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LCHorn

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Posts posted by LCHorn

  1. 45 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

    Further, the ACC board and admin have been running wild for a long, long time. It's a huge money grab and the benefit does not align with the cost, IMO.   If either middle school kids or community college students have to go to classrooms infested with rats, I know which one I would choose.  Austin has chosen differently. 

    Surely you understand that Austin citizens can’t simply repurpose tax revenue from ACC to AISD, right?  If you want to complain about the state recapture impoverishing Austin students you’re welcome to join the party but reducing ACC taxes won’t help.  
     

    On the appraised value side, I still haven’t had my arbitration following my 2023 tax protest when they claimed my value went up 20%.

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  2. 10 minutes ago, South Austin said:

    As someone with a house on the market since just before Spring Break, the buyer's market is really, really quiet right now.  I've got a lot of equity in my home, but unless I decide to suck it up and rent for a year or so, I'm going to make a lot less than I had thought at the beginning of the year.

    My advice, considering you moved in with your SO and not homeless, is to wait it out rather than reduce price.  The rate environment is significantly distorting demand and it isn’t likely to be as seasonally driven as 2014-2019.  It might be that demand peaks in October because rates are in the 5’s.  
     

    I also think the previous prejudice against houses that have been sitting isn’t as strong.

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  3. 5 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

    I would think there is little reason for rates to trend down more until the Fed takes action, no?

    Sort of?  The MBS market is in competition with the Fed and pricing spread between the two securities is subject to market demand.  We’ve seen increased demand for MBS based on projections of what the Fed will do, and decreased demand when the news appears to favor “higher for longer”.  All of this is upriver of retail prices but if you want cheap mortgages you need to convince CALPERS to buy the bonds that collateralize them.  
     

    This is my prediction, but once the Fed does reduce rates (in June or whenever), the MBS market will probably quickly narrow down the spread (so maybe a 25 bps cut on T bills gets us 50 or 100 bps subsequent improvement over maybe the next month).  
     

    But who knows, there’s massive commercial loan risk exposure by the depository banks and they are also competing with Fannie/Freddie to issue collateralized debt.  It might be that six months from now, GSE money is the only game in town and we’ve seen them happily return profits to shareholders rather than adjust pricing to incentivize borrowing.  

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  4. On 3/29/2024 at 8:43 AM, jimmyjazz said:

    My second attempt was much more successful.  I dialed back the hydration from 71% to 67%, which made it possible for this amateur to handle the dough.  I par-baked the crust on a hot pizza stone for 4 minutes at 475 F, pulled it and quickly topped it, and then finished it off in the oven for ~ 10 minutes longer.  The dough had a little sugar and olive oil in it in addition to the flour and yeast.  It tasted fantastic, and had a pretty good crunch.

    I used a very simple canned tomato sauce which I goosed with some dry Greek oregano.  I didn't use mozzarella, as I was attempting to mimic St. Louis style pizza, which uses a processed white cheese called Provel.  It's basically cheddar, swiss and provolone, so I just shredded those three in equal parts (in this case, extra sharp white cheddar).  I definitely got the flavor right, although the texture wasn't the same.  No big deal.  Next up, I'll try a pizza margherita with good fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes (if I can find them).

    image.thumb.png.15e7c1736747f81e459afd581665daa0.png

    If you want to upgrade the edges of your crust you can brush them with olive oil before you put on your sauce.  When I make homemade dough the edges can get overly crispy and this solves for it.

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  5. I still think the Abreu signing was the right call at the time given the understood alternatives.  
     

    That said, it seems like we’ve lost our appetite for doing anything slightly unconventional, like trading a Miles Straw type for a lotto ticket(s) in the minors.  Brown’s first real offseason reminded me of Hunsicker’s when fucking McLane would tell him to add players but not spend anything to do it (and we end up with Scuffy Moehler).  The fact that a World Series aspirant is wasting a roster spot on Jon Singleton is befuddling.  

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  6. On 3/28/2024 at 7:04 PM, Fudge Nuggets said:

    We're heading over for the Texas Relays tomorrow.  I think I'll give Counter Cafe a go on Saturday morning.

    Skip the pancakes and order the hamburger, regular fries.  

  7. 1 hour ago, TonyTexas said:

    As to your other points, you can’t give Crane credit for the Hader signing and, at the same time, give Brown the blame for not signing Montgomery or Snell.

    I’m repeating myself on this, but I think that Crane doesn’t trust Brown enough for him to operate freely, particularly on large free agent signings.  
     

    I miss Luhnow and the sense that there is a plan.  

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  8. 10 minutes ago, Smax said:

    A Texas Dem speaks some truth, unfortunately I feel those that need to HEAR this, wont or will just dismiss and walk away thinking stupid lib

     

     

     

    I’m sure this was recorded from the regular St. Andrew’s Sunday service but it’s missing a crowd shot of the six parishioners in attendance, five of whom are senior citizens and the other a driver from the assisted care facility.  
     

