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Everything posted by Ghost of LL
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Southern CA Fires- Extreme Santa Ana Winds
Ghost of LL replied to Wilcox Cummingtonite's topic in Daily Texan
I told them I was kind of a big deal. -
Southern CA Fires- Extreme Santa Ana Winds
Ghost of LL replied to Wilcox Cummingtonite's topic in Daily Texan
I don't have the first damned clue how much water it takes to put out one housefire. It's apparently about 1.5x whatever the storage capacity is in Lost Creek. And this is not a secret. I mean, maybe realtors don't make it a point of mentioning it to buyers who are looking at houses in the area. But it's not a secret. It has been a topic brought before the Limited District repeatedly. It's why the Dads' Club goes down once a year and clears out debris in the greenbelt (to the extent practicable). And I know several people in the neighborhood raised it to their city councilperson while Lost Creek was still a part of the City of Austin. Of course, that councilperson was Paige Ellis. So they may as well have been talking to a corpse. In any event, the fire department is well aware of the challenge, and that's why they don't put water on a house fire until they know it's not going to spread. I know that first hand, because I've seen it happen twice on my street. The second time--which happened 13 months ago--the fire department came out, made sure everyone was out of the house, and sat around for about a half-hour until they started putting water on the fire. I actually had time to ask them what was going on, since they seemed to be at some leisure. And that's exactly what they told me. Final point: Lost Creek is not unique. West Lake Hills has the same challenges, though not as great given that it is a larger community. But anywhere you have hills, you're limited in your firefighting capacity by what is in storage and the speed with which that storage can be replenished. And if you don't have electricity to run the pumps needed to refill that storage, which is the situation right now in parts of Los Angeles, you're really in a world of shit. -
Southern CA Fires- Extreme Santa Ana Winds
Ghost of LL replied to Wilcox Cummingtonite's topic in Daily Texan
To boil it down--water out of the hydrant has fuck-all to do with how much water is in the reservoir. California has plenty of water in its reservoirs. I mean, maybe not "plenty" for long-term planning purposes. But for purposes of combatting these fires, California has plenty of water in the reservoirs. But the water that comes out of the hydrants is treated city water. And treated city water has to get uphill to storage tanks. And once those storage tanks run dry, there's no water for the hydrants no matter how much water may be in the reservoirs, the ocean, or anywhere else. And by the way--this is not just an issue in California. This is an issue throughout the areas west of Austin. For instance, Lost Creek has enough water in its storage tanks for 1.5 house fires. Not two. And damned sure as shit not three. One-and-a-half. So if a fire ever came up from the greenbelt, that entire subdivision is right fucked. But even without a greenbelt wildfire, it also means that if you live in Lost Creek and your house catches fire, the fire department is just going to watch it burn and save their water to make sure it doesn't spread to neighboring houses.- 1561 replies
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The Leopards Eating Faces and Unlubed Dildo of Consequences Thread
Ghost of LL replied to Horn Dog's topic in Cloak Room
There are going to be so many Thanksgiving conversations this year of MAGAts complaining about various things and their smug Dem relatives sitting back and saying "huh--I wonder how we didn't see that coming." And the sarcasm is going to fly right over the MAGAts' heads. I mean, that's how it's going to go at my Thanksgiving with Mrs.LL's family. If her MAGAt cousin is even there. He might be recalled from active duty to go die on a fucking beach invading Greenland or some shit. So who the fuck knows. -
Ok, my man--you didn't tell me you were going to Muenchen. So while you're there, you need to head over to Nuernberger Bratwurst Gloeckl am Dom. It's right behind the Frauenkirche. They have several family plates of all the sausages (including the little Nuremberger bratwurstl, which are fucking delicious). And they pour Augustiner, which is to your very great benefit. And then post pictures to show that you haven't forgotten about us.
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Jay Hartzell has entered the Transfer Portal
Ghost of LL replied to Ghost of LL's topic in Daily Texan
Ha--definitely not. The only thing you notice by way of a religious affiliation is that there is a school of theology. And I will say that the Perkins Library at the theology school was a great place to study for the bar exam. -
Jay Hartzell has entered the Transfer Portal
Ghost of LL replied to Ghost of LL's topic in Daily Texan
Yeah--I'm not disagreeing with any of this. And I will definitely acknowledge that I am not the resident Surly expert on Methodist politics or the finer points of Protestant sectarianism in general. So I don't exactly know all the ins and outs and what-have-yous of the divorce between the University and the Church. But in any event--I agree with @Bozo_Casanova. This is hugely embarrassing for UT. But it's also really, really good for SMU. -
Jay Hartzell has entered the Transfer Portal
Ghost of LL replied to Ghost of LL's topic in Daily Texan
I'm not sure how "right-leaning" SMU's governance is. It is in protracted litigation against the Methodist Church in an effort to sever ties after the Methodists (or at least that branch of the Methodists) went all anti-gay. The case is set for oral argument before the Texas Supreme Court pretty soon (maybe later this month--I can't remember). But it doesn't reflect a university that is particularly right-leaning. -
Jay Hartzell has accepted the position of president at SMU. Which--huh. That's interesting. Since when did The University of Texas at Austin lose administrators to SMU?
