Neo

Drk4: How could I forget?! I spent an evening, or two, there ... many, many, years ago. I had hair! Thanks, 3putt. True, true. I just stepped outside. It's calm; calmer in the morning than it was at bedtime. You all know eerie calm. The path's become the "worst case" scenario. Impressions: 1). Seeing the neighbors - we've gathered along sidewalks a few times. Wonderful group. Most interesting was the mood changes over the past two days as the forecast has become worse. You can feel people. My neighbor, Joe, could probably rebuild a home, himself, over a long weekend. He certainly has the know how and tools. Earlier this week, the predictable confidence in a man so steeped in home building and construction left me comfortable. The survivability of our homes was the topic. Confidence by osmosis! Yesterday, Joe was apprehensive. His sentences were constructed with fewer "wills" and "won't" and more "ifs" and "coulds." Nothing beats face to face talking for communication. It made me think of devices and social media and the changes in the way we communicate. Oh, seeing the wrinkles grow in Joe's brow over the last few days was disquieting. 2). Mrs Neo is making bacon, eggs, onions, mushrooms and all sorts of feast food. That's what she does. Everywhere we are is a home. Everyone in our home is a family. "It's going to spoil, anyway." My house smells so good. She's worked and worked these last few days. While I was closing my office on Friday, she was waiting in line to self fill 25 sandbags at a public depot. Four and a half hours waiting in a car line followed by forty minutes of shoveling in Florida heat to fill bags, all alone. I am a lucky man. My advice to young, single, men - marry farmer's daughters. 3). My daughter, our last child at home, asked me for money to get some supplies on Friday. "How much?" "Two hundred, but I'll bring you change." She returned with ten yards of duct tape, THREE portable cell phone battery packs ("one for each of us"), and snacks. Ah, youth and generational priorities. I am seeing hurricane satellite pictures and the like. My mind wandered to destructive power and awe and I recalled Robert Oppenheimer and the Bhagavad Gita. "I am become Death, destroyer of worlds." Vishnu, I hear you.

I wasn't certain where you were in Florida. Best wishes. Pensacola's had its share of this.

Drk4: Damn is right. I am thinking of Nietzsche. Not "God is dead" Nietzsche, but "that which does not kill us, makes us stronger" Nietzsche. I hope I have the right Nietzsche! JJ: You used "on a positive note" and "we can to watch the Bills game" in the same sentence! NS: Gracious, gracious. Grateful, grateful.

I live in Brandon. I can actually tell you the intersections the red line travels over.

Well, I'm in Irma's cone ... a little west of center. We'll see! JJ, an east coaster, is perhaps in more jeopardy. I've been here twenty years and have "enjoyed" a few of these. The brutal aspect is the waiting and watching for days. Ah, technology. There were times when Charlie, Katrina, and others were coming through my backyard in forecasts. Glancing blows, all. I understand Cat 2 is all but certain and Cat 2/3 possible. If it shifts further west, and comes up the Gulf coast at Cat 4 with me to the east .... sayonara for a few months! JJ ... batten down the hatches!

Congratulations. I think Uber's a great concept and use it regularly. I'm not in Buffalo regularly, as you know. I am considering it in Tampa for game days. My response to you is "I would." The primary benefit would be to avoid parking lot hassles and delays. I'll ask you this. Would the traffic hassle I'm trying to avoid add significantly to the fare? I understand an Uber driver can adjust the rate for different times of day and demand. How do you see the fares changing from, say, a Wednesday afternoon trip from South Buffalo to Orchard Park to a gameday same trip? Admittedly, I don't know if you can estimate that. I became an Uber user this past April. I'm still getting a feel for fares. Twenty plus trips - different family members - several different cities - always prompt, courteous, clean, safe, on time and easy. P.S. Because I love to learn business models, I ask questions on all rides. I was surprised to learn that only 20% to 30% of passengers tip. During my first ride, I asked the tipping question to the driver. He said "twenty percent, but I knew you would the moment you got in the car." "How did you know?", I asked. "You're a middle aged guy in a suit", he responded. "You're using an APP to assist you, but you have old school ideas about service." "For a millennial, the APP is the service. It's self contained, soup to nuts. The fee is the fee." Very interesting! Good luck. I'm a Five Star!

On this team, Baloo is simply a bare necessity ...

