Fan in Chicago
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Posts posted by Fan in Chicago
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May I second Fez's shameless request for a referral
? I did it last week 'cos for all the information he provides us, this is the least we can do for the man. Here is how it works. When signing up for new service, call their referral line 1-866-GIFT-TO-YOU (NOT the usual DirecTV number). They will ask for Fez's a/c number. PM and get it from him prior to making the call.
You will NOT get the all-free deal listed on their website (HD or DVRs are ~ $99 a piece). Tell them you want the same deal and threaten to contact 'customer retention' if they don't (even though you are not yet a customer).
If the referral line does not give everything to you for free, call the DirecTV #, ask for the retention dept. and tell them the situation. They will patch on the referral guys, have you sign up, charge you for the advanced receivers and retention will credit the amount back to you. Net effect is you get the same 'all-free' deal.
It takes ~ 30 minutes extra effort versus a straight sign-up but I thought it was worth it for all the free advice I got from Fez. He gets the dough and you are out nothing but 30 minutes of your time.
And no, Fez is not giving me a commission. He just agreed to not bash me as hard when we discuss Drew Bledsoe.
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Okay 5 payments of $49.80 each = $249. I was pretty sure it was $229 but was wrong.
And Fez, I am not sure about the extra charge for outlets if you have digital cable. It is possible that charge is in the form of a lease fee for the digital STBs. I was paying $5 pm for an HD receiver on the outlet hooked to my pj. Even though my subscription is for analog cable only, the HD receiver allowed me to see the locals in HD (for free). After this Saturday, I couldn't care less what Comcast does with their pricing or anything else.
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Protege 5 will be used correct ? It has been replaced by the 3 hatchback.
Either way it will be a good choice. Mazda has a hit on their hands with the 3 - annual sales are likely to be 120K cars for the 2006 model year in North America making it their best selling car by a huge margin.
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I used to think about 'going to a bar' also if I wanted to watch the Bills games. But almost never did ! As Fez said, nothing like watching the games at home (HD or not). If you think you will definitely go to the bar and enjoy doing so, it may be a good option for you.
Also, consider the cost of going to a bar (not including cost of gas
) versus the $229 annual cost of the Sunday ticket. Finally, DirecTV was a tad bit more expensive for me than Comcast ( ~ $4/month) as I was hooking up four TVs whereas Comcast does not charge extra for additional outlets.
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Okay, the deal is done and will be announced at 5:07 pm today. DW is having trouble packing his dorm room and getting a ticket to reach Buffalo. He did not expect to reach an agreement so soon and was playing games on his inactive cell phones.
{SOPRANO mode off}
Seriously guys, I have two issues. One - paying so much guaranteed money to rookies is really crazy with them having proven nothing. It is like paying a Harvard Management grad guaranteed retirement . However, this is the trend and management has to trust the scouting department, get with the program and pony up the going rate. I do not agree but it cannot be helped.
Secondly, we have chosen him where we did. Reach or not, his value is that of a #8. For the $600K or so, it sounds ridiculous to not get the deal done (from either side).
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Add Corolla and remove Sentra from that list. I had a Sentra and a friend did too - both of us had a lot of problems with the car. Protege is a well kept reliability secret especially post-1999. It is now the Mazda 3 which I own and is still built in Japan. Consumer reports ranks it very high in reliability. A friend has a 2000 Protege 5 and has had zero problems so far.
So my list for that price range would be Corolla, Protege, Civic (in decreasing order of preference)
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Methinks that with our fast DBs, only a QB with a strong arm will win this three way competition in camp. That is why I think our QB will be Nall or JP. Not sure it means that KH will be cut.
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At least the fist Pats game, the second stinkin' fish game, the last Jests game, the 'Aints game and the Panthers game. But the question then is where would we be now if those games went the other way? Me thinks Meathhead, TD, Mike Williams, Sam Adams, Eric Moulds and Lawyer Milloy would still be in town.
Well if the basic premise of the post - that we would have won a few more games with tight coaching - then still having Meathead would not be a bad thing. But that means TD would be here too
{I have contributed nothing to this thread}
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For a change a national sportswriter presents a balanced view of the team and projections for the upcoming year. And we still find reasons to nit pick and blast him ? Apart from the Bennie Anderson gaffe, I could not find any other objectionable points in his article. We complain about the media not giving us enough respect. Given our performance in recent seasons and the question marks around several of the moves we have made, this article is flattering.
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Agreed. It has been a while since we had a legitimate threat of a pass catching TE. Everett panning out gives us the best long-term option but I would be happy if Royal steps it up as a pass-catcher too.
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Put them all in a 'safe house' and drop another 500 pounder ?
More seriously, I was initially disappointed that he died right away and did not suffer. The video of Daniel Pearl's beheading is branded in my brain, possibly for life. Reading now that he was alive for a while gives me morbid happiness that he did not die instantly without sharing some of the physical pain he imparted others.
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Not his business ? If it is related to NFL and players, it IS his business. Even if technically Ricky is not an NFL player now. Again, in what way is he way over the top ? We all want the 'don't hurt his sentiments' kind of reporting don't we ? Enough being pu$$ies - call a spade a spade and as long as he doesn't cross the line of decency in his reports, any strong language is fine. After all it is his opinion.
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Whether he is a blowhard or not is not the point, is it ? Though that seems to be the way this thread is progressing. Which part of the article, quoted in the original post, do you disagree with ?
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As this thread has been hijacked big time, I might as well go with the flow.
