Diary of a White Sox Fan (Long)
A few days I heard someone say something to the effect of: "It's easy to be a White Sox fan, but Cubs fans deserve more credit for sticking with their team because they lose so much". As most of you know, I am a lifelong White Sox fan. Hearing this generalization got me thinking, just how "easy" is it to be a White Sox fan? And how tough is it to be a Cubs fan?
Well, I can't really tell you a whole lot about how difficult being a Cubs fan is, because I've never truly been one. But I do believe that it is no easier to be a Sox fan than a Cubs fan. The point of this blog is to speak from my perspective as a White Sox fan and at least try to explain our point of view.
I'll try not to talk about the Cubs too much, because the point is not to trash them. However, being in the same city as them inevitably leads to many comparisons between the Cubs vs. Sox. So forgive me if this ends up sounding like a Cub-hating entry at times. That's really not my intention.
To give a little background for those who might not be from Chicago, here's how it generally works around here as far as team loyalty goes: When you grow up in the Chicagoland area, you usually decide whether you're a Sox or Cubs fan early on, and stick with them for the rest of your life. You don't always have to have a logical reason to pick one or the other; reasons can range from "liking the Sox uniforms" to "because my dad is a Cubs fan". The North Side/South Side thing was obviously a big factor for those who actually lived in the city. And for a lot of people my age that grew up in the suburbs, I think they became Cubs fans because they were always on WGN. But really, it doesn't matter what your reason is - as long as you pick one and stick with your team.
For me, I started liking the Sox because I always got free tickets to their games from school and my dad would actually take me to watch them. Don't know if they still do this, but they had some promotion back then where kids that got straight A's or had perfect attendance got free tickets, and I usually qualified both ways (yes, I was as awesome back then as I am now).
One thing I remember is that no matter where I was as a kid, it seemed like I was always outnumbered by Cubs fans. I got use to being asked the question "why are you a Sox fan?" with looks of disdain. And today, it's much the same.
The fact is, this is much more of a "Cubs town" than it is a "Sox town". Though the White Sox have probably had more success in the past 20 years as far as winning goes, the Cubs have by far had more success as far as fan appeal and profitability goes. I've always thought that was very ironic, that even when stacked up against the Chicago Cubs, a franchise that has literally become synonymous with losing, the White Sox are still inferior in this city. We're losing to the losers - if that's not insulting, then I don't know what is.
To me, that is a good starting point of understanding what it's like to be a White Sox fan. If the difficulty of being a Cubs fan means growing accustomed to losing, then the difficulty of being a White Sox fan means growing accustomed to insulting situations, regardless of wins or losses.
I could start in many areas but I'll start with our stadium. First of all, it was named after an owner that was known for being one of the stingiest jerks in the history of baseball. So stingy that his players resorted to taking bribes to dump a World Series in 1919 (more on that later).
But despite the negative history behind the name, at least "Comiskey Park" sounded like it had some history and tradition. And before it was replaced by New Comiskey in 1990, I think it was the oldest standing ballpark in the country (older than Fenway and Wrigley), which was kind of cool.
When you think of a team getting a new stadium, generally people are really excited about it. But when they replaced Old Comiskey with New Comiskey, I remember very little enthusiasm and hoopla regarding the change. Why?
The thing about New Comiskey was that it was a decent ballpark with good facilities, but had nothing special or spectacular about it. Overall it just felt like a pretty sterile place. Built sort of like Yankee Stadium, only without all the rich tradition.
This was made more insulting by the fact that only 1 year later, a new wave of really nice ballparks started being built around the country, by the same designers of New Comiskey if I'm not mistaken. Places like Camden Yards in Baltimore or Jacobs Field in Cleveland really put our stadium to shame with their fan friendly designs. Looking back, it was clear that we built New Comiskey one year too early; that, or our owner simply decided to be too cheap in the wrong situation.
In the past few years, they have made some nice improvements to the park, which is a good thing. But, the catch is that they sold out the naming rights in the process. Having a stadium named after a stingy owner is one thing, but US Cellular is just plain tacky. Not to mention the inevitable nickname "the Cell", who wants to take their kids to watch baseball at a place called "the Cell"?
If it sounds like I'm making too big a deal about our stadium troubles, just think about how much Wrigley Field means to Cub fans. The ivy (which by the way was planted by Bill Veeck before he became owner of the White Sox), the hand operated scoreboard, the bars in the surrounding neighborhood. How different might their image be if the Cubs did not have all of those things associated with their stadium?
But enough about that, let's talk about the players. Because you can have all the marketing you want, and play in the nicest ballpark ever, but in the end it if you don't have players worth rooting for, it's really tough to be a fan.
One thing that always bothered me was when Harold Baines retired, and the Sox honored him by retiring his number. But after that, he went on to unretire and play for the Baltimore Orioles. Eventually he came back to play for the Sox again, but that was still pretty insulting if you're a Sox fan. You put a guy's number on your wall, and he comes back to play against you for an opposing team? Chris Rock talking about the OJ murder comes to mind: "I buy you a car -- you gonna let another man drive around in my car? Are you out of your f---ing mind?!" Come on, Harold, at least go to the National League or something!
