It's 2017 and I still can't believe that...

[PHLBOS]

Until you can get quarters online without any kind of fees or laundry machines start accepting credit cards, there will be a need for physical bank branches.

There's these certain rectangular pieces of green paper that can be used at any change machine located at laundromats, car washes, etc. to get quarters (notice that I did not mention banks); maybe you've heard of it... cash. 

[ColossalBlocks]

It's not butter.

[Brandon]

There's enough interest in soccer in the USA to keep it going, it's just always going to be a minor sport.  It's not going to replace (American) football or baseball etc.

Shhhh.  Don't tell that to the fanatics who think it'll be a really big sport here (or Canada or Australia or anywhere except much of Europe and South America).

[formulanone]

There's enough interest in soccer in the USA to keep it going, it's just always going to be a minor sport.  It's not going to replace (American) football or baseball etc.

Shhhh.  Don't tell that to the fanatics who think it'll be a really big sport here (or Canada or Australia or anywhere except much of Europe and South America).

It might take another 50 years for it to happen...one day it may join the Big Four Sports, but even then, it's only likely to be big in larger cities with a burgeoning immigrant population, and less so in rural areas (if at all). But it won't replace American Football any time soon...the irony is that soccer isn't the greatest threat to football, but that gently fading interest of NFL/NCAA/HS football coupled with long-term injury fears might relegate out of peak popularity after a few decades. But that sea change hasn't really set in, and it may never happen because every sport has physical risks involved. If parents are less interested in getting their kids to play it, we'll see less players try out, and that has a long-term effect in any sport. I don't think we'll see it completely disappear in my lifetime, but nothing is permanent.

After all, the NFL was a bit of a niche sport compared to baseball and college football, until nationwide broadcasting (1970 or so?) helped it become dominant; we're seeing a decline in the viewership of almost all sports, so it averages out.

[english si]

Houston Dynamo (the Commies used to play pretend that the teams were made up of workers in various industries, thus Moscos Dymamo, meaning "power plant workers", it actually was the KGB's team

I believe Dynamo Kiev is the inspiration for Houston Dynamo's name, though they are using an English word order.

'United' almost certainly is Man U, but Atlanta, DC and Minnesota could have taken their name from various other teams - it's a pretty common suffix, like 'Town' and 'City' or even Wanderers (the first team to win the FA Cup were 'Wanderers', so Bolton, Wolverhampton and Wycombe have it in their name). These suffixes generally aren't used unless there's a clash (only Manchester, Bristol, one of the two Sheffield teams have it) or if it's a nickname (which could be what is going on in Sheffield with Wednesday) and thus used like Leicester are called the Foxes, Wolverhampton the Wolves, Arsenal the Gunners, Swansea the Swans, West Ham the Hammers, Southampton the Saints, etc.

What is interesting is that English County Twenty20 cricket league saw all (except Surrey) of the long (like pre-1900) established county teams pick up American-style nicknames for their teams, despite it making little sense (many have since dropped them, and Yorkshire is on their third name now - though I'd imagine 'Yorkshire Vikings' would stick) - Warwickshire went all in, and the Warwickshire Bears (after the county's emblem) became the Birmingham Bears for alliteration sake. Rugby League did similar, though there wasn't quite the take up, but more have kept their names and there was even Halifax Blue Sox!

However moves to rename soccer clubs in the same way has gone down badly: both Hull City AFC (nicknamed the Tigers) as Hull Tigers, and Cardiff City FC (nicknamed the Bluebirds after the blue bird on their logo, and the blue kit) as Cardiff Dragons (swapping home and away kits so that red, rather than blue, was the main one - to gain support in East Asia) were very opposed by fans and ultimately dropped, though some red and a dragon (legit as Wales) got put on the badge of Cardiff.

[english si]

Shhhh.  Don't tell that to the fanatics who think it'll be a really big sport here (or Canada or Australia or anywhere except much of Europe and South America).

Soccer is a big-enough sport in Australia. It's no less a major sport than soccer in Ireland (where Gaelic football rules, and Rugby comes close second). Arguably soccer down under (not New Zealand, of course) is as popular as rugger.

[noelbotevera]

...that the Grand Unified Alan has not returned.

He took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

But it was a right turn.

But if the Grand Unified Alan has not returned, does that mean the rulers of the Perkins Union and Nimbya have and haven't returned?

[vdeane]

Until you can get quarters online without any kind of fees or laundry machines start accepting credit cards, there will be a need for physical bank branches.

There's these certain rectangular pieces of green paper that can be used at any change machine located at laundromats, car washes, etc. to get quarters (notice that I did not mention banks); maybe you've heard of it... cash. 

