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drewlaws

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Posts posted by drewlaws

  1. Anyone been in the market recently?  Need to upsize my wife's almost 8 YO Jeep Grand Cherokee to something larger.  Curious if dealerships are still regularly charging above MSRP or if that BS is dying down.  Was hoping with these rates things were getting better but I see Texans are just financing at these idiotic rates.  I'll be paying cash with these rates unless I need to "finance" to get a better deal (in which case, I'll confirm no prepayment penalty and write a check the next month).

    I ordered a Yukon last November at MSRP from Covert Bastrop and the environment has only improved since then. That said, the Covert on 183 tried to charge $10k over sticker at the time. It took 2-3 months to arrive.
  2. Sent in my first ever submissions to PSA a month ago and got them back yesterday. Was hoping for a 10 on this one and got it.

    a1c485364af7cfd223225bde8d969435.jpg

    What was the process like? I have a few cards I want to get graded. I know PSA was always the gold standard but do people look down on other graders like Beckett?
  3. X7 is mental leader of the pack. GV80 is out, although it is very nice on the interior and is a good looking SUV. Just doesn’t quite have it - several little things bugged me with the test drive. And if I’m going to spend that much, I don’t know that a souped up Hyundai makes a lot of sense. 

    Sample size of one but my friend has a X7 with 50k miles and it is in the shop quite a bit. I just got the wife a Yukon but have less than 1000 miles on it so hard for me to give any constructive feedback.
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  4. Yeah 2022 will be left in the rear view. At least the second half of it. Good thing is I think we’re heading in the right direction, and it seems Real Estate is starting to pick up lately, especially with the younger crowd. About half our clients are under 28. I think they realize the window of buying a home without competition is closing as buying season approaches and a lot are moving on that aspect. 

    Very small sample size but half of the homes FS in my hood went pending in December after months of stale inventory. Most everything left are renovation projects.

    It will be interesting to see what happens in the buying season this spring. We haven’t experienced one at the current rate levels yet. Will buyers come back in a meaningful way? If not, inventory will continue rising and maybe we see more downward price pressure.
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  5. Don't want to start a thread -- I have a used vehicle I want to sell in Austin.  What are the go-to websites for such a thing?
    I've had terrible luck selling random crap on craigslist the last couple of years, it has really gone downhill.  I've never sold a vehicle except to friends, so I'm unaware of the best non-scammy options.

    I’ve bought and sold vehicles on autotrader, cars.com and on enthusiast forums (if it is a vehicle that has a following). All went smoothly but I haven’t done it in five years or so.
  6. Based on the publicly available MLS, it seems like prices in my Austin neighborhood are down ~20% off their frothy spring peak. Most homes listed are sitting for months. Several flip houses bought between Q4 2021 through Q2 2022 have come to market recently and all are sitting, even after price cuts. I wonder how long the late train investors can hold on or if demand will come back before they break.

  7. IMO, you'll notice the difference if you're watching over the air.  If you're feeding it TV over IP or cable/satellite, just buy a mid-range/cheapish 4K panel.  With compression in the transmission in a non-light controlled viewing room, you'll be hard-pressed to see the difference.
     

    We have DirectTV. May switch to streaming at some point during the lifetime of the TV.
  8. On 11/7/2022 at 10:04 PM, YGIFS said:

    So Guadalupe Street will be one lane plus a bus lane in a few months, between 6th & 2nd?  This should be fun.  

     

    Good thing the city took away two lanes on Congress too and the remaining lanes get backed up from cars making left and right turns. Crossing the river is going to be a breeze for the foreseeable future.

  9. 16 hours ago, Assman said:

    I've been looking for over 2 years for a Miami Blue 991.2 slick top with a 7MT and RAS, and finally found one. Carrera T with all the aforementioned options and 9k miles. Fucking love this thing.



    20221021_180122.jpg

    That's stunning, nice find. You must have a lot of patience to wait for a spec this specific. Kudos.

  10. I went to Austin Covert to shop a Yukon for the wife/kids. They said I couldn’t get a Denali for less than a $10k mark up and then tried to sell me a Yukon SLT for $90k OTD including a “$5k discount”.

    I built the same spec Yukon SLT online for $75k which means they marked up the SLT $10k after their “discount” despite telling they won’t mark up the SLT. Yeah, F that shadiness. Will try again in a couple months but will give Covert Bastrop or Nyle Maxwell a shot. Kills me to know the cool shit I could get for the same price as a mass produced GM.

