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BillyBadAss

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Everything posted by BillyBadAss

  1. Speaking of old bikes.. After years of hibernation I dusted off my 2002 Bianchi Grizzly in the hopes to start riding again. It looks just about like this except mine came with a celeste saddle as well. Specs: https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?item=37559 It turns out in its slumber MTN bikes have completely evolved. And the fork is shot and can't get parts to rebuild, yada yada. Rockshox makes a recon silver tk that'll fit, but it's heavier and likely a step down from the Marzocci it would replace. Long story short, I was advised I'd like riding even a modern budget HT more than this if I tried to fix it back up as a trail bike. I took that advice and after a bit of research ordered a new Giant Fathom 1 which looks to be a pretty decent bang-for-buck HT. But now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the Bianchi. It was such a sweet bike in it's day, I'm not sure I'm ready to part with it. I was thinking if I put a rigid fork on it and some street tires it could serve as a tool around the hood, ride to the store kinda bike. I'm also wondering if it's possible to replace the front DT with a single ring and run it as a 1x9, keeping the rear derailleur and cassette. Or is it not so simple? Thoughts?
  2. Suppose a white guy dresses as Michael Jordan for a costume party. I think most would agree it would be fine to wear a 23 Bulls jersey and Air Jordans. What if he covers his hair with a plastic thing to make himself appear bald and more like Mike? Still ok? Now suppose he uses dark makeup. The intent is not to make fun of Jordan or denigrate his skin complexion or race. The intent is just to make the costume look closer to the real thing. Is that ok? Does intent play into it at all, or is it never ok? NOTE: I understand that the picture in question is different. The KKK costume and blackface costume together communicate an intent different from what I describe above.
  3. @DougO - I had a related experience recently. I had a pair of Wolverine pull-on boots like Academy sells I used for hunting in a muddy/marshy area that were starting to fall apart. So the last time out I worse some waterproof hiking mid boots. The boots did just fine, however, they were a much bigger PITA to clean afterwards than the Wolverines were. The wolverines were fairly smooth, more like a wellington, and easy to hose off. The hiking boots had various textures, seams, and crevices where the mud would cake in that was a pain to get out. So something to consider when looking. Moabs are great boots and comfy out of the box, but would similarly be a pain to clean, if you care about that.
  4. So, we had been planning a R2R Grand Canyon trip for May. Applied for permits the first day we could, but just heard back that we didn't get them. Our original plan was for 4 days in the canyon, self-supported. So now we're scrambling for an alternative and looking for ideas. We're prepared to fly to wherever, and rent a car to get to a trailhead. We'll need to do a loop or have a way to get back where we started. I don't think we have a huge preference for the type of terrain, etc. Just something that we can do in about 4 days which would be cool. Ideas?
  5. NOTE: Texas Exes members get a 15% Vonlane discount.
  6. I checked Vonlane. Looks like basically a first-class type seat. Free wifi, no streaming; satellite TV. They estimate the trip at 3:15, which is not much longer than I could drive it. Prices are $105 each way, $210 round trip. Parking is $30 per 24 hour period. Interesting.
  7. Someone in passing told me second hand about some express shuttle bus service between Dallas and Austin. The way it was described was as an alternative to air travel, with snacks, wifi, etc. (i.e. - not some crummy Greyhound experience that takes 5 hours). Has anyone ever heard of this?
  8. I've used the "bludawg method" a few times. It's a hot-n-fast method, pretty easy, and has always turned out a very good brisket for me. You'll find it posted on various BBQ forums - I've quoted it below. For trimming and seasoning, there is a Franklin video on youtube that's been helpful to me. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTzdMHu5KU
  9. Well, they took longer than I expected, but turned out pretty good. Had them on for about 6hrs 45mins, temp average around 290.
  10. 9 pounds total. 2 racks, 4 bones each. They came in a 2-pack from HEB very similar looking to what deft posted near the top of page 2. edit: a lot like the 2 pack you (Dr Fear) posted on the last page as well. One rack is bigger, thicker than the other.
