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Things That Are Bullsh*t (7 Viewers)

slisk250 said:
Where is my Australian snow shovel king?
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But look how much you can save on car insurance!!

Punch Fist Bump GIF by State Farm
 
slisk250 said:
There can’t go everywhere.
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That, and conditions matter. In the northeast on the coast, we get a lot of snow that’s melting into slush as soon as it lands. Snowblowers fail with that stuff and snow throwers struggle with it.
 
upNdown said:
That, and conditions matter. In the northeast on the coast, we get a lot of snow that’s melting into slush as soon as it lands. Snowblowers fail with that stuff and snow throwers struggle with it.
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TIL there's a difference between a snow blower and a snow thrower.

Source: lived most of my adult life in Florida, and when I was a kid in Ohio my ass used a shovel.
 
Schmendr1ck said:
TIL there's a difference between a snow blower and a snow thrower.

Source: lived most of my adult life in Florida, and when I was a kid in Ohio my ass used a shovel.
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And apparently I got it wrong. I meant that the two stage machines do a better job than the single stage machines, but I just checked with Google and I guess a two-stage is a blower not a thrower. I dunno. Buy the bigger more expensive one.
 
upNdown said:
Buy the bigger more expensive one.
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Good advice if money is not a problem. The big two-stagers with a 3 ft. high scoop is clutch for the one or two times you get the snowmageddon. Also go for the electric start so you don't have to pull the cord to start.
 
Jeff said:
Good advice if money is not a problem. The big two-stagers with a 3 ft. high scoop is clutch for the one or two times you get the snowmageddon. Also go for the electric start so you don't have to pull the cord to start.
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Although what I've learned over the years by accident, trying to squeeze these things into the garage with a car in there too, is that if you can find a narrower one with the same size engine, that's the way to go. I've had neighbors go for wider ones and they'll get bogged down on days where my narrower machine is cutting through it. Seems pretty intuitive now, but we all had to learn it for ourselves, as people went bigger and bigger over the years.
 
Auction listings, that are actually offsite links to auction listings, which you can’t actually bid on, unless you at part of some special group, which to determine if you can join said group must search out some other thread, just to find to out that the qualification process closed 2 months ago, but then realizing that the headline chip counts don’t actually represent the amounts of chips you would be bidding on (if you even could), but instead it’s just individual barrels, which you can then buy more of, at the now inflated per barrel pricing. What a cluster fluk. That be some bullshit.
 
realcdn said:
Auction listings, that are actually offsite links to auction listings, which you can’t actually bid on, unless you at part of some special group, which to determine if you can join said group must search out some other thread, just to find to out that the qualification process closed 2 months ago, but then realizing that the headline chip counts don’t actually represent the amounts of chips you would be bidding on (if you even could), but instead it’s just individual barrels, which you can then buy more of, at the now inflated per barrel pricing. What a cluster fluk. That be some bullshit.
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Paid vendors gonna vend.
 
This is more of a venting session, but it's still a sore subject in the household.

It's been a week and my daughter and I are still pissed, confused, whatever verbs you want to use. A week ago my 6th grader found out she did not make her Middle School's softball team. Now.....I'm not that dad that rants over everything but in this case we're pissed! I've played the game for many years and so I was able to teach my kid the little things that normally aren't taught in little league and other softball leagues. Hitting, throwing, fielding you name it.....she was always tops on her team. Her bat alone always drew compliments from parents that made me smile. The countless times she'd ask me to throw some soft toss to her in the backyard, too many times to list.

As a coach in my town's little league org for a few years now I know all of the 6th and 7th grade kids (not too well versed on 8th graders). When we found out the roster of kids that made the cut it's definitely a head scratcher to say the least. I'll look anyone in the eye and not taking away from any other kid, I'll tell you pound for pound my kid's name belonged up there with the other names on that list. There are kids on the team who I know my kid is a stronger player than.

