Samson's Wig

lol

Some things never change.

It's just incredible. And frightening. It's also why I refuse to talk about anything like this, or politics of any kind, with anyone in person, ever. If someone opens their mouth and spews out the complete pile of bullshit that TexasHammer just laid out, I would never be able to take them seriously or even deal with them in any capacity, ever again. Generally speaking, morons can be fun to hang out with so long as you don't know their deep thoughts, and I don't want to ruin any potential good times to be had. Most of my family is dumber than a bag of broken dildos as well, so I would never be able to attend holiday get-togethers if I held that aga . . . wait a minute.

I know this is a late response, but I'm pretty sure Covid provided evidence that around 30% of adults in this country suffer from ODD. It was staggering to watch (and still is).

Probably just that body double from before. Don't take this one away from the crazies.

Wasn't a Coca-Cola bottle the inciting incident in that movie? If my fuzzy memory is working, there was a sequel as well.

It doesn't take much work to tell who is involved in residential development and/or sunk all their retirement eggs into their home. A bunch of asshats (myself very much included) who have obtained ill-gotten net worth through stupid home value increases at the expense of our children, and the future of this nation are likely to be in for a rude awakening when the youngsters finally have enough of it. I, for one, will try not to complain when shipped off to the Soviet gulag-style retirement barracks that we're all forced into at some point.

Ban short-term rentals, and this problem takes care of itself. Charge triple the property tax rate on corporate-owned homes just to give it the final kick in the pants. People who like to invest in rental properties have lots of other options.

You've been very lucky, I guess. Once you're inside the airport, things are generally fine, notwithstanding some of the things already mentioned regarding the way TSA handles pre-check and CLEAR that you don't see at any other decent airport. It's the dumbasses who wildly overbook flights well beyond the capacity of our system that are the problem (hint - it's operated by the city). Arrivals and Departure lanes are some of the most fucked up bits of civil engineering I've ever seen, as are the parking lots/garages and ride-share setups. It's a complete clusterfuck getting in and out of there by vehicle. Baggage claim, for those crazy enough to check a bag, is completely fucked as well, often with five different giant flights all being piled onto a single baggage claim, where everyone ends up waiting twice as long for their bags compared to seemingly every airport on earth, including those in central and south America. When the people making decisions on capacity are the same folks concerned about driving tourist dollars to town, you're going to get some seriously fucked up managerial decisions. The folks abandoning rental cars for miles along the highway during SXSW is a prime example of this type of mismanagement. The same issue is what led to the near runway crash a few years back. We fly way too many planes in and out each day for the size of airport and surrounding infrastructure we have. The worst part of the airport, in my opinion, is the arrivals lane. At most times of day you will sit your ass in the most convoluted and long ass line for no good reason other than what I assume is aggie engineering combined with Austin local government planning, even when the airport isn't particularly busy. There are ways around it, but the fact it's an issue in the first place is pathetic. It's a completely dysfunctional mess. Our airport is relatively attractive on the inside, and I appreciate the use of local art and businesses. But that's about the only thing they've done right. It's not dissimilar from our city government's decisions to spend money on bike lanes and local art installations instead of basic infrastructure. So the airport at least matches the city in this regard, I guess. Here's a list of airports owned and operated by municipalities in the U.S. Some are better than others, but the difference is rather stark, IMO, when compared to airports owned and operated by an airport authority model (where an independent, i.e. private, body manages the airport on behalf of the municipality). With these airports, you're at the mercy of how good the city management is, so it varies wildly. Municipal (City/County) Government Department ABQ -- Albuquerque International Sunport ATL -- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport AUS -- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport CLE -- Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport CLT -- Charlotte Douglas International Airport DEN -- Denver International Airport IAH -- George Bush Intercontinental Airport LAS -- Las Vegas McCarran International Airport LAX -- Los Angeles International Airport (LAWA)L45 — Bakersfield Municpal Airport (L45) OMA -- Eppley Airfield ONT -- Los Angeles/Ontario International Airport (LAWA) MCI -- Kansas City International Airport MDW -- Chicago Midway International Airport (CDA) MIA -- Miami International Airport (MDAD) MSY -- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport OAK -- Oakland International Airport ORD -- Chicago O'Hare International Airport (CDA) PHL -- Philadelphia International Airport PHX -- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport SFO -- San Francisco International Airport SJC -- Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport SLC -- Salt Lake City International Airport SMF -- Sacramento International Airport STL -- Lambert-St. Louis International Airport

No.

Global Entry is great, although, like TSA precheck, the more people get it, the less useful it becomes. None of it can overcome how shitty your airport experience is if you live in Austin and fly in and out of ABIA frequently, though. I fly a lot, and it may be the worst operated airport in the U.S. I can't claim to have been in all of them, or else I would state it definitively.

