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Samson's Wig

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Everything posted by Samson's Wig

  1. It's all perspective, but that describes what seems like the majority of suburban houses built in the last twenty years, sans perhaps the tennis court. I would have guessed $1.5M in Plano would get you a whole lot more than that house. You could easily buy that house in Austin for that price. Like all the giant ass houses in all the suburbs in Texas and beyond, she likely paid a fuckton less than that zestimate anyway. We're surrounded by homes worth over a million dollars in our neighborhood, but there wasn't one worth over $650k three years ago. Now some are selling for $1.5 or more. Esmi would blame immigrants for the huge spike in prices, but we all know it's the Illuminati shifting their portfolios to real estate after Robin Hood brought retail trading to the masses.
  2. Have you met many church people?
  3. Because youth sports has nothing to do with the kids. It's about the parents and the *community. Can't go a full season with out Friday nights, y'all! *by community I mean the large number of weirdos who don't have kids in sports but who follow high school sports for the "entertainment" value. I'll never understand how watching shitty football is entertaining for anyone not directly connected to one of the players on the field.
  4. I would have thought that hyper-closeted jocks and frat boys would be a thing of the past in the more permissive culture we now live in.
  5. I hate to admit it, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one who says and does stupid shit in our house. Outside of the occasional car accident due to the inherent dangers of driving while female, my wife has her shit together way better than I do. I think it's because she didn't go to public school in America, and I did.
  6. There's that arrogance I referenced. It's shortsighted and complete UT tunnel vision. I get it, but I don't agree with it. Perhaps I'm simpleminded, but you've got your lips planted on your own ass. And your solution to roll fully developed systems under the UT wing, for reasons, (which some goob always brings up in these discussions) is about as simpleminded as it gets.
  7. Distribution of funds needs to be spread out more in Texas. As cool as it is, on one hand, to be the "richest" university, it's also a bit embarrassing for a public school as it has come at the expense of other Texas schools. Texas (the state) has placed so much emphasis on football rivalries over the last century+ that we haven't created a decent system for educating young Texans. There is entirely too much "fuck 'em" attitude among the state schools, with aggie being the absolute worst about it. From our shitty public elementary schools up to our extremely top heavy public university system, we've fucked up and we'll all pay for it (already are). I know the argument that we should fold the other major publics into the UT system is a common refrain around here, but it's a weak argument founded on the same arrogance that created the problem in the first place. And it's never going to happen, so seeking practical solutions would be nice to see. UT's endowments are large enough to carry all its water, and the athletic department operates in the black (not the case at most schools), so perhaps the solution is to simply go back to properly funding those state schools that rely on tuition revenue to survive. No tweaks to what is happening at UT, just up our game in funding the rest of the state.
  8. It really really sucks all around. Between the state fucking with Austin, and Austin leadership tripping over their own dicks at every step, it's getting more and more difficult to justify staying here. But it's been home for so long the thought of leaving isn't a comfortable one.
  9. I spoke too broadly as nuance doesn't often translate well to message board banter. I would absolutely send my kids to a religious school where religion takes aback seat to the academics, as is the case with the good ones.
  10. That is true in every school district. I agree completely that recapture is the largest part of AISD's problems, but it will never change. No way will rural and suburban school district reps ever vote to shift that money back where it comes from.
  11. This topic is a tough one for me. We're are a decidedly nonreligious family so I don't give a flying fuck about my kids attending a religious school. I would never send them to one under any circumstances. But the pandemic seems to be the final nail in the coffin of public schools, especially in the cities. AISD went from just barely hanging on as an "okay" district to becoming a complete failure of an inner city school system during the pandemic. We already pay a fuckton more than the rest of the state in public school tax dollars, only to see our schools become completely worthless. I would rather see that money stay in my hands where I can utilize it on nonprofits that actually help kids rather than the nonsense that happens in Texas now, which is that city tax dollars subsidize million dollar football stadiums in the suburbs. Public schools have failed in Texas, but it's not the fault of charter schools. Charter schools are a symptom.
  12. I find it fascinating that anyone would claim some sort of moral high ground based on thermostat settings. Setting the thermostat to 75 in one house will not feel remotely the same as setting it to 75 in another house. It's not apples to apples. And if some people prefer to be cooler, or hotter, and are willing to pay for it, then everyone else should fuck off about it. Residential power usage is a gnat on the elephant's ass.
