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DalTxHornFan

Burnt Ends
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Posts posted by DalTxHornFan

  1. 21 minutes ago, Carl Spackler said:

    Guidebook (Big Island Revealed) strongly recommends renting a 4WD on the Big Island.  We haven't yet nailed down the exact attractions we want to visit (aside from Volcanoes NP and a helicopter tour), so I'm not sure at this point whether 4WD is really necessary.  Was wondering whether those who have visited the Big Island found 4WD to be necessary and/or helpful.

    I wouldn't think 4WD is needed unless you are really gonna get off of the beaten path.  Saddle Road from the Hilo side across to the Kona side (State Route 200) has been much upgraded.  Some rental agencies wouldn't let you drive on that road in the past. 

    We also drove a regular rental car up to the top Mauna Kea -- gravel road, but in good shape.  Have fun!

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  2. And on a somewhat related note -- Matt's El Rancho's sale (I think that it was actually a Section 1031 exchange for the South Lamar property and another property, but I digress) of the original location on First Street to make way for the Four Seasons hotel.

     

    "Selling out to the Four Seasons, then keeping it real

    While Matt's is known as a steady-as-she-goes restaurant, it does have a far-off history of being altered and exported across town.

    When spouses Matt and Janie Martinez opened Matt’s El Rancho in 1952 in downtown Austin, the two served a rotation of homemade southern meals such as meatloaf, mashed potatoes, collard greens and more. Their life savings went into opening the 40-seat restaurant. On Thursdays, they offered a Tex-Mex plate and guests kept asking for more. In a nutshell, the Tex-Mex restaurant coveted by Austinites today was born from those requests — though Matt’s continues to offer some originals such as steak, seafood and chicken fried steak.

    The couple started by renting a space downtown and slowly purchased a few properties on the lake. The Martinezes sold that property to Southerland Financial Corp. to make way for The Four Seasons Hotel. Janie Martinez did not accept the first “lowball offer,” according to Cathy Kreitz, daughter to the Martinezes and co-owner of Matt’s.

    “Mom quadrupled it. And they accepted the offer. Both of my parents were quite intelligent and savvy,” Kreitz said.

    The Four Seasons offered the couple a restaurant space at the hotel, but they were too independent for that kind of business deal, Kreitz added.

    The Martinezes instead bought another property and opened the restaurant at 2613 S. Lamar Blvd. in 1986. It's pretty much Central Austin today, but at the time the street was considered far South Austin. The Broken Spoke dance hall was the end of the road, Kreitz said.

    “Mom and Dad’s banker friends, business friends and attorney, they said don’t do it, you’re not going to make it, you’re going to lose your shirt. And they just went on ahead and did it,” Kreitz laughed.

    The family certainly did not lose any cloth. Matt's current 5 acres are appraised at $20.5 million, according to the Travis Central Appraisal District.

    But, unlike most Austin restaurants nowadays, the business may be worth more than the prime land under it."

    https://news.yahoo.com/matt-el-rancho-one-america-150241728.html

     

  3. 12 hours ago, Armybrat said:

    Back in the 1970s or early 80s there used to be a little drive up/walk up taco joint sitting on a small triangular lot at the northwest corner of 1st (Caesar Chavez) & Congress. 
    We were amazed when the local media reported that the taco joint owner sold his little plot for $750,000.

    It was reportedly way more than that.  The 100 Congress tower is there now.

    https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/22/A-60-year-old-tamale-stand-operator-struck-it-rich-not/8130456724800/

    UPI Archives  June 11, 1984

    AUSTIN, Texas -- A 60-year-old tamale stand operator struck it rich, not by selling tamales but by selling the stand he sold them from for 23 years.

    Moses Vasquez said Thursday that Lincoln Property Co. paid him nearly $1.6 million, more than $200 a square foot, for his tiny restaurant and an adjoining building.

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  4. 2 hours ago, YGIFS said:

    i think the Randall's there is under initial permitting for demolition at least.  It will eventually be enveloped by the medical complex.  But it's gonna take a damn long while.  That Burger King was functioning as kind of a food trailer site but they wouldn't back down on their pricing so now it's just a graffiti canvas.  The Scientology building was progressing on the interior anyway but they'll get this massive infusion of construction loan funding for a month or two from "central/hq/whatever the fuck they call their diocese equivalents" and then it dries up again and they just barely keep the permits in date with a last minute post-dated third-party check.  

