Welcome to the IHoP v.2

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

^^^^ What an assjack

[nem 2,019]

Teo here you go, it would have been easier if Sean would quit sending me all this snow and cold.

 

 

[///M5 2,833]

SEND IT BACK!! Thief!

[///M5 2,833]

Speaking of snow, time for me to don some garage clothes and go hang out in a 15F garage for a few hours.

[nem 2,019]

SEND IT BACK!! Thief!

 

Once you get your sled back together and running I will see what I can do.

[///M5 2,833]

Working on it. Slowly. I should have put boots on for the garage, but was stubborn. Good reason to come inside and dick around for a few though.

[///M5 2,833]

Completely re-arranged the house yesterday. Turned a living room into the dining room and the dining room into a family room. I REALLY like the difference.

[The enD 467]

Thanks, Neal

[nem 2,019]

Thanks, Neal

 

 

[Julian 641]

So my MIL got us a new cookware set and it's a ceramic non stick. Are most ceramic non stick surfaces metal utensil safe?

It is supposed to be, but it really isn't. Buy silicone utensils.

The nonstick I have claims to be metal utensil safe but I still don't use metal on them. I would not recommend cladded SS to someone unless they are an experienced cook. (I have a SS set also) I have a set of cast iron thats great for cooking proteins too.

http://www.anolon.com/shop-anolon.html?Brand=Anolon+Advanced

This is the brand I have now. What brand/set did you get?

Fiesta 11 piece set from bed bath and beyond, it's oven safe up to 850 degrees evidently. It's a pretty nice set. I would have preferred steel clad but the non stick ceramic is pretty great.

[dem beats 1,223]

http://deadspin.com/i-was-an-nfl-player-until-i-was-fired-by-two-cowards-an-1493208214?rev=1388685226&utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

That is fuckin stoopid.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

We got 12" of snow over the past 24 hours, so you can come take all this shit away.  My damn snowblower took a shit too.  Thankfully, I got my driveway done, but I usually do the neighbor's as well, and that didn't happen.

[nem 2,019]

We got 12" of snow over the past 24 hours, so you can come take all this shit away.  My damn snowblower took a shit too.  Thankfully, I got my driveway done, but I usually do the neighbor's as well, and that didn't happen.

 

Sean is playing dirty tricks on us Ryan, just because his sled is torn apart he is sending us all this damn snow!

[dem beats 1,223]

My body is playing dirty tricks on me.

I cannot make it 15 min without going to the bathroom ATM.

My immune system sucks. Can't fight off anything, but sees my joints and organs, especially skin as something worth attacking.

Woo hoo

[Tirefryr 1,742]

We got 12" of snow over the past 24 hours, so you can come take all this shit away.  My damn snowblower took a shit too.  Thankfully, I got my driveway done, but I usually do the neighbor's as well, and that didn't happen.

 

Sean is playing dirty tricks on us Ryan, just because his sled is torn apart he is sending us all this damn snow!

 

He needs to take it back, or at least give me something above 20 degrees.

[///M5 2,833]

I'd take it all. Wtf. We never get big storms Luke you guys

[dem beats 1,223]

On cthe up side, last month sucked. I didn't hit bonuses while I was at the helm and I had some rough spots my last week with my favorite new guy. He was distracted and cost me some cash and the store some significant volume. Though not enough to recover from the overall slow traffic.

This month our budgets saw a correction and put our budget back where it should be. We were way way way too Fucking high. I didn't realize it, but we got sandbagged 20% more than we should have and the market was overall 30% or more under.

But my first day back I SLAUGHTERED it. Like brutal murder of a budget on a big day that I was singled on. Should have been a double up but I took it all. Almost made half the months draw in one day.

Edited January 3, 2014 by dem beats

[dem beats 1,223]

Lost another area manager to a promotion out of state, and a DM to another market. DM slot is filled but there are 2 holes for promotion and I am on the radar.

