Austinvines

I really like Sanderson’s universe and his audio books set the bar for when I want to spend an audible credit. The price per minute is nuts and I love the narrators. Book 5 comes out in December. He really excels at pulling all his strings together at the climax - I’ve heard it described as the Sanderlanche. I went partially through Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt and it’s really well done, but like others, I find it sad/depressing. Any recs on a series of his that is a little more redemptive? I tried Malazan but there is too much going on for me to follow with an audiobook. The First Law may be the best audiobook series ever. Steven Pacey is the best in the business.

This is hilarious. It would be funny if some goy did it, but I think his rabbi is selling them.

Was at the game. Good energy and only $17.50 for GA. The missed free throws and layups were frustrating. Pretty sure Texas only made one three, too. Anyone see that Bama’s subs would carry in a baton (looked like a rolled up towel) to the player they were replacing? Is that a thing?

We stayed at the CAA over xmas in a corner king "suite" and the room was pretty big and much larger than the double that the kids stayed in. Over the summer we were in the Allerton which is definitely showing its age and the rooms ran from small to very small, but the location on Michigan and proximity to the L was great. We've also stayed at boutiques in River North which were nice, but rooms in downtown are never going to be huge. For eats, the sky is the limit. Bavette's is worth the trouble of logging in however many days before your arrival and spam the refresh until you get something. We were main DR for 6 and the ambience was great. Downstairs is very chill but I liked the bustle of the main dining room. A few doors down is the Gilt Bar which is owned by the same group and the food/booze was very good. We were able to score a reservation at the Library in the basement and had a great meal. If you like or want to experience one of the best tiki bars in the US, Three Dots and a Dash in RN is super cool. Go early and if your party is small enough, try and get a rez at the Bamboo Room.

Headed to Santa Rosa for the 4th of July and have a short time to pack in some Dry Creek and nearby wineries. Want to hit Ridge at Lytton Springs and my FIL suggests Mazzacco and $ilver Oak. We get in around lunch on 7/3 and I am hoping there are some wineries open on the 4th. Any thing that is not to be missed? My wife is an Anything but Chardonnay person and I like most everything but my collection trended cab/Bourdeaux blends, Zins, and Syrah.

We are here this weekend and our rental has Spectrum so won’t have the game. Any ideas on a decent spot for dinner that will have the game?

$70 a piece. Gonna make a STAGGering Gentleman tomorrow.

Lando broke Max’s 40k euro trophy during the champagne celebration. F1 Reddit says he’s knocked over his trophy on 2-3 other celebrations but since this one was porcelain it broke. GD tapa.

Great summer flick. Like most everyone else, Tom is freaky personally but he makes great action movies. Esai is ageless. I wonder how much touch up work he got? Not funny admission - my little brother and I definitely favor one another and he gets compared to Esai, while the best I’ve got has been Parton Oswalt. Hayley Atwell can be my Brown Eyed Girl anytime. Agree with above that says she made RF look average, and Rebecca Ferguson is smoke. You will not regret seeing this movie.

Found out in March that my mom was born with a persistent sciatic artery and instead of the femoral artery supplying her leg from the top, her arteries loop around from back to front. This caused an aneurysm/clotting and she almost lost her foot. The surgeon who wants to repair it has never done this particular surgery and no one in his practice has either. The condition affects .05% of the population that’s not surprising. He does bypasses daily on hearts but this will be a much longer run. Any idea on how to find a surgeon in Texas who may have done one and would it make sense to go with that doctor, even if she’d have to travel back home after 3-4 days recovering in whatever hospital out of town it gets performed in?

We have the 36" and love it, but when I swapped out my latest propane tank, I noticed a small leak at tank connection. I could barely hear it and went ahead with the cook but now it is audible just with the tank valve open and the Blackstone closed. Is there a gasket/ring at the base of the connection, because I don't see one. It may have fallen out when I was switching the tank to our cajun cooker. Any ideas on what size I need?

Buddy who is a contractor turned his office into a speakeasy. Table seating for four, bar for two. It turned out great. He, uh, has a collecting bug.

He needs to apply for the 2023 homestead exemption and pray the prior owner doesn’t transfer his tax ceiling and or remove the HS for 2022. His 10% cap won’t come into play until 2024. His escrow is probably all fucked up right now and he should be saving a lot more to cover the 2023 taxes. Mortgage escrow is typically determined based on prior year taxes. If the owner had the over-65 exemption for a hike his school tax bill (largest of the bunch) will be ridiculously low compared to actual and the escrow will be way short.

Wife’s uncle is a decent guy but is definitely into new age silliness including being antivax. That’s fine for him, but the aunt is a recent breast cancer survivor and she won’t get it either. I’ve made peace with the possibility that one of us could kill her if we are asymptomatic but hope she’d be down for Plaxlovid.

The shape matters but I’m not sure it can be retrofitted. A Rumford fireplace is great if you are building new. A Texas Fireframe is awesome if you are trying to make a current fireplace better. [url=https://www.texasfireframe.com/]https://www.texasfireframe.com/ My family has used them since the late 70’s early 80’s and they crank out the heat even with a marginal fireplace.

The Silver Spurs website says he enters the stadium 3.5 hours before game time with a parade. South end of Bevo Blvd (San Jac and 20th).

They retired Big Bertha and introduced Big Bertha II which is 9’ across. Why am I shedding tears for this?

Didn't see this posted and I think what UTSA did for their Hispanic Heritage game last week was great:

45 Texas 19 OU 289 prop 2005, Jack Straw and I are wandering in after driving up that moring. It’s cold and I end up buying 2xl super white sweat pants at the Walgreens on the way from our parking spot to the Fair. At a crosswalk, a Texas fan muses, “huh, I totally forgot my giant pair of sweatpants.” With said giant pair of sweatpants on, we encounter a 20-something ex-frat boy in full regalia asking a very cute OU co-ed, “are you ready? For the full anal rape-age that’s about to happen?” The sun comes out and I ditch the pants at the porta-johns near the best beer stand in the Fair and we kick the shit out of OU.

Sold.

$250 each. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The next two (Drawing and Waste Lands) are excellent and I loved Wizard and Glass. King’s voice got really muddled for me in the last two books, but I’m glad I finished the series.

Thing 1 starts his junior year with senior hours on the 40 via CAP. His mom thinks he can graduate by the end of the year or summer if he pushes it. I’m encouraging him to take 12 hours and pick up another minor and stay for the full four. I think he’s more than an even toss of going to law school so there is no need to rush

They are remarkable. A team for tonight’s geeks who drink trivia was “Ferrari Team Strategy.” They got third so did much better than their namesake.

I got my postcard from the tax assessor collector that every owner will eventually that directs to a link that shows what your current taxing units are proposing for rates (http://texas.gov/propertytaxes). In Austin, mine may actually go down $600 but that doesn't include the hospital district which was about $450 for 2021. Still a decrease so I will take it. Of course, several billion dollars were added to the values from 21 to 22 so it shouldn't be that surprising, but the "no new revenue rate" which is last years levy plus new value, would be another $700 off.