Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on November 19, 2012
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on November 19, 2012
Ambient office = .114 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .126 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .127 microsieverts per hour
Mushroom from grocery store = .086 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .086 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .071 microsieverts per hour
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on November 18, 2012
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on November 18, 2012
Ambient office = .116 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .116 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .118 microsieverts per hour
Granny Smith Apple from grocery store = .111 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .105 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .093 microsieverts per hour
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on November 17, 2012
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on November 17, 2012
Ambient office = .091 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .068 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .071 microsieverts per hour
Raw bulk peanuts from grocery store = .075 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .087 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .075 microsieverts per hour
Teaching children values
There are so many responsibilities mothers have, especially if they are single mothers. A mother is known to be the nurturer of the family and she is the main person that teaches children values and lessons in life.
This does not mean that fathers do not do these things too. There are plenty of great fathers out there that also are good at instilling values in the lives of their children. As a mother, I know that I have so many duties and responsibilities relating to my children.
There are the regular duties that are required to keep the kids alive, such as feeding them and bathing them. These are just normal parts of life and it does not take long to learn how to do these things. The other duties in life are much different than this. When you have a child, it is your responsibility to protect the child and teach the child values of life.
These things can be hard to do, especially considering the way society is. It is hard to teach children to do the right things when all of their friends aren’t. It is hard to teach kids that they do not need to own everything that comes out too because the TV tells us that we all deserve these things.
One of the most important values a mother can teach her children is the value of being thankful. If your children can learn to be thankful for the things they have, they may stop falling into the trap of wanting to keep up with everyone else by purchasing all of these new gadgets that come out.
Wrecked my diet over Thanksgiving
Last week, I hosted my first Thanksgiving. Since I was not about to spend the entire day cooking in the kitchen, I decided to take the family to a Thanksgiving buffet at a nearby casino. Having been to the Maryland Live Casino’s buffet a couple times before, I knew that I could count on the food and service there to be up to my liking.
Sure enough, the food at the buffet was good enough to please everyone in my party. As with most other buffets out there, not everything was truly delicious. However, there was enough good stuff to have me keep coming back for more. By the end of the Thanksgiving dinner, I was more stuffed than a turkey on the holiday of thanks.
My parents stayed at my place for the next three days, and during that time, I took them to some of my favorite restaurants in the local area. By the time my parents left to go home, I had gained a whopping five pounds. Sure, some of that might have been water weight from excessive sodium intake. However, the rest was bound to stay as fat on my body if I did not start to do something about it.
Yesterday morning my parents went home, and I started my version of a cleansing diet. I spent the entire day eating nothing but old fashion oatmeal and granola bars. This morning, I woke up three pounds lighter. To prevent my body from entering starvation mode, I have opted to incorporate more foods into my diet today. For instance, I had a shrimp salad earlier for lunch. As the week progress, I will continue to add more food into my diet. Hopefully, I will end the week weighing less than I did before Thanksgiving Day.
Don't forget to be thankful every day
Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is very important for all of us to remember what we are thankful for each and every day. It is somehow easier to do this around Thanksgiving, but it is something we should do every day.
If you compare your life with others, you may notice a pattern. There are many people that have a lot more than you have, but there are many people that have so much less than what you have. One of the secrets of happiness is found by placing your focus on what you do have. This involves being thankful for the things you have and not focusing on all of the things you don’t have.
No matter what, there will always be people that have more than you have. This is a fact of life for all of us. The key is to stop focusing on people like this and start focusing on those that are not as blessed as you are. This is where true happiness begins.
It also begins with thanking God each day for the things you are thankful for. This morning as I was showering I began to thank God for many things. One of these things was a hot shower.
Do you realize how many people do not have this pleasure? It is something we take for granted each day, and others never have this luxury. There are hundreds of things like this and I challenge you to think of these things that may seem normal to you, but to others they are luxuries they may never experience.
