Spaulding Smails

@hacker that's awesome. Plum Creek? Fished there when I lived down the street 15 years ago. Never caught anything even close to that big.

I'll eat some crow on this one. I've never cooked on a Weber Genesis. The "nice" ones I've cooked on have been in the $500 range, I would guess. Probably just a case of me not giving them a shot and not appreciating their capabilities. I guess it would be like occasionally driving a Toyota Camry and not understanding why someone would appreciate a Porsche 911. Bad assumption on my part. I have a Bull Bison 30-in charcoal grill that I use for steaks, fajitas, chicken and fish. Bull 24" griddle for burgers, cheesesteaks, eggs, etc. Then an old Tejas smoker for BBQ. I'm not a Beard Award winner by any means, but I'm also not "a retard" when it comes to cooking.

@luke duke serious question. I know you have a bad ass pit that you built. And I admire that. And, I think you've been successful at BBQ cook-offs and whatnot. If you're grilling chicken breasts or burgers on a random Tuesday night do you cook on a gas grill or charcoal? Maybe I just suck at gas grills. I'm not above admitting that's a distinct possibility.

I figured that would get someone fired up. Sorry for ruffling your feathers, Hank.

Serious question. I've never understood the "pain in the ass" stance with charcoal. Is it the time it takes to get hot? The fact that you have to clean out ashes after every third or fourth use? I've tried to like gas grills. I really have. I just can't do it. Even the "nice" ones don't seem to cook at an easily regulated temperature. The extra 15 minutes to get a chimney starter going and the occasional scooping out of ashes is well worth the trade off, IMO. I've owned a grill of some sort since I was 19, and to this day, I've never owned a gas grill.

Also, not to derail the thread, but when we make a pulled pork, we usually have leftovers. We started making Kentucky Nachos with the leftovers. Ruffles, pulled pork, cole slaw, BBQ sauce, cheese. Worth a shot if you've never tried it.

Subscribed. Great thread. Haven't made nachos at the house in a while, but I'm a fan of the "individual nacho with care" stance. But, I don't turn down a big pile o' nachos, either. A few observations: -Need to have proper chip to topping ratio. Nothing worse than a huge pile of chips and meager toppings. -Grated cheese then melted under a broiler is a must. No queso type cheese. -I'm OK if the last few chips are a bit soggy, but can't be the whole pile.

Agree with @Jkwellborn. If you have attic access above and the circuit for that light is dropped from above, it can be pretty easy. If it's coming in from the side or if you don't have attic access above, you're going to have to cut open more sheetrock and drill shit sideways. For me, the electrical part always seems to be pretty easy. It's the damn drywall patch, taping, floating and matching texture that gives me fits.

@hayden_horn may want to have her check out the pond at Camp Mabry. https://tmd.texas.gov/garrison-command

Serious question, and maybe this should go in the "stupid question amnesty" category, but why can I get a rattlesnake vaccine for my dog and not for me or my family? Not sure if it really works on the pup (hope I never have to find out), but it was worth the minimal investment to roll the dice. Is the reason that there isn't a human vaccine due to cost? Or demand? Or liability? Or genetics? I have no clue.

Incredible. 26 doses is hard to fathom. Does he get a volume discount? Also, interesting article from several years ago regarding the cost of antivenom. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/09/09/the-crazy-reason-it-costs-14000-to-treat-a-snakebite-with-14-medicine/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c59f3e1fc42c

I built what I thought was an impenetrable fortress around my garden. I was wrong. Mapaches got in over the weekend and raided my maters. It's a damn shame. I saw one out in the yard half eaten. Another dozen or so with little bites taken out of them, then discarded on the ground. Any suggestions on how to keep them from scaling a 6' hog panel fence? Other than camping out with a .22?

There's a term for that. It's called "moped". Lots of fun to ride on, but you don't want your friends to catch you on it.

This is a legit ska band out of Michigan. Saw them in Houston circa 1998.

