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ScottS

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Posts posted by ScottS

  1. Do you need a new cast iron skillet?  Do you have $400 to spend on a cast iron skillet?  If the answer to both questions is "yes", then Yeti has got you covered.

    The $400 Yeti cast iron skillet

    Unfortunately they are out of stock right now but you can be notified when they are available so hold on to your cash.

    • Haha 1
  2. On 6/12/2023 at 4:37 PM, Captain Ron said:

    Or you just might find that now that you're doing it, you might do it again and again and again.

    Have to see how this first one goes.  Not going to rule out doing it again at some point.

  3. I don't know why it annoys me, bur for some reason, Whataburger's new practice of asking for a name with the order instead of giving me a number on table tent really bugs me.  At least that is how my local Whataburger is doing things now; I don't know if it is done that way everywhere.

    Also, if the customer is sitting down inside the restaurant, it should be automatic that napkins are brought out with the order.  It is bad enough I have to request ketchup but to also request napkins is just idiotic.  And it is also idiotic that I just cannot grab a handful of napkins myself.

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    • Like 1
  4. Avoid going to Mexico to get plastic surgery right now.

    US and Mexico sound alarm over cosmetic surgery-linked fungal outbreak

    Quote

    US and Mexican authorities are urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency over a fungal outbreak linked to cosmetic operations in Mexico.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said two people who got surgeries involving epidural anaesthesia have died of meningitis.

    Almost 400 people in the US and Mexico are being monitored.

    Two cosmetic clinics in the Mexican city of Matamoros have been shut.

    Authorities in both the US and Mexico have urged people who had surgeries involving epidural anaesthesia at either the River Side Surgical Center or Clinica K-3 since January to get evaluated, even if they are currently asymptomatic.

    The CDC said it had already identified 25 people in the US with "suspected" or "probable" cases of fungal meningitis.

     

    Many US citizens travel to Mexico for cosmetic procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentation and Brazilian butt lifts, which all require the injection of an anaesthetic into the area around the spinal column.

    The CDC's Dallas Smith said that medications used during anaesthesia in the current outbreak may have been contaminated either in the epidural itself or in other medications that are added in conjunction during the surgeries like morphine.

    "There's a shortage currently in Mexico, and there could be potential for a black market that could have contaminated medicine," said Mr Smith.

    Last October, a batch of a local anaesthetic commonly used for operations such as Caesarean births was found to have been infected by the same fungus, leading to the death of 39 people in the Mexican state of Durango.

    The most common early symptom of fungal meningitis is headaches, followed by symptoms like fever, vomiting, neck pain, and blurred vision.

    Fungal meningitis is not contagious and can be treated with antifungal medicines - but it can can quickly become life-threatening once symptoms begin.

     

    Americans often travel to Mexico for low-cost medical services.

    The WHO declares a public health emergency when a disease spreads between countries and a co-ordinated international response may be required to bring it under control.

     

  5. 6 hours ago, DFW Horn said:

    OU vs Arky as a 3rd rival makes the most sense long-term even though it'll benefit the dirt burglars short-term.

    For two schools in adjoining states and in towns that are only about 4 hours apart, OU and Arkansas have played each other a surprisingly small number of times.  Only 15 games, and 12 of those came in 1926 or earlier.  Three matchups since 1978, all in bowl games.  So paring up those two seems to me to be forcing something that is not there.

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  6. Hell if I know.  I just know what the Wikipedia page says.  Between the proliferation of bowls, the constant name changes, and relocation, keeping track is not worth my time or effort.

  7. 18 minutes ago, gatormarc said:

    Cheez-It Bowl still lives.

    They're sponsoring the NYD bowl in the same stadium. 

    https://cheezitcitrusbowl.com/

    CheezItCitrusBowl-4c-e1669740529447.png

    No, that is the Citrus Bowl with Cheez-It as a sponsor.  The Cheez-It Bowl that is now the Pop Tart Bowl is a completely different event.  Your confusion is understandable, though.  I will forgive you for disrespecting the sanctity of the Blockbuster/Carquest/MicronPC/MicronPC.com/Visit Florida Tangerine/Mazda Tangerine/Champ Sports/Russell Athletic/Camping World/Cheez-It/Pop-Tarts Bowl.

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  8. 2 hours ago, Dnaguy said:

    Best postseason format of any college sport.

    Fight me.

