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DFWTexEx

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Posts posted by DFWTexEx

  1. 6 hours ago, DFWTexEx said:

    When I daydream of places I'd rather be than at my desk working, lots of places come to mind, but one that keeps popping up is the Chromata hotel on Santornia, where we stayed in October 2016.  It was as beautiful, interesting and tranquil place as I have been.  Floating there at the end of the infinity pool overlooking the caldera with a drink in my hand was perfect.   Santorini is getting trashed on this thread for the crowds.  Maybe it was because we were there in October instead of July, but except for a terrible few hours in overcrowded Oia, we did not have that problem.

    We stayed in Imerovigli, a little village about a 15 minute walk up from Fira.  Yeah, there were other tourists on the paths, but not enough to spoil the place.  We explored, found tavernas, hiked out to the Skaros promintory and otherwise just chilled.  In the evening, we could walk into Fira for more bustling nightlife, but never had a problem getting into a bar or restaurant.    A sunset catamaran trip let us get in the sea and hang out with a few good folks (pick one with only about 10 people) but otherwise we just relaxed.  We didn't even do the wine tastings.  The whole thing had a "Truman Show" feel to it because you just could not believe it was real.

    I understand that there are other cool islands, but don't dismiss Santorni.  It really is spectacular.

    Maybe I should learn to spell Santorini.

  2. When I daydream of places I'd rather be than at my desk working, lots of places come to mind, but one that keeps popping up is the Chromata hotel on Santornia, where we stayed in October 2016.  It was as beautiful, interesting and tranquil place as I have been.  Floating there at the end of the infinity pool overlooking the caldera with a drink in my hand was perfect.   Santorini is getting trashed on this thread for the crowds.  Maybe it was because we were there in October instead of July, but except for a terrible few hours in overcrowded Oia, we did not have that problem.

    We stayed in Imerovigli, a little village about a 15 minute walk up from Fira.  Yeah, there were other tourists on the paths, but not enough to spoil the place.  We explored, found tavernas, hiked out to the Skaros promintory and otherwise just chilled.  In the evening, we could walk into Fira for more bustling nightlife, but never had a problem getting into a bar or restaurant.    A sunset catamaran trip let us get in the sea and hang out with a few good folks (pick one with only about 10 people) but otherwise we just relaxed.  We didn't even do the wine tastings.  The whole thing had a "Truman Show" feel to it because you just could not believe it was real.

    I understand that there are other cool islands, but don't dismiss Santorni.  It really is spectacular.

    • Like 1
  3. On 6/2/2019 at 2:22 PM, 4th&Five said:

    A cruise isn’t my preferred vacation but if you’re miserable on one then you’re probably miserable most places. 

    I agree with this.  I am not a cruise person, but ended up on a 3 day company sponsored cruise. It was worst case scenario:  Carnival, Ensanada cruise, over St. Patrick's Day and Spring Break, with co-workers.  Crowd was a total circus and it was not one of the nice ships out there.  But, surprisingly, I had a good time.  We had the drink passes, so that helped, but there was plenty of relaxing time, plus party time, plus goofy shows, plus massages at the spa.  Can't complain.

  4. So, we checked out Fauna last night.

    Stephen Pyles has decided to dumb down Flora Street to make it more approachable and casual.  Tim Byres of Smoke is handling the new menu that will get released soon.  The trend in a lot of cities is that people are staying away from stuffy restaurants.  That plus its aggressive menu (not easily digestible for the steak, chicken breast, and potatoes crowd) led to declining revenue, so he is changing it up.  Think brunch.

    But, he is taking the tasting menu to another level in Fauna, a restaurant within a restaurant, that he created around the old private dining room in Flora.  He brought in a chef from Mexico City via San Antonia via Quince in SF and Alinea in Chicago, to handle this menu.   It's a tasting menu only. It's pricey and requires prepayment of a "ticket" for a single seating.  This is the same concept as E in Vegas or Next in Chicago.  Only 12 people fit in the room, about the same as Purepecha, the tasting menu restaurant within Revolver Taco.