A recurring theme I have noticed is that the White Sox seem to have had their share of great players, only we have them at the wrong time of their career. Sammy Sosa was a prime example - for years, he was a pretty good player for us. Then we traded him to the Cubs, and he turned into a monster home run hitter and one of the most recognizable faces in the game.
He's not the only one though. Carlton Fisk, Hall of Fame catcher, legendary for his playoff home run at Fenway, is forever associated with the Red Sox (another insult to note here, we're not even the most popular team in the AL named "Sox"). Fisk played with the White Sox for at least a few seasons at the end of his career, but those years were mostly an afterthought when his career is discussed. Bo Jackson, one of the greatest athletes of all time, was idolized by White Sox fans for the short time he was here (I'll always remember his hit to clinch the division that one year), but rarely would anyone other than a Sox fan ever picture him in a Sox uniform.
When I do try to think of a star player that has actually been with the Sox during his best years, one whose name people associate with the White Sox organization, the guy that comes to mind is Frank Thomas. He's one of the few players who has been with the Sox his whole career, while being one of the best players in the game during his prime.
Right now, most people see a Frank Thomas that is injury prone, limited to DH duties, and only sometimes productive. But throughout the early 90's, when I was still a young Sox fan, Frank Thomas was a blossoming young player who almost immediately became one of the most feared hitters throughout the major leagues. Not just a home run hitter, but a guy who hit for average and drew walks too. The way he consistently put up superstar numbers year after year was legitimately comparable to Hall of Famers like Babe Ruth and Micky Mantle, believe it or not. Most impressively, his Leaf rookie card was worth $70, the most I knew of any single card being worth at that time when I was collecting baseball cards.
However, Frank's personality was a different story. Though he wasn't a flat out jerk like Barry Bonds or Albert Belle, he never had the exciting superstar qualities to go with his numbers. He didn't have the engaging smile of Ken Griffey Jr., nor did he have the theatrics to go with his home runs people associate with Sammy Sosa.
And whether justified or not, there were always little knocks on Frank that prevented him from being truly loved like the other stars. People would point to his poor defensive skills, criticize him for not being a leader, write articles about how all he cared about were stats and not the team. We often heard about how he was surly with reporters at times, and feuds he had with managers or teammates. These were all things that were not unique to Frank Thomas, yet they seemed to haunt him and hold him back more than anybody else.
To me, Frank Thomas's career has been an enigma, because we have seen other stars put up lesser numbers than he has, whose defense is just as bad and are probably bigger a-holes than he is, but still seem to be more accepted by fans than Frank ever was.
It's puzzling to me that he never became a superstar, not even to fans of the White Sox. But at the same time, his story seems like such an appropriate one to outline in this blog, because it almost sums up to the finest detail what it's like to be a White Sox fan as a whole. Much like how Frank has put up successful numbers throughout his career and has never been all that appreciated as a player, the White Sox have been a fairly competitive franchise for years now and still are a team that is largely ignored in their own city. In each case, there are numerous reasons that people bring up when they try to explain why that is, but none ever truly manage to tell the whole story.
Another thing to consider about what it's like to be a Sox fan is, how is our organization viewed around the country by non-Chicago fans? I mean, if you think about the Yankees, you think about Babe Ruth and Murderer's Row. Cincinnati Reds, it's the Big Red Machine or the Nasty Boys. Oakland had the Bash Brothers. Dodgers had Jackie Robinson, Tommy Lasorda, Vin Scully. The Red Sox obviously had their curse, to go along with Fenway Park and a long list of Hall of Famers. Cubs, they have their own curse, Wrigley Field, and Harry Caray (another example of someone who was with the White Sox for years but is rarely known for that association).
Well, for starters, there's usually not much people know about the White Sox to begin with. Most non-Sox fans don't care about our history, and if they do, many will think of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Or, in more recent years, for the dumb drunk fans that run on the field to attack the umpires or opposing teams' coaches. Neither is particularly a favorable thing, to say the least. Basically, in the eyes of most of the baseball watching nation, we are either complete unknowns, or known exclusively for things that put us in a negative light.
Think about this for a second: when the Cubs have a losing season, no big deal. If they haven't won a World Series in 100 years, everyone still loves them. After all, they're the "Lovable Losers" aren't they? But if and when the Sox lose, there's nothing "lovable" about the White Sox or our fans. So what if we haven't won a World Series in almost as many years as the Cubs? The last time we were in one, the players sold the championship for money!
While we're on the topic of not winning championships, I am reminded of possibly the most painful experience I have had as a White Sox fan. Unlike the Bartman incident or Bill Buckner's error, this experience did not involve something that happened on the field, but something off the field.
