ICanSleepWhenI'mDead

I get the sarcasm, but no punitive damages were requested in the case - - trying to get them would actually be counterproductive, because, among other things, the wife's [driver's] liability policy wouldn't cover and pay for those kinds of damages. To get a better understanding of what is really going on here, read this: http://www.loweringthebar.net/2015/02/utah-court-says-woman-can-sue-herself.html Here's the full Utah Court of Appeals decision (unanimous, BTW): http://law.justia.com/cases/utah/court-of-appeals-published/2015/20131077-ca.html I haven't read the full opinion yet, so I don't know if it applies here, but sometimes the law is an ass: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-law-is-an-ass.html

The "heyday Bills" didn't win a Super Bowl with Jim Kelly, so what you're really asking is - - is the rest of the current Bills team (sans QB) better than Kelly's teammates in the "heyday." No way. The current Bills are improving, but it's not even close.

Some possibilities: 1. For the exact same reason that there is serious debate on this planet about whether SETI should passively listen or actively send messages; 2. For the exact same reason that nomads covertly scout desert water holes for bandits before openly walking into the oasis; 3. For the exact same reason that bandits lie hidden at desert water holes waiting for visiting nomads while letting frogs continue to live at the oasis; 4. Because they saw an early TV show where the cavalry followed the Indian scouting party back to the Indian village and killed all the Indians, and they don't want us to track them back to the wormhole leading to their own planetary system; 5. Because maybe alien life forms are on a scale so small that we can't see them - - why does alien life have to be human-scale? 6. Because they saw Mike Tyson proclaimed in a TV broadcast as "heavyweight champion of the WORLD" and they don't want to mess with him, just in case. Maybe they stumbled into some other backwards-appearing life forms in some other planetary system and got more than they bargained for. Better safe than sorry; 7. Because on some other planet they revealed themselves and all the frogs committed suicide and it took them hours to clean up the mess. 8. Because there is a shortage of meat on their planet and there aren't enough of us yet - - why make the cattle nervous?

If you lived on Stopthepain's home planet, would you want to see what appeared (from your planet's perspective) to be an alien frog trying to have sex with your planet's picnic tables, pool toys and couch cushions? I think not.

Seems to me like if aliens ARE among us and studying us like frogs, they would do their best to discourage the frogs from traveling to the aliens' home planet and bringing frog diseases. They would use their superior intelligence to convince the frogs of all the reasons why space travel was either impossible or very impractical, and persuade the frogs that UFO sightings were the result of misinformed and irrational frogs. In particular, they wouldn't want the frogs to find the wormhole. So I figure "stopthepain" is an alien alias that describes your mission here ("PreventFrogSpaceTravelThatBringsDisease" would have been kind of obvious). Based on how much effort you spent warning about the dangers of space rocks, my guess is that one end of the wormhole is in the asteroid belt. What better place for an alien life form to influence frog decisions than a message board that allows all posters (whether or not they are frogs) to remain eponymous? Ribbit Ribbit.

I've been there and it's beautiful, but you know about the weather, right? http://www.craterlakelodges.com/find-us/weather/ 533 inches = more than 44 feet of snow! Guess you and the GF will need to figure out some way to stay warm. Xanterra Parks & Resorts?

Not a review - - more like "coming attractions" from a month ago, but it's by c/net: http://www.cnet.com/news/dish-launches-20-sling-tv-streaming-video-service-with-channel-lineup-that-includes-espn-disney/

So why is the pale blue dot in a "sunbeam" in the photo? Alien flashlight?

Turns out, you can already get ESPN from the service I linked to above: http://deadline.com/2015/02/sling-tv-adds-amc-sports-1201369355/ It's pretty new - - anybody tried it?

Saw this about a month ago and bookmarked it for future reference: http://deadline.com/2015/01/sling-tv-dish-network-turner-cord-cutting-1201339761/ Seems like a pretty viable option to me if it got offered as planned, but I haven't followed up yet. Anybody more up to speed on this to save birddog and me some search time? Hey birddog - - one other thing. If you can stand waiting a bit to see the Bills and other NFL games, you can see every regular NFL season game of every team on demand (but delayed) for about $40/year at NFL.com. All Sunday games are first available to stream shortly after that Sunday night's game ends. The stream is also unavailable when any NFL game is being broadcast live. So the service is a better option for west coast fans who can start streaming that day's Sunday Bills game around 9 pm or so west coast time. If you live on the east coast, you can't start watching until around midnight east coast time, and you also can't watch during the next day's live Monday night TV broadcast, so you may have to avoid the sports news for an uncomfortable amount of time if you want to watch the delayed stream without knowing the outcome in advance (assuming you work some version of 9-5 M-F). Also, here's a useful site for seeing what you can pull off the air for free with the right antenna: http://www.tvfool.com Edit: Oops, just saw you mentioned "rewind" - - but left it in the post for others who might not know about it.

Just spitballing here. Sometimes I wonder if the natural progression of technological advances will lead to some sort of experiment that results in an extinction event of our own making. Sort of like if the people, who thought the Large hadron super collider might create a black hole that would consume the earth, were right. There were similar concerns when the atom bomb was first tested - - turned out the chain reaction was self-limiting. Hadron collider was powered up - - we're still here. Maybe after 3 or 4 or 87 false alarms we get unlucky, and exterminate our whole civilization. Maybe there's nobody more advanced than earth out there to find, because we're just a "few" years (on a civilization timeline) from repeating the same extinction level experimental event that already exterminated those who previously reached our state of advancement. It would be ironic if the same intellectual curiosity that helped mankind get from first manned flight to walking on the moon in one lifetime exterminated all of us in the end. Future experiment: "That's one small step for man, and … [poof]."