     

    18 minutes ago, Homercles said:

    I def agree with that and have said it before.  Can be the hardest to explain to folks that are unfamiliar, however.  

    I would love to see the basketball tournament take on the baseball/softball format.  I know it will never happen for many reasons, but one can dream.

  9. Texas high school bbq competition getting some run on ESPN (long-form article).

    https://www.espn.com/moresports/story/_/id/37740321/inside-world-texas-high-school-barbecue-state-championship

    Quote

    ROUND ROCK, Texas -- Sean Hill grew up following his heart like so many Texans, dreaming of coaching a high school football team to a state championship. But a few years ago, with a decade of coaching experience in Rockwall, just outside of Dallas, he opted instead to follow his nose, giving it all up for the slow-and-low world of competitive barbecue.

    "The practices smell better," said Hill, "and at the end of it, you get to eat what you work on all day."

    Just three years after his change of careers, Hill coached a team to his elusive first state championship. His 205 Pitmasters Team Smoke, representing Rockwall Independent School District's Dr. Gene Burton College and Career Academy, was named grand champion out of 92 teams at the 2023 Texas High School BBQ State Championship on May 6.

    Yes, you read that right: There are high school barbecue teams in Texas, and the meets (and meats) are treated with just as much passion and pride as other high school sports. This is the eighth year of the league put on by HS BBQ Inc., a nonprofit that has 116 teams registered between the Red River and the Rio Grande. Ninety-two of those teams qualified for this event by finishing in the top 10 at one of the 11 regional competitions across the state this season.

    "It's gotten to where there were teams that were coming up all the way from the top of Texas, down south to the tip," Hill said. "I mean, El Paso and everywhere in between."

    For Hill, 43, that trophy brings just as much pride as anything he could've won on a football field. In Texas, it all goes hand in hand, with many of the state's legends putting their money where their mouths are. Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who started raising cattle in 1957 at 10 years old, owns a meat company, Goodstock, which sponsors the state championship and provides the meat so each team is on a level playing field. Earl Campbell Sausage has been producing the legendary running back's trademark hot links for 32 years.

    The mystique around smoking meats is of such import that Texas Monthly, the "National Magazine of Texas," has a barbecue editor. It's a full-time job for Daniel Vaughn, who said the explosion in high school barbecue makes perfect sense in a state where tailgating in the parking lots before games rivals anything happening inside a stadium.

    "Nothing's gonna overtake the importance of high school football in Texas," Vaughn said. "But what better second place could there be than competitive barbecue to capture the hearts and minds of Texas high school students?"

    Hill said his decade coaching football is one of the secrets of his team's success. His barbecue team practices follow his old football format with periods for each point of emphasis, structured in the five categories each team is judged on at competitions.

    "It's broken down into the categories of chicken, brisket, ribs, beans and dessert, like you'd break down offense and defense, linemen and receivers and backs," Hill said. "We go over seasonings, we work on trimming meats and fire management, getting their fire set up and getting stuff going."

    Whatever Hill's teaching them, it's working. His 205 Pitmasters teams came in 10th and 25th in dessert, 19th and 29th in beans, then picked up the pace in the proteins, grabbing a fourth and ninth in chicken, a fifth in ribs and a second in brisket.

    A competition cook for more than a decade who has a side barbecue business -- Texas Moonswiners -- to supplement his teaching income, it was validation for Hill that he chose the right path.

    "I miss Friday night lights," he said. "But I'd never give up Saturday morning fires."

    BEGINNING AT 4:30 A.M. sharp on that first Saturday in May, teams were allowed to start lighting those fires in the parking lot of Dell Diamond, home of the Triple-A Round Rock Express, named for Ryan, with his statue out front keeping watch.

    Also keeping watch: Chuck Schoenfeld, himself a former competition barbecue cook with four decades of experience, riding around in his golf cart, working the crowd and detailing his vision for the future of the competition, which he hopes can grow to 150 teams. He launched High School BBQ Inc. in 2018 in hopes of giving students a way to compete while also injecting some youth into the competition circuit.

    "Kids were always coming to the adult competitions with their parents and hanging out and wanting to cook, but you had to be 18 or older," he said. "I decided we needed to do something for the kids and build a youth cooking league."

    The magic in barbecue comes in the smoke and time -- lower temperatures with longer cooks break down the meats. Students have to tend to their fires all day, making sure they stay lit but don't get too hot. These competitions follow strict rules, just like the pros do, including guidelines for appearance and plating, and it's not easy. Nothing may be premade, including desserts.