My apartment complex does not have a change machine and I've never seen any that does.  Never been to a laundromat in my life.  Plus, my cash tends to be limited to a $20 and a $10 (total $30) since I hardly use it because I find dealing with bills and coins to be inconvenient.  I really only keep some around in case I find myself somewhere that doesn't take anything else, and when I need to use it, I top it off and straighten out the bill distribution (I'm pretty anal about it).  Pretty anal about the quarters too - I like to keep the number of quarters I have to a multiple of 4 so that I'll end a roll evenly once every three weeks.  I do have an extra right now, but only because I'm saving it in the hopes of finding a US Virgin Islands territory quarter to complete my collection (I've never seen one for some reason... starting to think that they're mythical).

[PHLBOS]

Until you can get quarters online without any kind of fees or laundry machines start accepting credit cards, there will be a need for physical bank branches.

There's these certain rectangular pieces of green paper that can be used at any change machine located at laundromats, car washes, etc. to get quarters (notice that I did not mention banks); maybe you've heard of it... cash. 

My apartment complex does not have a change machine and I've never seen any that does.

Neither does mine.  I usually get my quarters from either a laundromat up the road or at a self-serve car-wash that's also nearby.  Side bar: another laundromat near me uses tokens rather than quarters; so not all laundromats are created equal I grant you.

Never been to a laundromat in my life.  Plus, my cash tends to be limited to a $20 and a $10 (total $30) since I hardly use it because I find dealing with bills and coins to be inconvenient.

Dealing with coins, I can see due to their weight; but with bills, I have to disagree.  Having seen my father get into such ridiculous credit-card debt while growing up; I try to only use credit cards for large expenses and/or emergencies.  It has been proven that many get into credit card debt by continually using them for small-ticket items.

Anyway, regarding your original post regarding the need for brick-and-mortar banks: my original post that you replied to was commenting on the increasing number of banks despite the increasing push for on-line banking.  I agree with you in principle that brick-and-mortar banks will still be needed; but does one really need more bank branches w/offices (I'm not referring to stand-alone ATMs)?

[thenetwork]

Until you can get quarters online without any kind of fees or laundry machines start accepting credit cards, there will be a need for physical bank branches.

There's these certain rectangular pieces of green paper that can be used at any change machine located at laundromats, car washes, etc. to get quarters (notice that I did not mention banks); maybe you've heard of it... cash. 

My apartment complex does not have a change machine and I've never seen any that does.

Neither does mine.  I usually get my quarters from either a laundromat up the road or at a self-serve car-wash that's also nearby.  Side bar: another laundromat near me uses tokens rather than quarters; so not all laundromats are created equal I grant you.

Never been to a laundromat in my life.  Plus, my cash tends to be limited to a $20 and a $10 (total $30) since I hardly use it because I find dealing with bills and coins to be inconvenient.

Dealing with coins, I can see due to their weight; but with bills, I have to disagree.  Having seen my father get into such ridiculous credit-card debt while growing up; I try to only use credit cards for large expenses and/or emergencies.  It has been proven that many get into credit card debt by continually using them for small-ticket items.

Anyway, regarding your original post regarding the need for brick-and-mortar banks: my original post that you replied to was commenting on the increasing number of banks despite the increasing push for on-line banking.  I agree with you in principle that brick-and-mortar banks will still be needed; but does one really need more bank branches w/offices (I'm not referring to stand-alone ATMs)?

Not sure if this is company-wide, but the Wells Fargo Banks in my area were all overbuilt: Most Drive Up Tellers have 6-10 lanes while the interior walk up tellers have no less than 10-12 stations. 

[PHLBOS]

Not sure if this is company-wide, but the Wells Fargo Banks in my area were all overbuilt: Most Drive Up Tellers have 6-10 lanes while the interior walk up tellers have no less than 10-12 stations.

Off-topic side-bar (& would become a politically-heated debate on its own): I'm surprised that environmental & anti-car activists haven't crusaded against drive-up windows at banks, fast-food places, etc. yet.  Given the amount of pollution & wasted gas (from idling); one would think that such would be an easy target.

[SSOWorld]

It's not butter.

..that he just won the thread.

[Max Rockatansky]

It's not butter.

..that he just won the thread.

Reply 2.

[SSOWorld]

...that stores still utilize mail-in rebates.

[inkyatari]

...that stores still utilize mail-in rebates.

Rebates are a bit of a scam. They're a product discount you have to work for.  I especially hate how in store circulars they will have the low price of a product in big, beautiful fonts, and underneath *after $6.66 mail in rebate

[formulanone]

...that stores still utilize mail-in rebates.

Bridgestone traditionally does this (get $50-100 back), but they don't mention prices because you could pay between $250 and $1500 for a set of tires. It's sort of better that way, because they won't mix pro-rating and in-store discounting, such as "Get 3 and 1 Free".

At least you can submit for it online in the past few years.

[hbelkins]

...there are unplanned pregnancies, or that people still accidentally get pregnant.