I'm the least senior, but being fast tracked the quickest. I have to pick up some extra responsibility, to get a job with no direct pay increase, but it's kind of worth it.

[Penguin4x4 1,761]

Hello.

My name is Chris Kluwe, and for eight years I was the punter for the

Minnesota Vikings. In May 2013, the Vikings released me from the team.

At the time, quite a few people asked me if I thought it was because of

my recent activism for same-sex marriage rights, and I was very careful

in how I answered the question. My answer, verbatim, was always, "I

honestly don't know, because I'm not in those meetings with the coaches

and administrative people."

 

This is a true answer. I honestly don't know if my activism was the reason I got fired.

However, I'm pretty confident it was.

 

Allow myself to tell you a story about ... myself. The following is a record

of what happened to me during my 2012 season with the Minnesota Vikings,

written down immediately after the 2013 draft in April, when I realized

what was happening, and revised recently only for clarity. I tried to

keep things as objective as possible, and anything you see in quotes are

words that I directly recall being said to me.

 

This is a story about how actions have consequences, no matter how just or

moral you think your cause happens to be, and it's a story about the

price people all too often pay for speaking out.

 

Today, April 30, 2013, I am writing an account of events that transpired

during my time with the Minnesota Vikings during the 2012 NFL season and

leading into the 2013 season (so I don't forget them in case it is

necessary to recall what happened).

 

During the summer of 2012, I was approached by a group called Minnesotans for

Marriage Equality, which asked if I would be interested in helping

defeat what was known as the Minnesota Gay Marriage Amendment. The

proposed amendment would have defined marriage as "only a union of one

man and one woman." (It was voted down, and same-sex marriage is now

legal in Minnesota.) I said yes, but that I would have to clear it with

the team first. After talking to the Vikings legal department, I was

given the go-ahead to speak on the issue as long as I made it clear I

was acting as a private citizen, not as a spokesman for the Vikings,

which I felt was fair and complied with. I did several radio

advertisements and a dinner appearance for Minnesotans for Marriage

Equality. No one from the Vikings' legal department told me I was doing

anything wrong or that I had to stop.

 

On Sept. 7, 2012, this website published a letter I had written to Maryland delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr.

chastising him for trampling the free-speech rights of Baltimore Ravens

linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. The letter also detailed why I supported

the rights of same-sex couples to get married. It quickly went viral.

 

On Sept. 8, the head coach of the Vikings, Leslie Frazier, called me into

his office after our morning special-teams meeting. I anticipated it

would be about the letter (punters aren't generally called into the

principal's office). Once inside, Coach Frazier immediately told me that

I "needed to be quiet, and stop speaking out on this stuff" (referring

to my support for same-sex marriage rights). I told Coach Frazier that I

felt it was the right thing to do (what with supporting equality and

all), and I also told him that one of his main coaching points to us was

to be "good men" and to "do the right thing." He reiterated his fervent

desire for me to cease speaking on the subject, stating that "a wise

coach once told me there are two things you don't talk about in the NFL,

politics and religion." I repeated my stance that this was the right

thing to do, that equality is not something to be denied anyone, and

that I would not promise to cease speaking out. At that point, Coach

Frazier told me in a flat voice, "If that's what you feel you have to

do," and the meeting ended. The atmosphere was tense as I left the room.

 

On Sept. 9, before our game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the owner of

the team, Zygi Wilf, came up to me, shook my hand, and told me: "Chris,

I'm proud of what you've done. Please feel free to keep speaking out. I

just came from my son's best friend's wedding to his partner in New

York, and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

 

On Sept. 10, I was once again called into Leslie Frazier's office. Coach

Frazier asked me if I was going to keep speaking out on the matter of

same-sex marriage and equality. I responded that I was, and I related

what Zygi Wilf had said to me at the game the day before. Coach Frazier

looked stunned and put his hand across his face. He then told me: "Well,

he writes the checks. It looks like I've been overruled." At that

point, he got his personal public relations assistant on a conference

call to ask her what to do. She outlined some strategies, mainly

centered around talking only with large national media groups and

ignoring the smaller market stations (radio, television, print). I said

that I would be sure not to say anything to denigrate the team, but that

I would like to talk with anyone who was interested. Both Coach Frazier

and his PR person attempted to dissuade me from this course of action,

saying that the message would be more effective if presented properly. I

suspected this was another attempt to keep me from speaking out. I did

not agree to any course of action they suggested, and I left the meeting

once it concluded.