It's a rainy day in Tampa and I'm killing a few hours before dinner with colleagues. NHL network is replaying Hasek's 70 save playoff shutout of New Jersey. Hasek just went post to post to rob Stephane Richer during the third period. Fans started doing the "worship wave" in Hasek's direction and the tv cut to commercial. When the telecast continued, the wave was still going on. The Aud, loud. Playoff hockey, tense and exciting. This was end to end action, not a neutral zone trap snooze fest. One of Hasek's best "waves", I'd say. Also one of the most satisfying and memorable games I ever attended. Check your cable listings and find it, if you can. From NHL Network and Kevin Weeks. Five greatest goaltending performances ever. I could talk about this one for hours. 1. Dominik Hasek, Buffalo Sabres, April 27, 1994 Hasek made 70 saves in a 1-0 playoff victory against a young rookie named Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. It was one of the best games I have seen, if not the best. How does it get better than that? Not only the saves, but the quality of saves in the entire game and then with the game being on the line in overtime and the significance of the game. Hasek could make saves in so many different ways. He could improvise and his ability to read the game was unparalleled. Hasek could see the same shot or a similar shot and stop it in different ways at different times. You never knew what he was going to do. He was so unpredictable, which, to me, made him more fun to watch. Also, as a side note: Brodeur made 49 saves in the loss for the Devils

11: 12: Jim Kelly 13: Yuri Khmylev (I had to Google the spelling) 14: Rene Robert 15: Gerry Meehan (the opposite of recency bias - ingrained since youth imprint bias; explains Tracy Pratt at 4)

Among many things, Mexico gave the world tacos and siestas. America embraced the wrong one.

I'm having trouble with 11 ... maybe Denny Hamlin.

6: Jim Schoenfeld 7: Richard Martin 8: Doug Bodger 9: Reggie Fleming (truth!) 10: Howerchuk (and it pains me - but I did think Dale before Craig Ramsay), almost regrettably) Awesome.

Y.A. Tittle! Edit: a single name post I never imagined making.

1: Crozier 2: Horton, but 1/2 second to Jumbo Jim Watson 3: Robitaille 4: Tracy Pratt! 5: Mike Ramsey

No. For clarity, opening day is t1, only. Static, in my usage. Old Bodies > New Bodies. PV picks > Old Bodies - New Bodies. IMHO.

I'm having a Bourque / Esposito flashback.

Three eyes .... Owners, GMs and coaches live in the today and tomorrow world. Every body + pick trade reconciles the two. I support the deal. We're too good to tank, and too bad not to value tomorrow. NPV positive, taking risk, return and time into consideration. Our team will be weaker opening day. The franchise is better for the foreseeable future.

Florida trick -- empty everything except skates and sticks into chlorinated pool. Soak overnight. Dry next day. Effectiveness: 5/10. Takes the nastiest edge off.

Sometimes life serves up gifts ... To Josie and D4rk .... Creatives, Teddy Roosevelt, and Vulnerability .... https://youtu.be/8-JXOnFOXQk

Thank you. So heartfelt! I'll ask more over beers. Speaking for me, and certainly many more, I'm glad creative people share. I'm aware of the sacrifices they make. Thank you ... Oh, and I had the exact same David Byrne costume choice in mind when I wrote "lost in cloth." I started to reference it, but thought "nah, it's too 80s for the group to get." The Talking Heads --- oh, man.

You are so creatively awesome. Serious question ... do the creative, the artists, know and feel how they're different when they're among the un gifted? Do you feel the joy and awe? Does it warm you? Does it occasionally unsettle or alienate you? I love the presence of someone specially different. When younger, I envied the steady hands of artists. As I've grown, I've come to know it's more the eyes, brain and hearts that are different; the steady hands less critically so. Envy's left me completely and has been replaced by gratefulness. Your gift is a gift to me. I'll make the same 46 Regular offer to you that I made to ubkev. What a comical sight. You'd be lovely, lost in cloth! PS .. don't do it!

Whenever you sign someone, especially someone Jack's age, for long term, you get a portion of "what he is," a portion of "what our assessment predicts he will be," and a dash of "what he conceivably could be." Forgive my mundane language used to describe the stroll along the certainty continuum. Anything north of $9 million is way too much of the latter two categories for my taste. McDavid's performance, even at his high number, is significantly more in the foremost two categories.

I sorta like this ...

I went home from OLV in a 42R onesie. In 1961. Oh, well. I've slimmed down, though. I can offer a 46R. Eat some pizzas! You've got 8 months.

What size are you?