    Verdict?  Damn good.   Worth every penny.  The room is smallish and tries to be elegant but with rustic elements, although I think they could lose the big curtains.  There is a beautiful plate on the table as you arrive.  Apparently, it is from some fancy place in Italy.  You look at it briefly and they take it away, never to be seen again.  The music is classic Stephen Pyles:  all over the place and fun.  The coolest thing about the room is the wooden wall as you walk it.  You aren't sure what it is, but later you see that it has big sliding doors that open into the kitchen.  The doors are closed most of the time, but at a discreet knock, they open and reveal the pass, where each course is completed, with many tweezers, tiny spoons and squirt bottles.  The show is beautiful and precise.  Above the wall are two monitors showing scenes from nature.  I didn't understand why they were there.

    The food will change all the time, but think 12-14 courses.  Each is tiny and beautiful, but they add up to a good meal.  We are both big guys and we left full.  Highlights:  snails accompanied by the things snails eat (salsify, apples, fiddleheads), a bite of "caesar salad" that could have been served at and was clearly inspired by El Bulli, the best uni dish I have ever had, a paloma palate cleanser served in a bowl of grapefruit smoke, an incredible couple of bites of Texas Wagyu, and Dude Sweet chocolates as a treat at the end.   The wine pairings (including one sake) were interesting and done well.  Service was perfect.  With Chef Fernandez in charge of the food, Chef Pyles played the roll of server all night, literally serving dishes and standing in the back quietly like a waiter until he came around to talk to the tables.  He was very agitated that the meal did not start on time, but otherwise let the new guy do his thing.

    Not every course was a home run (the tribute to frito pie without fritos was a bit of miss), but all in all, it was an excellent special night out and this place should be on the list of big nights out in Dallas (so long as "big" doesn't mean a big, loud, see and be seen restaurant).

    • Like 1
  5. Quote

    If you want to vote for Ray Hunt’s bitch than Eric Johnson is your guy. 

    Quote

     If you really listened closely, it was "I aint gon buck the man."

    Both these x1000.   The official theme of the  anti-Griggs crowds is that he is divisive.  Divisive means that he will demand accountability and transparency and not simply let, for instance, the mayor give away Fair Park to his friend from Highland Park or, for instance,  give $150 million to VisitDallas with no accountability or, for instance, allow the DPD and DFR pension fund to run amok without supervision.

    I can't imagine why anyone other than some sort of developer or someone who wants a bridge named after him would vote for Johnson.  But, he will probably win.  

     

     

    • Like 3
  6. We get one meal - lunch -- on Isla Mueres this Friday.  We want the big platter of fresh seafood to share and to eat it with a beach view.   I've seen several places mentioned for that sort of thing on this thread.  Is the call Bally Hoo, La Playita or somewhere else?

  7. Quote

    Also, don't drink and golf cart.

    What's up with this?   We are going later in the month to Playa Mujeres. Based on this thread, we want to take the ferry or a catamaran and go over and spend a day exploring Isla and maybe plan a trip there later.  Some folks have recommended that we hire a golf cart driver to show us around and to let us drink without worrying.  We have even received some specific driver recommendations.  With a few exceptions, I don't hire or enjoy tour guides and prefer to explore on my own.  What do the surly Isla experts say?  We plan to bar hop some.  Would a driver be a responsible choice or overkill?  Seems silly to based on the amount of drinking and golf cart driving I have done on golf courses, but this is different, I know.

    And, while we are at it, what would a 6 hour day on the island look like?  The pictures on this thread have me dreaming of some great seafood in a casual beachside hut.  What that be La Playita?  Would we go to Playa Norte and rent some chairs?  What else?

  8. One thing to be said is that those old houses were built like a rock. Can’t even hammer though the walls, need to drill to hang a picture due to the hard wood. 

