Grimas

Have you looked at an alternative to plywood floor? Either a sheet of expanded steel mesh or even hog fencing if you are just going to be putting boxes up there... (looks good as is by the way...) Or make a pergola in the garage and lay down 1"x4" slats or even narrower ones..

Why aren't you going from the elevated stairs on the right? Just knock out that existing section of handrail and add a few steps there...

Has anyone reserved a car and not gotten the rental? I am a Hertz Gold member and booked a car on a weekly rate out of MIA next month with plans on driving to the Keys. Not getting a car would put a serious damper on the plans... I did book a backup reservation with another location (Sixt) at double the rate just in case but in both cases, I have no money down and am pretty screwed if I show up at the airport and there isn't a car available... (Backup plan 3 and 4 is an Uber or the Greyhound bus if needed but either of those would suck...)

I need some assistance on finding an app or software to block internet access on an elderly person's account who has been scammed 2x on some social media sites. The original plan was to get on the router at their house and to block various sites but you've got to add the sites one by one as opposed to blocking everything and then allowing access to only a few sites like YoutubeTV, Netflix and Uber/Lyft. Any suggestions on apps or software that can be installed on a phone and tablet that tracks actual usage and then allows for remote monitoring and the ability to block sites? I've seen "Bark" and "Save Kids" apps but they are geared for kids and not seniors and the websites aren't really clear how much control and monitoring you have available...

Got my kid the new Oculus Quest 2 the other day and thought I'd bump this thread to see what people are playing. Damn cool device (except it requires a FB account...)

Renting an exotic car to get on a highway that is basically one lane for several hours doesn’t sound like the best investment especially if it’s hot out and many of those don’t have a/c and you are at the mercy of the slowest car on the road... Save that bucket list item and fly into Germany and hit the autobahn on another trip... (150+ mph in an X5 with family onboard will cause a pucker that I won’t do again...)

No sales tax on certain emergency supplies this weekend. Picked up a 12,000 watt dual fuel generator yesterday...

Stupid me thinking I could find the best rates for car rental online... Punched in my corporate card and got a week of a large sedan for $290 (from the airport as the local place on S. Beach is closed on Sunday) all in... Thanks!

I ended up booking the Islander Resort on Islamorada for 5 nights. After digging through recent reviews the past day, it seems Covid has really messed up all the resorts in general in the Keys with crappy (or no) housekeeping as most of them have complaints of having dirty rooms seem to be the common thread. Bummer that stone crab season ends in May and damn, what happened to rental car prices?!!? $88/day out of Miami for an intermediate?

It's $60 not $35 for the yearly renewal and I've got my own kids college to fund...

Going down to Miami Beach in June with wife and 15 year old boys. Was looking at a few days in the Keys as well but any preference to Key West over Marathon over Key Largo? Goal is to do nothing but eat, fish, snorkel and sit by pool/water with a drink in hand. With the teens in tow, the bar/nightlife and wife shopping scene not as important (we'll get that on Miami Beach). Looks like more and slightly cheaper housing/hotels in KL and it looks like a car rental is a must to get down to either.... I'm trying to talk myself out of the drive all the way out to KW...

I only renew my membership when I come in for a game to get into the Ex center to make a few laps or when I buy a new car to replace the window Texas Ex sticker... Got a new car - anyone got an extra sticker they haven't used and are willing to part with?

Radio link... https://texassports.com/sports/2014/11/19/GEN_1119144623.aspx

I lived in SE Asia for a few years and talked to a fellow expat yesterday who is still there in KL. He said KL is still considered a Covid “red zone” so if you are there, you can’t leave the city. Traffic there is back to pre-Covid levels but he said he ditched his car as the MY version of Uber is dirt cheap and has fixed prices and it’s pretty much killed off the taxis there. He said many former expat enclaves are empty do nice, high end apartments in town are dropping in price as most expats moving out of the city and out into the “suburbs” like Bangsar, Mt. Kiera where they can have big houses and pools rather than high rise apartments. Also, most expats have had to give up their “house keepers” because of Covid restrictions so one of the expat wives “benefits” of not doing cleaning or laundry is gone... if I had to go back, Bangkok (or anywhere in Thailand) would be my choice - we loved the people and the city and will probably spend a lot of time living there when we retire... Singapore is nice but damn expensive compared to the rest of the region... Jakarta is great to visit but the whole place is a mess and is a step below the other countries in terms of being a “modern” country...

Looks like AMZYF has bounced off the bottom... Still in red overall but I like the direction it's headed again...

Got a custom made mattress from Houston Mattress Makers and it's a hell of a lot better than any of the "store bought" generic mattresses... Wife (no pictures) got her side softer than my fat ass side and got the added top layer with the "cooling fabric" that wicks away body heat. Bought 2 more from them for the teens when they grew out of their "kiddy" beds... If you are in Houston, it's a better alternative than the Sealy, etc then you can get at the mattress shops or Costco for the same price...