  13. It's getting harder and harder to justify living in Austin. When the average age of voters in the city is 33 years old, you get the shenanigans we get. Children will vote yes for anything, and elect anyone who knows how to memorize a few buzz words. Every city has its share of morons in public office, but Austin takes the cake for Texas. It's frustrating.
  14. It's the exact same impetus, just carried farther. Any adult who gets upset enough to yell and scream at a youth sporting event is a douchebag at best, and is most likely in need of intense therapy. It's a continuum, and Talib is on the extreme end of it. Don't kid yourself though, if you're one of the jackasses yelling at refs, kids, your own kid, or other parents at a youth sporting event, then you have a lot more in common with Talib than with the sane parents cheering for their kid and just hoping they have a good time and learn a thing or two that can translate to real life. Having umped, refereed, coached, and sat in the stands as a parent at thousands of these events I completely agree that more parents than not act poorly. It's not because they're emotional about their kid (what a load of crap that is - if they cared about their kid at all they wouldn't act that way), it's because more parents than not are complete pieces of shit. Trying to justify their behavior with the "at least they didn't shoot somebody" defense is ridiculous.
  15. Selective memory? AE couldn't figure out how to turn the power back on after turning it off for what was supposed to be a rolling blackout. The grid didn't fail in Austin. AE did. The fact they saved money by not providing power to over half the city for over a week is cold comfort (pun intended), and a really odd thing to bring up as a positive point for AE. Austin was without power longer than any other major city in the state. That wasn't the grid. People died in this town because public utilities, like other government departments, tend to attract and hire the absolute bottom of the barrel of functional human beings. It's not any better than people dying due to private industry worshiping the almighty dollar at all cost. They all suck. But some can't seem to bring themselves to point blame where it is very much warranted, I suppose for political reasons. There's plenty to go around and AE deserves their fair share along with ERCOT, state government, and private energy companies. And yes, agreed, Austin Water is 100% a bunch of fucktards.
  16. I put it in quotes in an attempt to make clear that I was using the word to contextualize it against the free market set up in most of the rest of the state, where Texans actually have options on where they buy their power. The main point being, neither way works that well.
  17. I'm fully onboard with the notion that ERCOT has its hands tied and the state lege, along with private interests who set up this system, are at fault for creating what is at best a tenuous power supply. Locally in Austin, however, the city seems to get a complete pass for their actions during and after Uri. It wasn't the grid that caused the problems here. It was the absolute fucking moron government employees who run our power and water supply. While we all bash the shortcomings of the free market system throughout TX, let's not forget about the "nationalized" system in Austin for electricity and water, which is even worse than what the rest of the state is dealing with. None of this shit is working like it should, and like with most things the solution likely falls somewhere in the middle.
  18. The same psychology that drives idiot parents to yell, spit, punch, swear, etc. etc. etc. at youth sports everywhere. It transcends economic class, race, education level, you name it. The psychology is simple: a lot of people are terrible fucking morons who only take up space and contribute nothing of substance to the world. And these people are likely to procreate and force their children into sports whether they want to be there or not. If you want to absolutely hate humanity, go ump little league games for a season or two. I couldn't have been happier when my son decided he was done with baseball so we could get the hell away from those people. Any adult who actually cares about the outcome of a youth sporting event to the point they have a visceral emotional reaction, whether it's a tee-ball game or a high school football game, should either seek professional help or do the rest of us a favor and disappear from society. Yelling at a youth sporting event is like holding up a flashing neon sign that says, "I'm an emotional toddler trapped in a grown up body and present a very real threat to those around me. It all stems from the fact my dad never really loved me and didn't care that I knew it. Also - my own kids hate my guts but I'm too stupid to see it." (EDIT TO ADD: It's a big sign.)
  19. The Beach family, in spite of their terrible loss, seem like assholes.
  20. I don't know Pancho, and anyone can be suckered by internet click bait. But I think you may be giving professor's more credit than they deserve. There aren't many professions that involve more heads up asses and/or completely myopic existences.
  21. WTF is tik tok cop talking about that the guy was getting up on him? Lots of cops need an ass-whipping, but holy shit that guy is a ticking time bomb.
  22. Houston showing up on these polls is puzzling. I know they win games in their dinky conference, but the only teams with a pulse they played in the regular season last year were TTU and Cincinnati and they got smoked.
  23. Lots of shitheads in that video, but if I have to choose - team car.
  24. Yes without a doubt.
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