    But, at least he got something to publish to YouTube and X, so kudos I guess for taking a stand….

  9. 14 hours ago, aggie08 said:

    We know damn well that the number is closer to 50% given that this site is full of Texans

    I think you're overlooking the self-sorting aspect of the universities and boards (while you're conclusion may remain true).  TexAgs is probably where you find those missing voters. 

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  10. 2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

    There you go. Jake Hammer. Frierson. The Garcia dude. Everyone understood Bryan White. We scratched our heads about the other three. 

    Bryan White used to attempt the “I’m a longhorn football player” move on my girlfriend and her friends in a class they all had. I can’t say I blame him, but he was a bit of a wee man and they thought it was funny in an eye-rolling way. 

    Just in weird coincidental ways I met Jake Hammer and Antwan Kirk Hughes as recruits and was heavily selling Texas (the latter was at Buffalo Club when neither of us were legal).  

  11. 1 hour ago, Dendox said:

    USAA was concerned about the death of the auto policy.  Whether it be self driving car manufacturers or OS writers for said cars - they were quite concerned that "auto insurance" would look markedly different in the future.  In an effort to remain relevant, they sought to deepen their relationships with current members (LOTS OF CROSS SELLING) and expand their pool of members.  Since the most of the officers who were elligible were members and using USAA, that left little room to grow without opening up the criteria for membership.  The risk pool is pooled into different sub insurers based on categories.  USAA (auto) is still officers only.  Sub groups make up the new members.  Garrison P&C is for family.  There is a county mutual outfit too.  Depending on how you qualify, your auto rates may be great, good, or shit.  

    You might be right, but I feel like their push to expand the risk pool began more than a decade ago and preceding any common concern about the automobile market changing much (not only that, but from friends who've worked there, it's run a lot like the military where changes only occur incrementally and no one is getting rewarded for making a risky bet on what the future might hold, even if it works out). 

    I also think USAA auto is available beyond officers--I was able to get it and I'm (was) a shitbag enlisted USMC grunt. 

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  12. 2 hours ago, C-Man said:

    USAA definitely loosened the rules for eligibility in the last decade or so to let more and more people qualify. Personally, I think it's hurt the brand in that it has stretched them thin.

    You’d probably know better than me, but in my opinion it’s changed the makeup of the risk pool from veterans to mostly civilians, and that’s otherwise equalized the claims between it and other insurers (where previously they could afford to be cheaper because veterans were more likely to be risk averse, I.e., not speeding, not letting deferred maintenance on a house get out of hand, etc.).  
     

    When I had USAA I watched my car insurance double in two years because I lived in 78702, or so they told me. 

  13. 24 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

    Lulz. He's seven. He plays Zelda. 

    Personally, I’m regretting having let my 7 year old play Minecraft (even though it’s only on the weekends) and I’d rather he not play any educational games on a tablet, either.  
     

    The problem isn’t in the intention (Minecraft allows for a ton of creativity.  Education games should be a way to teach in a fun way), it’s that the programmers have gotten SO good at making them.  There’s a constant sense of achievement and reward, the kind that gives you a little dopamine hit and it reminds me of people playing slot machines for hours.  
     

     

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  14. 12 minutes ago, Bodacious Bevo said:

    The two guys we've sent off transferred to Purdue and Duke

    While I think you bring up a good point, getting Ewers high profile national awards, first round draft pick convo, etc., plus presumably the same with Manning is going to have overflow prestige on the rest of the QB room.  
     

    If you need evidence of this just take a look at Alabama’s portal departures on defense the last few years.  
     

    QB is a little different, too, in that you are looking more at depth chart and less at program status since only one can play.  

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  15. 3 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

    Read some nerd reviews yesterday who say this creator loved The Last Jedi and pitched to Kathleen Kennedy that they could redeem that movie by exploring more on the themes that the Jedi are wrong, or bad, or morally ambiguous. I don’t know why Disney keeps coming back to this. Andor showed you can make great SW content that is not related to Skywalkers. You don’t have to tear down motifs and characters that people have loved for 40+ years and upon which your franchise is based. 

    Infallible Jedi that are always the good guys is narratively inert if you want to tell compelling and interesting stories.  

    What you come up with is this, which I'm sure you're not putting high in your queue (unless you're like me with little kids):

    p_disneyplusoriginals_starwarsyoungjediadventures_poste_6035964e.thumb.jpeg.1cdc87eceece2700d918994066f515a5.jpeg

  16. She said it was fantastic and a once in a lifetime experience but she also didn't mention going to Quintonil (so no way to compare the two).  My own memory of Pujol is a little hazy--frankly, I remember the meal from Restaurante Nicos better and it sure was a lot cheaper.  She did hit Contramar and appeared to like it more than I did. 

     

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