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Brisketexan

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Posts posted by Brisketexan

  1. 16 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

    Even @NowThis doesn’t need more than 6 dildos

    That's right.  That's why my practice is, when we are going to upgrade one of our current dildos, we pick one to toss out, so we do not exceed the 5 dildo cap.

    I mean....that's what my friend does.  That's what he told me once.  And no, I don't have a good reason to explain why we were talking about dildos.  We just, uh, were....it was a real wandering conversation.  Yeah, that's what happened......Goddammit, where's the edit button?

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  2. See again my comment above:  central Austin, high property values, taxes out the ass, and a prominent high school can't fix the HVAC system and there are fucking raccoons falling from the ceiling. 
    This is what I don't understand. How is this possible? AISD is giving so much money away to other districts that it can't even take care of itself?
    That's like if you make a great living and income, but give away so much of it to the poor people across town, that they have nice new homes with modern designs and you have a leaky roof and broken AC and can't afford to modernize your 1950 3/2.
    The problem seems to be in the filtering and giving away too much before basic budgeted necessities and upgrades are accounted for?

    I suspect that there’s some element of “lots of things cost more in Austin than in Manor.” So, the dollars go farther in some districts.
  3. So, on schools, and the concepts of being funded by property taxes and “property rich” v. “property poor” districts, here’s my thought for an “adjustment” that could help us make sense of things:

    1) Consider average/total property values of RESIDENTIAL property values in a district to determine the base allocation to each district. Homes (and multifamily buildings used to provide residences) are the measure of “how many people are there to be served in the district.” And if we did that, I would bet that we’d be surprised how much the “property wealth” gap narrows between districts. The bucket of “residential property value” dollars per student in Frisco might be pretty similar to the dollars-per-student allocation in Austin, etc. At the very least, I think the spread would be a lot less than it currently is.

    2) THEN, consider the value of business property as a separate bucket – maybe even a statewide bucket? Because those folks in Prosper and Frisco and Katy don’t generate the bulk of their income dollars in those places (sure, there ARE businesses there – mostly businesses that serve local populations, like groceries, Lowes, what have you). Rather, the economic engines – and the huge dollar value real properties – are in the cities. Those tall downtown office buildings have the valuation of several hundred homes (and yes, there’s also big outliers when it comes to industrial sites, like the big Dow plant in Brazoria county, the plants in Jefferson County). The point is – and maybe my proposal is – that non-residential properties should have their property taxes put in a single statewide pool to go to all schools on something like a per capita basis. With this element MAYBE subject to my third suggestion.

    3) Those statewide dollars should be allocated on a per capita basis, ADJUSTED for local cost of living. Because a teacher can afford a place to live in Prosper and Sweetwater, and Tyler on $45k a year - they need more than that to afford a decent place in most cities. The purchase price of real property to build a new school is cheaper in those places than in Austin or Dallas. So, come up with some sort of “local costs” adjuster method, and apply that to the allocation of the collective state dollars.

    Because ultimately, yes, it’s bullshit that suburban schools (with relatively lower total property values) can afford to build football palaces, whereas urban schools (in districts that are property rich because of the density and value of urban business properties) have leaky roofs and no AC.

    Unfortunately, the suburban/rural vs. urban divide and hatefest in this state will prevent any examination of the issue along those lines. Our politicians will continue to favor the suburbs, and be at war with cities. And if the collateral damage is the kids who live in those urban areas, fuck ‘em.

  4. Right… I’m not disagreeing with the validity of investing manufacturing in Mexico. But it just seems people expect a switch to be flipped and easily tomorrow nothing is manufactured in China anymore. 

    It’s not a tomorrow thing. But it can absolutely be a 5-10 years thing. It’s insane that we’re even letting the Chinese outmaneuver us there.
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  5. Anywhere interesting you’d go for a birthday dinner if you also had to take a 10 yr old whose idea of branching out is the sandwich rather than the nuggets at CFA? She’ll eat meat and potatoes but otherwise not adventurous at all. Whereas I’d prefer to go to a great omakase meal if I could, for instance.
    Should I just go to one of the Danny Meyer restaurants (Union Square, Grammercy Tavern) and call it a day? They seem to have kids items or kid friendly-ish stuff. 
     
