Jump to content

Grimas

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    773
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Grimas

  1. They have frozen beef tenderloins for $25ish bucks each (as do most Asian markets). Cut it in half and grill the thick side and use the thinner half (remove the silverskin first) and cut it up into cubes for stirfry. It may be choice grade but it's still a tenderloin... I usually pick up a few when I'm nearby an toss them in the freezer (as well a few bags of frozen dumplings)... (sorry, wrong thread...)
  2. Good street food episode (as a lover of Asian food and having lived out there). Shopped at all the markets (mainly at 99 Ranch The Japanese place and Hong Kong Market) and have eaten at most the "guest" chefs places - Himalaya, Crawfish and Noodles, Fattest Cow, Karan's, Mala's, Blind Goat, Schun and Dumpling Haus. Wish we had an actual "night market"!
  3. We did 10 expat years and the wife is still missing the lifestyle... Unfortunately, I think the expat days are over for awhile and all the majors have slashed their expat packages the last few years so they aren't as attractive anymore... The few guys I know that are overseas are only getting 80% international schools paid by the company, trips home are now economy, etc... It's no longer - "we realize you are making a "sacrifice" of your lifestyle moving overseas so we'll compensate you" to "this is the only job available and if you don't take it, well let you go..." I've got lots of expat friends who got sent home in the last 3 years only to find out, there was no job when they got back. But like @Fudge Nuggets said, I only need a few years so I'd go in a second but knowing it's a one-and-done sort of gig...
  4. So basically, you've been "Ukrained"...
  5. Not a CPA but isn't a bar full of bourbon both a liquid and a depreciating asset? (Asking for a friend...)
  6. You buy less house and buy cheaper cars than you can afford and always try to have "plan b" in your pocket... Data is your friend and its going to be much easier to find another job outside the industry if you have those skills then say, a petrophysicist or a structural geologist... I met up with one of my former bosses this weekend who recently retired and while he's done well, he said that in his neighborhood filled with former O&G guys, the guys with the most retirement money in general were the guys who come from the insurance and banking world... When times are good in O&G, its good (mostly) but you need to always be prepared for an exit strategy...
  7. Muck and Fuzz last night, Mozies for lunch followed by a long afternoon at Hoity Toit (then a power nap) followed by a dinner at Myron’s…. Was a good day…
  8. What do you mean dive? That's as Central Texas as you can get! Shuffleboard, pool and longnecks... (That being said, I just don't think I'd go in there after dark or with the wife/girlfriend...) Shooting pool in Greune Hall in the afternoon isn't bad either... And the waitresses Mozie's across the street from it are usually good eye candy as well...
  9. Sorry if the original post wasn't clear - I've been going to NB several times a year until Covid hit and this is the first trip back in 2 years. Most of those listed are ones I'm well aware of and have frequently visited - sounds like all have survived the Covid slowdown and that's what I meant to ask. What may have disappeared in the past 2 years and if there are any new places worth trying... Last time I was there, Muck and Fuss had just opened and if Google maps is up to date, it's still there as well. The Pour Haus is another good place to enjoy the beverage and the scenery. (No desire to float - we just sit on the patio and watch the boobs float by...)
  10. Doing a boys trip again this weekend after the annual trip was cancelled last year due to Covid. Gonna be too cold to get in the water so we will probably spend most of the time inside or by the firepit unless we are out eating/drinking. Anyone got any updates on good places to eat in town that survived Covid or anything new? Gonna bring a burner/pot - does the HEB have crawfish or do they not ship west of Houston?
  11. Link for anyone without LHN?
  12. Apparently, the teen to adult translation didn't work correctly so I retract the rage...
  13. My high school kid just told me that his history teacher told them Russia was invading Ukraine to get the neo-nazis... Argh...
