2019 Offseason Stream of Unconsciousness

[Entropy]

CBS Sports has been showing a lot of sports ESPN passes on... for those looking for sports rather than talk. 

[FearlessF]

Hey, maybe the mouth-breathing, unsavory masses shouldn't be the ones dictating the content we're all exposed to.....but that's crazy talk, right?

the unwashed masses also vote on our political leaders.... ya see what candidates this produces

[Brutus Buckeye]

I was all set to cut the cord after FB season, but they chopped my price down to $50/month. That's 1/3 of what I was paying, and I get internet along with hundreds of channels including dozens of sports networks. I said I'll stay.

[Cincydawg]

I showed the wife the black on white kitchen photo and she liked it.  It is pretty similar to our kitchen.  The new stove is solid black, it's an inductive type.  The back splash is different.  You should come visit.

The floor is some kind of wood plank on concrete, looks like maple.

[847badgerfan]

Cool. I'll take that as an offer. Another kitchen shot for you to show her. I do miss that kitchen. Galley's are so much more functional to cook in than other layouts. They really are. I miss the wine rack too.

[MichiFan87]

Since politics has been brought up, living in DC, now, I'm just glad the government didn't shut down, again. The first time around the city was basically dead for a month (albeit the holidays and winter weather were part of the reason). Not to get too political, but it seems that most people here are at least moderate (or at least not supporters of #45).... It'll be interesting to see who all decides to run against him on both sides. I'm a fan of Jay Inslee (WA's governor) for his strong stance on clean energy, but he's probably not viable due to lack of name recognition. And for the record, I favor most of the Green New Deal in principle, but parts of it just aren't realistic even if Democrats take over the government in 2020.

In other news, I'm finally seriously pursuing a relationship for the first time in my life since I finally have some stability in my career, and I can use all the dating advice I can get. I had my first real date of my life a week ago, which didn't go so well, but we just didn't really connect on anything despite having some common interests and being like-minded (I didn't do anything stupid, though)..... Today I connected with someone else online through Bumble (which seems to work better than OKCupid and other sites since the woman has to initiate the conversation), and she's also a Michigan fan, in addition to being smart, successful, and like-minded. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but based on what I know about her and my initial online conversation, I think she's as good of a match as I'll get, so I don't want to blow it....

[betarhoalphadelta]

I had my first real date of my life a week ago

This, followed by...

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but based on what I know about her and my initial online conversation, I think she's as good of a match as I'll get, so I don't want to blow it....

Gives me my first point of advice...
"As good as a match as I'll get" is probably not going to be the first lady you connect with.
Granted, I say that as the guy who married the first girl I dated after my divorce, and I'm ridiculously happy. So I'm not saying it *won't* work out, but you need to not stress over whether it'll work out. 
Although if it means anything, she and I met on Bumble. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

I am somewhat surprised that Badge uses a microwave. 

[Cincydawg]

My dating advice would be to forget about "not wanting to blow it".  Be yourself, as thoroughly as possible.  If she doesn't like you for you, it's best to find out early.

The second point would be to make sure you listen to her and show empathy (hopefully this isn't an act).  A short term relationship can succeed based on a few items but a long termer needs to check most of the boxes, and being "as good as I could expect" is not a recipe for the latter.

[Cincydawg]

One condo we toured that I kinda liked (because it was way under budget in part, but also nicely finished) had a dead end kitchen.  The wife said that was a no go for her.

Most of the others were in newer buildings and had this "open concept" so many rave about all the time, she didn't like that either.  She watches HGTV a LOT and it's interesting (a bit) to see what couples like in that highly contrived show.  They all want an "open concept".

Anyway, we lucked out, this place was on the market for 3 months, which is unusual down here, and the second we walked in we knew it was for us.

We looked at one on the 37th floor of a new building and the deck was scary.  We would never be out there.

[MaximumSam]

Since politics has been brought up, living in DC, now, I'm just glad the government didn't shut down, again. The first time around the city was basically dead for a month (albeit the holidays and winter weather were part of the reason). Not to get too political, but it seems that most people here are at least moderate (or at least not supporters of #45).... It'll be interesting to see who all decides to run against him on both sides. I'm a fan of Jay Inslee (WA's governor) for his strong stance on clean energy, but he's probably not viable due to lack of name recognition. And for the record, I favor most of the Green New Deal in principle, but parts of it just aren't realistic even if Democrats take over the government in 2020.

In other news, I'm finally seriously pursuing a relationship for the first time in my life since I finally have some stability in my career, and I can use all the dating advice I can get. I had my first real date of my life a week ago, which didn't go so well, but we just didn't really connect on anything despite having some common interests and being like-minded (I didn't do anything stupid, though)..... Today I connected with someone else online through Bumble (which seems to work better than OKCupid and other sites since the woman has to initiate the conversation), and she's also a Michigan fan, in addition to being smart, successful, and like-minded. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but based on what I know about her and my initial online conversation, I think she's as good of a match as I'll get, so I don't want to blow it....

Ah young padawan, learn the ways of the force.
- Go on dates. Cast a wide net, go out with girls, even some you might not even be all that into based on their profile.  A date is not a marriage, and even if it sucks, you at least got some experience. 
- Don't get excited about someone you haven't met.  You'll just put more pressure on yourself, which is bad.
- Go places that you like and where you feel comfortable.  Go somewhere you can have fun even if she isn't there.  You being comfortable and having fun will be more attractive to her than trying to pretend to have fun somewhere else.  Also, if she blows you off you'll at least be somewhere you like.
- Dating is like everything else in the world, you get better at it with practice.  

[Brutus Buckeye]

My advice would be not to solicit advice from us knuckleheads. 

[Cincydawg]

I made the mistake of getting married for practical reasons, we both were graduating, she was pretty, we had a good time, might as well get married.  I did not understand she viewed me as a project, someone who could be made a lot better with some changes.  I ignored some serious warning signs.  I feared moving to a new city, which I was about to do, and having to "start all over" with dating, and this was well before this Internet thing.  In college it's easy to meet girls, in real life, it isn't.

After the divorce, I focused on my kids (they stayed with me fortunately).  The few dates I had just didn't jive with having small kids.  So, I figured I was on my own.

[Cincydawg]

I was musing about how much I've changed over the years, I think one of the biggest changes has been to quit worrying about what others think (beyond the bounds of being decent to people).  When I was younger, I would stress over this, usually subliminally.  Some of it was the job of course where early in your career you need to worry about what your bosses think.  And the odd thing is I think I get along with more people on a personal level now than I did when I would worry about how to get along with people.

The facade is not genuine, and few people can pull it off without seeming to be fake.

We call them "politicians".