 

On or around Sept. 17 (could have possibly been Sept. 19), I approached

our head of public relations, Bob Hagan. It had come to my attention via

Twitter that multiple news sources were attempting to contact me

through the Vikings and had been unable to reach me (I learned this via

those same agencies asking me on Twitter if I was available for

interviews, to which I responded affirmatively). I told Bob Hagan that

from this point on, any media requests he received were to be forwarded

immediately to me. I would take care of them. He told me that he was

trying to protect me from being overwhelmed. I repeated my request that

he forward all media requests to me, as I could handle them. He

assented, and later that day I found three media requests in my locker

(to which I had already responded via Twitter), two of which were dated

from four to six days earlier.

 

Throughout the months of September, October, and November, Minnesota Vikings

special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer would use homophobic language in

my presence. He had not done so during minicamps or fall camp that year,

nor had he done so during the 2011 season. He would ask me if I had

written any letters defending "the gays" recently and denounce as

disgusting the idea that two men would kiss, and he would constantly

belittle or demean any idea of acceptance or tolerance. I tried to laugh

these off while also responding with the notion that perhaps they were

human beings who deserved to be treated as human beings. Mike Priefer

also said on multiple occasions that I would wind up burning in hell

with the gays, and that the only truth was Jesus Christ and the Bible.

He said all this in a semi-joking tone, and I responded in kind, as I

felt a yelling match with my coach over human rights would greatly

diminish my chances of remaining employed. I felt uncomfortable each

time Mike Priefer said these things. After all, he was directly

responsible for reviewing my job performance, but I hoped that after the

vote concluded in Minnesota his behavior would taper off and eventually

stop.

 

On Oct. 25, I had a poor game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the

Vikings brought in several punters for a workout to potentially replace

me. I do not believe this was motivated by my speaking out on same-sex

equality, though I do not know for sure. During the special-teams

meeting the following day, Mike Priefer berated me in an incredibly

harsh tone the likes of which I've never heard a coach use about my

abilities as a punter (and I have been berated before). The room went

silent after he finished speaking, in a way that normally does not

happen during meetings when someone is being called out. The Vikings

kept me on as their punter.

 

Near the end of November, several teammates and I were walking into a

specialist meeting with Coach Priefer. We were laughing over one of the

recent articles I had written supporting same-sex marriage rights, and

one of my teammates made a joking remark about me leading the Pride

parade. As we sat down in our chairs, Mike Priefer, in one of the

meanest voices I can ever recall hearing, said: "We should round up all

the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows." The

room grew intensely quiet, and none of the players said a word for the

rest of the meeting. The atmosphere was decidedly tense. I had never had

an interaction that hostile with any of my teammates on this issue—some

didn't agree with me, but our conversations were always civil and

respectful. Afterward, several told me that what Mike Priefer had said

was "messed up."

 

After this point, Mike Priefer began saying less and less to me, and our

interactions were stilted. I grew increasingly concerned that my job

would be in jeopardy. I had seen the same pattern of behavior directed

at our former placekicker, Ryan Longwell, whom Mike Priefer began to

ignore during the 2011 season and who was cut after rookie minicamps in

early May 2012.

