connoisseur series500

Really happy that this topic was brought up as I've often wondered if I were possibly hurting my cds and player by keeping the cd in the system when I turned the car off. I even keep the cd player on when I turn off the car. Do you guys keep the cds in but turn off or disengage the cd player facade when you leave the car? I just shut everything down midstream. Once I had my car broken into and my cd player was taken (along with my disc!) Fortunately, it wasn't a rare cd or anything and I was able to get another copy.

Terrific move on the part of the Titans to pick up O'Donnell. I would really rest up Mcnair for the playoffs. He is simply too valuable to play hurt every week.

This seems to be the consensus Super Bowl pick right now, SS, so you're hardly going out on a limb. Still, we applaud your willingness to make your prediction now. I also believe it will be the Pats V. Eagles Superbowl. We actually beat the Eagles twice this season as we defeated them in a preseason game as well. Right now the Eagles are playing great team ball; reminds me of...well...us! Their scary for that reason. Right now, Minnesota is unloading on KC. The Chiefs look totally overrated right now. I wouldn't even rank them in the top four in the powerrankings right now.

Great news, Evan. I'm still digging this one. So apparently is Jim Sangrey who has been listening to it for a much longer time than I have. I was listening to it again today and thinking, "Man, this band is TIGHT!"

Here's another vote for the session. I also think $20 is a bit steep. Don't recall what I paid for mine, but it was around $15, I think.

I've been fortunate in that I generally have no difficulty getting to sleep. This is something to appreciate just as some of us here boasted how they go to the toilet and do their business without any time to read anything on the can. Anyway... Try this as an attitude change: if you cannot sleep, you tell yourself, "Hot Dog! I don't need to sleep and I've got more time to spend on stuff I really want to do, such as finish the book I'm reading, or listening to those unheard cds in your collection; or study a chess opening/ending/middlegame B) or write some letters or emails to people you've been holding off. Or even to a few silent chores around the house. After all that, you'll suddenly feel very sleepy. Basically, the trick is to get your mind off your concerns and issues.

Yes, I did and it wasn't fun. I came back from Asia after losing my fortune and was unemployed for nearly a year (mostly due to culture shock!) Just believe in yourself. Now I have to go through a fairly big career change once more as I will be leaving my company early 2004. I will have to give up the book of clients that I had built up over 7 1/2 years and start all over again. Working in corporate America sucks; and I think it sucks more today than it ever did. God save all of us poor working fools...

Maren's advice regarding temp service was excellent. I too am considering a job change, but temp service wouldn't be an option for me because I earn a disproportionately greater amount than my wife does; and it's up to me to feed the family. However, in your situtation, Tom, it seems a real possibility. Generally, healthcare is the area to get into, but you have to decided whether that's suitbable for you. There is nursing and medical billing, and coding and pharmaceutical sales and so on. If I were 18 years old all over again, I'd become a pharmacist, I think.

It's easy. It doesn't show any of the cards it shows you first the second time around. These organ guys are so bright. I was as stumped as DEEP.

Thank you for the song, guys. Sidenote: Jim Dye: who got kayoed?

I called my boss today on the phone. (True story.) He answers, and I say: "Hey Jeff, this is Joe Horne calling from the end zone..."

Sorry to derail the thread and get on my soapbox guys, but go out and get life insurance if you don't have enough of it. Talk to your agent or check out the internet. I'm delivering a check for $225,000 to the widow of a man I wrote two term policies. He died at 56 from lung cancer which hit him out of the blue. He was a nonsmoker, but had some exposure to asbestos during his navy days. He was self employed and like most of his kind, felt his business was his "retirement." In other words, he had no IRAs and no 401k. Of course, his business wasn't worth much when he died because he was the business. It's so sad... Damn, I wish I had sold him $500,000. It's never enough! Okay Mark, back to regular scheduled programming...

Can't Mark. You guys are all out of state and I'm leaving that business anyway. Getting out of the insurance business. My words are true nevertheless. No one should die prematurely without life insurance. Term insurance is incredibly cheap. Too many people die without it for whatever reason.

Such forward-thinking is indeed laudatory. Personally, I've got a ton of life insurance and that's what's most important. Yes, there's some value to my various collections but if one is to plan ahead then the main thing is to settle one's life insurance. And if you have an adequate amount of it then you can donate these collections to universities and such.

These polls of yours keep changing, Dan. I thought Lansing already beat out St. Louis in the other poll? Now Chicago has been thrown in. What about Ann Arbor? Again, I feel we are talking about two different meetings here. The Ann Arbor meeting refers to the opportunity to catch Organissimo live in a small club and it can serve as a get together at the same time. The Chicago meeting will be a grander affair with potentially more people showing up. If you don't want to come to Ann Arbor, then that's fine Dan. I realize that you will be coming from a long distance. But there are quite a few of us who are willing to see Organissimo in Ann Arbor. These same people might also go to Chicago later on as well.

Pretty stupid. Outrageous that our tax dollars fund this type of "effort." The ironic thing for me here is that I also believe the police force shouldn't waste their time on drug interdicting either. Man, I wish they would legalize some of this stuff.

Well, let's count em up. Here's two (me and Brian.)

I like the idea as well. Again, I can put some people up. I live only 45 minutes from Ann Arbor. The idea should be to see Organissimo live locally, and we can all get together in a big city later in the year (like Chicago.)

I can't answer because I would never be in that kind of situation; even in a fantasy world, I would not be in that situation.

Uh, no problem! I bet my attack has been caused by there being too few jazz fans dying around here... ahem... and, seriously, I know not one person here who owns at least one Mosaic set, believe it or not... ubu Well now you know one person. I don't have a single Mosaic set. I've always collected the individual cds. Was I ever tempted to buy them? Sure. The closest I ever came to buying one was from one of Grey's offerings, but I was always too late. I've got my eyes on the Duke Pearson select, but I won't buy it for $40 given the fact that I've got 3-4 of the individual cds. Now if I were to find one at Grey's prices...

Hey Mark, How long should the poll remain open for? Looks like it has been defeated.

Happy Birthday to a terrific guy!

Do flu shots really help, Ghostie? I think that the flu manifests itself in multiple viruses and the chances that a particular virus might be covered by a vaccine is remote. Any medical people here to shed light on this?

I collected a certain column from a British Chess magazine called (appropriately) "Chess." Basically, 10 positions were given in each month's issue and a panel of masters/grandmasters predicted the correct move for the position. The majority choice would earn 10 points, and the second most common move, 8 points and so on. I basically studied 2-3 positions on a daily basis and thought over the move WITHOUT MOVING THE PIECES. If there is a "secret" that I have, it would be to avoid moving the pieces while thinking over the board. This helps to develop your calculation abilities: "if I move here, then he'll move there, then I do this, and he does that" etc. During my tournament, I encounted less difficulty during the critical parts of the game than my opponents did. I was able to calculate 5-6 moves while my opponent might go 3-4 moves deep, and that gave me an advantage right there. Of course, chess knowledge helps as well, but the mind has to be exercised just as muscles need to be. I feel I was better prepared than my opponents despite their high ratings. That's my "secret." Oh yes, I had a good night's sleep before the tournament.

There are obviously a lot of talented athletes in the NFL such as Michael Vick. They're fun to watch, but to me, the joy of football is to watch a team win the game, not individuals. Football is a team sport and the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Witness the New England Patriots, who have no real superstars on their team. Everyone contributes to their victories from special teams to the defense to the offense to the role players to the coaching staff to the head of player personnel. They just play good team ball, which is a dependable way to win. Individual brilliance can win some games, but in the end you cannot rely upon it.