Longhornmaniac8

No, you don't. The train is inside security. It's pretty tight, but doable with no delays. What airline(s) are you flying?

About 10 minutes on the train. The walk to the train from A and to your gate in F you can probably add another 5-15 minutes or so total.

I don't know, what do they call it? Since it's Spencer that's doing it. https://blog.hotwhopper.com/2014/02/roy-spencers-latest-deceit-and-deception.html God y'all are gullible motherfuckers.

By being a total hypocritical piece of shit? Yeah, you're spot on about that. That YES vote on Trump's tax plan is totally consistent with this. Jesus fuck you're obtuse.

I disagree that hub-and-spoke is no longer necessary from Austin. While AUS is extraordinarily well connected to the largest business cities, lots of business can and does take place outside of that, and even among those cities, there still is sub-optimal connectivity in terms of schedule. Take Ontario, CA as an example. It's in the 13th largest MSA. And if you happen to be flying on the 4 days a week Frontier offers service, and happen to be traveling on a schedule that fits its single flight on those days, then perhaps it could be a viable option. Beyond that, you're going to have to connect. And in order to do that, you're going to be using some iteration of a hub-and-spoke system. You're absolutely begging the question by saying AA fails at "everything." Without quantification, it's just a claim with no substantiation (and a pretty lousy one that's riddled with emotion at that). Good luck getting to a city like Chicago on JetBlue. Maybe if you leave by sunrise you'd get there before dinnertime. There is almost nowhere in the continental United States you can't get to in 7 hours or less travel time on AA, UA, or DL from AUS, including secondary and tertiary cities. Of the three, DL would far and away have the worst schedules because its hubs are the farthest. No other airline can offer that kind of connectivity, and it's thanks to, yep, you guessed it, the hub-and-spoke model. Pick a major destination from Austin. AA will get you there just as easily, if not more easily, than every other airline out there. They fly nonstop to 6 of the 10 largest MSAs, compared to United's 5 and Delta's 4. Of the three legacy carriers, AA and DL are tied for the most nonstop destinations overall out of AUS with 8, and AA has the most passengers carried. So your claims that their itineraries are the worst just really doesn't stand up to any scrutiny because they go the most places and carry the most people which means they have the most flights (all carriers are almost completely mainline with comparable capacity, so one isn't being boosted by more frequency using smaller jets). They also have the newest fleet of the three legacies, and while I fundamentally disagree with their floundering strategy as it pertains to cabin service and in-flight entertainment (DL wins easily in these categories), you're far more likely to be flying on a newer plane. Last year, AA's on-time average was indeed the worst of the three at about 78%, worse than United's (79%) and Delta's (nearly 86%). There's certainly not a lot between AA and UA and the average customer doesn't fly enough for that difference to be significant. Customer service I'll concede is a black mark on AA right now, though I've had pleasant experiences by and large on all three and wouldn't generally put one over the other. The whole point is that people travel for lots of different reasons, and even for people that travel regularly, AA provides as much utility, if not more, than any other airline that flies to AUS. People value things like robust schedules with lots of flight options (which knocks out any airline except AA, UA, DL, and WN), lounges to escape the busy-ness of the concourse (which knocks out WN), frequent flyer programs that provide status, upgrades, and mileage accrual (could further knock out WN depending on what you're looking for). Of the three, I can get more flights to more destinations out of DFW with AA than I can at IAH with UA. DL is a nonstarter due to too many areas where I have to backtrack. There's an enormous arc in the center of the country from SLC-MSP-ATL where I have to backtrack if I want to get there. This goes to your point about the DL focus city which I think we all hope is coming. Combine that with the fact I hate IAH as a connecting airport (and I say that as someone who will be based there starting in 2 weeks) and AA almost wins by default.

What are you confused by?

I'd just like to follow up on this that Croatia is so much more than just the Dalmatian Coast. To be sure, it's an incredible spot, and has become super-touristy for a reason (*cough* GoT), but there are many more places worth going in the country than just Dubrovnik, et al. Plitvice Lakes National Park is other-worldly, like something out of Avatar. The Istrian Peninsula, especially the town of Rovinj, is stunning and more reminiscent of classic arid Mediterranean landscapes. And once you make it up north, you don't have an excuse to miss the best country in the region, Slovenia.

