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fuggled

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Everything posted by fuggled

  1. "I demand you teach me only the things I want to learn and then give me my certificate that says I deserve an Ivy League education, damnit" [emoji24] Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  2. I grew up in the Midwest and there are a number of things my half-Mexican wife from New Braunfels was disturbed by. Early in our marriage, nearly 15 years ago, I got sick with flu or strep or something. My wife asked what comfort food I wanted. I told her to call my mom and get the recipe for soup casserole. After a WTF? look, she did. It's basically a shortcut shepherd's pie. Browned ground beef mixed with Campbell's alphabet soup and some canned vegetables ( usually green beans). Then it all goes in a casserole, gets covered with mashed potatoes and baked. It really is phenomenal. Wife and kids all love it and it's in it regular rotation. Another one from mom is salmon lasagna. Just a basic lasagna recipe but with canned salmon instead of meat. Sounds gross, but the salmon with red sauce is really good. My wife had to admit this one was good too. Then there are a couple from my grandparents. A holiday tradition is braised red cabbage (cabbage, bacon, onion, apples, vinegar). My grandfather would also make braunschweiger spread by just mixing braunschweiger with chili sauce until it was a smooth spread/dip. Kids love that one too. And the cottage cheese comment above reminded me, mom got me in the habit of putting a spoonful of cottage cheese alongside a plate of spaghetti. Not all the time, but if we remember. That's another one my wife came around to. Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  3. The one thing I learned today: I need a better umbrella for smoking through a tornado watch. Ribs were good though.
  4. Can someone explain how enforcement of this actually works? Based on that Texas Tribune article, there won't really be any enforcement by the state. There are no criminal penalties. The only enforcement is via allowing people to sue abortion providers? Are we going to have private companies start popping up whose business model is to find women getting abortions and then sue the doctors, nurses and counselors?
  5. Just end public schools, duh.
  6. Are you saying we're already at the point that businesses should assume everyone is vaccinated? I mean, we have data that says less than 40% of Texans have gotten at least one shot. To me, we're clearly in the range of "best to assume people aren't vaccinated." I don't know that there's a magic number. For me, it might be reasonable to start assuming everyone is vaccinated once we're in the 70-90% range.
  7. Pretty sure it's the one about DHS being forced to buy Kamala Harris's book for migrant children. Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  8. Not if states like Arkansas get their way and restrict gender affirming healthcare for trans children. NPR covered this in a lot of depth yesterday https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/gender-affirming-healthcare/. Puberty blockers would delay puberty so that families have time to make an informed decision before the child gets hit with hormones that drive permanent physiological changes. These blockers aren't permanent and they're not hormone treatments. But they are banned under the Arkansas law. It just shows how uninformed and misguided some of these attempts at legislating really are.
  9. I don't think it's as sinister as you're making it out to be. The reports immediately after the shooting were based on statements from the girl's family that she had already dropped the knife. The video showing differently wasn't released until later. Maybe the media shouldn't have included those elements in the stories until they could verify with video. But that's different than claiming the media saw one thing in the video and decided to publish the opposite (i.e. lies). Like @Nice Guy Eddie said, this is more a problem of the media racing to get something out to get clicks than it is a problem of active distortion. At least in this case.
  10. Last night I saw reporting that the dead girl is the one who called the police because she felt threatened at her house. Has anyone seen that confirmed? Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  11. For sure. I was working with a neighborhood roofed in Dallas who started acting sketchy. @ROFL BOX swooped in from Dripping Springs to help get us sorted out. Since the house is 60 years old, he was really helpful in pointing out things he could upgrade for us at no added cost. The trickiest bit was our chimney that he mentioned. The chimney is along the edge of the roof and had been broken (bricks knocked out) and was capped in a half-assed way. The previous roofer didn't offer any advice on it. Box explained the right way to route water around it coming down the roof. Then he suggested how we could just take it down and deck over it. Turned out to be a really great solution and he did it without increasing our cost. I definitely recommend Box as someone who is thorough and takes the time to think about all the options for you.
  12. See my post up above. We really enjoyed hiking the to Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff. Santa Elena is also cool to check out. Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  13. I assume you're asking about this in good faith and I'll take a stab at explaining it. Today, the Georgia Secretary of State has a lot of authority over elections and it is a statewide elected position. So, if 51% of Georgians elect a Democrat to that position, the Democrats have a lot of control over how elections are run. Under this new law, much of that authority is removed from the Secretary of State and given to an appointed board. The board is appointed by the state legislature. The problem is that (just like in Texas) the voting districts are gerrymandered. So, if Republicans may have only gotten 45% of the vote in the statewide election for Secretary of State, they can still control the legislature. This allows the minority party to appoint the people who will control elections. You're right that demographics are changing in the state. This is a stop gap measure by the GOP to retain control even as they lose their statewide majority.