  14. When the Germans began to retreat from the advancing Russian army, my grandparents and my father and his older sister got on a train headed west - (grandfather had fought as a partisan against the Russians in the late 1930's when the occupied Lithuania before the Germans invaded in '39/40. He knew he was toast/gonna be sent to a Siberian camp if he was still around when the Russians reoccupied Lithuania.) The train headed west was stopped in Poland and all males between the ages of 14-60 were pulled off the train and forced onto another train headed east to fight the Soviets. Grandfather told grandmother to go to a specific town in Austria where there was a refugee camp and told her to wait there for him. As his train headed east, he jumped off and started the walk west... It took him 2 years but he finally met-up with his wife and kid in the camp in Austria and then was able to immigrate to the US because they had family that that migrated to the US in the 20's and could sponsor them... Dad's older sister died of pneumonia during that 2 year wait and is buried in that town...
  15. Cancelled a trip for the family to Lithuania at the end of May this morning... I don't want to possibly repeat the trip my grandfather made in 1944 walking the family to Germany to GTFO ahead of the Russians...
  16. As someone said to me years ago (way before I was married or an expat), "when I die, I want to come back as an expat wife..."
  17. Ukraine needs go start blowing up the pipelines crossing their country. It cuts off money to Russia and gets rid of any excuse to Germany for not assisting... Want the gas to resume? Better stop the war so the pipelines can get fixed... Otherwise - freeze krauts...
  18. So anyone take advantage of one of these timeshare pitches from Marriott/Sheraton? I got an offer to visit the Sheraton Kauai for $599 for 5 nights plus some other benefits including the resort fee. I know it's a timeshare pitch that the T&C's say you must attend so I can easily put in my headphones and sleep during it. (I assume I got the offer as I've been a Marriott gold member for years but I don't think I can get any perks from my status if I do this...) While I haven't visited Hawaii, I'd rather have an offer to one of their other resorts if I could get a similar deal. Any tips on how to get an offer to one of the other locations as I assume these come unsolicited?
  19. The challenge these days in accepting an expat assignment (assume they actually start offering them again) is the uncertainty of having a job on your return to the US... I've had several friends that were returned home during the recent downturn only to find out there isn't a job for you when you get back... I got lucky and got have one of those heritage EU passports for me and my kids so if it goes tit-up here and I'm forced to retire early, we are all moving back to Europe where I can get on one of the national health care programs over there until I turn 65... (And the kids can go to University over there as an EU citizen which they can do regardless if we relocate again...)
  20. The biggest issue I've seen is where an expat gets laid off in a foreign county and were on a visa sponsored by the company. In theory, they should pay to relocate you back home but for those wanting to remain in country, getting a local work permit is an issue if you aren't sponsored by another county...
  21. I want a Mack Bolan "The Executioner" series...
  22. Got lucky today(well, last night with the wife as well but no pics)... Have been trying to buy my retired mom an old car just to get to the grocery, bank and pharmacy today after she wrecked her previous car last year (ice storm). Had been looking for something in the 5k range but everything I saw was crap. Saw a posting on Next door for someone offering a 2002 Chevy Traverse for 4500 and 200k miles. KBB had it as $2k max for private sale. Took a look at it today and it had been owned by the same person since new and had all the service records. (Son was selling it for parents, now deceased). Car was clean other than a cracked windshield - I jacked it up and no leaks or issues with any of the busings, bearings or joints that I could see (I've bought quite a few cars in the past and know what to look for)... He just wanted it out of his driveway and I walked out the door for 2500$ for it and both sides were happy (guy even gave me 5# of venison and cheddar sausage fdom his freezer to try)... Got lucky as he lived out in the country and no one had looked at the truck as he was asking too much and no one had come to look at it and I was happy as I was willing to spend 3500 for it and I don't have to shuttle my mother around to get groceries any more (at least until she wrecks this one...) As they say in sales, both sides were happy as it was a win-win solution for both of us...
  23. Corporate multiplier for bonus at COP is supposedly 1.8...
  24. I heard from someone at Chevron that their corporate multiplier for the bonus will be 1.5...
×
×
  • Create New...