Damor

This seems to be one of those subjects which is difficult to effectively research online, as pretty much every site is pushing a product with religious fervor or is a 'review' site littered with referrals, and a lot of the 'user' reviews make some eye-rollingly subjective claims (Soft water will kill your children in their sleep! Soft water cured my fibromyalgia!). There also seem to be a lot of companies like Culligan who are gunning to get you on a service contract with cheap proprietary equipment (ADT model). I have a reputable local guy (Tommy Dorsey) coming out next week, and I understand he pretty much sticks with low-maintenance Fleck salt systems. In thinking about my ultimate goal, though, it's primarily to decrease scaling in appliances/fixtures (a clogged bidet orifice puts us back with the savages, after all). I'm not particularly bothered by the other typical hard water complaints, and in fact I'd prefer that the taste of the water not get altered. That got me looking at the non-salt systems like the Pelican, even though it kind of sounded like voodoo at first (and I'm a little wary of the direct sales route). That said, we do have pretty hard water, and I see vague statements that non-salt systems aren't effective in those situations, though nobody provides any numbers. Does anyone have any real-world experience with the difference between salt and non-salt systems?

Indeed it is. It's an extract kit from Austin Homebrew (Rushmore). Had 8lb extra pale, 1lb Munich, and a 1/2lb grain bag of Crystal 40. There's also likely to be some user error in there, too.

Ok, made my first foray today. An AHB American IPA my BIL and I brewed a few weeks ago, after having the equipment for years and not ever using it. My wife ordered the kit, so I can be held blameless in all regards. It turned out drinkable, which I'll take as a victory for my first batch. Got a stout kit or on order for round 2 to prep for Thanksgiving. Nothing heroic, but it was fun to get started .

From the depths of the night shift (wake me up when we win) TEXAS

Taqueria y Panaderia La Perla, Belton, 6th Ave. Stop on your way to TX/ou for great breakfast tacos, fucking awesome carnitas, lots of good bakery stuff. Features the all-important refurbished beverage cooler with a crooked door, housing Jarritos/medio litro cokes and squirt bottles with the good salsa.

Thanks. Didn't know if tables would draw any extra scrutiny. I don't mind getting made fun of, as long as I don't have to do anything other than sit and take it whilst drinking. Not so much into active participation.

RE: Absinthe, any tips on choosing seating? I understand they all have a good view since it's a small venue, but I was looking at one of the back tables toward the bar so as to not be crammed in with the hoi polloi. But I also don't want to particularly make myself a target for ridicule (I can do that without any help). Any reason to choose the 8p or 10p show? Also, any thoughts on Zumanity?

I'll add that we did consider the infinity edge, but I'm very glad we didn't do it. The added expense and complexity were way more than I would have expected.

Yeah, you have to think about your needs and how you'd use it, but for us the tanning ledge has been useful. But at our builder's recommendation we made it deeper (12") than most, so you can set a lounger in the pool instead of sitting on the surface if you want. He also put in umbrella sleeves to add some shade, though we haven't gotten one yet. We also plan on being in this house when grandkids come along, so that's a little more playable depth for little ones (for now, the new pup likes it). That said, they do take up space, so I can see how they might be a waste for some people.

Only problem with Jarritos is that I have to hide them from my boys or I won't have any left. I'll also recommend the Central Market grapefruit Italian soda for Palomas, if you want to fancy-pants it up.

Nice. I got a Malone 6 yak storage rack I'm pretty happy with. It takes a little floor space, but uses it pretty efficiently. https://maloneautoracks.com/FS-Rack-TM-6-Kayak-Storage.html

HL Mencken is another gold mine. Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.

Cross-posting from the Pup thread for some requested info, hope the pics come out. This was my new buddy Rupp's first outing. He did pretty well, even though my yak doesn't have the best spot for a noob pup to sit (he settled on my drink holder, which obviously isn't going to work long term. In answer to some inquiries, this was on Salado Creek, just upstream from the low-water crossing bridge (Mill Creek Dr). It's low right now, but I assume that the trade off is more clarity as it's pretty much just spring-fed at present. There is some decent fishing (I'm terrible at it, but even I can catch some Guads and small largemouths) and it's nice to look at. The big drawback is that there are several areas you'd have to drag, especially as low as it is right now. I'd guess the navigable stretch in those pics is only about a half mile. I know there are some other floatable areas once you get out of town, but it's been years since I've been that way to know how much of a pain it would be. So I don't know how good of a destination this would be as a day trip, unless you're just looking to relax and do some light fishing. The good news is that this is literally in the middle of town. One bank is a park, so there's easy access to put in. And when you're done, you can stop for a beverage at Barrow. Feel free to PM if you want any more info.

We did Quartzscapes Tahoe Blue. Very happy with it. Evidently, it's more prone to some heterogeneous distribution/patchy areas that Pebbletec, but it's not noticeable in our pool. We'd also heard some polarizing reports (including from our builder) on the pebble stuff being rough on feet, especially if you've got kids playing volleyball and such. We really like the quartz texture on ours.

Brews, great in-laws visiting, and The Goonies playing. Worth it. Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Would you believe me if I said Salado?

First yak trip, I think I wore him out.

Go get' 'em Blue. Shunt ain't got shit on you!

Here's Rupp. I've been a bit apprehensive as it's been so long since I've had a dog, but it's been an awesome 24h. Took to his kennel quite well, and no accidents yet. First vet trip in the morning. Appreciate the recs on the Sophia Yin books. My boys are in deep smit.

I finally get to join the thread soon -- wife picked out a lab and we pick it up next week. I haven't had a dog since I was a kid, and all our dogs were entertaining but poorly behaved dipshits, though it didn't matter because we lived out in the sticks Do y'all have any good resources (books, youtube, whatever) on basic dog and owner training to start off on the right foot/paw? I'm anticipating that the most difficult part will be to get our 13yo and 10yo boys on the same page with us, since our attempts at their human male obedience training have been largely futile.

Any Gulf Shores restaurant recommendations?

Check out flush mount LEDs. No can assembly and simpler installation should save money. We ordered our flush mount LEDs for something like 13 bucks online.

We ran cat6 errwhere. Most of it will probably never get used, but better to have it now. Remember if you do a mesh router you can always use a wired backhaul. We ran lots of speaker wire, too, but I'm finding that syncing up whole house audio with Google Homes/Chromecast Audios is easier and cheaper for our needs presently. Smart lights can either be at the switch or the bulb -- I have a mix of both, as there are advantages of each for different uses. One thing to consider is flush mount LEDs instead of putting LED bulbs in cans -- we did that in a lot of places. It looks surprisingly good, and saves money -- cost is about the same as the can enclosure, and lower installation cost.

Android, Tapa v 7.4.3. Keep getting the same situation where subscribed/unread/whatever shows randomly 'no messages' and I have to log out and wait 10-15min before logging back in. I'd just get over it and get rid of tapa if we could solve the imgur problem.

Just read Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. Man, that was a great vacation read. I'd never read any of his stuff before, but I'm going to rectify that.