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The Dallas Stars 2024-2025 Season Thread: Win Now, Talk Later
Ghost of LL replied to Longhorn_Fan68's topic in Other Sports
It's honestly my favorite Stars goalie mask ever. -
I used Europcar in Rome, but it was kind of on accident. I had reserved a car at Sixt (which is basically Budget) at Termini for 8:00 AM. We got a slow start that morning and didn't get over there until around 10:00. In the United States, no big deal. Apparently in Italy, it's a big deal. They had given my car away. So we went over to Europcar and got what they had left, which was a Fiat Panda. Do you think "Panda" is what you really want to name a car? I mean, it's not the quickest or most agile of creatures. But in its case, it was perfectly suited for the car--that was the most underpowered piece of shit I've ever driven. Anyway, on a separate topic--I am in Tyrol for a week this summer. @texasdago, should I hop over to Bolzano for a day? And if so, what should I see/eat/drink while there?
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Elon Musk: Nazi traitor piece of shit [Confirmed]
Ghost of LL replied to MaybeACoordinator's topic in Daily Texan
It's not a government agency unless/until Congress makes it one and provides funding. And I don't think anyone has proposed legislation to make it an agency. As it is envisioned right now, it is going to be a presidential commission, which is not exactly part of the federal government. But honestly--who gives a fuck. -
Yes. AA prices its wifi on a per-hour and on an entire-flight basis. I think it's $9.99 per hour, or you can get it for the entire flight for something like $14.99. But you also get movies and some television series free along with limited live television. You get the networks, ESPN & ESPN2, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and some other shit like HGTV or whatever that Mrs.LL would probably watch.
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Elon Musk: Nazi traitor piece of shit [Confirmed]
Ghost of LL replied to MaybeACoordinator's topic in Daily Texan
I don't think he's technically a member of the incoming administration. But whatever. -
I just flipped past this game and I see the Titans in Oilers gear. I’m a guy who fucking hates all Houston teams, and even I think that’s shitty. Fuck Tennessee—I hope you lose like 100-0. Or maybe I hope you win and get a mid draft pick. Whatever—fuck Tennessee.
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Y’all remember back in October when we all thought Liberty might make it into the CFP? yeah—that was wild.
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And look at who you just compared Skattebo to. You completely make my point. Skattebo isn’t nearly as good as Irvin or Moss. He’s not. But he gets away shit that Irvin and Moss got away with only because they were HOFers. Cam Skattebo can be a shit-talking thin-skinned primadonna, and it’s fine because he’s a pretty good college back. For a black player to get away with that amount of shit-talking primadonna behavior, he needs to be on a level with Michael Irvin and Randy Moss. And again—I’m not blaming Skattebo for any of that. I don’t think ill of him for what other people think. But I’m telling you from personal knowledge that that’s what is behind at least some of the hostility you see online towards him.
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Yes! Jesus tapdancing Christ, Yes! It's exactly the thing Okie State did on us last year and we did on someone (Mississippi State?) this year. If the offense substitutes, the referee is going to stand over the ball and let the defense substitute. And the defense doesn't have to hurry. They can take however long it takes. So if a fat defensive lineman takes five seconds to haul his tired ass to the sideline, then the offense runs the risk of a delay-of-game penalty. But once again--neither the players nor the coaches understand the rules of the game. It's absolutely infuriating.
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the 2023 speaker of the house voting thread of implosion
Ghost of LL replied to henrygandorf's topic in Cloak Room
Well--there you go. No speaker on the first ballot. -
Does it bother anybody else that between this and the targeting calls in our game, that it seems that nobody understands the rules of the fucking game? I mean, even people whose jobs it is to know the rules don't know the rules. The supposed "rules experts" on ESPN are constantly getting shit wrong. Kirby is here citing the SEC head of officiating rather than the actual rules, which implies that he hasn't read the fucking rulebook. He's just taking someone else's word on what the rulebook says. Hey Kirby--how about you tell me what the actual fucking rule is, you dolt.
