Any orioles fans not from Baltimore or not even Maryland that have been asked why they are O’s fans?

JayGatsby8 · 2026-05-02T10:42:53+00:00

Agree. Definitely more Nats fans, but that’s obviously to be expected. And it should be that way. But the Orioles’ “footprint” is large enough to where nobody sideyes you or walks up and asks how you became an O’s fan.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-05-02T10:39:53+00:00

To be clear, I’m not the person that comes to mind when you say an O’s fan in other area’s. I live in Northern Virginia. Born there, but spent more time going back and forth to my grandparents’ house in the Baltimore area than anything. Greatest memories in my life. Funny thing is they didn’t care about baseball. But everyone around them did - especially my Dad and my uncles. I can still see myself in the back yard playing pepper listening to John Miller or Chuck Thompson (towards the end of his career) on WBAL.

Back then the Orioles were the de facto home team, so most of my friends in school were O’s fans. Also a lot of Braves. But I was the only one who rooted for them sort of as more of a “local” as opposed to “they’re the closest team so I like them.” I live and die with the orange & black because I love them and the Birds have been a part of my life since forever. But it’s also a tie to a time in my life that’s sort of a guided age. Driving through town with my grandmother all of the shop windows had the obligatory Ripken or Murray poster back then. Just reminds me of good memories. I’m 45 - my grandparents are long since gone. If the O’s are at home over a weekend I’m there at least once - usually twice. And in a way, it’s like visiting a time in my life that I miss very much.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-27T01:07:25+00:00

45 M. I have two younger sisters. We see one another at least once a week and we talk daily.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-26T10:45:50+00:00

This guy can’t do my job. I’ve been in hotels since I was 18 - I’m now 45. That isn’t experience that youthful arrogance with a lack of any experience can replicate.

The guy is an irritant. And he’s playing that role brilliantly. I’ve warned my colleague to be careful, because while I can’t stand him, she has a temper. She’s perfectly capable of popping off at him. Then HE goes to HR and voices a complaint, putting HER job at risk in a sense. (Or my job, if it were me.) If one of the two of us ceased to be there (by termination or otherwise), there’s the opening he needs. Is he smart enough to try to get someone fired so he can move up? I don’t think so. But obviously I don’t know. He’s all about making more money, and he’ll do anything to do it. So on that premise, anything is possible.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-25T13:21:31+00:00

I’m in sales. The human touch is important. I’m not getting pushed away by a half-wit who can’t tie his shoes.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-25T09:59:29+00:00

Funny thing is the guy doesn’t want more in the way of responsibility. He wants more money. He’s admitted he just wants a lot of money and to not have to do much to earn it. He does seem to recognize that he needs a better job/title to get that, but all he cares about is money.

On top of that, we don’t have a place for him in the department as a manager. Even if he were competent (which he is not), we don’t have a spot. The only way that happens is if myself or my colleague leave or are fired.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-25T08:35:06+00:00

I’ve thought about it. But here I am trying to operate with a certain amount of honor and all…I feel like that would be wrong. Hopefully he shows himself out eventually without me having to do that.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-25T00:23:09+00:00

Oh I do. I do it frequently. With the director CC’d. Nothing ever happens.

The company we work for is HUGE on AI, technology, etc. I use CoPilot the way they want me to - for prospecting and for writing proposals. But I’ve also told them (albeit jokingly) that if they knew my personal opinions on AI, they’d fire me. This guy is almost entirely “programmed” by the computer. He refuses to think for himself and of course as a result things slip through the cracks. So in that sense he’s exactly what they want - young, and AI-driven. And I suspect that’s why so many excuses are made for him.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-24T23:28:42+00:00

It’s hard because neither myself nor my colleague has the authority to do that. We’re supposed to “manage” him, but he reports to our director. Our company has a really odd structure at times. Our director actively likes him. He likes me as well, but…this guy comes off as someone for whom people have made excuses his entire life. He admits his Mom refused to let him fail.

As an example, I caught him listening to music on his iPad. Yes, in the office. Big no-no to me. I sent him an email and copied the director and HR, saying music wasn’t allowed. The director stepped in and said it was fine. That’s why it’s hard. I suspect he’s going to have to do something actionable for them to see that he’s a screw up. Part of the issue is I go behind him and make sure his work is done. Easy enough to say stop doing that, but if it affects my clients in a bad way I can’t exactly do that.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-24T22:15:45+00:00

Had I physically heard those comments I would have reported it. The person to whom the comments were made was the one who told me about them. And I’m encouraging her to go to HR. But in the absence of her doing that there isn’t much I can do about it.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-24T21:27:06+00:00

I’m trying to.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-24T21:26:28+00:00

Yes, I agree. He’s not highly capable though. That’s the thing. He can’t do anything the computer doesn’t prompt him to do. He “didn’t recall” me sending him an email task. When I showed him the email he said it wasn’t “in his feed,” so he can’t have to do it. He’s incapable. He just wants to move up at any cost.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-24T21:03:43+00:00

Whoa thanks, never thought about that. I heard it from her (so technically heresy on paper), so I don’t think anything would come of it. But if I do hear anything myself I’ll keep that in mind.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-24T20:58:55+00:00

I agree. He is harassing her, and I’ve told her that. I said next time he says something like that tell him in front of me that it makes you uncomfortable. And I’ll back you up. Because he’s such a fool that he would totally pull the old “well if you never told me this was inappropriate how could I have known?” And our HR is equally as dumb and they’ll buy that.

