Pat W

I'm planning on visiting the Big Apple this week and thought I would take a moment and visit the new Yankee Stadium. Is there anything to see? Are they giving tours or is the new Hard Rock Cafe at the stadium open yet? Is it worth even going?

Let me know if it's worth going out my way even if the season hasn't started yet.

Thanks!

I'm a little puzzled by the lack of demand for Bobby Abreu during this off season. I realized he signed a 1 year $5 million dollar deal with the Angels, but it seems he should have been worth much more. Just look at his resume;

He's shown great durability over the last 10 years by playing at least 150+ games each year for the last 10 years.

He reached 600+ AB's the last two years.

He's been right around 100 runs / 100 RBI's for the last 6 seasons.

He's averaged 20 HR / 20 SB over that last 6 seasons.

He's a career .300 hitter

So with the all of the accolades of being healthy, consistent, and very productive on the base paths it makes me wonder why more teams weren't going after him. Phillies were quick to trade him and Yankees weren't willing to resign him (cheap). So what wrong with this guy?

My HOA has a dilemma. We have 15 buildings (4 to 6 units each) in our complex and everyone building has a modest water bill, except for one building. For one building (w/ 4 units) the water bill is consistently between 300% to 400% higher than the rest. This started as soon as a new owner moved in. We pretty sure he's the cause, but we have been unable to prove it. The water company was no help and we also hired plumber to check for leaks, but nothing was found. It feels a little like the movie Pacific Heights. Is there anything we can do to pressure the new home owner to curve his water usage?

This one home owner is costing us $10,000 dollars a year just from his excessive water usage.

What can we do?

I'm hoping someone out there understands how an HOA takes notes and posts the minutes of every meeting.

Our HOA has an open to everyone Annual Budget meeting every December. However the minutes from the meeting are not available to Home Owners until the next Annual Budget meeting the following year. It's custom to approve the previous years minutes before moving onto new business.

So throughout the entire year, no one can view the minutes except for the HOA board, "because they're not approved." I find it odd that we take minutes, but by the time anyone views them they're old news. I've been told it's in the HOA rules. Does this make sense to anyone?

The M's fired their hitting coach last week and fire the GM this week. What happened to the M's this year?

They get Bedard and Silva, but end up giving away George Sherrill and Jose Guillen. Other than that the team is basically the same team that won 88 games in 2007. The entire infield is the same, they still have Ichiro and Ibanez in the outfield. They still have their ace Felix Hernandez and one of the leagues top closers J.J. Putz.

How can a team one year win 88 games and next season come right back a loose 100? What do they need do be successful in 2008.

With the MLB player draft just days away, I was wondering...

Has there ever been a player drafted and sent to the Major League team in the same year? If so, who?

Example: Drafted in June and then on the 25 man roster by August.

I have a 1999 Ford Escort and the only thing I hate about it is the fact it has no Air Conditioning. I've been thinking of selling the car, but with gas prices these days it's a tough sell. Is it possible to have A/C installed or is it not worth it. Even if it's a $1000+ dollars, that would still be better than getting a new car.

I was reading a story that mentioned Scott Boras could be seeking as much as $20 million per year / $200 million contract for Mark Teixeria when he becomes a free agent next year.

Do you think he'll get what he's asking and/or do you think he's worth what he's asking?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_...

I expect both Clay Buchholz & Jon Lester will make the Boston Red Sox rotation. But which of these pitchers is considered the better of the two? And why?

I recently installed an XM Radio receiver in my car it sounds great! It's plugged into the cigarette lighter like most XM Radio's are, however when I turn the car off the cigarette lighter remains on and so does the XM Radio. So everytime I get in or out my car I have to manual turn it on or off.

Is there any after market item I could purchase so I can hard wire the XM Radio power cable directly into the car?

In our community we have 80 units, but 10 of them have failed to pay their monthly dues and are now a few months behind. Our HOA Board has banned these 10 owners for attending meetings and not allowing them any voting power in the community until they are deemed "In good standing," meaning paid up in their dues.

I can't find anywhere in the governing documents that states this. Can an HOA Board do this? Make an active home owner vote ineligible because they are behind on their dues?

My wife and I moved into a condominium complex about four years ago and went through a transition of removing all of the previous board members and replaced them with people that were more qualified and working in the best interest of the community. However our rules states we can only serve on the board for three years and most of members will reach that this year and looking forward to stepping down.

We've been asking for replacements for over a year, however no one qualified has stepped up. Nearly all previous board members have moved or are behind on their dues making them ineligible to be a HOA board member.

What is the HOA Board to do if replacements can be found?

Can an condo complex be run without an association?

I have a pet peeve about my Mom. When she gives me a gift for my Birthday or Christmas she expects me to send her a 'Thank You' card everytime. And she tends to get me horrible gifts or cheap souvenir that she picks up while traveling. It's annoyed so much that I hate receiving gifts anymore. I'm tired of the disappointments.

But my bigger beef is with these 'Thank You' cards. She nags me so much about it that one Christmas she gave me as a gift an entire stationary kit with a book on how to write 'Thank You' cards. And this year I received the worst looking Christmas Tie you ever did see. Because she didn't receive her expected 'Thank You' card, she sent me a couple of reminders. Clip outs from magazine that talks about proper etiquette and the lost art of writing 'Thank You' cards.

Should I let her know I feel or should I just suck it up and start writing these damn 'Thank You' cards to make her happy.

This is for all of you old school NES game players.

Has anyone played the classic NES game Double Dribble. I pulled it out recently, but I can't get the code to work that allows you to Shatter the backboard. Is this a legit code?

I've been trying for hours to get it work.

More and more it looks like A-Rod will file for Free Agency and few baseball analysts I've listened to on ESPN radio have said that Boras is looking for an entirely new 10-year deal worth $300 to $350 million. Is this wishful thinking or a realistic possibility? What kind of contract do you think he'll end up with and where do you expect him to sign?

Matt Murphy, the person who caught Barry Bonds 756 home run ball has been told he'll have to pay taxes on the ball if he keeps it.

But what about players? If the ball was never caught and somehow was return to Barry Bonds would he have to pay taxes on it too? Or does the IRS take in account who is in possession of the ball?

I was horrified when I read that Matt Murphy, the person who caught Barry Bonds 756 home run ball will have to taxes on it. Why should you pay taxes on baseball that you received just by chance? Who determins the value? Sports Memoralbia can worth a lot to one person or just be sentimental to another.

Is this just another example of the goverment squeezing the middle class or big time lawyers threating the tax issue to try make Mr. Murphy sell the ball?

With the MLB trade deadline looming just 10 days away, I haven't heard of any starting pitchers on the block or being seriously talked about in rumors mills.

Every playoff contender could use starting pitching, so who's out there that has a realistic chance of being traded? And to where?

I was looking at the MLB Rule book and found this note added to rule 4.10. Would you welcome this new rule if MLB did truly adopt it?

4.10 (a) National Association leagues may adopt a rule providing that one or both games of a doubleheader shall be seven innings in length. In such games, any of these rules applying to the ninth inning shall apply to the seventh inning.

Honestly I wish I just making this up. But it's there!