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Spaulding Smails

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Everything posted by Spaulding Smails

  1. Was it a floater or on land? There's a total of 11 cabins on the island where my buddy has his place at the mouth of Baffin on the intracoastal. He knows that if any of them ever have the slightest inkling of selling, to call me ASAP. My wife would hate me for it, but I'd absolutely make a ridiculously foolish financial decision if one of them came available. CSB... the floaters are regulated by TPWD but the cabins on land are regulated by the General Land Office. And, the cabin is OWNED by the state, leased by an individual in 5-year terms. I'm under the impression that they're not issuing any more permits, but if I can retire in the next 5 years or so, I'm going to invest some serious time trying to find a way to get a new permit on that same island.
  2. I used to kayak fish there a ton with my cousin and his buddies out of Corpus. Usually had decent success, especially in the fall. And never saw anyone else in all the trips we were down there. That whole badlands area from Yarborough up to the little choke point at the north side of Baffin has always held some nice redfish and drum that are fun to sight cast to. I did get stuck like chuck going through the dunes there one day pulling a little trailer with 4 kayaks on it. Driving on the beach was smooth sailing all the way to Yarborough. Get to the pass and throw it in 4WD low on my 2004 F150. I hear a "thunk" and some grinding. Not good. Decided to give it a shot, and got stuck to the axle about 50 yds in. Come to find out, my transfer case was shot. We thought about unhitching the trailer and pulling it out from behind, but the trailer had bottomed out too. My cousin was able to get his Tacoma through the dunes and in front of me, hooked up a tow strap and got me out. I was kind of worried about making it back through the pass two days later. We ended up putting the trailer on the Taco and I just gunned it through the soft spot in the pass and somehow made it. Never been a Toyota guy, but I sure had some respect for Tacomas after that incident.
  3. My favorites are the ones that stack up on the same thread. Either going down the path of hostility or the path of self-loathing. Then, they finally culminate with a, "Well, I guess all of my efforts aren't paying off. And you're not the kind of person that's interested in reducing costs and boosting profits. So, this is my last email to you. So long..." Then a week later, "One last chance. This is my last email. I mean it this time." A few other favorite lines that are often used: "Looks like you went to The University of Texas. Go Longhorns!" "I'm quite impressed with what you've been able to accomplish at company X" "I've been watching you from afar for quite some time now. Pretty amazing what you've done at company X"
  4. I hope so. I've read that a lot of the gains are from better, more focused strength and flexibility as a result of the PT. Not necessarily a bionic ligament. Who knows... He was sitting in the low to mid 80s this spring, so a 5+ mph bump may turn some heads.
  5. From a bit of experience, I think trying to repair those is a time suck and never seems to work out in the long run. I'd look at Bull. I've had really good luck with their products. Dependable, look good, and relatively inexpensive. They make "collars" if your cutout isn't exactly right. https://bullbbq.com/product-category/grills/
  6. Given the relatively small amount of doors, you may want to consider upgrading hinges. Look at Blum. You can get adjustable, soft-close hinges. Easy to install and adjust to get them dialed in and perfectly leveled.
  7. Most of you have kiddos much younger than me, and it's always fun to read the posts and think back when my son was that age. But, just got some bad news on my sophomore son. He's not a phenom by any stretch and probably wouldn't even play in college, but he's a 6'2" lefty that throws hard and has a good breaking ball. He started to experience some elbow pain several weeks ago, so we shut him down around spring break. He said he felt fine two weeks later, so he pitched sparingly the remainder of the season. Long story short, we had an MRI done and he has a full UCL tear. Tommy John surgery scheduled for June 10. He'll miss his entire junior season, and probably 50/50 that he'll be able to play next summer. He's absolutely devastated. Lots of 20/20 hindsight, but it's kind of a fluke deal, so we're trying not to second guess. Definitely didn't over-tax the arm, good mechanics, strong legs / core, good arm care routine, and there wasn't one moment where he said he felt it go. We'll see how much he wants to grind, but it may be the end of his baseball career. Enjoy the time with your boys on the field, and most importantly, make sure they enjoy it while they can!
  8. Super slow at ULM last weekend. Fished hard for two days and only boxed a few trout. Tide was way up and looked to be lots of fresh water. We ran way south to the land cut looking for black drum. Nada. Most of the reports we got were similar results. Finally landed three 22"+ trout Sunday morning wade fishing solo in front of the cabin right at dawn in about 30 min on a white soft plastic with a chartreuse tail. That little spurt made the trip worthwhile.
  9. Anyone play Pine Dunes in East Texas? Thinking of making a one-night / two-day golf trip out there in June with a few friends.
  10. Hit me up if you land at Field of Dreams. I have an AirBnB 4 miles from there if you're looking for a place nearby. Played tons of games there when my son was younger.
  11. GeoGrowers have awesome product and are right there in DS. But, damn. Their prices have skyrocketed. Their Thunder Garden product is pretty awesome. I used it at my last house and had phenomenal results.
  12. Strawberries, cantaloupe and tomatoes top that list by a wide margin for me. I feel like store bought varieties of those three are just void of any flavor. Others somewhat in that category would be carrots, green beans, broccoli, watermelon and cucumbers. Better but not that huge margin like the first three. The veggies that check the other categories for our family would be onion, lettuces, potatoes, okra, squash and zucchini. All good in their own right, but not a discernible difference in taste compared to store bought like that first category in my eyes.