    This.  When we moved to Dallas, we rented a 1950's brick house in the M-Streets/Lakewood area.  Our girl dog, who had never been in a Texas thunderstorm, freaked out each time a storm came.  After a few months, we bought our 1913 wood siding house in a historic district in North Oak Cliff.  Storms never bothered her again.  This house is solid.

    The house had been redone to cheap, rental house standards when we bought it.  It was not exactly pretty inside, but we did not have to do anything to live in it.   Over the next 14 years, we redid most of the systems a bit of a time and redid the rooms one at a time.  We never moved out.  I know that a lot of people in our neighborhood prefer the full move out and gut restoration / remodels of their houses.  I am glad we did it the way we did.  If we had done a full remodel when we moved in, I would already hate it.  Our tastes now are much different.  As it, the house grew with us and we love it.  It will be really hard to leave it.

  9. We have a CSR (I am primary, spouse is AU).   We previously had a CSP (primary plus AU).  I also previously had a business Ink.  I can't remember when we had these cards and all of this is very interesting but also confusing.    Can I call Chase and ask about a card and find out if either one of us is eligible for the sign on bonuses before we apply?  We use the the Chase Rewards for one nice vacation a year plus rental cars, so it's nice.  Most of our spend is on AA cards right now, but am considering the Bonvoy card with the nice signup bonus now.

  10. Very happy with the result.   From the beginning, at just about every challenge Kelsey put out the dish I would most like to eat.  And, slowly I recognized that not only was it good, soulful cooking, it was pretty damn sophisticated too.  Plus, she seemed like a good person who knew how to throw a good party.  I'd do a tasting menu at her restaurant tomorrow.

    • Like 1
  11. 15 hours ago, McCroskey said:

    Buncha goddamn knee jerk over-reactors everywhere the last few days that all need some perspective.

    We would have lost WW2 had we had this mentality back then.  Forget what the FAA or Boeing C-suite alone says, at the end of the day the pilots who have spent thousands of hours training and flying these things wouldn't continue flying them if they truly thought they were unsafe or if they felt unable to maintain control under virtually any circumstance.  Media needs to stop trying to sensationalize this story.

     

    This was especially noticeable in the media stories about the AA flight attendants union demanding the planes be grounded, with a typical angry flight attendant talking about how the safety of the flight attendants needs to be considered.  The story ended with "the pilots union believes the planes are safe and does not support grounding the planes".

  12. TL/DR: How can I help my 77 year old mother live with impaired vision?

    After years of struggles and visits to the Houston Medical Center (Cizik Eye Clinic), UT Southwestern, and just yesterday, the Mayo Clinic, it does not seem like we are going to be able to do anything to restore my mom's complete vision.  Ocular hypertension / glaucoma has taken its tool despite all the treatments from the best doctors we could find.  The latest setback happened about a week ago when the clarity of vision in "good eye" diminished substantially.  We are still processing all of this.  She is not entirely blind.  She can get up and take care of herself and function somewhat.  We know she has to go through low vision therapy to figure out how to do more things.  She is mostly frustrated (and heartbroken) that she can't read and thinks she is can't play cards and games with her friends.  We need to figure out a way for her to maintain a good and fun quality of life.  She is otherwise in good health and active.  We are beyond sad but need to be positive and work on this.

    Anyone out there with tips?  I am thinking a bunch of Echos around the house, nest thermostats, other home automation.  Can Alexa read books to her?  Do we need a subscription of some kind?  I am about to do a bunch of research, but am a little freaked out right now, so any help / guidance / tips would be appreciated.

  13. Schutze writes, with some restraint in my opinion, about one of the darkest moments in recent Dallas political history:  the trumped up charges that Mayor Rawlings and his city attorney fabricated against Scott in 2015 or so.   It was really despicable.  Apparently, the DMN is now using that incident against Scott in its coverage of the mayor's race.  

    https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/morning-news-will-lie-about-griggs-once-a-week-until-may-11585756?fbclid=IwAR3xyPhabzUq3Ydwmlmoh2zBtdR_f8PPg7uzMkXINbH-P6pt3LLCO1C53w4

    Quote

    The Dallas Morning News on its editorial page last week repeated again a flagrant and malicious lie about Dallas City Council member and mayoral candidate Scott Griggs. The lie is a window on how the old-guard leadership in the city really operates and the depths to which it is willing to sink to preserve influence and power

     

    • Like 1
  14. Laredo Taco Company is opening at a new flagship / concept test 7-Eleven store on Sylvan at 30.  

