ParkTrips

I assume you mean R U faster than a redneck [sic]? It's pretty annoying honestly.

I wonder if byu is gonna have a season just like last year - play really well one week, then have a loss that leaves you scratching your head (Virginia?) I really am not looking forward to playing them

Finally a reason to go visit the park again!! I haven't been to WW in years. But seriously... Sell WW? No. They would have been better off selling WW before announcing a new park. It's worth less now that there is more competition. Change the parks strategy? Sure. But no way they sell it off immediately.

Nice! No HOA I assume

I went to Tech and still live less than 10 miles away, so hopefully I can help. I know of a couple others here who went to Tech, so hopefully they will chime in as well I see you are out of state, so the first question I will ask is how are you going to pay for college? That is probably the most important thing when choosing a school. Georgia Tech is a fantastic school for qualitative disciplines. All of the engineering programs are ranked at the top. Even if you decide to change your mind, the College of Computing and College of Business are excellent as well. The school has one of the best co-op programs in the country, which is especially popular among engineering students - this helps Tech grads when it comes to being competitive in the job market: something like 80-85% of graduates last year had a job offer by graduation, compared to a national average closer to 50%. And the alumni network rivals many private schools. It is a very good school for undergrad, and even better for graduate degrees. It is pretty diverse too (not something we see at many southern schools), and you will meet some of the brightest minds in the world at Tech With that said, there are potential drawbacks. First of all, it can be extremely demanding. But I consider this to be as much a positive as a negative, as the misery is only for 5 years (good luck getting out in 4), while the skills and work ethic you pick up will carry with you for life. The campus life is ok at best too - it's a southern school, so there's a big Greek presence, but its an engineering school first and foremost, so pretty much everyone at Tech is nerdy and often socially awkward in some sense (before anyone else says it.. myself included ). Since Tech is located in Atlanta, it presents a much different environment than, say, Virginia Tech or Cornell or PSU or whatever other schools you may be considering (based on your location). Which brings me back to price. Recently, a young man working at Publix saw my GT shirt and asked if I went there.. I said that I did.. he asked if it was worth the money, and I said absolutely. However, I paid in-state tuition. At 5k/semester (Which is twice as high as it was 10 years ago), it is a bargain in my mind. Think about it this way: 8 semesters is 40k before rooming: that's just one year's after-tax salary for the average Tech grad who makes $60-65k in that first year. BUT - if you have to pay out of state tuition without scholarships or mommy and daddy's help, I'd have to think harder about it. Especially once you factor in room and board, you're probably looking at 100k. I'd say that if you are comparing it to PSU or another in-state school for you, I'd probably have a long hard thought about what you want to do, where you want to go after graduation, etc. But, if you're looking exclusively at out of state schools or can get someone else to fund your education.. Georgia Tech is going to be hard to beat on an overall level. Good luck. Feel free to contact me if you'd like more. I honestly expected this to be Joey talking shit about football.. but then I remembered that he can't do that anymore

This has kept me happy this offseason

My apologies to Ross for a slightly off-topic post, but I thought it might be of help to other followes I've followed this thread since it's inception, as most of the regular posters here have. I've salivated over Ross's meals and have lusted over a Big Green Egg for quite a while now. For my birthday, my girlfriend wanted to get me an Egg. I felt guilty having her buy me such an expensive gift, but loved the idea. We compromised and got a much cheaper option at Lowes - a Char griller 6719. It's only $300 - came out to $350 after tax and a cover, and it includes a stand (which IIRC the Egg does not). I'm not going to say that it is better than an Egg. I've had a lot of meals off of an Egg though (they are built about 5 miles from my house), and I'd say it is near-as-makes-no-difference for my palate - the cook still makes the meal. I will admit there is definitely more tolerance in the build, but so far I haven't had any issues with the grill - it might not last as long as other grills, but I don't see it falling apart anytime soon either. Online reviews are solid as well. The main difference is that the Egg and other higher-end products are fully ceramic, where this grill is only ceramic on the inside. Still does a great job insulating heat, and after six weeks of use on a weekly basis, I am very happy with my gift. Basically, what I'm suggesting is that if you too would like to play with a kamodo-style grill, but are a bit hesitant with a $700-1000 grill, perhaps you can try this one out first.

Bump This topic doesn't seem to have the same activity it used to, but I know there are still collectors out there. I have been cleaning out my closet this weekend, listing a bunch of my amusement park collection on ebay since I'm not really into parks and coasters these days and I could use the storage space current occupied. However, in the case of maps, I don't really feel its appropriate to sell them since they are mostly free of charge (and heck I didn't even pick up all of them myself). I have parks from all over the US, Europe, and even some from Asia that Robb and Elissa generously hooked me up with back in the day. I'd reckon there are easily 100+ parks represented, some with multiple "vintages", if you will. There are lots of multiples, so you could further trade those for even more maps. I just want to clean out my house and will ship these within the lower 48 for free. I think I posted this before, but only got interest from 13 year olds, whom I don't feel comfortable asking for personal information from, so 18+ please. Preference will be given to those I personally know, and if there is enough interest I may just split up the lot and mail to a couple people. Just shoot me a message Thanks Joe

People still care about USC? Didn't they lose against a crappy ACC school in a shitty bowl?

