CoTex

It birthed me, now it's over 70, but apparently it still holds some secrets. What did I do to deserve this?

I always thought we were pretty normal. Parents divorced. When I was about 10 one of my mother's friends gave her a cat for a gift. This was some persian, himalayan, high-bred showcat. It was supposably a big deal. I remember being told to not shoot my slingshot (I bought it in concan and was lethal with it), at the showcat. My mom named the cat "Fancy." Whatever, keep your cat away from my slingshot and we'll all get along fine. Yesterday (over thirty years later) my wife asked my mother "what were the names of pets you had with your children growing up?" She's trying to find a pet name and was just making small talk with my mom. Mom responds with all the names over the years and adds in "Fantasy." I said "WTF?" And she responded "We called the cat "Fancy" for a nickname, but her real name was "Fantasy." Mom, you're weird, I'm embarrassed for us all, and no wonder I had those awkward years - I'm sure all of my friends' parents told them to stay the fuck away from our place because you were sick.

I think we need a thread for stupid things our parents did when we were children, that we still cannot understand or justify.

Greatest hits of the weather scientists laying in the ditch: "I wish I was in the truck with CoTex," "Everybody Hurts" and "Amazing Grace."

If I'm going to be: - hurtled through the air - at a high velocity - in a storm full of debris - inevitably landing on the ground - probably near a trailer park, I prefer to be in my truck with a seatbelt, 13 airbags and SRV cranking out of my system. I'll wave at you "get out of the car and lay in the ditch" geniuses as I fly by.

Sounds high. What do we get for ten dollars?

This sister of yours ... tell us more.

Ate at Taco Casa in kerrville last night. First time ever for this chain. Low expectations but the $2 chili burger is the closest thing on this planet to the now extinct bell Beefer. Slammed and went hard.

Question - in an ideal world, what should US Policy be as to the NK’s? And are we kidding ourselves believing that North Korea isn’t 100% controlled by China?

not to piss on any of the other advice on this thread, but additional thoughts. There are a lot of little details at Disney that you miss if you’re breaking ass to get to the next line to ride the next ride. Examples - The boat rides from the transportation ticket center or Polynesian resort to the magic kingdom - they’re cool. Enjoy the boat ride. - the night light parade on the 7 seas lagoon - it’s unique - find a chill spot to watch it. - the actors on Main Street are fun to bullshit with. The mayor, the fire chief, I especially like the suffragettes. Find them and stop them. Ask them - what are you doing today? What should we do next? You might be surprised - they’re well practiced and will do something cool. also, if you see a villain like the bitchy stepsisters from Cinderella - definitely talk to them. They’re funny as hell - they will insult you. ive been 4 times with my kids and I don’t go because I’m obsessed with all things Disney. I go because they do everything for you - you don’t have to entertain your kids but can just enjoy and play along with them. dont be surprised if your wife pulls some “let’s wear matching shirts” bullshit. It’s not her fault - all her friends did it first.

Animal kingdom is excellent. The rides, the atmosphere. It’s the right amount of everything. epcot is a lot of walking. Some bright spots but underwhelming. take naps. Hit it early and late but during the hours that are hot af, go to your hotel and sleep. It will make the evening hours much more enjoyable and feel less like the Bataan death march. My kids and wife fight me on this every time and after the nap they’re always apologetic “you were right...” yeah, no shit. take a day off from the parks. Hotel pool, walk around downtown Disney. There is no way you can see or do everything, so accept that and pick a pace that’s enjoyable - not a see everything at any cost pace. poolside restaurant at swan/dolphin hotel is relaxing. Good place for killing an afternoon drinking.

Pink yoga pants made a hell of a comeback. I thought she was done but when she start working that belt and that broom - you got problems.

It sounded sexier when your mom said it.

Oh, I know it's amateur hour. I bumped into these guys in 1996 in Southhampton or Portsmouth. They were "training" in the Solent and all I saw were a lot of boats broad reaching back and forth, and a lot of sails flapping for a long while after every tack. It reminded me of 8 year old yacht club camp with some big bulletproof boats that sorta looked fast but on close inspection were overbuilt so you could crash them into the dock. I read this overboard report as "we did some really big things badly, and then when the small part broke, it cost a man his life." My thought was "uh, don't do the big things badly and the small part won't be the only thing sparing your soul." Shit, if you're going to wipe out, at least go to weather. You break less shit and have less to untangle. When do we get to see your afterschool special about mob?

Allright SBBruin, G650 and all other offshore sailors, here's the report on an MOB from 2017 that resulted in a death. https://maritime-executive.com/article/cv30-man-overboard-tether-entangled-on-deck-fittings My read is that, with a number of people taking down sail (wtf is a yankee), the driver gybed the boat and chucked at least two in the water. After that, bad things unfolded, but that was the initial failure and the tether shackle failure was just unlucky. It could have just have easily been a sharp object that cut through the tether and the shackle would have survived. A sailboat in rough weather is hard to maneuver. Gybing the thing unannounced and tangling the fuck out of probably everything, makes it infinitely harder. Too harsh? Why cant you be more understanding CoTex?

That's a bunch of new fangled bullshit that we didn't need in the olden days. Back before carbon fiber when the runner got tangled up, you couldn't ease the main, so you spun out, probably skied the pole because some greenhorn is on the pole controls, and broke some shit. A slow motion clusterfuck. I remember being in Corpus when the Ultimate Yacht Race first showed up. I guess that was around 87 and I raced a Laser. Those boats looked like something out of a sci fi movie - now all of that shit is just the norm. Watching people like Cayard and Kolius capsize OD14's in the Corpus Christi marina was pretty cool.

So what's the identical version (purple line) in front of the traveller?

Why is the bow guy working so hard? Chillax my man. If it’s too much sail, God will take it down for you.

This is a great show. My 70 year old mother and 5 year old are both into it. ”Armstrong’s heart rate was 158...”

So far so good. Cool footage and high quality. spoiler - they go to the moon.

Man, I’m happy to hear it. I’ve stayed at a few 4S and never had a bad anything. Even Houston - which I think is not the greatest, is good enough for me.

What is the nicest hotel in Vegas? The hotel where the amenities and service just outpace all the rest? if there is a grouping of hotels at the top, which has a pool where I can enjoy a mild scene - not a jersey shore reunion?

Good start but to succeed you need glows and grows so, listen up. 1. Get new shirts. 2. Guy on the pedestal needs to not skip leg day anymore. 3. What’s the cleat/belowdecks line coming out right behind the traveler? That’s a weird spot for a control line. 4. Need pictures of the owner’s wife. thats all for now.

G650 - the Main is on a halyard lock so all luff tension control is done at the clew, correct? Do you still call that Cunningham or is there some new cooler word like ... downhaul?

Somebody at quantum or dimension polyant or whoever missed a really cool marketing opportunity here. ”if you liked Dacron, you’re going to love... Blackron!”