    I went to the soft opening earlier this week.  It's way fancier than the gas station Laredo Taco Company spots in the Valley*, but damn, this is Valley food.  Excellent!  I am from the Valley but live in Oak Cliff.  There are all sorts of good taco spots around here and a Taco Deli, but none do a good South Texas style flour tortilla breakfast taco (the closest is the Taco Cabana at Cochrell Hill).   I had the papas con huevo, which was made the homestyle way -- not scrambled eggs with something on top -- fried up together in one pan, perfectly seasoned.  I don't eat many flour tortillas any more, but these will be the exception.  I can't wait to try the picadillo and other lunch items that I hope are also seasoned like they are in the Valley.   Around here, the Mexican food is way too often from Oaxaca or other interior parts of Mexican.  It's good, just different.  This is home cooking for me.  If you have been to the Valley, you know Laredo Taco Company from just about every Stripes down there.  This is their first spot in Dallas.

    *The 7-Eleven store itself will be different.  I didn't' get to go all the way into the store, but I understand it will have craft beer available on tap for growlers and maybe also wine on tap.  There will be a coffee bar, smoothies and kombucha also on tap.  Gentrification!   

    • Like 3
  15. Quote

    It just seems selfish to surprise people with information they may not want after all these years. Suppose your father had been one of her 2 living sons and suppose he had a wife and kids. That news could break up a marriage and destroy a family. And for what purpose?

    It's absolutely selfish.   "I don't care what they do with the information"  = "I don''t care if I hurt people so long as I accomplish what I wanted for myself".

  16. My husband knew that is mom had a previous marriage.  His two older siblings were from that marriage, but his father treated all four kids (the 2 from the previous marriage and the 2 from his marriage to my husband's mom) like they were his and life went on just fine.   His mother died a few years ago.  

    Now, my husband's sister decided late in life that she needed closure about her birth father and did the 23andMe thing.  Of course, there other half siblings out there and more drama and unknown family twists that anyone knew.  My husband told her that it was her quest not his, that he didn't need to know anything else.  He had his family.  She nevertheless chooses to tell him about her findings ("here is this information that you did not want...do with it what you will")  She tells his brother too.  It is now a big family drama, with most doing all they can to keep the new information from my husband's father who is old and not well.  There is some chance he finds out and it will not be good.

    The whole family is fighting and not happy about any of this.  It's all caused by the sister's selfish desire to not only find out this information but to share it with people who expressly said they did not want it.  The next shoe will be when the "new" family reaches out to my husband's family because his sister gave them all the information about her side of the family.

    These things suck.

  17. I did not see this coming.

    How desperate are the old cronies to stop Griggs?   A bunch of rich Republicans just sent out an endorsement letter and contribution solicitation for Eric Johnson, a progressive Democrat. 

    Big Money Lines up for Johnson

    I sorta know Eric and his wife (hung out a bit years ago, now FB friends).  He is a sharp, grounded, and very likable Ivy League guy.  I have supported him.  If it wasn't for Griggs, I would support him in this election too.   His getting in bed with the Citizens Counsel is out of left field (at least for me) and troubling.  

    From the D Story:

    Quote

    ... Jim Schutze must be frothing at the mouth and fighting tumescence. Without any proof, he’s been peddling a conspiracy about the Park Cities oligarchy doing whatever it can to torpedo Scott Griggs. Now he’s got this fundraising letter!

    With Eric's excellent campaign management and broad South Dallas support, this backing rockets him up, joining Griggs at the top of the leaderboard.   If the support from the North Dallas, Park Cities, White Business Community holds up, we now have our two man race.

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