Fellow Sox fans probably already know what I am talking about, but for those of you who don't, I am referring to the 1994 players union strike. At that time, the Sox were coming off a 1993 season in which they won their division but ran into a hot team in the playoffs and lost to the Blue Jays. They returned most of the key pieces for 1994, such as Frank Thomas in his prime, a pitching staff headed by Jack McDowell, Alex Fernandez, Wilson Alvarez, and Jason Bere when they were all awesome. Roberto Hernandez was lights out as our closer. We even had Dan Pasqua coming off the bench, so you know it was supposed to be our year.
Anyways, about 100 games into the season we're cruising along, leading the division again as everyone expected. Things are looking good for another playoff run, and fans are getting excited at the real possibility of us making it to the WS and maybe even winning it all.
Then boom, the players decide to go on strike. Season ends, no playoffs, no nothing. As a fan it felt like the rug had been pulled from under us. By the time an agreement is reached and play finally resumes the next year, the baseball landscape has changed. The White Sox in 1995 were still a respectable team, but by no means were they the same dominant force in the American League that they were before the strike.
Meanwhile, fans were left wondering "what might have been?" if the 94 season had played out. A funny thing is that while the Sox were hurt badly by the strike, most believe that the Montreal Expos were hurt the most that year. And it's hard for me to disagree with that statement, I mean, the Expos had a team featuring guys like Moises Alou, Larry Walker, and Pedro Martinez. But here's yet another example of how the White Sox never win - not even when we're comparing futility!
In any case, I would say that the strike clearly set the White Sox franchise back significantly more than most teams. Sort of like what the Deon Thomas/Bruce Pearl fiasco did to the Illinois basketball program in the early 90's, but not exactly in the same manner. The fans were angry that the best White Sox team they had seen in a long time never got a chance to play for a World Series. Some were especially mad at the Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf in particular, because they believed he was the owner most instrumental in causing the strike to happen in the first place. Not sure how accurate that assessment actually is, but if it's true, boy what another insult for Sox fans to take!
Even 10 years after the fact, the strike is still sometimes blamed for sluggish attendance figures at the ballpark today. I think by now most of us have moved on from the hurt feelings, but definitely no Sox fan from that time will ever completely forget that experience.
Looks like this entry is the longest I've written in a long time. What can I say? There are a few things I am passionate about in life and one of them is the White Sox. But I better wrap this up now, if everyone hasn't stopped reading already, they will probably stop soon.
I think I have made my point by now anyways. Being a White Sox fan means a lot of things to me: constantly being second best (or second worst depending on how you look at it), repeatedly being victimized by bad timing, and dealing with all kinds of backwards and insulting situations. There is certainly nothing "easy" about being a White Sox fan.
If nothing else, consider the fact that I just spent all this time and effort belaboring the negative stuff I have experienced as a fan, at a time when the Sox are having an amazing season. They're 52-24, best record in the majors, playing some of the most exciting baseball I have ever seen on a nightly basis, but here I am wasting my time trying to explain to people why it's tough to be a fan.
So have I confused everyone thoroughly enough yet? Maybe I should've just said that it's Sox fan thing - if you aren't one, you wouldn't understand.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Been There, Done That
Ever get the feeling that all of the good ideas have already been taken? Like everything worth doing has already been done by someone else? That there's nothing truly "new" or "original" these days, it's just recycling of the old?
I mean, for example, think about the last few movies you saw, or look at the list of movies that's currently playing in the theaters. Almost everything out there is either a sequel, prequel, remake, or a movie version of a TV show, book, comic, or foreign film. It it's not Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, it's Batman Begins. The Longest Yard. Bewitched. Herbie Fully Loaded. Honeymooners. I could go on for hours with this list and you all could probably do the same.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm saying all of these movies suck. Some of them do, but I loved Star Wars and I fully plan on watching Batman when I get a chance. Herbie Fully Loaded looks pretty awesome too (just kidding).
And I know why the studios count on these movies so much, because they are almost guaranteed to be successful. If I was in their position that's probably what I'd do too.
I don't want to focus everything on movies though, that was just an example. You see much of the same in music, i.e. remakes of old songs, sampled beats. In TV, if it's not already replaced by a reality show, it's another spinoff of CSI or a copycat version of ER.
At work, most of the projects are variations of the same few ideas. They're good ideas, but from the time I started working, pretty much every major project I've been on is either an upgrade or reconfiguration of an existing program. Often times these include smaller components that need new designs, but overall, it's basically the same product.
Again, it's not like I'm saying all of these "remakes" aren't good. I just wonder whether we will ever see a re-emergence of new thoughts and ideas. Did our spirit of creativity in this country die?
Sometimes I think it has. For me, I grew up reading books about people like Thomas Edison (I know, NERD), and believing that anybody, including myself, could be an inventor and help the world. I remember being in our 3rd or 4th grade "gifted" program called EXTEND (Scott would probably remember this) when they would have us invent stuff and present it like a science project. I forget what I invented, but I do remember being really excited at the time for the opportunity.
Even throughout high school and much of college, I always thought that one day, I would be able to come up with some awesome invention, patent it, and make that my life's work and my contribution to society.
