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Paper_jam

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Everything posted by Paper_jam

  1. Part of the challenge is that people want different things. I'd just like to get off this "status quo" of cookie-cutter, virtually identical cars, running at basically the same performance levels for the last 20-25 years. Break open the rulebook and let there be innovation and competing designs. Stop nerfing the cars so they aren't slower than they were 30 years ago. Yes, that increases risk, but if there's no risk I'm not really that interested. Alternatively, go in the opposite direction--back to "STOCK" cars which are closely based on production cars, so that there's actually some commonality between the cars being raced on the track and what you can go buy in a showroom. Then again, the traditional car market is collapsing and even within the car market there are few race-capable RWD chassis options. There are many reasons why neither of these directions will happen, but that's what would get me interested in the sport again.
  2. If for some reason that site doesn't work out, here is another option. Their website seems to be agonizingly slow though... https://www.windowdoorparts.com/hardware/door-parts/door-hardware/door-kick-plates/
  3. Buy window units and 3 of these? https://www.staples.com/optimus-infrared-quartz-radiant-heater-white-h-5510/product_24272294?
  4. From a quick search I see that there was a bill filed earlier this year to legalize sports betting in Texas, but it's basically DOA. https://www.legalsportsreport.com/28560/texas-sports-betting-2019-bill/
  5. Dark as shit in the 78753. No lightning or thunder tho.
  6. In Texas (hell, most of the US) any dark-colored snek near water is a water moccasin! whether it is or not.
  7. A poorly designed or constructed road is more likely to result in people doing stupid shit. (Or result in situations where the consequences of doing stupid shit are more severe than they need to be.)
  8. Coming up on 17 years from a 2002 model Toro personal pace, with a 6.5 HP Tecumseh motor. Still runs strong but it's starting to put out some smoke. I've completely been shitty with maintenance on it. Changed the oil maybe 4-5 times in its life, air filter once.
  9. I'm no expert but I've been interested in aviation accidents for quite some time, and I don't recall the NTSB or other agencies to ever be concerned about releasing information quickly. It seemed to me that you often had to wait for the investigation & report to be finalized (which can take months or years) to get details like the CVR transcript or recording, or even a formal finding of the cause.
  10. They should probably reverse the basis for the pollen count and just tell us how much air is contained in a given amount of green oak dust. If this is peaking now, will it be over in two weeks or so?
  11. 39dollarglasses dot com
  12. FWIW, I was a Freshman in Fall of '89 and I think my initial registration was done on scantron bubble forms at FAC. And I know I had to do adds and drops at the Erwin Center once. I dont' remember using TEX until maybe Spring of '90? Maybe TEX was online before then but not mandatory?
  13. He's just so wild at heart, no woman is going to lock him down.
  14. To follow up my last post, I did a quick and dirty comparison with my 2017 taxes and it looks like even considering the $3k reduction in my deductions/exemption, I owe about $500 less this year. So yay, I guess.
  15. I have about $11,000 in potential itemized deductions this year, and until this year I could have taken a 4k personal exemption. (For a total of about ~$15k in deductions). But since they eliminated the personal exemption, now the best I can do is to take the $12k standard deduction. So the the change results in me paying taxes on an additional $3k that I would have previously deducted. This is at least partially offset by the changes to tax rates/tables but I'd have to actually do some calculations to see if I recover it all.
  16. Where's our soaking rains from spring fronts? There was a mean-looking dark cloudbank ahead of me when I drove to work this morning but nothing fell out of it.
  17. One thing that makes me surly is public bathroom stalls (and sink areas) that don't have anyplace to put your shit. If I designed any bathroom, each stall would have a coathook and a fold-down shelf to put your briefcase or other objects on. And there would be shelves or storage options near the sink area. So you don't have to just dump your stuff all over the piss-soaked floor, or put clean items down on the wet sink counter. Why doesn't anyone think of these little details? I'm not that smart so the lack of these extremely basic amenities must be intentional.
  18. I'm single with no dependents. Typically I have ~ $9 or 10k in itemized deductions (combination of property tax, mortgage interest, and sales tax) plus my $4k (or so) personal exemption. So effectively that was a ~ $14k deduction. This year, I can't seem to get my itemized deductions above the new 12k standard deduction, and there's no more personal exemption. So the bottom line is it looks like my taxes are actually going up. I did buy a new car this year; is there any way to claim the sales tax on that as a deduction outside the normal itemized deduction process?
  19. I had Gleeson as well, for 303K in ..Fall '89, I guess. That was one of my top two or three favorite classes at UT, although it wasn't easy. Managed a low 'A' somehow.
  20. I gotta go with sudden failure of elevator, elevator controls, or horizontal stabilizer. Although I'm interested in the sequence of events...were the engines pushed to full power before the nose pitched down? Because that'd be weird.
  21. I'm talking out of my ass but I would guess that the Texas government wants to make sure there's no organized prostitution or sex slavery going on in connection with major races.
  22. I'm in NE Austin and haven't really noticed the smell (yet?) but I have noticed a slight brownish discoloration to the water if I open a faucet that has been idle for a day or two. May be a local issue (or isolated to my own house somehow).
  23. The website and billing has been a clownshow forever. And now SH130 is all bumpy and under construction so I can't even fully enjoy the 85 MPH speed limit I'm paying for. On the other hand, huge props to the TxTag roadside assistance guy who helped me out when I had a blowout. (Not quite as many props to whoever is supposed to clean the debris off the road which caused said blowout.)
  24. Started out as a coal miner in a small Pennsylvania town, and became a giant in the field of Chem E. RIP John, and Hook 'Em.
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