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boilerhorn

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by boilerhorn

  1. Beienemy seems like an old school coach - one more suited for the 1980s or 1990s variant where intimidation and threats “motivate” players.  Until proven otherwise, I see any job he takes as an example of the Peter Principle at work.

  2. A little off topic - but related to the VW history topic.
    When I was an intern at IBM in the late-80s, IBM forged a business relationship w/ Siemens.  Part of a Siemens exec's presentation included a history of Siemens.  1933-1945 were left out of the history, unsurprisingly.  At Q/A time, one of the IBMers asked, "You seemed to have skipped the slides that showed 1933-1945.  Can you please tell us what Siemens did between 1933-1945."  You could hear a pin drop and the exec looked aghast.  The IBMer's 3rd or 4th line manager had a panicked look on his face.  When the Siemens exec turned away to address the next question, the coworker spoke up a little louder, "Excuse me, you did not answer my question.  Would you like me to repeat it?"  At that point, the boss came over and asked him to pipe down.  Undeterred, he insisted...

    Many of the folks in the audience had friends or family who were directly impacted by the WW2 European theater and they did not care for the whitewashing...

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  3. 23 hours ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

    Guess they’re writing a bigger check. 

     

    Interesting.  Bigger check most likely.

    Also, the Raiders are in bit of a worse situation, IMO, despite winning 4 more games than Washington.  First, Raiders hired the player favorite head coach.  That seldom turns out well.  Second, Raiders have a far crappier cap situation.  Third, their top players are either old, ineffective, or want out.  Last, Raiders have 3 picks in the first 3 rounds and Washington has 6. 

  4. On 1/31/2024 at 4:08 PM, slorch said:

    That isn't how it is everywhere.  Not by a long shot.  Many school districts are struggling just to fully staff their drivers, much less having a co-pilot on the bus.

    Teachers, drivers, cafeteria workers, etc.  They are struggling to staff damn near every position - except administrators.

  5. My work PC is a "corporate standard-issue" Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 1.  As a laptop, it is kinda crappy.  Mediocre keyboard; 1920x1080; etc.  Add a decent monitor and it is suitable (not great) as a PC.

    Need to work remote for a couple of weeks and was curious for a portable - one I can also throw in my backpack - monitor.

    Wirecutter has some recs: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-portable-monitor/

    Another option is "go buy a good one at BestBuy and return it the day before I leave" but that's unethical, IMO.

    Thoughts and/or experience here?  

    Getting a good laptop is an option, but my remote work timeline is more immediate.

  6. @South Austin - a couple of thoughts about overfunding a 529.

    If it is tax-free merit aid, I believe you can remove the same amount (w/o penalties) if the merit aid is tax-free.
    It can be rolled over to another beneficiary (you or another kid).
    The SECURE2.0 act allows for up to $35k to be converted, penalty-free, into a Roth IRA.  If overfunding occurs, set yourself as beneficiary and then move to a Roth.
    Worst case, you use it for something else and pay the additional 10% penalty on the gains.  In almost all cases, the taxes and penalty on gains of the overfunding will be much smaller than the taxes had you put the money in a traditional brokerage account WITH SIMILAR INVESTMENTS.  The traditional brokerage account does give you more freedom, as I suspect you know.
     

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  7. On 1/10/2024 at 2:08 PM, PvilleStang said:

    Wife and I manage 3 units ourselves.  She's the numbers guru and deals with getting the tenants and setting rents.  I will tell you, buying right now in Austin for a rental is a huge PITA.  You can get 5% on T-Bills, or make 3-4% ROI on renting a unit you purchase OUTRIGHT.  If you mortgage it, you're lucky to break even right now in the market.