But at some point during the past few years, maybe starting with my last year at college, I guess I sort of stopped thinking that way. Not really sure what changed my mind, maybe it was just a matter of seeing the real world and understanding the odds against me.
A year or two ago I was talking to Ray about what he was doing at work, and it sounded like basically his job was to think of as many new ideas as he could and patent them for his company. I won't name his company here because of the remote possibility of it somehow getting him into trouble. But suffice it to say that he works for a very large corporation.
And it just got me thinking - Ray is a smart guy, one of the brightest people I know. His company must have a lot of guys like him, some maybe even smarter, who are doing the same thing he is doing. There must be other companies like his who have similar departments too. So say I want to become an inventor for a living. Look at who my competition is! Huge companies each stocked with teams of "Rays" working every day to patent stuff, who have possibly millions if not billions of dollars backing them.
Not saying it's impossible to come up with new innovations on your own in spite of the competition, but my point is that it seems like more and more the days of individual creativity are being phased out. Would guys like Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Eli Whitney, or Ben Franklin have flourished today like they did in their own time? Perhaps, but I'm not so sure. Would they have had the patience to spend years at a university to pursue advanced degrees before getting a chance to lead their own research? Or would they have gotten swallowed by the corporate ladder at some multinational conglomerate somewhere along the way?
Right now, when I think of someone with the spirit of invention, the first thing that pops to mind is that guy in Office Space. You know, the guy who gets laid off, tries to kill himself, gets hit by a truck, and then invents a "Jump to Conclusions Mat" with the settlement money? Kinda funny, but sad, that that's the only guy I can think of. It shows that there's not that many examples of modern day individuals who have been truly successful as inventors.
Anyways, what is my point in writing all this? Am I starving for more new original movies to come out? Not really, I haven't had much time to watch movies recently to begin with. Am I still wishing I could be a professional inventor? No, I don't think that's it either.
Actually, I think what started this observation was the process of thinking about what to write in this blog. Kind of ironic eh? But seriously, a lot of times when I post stuff on this page, I get the feeling that what I'm writing has already been written by many other people many other times on other blogs. That's a thought which is both humbling and even a little discouraging at times, because I would like my blog to stay fresh with new ideas, not rehashing old ones. I would rather write nothing, than to write something that I know is not original.
The last thing I'd want this page to become is like those magazines I always see on the rack that come out every month, but rarely have anything truly new to offer. Especially women's magazines like Cosmo, how is it possible to have "57 new ways to please your man" every month? Do they have researchers in a lab investigating new man-pleasing technologies that haven't been released yet? You'd think that by now they would have covered all there is to cover, and all they're doing is rewording their tips to make them sound different.
There's a webpage out there that calls itself "The Best Page In the Universe", if you've never heard of it, here is the link (fair warning - don't click if you are easily offended by foul language): http://maddox.xmission.com. I think this guy's stuff is absolutely hilarious (especially the older archives), and obviously I'm not the only one because his site is consistently one of the most visited pages on the Internet.
I mention that site because I was reading through some of his stuff the other day and realized that I have posted a lot of the same thoughts that he posted. Not the stuff like "How to kill yourself like a man" or "For every animal you don't eat, I'm going to eat three", but his rants on how he hates weather reports, for example. His stuff mostly predates mine though, so I guess that makes me the loser. That site really is hilarious though, don't know about it being the "Best Page" but the guy is pretty genius if you ask me.
Hopefully I didn't bore too many people with this entry. Just something I felt like observing.
Ever get the feeling that all of the good ideas have already been taken? Like everything worth doing has already been done by someone else? That there's nothing truly "new" or "original" these days, it's just recycling of the old?
I mean, for example, think about the last few movies you saw, or look at the list of movies that's currently playing in the theaters. Almost everything out there is either a sequel, prequel, remake, or a movie version of a TV show, book, comic, or foreign film. It it's not Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, it's Batman Begins. The Longest Yard. Bewitched. Herbie Fully Loaded. Honeymooners. I could go on for hours with this list and you all could probably do the same.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm saying all of these movies suck. Some of them do, but I loved Star Wars and I fully plan on watching Batman when I get a chance. Herbie Fully Loaded looks pretty awesome too (just kidding).
And I know why the studios count on these movies so much, because they are almost guaranteed to be successful. If I was in their position that's probably what I'd do too.
I don't want to focus everything on movies though, that was just an example. You see much of the same in music, i.e. remakes of old songs, sampled beats. In TV, if it's not already replaced by a reality show, it's another spinoff of CSI or a copycat version of ER.
At work, most of the projects are variations of the same few ideas. They're good ideas, but from the time I started working, pretty much every major project I've been on is either an upgrade or reconfiguration of an existing program. Often times these include smaller components that need new designs, but overall, it's basically the same product.
Again, it's not like I'm saying all of these "remakes" aren't good. I just wonder whether we will ever see a re-emergence of new thoughts and ideas. Did our spirit of creativity in this country die?
