Not sure if I’m just watching the wrong networks, but I can’t remember the last time I saw an MLB ad of any sort when I wasn’t watching an MLB game.

That’s how I do Netflix and HBO. Just signed up for HBO yesterday (it was starting to get difficult to avoid Big Little Lies spoilers) and Netflix today (stranger things binge!). I'll binge anything that's on my to-watch list, and cancel each service as I exhaust what I'm interested in. Then I'll re-subscribe in 3-6…

Complaining about this seems like a batter who’s sitting fastball complaining about a changeup. When you’re returning service, it’s your job to position yourself where you can return whatever comes your way. If you think standing 15 feet beyond the baseline is the best place to stand, that’s your prerogative, but…

As a warning, if you ask any questions, the doctor’s office can up-code the physical from “annual checkup” (free with your insurance) to “office visit,” which is likely subject to your deductible (read: if you’re otherwise healthy and have a high deductible health plan, that question will set you back about $150.)

No, I’m not poking fun. Car helmets would save many more lives than most of the safety improvements we discuss, but for some reason they exist outside the typical conversation around safety.

How do you feel about helmets for driving?

I particularly enjoy the combination of excruciatingly long VAR reviews and arbitrary stoppage time. Really, there’s no better way of ending a match than seeing 5 minutes of stoppage time go up on the board, sitting through a 5 minute VAR review, and having the final whistle blow as soon as the review is over.

I’m not sure it really makes sense to think of principal and earnings as separate things. It’s useful for rough future planning, but when it comes to analyzing your performance, it can lead you astray.

Uh, no, that’s not what I’m saying. There are a limited number of challenges in a game. Once the play is challenged, the officials should get the call right. What I’m sick of is that after every single play that’s remotely close, managers hold up play for nearly a minute while they decide whether to challenge, when…

Hernandez is a terrible ump, but I’d be in favor of the 30 second challenge limit being enforced without warning. If your replay guy can’t figure out whether the call was blown the first 5 times he watches the play, you’re just gonna need to roll the dice.

The percentage they’re required to report is 100%. Doesn’t mean they do it, though.

Not specific to my local library (San Francsico), but online access to the OED is great. “When did people start saying ‘[word]’ to mean ‘[something that isn’t the usual meaning of word]’?” -> look it up in OED -> find citation to Shakespeare (it’s always Shakespeare), then a couple more uses in the subsequent hundred…

I use Google Fi, and blocking spam calls is free.

Yeah, we wound up with a mix of all three cheeses. In my experience, the main problem with cheddar on pizza (non-traditional taste aside) is that a fair amount of fat winds up separating from the cheese, forming grease puddles on the surface of the pizza.

Funny seeing this article right now. The kid is insisting on making pizza today, and the only cheeses I have in the house are (a) cheddar, (b) parmesan, and (c) “mozzarella” string cheese. So, uh, I guess I’ll be experimenting today. Hey, shredded string cheese can’t possibly be much worse than bagged shredded…

If you’re extending the window to the past decade, I’d throw The Leftovers into this discussion. Many of the characters don’t realize they’re in a “love and peace” show, or take a while to figure it out, but that’s what’s at the beating heart of the show.

Thank you for this post. I find that I always learn something from “open wallet” style posts, no matter how much or how little the author’s finances are like my own.

I’m not a Sharks fan, but the refs seem to be getting these calls right. The major in the Vegas series was borderline, but it was a penalty for sure. The offsides call was right (and Deadspin’s comparison of it to the too-many-men rule just shows a lack of knowledge of the rulebook: the too-many-men rule gives both 5'…

I love that the history of the Marlins making shitty front office decisions is so rich that the Mike Lowell/Josh Beckett salary dump in 2006 doesn’t even rate a mention. In 2007 both were All-Stars, with Beckett winning 20 games and Lowell winning World Series MVP.

Just a quick math note: if 40% of tips are unreported and reported tips are $12.42 per hour, that works out to total tips of $20.07 per hour, not $17.39. (The math we want is that $20.07 - 40% of $20.07 = $12.42, instead of $12.42 + 40% of $12.42 = $17.39). Oh, and because people usually aren’t paying taxes on that…