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Damor

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Damor

  1. Damor

    Whatcha reading?

    Funny, because it seems like a lot of my reading lately has gravitated toward religious discussion. I don't know this book or its central argument, but what I understand of Hitchens is that a large part of his outlook is that science and religion are incompatible. Here are a couple books I have really enjoyed lately which speak to that, and address some of Hitchens' arguments specifically: Francis Collins' The Language of God This is well written for an intelligent general audience and has the further benefit of being written by someone who, like CS Lewis in Mere Christianity, began from the atheist perspective. It makes some very interesting arguments from Collins' own experience with genetics, as well as addresses some more universal issues (literally). One thing that I find very refreshing is that he not only makes cogent arguments for the existence of God in opposition to atheism, but also spends a very significant amount of time calling out the anti-intellectualism and ignorance of fundamentalism and young Earth creationists for the damage that they do. Really great read IMO. Stephen Barr's The Believing Scientist I'm pretty sure it was someone on a previous iteration of Surly/Shaggy/Shitty/Whatever who turned me on to Barr's Modern Physics and Ancient Faith, which is a really outstanding book but can get very technical (especially if, like me, you have little understanding of particle physics or quantum theory beyond Schrödinger's Cat). This is a collection of essays which largely distill and shorten those arguments so that they can be digested in smaller bites. As such, it can get a little repetitive and can be a little superficial, but it's still a very interesting read. If you were to read this and like it, I'd strongly suggest following it with Modern Physics and Ancient Faith, where he fleshes out a lot of these concepts much more fully. I just started in on a biographical novel about Pontius Pilate which looks to be good, but these might be more relevant to what you're talking about. BTW, this is one of my favorite threads on the site. Thank y'all for all the contributions.
  2. @Dbeasy We rented a jeep from Colorado 145 in Telluride and did Imogene in July of 2016. They were very well reviewed, and we had a great experience. Their website has a list of trail conditions that gives you a brief summary of each. We did a 4-door jeep since our boys were smaller back then. Do you think your crew would be amenable to that? I think if your two more adventurous guys were driving, Imogene would be fine, but asking your old or pregnant person to drive is probably a recipe for unhappiness. Of course, cramming them into the rear of the jeep may be just as bad or worse. I don't recall a lot of bad drop offs or anything super intense on Imogene, but the early part of the descent has some pretty steep sections where I had to get up out of the seat to see over the hood: (I know that's hard to show with photos) "Which is better, 1?" "Or 2?" The worst part of the day for me was turning around at the parking area at the top of Bridal Veil Falls, because I have a heights thing. Ugh.
  3. The key is in the squishy word "should." I should do a lot of things.
  4. I've already signed my 16yo up. School nurse will be administering them in a couple weeks. Hoping it will be available for my 13yo before school starts.
  5. Lord Huron re-rescheduled their 2020 Red Rocks show from June 2021 to now June 2022. Just bought tickets because why not.
  6. @wood and you other Ixchel frequenters, do any of y'all have a preferred/trusted renter for a 2bdr unit? I'm getting some minor runaround off of VRBO, and seeing prices vary about 10-20% across booking sites including the hotel website, hotels.com, Expedia, etc. Just want to be sure I'm covering all my bases, feel free to PM if more comfortable that way.
  7. Somehow I ended up with time off after Christmas again this year (almost never happens), so I'm deciding between a return trip to IM or trying out Holbox. Lots of stuff is already booked up in both places -- I get that's probably one of their busiest weeks, but geez. Southwest hasn't even opened those flights yet -- I'm banking on them having something reasonable, as prices on other carriers are stupid. I guess this is why we don't travel much during those times, but since I only get so many more trips with our boys before they leave the nest, I'm not turning down any opportunities. Especially when chilaquiles are at stake.
  8. My favorite is Cadenhead's Old Raj with saffron. 110 proof, so be wary. #2 is (oddly enough) No.3. Lots of citrus.
  9. Thanks, troph. I remembered you and your gal loved it, but couldn't recall if y'all took kids. I was trying to track down the place you and @Hollywood stayed, do either of you mind sharing? Looking at either a couple hotel rooms or doing the Airbnb thing. I inevitably over-agonize when trying to pick a place to stay, but it looks like there are a lot of good choices within easy walking distance to the fun stuff.
  10. Yeah, we're gonna need you and @hornbri to go ahead and start a Maldives thread, OK? Thaaanks. /lumbergh
  11. Planning the rest of this year's vacation, and I've got a week in late Oct/early Nov for me and the wife, and a little over a week for us and the boys (will be 14 and 16) after Christmas. After a great family trip to IM last go-round, I'm thinking about Holbox for one of those trips. We (including the boys) are pretty low key, so I don't think they'd be bored on Holbox, but would those of y'all who have been say it's a better couples or family trip? Or...
  12. It's our anniversary. My wife likes Sinn. After 17 years, I don't argue with her. [emoji16]
  13. Decreasing beach erosion. The concrete is also a convenient place to encase the severed heads of missionaries, cartel families, and American tourists. I love coming down here, but the beaches are not the selling point. We're flying Southwest back today. Interested to see what kind of a shitshow it is with testing documentation.
