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smokebomb

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by smokebomb

  1. https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/22/texas-thc-ban-bill-greg-abbott-veto-senate-bill-3/
  2. We flew out on them last week from Austin to Knoxville. The flight was fine and the plane was on a newish Airbus. The South terminal is super simple & easy so that makes things easier on the Austin end. They are no frills & we only use them for directs we can’t get otherwise out of Austin. If you want to check multiple bags & pick your seat, their cost approaches that of other airlines. As mentioned: 1. You have to pay for both checked baggage & carry on (your small personal bag is free) 2. You have to pay to select your seats or your group could get dispersed all over the plane. 3. Bring your boarding pass (digitally or in paper) or they will charge you ($5?) to print it at the airport. 4. At Austin, the Allegiant staff is nice but they handle both checking bags & customer service. Don’t expect them to be speedy if you’ve a request. 5. You aren’t, but I’d never fly them if there was a connection. They typically don’t have service every day so any delays/cancelations could result in a multi-day delay to your destination.
  3. Compared to other cruise lines, Virgin skews towards an older crowd in general and more so on the Mediterranean cruises due to their higher costs. It is not a ship with as many 20 year olds so if they are looking for a bunch of 20-something young adults to hang with, Virgin won’t have a ton. But the general atmosphere on Virgin is young at heart so I think they’d still have fun. Virgin also has a mixer for solo cruisers (any age) the first night for people who are looking for a friend group to hang with. And with all the events the cruise puts on throughout the trip, they will have plenty of things to choose from. Damnit - I am sounding like one of those cruise people I said we weren’t…
  4. To set the tone - we are not cruise people but we did a Mediterranean cruise on Virgin Voyages last fall. It was a lot of fun and we would consider doing another one, maybe for Alaska. Again - we are not really into cruises and we have zero desire to do any of the Caribbean cruises, not even on Virgin. For that, we would just visit any islands individually. What convinced us to do a Virgin Mediterranean cruise: 1. Europe is a long trip and traveling to only one of the many islands from the US is not really efficient. We were never going to say "Let's travel to Europe and visit Crete or Sardinia" but the cruise allowed us to see many places we never really would have otherwise. 2. Virgin looked to offer a very nice/not cheap experience and it was. We did upgrade to Rockstar status, which removes waiting in any lines and a larger cabin. I totally would suggest it if you can afford it. You also get a personal concierge that takes care of bookings events/other requests as well as access to a less crowded deck area. The "skip to the front of the line" was worth the price alone. 3. No kids under 18 on Virgin are allowed. This is huge and not because we hated kids, but because it changes the atmosphere. There are a lot of adult themed events on Virgin that I believe you do not get on other cruises. This will keep you & your 18 year old kids engaged and entertained while not felling like an amusement park. 4. No buffets - all of the dining is restaurants. Most of them were decent and nothing was awful. It also means there is not a lot of options for snacking, which we liked. All in all, I would definitely suggest Virgin for anyone without young kids and especially for traveling the Mediterranean.
  5. The GBU-43/B MOAB can be dropped from a C-130 but it is an air burst bomb, not a bunker buster that would be needed for Fordow. The GBU-57A/B MOP is the bunker buster bomb that would be needed for destroying Fordow but it can only be currently deployed from a B-2 bomber. It was tested from a B-52 but that isn't its current delivery platform.
  6. My understanding is: Original owners started it in ‘76. Some lady bought it from them in the late 90s, failed to pay sales tax, it gets shut down in 2002. Zoob takes it over by paying back taxes after having been a regular. Regarding Zoob, talked to a bartender there tonight and Zoob passed away Sunday morning. They are having a private party there Friday for him as per the sign in the door. I didn’t ask what was going to happen now he is gone but they better not change a thing. Frieda’s cheese enchiladas still slam. RIP Zoob. Long Live TCP.
  7. smokebomb

    SpaceX

    Starship attempts its 9th launch today at 6:30pm CDT: https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-9
  8. An FYI for anyone springing for a new roof - if you can afford it, look at getting the new grade 4 shingles that are available. They have the same impact resistance as metal roofs but are not as expensive. The Malarkey ones we installed are still pricey but we got over a 33% reduction in our insurance premium because of them. It highlights just how much hail & roof replacement is affecting insurance costs here in Texas. Also note that some of the insurance customer support people aren’t aware of the discount - the rep I talked to said it wouldn’t matter but gave me the form to submit anyway. After submitting the documentation, the insurance company came back with the reduced cost.
  9. smokebomb

    London

    Dishoom is awesome Indian & there is one near King’s Cross. You will need to book a table though. https://www.dishoom.com/kings-cross/
  10. SIAP - 2025 Travis CAD appraisals are up: https://travis.prodigycad.com/property-search
  11. https://www.yahoo.com/news/crypto-crime-lord-ross-ulbricht-235509730.html He paid off his fine when the government seized a stolen wallet of his. Some question whether now he might be able to get it back with the pardon. If I was him, I’d take the possible $650m and move on. He got a second chance, use it.
  12. Aaand you are correct. In October 2020, the city council voted to remove the restrictions on areas 2, 5, & 6: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/public-drinking-ban-lifted-in-areas-of-east-austin/269-0f9dd50e-b6fe-4e8f-92a6-11bbdcb63fd2
  13. This article is from 2020 and the areas look the same: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-may-loosen-restrictions-on-drinking-in-public/
  14. From reddit.com/r/Austin (Google Maps link) -
  15. Typically 20+ wins gets you into the tournament. We have 18 conference games to play, so yes - .500 in conference should get us into the tournament with exactly 20 wins, especially since the SEC is so stacked this year. However, as of today, only 5 of those conference games are against teams not ranked in the top 25. We will have to fight tooth & nail to get 20 or more wins this season.
  16. Check the ESPN app - they had the Texas radio broadcast synced with the TV broadcast.
  17. NSIAP but regarding the targeting no-call:
  18. The CBS article says that tuition is free - for now, implying that it will not be free in the future: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uatx-launches-touting-ideological-openness-debate-60-minutes-transcript/ My guess is that this is a way to get students to attend while the school works towards its accreditation, which won't happen until after the first class graduates. It seems to model a tech startup where you give out the product for free or reduced cost and then start charging more once it catches on. I will be curious to see if it works or if it ends up being an expensive private school that has the same same type, but differently voiced, echo chambers they accuse traditional universities of having.
  19. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/08/university-austin-uatx-launch-2024/ Accreditation takes a long time, hence the eight year period the state gave them. It is also why a lot of for-profit schools just bought failing non-profit schools - so they could be covered by their accreditation and not spend the years required to get it on their own. I bolded the important part above - accreditation is required in order to get Federal money. Otherwise, why do you need accreditation? If you are against the system and trying to revolutionize it, why do you care that the "failed system" doesn't recognizes you?
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