    Another weird one, I may have asked about it upthread, but the office building above Ego's at the SW corner of South Congress & Riverside.  What the fuh?  They took the time to board the whole thing up with a massive array of plywood and then paint it hunter green.  And nothing is going on inside.  There's some utility permits pulled, I guess so it doesn't explode or something.  But what in the world is the play there?  

    https://austin.towers.net/redevelopment-heads-for-six-acre-site-on-south-congress-avenue/?pro=jude@towers.net

  5. 3 minutes ago, horn4life said:

    I said any agreement should include a glowing reference as well. As that's something you can simply require them to do that is fair play in my mind.

    And I also think that if the guy hasn't been thinking about business cards, websites and manufacturers he doesn't want to compete.  So take the money and move on, but stipulate the glowing reference letter that I would write.  

    Not sure if that is a hill to die on.  It isn't uncommon for companies to have just a standard "name, rank, and serial number" reference letter for former employees.  Maybe somebody like @troph could weigh in?

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  6. 3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    My layovers in Toronto have always been on the shorter side.  Usually enough time for a Tim Horton's stop, eh.

    There is always one of those close by!

  7. Maybe there is not enough money at stake to go crazy about, but make sure that the severance agreement uses the same language about the departing employee that is used about the company (Joe Blow and XYZ jointly agree....yada, yada) they shouldn't be able to talk shit about the former employee also.  Future job references should be addressed, as well.

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    • Like 1
  8. 5 minutes ago, Baboontyme said:

    It has been a few years but there is light rail from the airport to downtown that integrates with the subway. As I recall it was quite easy and convenient. Maybe a 20-30 minute ride. 

    Yes.  My first trip on a TO subway was probably 1985/86 or so.  It was notable how many business-looking guys in suits and ties didn't have all their front teeth.  Hockey is a real thing up there!

  9. Mississauga is the airport town.  SA is correct about that area.  Depending on timing and traffic, it could be worth a quick trip downtown to TO if you had something specific that you wanted to do like the CN Tower or the rooftop bar at the Park Hyatt. 

  10. 11 minutes ago, Degenerate Gardner said:

    I have a 12+ hour layover in Toronto Sunday. Is there anything nearish the airport that merits having to go through airport lines to get back in?

    Toronto airport is out in the burbs.  Probably a nice time to stay at an airport hotel, get smashed at the bar with all the flight attendants, and do room service before your flight.

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  11. 7 minutes ago, BurntEyes said:

    It's a different thread, but I think caring about cars carried on through all of Gen X.

    Back on topic, while I loved Daze and Confused I had actually classes with M.M. so that's a massive break that makes it not a HS movie for me. 

    As a 90s tech worker in Texas, Office Space is real to me and I grew up with Beavis and Butthead.

    I think I'd have to put Heather's and Breakfast Club as my generational teen movies.

    Still love Office Space. Watched that commeratative DVD last night.  [edit -- I know that watching a DVD vs. streaming ages me, but I still have VHS tapes and a VHS player!  On the positive side, I held on to some turntables -- they seem to be making a comeback!)

    image.png.8dec246c53d8409d53cdd378023dd39e.png

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  12. 2 minutes ago, South Austin said:

    I still laugh my ass off at the movie and quote it often, although yes, the date-rape aspect and Asian slurs would cause discomfort if I ever watched it with my kids.  Similar things could be said about Blazing Saddles.

    Blazing Saddles, Airplane!, Caddyshack, Animal House, and I am sure many others, could never be released today.  We are doomed.

  13. 13 minutes ago, utee94 said:

    Sure, that was the intention, based on setting.  But it didn't come out until much later so it couldn't have been a defining high school movie for you, at the time you were in junior high/high school.  

     

    Same here, in Austin. 

    Regardless, I don't feel like "Oregon Trail" defines my generation in any way so if the millennials want to claim it, more power to 'em.

    Good point.  Summer of 42, Jaws, Shaft, Godfather II, or American Graffiti were movies that I took girls to the drive-in (remember those?) in my Mach I.

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  14. 15 minutes ago, South Austin said:

    There are some aspects of Dazed and Confused that are timeless regardless of your generation:  High school coaches, driving around to find a gathering to get drunk/high, scheming to throw a party at your parents' house.

    But it seemed like high schoolers stopped caring as much about cars somewhere in the late 70s or early 80s.  And I don't think hazing freshman is a thing anymore, at least it wasn't when I was a freshman in 1988.

    My car was a big thing to me.  I washed it in the morning before I went to school if it needed it.  I drove it on Mesa and Burnet road at night a bunch. It looked like this one (though I've always been a fan of blackwall tires, so I would have turned those tires around):

    image.png.07e77de4842af0c6ee10bf92d859ddf0.png

    The hazing was not a thing in my world.

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