My kid even told me that one girl who made the team, during tryouts the coach had to constantly correct her throws because she was overthrowing all the time. So now my kid is all thrown out of sorts trying to understand how kids who had their throwing or hitting corrected during tryouts made the team and she did not.

I can't say the coach has always picked kids based on merit. I know of a story or two where a kid made the team based on who you know, what what you know. My town is horrid with daddy ball coaches and suck ups, perhaps that was my problem, I don't play that game and people know it.

So now I have a 6th grader who hasn't been the same over the past week. As much as she tries to hide it, I can see that something is wrong...she's not herself and I understand why. Of course we had a long talk about it and I explained what we're going to do to prove them wrong in the future but damn, it still stings.

Ok, enough of my venting.......
 
I can't say the coach has always picked kids based on merit. I know of a story or two where a kid made the team based on who you know, what what you know. My town is horrid with daddy ball coaches and suck ups, perhaps that was my problem, I don't play that game and people know it.
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This right here is the issue. Youth sports nowadays are rife with cronyism and favoritism, and it makes me sick.

Quick story. Junior year of high school. We're playing an indoor soccer league to stay sharp for our club teams in the spring and school teams for the following fall. I made the varsity team that previous season but didn't play much even though based on skill knew I belonged. I trained my ass off from the time the season ended in late October until the winter league started in December. Worked on things I knew I needed to do get better. I go and drop 50 goals in about 32 games from December until late March until the spring season started (two games a weekend average). Two of those goals came against the town rival team in the championship. Dos a cero. I knocked in a brace against the best goalie in the state (a guy that went on to play in the MLS) right in front of the varsity coach.

Gives me a letter to co-captain the team in the fall. However, because I wasn't socially the most popular or adept kid, and the parents of a couple of the incoming freshmen no less had the biggest mouths of them all, I barely played even as a co-captain that season. I came on as a substitute and got 15 or 20 minutes of the 80 minute game if I was lucky. I'll admit there were times the kids were outplaying me, but it wasn't often enough to be congruent with how the playing time was distributed. Half the team revolted against the coach because it was obvious to them that I should be playing. It got ugly and the team divided into two camps. I thought about quitting the team because of all of the trouble it caused and really could stand to focus on school and keeping my grades up to keep my chances high of going to a good school, but ultimately, kept at it and sought the counsel of my parents whom advised me to make the best of the playing time I was given and continue to make it hard on the coach by training hard and making myself a better player. Nothing really changed though, and we had a .500 season, only for the next year the guys I grew up playing with in one academic year below me (I was a September birthday and played club ball with them) to win both the county tournament and state sectional championship. I was happy for them but it was another kick in the balls.

I'm not sure about what the moral of the story is, because in this story I worked my ass off, showed I belonged, got a nod from the coach, but still got jumped ahead in the pecking order because of loud mouth parents, and nothing changed even though half the team revolted against the coach because of it.

Tell your daughter to keep your head up and work harder than ever before. Send her to camps over the summer offered by the best coaches in the area (not from the losers in your town). Make it IMPOSSIBLE for them to ignore her when the time comes for fall ball tryouts.
 
mburnznj said:
This is more of a venting session, but it's still a sore subject in the household.

It's been a week and my daughter and I are still pissed, confused, whatever verbs you want to use. A week ago my 6th grader found out she did not make her Middle School's softball team. Now.....I'm not that dad that rants over everything but in this case we're pissed! I've played the game for many years and so I was able to teach my kid the little things that normally aren't taught in little league and other softball leagues. Hitting, throwing, fielding you name it.....she was always tops on her team. Her bat alone always drew compliments from parents that made me smile. The countless times she'd ask me to throw some soft toss to her in the backyard, too many times to list.

As a coach in my town's little league org for a few years now I know all of the 6th and 7th grade kids (not too well versed on 8th graders). When we found out the roster of kids that made the cut it's definitely a head scratcher to say the least. I'll look anyone in the eye and not taking away from any other kid, I'll tell you pound for pound my kid's name belonged up there with the other names on that list. There are kids on the team who I know my kid is a stronger player than.