Sometimes I think it has. For me, I grew up reading books about people like Thomas Edison (I know, NERD), and believing that anybody, including myself, could be an inventor and help the world. I remember being in our 3rd or 4th grade "gifted" program called EXTEND (Scott would probably remember this) when they would have us invent stuff and present it like a science project. I forget what I invented, but I do remember being really excited at the time for the opportunity.
Even throughout high school and much of college, I always thought that one day, I would be able to come up with some awesome invention, patent it, and make that my life's work and my contribution to society.
But at some point during the past few years, maybe starting with my last year at college, I guess I sort of stopped thinking that way. Not really sure what changed my mind, maybe it was just a matter of seeing the real world and understanding the odds against me.
A year or two ago I was talking to Ray about what he was doing at work, and it sounded like basically his job was to think of as many new ideas as he could and patent them for his company. I won't name his company here because of the remote possibility of it somehow getting him into trouble. But suffice it to say that he works for a very large corporation.
And it just got me thinking - Ray is a smart guy, one of the brightest people I know. His company must have a lot of guys like him, some maybe even smarter, who are doing the same thing he is doing. There must be other companies like his who have similar departments too. So say I want to become an inventor for a living. Look at who my competition is! Huge companies each stocked with teams of "Rays" working every day to patent stuff, who have possibly millions if not billions of dollars backing them.
Not saying it's impossible to come up with new innovations on your own in spite of the competition, but my point is that it seems like more and more the days of individual creativity are being phased out. Would guys like Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Eli Whitney, or Ben Franklin have flourished today like they did in their own time? Perhaps, but I'm not so sure. Would they have had the patience to spend years at a university to pursue advanced degrees before getting a chance to lead their own research? Or would they have gotten swallowed by the corporate ladder at some multinational conglomerate somewhere along the way?
Right now, when I think of someone with the spirit of invention, the first thing that pops to mind is that guy in Office Space. You know, the guy who gets laid off, tries to kill himself, gets hit by a truck, and then invents a "Jump to Conclusions Mat" with the settlement money? Kinda funny, but sad, that that's the only guy I can think of. It shows that there's not that many examples of modern day individuals who have been truly successful as inventors.
Anyways, what is my point in writing all this? Am I starving for more new original movies to come out? Not really, I haven't had much time to watch movies recently to begin with. Am I still wishing I could be a professional inventor? No, I don't think that's it either.
Actually, I think what started this observation was the process of thinking about what to write in this blog. Kind of ironic eh? But seriously, a lot of times when I post stuff on this page, I get the feeling that what I'm writing has already been written by many other people many other times on other blogs. That's a thought which is both humbling and even a little discouraging at times, because I would like my blog to stay fresh with new ideas, not rehashing old ones. I would rather write nothing, than to write something that I know is not original.
The last thing I'd want this page to become is like those magazines I always see on the rack that come out every month, but rarely have anything truly new to offer. Especially women's magazines like Cosmo, how is it possible to have "57 new ways to please your man" every month? Do they have researchers in a lab investigating new man-pleasing technologies that haven't been released yet? You'd think that by now they would have covered all there is to cover, and all they're doing is rewording their tips to make them sound different.
There's a webpage out there that calls itself "The Best Page In the Universe", if you've never heard of it, here is the link (fair warning - don't click if you are easily offended by foul language): http://maddox.xmission.com. I think this guy's stuff is absolutely hilarious (especially the older archives), and obviously I'm not the only one because his site is consistently one of the most visited pages on the Internet.
I mention that site because I was reading through some of his stuff the other day and realized that I have posted a lot of the same thoughts that he posted. Not the stuff like "How to kill yourself like a man" or "For every animal you don't eat, I'm going to eat three", but his rants on how he hates weather reports, for example. His stuff mostly predates mine though, so I guess that makes me the loser. That site really is hilarious though, don't know about it being the "Best Page" but the guy is pretty genius if you ask me.
Hopefully I didn't bore too many people with this entry. Just something I felt like observing.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Monday, June 20, 2005
The Grill of My Dreams
Not sure how many of you guys out there are avid grillers, but might as well throw the question out there. For my new place I will probably buy a grill, and I'm trying to decide whether I should go with gas or charcoal (I'm not cool or rich enough to get both).
So far from talking to some people I have gathered the following pros/cons of each:
*Gas*
Pros: Much easier and quicker to start up. Cleaner.
Cons: Doesn't taste as good. Grill itself costs more in the beginning. Grill enthusiasts will look down on you for not going with charcoal.
*Charcoal*
Pros: Taste is the best.
Cons: Takes a while to start up and need to pay more attention to grilling.
So basically, I'm wondering if anyone else has additional advice on the subject other than the above mentioned list. It sounds like charcoal grills are better for parties, so if I'm planning on having guests over often, then it would be worth getting one. But gas would be nice if I'm gonna be using it to cook my own dinner after work. Not sure whether I will have the time, energy, or the motivation to hold parties at my place that much, but we'll see.