 

On Dec. 9, I wore on my jersey a small patch made out of athletic tape on which I'd written, "Vote Ray Guy"—a small protest

against punter Ray Guy's exclusion from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

At no point in the game did Coach Priefer instruct me to take off the

patch, nor did he appear even to notice it. The only person who talked

to me about it was Les Pico, our executive director of player

development, who told me that the league office would fine me if I

didn't take it off. I told him it was worth it, and we both laughed.

 

On Dec. 13, during his weekly media session, Mike Priefer was asked about the patch in a joking manner. He responded tersely:

"I don't even want to talk about it. Those distractions are getting old

for me, to be honest with you." When asked if he had talked to me about

the distractions, he said: "No. He won't listen." At no time during the

season had Coach Priefer ever approached me about my actions, nor had

he ever made any intimation that I was a distraction to the team. He

also said: "To me, it's getting old. He's got to focus on punting and

holding." Up to that point I had not dropped a single hold on field

goals, and despite a shaky game against Tampa Bay and several

substandard punts against other teams, both my net- and gross-punting

marks were nearly in line with my career averages, which remain the best

in Vikings history. I had also been repeatedly instructed by Mike

Priefer to dial back the distance of my kicks to give our coverage team a

better chance at getting down the field, a request I did my best to

follow despite knowing it would mean sacrificing my own averages and

allowing people to fashion an argument against me based on those

numbers. His exact words were: "Chris, we need you to kick it higher and

shorter, because our coverage team sucks. We need to force fair catches

as much as possible." I complied, as I had always been taught to put

the team before myself.

 

In November and December, I was frequently marked for negative scores by

Mike Priefer on our "Production Point" sheet for punts that earlier had

been marked positive, despite the numbers being almost exactly the same

in terms of hangtime and distance. I do not know if these "Production

Point" sheets were ever shown to our general manager or head coach, nor

do I know if they were used to evaluate my job performance, though I

suspect they were. I often laughed with other players about how the

points seemed to be arbitrarily assigned, and we all agreed that there

was no way to succeed as far as the "Production Point" charts were

concerned. The vast majority of special-teams players already had

negative point totals for the year.

 

After the season concluded in early January 2013, I had my end-of-year

meeting with Coach Priefer. It was brief, and he told me that the team

would probably be exploring options for competition. Several days later,

the team signed T.J. Conley to a futures contract, which I saw as

legitimate competition or a backup plan in case my knee surgery did not

go well. I had been playing the past five years on a torn meniscus in my

left knee, and the discomfort had gotten to the point where surgery was

a necessity. Recovery time was anticipated to be two to four weeks, and

my surgery was scheduled for Jan. 31. The surgery went smoothly, as did

rehab, and I began kicking again in late February. At no point did Mike

Priefer, Leslie Frazier, or Vikings general manager Rick Spielman

contact me, nor did they ever ask how the surgery had gone, nor did they

ever ask how my return to kicking was progressing.

 

On Feb. 11, I received a message saying, "Please fly under radar please,"

from a phone number I would later learn belonged to Rick Spielman. The

text message presumably concerned several things I had tweeted that day

regarding Pope Benedict XVI's decision to step down. Spielman later

called me and asked me to stop tweeting about the pope because angry

people were ringing up team headquarters in Winter Park, Minn. It should

be noted that my tweets concerned the lack of transparency and endemic

institutional corruption of the Catholic Church, which among other

things allowed child abuse to flourish. I also pointed out how that

applied equally to financial and government institutions, and reiterated

that I had nothing against anyone's religion, only against the abuses

of power that institutions allow. Nonetheless, I complied with

Spielman's request and did not tweet anything else about the pope that

day, or in the future.

 

In March and early April, I spent three to four days a week kicking at the

local sports complex near my house in Huntington Beach, Calif., where I

lived with my family during the offseason. I felt that I had returned

to my in-season form and was quite pleased with my progress. I was

confident that in a fair competition with T.J. Conley I would prevail.

