Jump to content

Godzillatron

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    582
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Godzillatron

  1. 6 hours ago, Pasken said:

     

    Adler needs to announce what the roadmap is because 2018 bond spending could impact what we have in 2020 to spend on transit. Cesar and Pio both want to almost double the amount to spend on Affordable Housing which the city isn't even sure it can spend in that time period. That's a risky move considering we had a housing bond fail a few years ago at a time where almost all bonds passed. I think the city came back with a cheaper bond the following year that passed.

     

    Doubling the affordable housing bond will guarantee its failure.  The real solution on housing is a supply increase via proper zoning reform.  Is that Code Next? Not really...

     

  2. On 3/29/2018 at 1:44 PM, Pasken said:

    Cap Metro will likely ask council to put a measure on the Nov 18 ballot that will help fund the engineering and design work of the system with an eye on a 2020 bond for funding. Good news there is we’ll find out quickly if the city is serious about mass transit instead of waiting 2.5 more years for an ensorsement.

    Why doesn't Cap Metro fund their own projects? They have their own taxing and bonding authority, unlike many local transit agencies. The CoA has multiple billions in unfunded mobility needs even before shouldering Cap Metro's load.  Why should the city have to take responsibility for this?

  3. On 3/27/2018 at 2:54 PM, bolverk said:

    At a conference on a mobile, but I saw some old videos posted a couple years ago from 50s and 60s. If I had to guess, I think they were posted on the Texas State Historical Association website. If I'm right, they have a treasure trove of old videos and photos.

    Believe you are right about the website.  If somebody can find it there's a video from the mid1950s, right after I-35 opened, talking about traffic safety.

  4. Decided this is the year to tackle the weeds in my mixed grass yard - mainly Bermuda but some St. Augustine in the side yard in the shade. Lots of mixed weeds, especially over septic where they are just about crowding out the Bermuda.  Kicker is I just broke my foot, so I can't do anything myself, foot can't touch the ground for 8 weeks.  Anybody have experience using Chem Free in the Austin area?

  5. On 3/28/2018 at 10:13 PM, Aphelion said:

    I am in the coffee business.  When asked, here is the advice I give on at home coffee preparation:

    Beans - As mentioned by others above, find some local roasters and buy from them.  If the coffee you're buying doesn't have a roast date stamped on the bag, it is not good coffee.  I don't know of any exceptions to this rule.  Always buy whole bean and grind yourself immediately before preparation.  As a general guideline, you should be consuming the coffee within a month of the roasted date.   

    In addition to the country of origin, pay attention to the varietal (caturra, catuai, bourbon, harar, marargogipe, &c) and especially the bean processing type, of which there are three primary methods: dry/natural, honey/pulped, wet/washed.  These factors have a big impact on the flavor profiles and body (viscosity) of the coffee and noting them will help you zero in on what types of coffees you will like.   

    Water - Coffee is made from just two ingredients:  coffee beans and water.  Every type of unmixed brewed/extracted coffee beverage is over 95% water.  Many people ignore it for some reason.  The science behind what makes for ideal water is actually very complex.  I'm not going to type out all the details because it would be a novel.  If you think your water might be an issue, I'll save you some time and say just brew with Volvic water and see if you notice a difference.  There is nothing magic about Volvic - it is just a commonly available water that has all the properties in the range suited for great coffee preparation and equipment protection (i.e. it won't scale).  DO NOT use straight Texas tap water in an espresso machine.  It will scale.  

    http://volvic-na.com/

    (disclaimer: I have no commercial investment or interest in Volvic and no affiliation with them). 

    Drip Coffee Preparation - This is the typical way most Americans prepare and drink coffee.  It's actually a pretty forgiving process and has a wide margin of error because it produces a dilute beverage at low pressure.  Beyond the bean selection, the main things to focus on is the water to coffee mass ratio and extraction time.  A good guideline to start with on ratio is a water to coffee mass ratio of 18:1 (55 g of coffee per liter of water).  From there you can make it stronger or weaker to taste.  Extraction time for drip should be between 4-6 minutes.  Once you have the mass ratio you prefer, you control the extraction time with your grind level (finer grinds lengthen the extraction time).  Water temps for extraction should be between 195 and 205 F.  This should be controlled by your machine; this is pretty much the only thing a drip machine needs to get right (along with having a basket large enough to achieve the desired coffee to water ratio; sometimes they are too small); most are pretty decent at hitting this temp range, so if it's not it is either broken or just a crap machine. Either way, get a new one if this is a problem.  If you want to get into more details on the brewing, visit the SCAA website:

    http://www.scaa.org/?page=resources&d=brewing-standards

    Espresso Preparation -  Compared to drip coffee, proper espresso preparation is difficult and has a very small margin for error.  This is because it is very concentrated (so any flaw is magnified) and it is brewed under pressure (8-10 atmospheres).  The biggest thing to focus on is mass ratio and extraction time.  For mass ratio, start with 7-9 grams per 30 ml (1 fluid ounce).  Extraction time should be 25-30 seconds.  Once you get the mass dialed in, you adjust extraction time by the grinder setting.  You need a stepless burr grinder for good espresso preparation.  I prefer conical burr grinders, but flat burrs work well too.  At the house I use a Lelit PL53. 

