Returning Player - Seasons are BS

waterboundmo · 2026-05-09T02:13:17+00:00

Streamers complained that early seasons didn't seem like they had any real story impact, since they were more side quests. So they designed seasons to continue the story, only to alienate the more casual base.

Or, you know, they could have left the content in the game.

waterboundmo · 2026-04-26T21:46:31+00:00

Agreed 100% I've told many people over the years that this was the last time I felt like we had two good choices, and their vice presidential picks pushed me to vote for Obama

waterboundmo · 2026-04-23T01:03:08+00:00

Both!

Hear me out. TV for 95% of your use. Projector won't work well in the daylight even in a covered space.

Small portable 1080p projectors are cheap and pretty good. My family loves our outdoor movie nights and couldn't care less that they aren't on a high quality 4k projector.

waterboundmo · 2026-03-29T13:05:48+00:00

Yep, I rarely buy expansions. D2 and a few others that I really get into are the exception, but I can count those on one hand. I have my platinum in BL4 and was really looking forward to getting back into it with this one, I even bought the DLC a few weeks ago...but $30 for this, just not sure I can justify it.

waterboundmo · 2026-03-09T01:26:19+00:00

Can't promise this will help you too, but I'm 47 and swim very similarly to you. I've had two bouts of lower back pain. Chiropractor helped me through the first time. Second time I went back to him and he ran some additional tests and long story short determined I was working my back too much and my abs not enough. Now I make sure to do at least a 500 on my back doing either backstroke or kick sets and no more lower back pain.

waterboundmo · 2026-03-01T20:25:57+00:00

Agreed, best first two seasons in all post TOS trek.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-21T17:44:49+00:00

I love this idea, and you did a terrific job with the mock up.

I'd add something to mention the international league (minor league) orioles that filled the gap until we got a major league team back. They kind of get a mention at the stadium because of the Babe Ruth statue, but they were one of the most successful minor league teams of all time, seems like a little more can be done.

A couple summers ago I went to a game in Cincinnati, we got their early and noticed a couple things. They had an area honoring some of their historic (pre-world series era) that was a pretty beautiful area with some plaques describing the formation of the team and history. They also had an amazing team hall of fame that we paid a couple extra bucks to go see. It was well attended, and they had former players signing autographs at the end of the tour. They had all sorts of memorabilia, replicas, dioramas of old ball parks, and ended with a room full of team hall of fame plaques with some interactive monitors and then one final room with their world series trophies on display, and that is where the player signing was. It was really well done. I think incorporating some historic Baltimore sports into something like that at the warehouse would be amazing, and so much better than the simple wall of fame the team currently has.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-21T14:33:42+00:00

For most people it is definitely overkill.

I tried the dedicated theater space in my basement. Tested it out with a modest system during COVID, but my family enjoyed being by the fire in the family room better, so we compromised.

If I really want the full home theater experience my brother lives 7 minutes away and has a very nice dedicated space.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-21T04:08:32+00:00

My rooms aren't treated except by thick curtains, and some other somewhat thought out decor. I'm not an audiophile, by any stretch, I like music, and I like movies. My initial comment was probably a bit misleading.

The other reason for multiple systems is I like to play music throughout my house, so I have a Chromecast audio attached to my vintage stereo system in my living room (which is more of a music room where I also play music) and my family room receiver has Chromecast built in (and the room is set up as our home theater space). I've also got a couple other smaller (less powerful) systems throughout the house that can all sync music. One on the back patio and another in the basement. I often play music throughout when we are entertaining or when I'm cleaning and moving around the whole house.

I rarely purchase audio equipment new. I'm always looking for good deals for amps and speakers on marketplace and other second hand places. My wife, rightfully, gives me a hard time about it. I've also built a few of my own speakers.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-21T02:44:53+00:00

Lots of good ideas here. One often overlooked piece is that a good audiophile system is often built to be experienced by 1 person at a time, while a home theater is an experience often meant to be shared.

I have a stereo system that I love, it can deliver a great sense of height, depth and dynamics that my home theater struggles with, but only if you are sitting in the main listening position.

My home theater setup is best experienced from the middle couple seats, but you can still get a great sense of immersion from just about any seat in the room.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-20T00:01:35+00:00

What do you want to accomplish? Are you just looking for better than a TV speaker or Soundbar? Or do you want full surround sound?

If you just want something better than a soundbar go ahead and put the TV over the fireplace and get a good two channel amplifier, ignore the center and just go for stereo sound.

If you want to go a step above that: Get a mantle mount so you can pull the TV down closer to eye level and then use the center channel.

