Austinvines

I need my expansion joint redone in Austin. Anyone have a rec? My builder from 10 years ago has been slow to respond.

The love we share with our pets are deep. Godspeed to your two.

Borates may be good in some circumstances but getting to know your pool’s chemistry and being adapt at controlling it is paramount before you start throwing in yet another item to test. The forums at tfp are the best resource for any pool owner (and a really good test kit).

My son’s good friend OD’d before spring break. Got a ”hot” oxy he bought off some junior at Bowie HS. Mom found him barely breathing and EMS was able to hit him with the Narcan spray and save his life. It shook my son who is a freshman in college. Hopefully enough that he won’t tangle with street pills ever again. It is an odd conversation to have with your kid suggesting smoking actual bud and eating shrooms if he wanted to experiment, but if it saves me from burying him, I’ll do it every time.

I’ve got freshman twins and hugged then extra long tonight when they got home from college. It’s unfathomable what the Ehlingers are going through. Rest In Peace, Jake.

Refi’s are still advantageous so Phil can still grab a deal even without a sale. I just cut 5 years off my loan with a slightly increased payment (less than $100) and was a good move with him that was less than another broker that knew the rate of Phil’s first offer.

Up 31% from 2019 and it is still below market as of 1/1/21 but recent sales indicate another 15% increase next year.

Hendrick’s is excellent but is getting expensive. Citadelle is a great replacement for martinis to my taste (gin, a splash of Dolin, dash of orange bitters and a twist). Do you like your gin in the London style with plenty of botanicals and bone dry or like an Old Tom with Dolin Blanc which is on the sweeter side but still dry? So many choices. I love gin way more than vodka. An Old Raj Blue Martin with a twist is about as good a summertime quaff that will kickstart your night is about as good as it gets for a boozy beginning.

Picking the right gear for an ascent with several steps is one of my biggest problems, but I’d definitely go for slow in a gear with enough torque that I could stay upright and moving forward without spinning out. Is that what you call crawling? Having another step up while your rear wheel also has to clear the step your front just went over is a recipe for me dabbing/walking.

Let’s talk travel. I’m on a 120 hardtail with old school geo. I hit my goal weight during Covid and am in the market for a FS bike. I ride SATN which is mostly flat and twisty. And downhill I do is limited and not sustained, certainly not fast. I’d rather pick my way than bomb it. I’ve got zero core and not much arms to be honest. Broke my humerus 5 years ago going OTB and don’t want to repeat that at 50(+). While I don’t mind some quick descents, enduro is not my bag. I’m demoing an Ibis Ripley at 130/120 and an Orbea Occam at 140/140 over the next two weekends. I’ve ridden the Revel Rascal at 130/130 and liked it, but didn’t love it. I rode a large Occam this past weekend and it climbed well but was just BIG. I’m riding the medium Occam this weekend the the medium Ripley next weekend that I’m taking to a skills class at Reveille Peak Ranch the next weekend. My headspace is xc/trail which pushes me toward a short travel trail bike, but since I’m looking for my last bike, would I eventually run out of travel on it and should buy a bigger bike now? I bombed a fairly steep descent near my house yesterday on the large Occam that was pretty fun and not scary. No big drops at this point (that shit off of Bowie Stonewall is not something I’d ever think of doing) but if I get a bike that can do it, will I want to? I’m going to drop a lot on my next bike. I guess the question is, if it has more travel than I expect to use, does it matter and will I be happier on a bike whose travel I don’t use all the time but have it if necessary vs a bike that is more to my liking but may bottom out at the bigger end (if that’s only 10% or less of my usual rides)?

Do you mean the super dark espresso roast? I almost never use those beans. CM Westgate roasts in-house and I try to buy a medium roast, low acidity coffee that was roasted 3-7 days prior. A pound lasts me about 3 weeks since I usually pull 18 gram shots from my 55mm portafilter. My Breville Smart Grinder Pro has a lot of range and I will typically never get below a “10” on the dial. Much lower than that and my entry level Breville Duo Temp won’t push out any espresso or it will just dribble out and take a minute to pull a shot. Brazilian Gerezim is my favorite. I’ve got a sweet tooth and like the chocolate and caramel that it has. Any higher acid coffees end up being too sour for me. I’m doing something wrong or the machine isn’t putting out hot enough water so that I get a well extracted shot. I also weigh my beans and leave the grinder empty since it has to reside in the garage because I get up before my wife and don’t want to wake her up and don’t want to have the beans get heat damaged. What do you all make mostly? I typically pull 34-38 grams of coffee from the 18 gram shot. I use a small biscuit cutter as a funnel to keep the ground coffee from spilling out and making a mess. I usually have that same amount of water in my heated cup for an Americano and then add 30-40 gr of steamed half and half for a very rich and tasty small cup. I love those prosumers but spending more than a grand on a machine would wind me up in Dutch with the wife. She already thinks I’m super fancy pants for not drinking drip.

I’m pretty sure the property tax existed before, during, and obviously after the birth of our nation. I don’t know if it is uniquely American, but it is certainly American.

I ride Mezcal rears and Agarro fronts on my hard tail and they’ve been great. The Ibis I rode this weekend had Maxxis xc tires which were ok except for the live oak drop and I’d have like some more grip up front.

What? The LV shooting where hundreds died wasn’t a “mass shooting?” Must not be getting it.