    "Pinto beans will be started at the competition site from dry pinto beans," the rules state. "Each team must use only pinto beans and can cook with any additional ingredients they like as long as, once it goes into the turn-in cup, all ingredients are smaller than the diameter of a dime."

    And turn-in times are crucial. Desserts are due at 9 a.m. and beans at 10:30. Chicken at noon, ribs at 1:30 and brisket at 3.

    They're stressful days, beginning long before dawn. And for teams from smaller towns, the students are often involved in several other sports. Lipan, Texas, population 430, doesn't have a football team, but it is traditionally a basketball power, including both boys' and girls' teams winning state titles this year. Justin Bullock, the district's transportation director, is their barbecue coach. "Six of these kids got here about 2:30 a.m. after playing in the playoffs in baseball and softball," he said, noting they were back up an hour later to start working.

    The small groups, long rides to competitions and the sheer amount of hours watching the fire and waiting lends itself to a bond not often found in other sports.

    "These kids come together from all walks, multiple nationalities," said Sgt. Paul Beasley, an officer for the Mansfield ISD on the southern edge of Dallas-Fort Worth, who volunteers his time to coach the Phats BBQ team from Ben Barber Innovation Academy, a career and vocational school.

    "They come together and they become friends."

    Beasley, who has his own side gig, Fat Beez's BBQ, even organized a barbecue scrimmage for his squad this year, facing off against other local high schools and adult teams that cook competitively.

    Schoenfeld said the circuit helps drill in lessons, especially since the adults cannot be within 20 feet of the students at the state championship, so they have to take on all the leadership roles themselves. The coaches coach 'em up, and let 'em cook.

    "A lot of lessons they're learning, they don't realize," Schoenfield said. "Time management, teamwork, live-fire cooking."

    Each team is allowed up to five members, and generally, each person is in charge of one thing, with a point person, for example, for brisket. But once the dessert is turned in, that student then turns to help the others tend fires and slice meats, or anything else they need.

    Schools can have multiple teams qualify for state, as well. Hill said he had three students in his program in his first year in 2020. This year, he has four teams with 18 pitmasters.

    One of the most unique elements of this event is that the sheer size of the state means there are regional styles that are completely different, both from the type of seasonings they use to the type of wood they use, which in Texas varies mostly between mesquite, oak, pecan or hickory, all of which impart different tastes. Judges might prefer one over the other, so sometimes it comes down to the luck of the draw for teams.

    And unlike in other state tournaments, there are no size classifications. Hill's school draws from 18,000 students in Rockwall's school district. Last year's Grand Champion, McMullen County, has about 650-700 people in its entire county and 256 students in the district, according to McMullen's coach, Jason Jones, who also happens to be the superintendent. Located about 75 miles due south of San Antonio, it's the fourth-least-populated county in Texas.

    "You have 1A schools competing against 6As," Jones said. "But you're really not competing against everybody else. You're competing against yourself here and the palates of the judges. It's up to them. Once we hit our marks, we can walk away from here saying, 'Hey, win or lose, we did what we came to do.'"

    Each team gets a 20-by-20-foot spot, but there are no requirements for specific types of smokers, other than they have to use wood for cooking. Some of the wealthier schools have trailers. Some have standard backyard kettle grills. Some have enlisted other students for help.

    "It's crazy, we have a $1,500 smoker built in our shop by our Ag team," Hill said. "But you look around and people got $6,500 Lang smokers. They've got the Weber Summits and those things are $1,800 apiece. It just goes to show you, if you know what you're doing with the cook, and you can follow your practice schedule, follow your cook schedule, it's easy. You can do it on anything."

    Each entry is judged by appearance, taste and texture. Judges are handed a Styrofoam box with no identifying information, and are told not to compare each bite, only to rank them on their individual merit on a ranking of 1 to 10.

    "Take one bite, I don't care what your bite is," said Marnie Schoenfeld, Chuck's wife, who oversaw the judging. "If you can get it in your mouth, that's your bite."

    By late in the afternoon, hundreds of students, their parents and families filed into the seats inside the stadium and waited for the results.