    I know this has been asked a dozen times but just casting my line into the waters here. 

    How about Italian?
  6. Just now, troph said:

    Been a long time since is surprised googled something. I dunno why I thought this was funny, but “gays and gravy” did pull up some interesting ones but this one … who the fuck asks a question like this? 
     

     

    IMG_3263.jpeg

    Duh...."brunch."

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  7. 2 minutes ago, mchookem said:

    haha i actually tried that last fall just a few months after we moved in! it's a pretty small complex, 12 units. i made a flyer for an 'Open House Happy Hour - we'd love to meet our new neighbors!'...of the 12 units we had folks from 2 of them stop by lol. our immediate next door neighbor is actually pretty cool and i've gone out for a drink/dinner with her once...she also happens to be the HOA president which is also cool b/c she is super chill and told us with regard to a couple of things we wanted to do in our little yard 'eh it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission, go for it'. but she's still working, her disabled adult brother lives with them, and they go up to Estes Park almost every weekend b/c they have a place up there where they plan to eventually retire, so she doesn't have much time to socialize. actually...i just talked to her last week and i think we are going to try to get together again soon :) 

    but i've toyed with trying another gathering again this holiday season...now that we've met a few more neighbors doing drivebys, HOA meetings and whatnot, they know we aren't some stereotypical brash Texans, we're certainly not into bragging about being from Texas lol :P 

    we have one couple, friends of mine primarily that i've known since middle school, and we live about 1 mile from them...they are our primary social connects here. it's nice to have old friends that we know really well here...but that's still pretty limited compared to how big our social circle used to be. we'll figure it out eventually. 

    Man....you just blew right by my "group sex" suggestion.  I get it, I can tell when my advice is not wanted.

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  8. 1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

    It seems like entertaining again would be one of the easier things to do? I assume you've got neightbors, right? Backyard BBQ an option? Tailgating at another sports event that isn't UT? I realize you've outlined the X vs. Boomer dynamic of your marriage, and that it's not the same, but my parents moved into an over 55+ neighborhood a few years back. It's great for them, and my mom seems to host a dinner party once or twice a month where neighbors all bring some things, and they sit and socialize. Couldn't you work to do something like that every couple months, while not making it necessarily 55+?

    From what I hear about old folks' communities, they should probably be engaging in lots of group sex.

    I mean, that's pretty social.  Probably a good bit of chit-chat between rounds and such.

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  9. 1 hour ago, KCMasterpieceof said:

    @Brisketexan this is a whole 'nother conversation and ball of wax; complex, multidimensional issue for society. Not saying you are wrong, but there is equality and privilege and other considerations to weigh.

    Oh, I know it's not a one-dimensional thing.  But man, the discussion that I hear in support of it is mostly along the lines of "let me do my shit and leave me alone."  And it is most strongly championed by....the loneliest generation (Gen Z).  I suspect that we like the short-term ease of WFH, and we haven't fully considered the long-term harm of the isolation it breeds.  Sure, you CAN say "fuck it, I don't need to be around any people at work, if I want to be social, I'll go out with my friends," but the follow-through on that is lacking.  

    My hypothesis is that WFH feels easy and good in the short term (like grabbing fast food at the drive thru), but in the long-term, it will kill us because it isn't feeding us something really, really important that we need.

    Again, I don't discount all of the other factors (commute time, added layer of difficulty in getting other things done at home (laundry, walking the dog), etc.).  Just realize that in prior generations, a shitload of a person's social interaction was with people at work, both strong ties and weak ties.  Take those away, without replacing them.....and yeah, we are lonelier than we otherwise would have been.  We're all too happy to point the finger at smartphones and social media for making us more isolated, I just think it's intellectually dishonest to not look at the thing that LITERALLY makes many of us more isolated, and not consider the effects of that phenomenon on our loneliness.

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  10. 19 minutes ago, G650 said:

     

    Thanks for sharing.  Some snippets that just jumped out at me:

    Quote

    In the 21st century, we are a social species living atomized lives

    Traditionally, this role of community building was often filled in America or Europe by a local church or other faith institution, but the decline of religious attendance has left a gap. Because church buildings often have unused space, secular community events are now held in them; they still provide the physical architecture for connections, even if the faith architecture has eroded.

