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wild_turkey

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Posts posted by wild_turkey

  1. the fumble he tried to hard, and it didn’t cost us anything.
    first INT was all on QE.


    I do not blame Quinn specifically for this loss, but I don’t see how you can say the fumble didn’t cost us anything. We lost by 4 points so every stalled drive or turnover cost us everything, regardless of who or why the turnover happened.

    The first pick was definitely on Quinn and set the tone early in the game. The second pick was not on Quinn.

    Completion percentage is great, but wins are better. Gabriel went 23-38 and took home the Golden Hat and a 6-0 record.
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  2. Watched the first episode and agree that I don't particularly love any teams or hate any teams. Won't miss the brother and sister combo and there was definitely something weird about their relationship.

    The deaf dad and son seem cool. The black guy brothers seem cool. Texan dad and daughter are alright.

    A few of the teams seem to lack much of a competitive drive, which is kind of boring to include teams like that because it's like the SEC scheduling cupcakes like App State. I'd prefer a season stacked with good teams.

    I like that they are back to flying commercial, but it seems like TAR has pre-booked 2-3 flights and teams will just fill those flights in order of airport arrival. I really liked the old days when teams could book any flights they choose, either at a travel agent or at the airport, and watching them take gambles on close connections that could either pay off big or be disastrous. That was good stuff, but I think the complicated logistics of air travel will prevent that from ever being part of the show again.

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  3. I ate at Tre Mogli a couple of times. Food was decent and I’m particular about Italian food. What I didn’t like is that their tables were awkwardly long for 2 people. I realize that’s an odd criticism, which kinda shows how bizarre the situation was, but it makes conversation awkward throughout dinner, and it was enough of a reason for me to not go back. So I won’t miss them.

  4. Felipe Armenta has had great success with his other restaurants - Pacific Table, Press Cafe, Tavern, Maria’s, and Le Margot. He seems to have a magic touch, but those places mostly combine a good ambiance with a somewhat upscale menu, and no one looks for that in BBQ. It’s hard to envision F1 Smokehouse having similar success for him.

  5. We took our kiddo to her first Longhorn game this weekend. We retreated to the alumni center for a little bit in the first half, but we spent the second half in the stadium and stayed for The Eyes. She enjoyed most of it, having plenty of new things to look at and being the center of attention for a lot of nearby fans. Whether she eventually goes to UT or chooses a different path, it was a special moment for us.

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  6. we do have quite a bit of plastic recycling but we are trying really hard to buy aluminum, paper and glass in lieu of plastic where we can. you can get better at it, but it's still really hard. 


    Honest question - do we know for sure that aluminum and glass are significantly better? Just for simplicity, if you are choosing between a Coke in a plastic bottle and a Coke in a can, is the can actually a “good” choice from an environmental standpoint, or merely a “less bad” choice? What is the actual impact of that can, both from a manufacturing standpoint and a recycling/disposal standpoint?

    I have a lot of plastic guilt, which definitely influences my purchasing habits, but like you said, it’s impossible to completely get away from it. I also struggle with knowing if my alternative purchasing options are truly better, and it seems like industry wants to make this intentionally confusing, or completely distract consumers from the topic.
  7. I think it's like $800 or something.  Yeah I had her check on that with the travel agency.  Apparently, she could get a credit for personal travel.  So maybe that is the best way to go and not worth fighting it.  Still doesn't seem right to me though.

    It doesn’t seem right at all. If she can keep the $800 for personal use, that’s probably easier than fighting it

    Agree with letting her coworkers know the situation before she leaves so that everyone knows what kind of company they are dealing with.
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  8. So economically does it make sense to invest in the area?  Obviously, this depends on the cost of the improvements, but losing 82 billion in GDP sure isn't great. 


    In a worst case scenario, if New Orleans became completely uninhabitable and lost, that 82 billion wouldn’t vaporize or go to China. American citizens would still spend most of it on vacations and long weekends to other domestic locations.
  9. They board faster. The flights are faster. The people are happier. The prices are better if you plan ahead far enough. They go into less crowded airports. They have a lot of flights per day. They have a lot of direct flights. They don’t have bullshit like carry on fees, baggage fees, ticket use by dates, etc. They’ll provide service with integrity - not withstanding the computer eff ups. They are nothing like Spirit. 


    Board faster compared to which other airline? Faster flights compared to which airline? Happier people? Direct flights? Cheaper prices?!?

    If your comparison is Spirit or Frontier, that’s a pretty low bar. Also, I rarely see better prices or more direct routes on SWA, but I live in DFW so AA can almost always beat them.

    The seating on SWA is a complete joke. It’s hard to believe that is still a thing in 2023 but their computers are too old to understand assigned seating.

    I understand the smaller airports for people who care about that, but that’s a vote in favor of an airport and not the actual airline. That’s settling for a subpar airline because you want the airport.

    SWA is basically Spirit with better branding.
  10. Has anyone watched Invasion season 2? I remember the first season being underwhelming but can’t remember specifics. I think it was generalized stupidity of the various main characters.

    The ratings for season 2 look a little better, judging by IMDB episode guide and RT.

  11. My daughter tested yesterday for mono.  I've never had it and nobody I knew growing up had it. 


    Probably a lot more people have had it than you realize, but it just gets written off as a bad cold because they don’t have the prolonged symptoms. It’s most commonly caused by EBV which infects over 90% of people, and about 25% of people infected get actual mono.