A hot lap of the 'ring Hiking in the fjords Liechtenstein. Just because Ferdinand ice festival Monaco for the GP Cantillon (Basically a lot of shit in Europe) Do a bobsled run North Korea. Because forbidden. A South Pacific island (no preference) Rio (to eat) National championship game with my school playing (fat chance) And obviously a ton of other things. I've seen most of the good stuff in the US, I need to branch out more

I think Kerry wood and roger Clemens' 20k games are more impressive than any no-hitter or perfect game: it was nearly ALL them. Most no-hitters include a bit of luck or good defense. Hell AJ Burnett walked 9 guys in a no-hitter a decade ago, yet it still counts... Btw, did baseball season begin? Meh

Yeah, we really need to hit up Andretti or this place one day. I didn't know AMP had karts too - sweet! Looks even better than Andretti sign me up!

Solid

Unless they have flat tires or a weak engine or something, drifting a go kart should be really easy I love go karts. We have a phenomenal track about half an hour from me (indoor and fast like the one in the OP) but I never get up there. My car is basically a go kart too.. And I drive it as such Btw this might be the best go kart on earth - a stripped out Porsche boxter that was on Craigslist for 3500 recently

Shit got cray in Geneva http://jalopnik.com/all-the-crazy-expensive-and-crazy-expensive-cars-that-451173758

IT also depresses me how much home-grown talent ends up going out of state =/

I refuse t o give any of these kids the time of day until they do something on the field. Fuck the antics. I just don't get the hype around signing day (note: my school doesn't get much hype.. which may be why I don't care. Even if they did though..) In related news, I'm most excited about GT signing a kicker (#3 in the nation) - we haven't had a good kicker in years

Yesterday was supposed to be my graduation ceremony from college. However, my parents didn't come, and I don't really care about the ceremony, so I looked for something else to do to celebrate my long-awaited graduation. About a month ago it hit me: exotic driving experience in orlando, as you might recall Elissa did back earlier this year. So I came down with on of my friends on Friday for a 10am showdown with a super car at Disney world. What car did I choose? Why, the Ferrari 458 Italia, of course. After sitting through the 30 minute instructional class, we were grouped by car. They also had a 911, an R8, a Gallardo, and a Gallardo Superleggera on this day. We first took photos with the car, then we were given our order. I was the first to drive the Ferrari - fuck yes. To start, it is a rather small cockpit. My M coupe has more in the well in terms of leg room, and with the helmet on, I honestly didn't have enough head room. The seat bolsters keep you tight. The dash is covered with my tech than I could ever imagine - the opposite of my car, which is a 6MT with only a DSC-off button in terms of tech. We rolled out first, and after a brief convo with the instructor (safety, rules, my choice to use the F1 shifting), I was ready to start. I didn't launch it, though to say my start was more aggressive than everybody else's would be fair. The acceleration was fantastic - the gear box is phenomenal. The speed at which it changes gears is incredible (more on that in a minute). The roar of the big NA V8 right behind me was music to my ears. We started out in a straight - the course is about 1/3 of the oval, followed by some AX-style esses through the infield. Coming down from 120ish on the oval to be able to turn into the infield might have been the most arousing experience of all - first, the massive 8-piston carbon brakes were incredible. It was amazing how fast they could retard the car. But, what really got me, was the downshifting. Oh. My. God. Pull back on the carbon shift paddle and the blip produces the best sound I've ever heard a car make. It left me in awe. Going through the esses, I was able to see how well it could handle - in the session prior to ours, a driver spun out here. I really don't know how, as I was really pushing it around in the corners, and it just did exactly what I wanted. The steering was extremely responsive - it didn't take much effort to hit the corners t the apex. Everything about the car was amazing, I can't imagine a better way to celebrate graduating college, apart from maybe buying a 458(which isn't going to happen for me anytime soon). Admittedly, it was pricey, but as exotic car experience expands to other tracks across the nation next year, I'd have to highly recommend at least doing it once if you're any sort of a car geek.

lots of buzz on social media today that the ACC is about to implode... we shall see

Both Tech this year and UCLA last year benefited from being in divisions with good teams under post-season bans Let's just say that if Tech doesn't get a bowl and the extra practices to develop our freshman qb (not to mention break one of the longest active bowl appearance streaks), Miami may approach Clemson levels of hate (not quite UGA, mind you)

From the local paper (not just some fan site) for what it's worth. Jewey, you're going down!

I have been debating getting a new card now to get a nice rewards card. I pay off my card monthly, and while I'd love to receive these benefits, I probably only put $15-20k per year on my card... so I really don't know if its worth it. I have a Chase card now and have considered upgrading to Sapphire, or going for a solid AMEX.. hm

Can Lane coach D? We need a new DC who can recruit.. I'd really like to have seen Tech not turn the ball over five times on the Georgia side of the field. Nothing worse than losing to those mutts, especially when you out-gain them on offense and control the ball for nearly 40 mins. I am cheering for the Tide big time this week!

Is the Big Ten really enough of an upgrade over the ACC to spend $50M? Who does the ACC go after to round out the conference? hmmmm