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I'm not talking about anybody on this thread. And I'm not accusing anybody of anything here. So don't get all defensive on me when I say this: Cam Skattebo is white privilege personified. If a Black player talked a fraction of the shit Skattebo talks, or dealt with his teammates like Skattebo does, or demonstrated an over-inflated sense of his own abilities like Skattebo does, he'd be absolutely reviled by the media and public. He'd be treated as akin to Kellen Winslow Jr. or Randy Moss or Keyshawn Johnson or any number of other players we can talk about. He'd be one of the most hated players in college football. But as a white guy, he's gritty; he cares; he's tough. Personally, I think he's a tool. But I don't think he should necessarily be blamed for how other people react to him. All the same--let's not pretend that that's not why a lot of people (particularly people of color) strongly dislike the guy.
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Manchester-London-Paris-somewhere else this Spring
Ghost of LL replied to Dignan's topic in Food and Travel
I have gone off on this topic before, but that's not going to stop me from going off again: . . . I don't think Americans appreciate how big Europe is and how long it takes to travel from place to place. And in complete fairness, that goes both ways. I know people in Europe underestimate how big America is. So I've had friends from Europe say "we'll be in Los Angeles on May 15--you ought to pop over and we can have lunch." No, you stupid fucking limey--that's a three-hour flight for me, each way. So same thing here. London and Paris are not Dallas and Fort Worth. And traveling intercity is a pain in the ass. It's not just the time the train takes to get from London to Amsterdam. It's that you have to get up in the morning and get all your bags packed and clear out of the hotel, take a cab to St. Pancras, and clear security and customs. And then once in Amsterdam get to your hotel, get checked in, and get settled into your hotel. It's at least a half-day ordeal. But more than that, it's an ordeal. Nobody wants to go out and do shit after spending all of your morning and at least some of your afternoon traveling. You want to get a bite to eat, get into your jammies, and dial up Netflix. And I don't know how old your kids are, but it's all even worse if they're little. +++++++++++++ Let me say this--I sympathize with your wife. I really do. I used to be exactly like her. To some extent, I still am. Time waits for no man. And who knows when I'm going to be back. As I mentioned up-thread, I'm going to London in three weeks to see Spurs. It's a quick four-day trip--leave Austin Wednesday and fly back Monday. So really just Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday in London (and Thursday not being a real day). But even so, I am half-inclined to take the Eurostar over to Paris because I can't want to see re-opened Notre Dame. So I get it. But it doesn't make sense. Paris is still going to be there next year or the year after or the year after that. And it deserves its own time. As does London; as does Switzerland. Amsterdam is kinda mid, tbh. But whatever--these are all different trips, in just the same way that New York, Miami, and Las Vegas would all be different trips for a European visiting the United States. eta: One other thing to add that I don't think enough people appreciate--Europe isn't just castles and museums. There's also pubs and parks and cafes. Part of traveling to Paris or London is just taking time to "be" in Paris or London. Sure, you can hit a checklist of 1) the Tower of London 2) St. Paul's and 3) the British Museum in one day. I mean, you could. It'd wear you out, but those things are easy walking distance from one another. But you'd have no time to sit and just be. My best day in London was checking out the Tower and contemplating that the White Tower has been there for nearly a thousand years. And then walking outside and seeing the Roman Wall, which had been there a thousand years when the White Tower was built. And then just walking along Watling Street, which was a roadway for a thousand years by the time the Romans arrived, and stopping in at a couple pubs as they filled up with bankers and lawyers and other assholes getting off work in the City before heading home. My best day in Paris was going to a grocery store and grabbing a bunch of cheese, sausage, a baguette, and a bottle of wine and going over to the Tuileries Garden and having a little picnic and just spending an hour reading a book and dozing in the sunshine. And then after a while walking across to the Left Bank and strolling along the River until it was time to sit down at a cafe and having a cup of coffee and watching Paris. Rushing around trying to see everything leaves you no time for that. And paradoxically, I think you end up coming away without any real "experience." I mean, yeah, you saw the Tower of London. But did you really get the experience that you can't get by watching a documentary about the Tower of London? Slow the hell down and experience shit. -
Manchester-London-Paris-somewhere else this Spring
Ghost of LL replied to Dignan's topic in Food and Travel