The one thing I wonder is how different the taste really is between the two. Lately I have only had charcoal grilled stuff and it was good. Is the gas cooked food that much weaker? I mean if it's gonna taste the same as if I cooked it on the stove or a Foreman grill, then it would be stupid to get a gas grill. But if only grill enthusiasts care about the difference, then I am not one of them.
Not sure how many of you guys out there are avid grillers, but might as well throw the question out there. For my new place I will probably buy a grill, and I'm trying to decide whether I should go with gas or charcoal (I'm not cool or rich enough to get both).
So far from talking to some people I have gathered the following pros/cons of each:
*Gas*
Pros: Much easier and quicker to start up. Cleaner.
Cons: Doesn't taste as good. Grill itself costs more in the beginning. Grill enthusiasts will look down on you for not going with charcoal.
*Charcoal*
Pros: Taste is the best.
Cons: Takes a while to start up and need to pay more attention to grilling.
So basically, I'm wondering if anyone else has additional advice on the subject other than the above mentioned list. It sounds like charcoal grills are better for parties, so if I'm planning on having guests over often, then it would be worth getting one. But gas would be nice if I'm gonna be using it to cook my own dinner after work. Not sure whether I will have the time, energy, or the motivation to hold parties at my place that much, but we'll see.
The one thing I wonder is how different the taste really is between the two. Lately I have only had charcoal grilled stuff and it was good. Is the gas cooked food that much weaker? I mean if it's gonna taste the same as if I cooked it on the stove or a Foreman grill, then it would be stupid to get a gas grill. But if only grill enthusiasts care about the difference, then I am not one of them.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
House
As many of you know, in early April, I decided to buy a house (link). During the weeks that followed, Olivia's mom took me to see a pretty wide variety of places - townhouses, single family homes, brand new, 20 years old, from Elk Grove Village to Des Plaines to Arlington Heights to Palatine to Schaumburg.
As I mentioned in previous entries, there were some places that I liked, but each one had its drawback. Some were too far, some too close to the highway, some had terrible layout, etc. One was absolutely perfect, except it only had a one car garage. And then a lot of them were just too freaking expensive for me.
Finally, I narrowed down my choices to 2 places. One was a brand new townhouse right off the Rand exit on 53, a pretty good location. The only things I didn't like were that the master bedroom was weak, and the taxes were probably going to be really high. The other was a townhouse in Schaumburg. Good location (5 mins from Woodfield and highways), slightly lower price and lower taxes. Only thing is that it was older (17 years), although the owners did replace a lot of things and it was still in pretty good condition.
I brought my family to go look at the two places with me one last time, and for the most part they liked both. I guess secretly I was hoping they would make the decision for me, but no such luck.
It's kind of interesting when I think about the major decisions in my life so far, I haven't really had to make them. When I was applying to colleges, U of I accepted me before I even finished applying to anywhere else. Since I couldn't really see myself going to another place for way more money to study engineering, I pretty much stopped applying anywhere else. Then when it came time to find a job, the market was so bad. My first offer came from NG and at that point there really was not much to think about. I guess in both cases things worked out okay.
Anyways, what was trying to say is that in this case, there was no easy decision as far as choosing which house to offer. At one point I contemplated flipping a coin so if it turned out to be a bad decision, I could blame the coin and not myself. But eventually, after giving it a lot more thought, prayer, discussion with those around me, and spreadsheet analysis (yes I am serious), I think the right choice finally came to me. I settled on the Schaumburg one.
The offer went in Sunday night, followed by a couple days of back and forth negotiation on the final price and other contract details. Negotiation is not my thing to say the least, and I think it was especially frustrating in this case. I mean, when you're talking about something that's in the hundreds of thousands, a few thousand dollars of difference might not seem like a lot. You definitely start to lose track of what these numbers mean, as far as the amount of debt I would be in and what I would be paying every month for the next 5, 10, 15, 30 or whatever years it ends up being. All I knew is that I liked the place and it would suck if the whole deal fell through because you can't agree on a matter of 1% of the total price.
Thankfully, after a day or two, an agreement was finally reached. Both sides signed a contract, and I wrote out a check for the "earnest fee". As I was signing all these documents, it almost felt like I was signing my life away. I know that the real transaction and much bigger deal will be at closing, but still. I've probably signed my name thousands of times, ranging from credit card transactions and personal checks, to high school yearbooks or the sign-in sheet at IMPE when I forgot my student ID. This was a new feeling. It's like "wow, this time my signature actually means something."
The next steps were the home inspection, having a lawyer go through the contract, and deciding on a mortgage. First two were pretty straightforward. Not saying they were easy, but I didn't really have to do much, just pay other people to do them for me.
Finding a mortgage was where things got complicated again. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with random brokers who I knew nothing about, but mostly with friends or family friends who I could reasonably trust. Thanks especially to Rich for patiently answering my questions and providing very helpful knowledge to a mortgage newbie like myself.
Nevertheless, going through all the estimates I got from lenders and trying to figure out which was the best deal made my head spin. And I'm pretty good at math, so I can only imagine how confused some other people would be. I thought I would just find the lowest rate and that would be that. But then there's "points" and "closing costs" to factor in. Then closing costs is broken down into subcategories, that some lenders cover and others don't.