 

On April 21, I arrived back in Minnesota for the start of Organized Team

Activities (OTAs), which commenced the following day. When I arrived at

the facility, I went through my normal workouts and then went upstairs

to talk to Mike Priefer. He hadn't contacted me since our year-end

meeting in early January. We had a brief talk, and he mentioned that I

would only have to attend the punt-special-team meetings. In previous

years, I had attended all the special-teams meetings, as was expected of

me. At no point was the draft mentioned.

 

On April 27, I spent an hour at the Metrodome signing autographs for the

Vikings draft party, an event for which the team requested my

attendance, and then left to record some music with my band. My phone

rang, and a local reporter from the Star Tribune asked me,

"Chris, what are your thoughts on the Vikings taking a punter in the

fifth round of the draft?" At this point I knew for certain the Vikings

were replacing me. I hadn't been informed that drafting a punter was a

possibility, and historically punters do not get drafted unless the team

figures he'll be a starter. Multiple pundits questioned the Vikings'

decision to draft a punter in the fifth round, as there were still

several positions of need, and several players at those positions still

available to be drafted. No one from the team called me on April 27 or

28.

 

On April 29, my first day back in the facility after the draft, I met with

Rick Spielman after Mike Priefer had told me Rick wanted to see me. Rick

told me that this was solely about competition and had nothing to do

with my views. I do not believe he was telling the truth. I had not been

approached about reducing my contract for cap-space purposes, nor was

my punting average poor enough to justify spending a fifth-round pick on

a punter for competition. (My gross average in 2012 was almost exactly

my career average, and I had a career-best net average. Statistically

speaking, I am also the best punter in Vikings history, despite seven

years of coaches asking me to deliberately sacrifice my own numbers to

help the team, a request with which I always complied.) Rick said he

would speak with me again after the rookie minicamp from May 3-5. I then

spoke with Coach Priefer. He reiterated that this was about

competition, which I suspect was also a lie, and then he started talking

about me in the past tense, about how professional I had been, and how

it had been a pleasure working with me. The meeting concluded several

minutes later. I also learned that T.J. Conley had been cut that day.

 

At no point from the end of the season, on Jan. 9, 2013, to my arrival at

OTAs, on April 21, was I contacted by Leslie Frazier or by any of the

other coaches. Rick Spielman called me once, as stated earlier, to

insist I stop tweeting about the pope.

 

On May 6, I had a meeting with Rick Spielman. He told me that the team was

releasing me, and he thanked me for the great work I had done for the

Vikings, and also said he would tell other teams how professionally and

competently I had executed my duties over the years. I then had a

meeting with Leslie Frazier, who repeated that I had been "a fantastic

player for this organization" and who also told me, "Don't close any

doors behind you—you never know when things will come full circle." He

thanked me for my services as well, and said I was a great football

player. Then I was escorted from the premises and was no longer a

Viking.

So there you have it. It's my belief, based on everything that happened

over the course of 2012, that I was fired by Mike Priefer, a bigot who

didn't agree with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, Leslie

Frazier and Rick Spielman, both of whom knew I was a good punter and

would remain a good punter for the foreseeable future, as my numbers

over my eight-year career had shown, but who lacked the fortitude to

disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter. (Frazier was

fired on Monday, at the conclusion of a 5-10-1 season.) One of the main

coaching points I've heard throughout my entire life is, "How you

respond to difficult situations defines your character," and I think

it's a good saying. I also think it applies to more than just the

players.

 

If there's one thing I hope to achieve from sharing this story, it's to

make sure that Mike Priefer never holds a coaching position again in the

NFL, and ideally never coaches at any level. (According to the Pioneer Press,

he is "the only in-house candidate with a chance" at the head-coaching

job.) It's inexcusable that someone would use his status as a teacher

and a role model to proselytize on behalf of his own doctrine of

intolerance, and I hope he never gets another opportunity to pass his

example along to anyone else. I also hope that Leslie Frazier and Rick

Spielman take a good look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are

the people they truly profess themselves to be.

