LTS

If I want to continue to have a job in that organization, yes. It's not really about what I like but what I have to do. I write this as I procrastinate working late into tonight to finish consolidating 5 slides into 1 at the bequest of my boss, so he can be prepped to present to the board at our corporate strategy meetings in two weeks. The request is absolutely stupid but the board feels better when you parade unicorns and rainbows in front of them. Not once in 10 years at this company has anything that was road mapped out more than 6 months ever stayed on the roadmap because the company will undergo some change that will take it in another direction. That, however, does not stop the board from asking me today what my roadmap for the second half of 2022 is. Pure, wasted, effort. But I do it because I get paid well enough and I'm not interested in finding another job at this time. In the case of Kevyn Adams, he knew how the Pegulas operated. He clearly was comfortable taking on the baggage. It's just not that uncommon. The real question will be, what do the Pegulas do with what Adams presents?

I think its easy. Run activities as normal, if they get sick, they don't get paid and they get fined. NFL mandate. I am sure the NFLPA wants to support an anti-vaccine initiative. They'll cave.

Yes. Just like I am forced to travel to my corporate HQ to present on strategy. Our CEO is forced to travel to the board meeting and present strategy to the board. Just as I made my Executive Director travel to report on strategy to the board when I was the chair, and the chair before me did the same thing, and so on. Why is this surprising ? This is 100% common place. This is not even a sports thing, this is a business thing.

Monaco is bland. It's really about qualifying. Once you are in the race its about not getting boned by a safety car incident, making a mental mistake, or being the victim of someone else's mistake. Hamilton had a bad qualifier and that was that. He couldn't get the car up into the top of the group. Only a few positions in the race actually changed from top to bottom. Most drivers finished where they qualified (given the 2 position bump from Leclerc and Bottas DNF) It was way better two weeks prior when Hamilton's pit strategy worked out and he was able to catch and pass Verstappen.

You'd be pretty pleased with a podium finish then. Of course the field did benefit from Leclerc and Bottas dropping out. There's basically no passing in Monaco so unless you screw up you almost end like you finish.

I think you have this wrong. Trotz left the Capitals. https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/capitals/now-islanders-coach-barry-trotz-explains-why-he-left-capitals Owners may still be stupid, but in this case I don't think it applies.

This thread might cause more problems than a religion or politics thread. I'll be over where with my popcorn (pizza flavored?)

Life is full of shite deals. These people and situations have existed before COVID and had the risks. I wouldn't necessarily classify people who don't want to wear masks as Freedumb. Before COVID did you wear a mask to protect these people? None of us did and we know it, and those people were still at risk. Perhaps you are not referring to people who don't want to wear masks now that they are vaccinated and some other group? I care about them too. They don't get to choose their situation, but can you accommodate everyone who has some level of severe risk? It's like a friend of ours whose child is severely allergic to dairy. As in, touch it and beeline to the hospital. It's in the air, beeline to the hospital. It's insane to think they have to deal with that. However, is it reasonable to expect people, in general populous settings, would stop with dairy products? You could even look at peanut products in the same way. They know this, they deal with it, their poor child will always have to deal with it and it sucks.. but it is reality. If a person is at that level of risk then isn't staying out of the general populous the right decision? COVID is just one threat and I'm not sure I would rely on a mask to be all that's keeping me safe from others. I'm pretty sure many places are not sanitizing all that well and never were. I think, on the bright side, society may have become more tolerant and empathetic towards the welfare of others during COVID. It's certainly not going to be a full on slide but the fact that so many people did, willingly, wear a mask for so long really does say something. Perhaps things will continue to improve across the board but I'm not sure at where that point ends up when it comes to things like wearing a mask in the general populous if you are vaccinated.

My company has large operations in rural areas. We have a large amount of people who were in and our of people's homes on a routine basis. We had less than 10 COVID related deaths (although many work hours lost because of it). I'm thinking many of them looked at that and drew the conclusions they did. That said, the company didn't announce this straight away. It was only announced this morning, although it does apply to all who have been vaccinated. I get the thought, but at this point if it helps get it done, it helps get it done.

The argument on masks is going around our youth baseball board group now. Parents are complaining to us about it, citing the CDC and NYS. Nevermind the fact that EVERY SINGLE CHILD on the fields playing cannot be vaccinated. Ugh. My company just launched a $100 bonus in the paycheck for anyone who self-reports as vaccinated and are handing out 10 $15,000 awards from all of those who report their vaccination. Hell yeah I am in. 10 chances out of 13,000 employees to win $15k? Now that's how you get it done.

Right. I maintain Fubo simply for MSG. As long as I am boned by "local market" it might have to be so. We'll see how things change with ESPN+ next year but I assume not much when it comes to those who are in market. I so hope not. It would give the value to ESPN+ that right now I don't see. I just have it because Hulu+ and Disney+ have value to me and paying for all 3 is easier than paying for 2 of them. I'm hoping for something like F1 TV that launched. About to pull the trigger on that.. for the cost of a month of Fubo you get a massive amount of F1,F2,F3 content.