Sketchy Sketches: Gentlemen's Rant Does Concerts
Gentlemen's Rant is such a brilliant group of comics. Tearing apart anything they can get their hands on, this segment takes on the concert experience. Too true, Gentlemen's Rant, too true...
Après-Black-Friday-and-Cyber-Monday shopping fix
Didn't get enough of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping? Splurge (and save) a little more with a coupon for 20 percent off one item of your choice at H&M. In case you haven't heard, their holiday dresses have arrived and they are delicious. Print your coupon here and present it when checking out. Offer valid until November 29!
Russell Martin Scouting Report - Comps
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Q. Who is Russell Martin?
A. He is Mike Zunino's 50th-percentile** manifestation at age 29. Or he is Dan Wilson, if Wilson had a bit more pop and a bit less HIT skill. If Wilson had worn a size 48R blazer, had swung like Sammy Sosa and had played in New York, he'd have been Russell Martin.
In this quick series, SSI is going to get to the white meat without running through and provide evidence for each assertion. Time's a precious commodity for Dr D this week and most Gentle Readers have a feel by this time as to how many numbers or video reels there are, or aren't, behind his evaluations.
- Take it
- Leave it
Q. Why Dan Wilson as a comp?
A. Dan Wilson, as a concept, is this: Lou Piniella's fortune-cookie script when he brought Wilson over from the Reds where Lou had been. "This kid is a Number One Catcher."
- Classy, tough personality, team leader, sets a focused, selfless atmosphere
- Drop-dead gorgeous body movements behind the plate
- Measurable, and considerable, defensive contributions (legit defensive specialist)
- Pitches in with a good solid reliable 90 OPS+ offensively
- The guys standing on the mound lovva lovva lovva him - glassy-smooth rapport
For a team to want this is NOT merely an affectation. If you heavily value defense at SS and CF, as you should, then you should value it at least as much at catcher. The catcher is part of each pitcher-catcher team on the ballclub.
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Q. Why Mike Zunino as a comp?
A. Zunino has upside at the plate; he could easily be a 110 or 120 OPS+ hitter, or who knows what he could be. But just out of AA, you've got to objectively pencil him in as less than that. Hoping for more.
What makes Zunino special is that he is fun to watch behind the plate. Dan Wilson really wasn't; Ivan Rodriguez was. Zunino is like Pudge -- you could watch a game just to enjoy Zunino's ballet behind the plate.
Russell Martin is also fun to watch behind the plate. For example, here is a video where he guns down Anthony Gose at 3B: watch the footwork.
- Aiki-precise in foot placement, spread of feet, under the hips, etc
- Martin looks like he weighs 150 lbs hopping out of his crouch
- Throwing stroke is to die for
- Throw itself, yowza
You could watch that video 20 times. Zunino's like this, too.
Or here's a vid in which Martin does the same thing at second base, the longer throw. Look at how accurate the footwork is, how effortless it is. The throw stays low, arrives wellllll over to 1B ... it's less of a catcher's throw and more of a personal statement, 007. You run on me and you'll be out by THREE steps.
We don't mean to make Martin out to be Pudge Rodriguez; he's not. But he's a pleasure to watch back there. Same as Dan Wilson.
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Q. So Martin is a defensive specialist? Or an extreme defensive specialist?
A. It's unclear.
Or here's a vid of Martin stealing a strike for CC Sabathia. Don't fail to click on that link, brother. Martin has been #1 in the American League, both 2011 and 2012, for runs saved by stealing strikes -- an estimated 20+ runs per season in strike-stealing alone.
If the numbers held up -- and who knows whether Martin's getting the strikes or the Yankees are -- then Martin would be literally worth his salary in pitch framing alone.
There isn't ANY way to capture the defensive contributions of catchers. But Martin is definitely a plus defensive catcher, and what would Brendan Ryan be worth if he hit .240 with 20 home runs?
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NEXT
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** - I know, I know. Strictly speaking, there's almost no such thing as a AA player whose 50th-percentile projection is to be a borderline All-Star.