This is the correct answer.

Headed out next weekend to fill protein feeders in Kimble Co next week at the new property. Already seeing axis and whitetail coming in since we set up the feeders a month ago.

@686 that's a brilliant setup. Love the simplicity.

I ripped out the cheap pine shelves with exposed metal shelf supports and wood rods. We just had a single shelf / single rod around the perimeter of the walk-in closet. I built a very simple shelf system (think cabinet box without the doors, fixed shelves evenly spaced) along one side for my wife's shoes. Re-did the top shelf at 84", added a second shelf at 42" on three sides, and installed oil-rubbed bronze rods beneath both the top and bottom shelf to match the door hardware. All the shelves were built using concealed cleats with double 3/4" MDF shelves and 1x2 poplar nosings. Looked pretty damn good for an amateurish carpenter. Painters sprayed all the shelves and touched up drywall then repainted the walls. I saved quite a bit because I didn't have to spend a fortune on hardware and I'm not good enough to build doors / drawers. The only thing other than the MDF / poplar that I had to buy was the rods. I went back in our listing for that house and couldn't find any decent pics of the closet.

Great thread. It's been interesting to experience my parents vs. my in-laws and their respective approaches to retirement. My parents were both very active. Mom has lots of community volunteer work, participates in every neighborhood group imaginable. When she retired 10 years ago, it seemed as if nothing changed. My dad retired six years ago from a C-suite job at a Fortune500 company. He didn't really have any hobbies, activities, etc when he retired. t suspected he'd miss business and start his own gig. He consulted for 2-3 years, then hung it up completely. Since then, he's absolutely kept himself busy. Joined a band (was and still is a kick ass drummer, older than all the other members by 20+ years), helps my mom in some of the neighborhood groups, and we just recently bought a ranch in Kimble Co. They're busier now than they were when they both worked. Both incredibly healthy. My FIL retired from his full-time job last year via a forced retirement / severance. Literally came out of nowhere and he hung it up with about one week's notice. Still has a side business that he runs, but he hates it. Ready to sell it. He spends the majority of the time at his lake house just hanging out. Fishes some, but not much. Health has already started to decline in that year since he hung it up. MIL has now pushed back her retirement four times in the last two years. Latest was from July 1 to March 1, 2019. I think it's because she doesn't want to be stuck with the FIL all day. There's also no other activities and she's scared of having some extra spending money. Just two very different situations. The best way I can summarize it is proactive vs. reactive retirement. I don't think it's smart to retire unless you have a game plan and know how you want to spend your time. As someone who's self-employed, I don't know that I'll ever retire. I can totally see myself working 20-30 hours/week as long as possible even if I am "retired". But, that's still a long ways off.

Agree 100%. If you have some decent trim carpentry skills, you can build out custom shelves and upgrade rods pretty easily. I spent a weekend building out the closet in my old house about a year before we sold it. Had my painter come spray it the following weekend. I had about $400 in materials plus my time and I paid my painters $500 plus another $200 in paint materials. So, $1100 plus my time. The buyers that purchased the house commented on the master closet before anything else on the interior. Worth every penny.

Not sure how concerned you are about what grows there (if anything), but look into some erosion control fabric. Not sure of cost, but hydroseeding over an erosion fabric is probably the best way to get vegetation started on a hillside.

Cross posted with the gardening thread, but here's the finished chicken coop. Took the majority of three weekends earlier this spring. Had a helper for the initial framing, but everything else was done solo. Fun project.

Physicality. Totally overused by color commentators, and often used incorrectly.

Yessir. In that picture, they're all live oaks except for one red oak that lost it's two primary branches. Kind of janky-looking dead center. We have several more red oaks, a hand full of american elms, a couple of black walnuts and a few escarpment black cherries down the back of the hill as well. Love the diversity of the trees in this area.

Probably the last decent week for my lawn before the heat really sets in. Zoysia Palisades in Dripping Springs.