Augmented Reality

Check out my post on Medium at https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/dea45d2cf9fb

Aquaponics + Roofs = Save The World

I wrote a short piece about aquaponics on Medium. Check it out if you'de like. https://medium.com/the-ingredients-2/4dc42c59c759

The Airport Life

Being one of the people who has to check in people on flights is an extremely difficult job. I hadn't ever really given that particular job any thought. I've never missed a flight, so I've never had to deal with the frustration of hoping that someone gets caught in a traffic jam or gets stuck in line. Today I missed my first flight. My ticket said departure was at 7:55, I showed up to the front desk at 7:47. 

The door was closed. 

I was the first person on standby, and the 12 people behind me were shit out of luck. They weren't happy. Not that I was excited to have missed my flight, but the attendants have a job to do. I was disappointed, angry at myself for always cutting it close. For a fleeting second I felt frustration towards the attendants; I used to be a server in a shitty italian restaurant, and I could see myself in them.

Three people complained to see a manager. The attendants knew the drill. They had been through this before. They were numb to the angry voices and the snooty attitudes.

I could see my self putting in an order for a paying customer, bringing it out, and having the comp their meal because it wasn't cooked correctly. Or the order had something extra that they insist they had asked not to be included, but was included anyways. I could see myself registering the words going through my ears. Not feeling anything, just registering. Like an automaton. I was the desk attendant. She doesn't have to comp people's meals, but she gets reemed day in and day out by those who missed their flight.

We were the people who couldn't set our alarms fifteen minutes early. We are the people who are entitled to having a seat on a plane, even though we missed the first boarding call. 

I sat through two departures. At noon, my name was called to get on a flight to Dallas. I was the last person to board sitting in the very last row. I'll probably have to wait another four hours to get to my final destination.

At least I set my daily fantasy lineup. Wouldn't have if I made my flight. I cashed for the first time:

So close! DFS #5

Seriously, the name of the game is pitching. If you can find cheap, effective pitching and are able to put your odds into stud hitters, I'm starting believe your odds of cashing are increased. I was 16 points from the money, and my pitchers shit the bed. Slowly tweaking my metrics by how I choose my pitchers, but I"m generally going with ones who play against less than stellar offenses. It's all about the odds, I believe the dice will start rolling for me soon. 

A Word on Being a Sports Fan in Florida

I went to a bar with some friends to watch the Heat beat the Spurs last night. Huge place, 10+ pool tables, darts, and T.V's in every conceivable corner. It was packed. I was surprised (or maybe not so much) to see about a 70/30 split in the establishment. The minority of Spurs fans were nearly as loud as the Heat fans in the place.

The thing about Florida, is that we are a special case when it comes to sports. Tampa and Orlando are hub cities. Many people move in for a few years, get on with their careers, and move away to another city. Many people who live in Florida are immigrants. Many people in Florida are snow birds come to retire and play golf in the sunshine state. Miami is basically another country. If you don't speak spanish, good luck.

The Tampa Bay Rays (that aren't even located IN Tampa) and Buccaneers are mocked around their leagues for lack of attendance. The only time those venues sell out are when the Yankees, Red Sox, or some other team from the northeast comes down. Buena suerte trying to sell out a Marlins or Dolphins game. The Dolphins and Bucs ranked 29th and 31st in attendance in 2012. Rays ranked dead last (luckily the organization still turns a profit) last year. The Marlins were 18th, and that's all from the first half of last year, before their epic fire sale. The Jaguars did alright at 20th, and are one Tim Tebow trade from being number one in attendance forever. The Magic were at 15th. To be honest for a lost year, I am impressed that they were so high.

Back to the bar. So the Heat win, and the place gets loud. Real loud. Like Miami loud. For a good five minutes, people are celebrating giving high fives, dancing, things you usually do when your team wins an NBA championship. About fifteen minutes after the game ended, the bar was less than half as full as it was while the game was going. Fifteen minutes! I know people have to work the next day, but for some reason I was disappointed that the celebrations didn't last.

Florida is a tough place to be a sports franchise. We have beaches, golf courses, the weather is wonderful most of the year. Our major cities are extremely spread out. Polar opposite of Boston or New York. It's extremely difficult to live without  a car here (funny, we have some of the highest interest rates in the country), and with sports closely follows drinking. It's not convenient to reach our stadiums, most people need to drive 30+ minutes to see their teams. Combined with most people living in Florida not being from Florida, we may have an explanation as to why Florida sports teams have such a difficult time filling their seats. Maybe this next generation of Floridians will change things. We're such a wonderful mix of cultures, and with sports being the one common denominator we can all share, it saddens me that many don't participate.

I was rooting for the Spurs.

DFS Baseball #4

Got my ass kicked yesterday.

Played in the early Moon Shot. I was 30 points from cashing. Trevor Cahill got pulled from the first inning after getting hit by a ball. Figure if he'd had a regular start I would have been right around my average of 10-15 points from cashing. Stults also did not quite perform up to par. This has been a fairly consistent trend the last couple days so I'm changing it up today, going to see if I can get some value pitching and spend on hitters.

Trades (!)

Trades throw curve balls into fantasy leagues. They can mean the difference from winning championships to completely ruining your season. You have your managers who always scheming throwing out low ball offers on a weekly basis and you have those who clamp down on their team and refuse to take any offers ever.

Most of the time you want to facilitate trades with the end game in mind. To help you get into the playoffs with the best chance to win, or you have locked your spot in the playoffs and are maximizing your odds.

Some basic rules:

1. The best deals are made when both sides win.
2. Buy low, sell high.
3. Do not make a 1 for 2 unless you are extremely confident both players will produce.

Some scenarios to consider trading a piece on your team include injuries to your team (or an opponent's) and playoff and regular season schedules. Look at trades as if you're fitting together a puzzle. Sometimes your puzzle is missing a piece and you just need that one player to round out your team. You want your team to be as top heavy as possible when headed into the playoffs. No need for depth if you're not going to use it. If you have depth in one position, try to swap that depth for more top end production. You want to maximize for upside, not reduce downside.

This is where the scout in you can really excel as well. Look for extraneous factors that may be inhibiting players production. Look for reasons players might be over producing. If you had traded for Doug Martin before week six last year, you came out on top. Sometimes the luck monster hits you in the nuts and you trade for Fred Jackson right before he gets hurt.

Here is a thread of trades that went wrong for people: http://www.reddit.com/r/fantasyfootball/comments/1519jt/i_traded_aj_green_and_it_cost_me_a_playoff_spot/