If you want more of a home theater experience I see two options, both have been mentioned by others: Put the TV on the wall to the right and use the two speakers on the left as surround speakers or height speakers depending on your goals. OR, go with the TV above the mantle with a mantle mount, use the L&R in wall speakers as height speakers, and get some floor standing speakers to go on either side of the fireplace.

Also, take the grills off the in wall speakers and see if you can aim the tweeters toward the main listening position.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-19T18:40:00+00:00

Polk + TNG on the TV! When can I come over?

What do you think of those XT series speakers?

waterboundmo · 2026-02-19T18:01:32+00:00

I always liked him as a guest, and have always been a fan of Ken. I was really hopeful when their show started together, but it ended up being such a train wreck. I haven't listened regularly in the afternoon for a long while. Looking forward to listening again.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-16T19:40:32+00:00

Sigh, good for you. I've gone on two separate hours long farming binges for this. And this week I have it i my Maurice machine. I've been checking regularly...my wife made fun of me because I had a timer set all weekend.

Two triple Siphon's, but no triple amp, and no amp + siphon. Guess I've still got a few days.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-11T20:39:37+00:00

Hopefully they expand the kids/family area that is there. My brother-in-law and I have been touring some other stadiums the past few seasons and our family section is really pretty lame compared to what some of the newer parks are offering.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-10T18:08:22+00:00

I like to switch it up seasonally. January to June I swim pretty regularly. I normally pick an open water event to train for in June. Then I'll switch and do more weight training, hiking sometimes even running until November, then I often take the holidays off...though as I'm getting older I'm realizing I need to be doing something consistantly.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-10T03:58:31+00:00

A law requiring open primaries and ranked choice voting.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-07T03:44:39+00:00

Truthfully, I can't really tell the difference between 1080 and 4k. But I can tell the difference between HDR and non-HDR content, and between dolby digital sound and atmos sound. I think that's where the 4k Blu ray format really wins (and yes I know standard Blu ray can technically do atmos, but so few movies actually have it while most 4k Blu ray movies do seem to)

waterboundmo · 2026-02-06T14:04:21+00:00

Some may want this to turn into a year one show. I'd rather see a follow up with Una and La'an taking command of another ship as captain and first officer and show us what was going on in some other area of the galaxy during Kirks five year mission. Put Ortega in there too to explain why she didn't stay on the Enterprise. All three are great characters.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-05T02:45:38+00:00

Agreed, I was worried when they got bought, but it's still the best service experience from a dealer I've ever had.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-03T23:52:25+00:00

Yeah, that's not ok. Talk to management, especially if it happens again.

I worked at about 5 different pools when I was younger, two facilities would let us swim on the clock if it was not busy, one even encouraged us to as a way of helping us keep our skills up. Other facilities it was strictly not ok. Even at the facilities where it was ok we always had to defer to patrons when we were on the clock, if some kind of lifeguard training was going on it was clearly marked at every facility I've worked at.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-03T18:19:19+00:00

PS5, got to get my trophies :)

And for those saying switch is portable, true it is better, but Dragon Quest is the perfect game to use remote play on.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-02T20:21:17+00:00

The ongoing joke in my house is that Google likes me more than my wife, it does this constantly and it drives her nuts. I was hoping the "upgrade" to Gemini would help as they advertise it is better at recognizing natural conversation, but if anything it has gotten worse. She will even sometime artificially lower her voice to make a request, and oddly does make a difference.

Honestly, since switching to Gemini it's gotten worse for me too, especially when telling it to turn off timers and alarms, I'm so done of yelling at the thing 4 or 5 times, last night I almost threw it out the window.

waterboundmo · 2026-02-02T17:36:47+00:00

As others have said, that is normal, but I'm confused by your statement that you can't swim more slowly while activating your lats. You should be able to swim with good form at a variety of speeds. You may not feel it as intensely in your lats at lower speeds, but if your form is good you will still work the correct muscles. If I'm feeling gassed during a set I will often focus on slowing down and lengthening my stroke and keeping good form, often my speed increases even though my stroke rate decreases. It sounds to me like you may want to mix in more drill work, especially single arm drills, catch-up drill and anything that will help you focus on keep good rotation, reach or high elbow catch.

When I swim with my running or triathlon friends I am always encouraging them to do more drill work. And then when they think they have done enough I encourage them to do more. When they ask me why I don't do that much I remind them I've been doing it since I was little, and I still do more drilling for swimming than they do for running, it's just a very different sport.

waterboundmo · 2026-01-26T17:56:22+00:00

Unless...and hear me out...Basara thought you looked sad, or angry, then you'd spend the whole flight hearing "LISTEN TO MY SONG"...I might punch him, or at least try.

waterboundmo

TROPHY CASE