After crunching some numbers, most of the estimates seemed to add up to be pretty close with each other. Basically it really just came down to making my best guess as to how long I would be staying at this house. And I still honestly don't know. I hope it's at least 5 years, but by then who knows what will happen.
At any rate (har har), I think by now the major decisions I need to make have all been made. Still have to actually get approved for the mortgage, and there's also more negotiating between the lawyers and the realtors of both sides on some of the details of the contract, but I'm starting to see the end of this tunnel that is the closing date (currently set for the 2nd week of July).
Overall, this whole process has been pretty hectic so far but also a good experience. I mean, I wish there didn't have to be so many people and so much paperwork involved, but I guess that's how things work in our system. I do understand the need for realtors, lawyers, etc. and the roles they play in the process. Still, I wonder whether there was ever a time when people just bought houses directly from each other, with a simple "handing over of money" and "giving of keys". That would have been so much easier, and take like 5 mins to do.
On the other hand, going through all these hoops has forced me to learn more about things like mortgages, taxes, home maintenance, and be more aware of what's going on in general. And that's definitely a good thing.
For example, did any of you guys know that there was a "7% Assessment Cap" enacted in Cook County recently to limit the amount that property taxes could increase per year? I'm guessing that unless you own a house in Cook County, you are like the pre-yesterday-Me and had no knowledge of such a thing. In case any of you are interested see here for explanation.
And before last month, I had no idea what the heck an "amortization table" was, or much of a clue what the latest interest rates were. Whenever economic figures used to come out in the news, I'd read about them, but never really thought of them as affecting my life much. Now, not saying I'm an expert on mortgages or the economy or anything, but at least I tend to pay more attention to that stuff, because I feel like it actually means something to me in a practical sense.
Well, that was way more than I intended to write on the subject. I probably could've summed it up in one sentence: "I think I done bought me a house, fellas". But now you all have an idea of what I have been doing for the past few weeks.
*****
Oh and let me get this straight - so in that song, R Kelly's girl basically set up the whole thing? Like Cathy/Mary, Rufus, and Chuck introduced her to the cop, and then staged the whole scene in the morning just to mess with him? Or, was it one big coincidence, Chuck and Rufus really were secret lovers, and he just happened to hook up with Cathy/Mary? In either case, how would she know that the cop stopped him on the way back? Something doesn't add up...
*****
I've been working with one of the summer interns here for the past week or so, and noticed today that in his emails he started signing them like me, with name followed by phone extension. Made me feel kind of like a big shot, now that I have college kids looking to me for an example here at work. I remember the days when I was new here and had to copy that kind of stuff from the older engineers at the time. Haha... I'm awesome.
As many of you know, in early April, I decided to buy a house (link). During the weeks that followed, Olivia's mom took me to see a pretty wide variety of places - townhouses, single family homes, brand new, 20 years old, from Elk Grove Village to Des Plaines to Arlington Heights to Palatine to Schaumburg.
As I mentioned in previous entries, there were some places that I liked, but each one had its drawback. Some were too far, some too close to the highway, some had terrible layout, etc. One was absolutely perfect, except it only had a one car garage. And then a lot of them were just too freaking expensive for me.
Finally, I narrowed down my choices to 2 places. One was a brand new townhouse right off the Rand exit on 53, a pretty good location. The only things I didn't like were that the master bedroom was weak, and the taxes were probably going to be really high. The other was a townhouse in Schaumburg. Good location (5 mins from Woodfield and highways), slightly lower price and lower taxes. Only thing is that it was older (17 years), although the owners did replace a lot of things and it was still in pretty good condition.
I brought my family to go look at the two places with me one last time, and for the most part they liked both. I guess secretly I was hoping they would make the decision for me, but no such luck.
It's kind of interesting when I think about the major decisions in my life so far, I haven't really had to make them. When I was applying to colleges, U of I accepted me before I even finished applying to anywhere else. Since I couldn't really see myself going to another place for way more money to study engineering, I pretty much stopped applying anywhere else. Then when it came time to find a job, the market was so bad. My first offer came from NG and at that point there really was not much to think about. I guess in both cases things worked out okay.
Anyways, what was trying to say is that in this case, there was no easy decision as far as choosing which house to offer. At one point I contemplated flipping a coin so if it turned out to be a bad decision, I could blame the coin and not myself. But eventually, after giving it a lot more thought, prayer, discussion with those around me, and spreadsheet analysis (yes I am serious), I think the right choice finally came to me. I settled on the Schaumburg one.
The offer went in Sunday night, followed by a couple days of back and forth negotiation on the final price and other contract details. Negotiation is not my thing to say the least, and I think it was especially frustrating in this case. I mean, when you're talking about something that's in the hundreds of thousands, a few thousand dollars of difference might not seem like a lot. You definitely start to lose track of what these numbers mean, as far as the amount of debt I would be in and what I would be paying every month for the next 5, 10, 15, 30 or whatever years it ends up being. All I knew is that I liked the place and it would suck if the whole deal fell through because you can't agree on a matter of 1% of the total price.