  14. We're rolling in the Honda Oddity. Lots of room, but we're not getting up any 4WD trails. Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  15. Username definitely checks out. Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  16. Like I said, generations are established based on defining events. I agree that Gen Z is going to be a pretty big and diverse group. But, I don't think any event has been identified yet to mark the end of that group. Maybe the 2008 financial crash should, that would make sense to me. I would think we'd know by now if that was the case though. And also, this isn't my logic. Read up on the link I provided. Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  17. Your dates are off, in my opinion. It's going to come down to how these kids remember Covid. What we're really talking about right now is defining the end of Gen Z. Gen Z are those who don't remember 9/11, but do remember Covid. Millenials were old enough to experience and remember 9/11. If Gen C is a new generation, it's going to be the generation that doesn't remember experiencing Covid. For them, it will be a historical event that shaped their world but not a first hand experience they remember. What's interesting is that Covid impacted really young kids (very different from 9/11 which kids were probably shielded from). So, my first grader who turned 6 last year (born 2014) will be part of Gen Z. Will a kid born in 2016 remember that experience in a similar way? Maybe, because it surely impacted them. The line between Gen X and Millenials is blurry, because there wasn't a huge event like Vietnam or 9/11 to mark it. The best approximation is the Challenger disaster. Like Covid, the Challenger resonated with really young kids because they watched it in school. The other thing is that we can't predict yet when this new Gen C will end. Maybe it will span 10-12 years like Gen X and Millenials. Boomers and Gen Z are both closer to 20 years in duration. We can't mark the end of Gen C until we get there. https://jasondorsey.com/about-generations/generations-birth-years/
  18. You mean by testing? Nope. You better have those scientists reach out to @GRHorn so he can explain that they're a bunch of dumbasses.
  19. We booked a couple of places through here: https://www.bigbendvacations.com They have a lot of properties and it avoids some of the AirBnB fees. We stayed at one of their Fossil Knob properties. It was quiet, good views. Downside was the road up is rough, the water is limited and the bathroom/shower is tiny. Still liked it. Our favorite place from there was this one: https://www.bigbendvacations.com/terliguasky . Easy to get to, full kitchen, nice baths, etc. It's bigger than you need if you only have 2 people. Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  20. Great suggestions, thanks. Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
  21. Yeah, been there before but never stayed longer than grabbing lunch at a brewery. Any specific recs?
  22. I've been meaning to write this up for a while but never got around to it. Our family did a two week trip back around Halloween. We spent the first week working/schooling remotely from Alpine. Alpine was convenient to have a house for cooking/schooling with the kids and worked great to go exploring in the afternoon. I really wasn't sure what to expect from Alpine, but we ended up having a nice time there. The second week was down in Terlingua with a lot of time in the park. It was our first time down in the area and it really was amazing. Here's a rundown on the itinerary: Day 1 (Sunday 10/25) - Drove from Dallas to Alpine, stopping at Monahans Sandhills State Park for lunch along the way. Heads up, that place is sandy. Glad we stopped, but the kids were wrecked after a couple hours. Day 2 - This is when the cold front blew in before Halloween. It was down in the 20s in Alpine. Did school and work at home most of the day. In the afternoon we hiked Hancock Hill behind Sul Ross State. Nice hike, couldn't see anything through the fog but the kids enjoyed finding the bikes and the desk up there. Day 3 - Everything in Alpine was iced over, so mostly we stayed put. The wife and kids explored the neighborhood and found a bunch of frozen cacti. We did make a trip to the Museum of the Big Bend, and I was really impressed with it. Lots of cool maps there and a collection of western art. We could have spent a lot more time exploring if my 6 year old wasn't losing his shit. Day 4 - The sun came out and everything thawed. After school, we headed over to Marfa for the afternoon. Because it was the middle of the week and the middle of the pandemic, a lot of stuff was shut down. We still got to explore El Paisano and a few shops. I guess Marfa is the county seat, but it was a little eerie to see the town square shut down with the national guard giving Covid tests. Felt like we walked into a zombie movie. I didn't realize the Prada is 30 minutes outside of town, but we drove out anyway. Not sure that was worth it. We took the scenic route up past the Davis Mountains on our way back to Alpine. Day 5 - Not sure what we did. I was drinking or lost. Took the kids to the local park, I think. Day 6 - We played hooky. Spent the morning at McDonald Observatory. We got passes to explore the grounds, but couldn't do much. Most of the exhibits in the visitor center were blocked off. None of the telescopes were accessible. Still, it was cool to look around and there was a docent to give us some insight into the place. We grabbed lunch at the Fort David Drugstore and then explored the Ft. Davis National Historic Site. Very cool place given how much of the fort they've been able to preserve. The hike through the hills behind the fort was great. Everyone died of dysentery. Day 7 (Saturday 10/31 - Halloween) - Took off from Alpine, grabbed food at Company Grocer in Marathon to have for lunch and then headed into Big Bend. First stop was at the Fossil Discovery Exhibit. Very cool open-air exhibit showing where fossils were discovered and recovered (by a Texas grad student). Then we headed over to Rio Grande Village and found a picnic spot at Daniels Ranch. After lunch, we hiked the Boquillas Canyon. Honestly, the trail was a bit of a mess from all the horse the locals had run across the river. Still, the kids liked exploring along the Rio Grande. The border crossing was closed, so that wasn't on our agenda. After that, we swung up to Chisos Basin just to orient ourselves. Took a minute to chat with the rangers and look out towards The Window, before heading down to find our first rental in Terlingua. Our place was up the hill behind the Starlight, a road not met to be driven. This was a pretty cool shipping container house with a great view southwest to the border. Before dinner, the kids scrambled down the hill behind the house and came back with piles of fossils. Day 8 - This is the day we explore down Ross Maxwell. Hiked the Upper Burro Mesa Pouroff in the morning. This was one of my favorite hikes. You start through the desert and the drop down into a ravine. It doesn't have the vistas of the mountains, but walking through the ravine and staring up at the walls was really cool. The dropoff at the end was impressive. Hiked into Santa Elena Canyon in the afternoon and the kids took a quick dip in the water once we reached the end. Day 9 - (Monday 11/2) Holy shit, school is cancelled today and tomorrow because our school is a polling place. We totally missed this when we were planning, so suddenly we had a 2 full extra days to explore. Headed out early today to get a parking spot at Lost Mine. Great hike. The kids really enjoyed this one. Great views. In the evening we headed down to the ghost town cemetery for the Dia De Los Muertos celebration. Bought some candles from the preservation society to place on the graves. Cool experience. Day 10 - (Tuesday 11/3) We took a short rafting trip in the morning and then drove along the river, stopped for lunch and hiked Closed Canyon. It was similar to Burro Mesa, but not nearly as impressive. On the way back to Terlingua we stopped in Lajitas for break and saw Clay Henry. That night we checked into a tipi at Basecamp Terlingua. I sat by the fire by myself with a couple bottles while I watched election results on my phone. Day 11 - School was back on and wifi at the tipi wasn't the best. We made it work. This was a low key day. We had lunch at DB's Rustic Iron BBQ, which was really good (way better than I expected). Day 12 - This was a bit of a weird day because of school. Kids did zoom calls first thing in the morning, then we had to check out of the tipi. Then we headed up to Chisos Basin for lunch and to borrow the wifi so my daughter could take a test on Zoom. After lunch we hiked around Sam Neil Ranch, which I enjoyed. Pretty cool seeing the types of trees tucked into the corners of the desert. Then we headed to our final rental, an off-grid house up the hill from Basecamp. Day 13 - Another low key school day. And finally a chance to do some laundry. In the evening, we wandered over to a private ranch owned by some friends and enjoyed the sunset. Day 14 - Last day to visit the park. We headed over to Balanced Rock in the morning. I thought this hike was just ok, but the kids really liked it. We had lunch in Chisos Basin and were going to hike The Window, but my daughter turned her ankle. So we called it a day. Stopped at Many Stones (the rock shop) on the way out of the park. The owner's trying to sell, if the Surly 1% is interested. Day 15 - Long drive back to Dallas. I left feeling like there was a lot more we could have crammed in, but felt pretty satisfied with this trip. I've also put off planning a trip down there, because the logistics of cramming something in during the school year never seemed to make sense. It was really the flexibility from Covid that gave us a chance to get down there. I also can't believe we didn't notice the long weekend for the election. I'm marking my calendar for Election 2024 as another vacation (and it's actually the perfect time for Big Bend). Thanks to those that offered advice here!
  23. Thanks for the replies. We'll be driving to the park from Dallas, so probably get there late in the day and camp that first night. Then have a full day in and around the park and camp the next night. Then we'd likely head out early the next morning. So really only one day exploring the park. Still seem like too much?
  24. I'm looking for any recommendations for a Colorado road trip in early August. Schedule is flexible, but I'm thinking something like 10-14 days. We'll be driving up from Dallas (me, wife, kids 6 & 10) and rough plan is to take a loop through the south part of the state to hit the national parks. Rough idea is something like this: 2 nights: Great Sand Dunes (maybe Durango or Pagosa Springs)? 2 nights: Mesa Verde 2-3 nights: Telluride or Silverton/Ouray - not sure which route to take 2 nights: Black Canyon Then either east to Poncha Springs/Buena Vista or back south through Telluride or Ouray We'll do a mix of car camping and hotels/rentals. Probably camping at Great Sand Dunes and Black Canyon and staying at the lodge in Mesa Verde. Everything else is up in the air and there are plenty of gaps to fill in. Kids will be happy if they get to spend most of that time in water, whether that's alpine lakes, mountain streams or hot springs. We'll also plan on a lot of hiking. Maybe rafting, maybe fishing. Jeeping/ATVs aren't really our thing. What you got?
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