Picture this above 6,000 feet in the snow:

So how are you gonna post here? On a more serious note, found this that might be of interest if you are thinking about making NPS a career. Not sure if it applies to your situation now or down the road, but FWIW: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/candidate-development-programs/ Will it be a situation where after you are on the job a while, you can transfer based on seniority to a similar position at some other NPS site? That could give you a chance to move to a still beautiful but perhaps less remote location in the future (if that would help keep both you and the GF happy). Good luck!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/plan-to-broadcast-messages-to-alien-worlds-leaves-cosmologists-worrying-10042555.html

Are you intellectually honest enough to confirm that under some versions of string theory, there is at least one parallel universe in which you are an idiot?

Skynet knows we'll be looking for killer robots, so they must have made a deal with palm trees. This link has a picture of the tree that killed the first guy: http://northlasvegas.8newsnow.com/news/news/698062-tree-trimmers-death-highlights-hazards-job Turns out, during 2009 - 2013, TWELVE people suffocated in palm trees: See chart - - http://tcia.org/blog/safety/five-year-analysis-tree-care-accidents

So where am I gonna get my Circuit City TV repaired?

Here's one I haven't seen discussed anywhere: In round 7, draft the best college QB who is too young to be drafted under current NFL rules. Then lobby other owners to change the rules, or take the NFL to court to void their existing draft policy, or buy a Congressman to try to change existing laws so that existing NFL draft policy becomes illegal. Or some combination of all three. Very low risk because it will only cost a 7th round pick - - very little chance of success, but potentially very high reward. Pegula can afford the cost. After 15 years, we gotta think outside the box: http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2013/story/_/id/8943142/draft-restriction-makes-sense-colleges-nfl-not-players

They're gonna block somebody?

I always thought "Direhard Fan" was pretty strange, but then again, I always liked this SNL skit: Jane Curtin: According to a report released this week by the Department of Health Education and Welfare, 13% of all American adults are functionally illiterate. Functional illiteracy prevents these people from holding any job which requires any kind of reading or writing, and also hinders their normal activities, such as driving or ordering in restaurants. Now, this is the subject of tonight's commentary. The biggest problem of illiteracy is one of identification. Illiterates are ashamed, and live in fear that someone will discover their secret. The sad fact is that these people are tragic victims of our educational system, which promotes slower students to a higher grade, rather than dealing with the problem at hand. If the role of the educational system was better understood, illiteracy would not carry the stigma which prevents people from admitting that they simply cannot read. Remedial programs have shown to be effective, even with those who have a scant formal education. Other civilizations -- Switzerland and the Soviet Union, in particular -- have made enormous stride agaisnt this social epidemic. While the United States, as developed as we are, falls disgracefully behind. The illiteracy problem CAN be solved, but first we must admit that it exists, and then attack it squarely and forthrightly. Thank you. [ as Jane delivers her commentary, the following SCROLL appears on-screen: COMMENTARY Actually, not so much a "commentary" as a plea for the round-up and elimination of functional illiterates. After all, let's not kid ourselves... these people are a social nuisance. They can't read traffic signs; they can't make change; they open our mail by mistake, and God knows they never R.S.V.P. Even the simplest things utterly baffle them: eye charts, shoe sizes, area codes and M&M's -- to say nothing of logical positivism or Proust's A La Recherche du Temps Perdu. You know what we're talking about. If you agree that something ought to be done to stamp out illiteracy, send your comments to: KILL THE ILLITERATES c/o Weekend Update 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, N.Y. 10020 P.S. If you're watching this "commentary" with an illiterate friend, and he asks you what this is, don't panic... just tell him it's an M&M. ]

Needle.

2/5/15 Dear diary, There is a perception out there that I quit on the Buffalo Bills. I don't agree with that. Those up-staters must not understand contracts. I take $4 million that I earned for making my family endure those winters while I performed a miracle, and the ingrates say I quit. The players and other coaches know that was just put out there. Ralph gets decades of a sweetheart stadium lease deal and takes tens of millions of local WNY tax dollars while living several states away basking in the Michigan sunshine. But does he take any heat for it? Obviously not when they have me to kick around for taking a measly $4 mill. If they don't like folks worth millions, they should still be bashing Ko Simpson. I didn't see him sticking around after he got his money. I repeat - - I did not quit - - I merely OPTED OUT. Leaders of men throughout history have been crucified for opting out by peons who simply never had any options to make choices. When King George opted out of taxing the colonies for drinking Starbucks, people said he quit. When Lee opted out of Sherman's march to the sea, people said he quit. When the Dodge brothers opted out of making the Edsel, people said they quit. But you know what? King George, Robert E. Lee and the Dodge brothers were all great leaders of men, and every last one was misunderstood. If you don't plan to have options, you wind up like General Custard. Now there's a guy who wishes he had my foursight to negotiate an opt-out. I bet history books written by sheep will even say Roberto ("No Mas") Duran quit during his fight with Sugar Ray. The man had options, and after assessing the situation, he chose to exercise the best one. That's what real leaders do, even if they're not American! It's lonely at the top, but I'll continue to lead so others like Nate can follow or at least get out of the way. Obviously humble, Grand Imperial Poobah Doug

I can't explain your manual razor habits, but everybody (well, almost everybody) knows that electricity moves counter-clockwise.

If you want options not talked about: 1. Our LBs sucked for years, but no more. Wonder who we could get in trade for Kiko? 2. Find a rocket arm overseas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiC8o7i_ZqE

Do you remember the famous video highlight of Dan Marino faking a spike at the line of scrimmage and then throwing a touchdown pass right in the face of defenders who had relaxed thinking the play was over? Do you think that play would have worked if he hadn't actually spiked the ball on earlier plays? C'mon man - - think a little. The Orton "slide" play that everybody here complains about wasn't even on the last drive of the game.