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HouTex

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Everything posted by HouTex

  1. Snowmass snow stake from moments ago.
  2. Uh, no. My reply (albeit short and sweet) to Armybrat was about one thing—whether Iran is funding Hamas. That money (obviously) is fungible goes to the heart of it. Nothing political about that. Nice try, though. If there’s a discussion about whether the US or the world should do something about Iran’s role in this then that would be political. I avoid the political discussions in Surly like the plague and I won’t engage in that discussion. And by the way, apologies in advance if I missed them, but I didn’t see your “CR is ——> way” remark to the 20+ smarmy posts about neocons and other right wingers in this thread. Those posts are as political as it gets.
  3. A discussion about whether Iran is in fact funding Hamas is political?
  4. I almost always walk. But a few times this summer I rode a cart when the Houston humidity was too high. Luckily, the hottest days in Houston this summer saw unusually low humidity so walking was ok during the late afternoon. Per my GPS watch, I average around 5.5 miles for 18 holes.
  5. Great time for golf in SE Texas. The rain last week in Houston has local courses in great shape.
  6. This. While the 1965 Battle of the Bulge film was not accurate in many ways, there was a good scene where Robert Shaw’s character presents a cake that was captured from a US enlisted soldier that he received from home as evidence that the war essentially lost barring some military miracle.
  7. Similar experience here. Roundup Spring 1980 as a senior in HS sealed it for me. I wasn’t provisional but i went to summer school before my first fall semester just to escape my small town and it was one of the best summers of my life. One of my daughters got into UT on an appeal in 2010-not sure if they do that anymore. Her back up was Georgia. We didn’t even try UT with my second daughter.
  8. This. During the hottest days this summer the afternoon humidity in Houston often was in the 28-32% range. That’s low for Houston. Afternoon golf at 100+ degrees was much more bearable than a morning tee time in the low 90’s with much higher humidity.
  9. A good friend of mine will only use a sugar cube. And while I like a rye OF, he makes his with Weller SR and they don’t suck.
  10. Ok. Still, for me, it’s just as easy to throw in a half teaspoon of sugar in an OF glass and mix it with the bitters and a splash of water until it’s well blended. I’d have to experiment with unheated SS to get the sweetness just right for my taste.
  11. Aspen Highlands screen shot from a few moments ago. First decent snow fall of the season that didn’t quickly melt.
  12. On the smoked OFs, I’ve tried them a few times and I’m not a fan. Maybe they weren’t done well, but they all tasted like my OF was poured into a half full ashtray and then served.
  13. I’m also mostly drinking OFs and Manhattans. But I don’t use simple syrup. I believe heating the sugar does something to the sweetness. I use plain white cane sugar and about half of the amount usually called for. I make sure it is mixed well with the bitters and a splash of water so there’s no unmixed sugar in the finished cocktail. As for Manhattans, I found Vya sweet vermouth from Californiaand I believe it’s a game changer. I also will make a Sazarac once in a while. Done right, two of those will set you free.
  14. Went to the SMU game this past Saturday. Fun time. The Boulevard pregame tailgate thing is a great idea. I randomly saw some UT friends I haven’t seen in 25+ years that live in Dallas. I really like the smaller crowd. And damn, I’ve probably never seen so many attractive 40–60 year old women in one place.
  15. And then Amazon can deliver my order in one day. Weird how that works.
  16. He was very good in Gosford Park. He played the rich industrialist that often got his female factory workers pregnant. Couldn’t shoot a shotgun to save his life.
  17. Yes and it’s usually easy to spot someone giving a lesson. They stand out like a sore thumb. If the bootleg instructor is a stranger to the resort perhaps you can say he’s your uncle. But these days they can scan the lift card and get a quick identification.