So, if NY drops the mask mandate tomorrow it will be just in time for my fully vaccinated date of Thursday. That's very nice of the gov'na. I guess at my son's baseball game last night (varsity) very few people were wearing masks despite it being school grounds. Interesting because at the game last Friday most people were wearing a mask. One little hint about NY dropping the mask mandate and people just go right ahead and decide for themselves. I'll admit though, I look forward, quite a bit in fact, to not wearing a mask. Things are pretty stressful for me at work (just work insanity) and having a little return to normalcy would be appreciated.

We base what is possible in other potential civilizations by our own knowledge. Fundamentally that's just wrong. Imagine flying the most advanced aircraft the US has in its arsenal right now and flying it over Egypt during the time of the Pharaohs. These people built some amazing things, but I feel comfortable that their brightest wouldn't be able to comprehend what was happening. It's not impossible to imagine that there are things that exist that we, as a species, have not even been able to hypothesize about.

Interesting. Can't wait for the great NY debate to begin!

Following up on my CDC comments about them dropping the mask policy and its pressures.. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2021/05/17/target-mask-policy-retailers-not-requiring-masks-fully-vaccinated-cdc/5111030001/ Wal-mart started Target Starbucks Trader Joes And more... They will all still have to comply with local health guidelines, but the stores dropping the mandate will increase the pressure on officials. Just like the holdouts who waited to require masks felt pressure, so too will those who hold out on dropping it. I was also evaluating a trip to an out of state amusement park. They've dropped their mask policy for vaccinated customers. No proof is required, it's the honor system. Which, to me, says... only those people who want to wear a mask will wear one.

Drury and Adams spending prolonged time together... this is how crazy trade deals get worked out. I got a spoon, I'm gonna stir the pot.

Yes, I think most would ditch it. I am saying that the comments about "why do I still have to wear this thing" are becoming more common around me. I also acknowledge that it's likely different elsewhere, but in my circle, the angst over it is definitely growing. I've eaten in restaurants where I've seen mice crawling around the floor, in the US. I've eaten in other countries that do not have the same food safety laws, etc. Hell, in the US we allow additives in our food that are likely more dangerous than what is on your server's hands. For what it's worth, my first job was as a dishwasher and I was absolutely told to half-cycle the dishes and let them go back out being slightly unclean because the cooks would put food over those spots. 🙂 There's also been a massive increase in computer sales, networking equipment, and a lot of other items that all use chipsets. Semiconductor supply was impacted because plants were shutdown at the same time. This is what happened to steel, lumber, etc. The most common conversation in my job these days is around supply chain management of networking equipment. We're being pushed to innovate on our product to drive more sales but we honestly have no idea if we'll have equipment to sell. Our company is straight up buying (panic buying?) millions of dollars in equipment to ensure we can sell. Most estimations are that it will get much, much worse before it begins to get better. Indeed. We have equipment that comes from Taiwan. What used to be 6-8 week lead time is now 18-20 week and growing. We've begun investigating the air freight over ocean freight but damn is it expensive. That's only going to drive up our prices to customers or drive down our margins which means people in our company will not see increases any time soon or we need to let people go. It's all an amazing balancing act. The economy is so fragile.

You and I definitely are in very different circles then with regards to the mask situation. I would imagine that there will be a large population of the US that will continue to wear masks for the foreseeable future and beyond. A lot of the people I am around are far more, "I'm done with these masks" variety. Even a person I know that barely went outside until he was vaccinated told me the other day they just want the mask mandate gone. It really caught my attention because this is a person who really took isolation to the extreme. Sure he's an anecdotal reference, but the vast majority of people I am around would ditch the mask in a moment if not "regulated" to wear one. I know the CDC doesn't issue government mandates. A lot of people look at what the CDC recommends and run with it. The CDC saying this puts pressure on political leaders to adhere to medical guidance. Most of the signs I see say "In accordance with CDC recommendation and government regulations." It's not a nothing burger of a recommendation. They issued the recommendation for outdoors a few weeks back and already parents I am around at high school baseball are pushing school officials on the mask mandate (school grounds policy). If you think the country isn't at a high level of unrest we might read different news. Chip shortages, inflation, gas shortages, panic buying, an uptick in shootings, and more... all by products of the impacts of isolation and the policies put in place for COVID. I'm not arguing that the regulations should have never been put in place, but it's taking its toll (as expected) and its going to get worse before it gets better. I'd really hope it doesn't, but I'm not able to muster the confidence that it won't and I think things like the CDC recommendation will create further polarization potential.