    Thank you for posting this.  I own zero rental properties, but have been considering it.  And your comments confirm my initial investigations.  Buying rentals in high-demand locations (Austin, etc.), esp. with high interest rates is going to generate negative ROI.  A simple zillow search will show you that meeting the 1% rule is impossible in most of Austin these days.  A house for sale for $500k in 78750 has a zillow rent estimate of $2100.  And there's one around the corner for rent at $2100.  All of those houses sold for $150k in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

    Right now, we are considering places in the midwest with high potential population growth areas will relatively flat appreciation.  Some of those are places that will benefit from CHIPs act dollars (NW Indiana; Indy to Purdue corridor), Columbus, OH, etc.  Many of those places appreciated greatly during the low rate and COVID days, as they are decent places to live in the midwest.

    Housing around college campuses seems interesting, but you either (1) have to have one of your kids occupy it and rent other rooms or (2) get it for dirt cheap and be tolerant of having a significant amount of wear and tear.  The "dirt cheap" does not really seem to exist these days unless you want to put another $100k to fix it.

  8. On 2/1/2024 at 3:06 AM, Billy Pilgrim said:

    You might be surprised about what grants and financial aid your daughter may be eligible for. I would consider us upper class and my daughter got financial aid or grants at almost every school she applied to (with the exception of Santa Clara and Villanova I believe). That being said, you can’t beat the value of a state school (Texas tuition, room and board is about equivalent to Dallas private high schools). 

    This is very true, however I have seen this diminish greatly over the past decade.  First child (HS'2014) got tons of merit incentives from OOS and Private schools.  Last child (HS'2023) had similar stats (maybe better in some cases) and saw significantly less.  This is a side-effect of increasing demand and schools reassessing the ROI.  For example, as many kids are still enrolling w/ $8k tuition waiver as were enrolling with a $16k tuition waiver.  That said, ALWAYS apply for aid.  

    I know it is early, but one thing to keep in mind is the university places students in its majors.  Many of the larger engineering schools have first year engineering programs (FYE), as 90% of the classes and requirements are the same.  Understand how students get placed after FYE.  An example: at Texas A&M, Computer Science is part of engineering and is subjected to the FYE program.  Students are placed based on their GPA and requests. Because of supply, only students with 3.75 GPA are automatically placed in the major of their choice.  And for CS, very few outside of these "automatics" got CS as their choice.  Knowing what can transpire in freshman year in college, a couple of bad days, a shitty professor or TA, illness, or whatever can impact GPA.  We advised our son to consider that in his decision.  For the record - son did not want to go to UT (all of his older siblings did and he wanted to be different).  And he is presently not at Texas A&M.

  9. The hand-wringing on this one makes sense.  He's young, relatively unknown, and has an incomplete track record.  Moreover, he's being handed the position group that has been coached well, but not recruited well.  The concerns make sense.  Sark's hires, for the most part, have been solid.  And, he has a level of introspection and self-reflection that's been lacking in a HC at Texas for a long time.  He'll fix it if it is a bad hire.

    It's fair to criticize, but at least we are not in place where we are trying to squint and rationalize how guys like Watson, Gilbert, and all of Herman's drinking buddies are going to be successful assistants.  I am glad we are at a point where we are scrutinizing what appears to be a B- to C+ hire vs. trying to claim success for a D- hire.

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  10. It's been mentioned already, but I will pile on.

    Step 1a : austerity - I *hope* this is happening
    Step 1b : find additional income; either your wife takes a job - any job - or you take a 2nd job
    Step 2 : access your home equity or 401k ONLY if 1a is happening and really 1b should also happen.

    with 90k of CC debt, I suspect the likelihood of getting a low-interest CC for transfer is low.

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  11. 4 hours ago, msucolt45 said:

    Michigan, IMO, is too big of a job to just settle on a staffer, with no “true” HC’ing responsibilities and requirements. SM can always be retained, given some “co-title,” but this just isn’t a getting your feet wet job. They did that after Rich Rod.

    It has worked out fine for them in the past.
    Gary Moeller was a staffer for Schembechler (3 year OC).
    Lloyd Carr was a staffer for Schembechler (3 year DC) and Moeller (4 year DC) - 6-7 vs. tOSU.

    Rich Rod had no connection and was a disaster - and was 0-3 against tOSU.

    Hoke coached under Carr and had progressively worse seasons as his tenure advanced. 1-3 vs. tOSU did not help.