    With 92 teams, placing in the top 30 -- the number of winners that were announced in each category -- was a feat. Weary competitors who'd been working for 12 hours and still had long drives ahead of them eagerly awaited the results alongside parents, grandparents and teachers. One mom shed tears of joy for her son's 12th-place finish in beans. Everyone asked the Pirate Pitmasters dessert champ what he made (it was a barbecue joint classic, a no-bake banana pudding).

    The bragging rights are nice. But this is a true vocational skill that can lead to a career in a hurry, or at least make someone the most popular person in their office.

    "You put it on applications, because anybody in Texas -- regardless of whether you have the qualifications -- if they see you were on the high school barbecue team, they're gonna bring you in just to find out what that was all about," Hill said.

    Beasley has already seen Hill's theory in action after his team was named the reserve champion, the second-place finisher.

    "One of my kids already updated his résumé," Beasley said. "He got a job at a restaurant because he came in No. 2 in the state of Texas in barbecue."

    THIS IS ONE school activity where family and friends don't mind sitting through practice.

    "We live in Texas," said Jaylen Dinger, a student from Hudson High School in Lufkin. "Any family reunion or anything, barbecue is always gonna be needed."

    The sheer amount of time required for cooking things like brisket means a lot of trial and error is done at home. Freshman Laci Cumpian of the Poteet High School Sizzling Strawberries said she was so upset she finished eighth in a regional competition that she went straight home and asked her parents to buy her a new rack of ribs to practice.

    "My dad's buying the same smoker we use," she said. "So I'm going to be making ribs like every weekend."

    Dinger's teammate Anna Wheeler from East Texas said she has been able to put her skills to use on family vacations.

    "We went to Alaska last year during the summer and my family made me cook beans for them," she said. And why wouldn't they? Wheeler's beans took fifth in the state.

    Beyond the ability to win friends and influence people with beans, the competition circuit can be incredibly valuable for students. Grand Champion teammates each get $1,500 scholarships from Texas HS BBQ Inc. and $5,000 each from the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Second place earns $1,000/$3,000. Regional competitions offer similar prizes, and students who participate for multiple years can enter college or culinary school with a substantial head start.

    Most teams cater events on their campus, like the football banquet or community events that allow them to earn money to travel to competitions, buy meat or wood, or equipment. Beasley's team annually caters the police department luncheon and is allowed to use the school culinary department's on-campus bistro once a year as a barbecue restaurant.

    "We opened at 11 [a.m.], and by 1:45 [p.m.], we were sold out," Beasley said. "To see kids cook like this? At this age? That's an incredible life skill."

    Hill said he recently got approval to buy a new trophy case for his school, where the BBQ team's accomplishments will be prominently featured at the front of the school. Bullock said Lipan's trophies have also outgrown his office, and they're building a case that will go alongside the school's hoops' shrine.

    The top three teams win Texas-sized belt buckles, and McMullen County team members, last year's champs, were sporting barbecue state championship rings featuring a spatula and tongs on the side.

    For Vaughn, it's all befitting of a growing sport that provides a valuable service for Texans.

    "Think of a high school sport: a football player, baseball player or whatnot," he said. "Chances are they're not going to do that professionally. There's a much greater chance that's going to happen from a barbecue standpoint. For me, having a bunch of teenagers who are ready to jump into working at a barbecue joint, I see that as a big plus. You're creating the next crop of pitmasters."

     

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    • Like 3
  10. Hot Pockets...serious business.

    Kentucky man accused of shooting roommate for eating last Hot Pocket

    Quote

    A Kentucky man accused of shooting his roommate who ate the last Hot Pocket has been charged with felony assault.

    The roommate, who has not been named, sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the weekend shooting, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department.

    Clifton Williams, 64, was arrested early Sunday and charged with second-degree assault, police said. On Monday, he pleaded not guilty, according to NBC News affiliate WAVE of Louisville.

    An attorney for Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    According to a police citation, the two roommates had a physical fight over the frozen sandwich.

    "Mr. Williams got mad he ate the last Hot Pocket," it states, and allegedly "began throwing tiles at him."

    The victim "attempted to" fight back and threatened Williams, but he left, the document states.

    Williams got a gun and followed the roommate outside, where he shot him in the buttocks, the police document said.

    Williams is scheduled to be back in court May 30 for a preliminary hearing.

    Under Kentucky law, a person convicted of second-degree assault conviction can be sentenced to five to 10 years in prison.

    The state defines a second-degree assault convict as someone who "intentionally causes physical injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument" 

     

    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
  11. Figure this probably belongs in this thread.