Thankfully, after a day or two, an agreement was finally reached. Both sides signed a contract, and I wrote out a check for the "earnest fee". As I was signing all these documents, it almost felt like I was signing my life away. I know that the real transaction and much bigger deal will be at closing, but still. I've probably signed my name thousands of times, ranging from credit card transactions and personal checks, to high school yearbooks or the sign-in sheet at IMPE when I forgot my student ID. This was a new feeling. It's like "wow, this time my signature actually means something."
The next steps were the home inspection, having a lawyer go through the contract, and deciding on a mortgage. First two were pretty straightforward. Not saying they were easy, but I didn't really have to do much, just pay other people to do them for me.
Finding a mortgage was where things got complicated again. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with random brokers who I knew nothing about, but mostly with friends or family friends who I could reasonably trust. Thanks especially to Rich for patiently answering my questions and providing very helpful knowledge to a mortgage newbie like myself.
Nevertheless, going through all the estimates I got from lenders and trying to figure out which was the best deal made my head spin. And I'm pretty good at math, so I can only imagine how confused some other people would be. I thought I would just find the lowest rate and that would be that. But then there's "points" and "closing costs" to factor in. Then closing costs is broken down into subcategories, that some lenders cover and others don't.
After crunching some numbers, most of the estimates seemed to add up to be pretty close with each other. Basically it really just came down to making my best guess as to how long I would be staying at this house. And I still honestly don't know. I hope it's at least 5 years, but by then who knows what will happen.
At any rate (har har), I think by now the major decisions I need to make have all been made. Still have to actually get approved for the mortgage, and there's also more negotiating between the lawyers and the realtors of both sides on some of the details of the contract, but I'm starting to see the end of this tunnel that is the closing date (currently set for the 2nd week of July).
Overall, this whole process has been pretty hectic so far but also a good experience. I mean, I wish there didn't have to be so many people and so much paperwork involved, but I guess that's how things work in our system. I do understand the need for realtors, lawyers, etc. and the roles they play in the process. Still, I wonder whether there was ever a time when people just bought houses directly from each other, with a simple "handing over of money" and "giving of keys". That would have been so much easier, and take like 5 mins to do.
On the other hand, going through all these hoops has forced me to learn more about things like mortgages, taxes, home maintenance, and be more aware of what's going on in general. And that's definitely a good thing.
For example, did any of you guys know that there was a "7% Assessment Cap" enacted in Cook County recently to limit the amount that property taxes could increase per year? I'm guessing that unless you own a house in Cook County, you are like the pre-yesterday-Me and had no knowledge of such a thing. In case any of you are interested see here for explanation.
And before last month, I had no idea what the heck an "amortization table" was, or much of a clue what the latest interest rates were. Whenever economic figures used to come out in the news, I'd read about them, but never really thought of them as affecting my life much. Now, not saying I'm an expert on mortgages or the economy or anything, but at least I tend to pay more attention to that stuff, because I feel like it actually means something to me in a practical sense.
Well, that was way more than I intended to write on the subject. I probably could've summed it up in one sentence: "I think I done bought me a house, fellas". But now you all have an idea of what I have been doing for the past few weeks.
*****
Oh and let me get this straight - so in that song, R Kelly's girl basically set up the whole thing? Like Cathy/Mary, Rufus, and Chuck introduced her to the cop, and then staged the whole scene in the morning just to mess with him? Or, was it one big coincidence, Chuck and Rufus really were secret lovers, and he just happened to hook up with Cathy/Mary? In either case, how would she know that the cop stopped him on the way back? Something doesn't add up...
*****
I've been working with one of the summer interns here for the past week or so, and noticed today that in his emails he started signing them like me, with name followed by phone extension. Made me feel kind of like a big shot, now that I have college kids looking to me for an example here at work. I remember the days when I was new here and had to copy that kind of stuff from the older engineers at the time. Haha... I'm awesome.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Trapped In the Closet
Is anyone else out there as stoked as I am to hear part 5 of R Kelly's song? I thought it was over with part 3, when he left Cathy/Mary, Rufus, and Chuck.... but then the story just got spicier. He pulls back the covers..... then he finds a rubber..... What a great song!!
Best part (in part 2): She said 'you busted meeeee, and that much I agreeeeeee, you caught me cheeee-tiiiing, but this is a little extreeeeeeme!!!'
Awesome.
Is anyone else out there as stoked as I am to hear part 5 of R Kelly's song? I thought it was over with part 3, when he left Cathy/Mary, Rufus, and Chuck.... but then the story just got spicier. He pulls back the covers..... then he finds a rubber..... What a great song!!
Best part (in part 2): She said 'you busted meeeee, and that much I agreeeeeee, you caught me cheeee-tiiiing, but this is a little extreeeeeeme!!!'
Awesome.
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