My kid even told me that one girl who made the team, during tryouts the coach had to constantly correct her throws because she was overthrowing all the time. So now my kid is all thrown out of sorts trying to understand how kids who had their throwing or hitting corrected during tryouts made the team and she did not.

I can't say the coach has always picked kids based on merit. I know of a story or two where a kid made the team based on who you know, what what you know. My town is horrid with daddy ball coaches and suck ups, perhaps that was my problem, I don't play that game and people know it.

So now I have a 6th grader who hasn't been the same over the past week. As much as she tries to hide it, I can see that something is wrong...she's not herself and I understand why. Of course we had a long talk about it and I explained what we're going to do to prove them wrong in the future but damn, it still stings.

Ok, enough of my venting.......
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Send your Uncle Tony over to have a little chat with the coach.
 
mburnznj said:
This is more of a venting session, but it's still a sore subject in the household.

It's been a week and my daughter and I are still pissed, confused, whatever verbs you want to use. A week ago my 6th grader found out she did not make her Middle School's softball team. Now.....I'm not that dad that rants over everything but in this case we're pissed! I've played the game for many years and so I was able to teach my kid the little things that normally aren't taught in little league and other softball leagues. Hitting, throwing, fielding you name it.....she was always tops on her team. Her bat alone always drew compliments from parents that made me smile. The countless times she'd ask me to throw some soft toss to her in the backyard, too many times to list.

As a coach in my town's little league org for a few years now I know all of the 6th and 7th grade kids (not too well versed on 8th graders). When we found out the roster of kids that made the cut it's definitely a head scratcher to say the least. I'll look anyone in the eye and not taking away from any other kid, I'll tell you pound for pound my kid's name belonged up there with the other names on that list. There are kids on the team who I know my kid is a stronger player than.

My kid even told me that one girl who made the team, during tryouts the coach had to constantly correct her throws because she was overthrowing all the time. So now my kid is all thrown out of sorts trying to understand how kids who had their throwing or hitting corrected during tryouts made the team and she did not.

I can't say the coach has always picked kids based on merit. I know of a story or two where a kid made the team based on who you know, what what you know. My town is horrid with daddy ball coaches and suck ups, perhaps that was my problem, I don't play that game and people know it.

So now I have a 6th grader who hasn't been the same over the past week. As much as she tries to hide it, I can see that something is wrong...she's not herself and I understand why. Of course we had a long talk about it and I explained what we're going to do to prove them wrong in the future but damn, it still stings.

Ok, enough of my venting.......
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You already know exactly what happened. I highlighted it in your post.

But really, isn't all the best competition at that age in the travel leagues and not the schools? I don't remember any of my kid's middle schools having baseball or softball teams in Texas. School ball doesn't start here until high school.
 
We don't have middle school softball or baseball in my area, either. But I know that some school districts in Iowa do.

But yes, club (or travel) ball is much better for developing and showcasing skills (from what I have seen) until you reach the high school level. My daughter wouldn't be able to practice in the winter without her club team renting out huge facilities. These two practices per week, plus her hitting net in the garage, have really helped her development over the past couple of years.
 
Kids sports in general are bullshit. Club sports are worse than school sports, but there are politics involved everywhere. It’s a good lesson in one regard though, because life sure as hell isn’t fair.
 
upNdown said:
Kids sports in general are bullshit. Club sports are worse than school sports, but there are politics involved everywhere. It’s a good lesson in one regard though, because life sure as hell isn’t fair.
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Exactly. Wait for them to get into the work world, where merit ranks about #60 on the list.
 
mburnznj said:
This is more of a venting session, but it's still a sore subject in the household.

It's been a week and my daughter and I are still pissed, confused, whatever verbs you want to use. A week ago my 6th grader found out she did not make her Middle School's softball team. Now.....I'm not that dad that rants over everything but in this case we're pissed! I've played the game for many years and so I was able to teach my kid the little things that normally aren't taught in little league and other softball leagues. Hitting, throwing, fielding you name it.....she was always tops on her team. Her bat alone always drew compliments from parents that made me smile. The countless times she'd ask me to throw some soft toss to her in the backyard, too many times to list.

