The Avenger

Same here - my mother's parents were from Holland and they were some of the most frugal folks you'd ever find. I always thought it was more generational - the fact that they lived through the war under Nazi occupation and had next to nothing so they learned to live without. Although my grandfather was very successful as a surgeon and pulled in a surgeon's salary, my grandparents never owned a clothes dryer- they didn't see the need to have such a luxury when they could hang things to dry outside or up in the attic when it was winter.I've since come to learn that the Dutch are aware of their frugality and do tend to wear it sheepishly as a badge of honor.

Where in the organizational history of the Buffalo Bills do you see that they would take a quarterback at a juncture like this? Recent history with Edwards, Lossman, Holcomb, etc. shows that when a Bills QB tanks everyone can see that he's not going to be the guy to build around except the Bills front office. No matter how poorly and inconsistently a QB plays, the front office always seems to hold onto that one 3 to 5 game stretch where he played well thinking all he needs is a little more time to be the quarterback of the future - how's that been working out for us? That Fitzpatrick showed some sort of spark earlier in the season will certainly keep him as the Bills starting QB until even his biggest supporters can't deny that it's not going to work and we throw the next mid to late round draft pick QB shlub in and the cycle begins anew.

The flip sideof the coin is that Sunday Ticket allows you to actually see some good football - when the Bills tank it in the first quarter you have your choice of good games to watch - without Sunday Ticket and fantasy football Sunday afternoons devoted entirely to the Bills would make me want to put a gun in my mouth - if you broaden your horizons you can actually enjoy some football on Sundays....

It does seem like the kind of thing you would investigate only to find some open crates from Acme and perhaps a pair of rocket skates lying around.....

I'm a huge thrash fan, but if you really want to rage I'd suggest: - Slayer - classic stuff like Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss - Pantera - I think I still have bruises from the Pantera shows I saw in the 90s - if you want to hit someone, Pantera is the band that should be playing - For newer bands, check out Hatebreed - they pretty much define a new genre - rage metal - some serious anger there.....

Cambridge is pricey, and I'd consider it city - sounds like you're going to be commuting. Your choices will be to drive in from wherever (and probably pay for parking every day) or take the T in (which you'll probably have to drive to and also pay for parking). How long of a commute is too long for you? The T is decent, but it doesn't go that far out of Boston/Cambridge and it also stops running at night (if you're going to work weird hours the T will NOT be an option). Traffic into Cambridge can be brutal depending on where you're coming from.

Boston's not cheap - housing is more expensive than most places (not as bad as NYC, San Fran or southern CA), but if you're coming from a place like Buffalo where it is affordable you'll defintely be a bit shocked. That said, it's all about where you want to live. If the job is in Boston and you want to live within the Rt. 128 loop it'll be more pricet than if you're willing to move further out and commute in. Boston is very much a car city - there is public transport but unless you live in Boston/Cambridge and work in Boston/Cambridge you'll probably be driving for your commute - it's not like NYC where everyone takes public transit. Where's the job? What area do you want to be in? Boston and suburbs are a big place - hard to answer your questions unless you narrow it down.....

I can't even imagine how offensive he must find Angry Birds......

I guess vaccinating my kids puts me out of the running......

Sadly, the chances of finding someone alive after a month are not good - I think we may need to prepare ourselves for the worst.........

My wife went to the midnight showing last night with some of her friends - I don't mind because it means I have a free pass to go see Judas Priest this weekend with some buddies. Anyway, Huffington Post had a good explanation about grown women and Twilight: Link to Story

Hey - you stole my team - I had all of those dudes as well - thank God the Bills are doing well or Sundays would be miserable......

A buddy of mine has been through this before - he tells me I'll probably get money for the food but not the hotel, but I'm going to check. Not looking forward to cleaning out and documenting all that stuff. I called the town to see if they were going to have a special spoiled food pickup (some towns have done that) - they said no. When I asked about the extra garbage this was going to produce (we are only allowed 2 32 gallon barrels a week - after that you must buy special garbage bags from the town at $2 each) she checked with the town manager - he said they would not waive the overage. I wonder if he ever realized he is an elected official and such a kick to the nads is probably something you'll remember come election day - just ask Bloomberg or Richard Daley what gets voters more pissed off than anything and they'll tell you it's response to a storm - screw that up and you're dead.