  18. Would need more information for answer this. I don't think B can force A to probate a will. B can file a probate action in probate court as if there's no will. B would serve A with the action and then A would need to come forward with the will or else the estate will pass as if there's no will--everything would go 50-50 to A and B--assuming no other siblings or a surviving spouse. Does the purported will provide for a treatment other than a 50-50 split of everything between A and B? If A takes the position that he/she gets everything under the will and proceeds accordingly without probate (not sure that's even possible), and if B does not agree then B should file a probate action as if there's no will in order to get A to produce the will. It would be far better for A and B to work together and try to avoid probate all together. And some of the assets are likely not subject to probate and there may be a simplified way to get the house and other assets in A and B's name other than probating the estate. The life insurance and possibly the bank account will pass to the beneficiaries, or, in case of the bank account to the JOWOS, if there is one. As for creditors, the executor or court appointed administrator would have to perform some amount of diligence to identify creditors and serve them with a notice to file a claim. A or B should probably do that anyway and try to settle with creditors unless, and I don't know the answer to this, the assets in the estate are exempt from creditors' claims. I've never looked at it, but if there's no surviving spouse with a right in a homestead, I suspect that a decedent's residual estate property is always subject to creditors' claims.
  19. Excellent point. I think it's hard to prove either way, but the co-morbidity issue suggests, at least to me, that the Covid death numbers are over-reported.
  20. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/united-states-rates-of-covid-19-deaths-by-vaccination-status Interesting statistics from Our World in Data. The link is to the weekly death rates in the US by unvaccinated, vaccinated but without the bivalent booster and vaccinated with the bivalent booster. The most recent week is the week of April 1, 2023. Interestingly, for the most recently reported weeks, by a tiny amount, those boosted with the bivalent booster had a slightly higher mortality rate than those vaccinated but without the bivalent booster (.14 vs. .17 per 100,000 for the week of April 1, 2023). Note that for February and March 2023 the mortality rates between those boosted with the bivalent booster and not boosted with the bivalent booster are very close and they go back and forth. The unvaccinated mortality rate was .61 per 100,000 for the week of April 1. So, for the week of April 1, 2023, the unvaccinated were 3.5x more likely to die than those vaccinated and boosted with the bivalent booster and 4.3x more likely to die than those vaccinated and not boosted with the bivalent booster. I have several takeaways from this data. First, even for the unvaccinated, the recent Covid strains are not particularly dangerous to otherwise healthy people and the death rate is extraordinarily low for those vaccinated. I have seen nothing that changes what we've always known about Covid and co-morbidity. Some will think I'm callous, but my view is that we are all going to die--humans have a 100% mortality rate. So what should I fear? Let's look at the other causes of death. CDC's most recent cancer numbers show 146.2 deaths per 100,000 for 2019 (or 2.81 per week assuming even distribution of deaths). For heart disease, it's 161.5 per 100,000 for 2019 (or 3.10 per week). Comparing the numbers for the week of April 1 for Covid to the most recent cancer and heart disease deaths, I'm 20x more likely to die in a given week from cancer than Covid and I'm 22x more likely to die from heart disease than Covid. And that's for the population at large. I'm 61--some would say I'm getting close to a risk factor--but I'm in very good health (I exercise every day, eat fairly well, and I'm not overweight). I suspect my Covid death risk (being vaccinated and boosted once) is far less than .14 per 100,000. I don't lose much sleep worrying about dying of cancer or heart disease and I damn sure don't worry about Covid--especially after (1) being fully vaccinated and boosted once, (2) getting it in June 2022, (3) being exposed multiple times this summer during the recent spike in cases, and (4) observing the current hospitalization rates in SE Texas during the current spike of cases. We all have our own concerns and risk tolerances and fears of the unknown and unknowable. Some will look at this data and say it supports their decision to get booster number 7+. That's OK by me. I'm also OK with someone who is otherwise healthy who decides to avoid more shots. Now if you are obese or have a significant risk factor then you should consider staying boosted. BTW, I didn't know much about OWID. It appears to be funded, in part, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It purports to be non-partisan and merely data-focused.
  21. LOL. I had shingles several years ago before Shingrix was approved. I wasn’t eligible for the earlier vaccine which wasn’t very effective in any event. As soon as Shingrix was approved I got both shots. They kicked my ass—fever and body aches for about 36 hours after each one. Still, it was worth it. Shingles can really fuck you up.
  22. And they are different shots. If they get the seasonal flu strain right it’s very effective. I’m also listening to my doctor. That might cause some of you heartburn (get another doctor!!!).
  23. I don’t really believe the two Pfizer shots in early 2021 and the November 2021 booster really helped much. I got Covid seven months after the last booster. And my symptoms were similar to the vast majority of people with Covid—very light.
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