  14. I got my second Pfizer in January, wife got her second Moderna a couple weeks ago. We're in Mexico this week, and I had a little anxiety about the pre-return test, but no issues. Incidentally, a lot of people down here have had (or claim to have had) at least one injection, many of which I would not have expected based on my biases (as a bad person). I think lifting travel restrictions when vaccinated could be a valuable carrot when we try to boost numbers, like company bonuses. It feels good to take steps toward the new normal.
  15. aesheeebee
  16. Salida is awesome and we all need to stop talking about it. We're going back there and to Gunnison (which is also great) this July. The whitewater park downtown is great for kids. They can rent boogie boards/SUPs and goof around all day. You and the wife can go get a river view table at the Boathouse Cantina and eat/drink while nominally keeping an eye on them. The downtown area is very walkable, and last year they had the main drag closed to vehicle traffic so restaurants could have outdoor seating, basically turning it into a big pedestrian zone with shops, bars, and restaurants. I hope they left it that way. We took our boys' bikes last year and they loved riding around town. This year we'll check out the trail system. There's also an arcade there with new and classic games, which they enjoyed. All kinds of outdoor stuff is within a short drive. Amicas is great. Moonlight Pizza is also good, and I like their beer as well. Soulcraft is a great brewery. Benson's tavern has good fish and chips and other pup grub. Patio Pancake Place for breakfast. Boathouse as mentioned is decent food and great view/atmosphere. The only thing I don't like about going up there is that my wife shops for real estate.
  17. Yep, my Cincinnati policy clearly states that frozen pool equipment is excluded. I contacted an advisor who said if I took some mitigating steps there might be some coverage, but not to count on it. By some miracle my equipment seems to be holding together, so I haven't pursued it. That did teach me that if this situation comes up again, I will take photos of everything I do (wrapping pipes, covering equipment, documenting freeze guard running, etc.) for documentation.
  18. Maybe you're not keeping up on current events. We just got our asses kicked, pal!
  19. Rupp is only a little under 3 , and this thread is already making me dread the day (mixed with early melancholy as I watch the time with my almost 16yo at home dwindle). "Goodness will find the puppers. It always has. It will again." In the meantime, here's Rupp derping in the weather and humping a snowman. Good boy, Crosby.
  20. From what I've read, ERCOT shut them down for nonpayment. That makes sense as they probably incurred massive charges and had to float a lot of customers who either hit their credit/account limits on recharges or deactivated their funding accounts. And that's entirely justified in my opinion -- if you don't pay, you get cut off. But it does seem weird that Griddy likely represented a relatively small portion of customers/outstanding charges and a disproportionate amount of sensationalist press. I also don't quite know why I'm so fascinated with it, other than I think it was a good idea that tried to be too simple and transparent while being built upon an underlying arcane hot mess. And @tokamak, did you get your service transfer figured out? Might be helpful info for others in the future.
  21. If you were still on Griddy somehow, you'd better find a new plan immediately, because ERCOT switched you to the Provider of Last Resort (POLR) who is likely administering you a smooth buttfucking right now (probably upper teens to over 20c/kwh). What's darkly hilarious to me is that, if I understand correctly, these POLR plans are variable rates based on hourly spot prices. In other words, the same thing that Griddy was, but with significantly greater additional charges and fees, and no price monitoring to adjust usage. It's also interesting to me that thus far ERCOT has only shut down Griddy, although I think they only had around 10k customers left. Seems like that since Griddy dominated all the negative headlines that ERCOT is throwing them under the bus for show. It's sure not going to make a dent in the actual cost overruns.
  22. Thanks, y'all. Tonneau cover and superfluous brush guard/bull bar are the leaders in the clubhouse. Any recommendations on local installers or online dealers? It's otherwise quite nicely equipped, should have included a pic. Yeah, I do deserve some shit for letting a 16yo drive this (and I am tempted to steal it for myself), but: -- I was really proud of him because he bird-dogged this thing himself. Found it, contacted the seller, asked all the questions, went with me to get it checked by a mechanic, basically ran the whole purchase process aside from cutting the check. He did a good job. -- The guy we bought it from put a ton into it and took great care of it, and basically it came hugely upgraded at a price not much different from other Tacos on the market. -- Either he'll drive it for the next 15 years, or more likely will get passed to his younger brother and then it will be mine when they are done with it. This is my first Yota since bouncing around in the back of the 55. I'm very impressed.
  23. @Biff Tannen Yep, I spent my summers growing up in a cabin outside of Pitkin at ~10,800 ft. Glorious. Off the grid before that was a thing. Last summer Frenchy's in Tincup was closed. Hope that's not permanent. Here's one of the Airstreams at the Amigo in Salida.
  24. Y'all stop telling people about Buena Vista/Salida. @crash_davis Check out the Amigo Motor Lodge in Salida. Stay in one of their airstream trailers for about $100/nt. Cool place in a cool town. Gunnison also checks a lot of your boxes. Don't tell anyone about that, either.
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