    Rick Hoyt passes away

    Quote
    Rick Hoyt, the man who was pushed in a wheelchair by his father in 32 Boston Marathon races, died Monday morning.

    Hoyt, 61, died due to complications with his respiratory system, according to a family statement posted on The Hoyt Foundation’s Facebook.

    “It is with profound sadness that the Hoyt Family announce the passing of our beloved brother and uncle, Rick Hoyt this morning,” the Hoyt family said in a statement Monday. “As so many knew, Rick along with our father, Dick, were icons in the road race and triathlon worlds for over 40 years and inspired millions of people with disabilities to believe in themselves, set goals and accomplish extraordinary things.”

    Rick, who had cerebral palsy that left him a quadriplegic, and his father, Dick, who passed away in March 2021, ran their first Boston Marathon in 1980 with a custom racing chair for Rick, according to the Boston Athletic Association and became fixtures in the race until their last as a team in 2014.

    The father and son began running in races in 1977 when Rick told his dad he wanted to participate in a 5-mile race to benefit a lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident, according to the Hoyt Foundation’s website.

    Though he could not talk, Hoyt learned when he was 12 years old how to use his head and buttons mounted on his chair to type out sentences.

    “I wanted to show this person that life goes on and he could still lead a productive life,” Hoyt told HBO’s “Real Sports” correspondent Mary Carillo in 2005. He said he told his father they had to run in the race.

    They completed the 5-mile event with his father pushing his chair, finishing next to last.

    Hoyt told his father that when they were running it felt like his disability disappeared, Dick Hoyt told “Real Sports.”

    Rick Hoyt was a 36-time Boston Marathon finisher, according to the marathon race organizers.

    “Rick Hoyt will always be remembered as a Boston Marathon icon and for personifying the ‘Yes You Can’ mentality that defined Team Hoyt,” the Boston Athletic Association said in a statement. “We are fortunate to have been able to call Rick a friend, mentor, pioneer, and Boston Marathon finisher.”

    The father-son duo completed more than 1,000 marathons, duathlons and triathlons, according to the Team Hoyt website.

    There is a statue honoring the pair in Hopkington, Massachusetts, near where the marathon starts each April.

    A “Yes You Can” race is planned for this Saturday in Hopkintonin honor of Dick, but the family says they will make a decision at a later date whether it will be postponed.

     

    • Hook 'Em 4
  12. On 5/10/2023 at 8:42 AM, horn4life said:

    I mainly picked Mi Mexico because of the solid reviews Taqueria Mi Mexico because there gas station next to it is closed and is a perfect place for me to pull off and hop right back on the road when pulling our Travel Trailer.  Still jonesing for those homemade tortillas.

    Actually this taco talk this reminds me of a conversation I had with a DPS trooper I became friendly with after Harvey.  I was helping a buddy with severe back issues, let contractors into his place to give repair bids on the Harvey flood damage.  I was about the only guy fishing on the beach in Port A, and twice the trooper came up and I happened to hook up was he drove up.  We became friendly and he told me a funny story about he and his wife's retirement plans.  His plan was to tape a tortilla onto their truck's antenna and drive north.  When somebody stopped him and asked what that thing was taped to his antenna, they would stop, put down roots and open a taco shack!  Pretty funny and nice guy, hope he is doing well.

    Taco de Oro has room for trailers.  There is a detail shop or something like that next door with plenty of room in front.  I see guys with boat trailers there all the time.

    Taqueria Mi Mexico is also a solid place.  It is the old Aransas Pass Whataburger location.  I think it is some sort of state law that all Whataburger buildings must be converted to taquerias when vacated by Whataburger.

    • Haha 1
  13. On 5/4/2023 at 2:33 PM, horn4life said:

    One new place I discovered was Taqueria Mi Mexico in Aransas Pass on the way back if you take the ferry.  Called them as we boarded the ferry and picked them up on way out.  Homemade tortillas were the bomb for breakfast tacos. Was starting to get a lunch push at 11 am on a Monday so I am assuming the food beyond the breakfast tacos is solid as well, but mainly good for timing with a fast pit stop coming off the ferry.

    Try Taco de Oro on Commercial Street the next time you are driving through Aransas Pass.  Mostly a drive-through operation, though there is inside seating.  In the morning on Friday through Sunday the line for the drive through backs out onto the street but it moves along sufficiently.  Good breakfast tacos.

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