  13. It's so much fun. Big rods out deep. Plus, I keep a smaller rod handy to wade the second or third gut. Spent Fathers Day out at PINS a few years ago. Caught a few black drum in the surf mid morning. Fresh grilled black drum tacos for lunch.
  14. I've grown them before. Probably the only thing I won't grow again. My default logic for gardening is: 1) What tastes significantly better than store bought 2) Frequency of use 3) Ease of growing / maintaining 4) Ease of harvest Though pinto beans is high on the board for #2 at our house, it doesn't even register on the other three. They're fun to try and easy to grow, but not worth the pain IMO.
  15. I regripped last year with Golf Pride CPX. I play without a glove, and they do well with sweat and moisture. Best grips I've ever had by a wide margin. Right at a year with them on. Probably 60 rounds over that timeframe. Still going strong. I think I'll get another 6 months out of them.
  16. Worse than what you said. No clue on the total amount of the construction loan for TI, but I'm guessing it was closer to $2M based on what I know about the project. It was a quasi white box situation, so just a shell with extensive finish out. Here's the kicker... The $1.5M is ON TOP of the construction loan. That's my point. They've accrued an additional $1.5M in debt to InKind PLUS unpaid rent PLUS I'm guessing unpaid vendors in less than a year.
  17. There's tons of open liens on the business associated with the tenant finish-out construction as well. I can't believe how the lender let them get away with opening without paying for construction in full. So, just to recap, they owe a construction loan, they owe InKind $1.5M, they're "significantly past due on rent", and who knows how many other vendors they owe. How does that happen in less than a year of being open unless there's significant fraud / embezzlement going down? And how do these lenders let it get this far out of whack? Predatory lender or not, how does InKind let an obviously struggling business accrue $1.5M in what I'm assuming is unsecured debt?
  18. Allegedly, they haven't paid for their construction in full either. And still owe lots of money to lots of contractors that worked on that job. Allegedly. In my opinion.
  19. No Titty Bingo in the lineup? CSB... did a ton of work for the lead singer of I Love You, But I've Chosen Darkness back in the day. His son worked for me for a stint as well. Had no idea who they were. I guess they were a big deal in Europe for a while.
  20. No experience with Tikka, but I love my X-bolt. It was the only .270 I could find with a left-handed bolt. It drives tacks. Good feel, relatively light weight. It's my default weapon when hunting in Texas. I added a Mark III in 300 WinMag (also LH) two years ago when I went elk hunting. If you can spend a little more, I'd look at the Mark III as well. I was in the same boat as you. Wanted to get something I could hand down to my son eventually. The stock is gorgeous. A bit heavier than the X-bolt, but worth it.
  21. This problem really started bubbling up about a year ago and dates back several years. It really sucks. A good friend of mine built his pool in late 2019. Super lucky to have it in the ground before Covid. They started noticing big cracks about two years ago. Lawsuit. Settlement. Finally demo'd the pool last fall. The settlement didn't come close to covering the increase in costs over the four year time span. He saw the well drying up and figured it was better to get something than nothing. Right now, he just has a big hole in his backyard. Trying to figure out if he can even afford (or wants) another pool at this point. Another friend of mine is a structural engineer. They designed a big house in West Lake Hills. Part of his scope included the design of the pier system that supported the pool that was kind of hanging off a cliff. You guessed it. That pool has failed. This homeowner has much deeper pockets and won't settle for pennies on the dollar like my other buddy. That pool contractor filed for bankruptcy, so now they're suing the house GC, the architect and my buddy the structural engineer for latent defects. Basically going after anyone who has an insurance policy that may cover the damages.
  22. I think the mountain lion and bear sightings are a combo of more trail cameras with expansion of territories. I think I posted these previously, but we saw a black bear two summers ago on the banks of the Devils getting some water right at dusk. Probably 200 yds away from a kayak, so the picture quality sucks. And, a buddy of mine caught a lion and a bear at two separate water troughs within the same week at his place outside of Comstock last winter. I've never seen a big cat in person, but they're out there. Especially in the southwestern part of the state.
  23. Any idea whereabouts on the Devils? Good friend of mine has a place in Blue Sage.
  24. My parents lived on Lake Medina for 15+ years, and my aunt and uncle have lived on that lake for almost 30 years. My dad got tired of his cove being dry and sold their place when the water level came back somewhat about a decade ago. I spent damn near every summer weekend in college down there wakeboarding and hanging with friends. Those are some core memories for sure. It's the oldest man made lake in Texas. It's absolutely gorgeous when it has water. I've seen blame cast on SAWS for over-drawing water and The Medina Irrigation Co for wasteful allocation. Heck, I even heard that the original surveyors screwed up on the watershed calculation and overestimated the breadth of the Medina river when it was built in the early 1900s. I'm sure the truth is somewhere in there. Regardless, it's so sad. Not sure it will ever come back.
  25. Yep. Drainage holes on both sides. But it also sits under an overhang and has lots of 2" bull rock that I had left over from another project in the bottom, so it should drain well regardless. I don't have irrigation yet, but also ran a sleeve of PVC vertically with a 90 and a hole in the bottom to pull drip irrigation through eventually. Already tired of hand watering it.
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