    “We’re not meant to be lonely as a species,” said Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioral sciences at the London School of Economics who attended the Brighton event. “If you were to think of the most significant interventions to improve life expectancy, after quitting smoking, it’s: Don’t be lonely.”

    One of the paradoxes of humanity is that while we (along with other primates) evolved to be social creatures, wealth drives us toward solitude. When we have the resources, we stop sleeping eight to a hut and build a big house with high walls, and each family member has a private bedroom and bathroom — and then to afford the mortgage we work so hard that we never manage to have meals together.

    We Americans, atomized and polarized, addicted and distressed, are a lonely crowd. Overwhelming evidence suggests that for the sake of our happiness and well-being, we need one another.

    Bolded the last part for heart-breaking emphasis.  We.  Fucking.  Need.  Each other.  It is the core truth, the essence of our being.  

    There's some interesting thoughts in there, too -- especially the one that wealth drives us toward solitude.  Big, separate houses.  All-consuming work to get there.  And hell, the strong social trend to champion "work from home" one of the big reasons I don't like it is because it makes us even further isolated, and is bad for us as a society and species.  I remember getting together with our local court administrator for a drink after the worst of COVID, when we were just starting to go back to in-person court proceedings.  One of the first things he said about the process, with a bit of a choked up voice, was "man....I miss seeing my friends."  And by "friends," he meant all of us in the legal community who would stop by his office and shoot the shit, ask for a favor, run a problem by him, what have you.  We'd bullshit, tell hunting stories, or share woman troubles, or whatnot.  He IS my friend.  And there are lots of others like me.  

    I suspect that loneliness is not as big a problem in rural and poor Bangladesh as it is here in prosperous Austin.  As we get richer, we get poorer.  The things I most treasure, and even look back on with fondness, are things that were available to me when I/we didn't have much.  Backyard barbecues, riding bikes with friends, tailgating with a diverse group, church get-togethers, etc.  Now that I have much more money....I have less time, and less social wealth.  It's bassackwards.

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  11. 4 hours ago, G650 said:

    Not in my experience, and I was born late 70s. I started seeing it with my little brother's generation.

    Yep.  We got a little "trophy" for our very first soccer season....in which we sucked, and lost a lot of games.  At the end of year pizza party, we got trophies, and even though we were just 6, we were confused, because we knew we sucked.  After that, we only got a trophy/ribbon when we won stuff.

    But who cares, our generation doesn't matter.  Whatever, nevermind.

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  12. 3 minutes ago, Lidig8r said:

    There have been a few Surlyites (Surlytians?) who have jumped in on this thread with attempted humor. And, there is no response in any way. (Until this post.)

    Well, first....this is Surly.  It's what we do.

    Second...I dunno.  Maybe, maybe not, as to your hypothesis.  I mean, I've been through some shit; at our age, most everyone has.  Some of the stories above are much more stressful than anything I ever dealt with, some less so.

    What I find interesting about these stories is how the darkness and the light are often the same thing, or at least are so intertwined as to be inseparable.  We suffer unspeakable loss because we have loved.  We experience stress and worry because there are things worth caring about.  This is a hard, cruel, and beautiful world.  All at once.  

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  13. 23 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:


    Problem is, we are stable like a top. If we stop spinning, we fall down.

    This.  And layer on being in our sandwich years -- being sandwiched between aging parents who often need a lot and our kids who still need us....it's fucking stressful and exhausting.

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  14. 11 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

    When I was a kid, there were no "travel teams" in my area. Pee Wee football and Lil' Dribblers was it. One or two games for about a 6-8 week period, and that was it. You made friends with teammates from kids in other areas of town that you maybe didn't go to school or church with. But you had all the time in the world to go camping, bike riding, fishing, and other things kids are supposed to do.

