u/turn_for_do

I've come to the realization that my swing has gradually gotten worse over time and after recording it, I know it's absolute trash. I would like to spend a session or two with an instructor, but I'm not going to find slowpitch instructors around here.

Has anybody used an baseball instructor for swing mechanics help on their slowpitch game? I know there are differences in approaching a swing for slowpitch, but a lot of the overall mechanics are still the same. I will make much more progress with someone in person watching me and helping me make adjustments in real time vs trying to adjust based on reddit comments.

I've ran with a Chase Sapphire Preferred for 11 years now and it's really been the only card I've used. I used to fly Southwest a lot for their 2 free checked bags and more, but with the direction they've gone recently, I'm looking for fly United much more since they're pretty much on even ground price-wise now.

I found many posts here asking one OR the other. But what about rolling with both? After the SUB, I'd basically just use it for purchasing the few flights a year I'd take with United.

United Explorer

- $0 annual fee first year then $150

- First checked bag free ($45 each way will pay for the annual fee in a heartbeat)

- 50,000 miles SUB (after $3k purchases in first 3 months, ez pz)

- $100 after spending $10,000 (I probably won't be reaching this, but I'm not broken up about it)

- Priority Boarding (boarding last has never really impacted me but nice perk I guess)

- Lounge Pass (can be neat I guess. I don't usually spend a lot of time at the airport in long layovers but I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later.)

- TSA Pre-check/Global Entry credit (my sapphire has this too)

From what I can see, I would be earning more points with my chase sapphire preferred purchases outside of direct purchases of United Flights with the United Explorer card.

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So any others out there in r/CreditCards land operate with both cards, and if so what kind of strategy do you run with? Thanks!

I personally started doing a lot of traveling starting in the mid 2010's. I remember being able to buy the most basic fare, a round-trip flight from DC to Chicago on United Airlines and choose my seat for $180 - $200 and add a checked bag for $25 each way. I'm sure going back 10 years before that for folks who traveled, flights were cheaper than that.

Today the fare for a domestic flight has been broken down into so many different tiers. The cheapest basic fare for a similar 2 hour flight (like DC to Chicago, weekday to weekday, not during a holiday, 3 months in advance) gives you no carry-on, can't choose your seat, checked bags cost almost $50 each way, and that still costs more than what I could get for all of that whole package just 10 years ago.

It's pretty fair to say one of the biggest assumptions is that over time, everything just gets more expensive... What would it take for the airline industry to actually drop prices though?

I've never traveled to a softball tournament and I'm considering going to Vegas for the Big Mega Draft in late October. I've never been officially rated, but I have been playing in a league for a few years in Colorado where it's generally assumed I'm a C rated player.

Because of how much softball I play and search online, social media sites feed me shorts on FB and YT of slow pitch clips. I have recently started getting clips from the Windy City Spiderz event and it's people absolutely annihilating the ball.

I will admit it is a bit intimidating seeing clips like this. I'm a 38/M and certainly not one of those huge guys who can absolutely crank balls out of the park. I have read how all the teams are randomized, but I also don't know if as a C player, I should expect to show up on a team and get playing time if teams are filled with A's and B's.

There is a tournament in Colorado very close to me in early September, but that one sold out before I found out about it, otherwise this wouldn't even be a debate. My concern is that I am way in over my head as a C and traveling to Vegas booking hotels for a week, using all the PTO, etc. But if others here have done these events before and can share their own experiences I'd be very grateful.

So quick summary of me. I'm 38 and I feel lost in so many aspects of life. My ADD has come back with a gusto (basic meds from my physician haven't been helpful), I need to make a career change, but my drive to sit down and start learning new things ends before it starts, and yeah I have friends, but I'm single with no confidence in that area either since a breakup a few years back.

After searching various mental health providers in my area for months and months unable to make a decision I'm still at the same crossroads I was at before and I'm curious what others think about whether I should see a therapist or psychiatrist. Here are my 2 biggest factors.