This is a positively insane itinerary. Don't do this. When are you leaving? On March 13 (which is Thursday)? And then you're coming back on Tuesday, March 25? If that's the case, let me tell you how this vacation is actually going to go, because you haven't built in any time for transit between your destinations. You're basically treating Zurich as though it is a suburb of London. Fuck--Oxford isn't a suburb of London. March 14: Arrive in Manchester mid-morning completely dog-ass tired after an overnight flight. I have flown intercontinental a few dozen times, and I'm telling you that flying west to east kicks your ass (east to west is comparatively easy). I'm going to assume you're on the Singapore Air flight from IAH that lands at 9:30. So you'll get to your hotel around noon, because it takes that long to get your bags, clear customs, and get into the city. And that sucks, because all you want in the world is a hot shower after an overnight flight, and your goddamned room isn't ready. So you drop your bags at the bell desk and go find lunch. You feel shitty. Go back to the hotel, check in, get a bit unpacked, get a shower . . . and now good luck getting the family out of the room to do anything. Maybe you go get a pizza for dinner. Day over. March 15: Match Day. It's fucking Match Day. That's your day. That's it. I'm doing that for Spurs in three weeks. And Match Day is its own day. So that's all you're going to see of Manchester. Oh, and you're still jetlagged. It's going to be early to bed. March 16: Travel day. Let's just say you're ambitious and you want to get on the 7:55 train to London. Sure. You get in at 10:10. Same deal as when you got into Manchester . . . God, was that only two days ago? It feels like a lifetime . . . you have to drop your bags at the bell desk and go grab lunch because your room isn't ready. So what do you want to do your first (half-)day in London? You want to do the typical touristy stuff? Ok--so that's the Tower, the Churchill War Rooms, the Changing of the Guard, Horse Guards Parade, the Royal Mews (the kids love that), the London Eye, Parliament, the British Museum, St. Paul's. You have time for one. Let's say you do the London Eye. That's a good thing to do with your half-day, because there's a lot of shit over there on the waterfront that is super-touristy and good for kids. Or maybe go over to St. Paul's. That's also a good thing to do because you can walk down Watling Street and visit a pub for dinner and check out the City. March 17 & 18: So these are your London days. There's no time to go out to Oxford. That's an entire day, and then some. It's an hour train each way (and that's once you get to Paddington, which is going to take time just to get there). It's not doable. And why would you want to, when you're in London and you've never been to London before? One day is the Tower and the British Museum. The other is Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Churchill War Rooms, and the Royal Mews. Those are two days that are going to kick your ass. There's really four days' worth of stuff in there. But hey--we've got to get to Amsterdam. March 19--I assume this is your travel day. It's a four-hour train to Amsterdam. And it's not like a regular train--you have to clear security similar to a plane. Zurich is no better--you have to get out to Heathrow and then you're landing at ZHR. So same deal. Let's say you're super-ambitious and you get that 7:04 departure out of St. Pancras. That puts you into Amsterdam at 1:00. Drop the bags at the hotel and grab lunch. You have time to see one thing. Maybe just walk around the canals a bit. March 20: Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum? Or the old city? I don't exactly know, because this is your one Amsterdam day. Honestly, I don't know why you would go to either Amsterdam or Zurich when any time you take in either city comes at the expense of London or Paris. March 21: Hooray! It's another travel day. It's another four-hour train from Amsterdam to Gare du Nord. It's 4.5 from Zurich. It doesn't matter. Same deal. You have a half-day at most in Paris. So what're the "usual highlights" in Paris? I guess go see the Eiffel Tower today? March 22 & 23: These are your Paris days. So the Louvre and the Tulleries and the Champs Elysees on one day, Notre Dame, the Islands, the Left Bank, and d'Orsay on the other? I mean, we're leaving out a whole lot. But that's the time you have. March 24: Travel day back to Manchester. I mean, this is a flight, right? Because the train is three hours back to London, change stations, and then two up to Manchester. A flight takes a half-day, because CDG sucks. But it is what it is. And you need to be back in Manchester by the evening of the 23rd, because that Singapore flight back to IAH departs at 10:05, and you don't have time for a connection directly from Paris. So maybe you see something in the morning, but realistically you're doing a lot of packing shit to go home. So here's what you've done: out of ten full days in Europe, you've only got six days where you're doing actual Europe stuff--one in Manchester, two in London, one in Amsterdam, and two in Paris. Realistically, I don't know why you would do that. I really don't. It'd be one thing if you were flying from the United States to Hamburg. Hamburg doesn't really have enough for you to see to spend a week there. So maybe you want to bounce around northern Germany and the Low Countries. But you're talking about Manchester and London. And there's a shitton to see between those places. London itself is a week. Fly into Manchester on March 14 and stay in Manchester to the 17th. That gives you an extra day after Match Day to see the city. Then take a train down to London and see London for the next week. With that time, you can take a day trip out to Windsor. Or maybe you hit Oxford on your way back up to Manchester. But please, for the love of all travel things that are good and holy do not do the itinerary you set out above. -
Game Thread 2025 Peach Bowl: CFP QF - Texas vs. Arizona State - 12pm on ESPN
Ghost of LL replied to Pancho's topic in Football
An amazing team-wide collapse. -
Game Thread 2025 Peach Bowl: CFP QF - Texas vs. Arizona State - 12pm on ESPN
Ghost of LL replied to Pancho's topic in Football
We can’t run.
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