 

Some will ask why I waited so long to tell this story. It's a fair question,

and I have two answers. The first is that I still have friends on the

Vikings, and opening up something like this during the season would not

help them focus on their jobs. By doing it now, I hope they don't have

to answer questions about an issue that concerns only four people, and I

hope the issue will have died down before next season starts.

 

The second is that I wanted to prove I still had the physical ability to

compete in the NFL. I can still hit the ball 45 yards outside the

numbers with good hangtime, and at the tryouts I've had this year I've

gotten praise from the scouts and personnel people on hand, but for

whatever reason I cannot find a job. (Side note: My numbers from last

year would put me right in the middle of the pack for this year, and

I've traditionally been in the middle to top third of punters each

year).

 

However, it's clear to me that no matter how much I want to prove I can play, I

will no longer punt in the NFL, especially now that I've written this

account. Whether it's my age, my minimum veteran salary, my habit of

speaking my mind, or (most likely) a combination of all three, my time

as a football player is done. Punters are always replaceable, at least

in the minds of those in charge, and I realize that in advocating

noisily for social change I only made it easier for them to justify not

having me around. So it goes.

 

Some will ask if the NFL has a problem with institutionalized homophobia. I

don't think it does. I think there are homophobic people in the NFL, in

all positions, but that's true for society as well, and those people

eventually get replaced. All we can do is try to expose their behavior

when we see it and call them to account for their actions.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Never be afraid to do what's

right. If no one ever says anything, nothing ever changes.

 

—Chris Kluwe, former NFL player

 

tl;dr—It's been a fun eight years; sometimes people do crappy things to each other.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Penguin4x4

[dem beats 1,223]

I posted that too!!!!!

But I just linked it.

So in true forum fashion....

TLDR bro!

[sandt38 448]

 

So my MIL got us a new cookware set and it's a ceramic non stick. Are most ceramic non stick surfaces metal utensil safe?

It is supposed to be, but it really isn't. Buy silicone utensils.

The nonstick I have claims to be metal utensil safe but I still don't use metal on them. I would not recommend cladded SS to someone unless they are an experienced cook. (I have a SS set also) I have a set of cast iron thats great for cooking proteins too.

http://www.anolon.com/shop-anolon.html?Brand=Anolon+Advanced

This is the brand I have now. What brand/set did you get?

 

Swiss Diamond. Solid set. My wife scratched up the 10 inch pan with metal spats. We have a set of Oxo silicones but she wouldn't listen.

[sandt38 448]

I got another new vape pen given to me as a tip this week. lol  Has been WAAAY nicer than the Blu. Now to buy one for dabbing!! High Times had an article on them last month and lead me to this one.

 

http://www.dabotg.com/product/dabotg-fumed-kit/

 

 

Look into the Seego cHit

 

It totally kicks ass. I have been using it for a few weeks. Here it is on my new vaporizer...

 

 

Sorry for the blur, I wasn't very steady

[sandt38 448]

Boo. When sitting at the gas station, if I turn the car on accessory power it plays the radio for about 2 minutes and then says start the car the battery is low and shuts off the stereo. My luck with GM continues.

And yes, I realize this is not a GM thing, but seriously 2010 and the battery is shot? My M5 had the original battery in it when I bought it.

 

Delcos are the best batteries out there. It has clearly suffered deep discharge issues.

[sandt38 448]

I bought a Russian 91% RBA last night. Should arrive by Monday. Between it and the Kayfun Lite Plus I pre-ordered last week I have blown $200 on fucking attys. Now all I need to do is find a Taifun GT and I will be rocking the 3 best attys around.

 

Then I need to stop buying vape gear...

 

Of course, I do need to buy a Nemesis Mod, and possibly a Provari...

 

And then...

 

Who knew quitting cigs would be so costly?

[dem beats 1,223]

http://mobile.theverge.com/2014/1/2/5267800/luke-jerram-glass-microbiology-gorgeous-sculptures-of-deadly-viruses