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Posted
1 hour ago, South Austin said:

I know these incidents are being reported as they occur, but I'm surprised the Statesman or one of the local network affiliates haven't done a deeper dive (no pun intended) into these events and tried to piece together some sort of pattern.  Seems like it's starting to happen too often to be a coincidence.

The Statesman is too busy putting out amazing journalistic pieces like this:

“Chili’s Forever: How a Chain Restaurant Became Austin’s Favorite Spot”

https://www.statesman.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesman.com%2Fstory%2Fentertainment%2Fthings-to-do%2F2023%2F03%2F06%2Fchilis-austin-texas-45th-lamar-grill-bar-restaurant%2F69858974007%2F

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Posted
5 minutes ago, demos said:

Not sure the Statesman can afford to pay anyone to do actual journalism.

What does the Statesman have to do with "actual journalism"?

 

I think they ceased that about 20 years ago.

Posted
On 3/3/2023 at 5:02 PM, ztejas said:

Up there with the Burnet/Allendale HEB - although that one may be past its halcyon (of weirdness).

 

On 3/4/2023 at 5:46 AM, South Austin said:

That’s my HEB, and it’s still got a fair amount of weirdness going on.

Widely known as "The Gimp HEB."

It's better than it used to be, but the moniker still suits it, I'd say.

Posted
9 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Widely known as "The Gimp HEB."

It's better than it used to be, but the moniker still suits it, I'd say.

Much better.  I still like the broad demographic that shops there.

Posted
5 hours ago, Pig Bellmont said:

The Statesman is too busy putting out amazing journalistic pieces like this:

“Chili’s Forever: How a Chain Restaurant Became Austin’s Favorite Spot”

https://www.statesman.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesman.com%2Fstory%2Fentertainment%2Fthings-to-do%2F2023%2F03%2F06%2Fchilis-austin-texas-45th-lamar-grill-bar-restaurant%2F69858974007%2F

April Fools Day story was inadvertently posted too early?

Posted
4 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Much better.  I still like the broad demographic that shops there.

That was our go-to HEB when we lived in Allandale.  One year, a lovely young family from Dallas moved into a rent house on our block for the two years the husband was getting his MBA at UT.   They were a nice, well-to-do Dallas jewish family.  In other words, they were NOT familiar with much of the local color that Austin had to offer (especially 20 years ago).  We went over to say hi when they moved in, and she asked my wife where she should get groceries?  My wife casually says "oh, we all go to HEB."  The next day, she and my wife visit again, and she's wide-eyed -- "OH MY GOD.  There were people with mohawks, and all these piercings, and I've never seen so many tattoos..." and my wife laughs and says "oh, no....you're not ready for the Allandale HEB.  You need to go to the Far West HEB for now."  Of course, by the time they moved out, she loved the Allandale HEB and all the local color and unusual friends and acquaintances she'd made.

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Orange&White said:

From Reddit:

 

 

 

 

Obviously, we're lumping together unrelated accidental deaths, suicides, and murders.  But even to the casual observer, the last several are starting to fit an even more narrow pattern of coincidence.  Or as we said, once you get a fully built-out party district near a body of water with no lights around it and plenty of drugs and booze...maybe just more and more shit happens.  Walk off Rainey street to the west from Van Zandt to the MACC.  Or at the southern tip past those multi-family towers.  Yeah, there's some dim lights, but you can easily wander into some points of entry to the lake and stumble into it unconscious, conscious with struggling to swim, or just plain fucked up on drugs/booze.  If you don't recognize the gravel of some of the paths under your feet like an outfield warning track, it's pretty fucking dark, and you can find yourself falling in rather easily.  I don't recommend this, but go walk it at dusk or dawn and notice how poorly lit it is between rainey street CRE and the water.  Again, I think that's how it's happening but I'm not McNulty from BPD.  I just think that's more plausible from that busy party area than somebody killing them and dumping them on one of the busiest streets in Austin where there's a 100 building cams pointed down there.  And the creepy thing is most of the bodies show no sign struggle/blunt force trauma/stabbings/etc.  I bet toxicology would reveal something, but we gotta 10 year backlog on rape kits so I'm sure "Drunken Minnesota man parties too hard" kit isn't a big priority for the guys working in shifts.  Somebody real fucking powerful's son may be the next to die and bring this whole thing crashing down and right quick.  

I'd suggest we start a Surly Truly Crime Podcast but it would just devolve into a Simms v. Applewhite debate with fisticuffs.  NTTAWWT.  