Absolute fucking insanity. Boundaries is a really dumb fucking way to decide a match. But still, between this and the Wimbledon final, that's a fuckload of sporting drama for one 45-minute period in one city. Wow.

I don't think there were more than 5-6 games more in it, to be honest. One way or the other.

Hot take alert. A quick glance at the AUS-ORD schedules show each of AA and UA having 4 flights a day, at pretty similar times, all on either Airbus or 737s. Enjoy Frontier's less than daily service (also, your credibility is totally gone at this point if you think F9 is better than AA in any capacity, current issues notwithstanding). A quick glance at the AUS-PHX schedules show AA's 4 flights a day to WN's 3. A quick glance at the AUS-LAX schedules show AA's 4 flights a day to DL and UA's 2, and WN's 1. How that drink and package of pretzels on WN is somehow better than the same on AA or UA, I don't really get, but whatever floats your boat. Also, if you think the hub-and-spoke system isn't alive and well, well, I don't really know what to tell you.

I got Barry Bonds' autograph after a Giants game at PacBell in 2002, that was pretty awesome for a young teenager. I remember watching the Texas-South Carolina national championship game in the hotel in San Francisco on that same trip. Good times. My mom and I stumbled across an Earl Campbell book signing on the Riverwalk, so I got an autographed copy of The Tyler Rose and a photo with a true legend. I have a football signed by most of the 2003 Texas team, including Roy Williams and BJ Johnson. That one is pretty special to me, too. A long time ago, my mom met Tom Landry at a Special Olympics event she was volunteering at and got him to sign a Special Olympics folder for me. Not on the same level, but I met Andy Murray and Milos Raonic at the ATP World Tour Finals in 2014 and got autographs from each of them, too. I was so close to getting a Federer one but he went the other way at the last minute. The best one, though, has to be the Texas basketball poster I got signed by Vince Young when he was on his official visit as a senior in high school. I remember the crowd giving him a standing ovation I think he committed like 2 days later. Gosh, this makes it sound like I'm an autograph chaser, but I've really just been in the right place at the right time for the vast majority of them. The only ones I really tried for were Bonds and VY, but even VY's wasn't really more than walking up to him.

The man is just out of this world good. It's such a privilege watching these guys play. I continuously have arguments with one of my best friends who says that the Big 3's continued success is bad for tennis. What it boils down to is he wants more parity and they obviously get in the way of that. I care more about the product on the court, and recognize that what we're watching from these guys will never be seen again in my lifetime. I'm happy to sacrifice predictability for the pleasure and honor of seeing Fed, Rafa, and Nole go after one another. Sunday should be interesting. Nole has looked beatable, but I don't think I'd bet against him, as much as I want Fed to win.

Hallstatt is incredible. Get there around 7:30 for 90 minutes of peace and quiet before the Chinese tourists arrive by the busload. I enjoyed renting a boat and getting out on the lake. Worth the $25 or whatever for an hour.

The "I'm a Bitch" thread is over on TOS.

This was earlier this morning, roughly 10 am. I've heard they lost an engine shortly after takeoff, and I suspect they Vmc'd it. Had a friend/former student who was in the hangar two away from the one it went it. Pretty scary. She pulled herself together and passed her commercial checkride later this afternoon, though.

I just drove near the Cargo ramp on Freight Ln. I pulled off near the taxi staging area. I had my crew badge on just in case I got any grief. Just took the photos through the chain link fence.

I got a great shot of it when it went tech here a couple of weeks ago. Love this scheme.

Here now. Leaving tomorrow. Had a great little 3 day stay. We were super lazy, though.

Fuck this.

Relevant CGP Grey:

Kuang Si*

Luang Prabang is fucking amazing. The Kuang So waterfalls are just shocking in their beauty.

Yeah, people in their 30s haven't done shit. At what age do people start "[doing] shit?" God you're fucking stupid.

Roatan is a great suggestion. It's super chill, just avoid the cruise port when they come in.

FUCK YES!!!!