The outsourcing boom is not actually a terrible thing. Most of the work that gets done there would not be done by the US companies AT ALL if they were priced with local US labor. I think our day-to-day life is much better off as our companies are getting a lot more done with less resources. So you are more likely to get a human voice quicker when you dial a customer service number; your websites will be upgraded and featured faster etc. Conceivably, several years from now, wages in these countries will catch up those in Western countries and work will begin to get done locally again. It may take a while but it is very likely to happen.
Second point is that in oil and gas construction companies in the US, there are engineering, drafting, estimating etc. positions going unfilled as there is a shortage of qualified people here in the US !!! Where did they all go ? They retired early or were downsized and left the profession in the mid to late 90s. So the current shortage is the fault of both employers who were quick to axe and of the student advisors who advised prospective students to not enter the technical (read: engineering) profession. A large outflow and reduced inflow resulted in a shrinking engineering labor pool. So if you want to not fall short of electricity in summer of 2007, how will the construction company build a power plant ? Get engineering design done in India/China and build it in time to avoid problems.
Bottomline, everybody reaps what they sow.
Hope I did not make this confusing.
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I don't understand the vitriol directed at JT, especially in implicit support of Ricky.
Just because there are other disgraceful players in the league does not make Ricky any less of a disgrace. Maybe at one level, you can say he is human and his decision to not play football is acceptable. But he just did not handle it correctly. He should have decided earlier in the (off) season that he was calling it quits to allow his team to plan adequately for his departure. He made it worse by later returning and 'wanting to play' when he obviously was doing it to simply relieve himself of the financial obligations.
Secondly, if he did not want to play, what is he doing with the Argos ? He should have simply vanished into oblivion under the cover of his pot haze and nobody would have cared or criticized him.
Lastly, I agree with Thiesman (sp?). I don't know his own personal history but unless he indulged in such behavior, I think he has earned to right to call out a player when he believes they are wrong. So there, I said it.
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I am too lazy to look up the context of his statement. But just that statement is not insightful at all. How does he define 'stud' in the context of football ? A heavy person, a strong person, a multi-gap tackle ... ? It has been stated numerous times over this board that this defense is not designed for a Ted Washington type heavy player.
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Doesnt have to be anything special. Im thinking maybe a few hundred bucks for a budget. Really not a audio guy. Like, I have a set of Klipsch for my pc that have only 2 sattelites and a sub woofer and Im very happy with them. They only cost a couple hundred bucks. My motivation for buying speakers is for listening to music so surround is not a necessity. The room its for is a average sized living room. Thanks for the replies guys.
Still not knowing your exact budget, here are some options (all numbers are MSRP):
Subwoofer (probably the best at this price point)
$125: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=300-633
Speakers (have to add cost of speaker stands for bookshelfs ~ $70)
Polk Audio (nice sale at onecall right now, see Monitor 60s) http://www.onecall.com/productsearch.aspx?...e&Sort=lowPrice
$279/pair: http://www.htd.com/lethbosp.html
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Hi guys. Figured I would tap the extensive knowledge and experience that lurks on this board. Just got a XBox 360 and figure its time to get a decent set of speakers to go with it now that I can load mp3s on the thing and listnen to music. Any suggestions on good " bang for the buck" setups? Not really a audiofile so I dont need anything too extreme. Just something decent that can handle some base and decent highs. Doesnt necessarily have to be surround sound. Thanks in advance.
What is your budget, size of listening room, aesthetic requirements (in ceilings, wall mount, bookshelf size or floor standing) and about what percent of usage time will be movies/TV versus music ? I can point you to avsforum but that might overwhelm you with information if you are not inclined to spend a lot of time on research. I am not a gamer so don't know if the games you play are coded for surround - if they are you may miss out on some of the 'experience'.
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I don't think Toyota or Honda have made very good minivans
though their minivans still manage to beat out the Big 3 versions in quality and reliability
lately, I've found Hondas to be more expensive than Toyotas...perhaps because they're slightly more "flashy"? i do know the interior of hondas now look pretty damn good while toyotas still seem kind of bland
the civic/camry costs more than the corolla/accord
even the honda fit is like a grand more than the toyota yaris
Actually, I saw the Consumer Reports and replaced my Corolla with a Mazda 3 (made in Japan) last year primarily because the reliability ratings were as good as a Corolla but the 3 had more style, drivability and a significantly superior interior. Also, the Toyota dealers were too arrogant and could not get me a Matrix with stick and ABS whereas the Mazda dealer went out of his way to make sure I got the exact car I wanted. 1 year and NO issues yet - love the 3.
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Honda has been wildly successful with an inexpensive tag. I own 2, and have owned 3 in the last 15 years. In 15 years, I've never had a single breakdown. No recalls. No mechanical problems of any kind. My 13 year old Accord has a little rust, but other than that, it runs fine. My previous Accord had 190K miles on it when I sold it for 2K(!).
I've heard similar testimonials from Toyota owners. I've heard that Lexuses last for about 500K miles and never break down.
I've never heard someone say anything like that about a single American car. Ever.
I don't know why the Japanese cars are so superior than the American cars but they are. And as a consumer, that's what I care about.
I have the best experience with Toyotas (Corollas specifically). But have had numerous problems with my 2000 Odyssey. Not sure what happened, but they screwed up on this one. Ofcourse, my definition is totally relative but I have had 3 automatic door problems in the first 2 years, transmission crapping out (covered by Honda voluntarily extending the warranty), EGR valve crapping out (again covered by 'extended' warranty) and several brake jobs. My Corollas have been totally trouble free for their first 7-8 years of ownership. Sorry to hijack the thread.
I don't get it
in Politics, Polls, and Pundits
Posted
wer eyou just caught driving drunk ?
Never mind, I missed the missing sarcasm smiley