I think his question, in general, has a purpose. However, not all ages can be vaccinated yet. I'm not worried about those who do not want to be, but those under age of 12 still cannot be, right? It's an interesting thought. However, before COVID there were people who I could have killed by coughing on them. I could have spread the flu to a person who was highly susceptible and they could have died. The transmission rate of COVID certainly heightens the risk, but even if we beat COVID there can be another virus that pops up. At some point, if you are arguing to the binary end of the spectrum, you end up advocating for complete isolation. It's unreasonable, but because so it also means that the answer lies somewhere in the infinite number of possibilities. As such, you will have differing opinions. Does anyone have a claim that says, your inability to fight a virus (even a potential unknown virus) is your problem and that I should not have to alter my lifestyle to accommodate you? Fundamentally both sides are arguing that the other should change their lifestyle to accommodate the other. Fundamentally, both are saying it's easier for the other to comply and it's no big deal. Fundamentally both are right, but refuse to accept it. The argument boils down to you believe one thing, and someone believes something else. Both use the same arguments and counter-points. There's already plenty of evidence linking depression and other mental health defects to the isolation and change. Are those more harmful? Perhaps in not in the short term, but in the long run? Clearly we don't know, but I think it's a reasonable thing to consider. Is that the real question here? Is there a counter that says, "Do I care about others more than myself?" Where's the balance? Given that each of us are wired differently it's very hard to apply any solid rule here. We've certainly all read stories of people who have gone to extremes to help others and put themselves at risk, damage their own health, etc. Call it the extreme of selflessness. We clearly also know the opposite stories. We all have some level of where we place ourselves relative to the needs of society. But the hard question is, are we justified in judging others for where they place themselves? How much of it do they have control over? Do I have control over how I see things or am I wired this way? Perhaps with a lot of mental work I could alter the way I am to accommodate the way someone else wants me to be? Perhaps the opposite is true. Overall we need to stop trying to mandate our expectations and our feelings on others as though everyone else is the same. We need to be willing to take the time and understand why someone thinks differently and sometimes that's not accomplished within two forum posts or a few tweets. ---------------------- Earlier the CDC opened the ultimate can of worms. It's been coming. No masks required indoors for fully vaccinated people. The immediate questions I have: Do you get proofed going into a building? Given the ease in creating a false vaccination record, does it even make sense to proof people? If you can't reliable determine who is or isn't vaccinated, then why issue this mandate? The answer I come up with is that somewhere people have read the temperature of society and they realize people are about to blow up. Those who have been vaccinated want to have some freedom from having done it and those who haven't never cared about masks in the first place. The inevitable was this situation. Just open it up and see what happens. Some businesses will continue to require masks and people will have to make conscious decisions on whether they want to comply or not. Businesses will have to hope that enough who want to comply will to keep them in business. Now a business that does not mandate a mask may still see people wear one inside because they'll have a right to do so. There will be some that would avoid that business because the do allow masks. Ultimately, I see even more unrest over the situation until we finally find a way to get over it. The problem I will continue to have is that we cannot vaccinate everyone yet. There will always be some who cannot get it for some reason, and that's truly unfortunate. However, until everyone who wants it can get it, we really need to have some level of caution.

That is awesome. I'm still dumbfounded that a player could break that record in today's game. It's really something to look at in awe and respect.

You want to blame others for CHOOSING to avoid this wreck?

I wouldn't spend a penny for or against the Pegulas. Demonstrating that you care enough to pay for this demonstrates that you still care enough to be a fan and that you will still tune in like the owners want you to. Making the team irrelevant is the best option. Egomaniacs want a platform... Clearly with the injury situations of this team there are some questions that need to be asked. At this point I don't see how I can put faith into this ownership team. I think there's more rotten than we know. We're hearing from the players today. We've speculated about RJ the past few days with some of his comments. Dunleavy appears to have left things open (even if he had before). Right now the only person we know who wanted to be here is Jason Karmanos. Also - anyone still hoping for Rutherford? Gallant? Boudreau? Even Tortorella wouldn't come here.

It's amazing people are getting on the players about any of this. It's become incredibly clear that the Pegula family has royally screwed up the Sabres. They've made mistake after mistake after mistake and then have the audacity to double down on those mistakes. If your top players are all saying they want the hell out, that's not a player issue, that's an ownership issue. The only thing that might save things now is for the Pegula family to sell the team or insert someone over Adams and publicly announce they are no longer inserting themselves into matters of hockey operations, etc.

Get used to it. Throw money at the problem, it solves everything. Our money is unlimited.. we can print all we want. BARF. The fact that there is a petition with over 2.5 million signatures supporting a $2k/month "stimulus" check makes me want to drop kick random people on the street. Honestly I don't think trains would be a bad thing. But now's not the time. Right now you can't afford to buy the steel required to build the infrastructure, the semiconductors required for the electronics to control it. That's the problem. I'd say save up, but honestly I'd rather say better to take your money and put it in something less volatile than the USD... because we're about 2 months from getting royally screwed.\ Also, this is not a Biden issue. Continued spending would be. It's not a Trump issue either. This is a COVID rearranged the economy issue and the world has not adapted yet issue.

I, too, understand why people don't want to get the vaccine. I also accept it. With regards to lifting restrictions the concerns I have at this point is that children 15 and under cannot yet get vaccinated. I'm on our local youth baseball board and it was for that reason alone I was the sole person standing up and saying "we should require masks, 100%". (Our rule is maintain distance and have a mask on you.) I hate masks, always have. If kids were able to be vaccinated today and there was no shortage of vaccine I would be 100% in favor of lifting all restrictions. I am beyond ready to revert to life as it was.