I don't know if its been mentioned in this thread (didn't find it when I searched) is the BBC Series "Line of Duty" is a good watch. Basic story line is Internal Affairs UK coppers looking for corrupt cops. The first 4 series on Amazon Prime but the current real show is in the 3rd episode of season 6 (I'm watching the current ones via Kodi). Lots of good twists each season - you think it's going one way and by the end of each season. does a flip you don't expect but all the clues were there...

Painfully riding the AMY slide down... (Insert image of the old aggy season roller coaster picture here...)

Whole Foods (in the Woodlands at least) has Gulf Oysters for $.59 Amazon Prime members/$.69 non-Prime members...

I've got a 3 node Velop Tri-band AC6600 mesh with my 80mbps Xfinity internet with 2 of the 3 hardwired to each other. Getting 1000mb fiber installed in the coming weeks. I currently get rock-solid signal across the whole house and no one in the house bitches about any lag or buffering (2 kids stream Xboxes and all the TV's and devices streaming as well and lots of Teams and Zoom conferences from the backyard). What's considered "fast enough" for a SpeedTest at a device?? Is it worth the coin to upgrade to a WiFi 6 mesh system? With my current provider, I'm doing fine with this current setup with a 80mbps connection but with the new fiber coming I should be able to increase the speed at every device by quite a bit. Yes, a WiFi6 would deliver even better performance but is it worth the money to do this upgrade when I'm content with the current mesh on a slower connection?

Stream?

Had a 3000w Champion generator (inverter) that kept the the 3 fridges/freezers, some LED lights, wifi and a tv powered during the storm but had to run extension cables across the house which was a pain. My frigging "heater buddy" is in my blind at the lease... After about 6 hours - whatever batteries that were keeping the internet from Xfinity in their "substation" finally died so even with power in my casa - no internet... (Getting fiber in the coming months and those who had it didn't lose internet at all during the outage) Glad I also have a digital antenna in the attic so could still watch crappy local TV. Lesson learned - gas furnace still needs electricity to run the blower fan and thermostats... Going forward, I'm going to buy a 13,000W portable generator to be able to power most of the house using an external 50A (male) connector and a lockout switch on the fuse panel. I will then manually turn on the fuses in the panel on what I want to power... Costs for the generator - around $1000 and another $6-800 to put in the connector and lockout switch. I have a 5 ton and 3 ton A/C but have the "soft start" switches in both so the start load won't bring the whole system down if running in the summer - would probably just run the smaller one upstairs. VSP pump on pool can be set to slow/low wattage flow. Can't justify a $8000 Generac and another $6-8000 install cost (gas on opposite side of the house from the panel) when I can basically power what I need for $2000 and can take it with me if we move... Info to consider if you go this route: Don't buy more generator than you can use - if you put in a 30A connection, a generator larger than 7500W is useless. The max power you can put into a 30A switch is 7200W. If you get a larger generator like 12000W, you've better off going with a 50A transfer switch... Watts / Volts = Amps A 7200W Gen is only really capable of feeding 30 Amps @ 240V (7200W/240V=30A) If you get a bigger generator like a 12000W unit, go for 50A @240V transfer switch. (12000W/240V=50A) Put in LED lights as they draw less than incandescent bulbs. Get a dual-fuel generator and a couple of propane tanks as they don't "spoil" like regular gas and use these first to save your carburetor from getting dirty. If you run out of propane, you can always siphon your truck/auto gas tanks so get a pump. Buy a small solar panel to trickle charge your batter in the generator when not in use. Buy a cablelock or chain so your generator won't "walk away" in the middle of the night when it's running outside... Once you fire up the A/C, set the thermostat (in the summer) to something like 60F so it just keeps running and doesn't have to turn on/off all the time... No need on a gas furnace(s) blower as it barely draws any power. If you have an attached garage, buy a couple of sheets of the 4x8' sheets of styrofoam with foil on them and cut them to size and put on the back of the garage door - my temp in the garage stayed above freezing this round and in the summer, never gets above 80 degrees even with direct afternoon sun beating on them... Helps the garage freezer and fridge as well... 15" of sprayed insulation in the attic helped keep the internal temp above 50F after 18 hours of no power with sub-freezing temps outside I'm putting in a separate connector from outside (posted in this tread) to be able to plug in my smaller inverter generator so I can still power my computers/tv/internet/UPS with "clean power" when those batteries die - the large portable generators plugged into the panel produce "dirty" power that can fry electronics... Total system to power most of the house is around $2k. Wait for the Sales tax holiday in late April to buy new generator as generators under $3K get the sales tax waiver for "hurricane" supplies...

It’s been years since I’ve been there but check out Abe’s fly shop page for info. Looks like it is closed now due to Covid... https://www.sanjuanriver.com/ first time I went to the San Jaun, it was the first time I had ever fly fished. Still caught a bunch under the dam (catch and release). All you need to do is the “San Juan Shuffle”...

Check it today... up 31%... Damn, I wish I had bought more...

Just an FYI - you can now get Texas license plates for your cart. Plus is that the local sheriff/constable can't give you grief for driving on the streets. Negative - kids aren't allowed to drive them without a driver's license (not that they could before but I think there is more of a chance of getting a ticket now that it has a plate...) Also, my HOA can't bitch anymore for it being in the driveway as it's a "licensed" vehicle...