1. Insurance - When I go through my insurance to find providers who are in-network, I find all the in-network businesses I search only list providers that are Advanced psychiatric nurse practitioners and adult psychiatrists. It does not list actual therapists at these locations as being in-network so it will cost an arm and a leg. (so psychiatrist wins on the insurance front. Not sure why therapists are excluded from insurance plans).

2. I know I could benefit from getting the right medication to rewire how my brain is operating right now, but I also could really use someone to talk to in my life. People seem to say that Psychiatrists are just gonna prescribe you meds and not gonna talk to you much at all, whereas therapists will give you that ear much more. (Therapy wins this point)

I'm going nowhere with this constant indecision, but at the same time, I want to make sure I see the individual with the right qualifications.

When I see a tip-in like the Knicks got to win last night, I wonder (as a casual watcher) how much of a tip-in like that is luck vs a skill? Are tip-ins generally a practiced skillset?

I went out shopping today at an Under Armour store, Nike store, and Dick's store. Only Dick's had one display of cleats, only half were molded, and all were black/white (looking for more colors).

Buying shoes online doesn't sound ideal to me because I like to try them on first, but if I have to do it, then I have to do it.

The Mets have 8 total 3 game sets in the month of May, starting on May 1 vs the Angels and ending on May 31 vs the Marlins, with a 4 game set against the Nationals in between that they split 2-2.

There are 8 total permutations of W's and L's in a 3 game set. Through the first 7 of the 3 game sets in the month of May, the Mets have achieved 7 of the 8 possible outcomes.

WLW - vs Angels, May 1-3

WWL - vs Rockies, May 4-7

WLL - vs Dbacks, May 8-10

WWW - vs Tigers, May 12-14

LWW - vs Yankees, May 15-17

LLL - vs Marlins, May 22-24

LLW - vs Reds, May 25-27

??? - vs Marlins, May 29-31

All that remains is LWL for the bingo of achieving all 8 permutations in all 8 series in the month. I don't know if something like this contained within a single month has ever happened before (or if this could even be researched), but it would very much be quite a Mets thing to do.

While technically, the start of a decade is the -X1 year (the 21st century started January 1, 2001), for the sake of this discussion, decades start at 70, 80, 90, 00, 10, and 20, since that’s how our brains tend to operate.

Beyond the Miracle Mets, the 60’s didn’t get much a whiff of success at all as an expansion team.

After the 73 World Series appearance, they faded back into obscurity until the mid 80’s.

6 straight over .500 records from 84-89 with the ‘86 WS and an ‘88 NLCS appearance. This is the Mets most successful decade in terms of record.

Thanks to the Wild card, the Mets sniff the playoffs in 99 with one of the best infields ever.

00-09 was super up and down the World Series in 00, the age of Art Howe and then our monster team in 06 falling short and the depressing 07 & 08.

10’s started off as bland and directionless as it could before our worlds were rocked by our young pitching core taking over in 2015 along with getting Cespedes at this trade deadline and the surge to the World Series + a 2016 wild card.

2020’s… endless amounts of payroll, an unreal 2024 season, new Mets franchise home run leader, 2 playoff appearances, but seemingly all of the offensive farm system prospects that have debuted in the 2020’s have not been consistent.

I have no idea where to rank the 20’s because the expectations are much different now than in the past. It’s the only decade so far alongside the 90’s that they have not been to the World Series. But in terms of overall record, only the 80’s had a better record and our 2 playoff trips match the most the team has had in a single decade.

I haven't dated very much in my life (had a 3 year relationship around COVID times) so I have no experience here.

I (38 M) play in a mostly LGBT softball league and this other guy (35 M) has been acting super interested in me, asking me about my life, what I like to do, complimented me about my body, asked if I was gay, and other standard conversation getting to know someone topics. But he already asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with him during our first week of softball last week which I declined and I got a text a short while ago (which he got from our team group text) asking if I "wanted to hangout sometime, play darts, pool, switch, or whatever."

I'm super confident he is into me and wants to get to know me more on a dating level, but I'm into another friend right now that I'm trying to find the confidence to ask out. I don't know how to respond to a text like this. Do I flat out respond by asking if he's looking to date me and also that I'm not looking to date at this time?

I would like to make a sign for the ballpark and part of it requires the list of his ratings thus far.