As a coach in my town's little league org for a few years now I know all of the 6th and 7th grade kids (not too well versed on 8th graders). When we found out the roster of kids that made the cut it's definitely a head scratcher to say the least. I'll look anyone in the eye and not taking away from any other kid, I'll tell you pound for pound my kid's name belonged up there with the other names on that list. There are kids on the team who I know my kid is a stronger player than.

My kid even told me that one girl who made the team, during tryouts the coach had to constantly correct her throws because she was overthrowing all the time. So now my kid is all thrown out of sorts trying to understand how kids who had their throwing or hitting corrected during tryouts made the team and she did not.

I can't say the coach has always picked kids based on merit. I know of a story or two where a kid made the team based on who you know, what what you know. My town is horrid with daddy ball coaches and suck ups, perhaps that was my problem, I don't play that game and people know it.

So now I have a 6th grader who hasn't been the same over the past week. As much as she tries to hide it, I can see that something is wrong...she's not herself and I understand why. Of course we had a long talk about it and I explained what we're going to do to prove them wrong in the future but damn, it still stings.

Ok, enough of my venting.......
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My older daughter was the best actress in the school and a decent singer. She didn’t audition for the fall musical because it was a stupid show that everybody hated except the director. When the spring drama was cast, she should have gotten the lead. She should have gotten one of the supporting roles. She inexplicably got a teeny tiny bit part and was devastated (ostensibly because she skipped the fall musical which ended up not having enough kids). (Joke was on them though because this was 2020 and the spring play never happened.)

My other daughter was the starting libero on the varsity team as a sophomore. Then her club team not only made some other, less talented girl the starting libero, but they never ever ever used a second libero - leaving my daughter as an occasional defensive sub. She’s got a great attitude though and cheered for her team on every play. I later found out that the libero girl’s rich dad had made a deal with the club that she be the only libero.

I tell these stories partly to commiserate but mostly to say that both my daughters are amazing, happy, well adjusted women. I don’t think I had any magic words of advice for them when they got screwed. They just took it and moved on. So I guess my point is that as unfair as it seems, the kids will be fine. They probably have better perspective than us, in a lot of ways.
 
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realcdn said:
Auction listings, that are actually offsite links to auction listings, which you can’t actually bid on, unless you at part of some special group, which to determine if you can join said group must search out some other thread, just to find to out that the qualification process closed 2 months ago, but then realizing that the headline chip counts don’t actually represent the amounts of chips you would be bidding on (if you even could), but instead it’s just individual barrels, which you can then buy more of, at the now inflated per barrel pricing. What a cluster fluk. That be some bullshit.
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Don't forget.. if you were even a unicorn that could jump through all those hoops you still would not have been able to bid because you are outside the US.

Sorry.. couldn't help myself. My sincere apologies for the cluster.
 
Thanks for all the words and advice, appreciate it all, truly do.

@TX_Golf_N_Poker you are correct in that travel/club teams are where it's at. My kid is on a club team in addition to her Little League team. She just finished her winter training with them so she really enjoys the sport and the coach loves her on the team. And you are also right in what you/I pointed out. It sucks but it's a lesson learned.

While I am not a fan of school sports until high school, our town is actually competitive in baseball/softball (our Middle School softball team last year won the County's). I guess you can say that being on the team is sort of a badge that the kids love, my kid loves the game and wanted nothing more than to put on the uniform for her school.

@upNdown I know 100% my kid will be fine and you're right in that I'm sure they look at it from a different lens then us. Thanks for the words.

Thanks to all, ok now on to our everyday lives!
 
I spent a fair amount of money on golf lessons. I wasn’t getting much better. My coach took a new job, so I got a new one. New coach pretty much said everything I learned was wrong. Pretty pissed at the moment, but happy to get the swing working. …. Hopefully
 

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