...people start smoking cigarettes.

...people start using addictive illegal drugs.

[ColossalBlocks]

That analog meters are still in use. You'd think the shitty Smart Meters would be completely in-use by now.

[jwolfer]

...there are unplanned pregnancies, or that people still accidentally get pregnant.

...people start smoking cigarettes.

...people start using addictive illegal drugs.

Sex and drugs are fun!
Just kidding sort of

Sex and procreation ate instictivally driven

Drugs activate pleasure center in brain. Doesnt matter the legal status of the drug. People can want oxycontin whether they have a prescription or not. And if your granny gives you a percocet she got for her arthritis for your sprained ankle it still takes away the pain.

Meth and adderal are essentially the same.

Many illegal drugs were made as medications originally(  e. g. heroin)

LGMS428

[hbelkins]

Sex and drugs are fun!
Just kidding sort of

Sex and procreation ate instictivally driven

True, but everyone knows what causes pregnancy and there are ways to prevent it. Why they don't avail themselves of those measures is what puzzles me. Why have unprotected sex and risk an unplanned pregnancy when you can keep it from happening?

Drugs activate pleasure center in brain. Doesnt matter the legal status of the drug. People can want oxycontin whether they have a prescription or not. And if your granny gives you a percocet she got for her arthritis for your sprained ankle it still takes away the pain.

Meth and adderal are essentially the same.

Many illegal drugs were made as medications originally(  e. g. heroin)

But people know the damage recreational use of illegal drugs, including prescription medications, can do. Knowing the risks, why get high?

fixing unmatched bbcode --sso

[Max Rockatansky]

Sex and drugs are fun!
Just kidding sort of

Sex and procreation ate instictivally driven

True, but everyone knows what causes pregnancy and there are ways to prevent it. Why they don't avail themselves of those measures is what puzzles me. Why have unprotected sex and risk an unplanned pregnancy when you can keep it from happening?

Drugs activate pleasure center in brain. Doesnt matter the legal status of the drug. People can want oxycontin whether they have a prescription or not. And if your granny gives you a percocet she got for her arthritis for your sprained ankle it still takes away the pain.

Meth and adderal are essentially the same.

Many illegal drugs were made as medications originally(  e. g. heroin)

But people know the damage recreational use of illegal drugs, including prescription medications, can do. Knowing the risks, why get high?

Affordability, a lot of people can hack the bills for condoms or birth control....even less so if they are buying drugs on the side.

fixed unmatche bbcode --sso

[jwolfer]

No excuse.  Free  condoms from planned parenthood. Also sometimes "unplanned" pregnancies are done on purpose.

For some having a kid is an achievement. Paying for anything for that kid is not important.

Americans are over medicated in general

LGMS428

[Max Rockatansky]

No excuse.  Free  condoms from planned parenthood. Also sometimes "unplanned" pregnancies are done on purpose.

For some having a kid is an achievement. Paying for anything for that kid is not important.

Americans are over medicated in general

LGMS428

How many people who are having these unplanned pregnancies really know about those programs or where they can find free stuff?  I'm not saying it isn't inexcusable but there is a huge level or willful ignorance that really is a day-to-day thing for a lot of people out there.  Really financially there isn't a benefit to having a kid, there is no way the tax benefits outweigh the expenses of raising a child. If I recall correctly isn't the average cost of a child somewhere between 12-18k these days? 

[Takumi]

No excuse.  Free  condoms from planned parenthood. Also sometimes "unplanned" pregnancies are done on purpose.

For some having a kid is an achievement. Paying for anything for that kid is not important.

Americans are over medicated in general

LGMS428

How many people who are having these unplanned pregnancies really know about those programs or where they can find free stuff?  I'm not saying it isn't inexcusable but there is a huge level or willful ignorance that really is a day-to-day thing for a lot of people out there.  Really financially there isn't a benefit to having a kid, there is no way the tax benefits outweigh the expenses of raising a child. If I recall correctly isn't the average cost of a child somewhere between 12-18k these days? 

At least ten times that.

[Max Rockatansky]

No excuse.  Free  condoms from planned parenthood. Also sometimes "unplanned" pregnancies are done on purpose.

For some having a kid is an achievement. Paying for anything for that kid is not important.

Americans are over medicated in general

LGMS428

How many people who are having these unplanned pregnancies really know about those programs or where they can find free stuff?  I'm not saying it isn't inexcusable but there is a huge level or willful ignorance that really is a day-to-day thing for a lot of people out there.  Really financially there isn't a benefit to having a kid, there is no way the tax benefits outweigh the expenses of raising a child. If I recall correctly isn't the average cost of a child somewhere between 12-18k these days? 

At least ten times that.

To clarify I meant annually, definitely isn't something that is cheap these days especially if you want a kid to go to college without loans or a scholarship.