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phdhorn

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Everything posted by phdhorn

  1. - Outer Banks are nice - as said here, see the Wright site. There's a Visitors Center but it's not really a museum. But they've really preserved the dunes and beach. Nags Head is the big stop on the OB - expect it to be crowded in the summer. You're close enough to Roanoke (Ft. Raleigh) to check it out since you're there. Not a lot to see but fascinating anyway. - Williamsburg is cool but if you're not into the history, it's kind of boring. But I'm a history buff, so I always liked it. I also really liked Jamestown maybe even more, it's eye-opening to see the conditions they lived in, but again not a lot for non-history buffs after a few glances. - Montecello is great as is UVa. Do them. There are also quite a few wineries within a few minutes' drive of Montecello if interested. - Shenandoah NP - very nice, but keep in mind it's a camp/hiking park, so by car it can get old after an hour or two. If you're going up 64 from C-Ville, take the U.S. 250 exit into the park (north is Skyline Drive, South is Blue Ridge Parkway - same road, different names at that point). Once you're in, the next access out is U.S. 33, about 30 miles up the road. Take it if the family has seen enough - the next egress road is U.S. 211 - about 40 more miles. The drive can have traffic and is a little wind-ey... most of the length of the park is the same essential views across the valley, which are all nice - but you don't need more unless you camp/hike (IMHO). - Richmond - nothing there really. - D.C. way too much to talk about, but obviously if first time do all the "tourist things" - historical/political sites, museums. It'll be humid and fairly crowded. You mentioned Alexandria, very nice town, worth a stop, especially the older part down near the harbor. Other than that I'd have 35 paragraphs on how to do D.C. Way too much here, ask if you want specifics. - I-81 is just as bad as I-95 - maybe even moreso, as it's very crowded (more traffic than 95!) and essentially a 4-lane highway. LOADED with semis, trailers, etc. Hilly and a lot of cars in the summer = tension. I'd turn right on 33 out of the park (not left to get to I-81) to get U.S. 29 (about 15 mi.) and go to D.C. that way. Very pretty, a bit slower granted (but not that much!) and not nearly the traffic. If you've laid out 8+ days for your loop, that's pretty good. Any less and you'll be pushing it. That's a lot of miles driving (more than you'd think) and a few of those places really aren't good overnight destinations. But it should be nice. Starts getting humid about late June and man it can be a sweaty armpit if not used to it. Take talc or whatever doesn't cause cancer nowadays. Good luck, we're all counting on you.
  2. Why in god's name are you wasting all that time digging when you can order portable holes from Acme????????
  3. Well, I'm satisfied...
  4. That's not what their wall says!!1!11!1!11
  5. Which team is this now?
  6. Huh? People seeing/experiencing something as it happens is usually >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> than seeing it from 50 years ago, even if kinda cool now if seeing for the first time.
  7. And to be honest, that jaw-dropping finish was the Belmont. He "only" finished the Derby by about 2 lengths and didn't get the lead until the homestretch. Nevertheless, you should watch that Belmont though, my god it was amazing. Also, correction of mine from above... Rich Strike had one of the fastest half-Derby's ever, but as one might expect, the pace slowed a good bit and his time was somewhere around 45th or so for Derby history. Not shoddy, but not an historic time. Nevertheless, the way he put on the gas in the last quarter was about the most exciting thing I've seen (Monarchos of course did the same in '01, but he was a decent 6-1 going in.) This - this was another galaxy - longest shot since 1913, which in many ways is almost another world. That's why I think it might be #1 on my list, Secretariat's 1973 Belmont up there, too.
  8. Well, if he's not over 50, he may not have seen it.
  9. He moved up so fast on the rail the last quarter it seemed like a Hollywood flick. Almost like the other jockeys slowed the horses up to let him move. My god did he take off at the 3/4 pole.
  10. Probably the one guy who bet on Rich Strike won like 450 million dollars. Well, good for him. And the horse ran one of the fastest Derbys ever.
