Damor

My local Ace sells liquid muriatic acid as well. They also carry 10% bleach, which is nice, but you have to check the date on that stuff. Is algae guard of any use? My builder said he adds it every 3 months, but I don't see it talked about on TFP, and I figure if I keep the other chemistry in range that should take care of it.

My MIL has a place up there, so we've done this before. There's enough to occupy them for a long weekend. Let them spend a bunch of your monies on go-karts and mini golf and all that stuff at Funtrackers. That will occupy them happily for most of an afternoon. There's a little park across from that where, even if they don't like the outdoors, they can goof around in the creek and get soggy for an hour or so. If you don't have dinners already planned, they'll probably like Farley's, as its target demographic is frat boys and other nascent adolescents, and you can get a good pizza and beer there. I think the Irish pub there closed down permanently (it was OK), but there are a couple decent beer joints. Rio Grande Grill had pretty good food and brews, but nothing particularly kid-attractive (I've conditioned my boys to like brewpubs, so they thought it was great). I will say that the Log Cabin is awesome for breakfast, probably the best meal I've had in Ruidoso. My boys have enjoyed the Billy the Kid stuff in Lincoln and the Smokey the Bear museum in Capitan, but at that age you might get more eye-rolling than you'd like, especially since it's a bit of a drive for a long weekend trip. There are some other museums around, but it's summer, so no enrichment, please. I think it would be a great idea if the grandparents took the kids to the chuckwagon dinner and western show at the Flying J Ranch, while you and the wife go have drinks and dinner somewhere else and then shag in the hot tub (safety first) while they're gone.

Wow, thanks for the DavidSW recommendation. I can buy from him with full factory warranty for about tree-fiddy more. I'm quite OK with that premium. Jomashop was kind enough to cancel since I just ordered this morning. Cabo, you can come over to my house and fuck my sister.

Thank you. Emailed DavidSW, though I didn't see the model I was after on their site.

Going to drink at an AI near PdC next month, flying into CUN. On SWA.

Figured I'd post a followup to a question I asked on the old site before it went to shit. I was shopping for a Lady Datejust for my wife's upcoming birthday (Rolex's pricing on these is a work of evil genius) and thinking AD vs Jomashop. My experience was that, in Austin, Ben Bridge was willing to basically knock off the tax but wouldn't go any lower, even if I paid cash moneys. Russell Korman wasn't very interested in dealing (I guess that's what I get for pulling up in my shitty car and being a terrible negotiator), but offered a couple hundred off and would ship out of state to save tax (doesn't do me a lot of good). Just ordered off of Jomashop. I'm a bit anxious, but I figure saving $1500 over the AD would cover a couple servicings in case something goes wrong. Fingers crossed.

Have only been to the one in Salado, but it's a lot of fun. Old people, feats of strength, Renfest types, and a bunch of Asian kids playing bagpipes in private school bands. /nowaisis If the Scottish Pie Shoppe trailer from Albuquerque (!) is there, don't miss it. My boys obsess about the scotch eggs.

Swayze, I had the same issue. I logged out, changed my password, and logged back in and it's working again.

Dibs on Mark Mothersbaugh

I haven't been since like 2004, but this is the first time I'm really thinking about it. Headliners are damn good, the other bands read like a KUTX playlist I've actually heard of (likes me some Alvvays), and my 13yo has decided he's into Metallica. My younger one turns 11 a few days after weekend one, so I should be able to get him in free, correct? How much of a clusterfuck is this thing these days with kids? I grow into more of a misanthrope with every passing year -- is there room anymore to park yourself comfortably away from the stage and still hear anything? And how long to I have to perseverate about this until 3-day passes sell out?

Yeah, sounds like Colorado was one of the preferred relocation areas after the earthquakes in Nepal. There's a really good one in Gunnison as well. Wonder if it should go on the Road Trip map...

Yeah, Cooper's can be inconsistent, but it's never been anything worse than good for me.

For your boat excursion, look at the Scotch Mist if you want something that's not a giant tour. The cap'n is kinda crusty, but in an endearing way.

I inappropriately posted this in another thread, but I can't seem to shake the feeling: Ugh. I'm no Nostradamus, but I have a sinking feeling in my stomach I haven't felt since 'shock and awe' in Iraq. I'm going to just keep watching 'The Iron Giant' with my 10yo son...

Fair assessment. My bad.

Redacted

Irie's is indeed awesome.

I got a playlist for that somewhere...

Anyone have any experience or recommendations on a reasonably priced outdoor projector? I'd like to be able to set something up for the kids to watch movies in the evening and stuff (think Alamo-style Jaws showing in the pool). I've looked around at places like AVSforum, but it's easy to go down the rabbit hole there and I don't want to drop $3000 on something that a kid is going to trip over and knock into the pool. I have a 120" portable screen I picked up years ago on Woot (and hasn't come out of the box), and I was planning to plug a Chromecast into it for a source. I have a bluetooth boombox I could hook up as long it has an AUX out for adequate sound. So far, I'd been led to the Optoma 142X and 143X, which look like they would fit the bill and the budget. Then I also found the Dashbon Flix, which is intriguing as it's more like an all-in-one portable unit that would be easy to set up and move around, possibly worth the extra cost. Any experience or thoughts?

Someone on the old board recommended Elmer Kelton. I really liked The Good Old Boys, and plan on reading some more of his in the future. True Grit, if you haven't read it. I loved McCarthy, but I recognize he's polarizing. You implied you'd read other stuff, but I found All the Pretty Horses much less out there than the other books in the Border Trilogy. I think Blood Meridian is incredible, but it's definitely not everyone's cup of human entrails and effluvium tea.

^^^ In a similar vein, some of the Flashman books could make quite the extended HBO series. There's no way anyone would take that risk these days, though. Even the incredibly not-subtle satire and explicit statements in the books that Flashman is a horrible, horrible person would fly over a modern audience's ability to recognize. It'd be like someone proposing to reboot Blazing Saddles.

Thank you! I watered the hell out of it at first like the installer recommended, and have backed off now, fortunately for my water bill. As an aside, I put in one of the Hunter Hydrawise controllers based on advice from the old board (thanks to @Blain, I think), and I love it. Are there any herbicides I should avoid on zoysia before I try to nuke the weeds that are already infiltrating?

Just finished watching it with my boys. Again. Gets me every time.

Come on, let's shag ass.

Currently: Why We Sleep Pretty fascinating explanation of what we do and don't know about sleep. It'll make you take it much more seriously, particularly if you have kids. Recently finished: The Self-Driven Child I'm usually not much for pop science (despite the two books I've listed), but I have a newly minted teenager I'm trying not to murder. Very interesting discussion of the physiologic basis of adolescent stupidity and how to not let it stress you out. Getting the wife to read it now so that we can team up, as some of the recommendations here require some guts to institute in the face of the way things are 'supposed to be' these days. It serendipitously dovetails nicely with the sleep book, particularly with regard to anxiety. Up Next: Caesar by Colleen McCullough A friend at work gave me a copy of this. I've never read any of her stuff, but it sounds like I'm about to go down the rabbit hole.