    Harbaugh - a Michigan man - turned Hoke's recruits into 10-game winners.  Harbaugh was 3-5 against tOSU after starting 0-5.

    Sherrone will be fine.
     

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  12. 8 minutes ago, MrBig said:

    The decision to hire Acevedo was made by interim city manager Jesus Garza. Garza was also city manager when Kirk Watson was mayor in the late 90s/00s. They did shady shit like this back then too like the LCRA water deal they made behind closed doors. Note that Garza was also the treasurer of a PAC that contributed $700K to Watson’s mayoral campaign. 

    Sigh.  It takes 5x more time to expel retreads in Austin politics than it does in NFL coaching.  Garza has been around since 1978.  Watson has been in and out of Austin and state politics since the early 1990s.  Just to mention 2.

    https://www.austintexas.gov/department/city-manager

    I do not see it written anywhere (could be my fault), but does this mean Bruce Mills is stepping aside?

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  13. 3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

    What if I told you that Kelly is actually one of our most functional, responsive council members? And that’s not so much praise of her as it is damnation of her peers?

    It would not surprise me at all.  A random selection of Surly posters - 1 from each district - would be more effective and more functional that this city council.  I've lived here since the 1970s and can never recall a time when a majority - or even plurality in a specific setting - thought the city government was a well-oiled machine.  Hell, a V8 running on 3 cylinders would be more effective.

    18 minutes ago, Deej said:

    Art has probably been sending her dick pics.

    That might be the fastest way to get him run out of town.  We can only hope that's what's happening.

    @DalTxHornFan thanks for sharing that anecdote about getting between Art and a camera.  Well done!

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  14. 13 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

    has anyone mentioned who was the hire UT missed out on by going with terry ?

    John Wooden - and he had Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton ready to transfer.

    • Haha 2
  15. On 1/16/2024 at 11:17 PM, Hermanator said:

    Have both within 5 minute drive. There are a few things I go to Costco for but 80 percent of the stuff I get at these places (toilet paper, bottled water, tide pods, cascade, etc) I get from Sam's simply because it's so much faster to get in and out when you can scan and pay on your phone then skip the checkout lines. Why Costco hasn't invested in this yet is beyond me. 

    Gas is the same at both places. Produce is surprisingly good quality at both considering Walmarts have shit produce. Sam's does a shrimp cevice that's become a family dinner staple. 

    Sam's scan-and-go is fantastic.  Surprised more people do not use it.

    Thanks for the ceviche recommendation.  Never saw it there before, but picked up some today.  Quite good.

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  16. 2 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

    Very nice but refs are going to step their fuckery up now

    Not so sure. Stroud, Ryan, and Houston are far more interesting than Jackson, Harbaugh, and Ravens. Could be my bias, though.

  17. 9 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

     

    https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/05/04/former-hawaii-high-school-football-stars-settle-civil-lawsuit-over-sex-assault-case/

    JdL apparently plead "responsible" to sexual assault. So when Kinne says "he never plead guilty or was convicted" that is pure legal bullshit based on equivalent family court terminology.  So Kinne was legally correct and intentionally misleading. Allegedly JdL choked a 16 yo while his friend raped her. After his friend ejaculated he shouted, "It's my turn!" He admittted it in text massages to her. His punishment was to write an apology letter. In the civil suit settlement he admitted doing it. At least one TX State NIL refuses to participate in paying JdL. I hope this sites associated NIL would do the same re a Texas player.

    So fuck Kinne. An heir to Briles indeed. 

     

     

     

     

    Before we knew the transfer QB was a "civil choker and rape enabler - and perhaps rapist," it was pretty shitty management to surprise his existing starting QB by bringing in another guy.  It's even worse that you bring in a guy that Briles might have had second thoughts about (who am I kidding - Briles would have done it if he could get wins).  Whenever anyone uses the "was never convicted and did not plead guilty" defense for a guy who clearly lost a civil suit - and admitted it - something is really wrong.  OJ neither pleaded out nor was convicted, but he killed 2 people.  I, too, am off the Kinne bandwagon.

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