That's a 2 hour drive through the city for me to get back to get the kids to school - I'm north (where all the power is out). Unfortuantely this isn't WNY where you might be able to find something for $79/night - believe me, we are just happy to HAVE a hotel - I wanted to act the night the power went out and when I waited until the next morning I went through about 10 hotels until I found one with availability, otherwise we'd be on cots at a shelter. I am so miserable right now and the power company seriously makes me want to do bodily harm to someone right now.

Suburban Boston - not a cheap place. IF you can even get a hotel (Tonight I'll be in my thrid hotel in 4 nights) you get tagged for about $179/night at the Courtyard Marriott - add the taxes an you get to $200. Mind you, I still have to go to work every morning, so I can't get a cheap hotel 100 miles away.....

Been out since Saturday night and still out - Nation Grid estimates that I'll be restored by Thursday night at 8PM but in looking at their outage map that date/time lokos to simply be a placeholder for - "you're last - don't really know the date/time". I have 2 small kids and we've had to be in hotels - at $200 a night it is rackinig up, plus all the food I'm going to have to replace. This will cost me over a grand when all is said and done (because in these times, who DOESN'T have a spare $1000 laying around?). My son has a heart condition and now he's sick and nobody at the power company gives a S#!t. Saying you have a medical need for power means nothing to them. They go out of their way to tell you that they are not obligated to pay for anything, even when you aren't asking for money - they know they're not on the hook for it so they don't care - they just tell you to go pound sand. I wish I knew the president's address - I'd go over to her house, ring the bell and tell her we are switching house until she gets this all fixed - maybe then I'd get some power. Kids are on their third snow day today - probably out again tomorrow - looks like they'll be in school until July this year. It would feel so good to just go kick someone's ass right now - so many candidates, so little time....

Beaker is the Muppet equivilent of Mr. Bill - too damn funny....

I was really thinking it was going to be "Rosebud"...

Wow - never expected a 3 page thread on this and people getting so worked up about it. Just thought it was funny that Boston can't seem to hack they they are not on top so they soften it using laguage like "tied atop the AFC East". Look - I know it's week 8 and there's a lot of football left so it's meaningless. On the other hand, I take great pride in my Bills not only being on top of the standings, but truly being in first if things were to end today. The Bruce Smith coment was meant to illustrate that while it's technically true Brue and I have the same number of sacks this season, one of us is actually a hall of fame defensive end and the other is merely a fan but if you look deeper than the stat sheet you'd know that.

I'm still having a hard time feeling bad for any of these folks. Whether she knew it or not, she lived a very good life on the backs of others. In fact, even after all is said and done and he's in prison, the scraps she still has from this mess still allow her to live a better life than I'll EVER live, and that makes me sick. This is why when there is violent revolution in other countries and these power brokers get caught they and their entire families die some quick deaths...

So all the media here in the Boston area are proclaiming that the Pats are now "tied atop the AFC East with Buffalo" - too bad they're not actually tied. We have the same record, but the Bills have a better AFC East record and, oh yeah, the BILLS BEAT THE PATS HEAD TO HEAD. Saying the Bills and Pats are tied is like saying I am tied with Bruce Smith for sacks this year....

I thought last night's Broadway episode was one of the better ones I'd seen in awhile. Loved the various musicals and their subtexts. I especially liked Randy's "bro-down".

If you really want to teach a life lesson the girls should sue the district, the superintendent, the pricipal, the athletic director and the coach for emotional distress and lost future earnings because they didn't get into the colleges of their choice without a state championship on their applications. Yes sir, in this society there are rules and consequences and despite what the bumper sticker says, S&!# doesn't just happen - someone always has to pay and there's always an opportunity to sue.

Good thing this week is a home game. Oh, wait....... Do we EVER play well in Toronto?

Exactly. I don't know how you can't make a list of the worst 50 when you have almost no talent at the position AND you don't even bother to know the plays. Plenty of bad QBs can't execute the playbook worth a damn, but at least they know it. Not even knowing the playbook should put you at the top of the list. P.S. - Also, ADMITTING that you didn't read and know the playbook really speaks volumes about your overall intelligence and decision making ability........