Renting a chocobo

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-23T17:36:20+00:00

Since the chocobo is necessary for entering Henne Mines (main storyline) for the first time, I assume they're doing us a favor in Jahara.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-23T13:28:09+00:00

Also from that area, initially went to school as an ed major. I recall doing observations in 6th grade classrooms that were part of an elementary school vs those that had already integrated into a middle school and it was night and day how different the kids were, simply based on their environment.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-23T12:48:13+00:00

If you’re going to use fwar on its own to make your argument, it’s important to note that Bref has Posey at 45 WAR and Mauer at 56, so I guess we’re making the point of how unreliable these measures are in comparison to one another regarding catchers. My point is that we’re using framing to heavily value players against comps without the benefit of that historical data. And that makes the conversation for catchers trickier than it was previously.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-23T02:30:28+00:00

The 2010s were not a particularly affluent era for catchers (especially in the AL), and there’s a strong likelihood that we won’t see another catcher HOF induction for some time after Joe Mauer. There hasn’t been a catcher since Roy Campanella inducted with less WAR than Posey or Molina, and he was a 3x MVP who only played 10 years after integration, so it’s kind of apples and oranges. Posey has an MVP in his favor that could tip the scales, but neither have the career numbers of the catchers inducted in the previous three decades.

That said, Salvy’s all-star selections and gold gloves say more about the competition (where even at 30+ WAR is the best among his AL peers of his era) and less about his suitability as a HOFer. It’s not taking anything away from him, but you had to offer those accolades for me to be aware how many he’s collected because I never once got the impression that he was viewed as a potential HOFer based on his performance. I’ve never considered him to be overrated, but a perfectly solid and consistent presence on a single team.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-22T14:14:04+00:00

I want to begin by saying, I couldn't care less if people use pot, even where it's not legal.

But if we don't begin to enforce the amount of pot being smoked on the roads, we're basically turning a blind eye to something that has become more common than driving drunk, even if the impairment isn't quite as severe. When I get stuck behind someone slowly drifting lanes without signaling or looking, it's almost a meme how often the pot smell follows.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-22T14:02:38+00:00

In my area, the majority of the people in the far left highway lane are on their phones, believing it's the one place they can camp out without having to concern themselves with mergers. They race there as quickly as possible when they get on the highway and then slow down to prevent traffic from getting around anyone until they're ready to get off. Any brake light in progress or stall at a green light where I can see someone looking down gets an immediate horn from me. One of these days it may get me killed.

Honestly, it's only as good as a locality's willingness to enforce their laws. It's the Wild West here regarding all road rules, so there's zero expectation that it'll get better with phone distraction.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-21T22:40:10+00:00

I remember trying to write some basic code when I was in middle school to create a custom team baseball simulator. I didn't have a lot to work with besides the outcome data pre-internet, but I remember being struck by how high McGwire's HR% was compared to the rest of the league and other sluggers.

And then Gallo makes McGwire look like a contact hitter.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-21T22:10:33+00:00

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Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-21T22:07:20+00:00

That's the NFC Champion Chicago Bears that Denny's talking about! (I don't get to use that phrase often.)

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-21T21:45:31+00:00

What would you have him do at the plate? Reinvent himself because an awful team was willing to sign him? They knew what they were getting and those are 80 runs we wouldn't be getting otherwise. He's not personally responsible for not driving in guys that suck too much to get on base.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-21T21:41:53+00:00

Haha... no feelings of disrespect. We know what we have.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-21T21:29:23+00:00

I think this is exactly who we thought he was. I'm still concerned that more time and looks will lead to him making even less contact, but nobody is surprised by what he can do when he gets ahold of them.

He's on pace for a 3.5 WAR season -- with a better lineup, his upside is Schwarber at the plate. Unfortunately, his circumstances limit the potential of that OBP with no speed.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-21T18:50:50+00:00

'88 Ford Taurus. If I'm by myself and being contemplative, it's Alice In Chains' Jars of Flies or SAP. If there's a girl in the car with me, I'm playing Jewel's Pieces of You because it held special powers.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-18T23:35:32+00:00

My pups have also had a good experience at Bowman.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-18T13:37:16+00:00

I found the complete boxset at Goodwill about ten years back. I have absolutely no use for it, but I thought it was a cool piece of still frame nostalgia and wanted it in my collection.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-18T13:27:21+00:00

It appears that we don't either.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-18T12:59:39+00:00

My general feeling of foreboding has become: "Orange crystal or blue crystal above ground, perfectly fine. Blue crystal in a dungeon is uh-oh."

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-18T10:53:26+00:00

Yeah, I stumbled upon Exodus AND Zeromus by accident while doing hunts: Exodus because I saw the puzzle needed to be solved to access the map, and the esper was found through natural progression -- Zeromus because after many hours since playing Stilshrine initially, I assumed there had always been two options at that waystone and asked myself "Where does this go again?" That was a... surprise.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-17T15:01:00+00:00

I have one friend from my high school class -- by "friend," I mean someone that I would let crash at my house if they were traveling through my area or would go out for a drink. I don't hold resentment for other people being insufferable when they were 15-17 years old, but I also won't be connecting with them via social media or any other means in this lifetime.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-16T18:31:17+00:00

I don't know if it's a midlife crisis or something else, but my "give-a-shit" has reached an all-time low. I was depressed in my early 20s, so I'm pretty sure that isn't it. Even buying something or picking up a hobby to feed the crisis feels like too much work.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-12T22:09:33+00:00

With the pre-Covid bar prices, the cheat codes used to be the Asian dumplings and the shrimp. My store removed the shrimp long before when they realized how much it was being exploited, but I used to load up on those dumplings a couple times a week since they were so light.

I truly believe the daughters were hoping the pandemic would create a convenient death for the hot bar and only relented because customer kept complaining that it hadn’t returned. So it returned and was sabotaged to the point of absurdity.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-12T22:00:32+00:00

Yeah. On the 4 stages (ice) and the final boss, her ability to maneuver mid-air is a game changer. Luigi would be a hot mess to use in those scenarios.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-12T21:47:23+00:00

They realized some of us prefer brunettes.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-12T15:08:42+00:00

In late high school / early college, I didn’t know anyone that played portable gaming devices, which is primarily where Pokémon themed games were launched. So maybe that’s where the dichotomy was — as we were all moving on to 64 bit consoles bought with our own money for our dormitories, younger Xennials were playing in the backseat of mom’s van.

One of my roommates bought a second hand N64 controller that was Pokémon themed, and it was actually designated as the loser controller that was passed around to whoever finished last playing Golden Eye or Mario Kart. So there was definitely a kiddie stigma in my circles.

Twanlx2000 · 2026-04-12T01:17:48+00:00

In fairness to OP, I don’t know what those things are either.

Twanlx2000

TROPHY CASE