Demo’d a carbon Ibis Ripley for the weekend from Velorangutan. It is a tricked out XTR with carbon rims so is the most expensive bike I’ve ever been on. The Ripley is a 120 fork and 130 shock (Fox Performance Series Float) and I’m coming from a 120 hardtail that’s old school geo. I took it out on an 18 mile ride on the South Austin Trail Network and haven’t been riding nearly as often as I did this summer. Everything about the bike just made me want to push. It was quick, agile, and soaked up bumps that would normally buck me on my hardtail. I had done the same ride on the Revel Rascal I posted earlier but this was mo better for sure. Set 8 new PRs on Strava and finished the ride about .7 MPH faster than my previous avg for about 50 efforts at 10.3. The ride was a mix of twisty single track with some flat/open areas intermixed with rock gardens. I spent $1400 on my first bike and this Ripley is the leader in the clubhouse at about $6k (good lord). I want to try an Orbea Oiz (120/100) and then a Tallboy before pulling the trigger. Unfortunately, if I get picky with my components it may be 2022 before I can get it. I want XT components bc it’s been pretty bulletproof for me for many years but I may switch to SRAM if I can get the bike I want sooner rather than later. My hardtail just will never do what these new bikes can do. Damn good day.

Have five nights at Zoetry scheduled for late June. 35 rooms on the west side and we hope it limits the seaweed. It will be my first time to the island and we want to rent a cart for a day at least. The property seems a bit away from downtown since the hotel is mid island but seems like we would need to go all the way south and back north to get anywhere. Please halp with awesomeness.

Moderna No. 2 yesterday at the Delco. No line for anything and it took longer for me to fill out the consent form than to get my shot. The sparse crowd is bc APH is getting much less vaccine than last month with all the other providers coming online. My arm is significantly more sore than last time but otherwise I feel ok, if not slightly hungover from an early St. Patrick’s dinner/drinking.

I am on day 28 from my first dose of Moderna and APH hasn’t reached out but I verified I’m in their system with the correct date. Supposedly, if I reach Day 42, I can just show up and get vaccinated but I really hope to get a confirmed appointment before then. I got my first dose just before they closed down all the sites in Travis County for a week so I’d think my chances are good about getting dosed next week, but it doesn’t look like APH is getting large allotments from the state which bothers me.

Whereabouts? I am near Escarpment and Davis which I think may be SWB but I cannot read those maps well.

Team Drip moved to Team Stream during the 5 degree nights. Moved a space heater between the garage firing at one bib and then to the breakfast room hit the other. Lost water Wednesday, used our property owner cutoff and open my faucets to let the water drain back down to below the ground level. Left my water heaters on and full that are in the attic. Temp gun said it was in the high 40’s in the attic, but I have the roof foiled and a ton of blown insulation. Pool equipment ran for 8 days straight which could be a hit on the electric bill, but pools are definitely worth it since I have plenty of flushes to ride out the next several days before water gets restored.

The judge in that case actually posted it to YouTube. I know that lawyer and he’s lucky the bars in Marfa and Alpine are mostly closed because he’s going to be meowed at relentlessly when they open back up.

Check this out. Commercial kitchens all located in a group. I hear good things but haven’t had any. https://order.kitchenunited.com/austin?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb

Yes, I demo’d it from Wes/Velorangatan. Setting up a weekend on the medium Ripley and then a large one sometime soon. ATX Bikes is going to start stocking Santa Cruz but carbons are few and far between on the ship dates.

I ride Shimano Saint platform pedals with 5.10s Having "low heels" on any descents is a key to staying stuck to the bike for me. I catapulted myself into the ground after getting my weight too forward while clipped in and broke my arm five years ago and haven't wanted to go back since then. My skills are way better than but a quick "dab" here and there is preferable to whatever advantage another few footpounds of force I can generate clipped in, I am in the market for a new ride after dropping about 25 pounds during Covid. Currently ride a 6 y.o. xc hardtail with 120mm fork and looking for a full sus to take some of the bumps out of my backside. I ride mostly SATN but will go to RPR, Comfort, Warda and others. Never been to Spider Mtn and I mostly pick my way down steeps as opposed to bombing them. The current bike probably has a lot to do with that but I don't want a repeat of a broken bone.Currently looking for “trail” bikes in the 120-140 range like the Ibis Ripley, the Santa Cruz Tallboy and the Orbea Oiz. I demo’d a Revel Rascal for two rides this weekend, which is a 140/130 with 2.4” tires. I really liked the bike and was amazed at how it climbed better than what I’m used too but do t know if it was just the rear shock or the new geo. I didn't fall in love with the bike and hope to demo the Ripley here in a week or so.Of course, availability may end up pushing me one way or another since having a bike for summer as opposed to next fall/winter would be preferred.Any opinions on carbon vs AF? The Ibis has a weight difference of only 2 pounds and $1,100 on price, at the deore component level for 1x12 (and a crappier dropper). SLX is another grand and XT $700 on top of that (in the carbon).New rides are fun but I spent just a little bit more on a vehicle for my kids than these well kitted carbon bikes.

HS qualification is determined as of January 1 of the tax year, so she can only qualify for 2021. Check your deed of trust language but what if you granted your daughter a life estate? She'd be the 100% owner at that point and would qualify for the full exemption. You do not have to record a deed for it to be effective between the grantor/grantee and I have even seen some HS exemptions get approved by TCAD when the deed wasn't acknowledged and filed with an effective date until months after 1/1. A timely application for the HS exemption is before May 1, but you can file up to two years past the delinquency date, which would be 2/1/23, and still get the exemption. Seems like they will have their financing straightened out way before then so the unfiled life estate grant, should get them the full HS exemption for 2021. Of course it depends on the exemptions clerk that is working the paperwork and none of this is legal advice.