5 hours ago, Pig Bellmont said:

The Statesman is too busy putting out amazing journalistic pieces like this:

“Chili’s Forever: How a Chain Restaurant Became Austin’s Favorite Spot”

https://www.statesman.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.statesman.com%2Fstory%2Fentertainment%2Fthings-to-do%2F2023%2F03%2F06%2Fchilis-austin-texas-45th-lamar-grill-bar-restaurant%2F69858974007%2F

That musta been around time I read this trade magazine for several months as we were preparing to invest in a hospitality project in Austin.  And I could not fucking believe that Chili's was one of the Top 10 performing stores in the whole chain for multiple years running.  I mean, I could believe some of the other locations around the periphery of Austin, but that one?  The demographics of those adjoining neighborhoods and businesses, but they were also leading the way in net adjusted.  So even with the insane real estate, they were doing fantastic.  Maybe there's a connection between that store and the dead bodies?  

10 minutes ago, Bevo said:

What's the story behind Ben Kweller? They talked about him on the radio on my entire drive in today - the link says it was a car accident.

 

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/austin-musician-ben-kwellers-16-year-old-son-dead

 

I don't want to dig too deep into it since I love his music and don't want to spout off about a dead minor child.  But from the one person I kinda, sorta know would know the story...it was just an unfortunate traffic fatality due to some other overly-aggressive driver.  We all gotta watch out even during rush hour at low speeds.  God bless that family now and forever.  

Edited by YGIFS
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Posted
7 hours ago, South Austin said:

I know these incidents are being reported as they occur, but I'm surprised the Statesman or one of the local network affiliates haven't done a deeper dive (no pun intended) into these events and tried to piece together some sort of pattern.  Seems like it's starting to happen too often to be a coincidence.

The pattern is they drowned.  If Austin had lifeguards all Summer, more people could learn to swim.  Solution: hire more lifeguards and focus on retention.

 

Posted
Widely known as "The Gimp HEB."
It's better than it used to be, but the moniker still suits it, I'd say.
Oh, the gimp heb would be the drewish heb on far west (biased since its my heb). Shittiest in town probably, especially given the neighborhood. Y'all complaining about the allandale one, I'm guessing didn't see it before the remodel. That used to be mu omd one, it had charm though.
Posted (edited)

The worst thing about the Rundberg location, aside from the shitty parking and occasional assaults in the parking lot is that most of the stuff that makes it worth shopping at HEB isn't sold there. Want Meal Simple stuff? Nope. Want a functional deli counter? Nope. Want a decent steak? Nope.

 

Edited by Deej
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Posted
12 hours ago, ballrific said:

Oh, the gimp heb would be the drewish heb on far west (biased since its my heb). Shittiest in town probably, especially given the neighborhood. Y'all complaining about the allandale one, I'm guessing didn't see it before the remodel. That used to be mu omd one, it had charm though.

Allandale is the gimp because, back in the '90s, a drunk old lady with a club foot was raising hell in the produce section and vomited everywhere.

 

1 hour ago, Orange&White said:

Rundberg is probably the leader in the clubhouse, but Manor Rd/183 will be on the podium.

The Allandale gimp is the only HEB that doesn't have store bakery made tortillas. They don't even ship them in and the only ones available are the shitty ones on the bread aisle. That alone makes it the worst HEB in town.

 

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Posted
29 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

The Allandale gimp is the only HEB that doesn't have store bakery made tortillas. They don't even ship them in and the only ones available are the shitty ones on the bread aisle. That alone makes it the worst HEB in town.

 

Ooh, that's false--183 and Spicewood doesn't have the store bakery made tortillas.  Likely because their clientele is 70% Asian but still...

My vote for shittiest (after Rundberg) would be E. 7th but it's been a few years since I've been and they may have upgraded. 

Posted
20 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

My vote for shittiest (after Rundberg) would be E. 7th but it's been a few years since I've been and they may have upgraded. 

E7th is super nice now. They did renovate it. 

Rundberg probably the worst. Bluff Springs towards the top of that list as well. 

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Posted
20 minutes ago, ztejas said:

E7th is super nice now. They did renovate it. 

Rundberg probably the worst. Bluff Springs towards the top of that list as well. 

My old joke about East 7th was that it might have been a rough HEB, they really knew their customer base.  Lots of selection in the dried chili section and half the beer case was Bud Light. 

Posted
3 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

My old joke about East 7th was that it might have been a rough HEB, they really knew their customer base.  Lots of selection in the dried chili section and half the beer case was Bud Light. 

Every HEB is good about that. That particular one's customer base has radically changed in the last 10-15 years and the store now reflects it. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Thankfully Parmer and Mopac got a nice upgrade after the parking lot shooting. 

It's taken forever. And that parking lot is insane with all the construction. I think they are wrapped up now thankfully.

Posted
On 3/6/2023 at 9:12 AM, Bozo_Casanova said:

Nobody works for the statesman anymore, but KXAN should take it up. 

There isn't much remaining at the Statesman but Plohetski is one of the best investigative reporters around. Very surprised he's still there. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Deej said:

They are about to expand the Tech Ridge HEB. 

that thing's already huge, what're they going to add to it?  