    The reason people can't do anything social anymore, is because every parent's kid is special, and needs to be on a competitive travel team instead of a rec team. CHIEF Jr. was on one for exactly one summer, and we told him it was only rec teams after that. Four games throughout the week, and tournaments all day on Saturday and Sunday is just too much. Kids are over scheduled, and the only socializing the parents have time for is talking with the other parents the other 30 hours of the week they are at the ballpark or court. I know people that have two or three kids of different ages, all on travel teams, many struggle with the financial obligations (ask grandparents to help), and if they are not at home, they are at one of the kid's sporting event. The financial part of it caused my BIL's divorce. You can't have a conversation with them, because it all evolves around their kid's sports, because that is all they have to talk about.

    CHIEF

    Yep.  Travel/elite sports sucks.  We didn't have that experience with either of our kids, but are having some of it with our current kinda foster kid (who's next-level good at soccer).  It can suck up a huge amount of time and money.*

    * BUT...maybe here's the wholesome and encouraging part.  The foster kiddo is on scholarship with his club, so he (meaning we) doesn't have to pay for his regular stuff -- fees, uniform, etc.  They have travel tournaments.  When they are tournaments that require flying, we buy his ticket.  When they require driving, without fail one of the other families finds a place for him in their car.  And as for hotels, we've never had to pay for a night, because one of the other families ALSO always finds extra space for him in their room.  We send him with money for food and spending money, but his teammates' families are kind and generous, and a kid who came from literally nothing is able to participate with everyone else.  It's a good thing, and really encouraging to see. 

    An interesting story on the travel team stuff: older friend of mine had kids the same age as Drew Brees.  They were on multiple youth sports teams together and it didn't matter what it is -- coulda been Albanian blindfolded Badminton -- Drew was always the best athlete on the field.  Drew actually wanted to play summer travel league baseball when he was a kid.  Coaches REALLY wanted him to play.  His parents said "nope," at least not until he got to high school age.  Because summers were family time, for vacation, time at the beach, etc.  That really struck me as a really good priority decision they made.  And obviously, it didn't hold the future Super Bowl MVP back.

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  15. 1 hour ago, Pig Bellmont said:

    Yeah....totally looking forward to a future where one of your core human functionalities can be turned off because Elon Musk has a temper tantrum, or decides he needs to make that a separately priced (and high-priced) feature.  Elon to tech team: "turn off the part of the chip that regulates their anal sphincter, so everyone shits their pants."  "Yes, lord Elon."

    Fuck.  That.  Shit.

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  16. Doing an inventory of our friends with whom we actually do stuff, and where they came from:

    1) old friends from college and graduate schools.  Not many of these, but some.  One of my oldest friends here in town, I've been friends with for over 30 years.

    2) friends made later in life, through shared interests like UT sports.  Honestly, this is my core friend group.  For my wife, she's got a couple of groups like this - friends made through her spin classes, Junior League, etc.

    3) friends made through our professional lives.  We have a good number of these, but they aren't our closest friendships, mostly.

    4) friends made through our active church years.  We have a couple of really good friends, and a few more casual friends, from this group.

    5) friends made through our kids and their activities.  We have one family that we are really close with because our sons got to be friends.  They're a jewish family from Chicago, and culturally plenty different.  But they're smart, kind, and funny, and we like hanging out together.  We all love to cook, so that's fun, even though I have to adjust my cooking when we're sharing (no pork, no shellfish -- challenges for a mexican coonass).  WE have a couple of other families that we met through our kids schools and activities that are casual friends, but we really don't see them much.  Kids weren't a huge source of friends for us (except to the extent that "kids" was a big part of our church life, and that circle WAS a source of friends).

    The thing is, we're probably on the higher end of "socially connected" people these days.  And it's still hard, and lonely sometimes.  Layer onto that the fact that we're now empty nesters, and my wife really loves our alone time with just the two of us, and it's easy to stay in a bubble.  I'm the more socially needy person - I need connection and social energy; I drink it up when we're in a sociable group of strangers.  I love high-fiving people I just met at a game, bullshitting with them between plays, what have you.  But she realizes it, too (that's why her regular spin classes are really important to her, and she really draws energy from the folks we've gotten to know around us at Austin FC matches).  She's also big on preaching the importance of community -- from the pulpit, when she marries people, at funerals.  She is profoundly aware of how essential to our very being community is.  But even she gets frustrated trying to think of ways to build and strengthen community.

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