    Pretty sure I had it sophomore year at UT because I had a flu-like illness that lasted about a week during spring finals (not flu season) and I rarely get sick otherwise. I remember feeling like shit in WEL 2.224 trying to take a chemistry final.

    Hope your kid gets to feeling better quickly.
  12. So, recently got back from Sardegna/Sardinia and overall loved it. Thanks to sidis for the planning advice. We flew DFW to Paris, stayed one night there, had a nice dinner at Frenchie, then a short flight the following day from Paris to Olbia (Costa Smeralda).

    For the first 2 nights, we drove from Olbia over to Alghero, about a 2 hour drive but mostly scenic and easy. The hotel we picked for Alghero was not great. Bare minimum amenities and an extremely hard bed, even by Euro standards. We picked it last minute when options were slim, so perhaps it was the best thing remaining, but at least it was only 2 nights.

    There is some cool stuff near Alghero, and the old town of Alghero is a medieval city now filled with restaurants and shops, similar to Dubrovnik or Bonifacio. We enjoyed walking around there and we had an excellent dinner at a place called La Saletta that we thought was deserving of a Michelin star.

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    We also visited a tiny little beach called Dragunara, where apparently there was an unwritten rule that bikini tops were prohibited, and the little cafe served good casual Italian fare. Nice place to sit and drink Ichnusa and Vermentino, go snorkeling, and let the wife even out her tan lines.

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    We hit a small rough patch after that. As we made the drive back to the east side of the island, we made plans to visit Spiaggia La Pelosa which looks incredible in pictures. Had to purchase tickets in advance because they cap the number of daily visitors. On that day, the weather turned cooler and it became extremely windy, so the beach was not great. We snapped a couple of pics and then left.

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    We drove on to Castelsardo which was described as being similar to Positano. Long drive to get there, and to put it politely, we did not feel that comparison is fair to Positano. So we left. Spent a lot of time in the car that day with bad weather. Kind of the low point.

    Things greatly improved from that point onward. Second hotel was fantastic - Sulia House Porto Rotondo. Part of the Hilton Curio collection which gave us pause because we normally avoid chain hotels, but this was a really great boutique hotel with great staff, a bar, spa, gym, pool, etc. Nice rooms, comfy beds, and good views.

    Beaches on the east side of the island are plentiful, water is beautiful, calm, turquoise and clear. This was the view from Spiaggia Dottore, but the coastline is covered in similar spots. Some have no facilities so pack your own stuff, others have beach clubs and bars/cafes.

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    The highlight for me was the day we drove down to Cala Gonone and rented a boat. There are lots of companies that will rent you a 5-6m rib boat, no license required. You can then take it down the coast and see various beaches that are only accessible by boat, with the 2 standouts being Cala Goloritze and Cala Luna. There’s essentially a zone along the coast where these boats are allowed, and the outfitters have people out there making sure everyone is okay. Surprisingly easy and the beaches and geography of the Baunei Coast are unlike any I’ve been to.

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    And finally, we went up north to Palau where we booked a private boat tour of the La Maddalena archipelago, a group of tiny islands located between Sardinia and Corsica. We used a company called Sardinia Island Tours which I highly recommend. The main island of La Maddalena has a small town on it which seems like a fun place to kill a couple of days. We walked around town eating gelato and drinking wine before getting back on the boat.

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    If you’re interested in going to Sardinia, just keep in mind that it is somewhat different from mainland Italy. Traditional Italian pasta is available but does not fill out the average menu. They have a local pasta called fregola, they serve a fair amount of risotto and gnocchi, lots of seafood, and lots of cured meats. Their predominant wines are Cannonau (grenache) and Vermentino, and their digestive is Mirto in place of limoncello, which I found enjoyable. The local beer is Ichnusa, and even though I prefer IPAs, it was rather drinkable.

    I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend an agriturismo for dinner. Think of it as a hyper local farm-to-table dining establishment. We had no idea what to expect, but at the recommendation of our hotel concierge, we went to Lu Branu. When we arrived and were seated, there was already bread and a pitcher of Cannonau wine on the table waiting for us. There was no menu, but we were bombarded with an assortment of meats, cheeses, olives, beans, multiple pastas, more meats, salad, more wine, desserts, coffee, and liquor - mirto and goat’s milk liquor. It was fantastic, more food than we would normally eat at Thanksgiving, and a grand total of 80 Euro for both of us. It was a bucket list experience I didn’t know I had.

    Finally, we discovered that Sardinia is one of the world’s five Blue Zones, regions where there are longer life expectancies and higher rates of people living to be 100 years old. This is multifactorial but can be attributed to physical activity, eating a diet that is mostly plant-based (although not entirely vegetarian), high amounts of olive oil (6 tbsp per day), and drinking Cannonau wine. Apparently, the Grenache grape grown in Sardinia has a thicker skin that produces a wine with significantly higher antioxidants than most red wines, which they drink 2 glasses a day on average and is credited with helping their longevity. I struggle with the plant-based diet, but I can easily get behind the daily Cannonau lifestyle.

    We intend to return sooner rather than later. We loved Sardinia this year, we loved Corsica last year, there is plenty more to do on both islands, and the next logical step is to plan a return trip that splits time between the two. I now have a boat guy who can shuttle us back and forth.

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