    Lots of folks focus on the espresso machine itself, but I've had great espresso from just about every machine imaginable.  A high end machine gets you more thermal stability over a large number of shots (which is typically only needed in a commercial setting) and better milk steaming/texturing for making microfoam.  Most home machines are crappy at making quality microfoam.  Microfoam is the steamed milk that almost looks like wet paint that high end shops serve, typically with hearts and fern leaf art showing off the milk prep.  This is very hard to reproduce at the house.  But if you are interested in making a just few straight shots of espresso per day, almost any espresso machine will work and a high end machine won't produce a notable difference.  

    On tamping, the main thing is that it needs to be level.  Don't focus too much on the force; anywhere from 15-40 lbs is fine (I normally aim for the lower end because there is no need to go higher).  Just do a good firm tamp.  Again, focus more on it being level than the amount of force.  Non-level tamps can produce channeling, which is when the water doesn't flow through the coffee cake evening and forms channels.  

    I'm tired of typing and can't think of anything else at the moment.  Ask me any questions if you like and I'll do my best to answer.  I have no interest in promoting my products; in fact I will not name mine or promote them in any way on here, because then it would just become work and I don't come to the internet for work.  I just like to talk coffee.  

     

    Thanks Aphelion.  This is great information. Matches my thinking at home, where I just focus on fresh beans, grind before brewing and use a drip maker to make a pretty god cup of coffee.

  6. 5 hours ago, Carl Spackler said:

    I'm a fan of ER, but I've gotta admit that I'm kicking myself for not trying the McKenna BIB sooner.  More heat than the most recent vintage of EWSB, but still smooth with no burn.  I get a fair amount of vanilla from the McKenna, which I like.  Definitely another worthy candidate in the $25-35 range, along with BT, EWSB, ER and a bunch of others.    

    For the price I think the McKenna BiB is a clear winner. One of the rare times a rec from the store has paid off for me.

  7. A couple of years ago I went to Sur La Table in the Domain, bought the house brand carbon steel wok for $35.  You can spend a lot more but this one has been amazing, just make sure you season it properly and take care of it.  Don't get the non-stick with teflon, can't really cook with true wok level heat in it.

  8. Probably been discussed here already, but why, after 3 years, does Smart not have the personnel recruited to play the "havoc" style that made him so successful and got him the job? 

  9. 7 hours ago, theaveragejon said:

    Wait so they do that on purpose because they’re at Texas Relays?

    That is so  quintessential aggy. 

    And the best part is when they got their numbers they all stood around in a circle putting them all snickering and giggling with each other about how red ass and tough and fuck Texas they are because they are putting their numbers upside. They all think in their group they are awesome. When everyone else is gonna look at them like wtf this idiots. 

     

    If if I ran that track meet I’d make them flip up correctly or  forfeit. Fuck you for making me work harder because your a goddamn aggy and you can’t see 12centimeters past your nose. 

    Is this because there's a Longhorn logo on the bib? Y'know, so the Horns are down if the bib is upside down.

  10. 9 minutes ago, hornfan785 said:

    Got the Apple TV 4K through the DirectTV Now 3-month offer and used the single-sign-on trick that was posted on the old site. Unfortunately it just kicked me out of those apps and now my face DirectTV login won't work. I guess they caught on that DirectTV Now customers weren't really full fledged DirectTV customers. I can still select DirectTV Now  as my TV provider, but it makes me sign in to each app individually instead of automatically doing it.

    The monthly sign in to each app is a pain with DIRECTV Now. Didn't know it was different with other providers? 

  11. 7 hours ago, eljinca said:

    A couple of things:

    1) Puberty can be bad, especially for girls. Most of the terrible  stories I've heard from parents of my brothers peers were with teenage girls who didn't understand why they couldn't date or why they were different from other girls.

    2) If possible, find a local community that has good services for adults with intellectual disabilities. Resources are typically allocated at the county-level, and counties can differ wildly in things like case-managers, group homes, etc. My family chose one county over another due to this and has remained there for 20 years.

    3) Get involved in local government and schools. My mom was at my brother's middle school so much complaining about the lack of job training they were offering that they hired her to do it herself for the special ed department. There are county boards for adults with intellectual disabilities. The more involved you are, the more you can affect change - and things can actually change locally. Support local legislators that are allies.

    4) Start early with estate planning and legals. This can be expensive, and obviously depends on means. My family spent considerable amounts of money on family planning lawyers before my brother turned 18 so that everything was in place with guardianship and making sure my brother has everything in place should some disaster befall both of my parents or his siblings. We actually had to have doctors testify that he does, in fact, have DS. Lawyers for the county had to come, assess if there was any abuse taking place and ask him where he wanted to live when he turned 18. They told him that there were other options than living with his parents (he had no clue what the woman was talking about and asked to go back to watching a movie). It's all very trying, expensive, but absolutely needs to be done if you are in the position to do it.

    My daughter is about to turn 20, and is on the autism spectrum.  All of this, especially 3.  You are you kid's biggest advocate, don't expect others to do it. 

    • Like 1
  12. On 3/26/2018 at 1:23 PM, Dry Elbows said:

    Seems like it's to the point where the only downside to cutting the cord is no LHN.  Is that pretty accurate?  We're thinking about it but haven't made the plunge.

    Watching the Littlefield Relays on DTVNow as I type.  One of the reasons I was willing to cut the cord. Can also use the ESPN app with your subscription. There you can watch a 4-screen split feed  which is amazing in the fall. 

    • Like 1
×
×
  • Create New...