, the draft and stadium are the only real big topics. But I was hoping to see if it would drum up any interest. Figured there are threads for virtually all of the other local teams but I didn't see anything about DCU. Figured why not.

If anyone in here follows MLS and especially DCU, I started a thread about this season today.

Thanks for the tip. As soon as I can put the money together to really get the ball rolling on it I'm sure you'll probably hear from me.

I certainly will. CCNA was recommended specifically by one of the network engineers I work with regularly mainly because most of our VC gear is Cisco based. I'm fairly tech literate and pick up things at a reasonable pace. My background and education in AV helps me a bit in that I understand the concept of signal flow and basic concepts about how devices communicate with one another.

So I'm sure you're a huge fan of listening to Santana Moss say "At the end of the day..." about 100 times every time he comes on?

Well with The Fan he's not the beat reporter. That's McNally. Russell actually does his own shows on The Fan. And being that they're pretty good friends from over the years, having him do shows with GP is pretty cool. Like I said, to each their own. I like him. I switch over to 980 every now and then but mostly listen to The Fan. I love having Riggo back on the radio.

Lol I feel bad for you then, since he's on seemingly every time slot that isn't the standard three daytime shows. I can understand why he might be everyone's cup of tea though. I just enjoy the way his perspective comes from having spent so much time with and around the franchise. Just my own opinion though. To each their own.

I think I just relate to those two more than the others. I'm pushing 30, love video games, love cooking and food, and tend to take a perspective on the local teams that falls somewhere in between Danny's "doom and gloom" battered fan syndrome and Grant's analytical approach. I like the Junkies, but I find myself just shaking my head sometimes at the old fogey perspective they take sometimes and in particular EB's "get off my lawn" type rants about things he doesn't understand. There are a lot of times where I'm listening to Chad and doing mental slow claps because we're right on the same page. But other times he's just meh. I will say though that I absolutely love that Chris Russell is back. I personally really enjoy listening to him talk Redskins.

I was actually under the impression that JP was an Iggles fan. But he has talked about the Colts, and Manning in particular on numerous occasions. Grant and Danny still remains as my favorite local show.

Lol There were times I wish Griff would've done that so he'd finally start sliding every now and then. There were a few callers on the Junkies this morning predicting we were gonna get destroyed on Sunday. Primary reasoning being the schedule like usual. An interesting rebuttal that EB had, that no one really had much of a response for was the fact that 3/4 of the wins we had last year were against +.500 teams. I hadn't really thought about that.

He was pretty much a staple on Lavar and Chad. Always had something to go on a few minute rant about. I do remember that. I haven't listened to 980 in a long while. Does Ol Reverend Redskin still call at all? Lol Used to love that dude. Ended every call screaming "HAIL TO DA REDSKIIIINNS!! HAIL TO DA REDSKINS!!!"

My biggest tailgate menu of the season - My usual flank steak and bacon rolls (Believe I've posted the recipe in this thread.) - Beer brats and a pan of sauteed onions, peppers, and garlic to go on potato rolls. - Slow cooked pulled pork.

Seems that I might have the right group here to ask... Fellas and ladies, I'm thinking about expanding my career horizons and looking into some IT certs. I'm currently doing AV(Audio Visual), which I have a few years experience and related degrees. I'm not sure which direction to go in regards to getting certifications that I can expand upon the background that I've already built. A few folks have recommended going for the CCNA because it's fairly general and could be used to in relation to my current field with video conferencing and device networking. My aim is to increase my own value in my current position/workplace if I can. Anyone have any advice? Recommendations on certs or direction? Thanks in advance.

I know of MFCP, wasn't aware he became a punchline. What do you mean? That's the dude that always called Lavar and Chad with some uber lengthy explanation about current events with the team isn't it? Or am I thinking of someone else?