Each Day Has Enough Trouble of Its Own
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Q. Supposing that Russell Martin IS what you expect Mike Zunino WILL BE. Why then spend so much for Martin?
A. It's worth re-running a BJOL answer here. Take this one as coming from a Red Sox VP:
Hey Bill, are you surprised that a lot of sports teams keep using the load-up-on-aging-free-agents strategy, even though it seems to fail miserably and expensively most of the time? I mean, adding some veteran pieces around a young or prime-age core is one thing, but counting on oldsters to carry the bulk of the load just seems to be an idea with failure built right into it. When you add in the greater cost of signing veteran players, it seems like a doubly bad idea. Any thoughts?
Asked by: OwenH
Answered: 11/12/2012
Well, yes, but. ...organizations that have resources tend to look to proven solutions. "Poor" organizations are willing to gamble on younger players, and become comfortable gambling on improvement from young players. Wealthy organizations tend innately to look for "proven" players.
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Mike Zunino, at the moment, is looking like an EXTREMELY high-percentage play. (How good does he have to hit, anyway? Not very.) But the spinal surgeon who is actually holding the scalpel in his hand must have a different gut feeling about whether it's okay to cut the red wire or the blue one...
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Q. How long has Jack Zduriencik been GM of the Mariners?
A. Four years.
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Q. How long was Bill Bavasi GM of the Mariners?
A. Four and one-half years.
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Q. Are there any advantages, for the Mariner fan, in a Brain Trust that is getting shrill about winning Right. This. Second.?
A. I feel like I've waited long enough, don't you?
Actually there is a sense in which that attitude is not shrill. Matt. 6:34 says, "Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
A lot of the world's great postal players in chess like to include "Sacred Writings" on their postcards. They'll make a weird opening move and write, tongue-in-cheek, "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" and their opponent will shoot back "A fool and his pawns are soon parted."
Matt. 6:34 was never intended to be applied to life indiscriminately, and on SSI of course we relay it as a proverb, an illustration of an idea that is employed throughout Fortune 500. Depending on context.
..............
Matt. 6:34 carries the idea, put every ounce of muscle fiber into today's game; you don't even know whether that will be enough. Tomorrow you'll be surprised to find that resources show up as you need them.
When Dr. D started a public speaking schedule, back in the 1980's, he had a decision like this ... hmmmm, I've got four good jokes. Should I save two for next week? You get it?
He decided, I'll use all four this week. This became one of the foundation ideas of his life, and the next week there have usually shown up four more jokes. Or with blogging. Don't worry about "reserving" ideas for the next column. Let it all hang out this time, and then do that next time too.
Of course, you can't trade Paxton, Hultzen and Taijuan for Mark Buehrle. You have to be aware of BOTH principles:
- Look before you leap
- He who hesitates is lost
Baseball fans are ALWAYS aware of the need to keep your prospects. Sometimes they overlook the fact that you have to hit this season with all the gusto you got.
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The 1977-2012 Mariners have been the poster boys for "keeping their powder dry" for two seasons on. How's that worked out for them?
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Q. But what do you do with Mike Zunino?
A. Keep him in the minors for two years, and phase him in year three, I guess. As Sandy has pointed out, there's no tragedy in keeping a HITTER in the minors an extra year. You even get a better (older) six years that way.
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Q. Have the M's made an internal decision that they have GOT to get Jaso and Montero out of there?
A. That's what it looks like, but (1) was Felix ineffective teaming with Jaso? and (2) if that were your evaluation, then what would be wrong with Olivo for one more year?
A lot of things appear -- on the surface -- inconsistent here. I'm sure there's an explanation.
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Q. Would Dr. D sign Russell Martin?
A. No, he'd go with John Jaso, Jesus Montero and a Josh Bard type in AAA .... pending a great Mike Zunino spring, in which case the ballclub goes to Zunino now.
But Dr. D doesn't have anything on the line here. Take heart, amigos: if the Mariners have decided that they've had enough of losing, there are certain benefits associated to that.
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