Samson's Wig

The ideologues are happy, and that's what matters most. How ugly these unused bike lanes make neighborhoods is an overlooked aspect of this foolish practice. In addition to being much more difficult for vehicles Shoal Creek and similar streets are now an awful eyesore, all at the expense of those who actually live there and for the benefit of almost no one. The folks who own houses on that street are lucky to live in such an insane housing market, as that crap would make your home almost worthless in most places. Even here, it's going to put you at a relative disadvantage when selling.

White people make up what, 10% of the earth's population? I don't see why we make such a fuss over such a tiny group. They could multiply like rabbits for a couple of centuries and still be an afterthought.

What I'm proposing, is maybe that's not such a bad thing.

I think the pro-Russian comments are coming from a certain nutbag politically affiliated group, not AI bots. The Internet, like any open forum dating back to at least the Roman one, has always been a place for bullshit to reign supreme an nonsense to spread like wildfire. No one should ever take it seriously because the vast majority of humans are stupid as fuck, and even the somewhat intelligent ones will seize any opportunity to talk out of their asses about something they don't know anything about.

As a former Chicago resident, I recognize that address well. If that's where he can be found, he's okay in my book.

The bicycle lobby is the number one thing about Austin that fucking sucks, and that's saying something. These unused lanes all over town are so completely stupid, and on the rare occasion you see someone using them, it's a goober in spandex getting exercise, not a commuter. We shouldn't be subsidizing workouts for middle-aged assholes too embarrassed by their slight frame to step foot in a real gym, especially at the expense of functional roadways. If I thought for a second that large numbers of people would commute via bike in this town, I'd be all for it, but they won't and they never will. There are plenty of great cities in climates that make commuting via bicycle a reasonable option. Austin is not one of them. I don't know how the morons got control of everything, but it's like living in a bizarro world here sometimes. That news story about Barton Springs is hilarious. They couldn't even find someone on a bicycle using the new lane for their b-roll, so they had to create a photo op with Meg Merrit, Austin resident and "transportation expert," just to show someone actually using a bicycle on this stupid fucking waste of money. We're a clown show.

Shit, I've been a fool. Thanks for this.

Agreed. I don't get it. She's 11. We've failed as parents.

Oh, I know.

My wife's vehicle has a 360 overhead camera view and she uses it religiously, so I tend to believe she was parked just fine, but yeah, you never know. Those spots are tiny in that lot. Fuck that guy either way. Perhaps the worst part is neither of us can stand Starbucks and wouldn't go there, but our daughter has taken a liking to the bagels, of all the fucking things, so she asks to go there with some regularity for a plain bagel toasted with butter. It's mind-numbingly ridiculous, but we give in now and then.

Absolutely. No need to involve anyone else. DM me your address and we can chat about it.

Don't talk to fat ugly chicks, and don't use face recognition on your phone. Problem solved. To be fair, you can be drugged without talking to any strangers, good looking or not, while out and about. Happened to me.

Hmmm

My wife mostly felt sorry for the guy, who is clearly a miserable cunt. She kept her cool and didn't engage with him a this level. I'm definitely not that mature.

Some fat, white, middle-aged asshole cussed out my wife and daughter in the Starbucks parking lot on Great Hills a week or so ago. The spots there are tiny, and she was parked dead center (according to her). Well parked or not, he didn't like that he had to shimmy his fat ass to get inside his car, rolled down his window and started screaming obscenities at my wife. Wife asked him to calm down as our 11 year old daughter was with her, and he proceeded with "fuck your daughter, she's a bitch too." Then looked right at my daughter and said, "Yeah, you. You're a bitch just like your mom." Given this site's proclivity for attracting a bevy of men who meet this particular description, I thought I might see if this story sounds familiar to anyone. If you happen to be the guy, please announce yourself so I can come over and feed you your teeth. If you're not man enough to message me your name and address, know that I'll eventually find you anyway. With that out of the way, there does seem to be an uptick in the general level of anger out there in Austin these days. I don't know if it's the influx of northeasterners bringing a more direct form of communication to us Texans, who prefer to act nice outwardly and talk shit behind your back, or it's a result of the political environment of the last few years, the state of the economy over the last few years, pandemic, etc. etc etc.

Crazy guy is going to slap the wrong person at some point. Those types of things tend to sort themselves out.

So an equity and inclusion coordinator pissed off people of color at the PARD. I never bought into the "we're living in a computer simulation" stuff, but things like this make one wonder. I'm sure the Ron Swanson of the department will get this mess sorted out.

Fuck, this thread is disturbing. Your mind wants to believe shit like this is not rampant, but that's wishful thinking I guess. When we moved back to Austin after being gone for a few years, we started looking around for a church. We're not religious at all but were looking for community. My wife was raised catholic, and I was raised southern baptist. Any baptist churches were a hard no based on my experience, but we were very open otherwise. We visited congregations all over town from a wide range of religions, not just Christian denominations but also buddhist, new age/spiritualist, etc. We spent six months visiting a different place each week to find a good fit. It was insane how desperate many of these groups, particularly the christian ones, were for new members - especially if you walk in the door with kids in tow. Almost every one of them, after an initial greeting, tried to separate us from our children. I understand it is typical for many places of worship to have the kids off in one place and the adults in another, but the places that argued with us when we said our kids would stay with us were immediately removed from the list. It happened a lot. I don't think they were all child molesters, but holy shit, you could see the hunger in their eyes. I didn't want to just assume it was the prospect of fresh young blood in the congregation that had them so excited. Ultimately, we just bought a boat and spent Sundays outdoors. Sometimes I worry about the isolating aspect of not being part of a large group, but we actively engage in our neighborhood and keep the kids engaged in activities with other children. Religion is in a sad state of affairs in this country. The only places that seem to be attracting attention are those douche-canoe-laden nondenominational places with bad music, vanity pastors, and a bunch of dummies who show up every week to be fleeced. I'd rather rot in hell. Especially when the evidence makes it very clear that your kids are in genuine danger if you take them to church, I don't understand why anyone does so. It's easy to assume it won't happen in your church, I guess.

I would add to that acronym and make it SPWPUTL. (stuff privileged white people under thirty like) If you were referencing the soccer league, my apologies, but you should really leave them out of this.

Presbyterian in ABQ is about as good as anything we have in Austin. I know that's not saying much.

When did the counterculture get so fucking boring? It all sounds closer to a tax audit than a good time.

We swerved heavily into a rehabilitation-based approach in the 1950s and '60s (particularly in states like California, but aspects were nationwide) and largely abandoned it by the 70s and deemed it a failed experiment. I agree with the sentiment that we didn't really give it a serious attempt.

While it's challenging to have no sympathy for the kids, just remind yourself who they will grow up and act like.