 

that rundberg heb is a whole nother thing.  you can't push a shopping cart outside of the store doors because the wheels lock.  well you can but it's hard.  that location actually has a lot of things you can't find in any other heb though.  

 

manor/183.  wells branch/35.  those two are the worst.  wells branch is worse b/c it doesn't have the unique mexican cuts/ingredients you can find at manor/183.  a manager at that wells branch heb once told me they prioritize stocking the most common food stamp items and that's all the room they have.  it's in serious need of a facelift.  since 1973 i think they've only painted the front.   

Posted
24 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

There isn't much remaining at the Statesman but Plohetski is one of the best investigative reporters around. Very surprised he's still there. 

he's all they got and we are all lucky to have him.

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Posted
26 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

There isn't much remaining at the Statesman but Plohetski is one of the best investigative reporters around. Very surprised he's still there. 

agreed, he's great. He's also the last one, but he's great. 

Posted
17 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

It's really good for Mexican stuff.

Surprisingly, not that much more than any other HEB. Better off going to the myriad of little Mexican markets in the area. 

Posted (edited)
21 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Obviously, we're lumping together unrelated accidental deaths, suicides, and murders.  But even to the casual observer, the last several are starting to fit an even more narrow pattern of coincidence.  Or as we said, once you get a fully built-out party district near a body of water with no lights around it and plenty of drugs and booze...maybe just more and more shit happens.  Walk off Rainey street to the west from Van Zandt to the MACC.  Or at the southern tip past those multi-family towers.  Yeah, there's some dim lights, but you can easily wander into some points of entry to the lake and stumble into it unconscious, conscious with struggling to swim, or just plain fucked up on drugs/booze.  If you don't recognize the gravel of some of the paths under your feet like an outfield warning track, it's pretty fucking dark, and you can find yourself falling in rather easily.  I don't recommend this, but go walk it at dusk or dawn and notice how poorly lit it is between rainey street CRE and the water.  Again, I think that's how it's happening but I'm not McNulty from BPD.  I just think that's more plausible from that busy party area than somebody killing them and dumping them on one of the busiest streets in Austin where there's a 100 building cams pointed down there.  And the creepy thing is most of the bodies show no sign struggle/blunt force trauma/stabbings/etc.  I bet toxicology would reveal something, but we gotta 10 year backlog on rape kits so I'm sure "Drunken Minnesota man parties too hard" kit isn't a big priority for the guys working in shifts.  Somebody real fucking powerful's son may be the next to die and bring this whole thing crashing down and right quick.  

Y'all... for real... think about where all of these incidents are happening.  Everyone keeps looking around looking around... what could it be?  There's only one obvious answer and its not on the ground level... 

No photo description available.

Edited by texasdago
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Posted
1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

he's all they got and we are all lucky to have him.

His work on the Austin bomber was especially outstanding but he's very good across the board. 

I'm guessing Plohetki's had some offers to go elsewhere. But he"s also getting more and more immersed on KVUE so maybe he's using that a springboard to get out of print completely while he can. 

Posted
2 hours ago, texasdago said:

Y'all... for real... think about where all of these incidents are happening.  Everyone keeps looking around looking around... what could it be?  There's only one obvious answer and its not on the ground level... 

No photo description available.

Love watching monk parakeets kick the shit out of grackles and bluebirds. They work like a pack of wolves on their prey.

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Posted
Rundberg is probably the leader in the clubhouse, but Manor Rd/183 will be on the podium.

It's really good for Mexican stuff.

Surprisingly, not that much more than any other HEB. Better off going to the myriad of little Mexican markets in the area. 

Don’t shit on that HEB, it’s one of my favorites. Because yes, you can get all kinds of weird Mexican shit. Yeah, some of the nearby Mexican groceries have even more Mexican stuff, but they don’t have the bigger selection of HEB stuff. That’s like the United Nations HEB - I’ve shopped there and heard 6 languages on one visit. Cracked up when I saw a Somali dude getting bitched out by his Central American wife. They ended up fighting in three languages. He was fucked and beaten down in all three.
Posted
You know it's a shitty HEB when they have to lock off aisles and escort you in to buy stuff. 

Huh. I usually go on Saturday afternoons. And I look sketchy enough to blend in, I guess…haven’t seen that. I did get some pretty decent Al pastor out of the taco trailer at the corner of the parking lot this last Saturday, though.
Posted

I go when they open at 6 am on Saturdays.  There's about six of us gringos who are there every Saturday morning and we all give each other a knowing nod. 

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Posted
5 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Is that a beta version R2 unit with two pet Birds?

Found it on the intertubes but it's a picture of the best on the tower by Rainey.  You know..  right where they find the bodies.

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