  11. I had tennis elbow which is micro tears on a different tendon on the other side of the elbow.  I found that heat was way better than ice.  And do the other things you mentioned.  You may need formal PT.  Rest is key.  I didn’t rest mine as I should have and I could not play tennis for about 20 months.  I could play golf.  Doctor said it wouldn’t hurt it further but it was like picking a scab.  I also wore the bandit brace all day except for when I slept.  

    I just developed it in my left elbow/forearm this summer. Haven’t played in a month to try to let it heal. Picked up a club in the garage a couple days ago and the pain has gotten worse. Went to the ortho and they said to wear a wrist brace and use arthritis cream. Hope I’m not down for many months because once kid #2 arrives in January it’ll be even harder to find time to play.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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  12. Supply chain issues, pent up consumer demand from COVID and increased wages are the co-related issues. IMO, wage inflation driven by labor shortages are an underreported driver of what we are seeing. My recollection is that was one of the early inflationary pressures put on the economy. It increases costs for businesses while increasing consumer demand since people are earning more, yet there was a choked supply chain limiting goods to market. 

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  13.  
    I don't know how many people in airports have asked me about one of my 2 leather bags.  The canvas doesn't get the same reaction, but they weigh about half as much as the leather and are really over built (waxed 24oz canvas from Scotland, marine stitching, etc).  I use one of the canvas as my daily driver, because you are right....the leather bags can get heavy and bulky.
    Only issue on the canvas is all of the models sold out, and Saddleback hasn't kept up production or whatnot.  They assure the canvas bags are coming back someday.  I actually picked up one of my canvas bags from eBay.
     
     

    I have had the same experience as others with my saddleback slim briefcase. High quality stuff but a bit heavy. I use it when I am in a suit or blazer, otherwise use a back pack.
  14. The best advice I seem to have gotten since getting back into the hobby (half-assed) is to search ebay for sold items. You have to scroll down on filters but it's there. The last 99 Showcase Legacy Collection Griffey to sell was a 9.5 SGC-graded, went for $1500 plus. The days of Beckett are over, the market is basically what people will pay online. That's a sick card, can't seem to find any others on ebay, which makes sense because it's /99. 
     
    I've been doing the same cleaning out since my dad is selling his home in Houston. I took a bin home of my old high school shit and I have plenty of loose cards I had left behind. Found a Troy Polamalu SP Authentic Rookie /2200 that I wouldn't have thought much of, but it's going for $100+ on ebay. Might triple in value if I can send it in and get a 9 or higher out of it. It's pretty sharp. Don't forget about those stars that maybe you didn't think about much but others might. 

    Good info, thanks. I have heard the graders are super backed up. I’m sure it’s a significant hit to value to sell ungraded?

    I also found a Fleer Ultra Gold David Ortiz (Arias on the card) RC. That was my best “find” when I went through them since I never knew I had the card.
  15. I was huge into baseball cards growing up in the 90s. I would go to the card shop weekly and visit the card shows that came to town or when taking family trips.

    My parents have been asking me to take them out of their house for 15 years which I did in December. Looking through them was a wonderful experience. I was texting my childhood friend all sorts of great memories. I bought him a box of '89 Upper Deck for a groomsman gift. Alas, no Junior RC. He still dabbles in the hobby, primarily autographs.

    The most valuable card I have is the one that actually triggered the end of the hobby for me. It is a 1999 Flair Showcase Legacy Collection Griffey. It was 1 of 99, the most rare card I had ever pulled, and it was my all time favorite player. I was 15 or so at the time and figured how could I ever top that. I've seen them on ebay for $1500+ but Beckett online says its $200-$500 depending on condition. It's well preserved but not graded. I also found an EX-2001 ARod signature card, a few refractors (Bernie Williams, Piazza, McGuire), Maddux RC.

    I have full sets of 1998 Topps Finest, 1998 EX-2001 and 1997 SPX. The Finest set has become discolored even though it was in protective sleeves. I remember loving the die cut SPX set. Of course, I have thousands and thousands of common cards from the early and mid nineties.

    When I set up my new office/man space, I am going to purchase some bucket list collectibles to display - autographed Griffey jersey and PSA 10 Griffey RC. I also will get a VY signed jersey and Spieth and Scheffler Masters flags - to add to my signed Tiger Woods and signed Crenshaw Masters flags. 

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  16. 1 hour ago, DanRydell said:

    It would be a massive upgrade for that shitpile shopping center but I am curious what the plan is for traffic. That stretch of 360 northbound coming off 290 into the light at Mopac seems like the biggest traffic problem in the city already.

    The fact that they built a flyover pedestrian bridge there instead of a flyover connection to Mopac tells you all you need to know about the people making decisions in this town.

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