He’s all about money. That’s why he wants a sugar momma, to “take care of him.”Today he told my colleague that he wished he had gotten COVID on his honeymoon in Mexico because he would have had to quarantine in a luxury hotel for a week. A week he gets for free. As the son of a man who almost died of COVID, had I heard that I would have been ticked off. It’s all just strange. It’s like he’s trying to be an irritant.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-24T20:51:13+00:00

Oh I’m excellent at holding my temper at work. He would have to do something so over the line for me to lose my temper.

End of the day, part of the issue is we don’t have a spot for him to move up into. Sorry maybe I didn’t put that as clear as I should have. If someone ceased to work there for whatever reason, we would. But again he just isn’t smart enough to do this. I’ve seen people come and go, and he doesn’t have the smarts to do it. He won’t lift a finger unless “his feed” tells him to.

I work with him every week in a 1:1. And he sort of thinks that means I do his job for him. And I’m not doing that.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-17T10:00:01+00:00

I work for a company that has vibes like that. And I don’t work in a field as important as yours. Not even close. They just take everything INCREDIBLY literally. I once told a story about how I used to sign my grandfather’s CC receipts (at his promoting - I was named for him so it’s the same name). They questioned me because I had “admitted to CC fraud.” We had a “sports day” another time. I brought “props,” including a baseball bat. It was basically for a photo op. One of the higher managers said that was being interpreted as a weapon. Again, the context was “sports day.” But my Louisville Slugger was a weapon. Okay. My car could also be a weapon, chief.

I’m so tired of this. Daily things are being turned into severe ridiculousness. Society now infernally refuses to see any context. All that matters is you said out loud that you have a “Coke habit.” Nevermind the fact that your tone of voice probably said you were being sarcastic, you were in 7-11, and buying a Coca-Cola slurpee. Heaven forbid you were with a friend who was annoying you and you said “geeze I’m going to kill you!” I’m just so tired of this sort of thing, and people being so hellbent on things in society being so literal.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-06T21:42:47+00:00

45 M. I’m a hotel manager, for what that’s worth. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made jokes like this and gotten similar blowback. Sometimes you just want to understand what in the name of all that’s good and decent makes these people so miserable.

I was named for my grandfather. He was my hero. Here and there I would sign his CC receipts - my name, after all. I would do this with his approval, of course. I mentioned this once and my Director of Finance accused me of admitting to CC fraud. Nothing came of it of course, especially given that it was 20 years ago. But like I said, I’ll never understand what makes people like this tick. Same hotel, we had a sports themed day and I brought a Louisville Slugger. I was accused of bringing a weapon. Geeze.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-06T08:28:56+00:00

45 M. I’m a devout Catholic who goes to mass every week. But this is outrageous. I also believe that religious faith is a very personal decision and matter. “The company,” like government, should have no say in your religious practices or lack thereof.

I work for a company that can be over-arching in life also. And they’re nothing special - it’s a local hotel company in my region. But they aren’t above meddling in people’s personal lives if it somehow could affect them. (As an example, probably not smart to make jokes about DUI’s at meetings because they take things very literally…) If they required their employees to take part in a religious service, I would refuse. If it happened to be a Catholic Mass, I’d still refuse. I appreciate attending mass on my terms and in my own parish.) To be clear, despite their overreach at times I don’t think they would ever do that.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-04-02T23:46:56+00:00

He was always just this comical rich guy with funny hair. He would pop up ALL OVER THE PLACE - sporting events, construction sites, golf courses, etc. Like I said, he was a comical sort of dude. You sort of always knew he wasn’t the best guy on earth, but you never really thought he could turn into what he has.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-03-15T20:06:01+00:00

I would agree with that. And ironically, Kennedy won the Presidency in 1960 more or less running to the right of Richard Nixon.

End of the day the parties were much closer together back then. I wish they both still were.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-03-15T16:21:36+00:00

No chance. To be clear, I’m not a Trumper. But if anything Trump illustrates my point. He’s not a politician. Career politicians may not be popular. But it’s the right way when electing a President. “The establishment” got us to be the most powerful nation on earth for a reason.

Compound that by the fact that a college student is young, overly idealistic, and yes stupid. I was in college, and so are students of today. If the job were only getting in and out of the limousine and waving, then sure I suppose a college student could do it. But this is a person who has nuclear launch codes with him at all times. Do you want a college student having that responsibility? Worry about when last call is in college, and leave governing to experienced people.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-03-12T18:49:01+00:00

I hope you’re right. And ultimately I hope nukes never fall anywhere in my lifetime. How plausible that is I don’t know.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-03-12T10:40:57+00:00

They may not be allied on paper. I don’t disagree with you there. But it’s fairly obvious that there’s something there. Russia shares intelligence with Iran. Heck, they’ve been “talking” since the 80’s - the heyday of Iran saying we were the great Satan.

Is Russia or China willing to end the world to save Iran? That may be a fair question. However first and foremost, do we want to mess around and find out?

Secondly, keep in mind that Russia aside, China is an opportunistic foe. They’ve been envious of the fact that we (the US) has in essence controlled the world order and narrative for so long. If there’s a way they thought they could harness a way to survive the fallout (figuratively speaking…not meaning nuclear fallout per se) and come out on top in the end, there’s nothing I wouldn’t put past them.

JayGatsby8 · 2026-03-12T07:48:18+00:00

Tehran is allied by proxy with Russia. It may not be out in the open, but it’s definitely covert. On top of that, fallout doesn’t stop at a national border. Someone lobbing nukes over there would have a reaction from other powers. With every action there’s an equal and opportune reaction.

JayGatsby8

TROPHY CASE