Just double the cost to fly and relegate discount airlines to shitty airports further away from major city centers and most of these problems go away.

I'll never begrudge someone who commutes on two wheels. I ride the motorized version myself. But yeah, the fucksticks in this town who use bike lanes aren't commuting anywhere. We're subsidizing their choice of exercise with our time and tax dollars and making the roadways, especially intersections, less safe. It's no different than if a group of folks preferred to get exercise playing street hockey and demanded the city carve space out of the roadways for them to do so at any time of day they like. I know there are decent people who cycle for exercise. I've got friends who do it. But the cycling community has to have a higher percentage of complete and utter pieces of shit than any other group out there, save perhaps the Southern Baptist Convention. I think it's likely because it's such a popular pastime for lawyers. Our kids are at Lamar Middle School, so I'm at the Shoal Creek and Allandale/Northland intersection between 10-20 times a week, just counting the school drop-off and pick-up trips. At least three or four times every week, I'll be waiting to turn West onto Northland/Allandale from Shoal Creek, the light will turn green, and I'll be stuck waiting on a dipshit to finish taking a long drink of water or finishing up bro-ing out with his fellow cyclist before hiking up his spandex and finally beginning his trek south across the intersection. If you dare to tap the horn, say something, or go ahead and make the turn since they're not moving (after trying your best to get their attention), you have to be prepared for an onslaught of verbal abuse. That's if you're lucky, and it isn't a cavalcade of bespandexed dipshits doing a group ride who plow through the intersection the entire duration of the light, leaving no time for anyone in a vehicle to turn right. At least they're moving, I guess. Is there a word for a group of cyclists, such as "a murder of crows," "a bloat of hippopotami," or "a pandemonium of parrots"? If not, I'd like to suggest "a sanctimony of cyclists".

That talentless hack can be blamed for a lot of shit. But yeah, that, in particular, is his fucking fault.

I wonder which suburban school board that gal grew up to scream and shout at?

The behavior YGIFS was discussing of parents living through their kids and pushing them beyond the point of what they have any interest in. Obviously, it's not every sports parent, but it's a lot of them. If you know your kid has no shot at excelling at a sport, and they're not even passionate about it, and you still act like a maniac spending countless dollars and time pushing it on them rather than helping them figure out what they're actually good at, that's even worse than a parent harboring delusions of scholarships and future professional contracts. The latter is just stupid, but the former is knowingly doing their kid a disservice.

I agree with you, but also think this makes the behavior worse, not justifiable.

Surprised/not surprised that the Air Force let your dad get away with that dress and yellow headwear. It was the sixties, I guess.

Right? Everyone knows engineers can neither read nor write. I don't know what he's thinking.

Exactly. I'm glad someone is paying attention.

Shit, I thought I was cynical.

Well, when you put it that way . . .

Here's a hint: he wasn't born an American citizen.

I'm of a similar age as you and your buddies, and even I think that's something that only old boomers do (although I'll never understand how it raises someone's anxiety). Your friend needs to consider his life choices. If you ask for sexy time and she says OK, you don't ask follow up questions.

I'm with you there, although I don't have a problem with elementary school kids having grass to run around on, as they actually have recess every day. Middle and High schools have no real need for it, especially these days. Sports fields can be artificial. Why do golf courses exist around here? Get rid of golf courses and municipal and state water usage for landscaping (hell, throw in all other commercial landscaping usage), and this problem is licked overnight. Tell the rice farmers downstream to pound sand and find a place to grow rice that is actually suited for it or otherwise find a reasonable crop that can be responsibly grown in that region, and Central Texas will be as wet as it needs to be. Residential restrictions (or the money grab (under the guise of social engineering) by way of insane rate-raping that Austin Water does, won't put a dent in the problem. Xeriscaping is great, but residential applications don't mean much. Other towns with an abundance of residential xeriscaping still deal with water issues. Albuquerque is an example where you would have to hunt for hours to find a lawn larger than a postage stamp. They still struggle for water. Agriculture, commercial, and government usage are the only places the problem can be addressed meaningfully. But just as we don't address commercial power usage when the grid is struggling, we won't do anything to these groups about water either. No doubt there are some residential water hogs out there, but they don't put a dent in the water supply even as a collective, and neighbors yelling at them so they can achieve that sweet sanctimonious high isn't accomplishing a damn thing other than making sure they're not invited to the next block party. We've got a very small patch of grass in our front yard, with the rest being xeriscaped or landscaped with native plants, and I still had some self-righteous asshole yell at me about hand watering the grass one evening. Fuck that lady. As we do with most issues, we're turning this one into religious bullshit. PS Aside - If we get rid of golf courses let's get rid of bike lanes as well. That has nothing to do with water, but bicycle lanes are the golf course of the roadway if you think about who is utilizing them.