  11. I'm being brave and trying beef ribs (chuck ribs) for the first time for xmas dinner. I'm trying to plan how long they'll take, and see varying times from different sources. I'll be cooking on a UDS, which can tend to be a bit faster than an offset it seems. I think I'll probably cook at ~285 at the grate (maybe at 300 depending on the responses I get here). Planning to go bone down. Not planning to wrap them unless it looks necessary - if I do I'll wrap in butcher paper. Thoughts / tips from my UDS brethren?
  12. I had a 96 TLC I recently sold. Loved it. But that was before they were quite so luxury focused. I'm sure I'd love a new one too, but 85 grand seems like crazy money to spend on a vehicle to this this cheap bastard.
  13. I think Land Cruisers start at about $85k, which seems crazy.
  14. That's awesome, Biff. Are you doing it all in one go? How long are you thinking it will take? The average looks to be about 5 months.
  15. Did the guy make a big deal about it?
  16. A House member can't retain their seat and run for Senate, can they? House members only serve 2-year terms. So they'd have to be on the ballot for both the House and Senate seat to accomplish that.
  17. .. of course English is not a formal logic language, so my answer above might not hold up to scrutiny. You could also flip the statement around, something you can't necessarily do in formal logic: " you do not have to pay for your food, unless you absolutely love it " which make it a little more clear (to me).
  18. It's a bit off.. had to think about it a bit. But I think it's correct. "Unless" is a negative, so it breaks down to: Love food = false IMPLIES pay = false or -(love food) -> -(pay) And then by transposition that would mean: pay -> love food
  19. Thanks for the perspective folks. I really just didn't know what was reasonable. Like if there are 50-billion shades of shingle color and it's relatively easy to get a close-ish match and this guy just had a extra square in the truck and threw it on to pocket a few extra bucks.. OR yeah, it's pretty hard to get very close on a 9 year old roof.
  20. PSA: Tarptent is selling off some old stock and blemished items. Sale started this evening: https://www.tarptent.com/sale/
  21. I can't speak to trying to learn as an adult vs as a kid. But I learned guitar as a kid and had an instructor that would tell me 10 minutes of practice a day was enough to keep improving. Obviously more is better, but I think a big key is playing some every day, even if some days are short sessions. You'll be developing muscle memory and hand strength, and going 2+ days without playing at all will mess that up early on. But even a short session of ~10 minutes is likely enough re-enforce and continue to learn (or at least not lose stuff). I'll echo that you should consider that the violin is loud. If you live alone, cool - but as mentioned guitar or piano or something are instruments that can be played more quietly. And also that getting a teacher early on is good idea so you learn good technique from the start and don't develop bad habits which are hard to break later.
  22. Had some roof issues that required replacing some sections of shingles. The replaced shingles are much lighter than the existing (roof about 9 years old). Roofer says he can't really match the old color, and that the new will darken as they weather and get a bit moldy, etc. like the old. I wouldn't expect them to be a perfect match, but I would think you could get closer than this. What says the Surl? This guy just being lazy or is it really that hard to match?
  23. 1/3 of the senate will be up for reelection in 2020. IF Trump were to win 1/3 would be up in his second midterm, and 1/3 as he's going out. I'd like to think at least the 2/3s not up in 2 years would perhaps not fear a Trump backlash as much for standing up for what's "right". Wishful thinking I suppose, but my maybe, maybe some of the Rs will have a bit more backbone now that the midterms have passed.
  24. NSIAP. Here are the Politfact scorecards for Cruz and Beto: https://www.politifact.com/personalities/ted-cruz/ True (5%)(7) Mostly True (16%)(22) Half True (14%)(20) Mostly False (31%)(43) False (27%)(38) Pants on Fire (6%)(9) https://www.politifact.com/personalities/beto-orourke/ True (23%)(3) Mostly True (15%)(2) Half True (38%)(5) Mostly False (15%)(2) False (8%)(1) Pants on Fire (0%)(0) Interdasting..
  25. I just bought a Yamaha JR2 3/4 scale "travel" guitar for my kid to learn on. I think they go for $160-ish. I've been playing on it and really like it. For a cheap guitar it plays really nice, and I like the size for messing around on.
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