  11. LOL they might have to put him asleep before he kills the lead pony!
  12. Git-ar related, great deal today at Musician's Friend - direct boxes for next to nuthin': https://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid?source=3TPBA1BD&dtm_em=0cc2218034a8ccce55121d8b6d2a7752 Hush that Strat up with them thar single coils!
  13. Bump. Here we go agin!! Third degree felony arrest warrant - violating restraining order & threats etc. https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/05/06/arrest-warrant-issued-texas-longhorns-nfl-football-star-earl-thomas/9678977002/
  14. It hasn't "become" one as you say. The processes are aligning for it to happen... they've started (IMHO) but not to the point of no return. This is exactly what Powell said the other day (I had to make a .jpg of this because it's behind a paywall): https://www.marketplace.org/2022/05/04/is-a-wage-price-spiral-driving-inflation/ This is more circular than linear (i.e. the last thing here links back up to the first), but in a nutshell: Labor costs go up in tight labor market→wages go up but not as much as inflation→worker output declines→prices have to go up as oversupply occurs→labor costs go up again→output diminishes→prices go up again... (yada yada yada). Eventually economic growth shrinks (like Q1). The bad output figure might be a factor in creating a recession driven by the spira; - if it continues. So far consumer spending is holding it up, driven largely by travel and stuff people couldn't do for 2 years, but that might eventually go away if prices get to the point where people do what they always do - stuff like put off house improvements, decide not to take that vacation after all, etc.
  15. <THUD!> Next shoe... worker output down 7.5%. Worst since... wait for it... 1947. 1947? Hol-ee shit! https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/05/labor-productivity-fell-7point5percent-in-the-first-quarter-the-fastest-rate-since-1947.html Labor costs way up, which sometimes can be a good thing, but in this case it's not higher wages... more likely the enormous benefit costs of the covid surge in Q1. Since general salary/wage costs only rose about 1.4% in the last measurement out (Q4 2021) and we know inflation is bouncing along at least 6%, most of the labor costs, like LDH cholesterol, are probably due to "bad" factors (the Great Resignation, increases in insurance and benefits to keep up with the pantomimic, etc.). We can assume that Q2 didn't see spectacular wage increases, either. Eventually this will cause companies to produce less... and workers will be culled. The jobs numbers for last week were worse than expected, tough they're still holding out. Anyway, taken with the decline in worker output, the spiral has started. The question is will it stop? Not a good report to give confidence against a recession.
  16. ¡El Bursátil esta mieda!
  17. No one can afford a shovel now, though. I feel really poor today.
  18. Friday from midnight to sunup I guess there could be a few showers but bulk of rain will be out of here by tonight. Rest of Friday (through the weekend) sunny.
  19. Rain is on its way now. Should be here mid-late afternoon. Not everyone but most. A few could be strong and dump rain+hail+wind. But you know that. Chance of severe for the area up a little but still not high. Different story from N.Willie up (N/E). At some point I'll talk more about the gloom and doom scenarios in recent posts. Will it happen? Don't know. And we won't until it happens. Hot spring isn't a guarantee of an inferno (2021) yet can be (2011). BTW there are some parallels yeah sure to 2011 this year, but not completely - some things are quite different. Anyway, we'll get into that shit another time. For now, rain→brief cooldown tomorrow a.m.→HOT HOT HOT weekend→slowly getting "less not" ("cooler" is a little whacked word) as the high weakens into next week. What'll happen after that? It's a guess.
  20. Chris Rock smack Chris Rock got up and smacked his ass down tho. It was awesome..
  21. Thanks again (and everyone else). The cost/time isn't a big thing but it's the luggage... not sure I want to throw all that on w/5 of us. So likely we'll cab it. I decided to go ahead and do the later flight to Austin... now we have about 7 1/2 hours (leaving 6:30pm). Plenty of time to rest up and chill. I figured actually we'll just be getting off of a long 9ish-hr flight, so might as well kick back and use the lounge before the next 4-hour one. I think it would be best of us to take our time and rest, not have to hurry between 2 long flights. Thanks for the help, tho.
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