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Bernard

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Everything posted by Bernard

  1. In my day (1987-1991), Sixth St. had four lanes of cars flowing between two lane of parallel parking. You had to walk on the sidewalks to get anywhere. The street was only blocked for huge nights like Halloween, which were fun. There were certainly some folks just hanging out on the corners, but for the most part you actually had to get in somewhere and spend some money to have fun. Blocking off the street every weekend moved the action to the street, and changed the economics and the demographics. Bernard
  2. Shit. Tried to edit my double post with this tale, but ran out of time on the edit clock… I-10 about 10 miles east of Columbus. After dark. Sudden urge. No waiting. Exited to the side road. Jumped out quick. No shoes. Only socks. Dropped drawers and let it fall. As I’m pulling up my pants I realize I’m standing in an ant pile. Socks covered in ants. I strip ‘em off and toss ‘em. That came in handy when I had to return to the scene the next day in search of my LV wallet that slipped out of my back pocket in the process of relief. White socks are easier to find on the side of the road than brown canvas. Bernard
  3. I’ve been there. Bought a CKK430 rag top in San Diego. Driving back to Houston. Truck stop not far from Tucson. Just as I get to the point of no return, here comes Wheels. I’ve never shit, wiped and bolted so fast in my life. Bernard
  4. I’ve been there. Bought a CKK430 rag top in San Diego. Driving back to Houston. Truck stop not far from Tucson. Just as I get to the point of no return, here comes Wheels. I’ve never shit, wiped and bolted so fast in my life. Bernard
  5. PSA: Sell you car to Carvana instead of trading it in. A few data points from helping a girl I know buy a 2021 Grand Cherokee Limited this week: Trade-in / purchase offers for 2012 Lexus RX350, FWD, 95k miles, black/tan, one-owner, with no damage but above average rock chips and embedded black dog hair in interior: Austin Jeep dealer: $13,000 Houston Jeep dealer: $12,250 Carmax: $16,000 Carvana: $18,350. Shopped Houston Jeep dealer for new 2022 Grand Cherokee Limited WK 4x4. None in stock. Several on the truck in transit. Salesman quoted $49,450 MSRP plus $5,000 and wouldn’t budge. Insisted they’d all be sold before the truck arrived. I balked. While I was walking out, salesman says we should talk to the manager. Within two minutes, the price was down to MSRP plus $500. Kind of annoying. Ended up buying a pristine 2021 model with 11k miles from their used car lot for $41,900 which was $1,000 less than their “Internet Special” price. Dealer threw in a new set of floor mats and a new rear cargo cover. MSRP on this particular vehicle when new was $44,450. Takeaway: Unloading the trade-in on Carvana for a premium price seemed like such a win that it soothed all the pain of buying a practically new vehicle in an inflated market. New vehicle has black interior to camouflage future dog hair. Bernard
  6. My advice: 1. Hire a real estate agent to find and screen your tenants. It’s good to have a middle man in these deals; 2. Self manage; 3. Find yourself a good handyman. Ask your real estate agent for referrals. They have a guy for everything. I’ve had rentals where I’ve collected $100k in between maintenance calls or turnover. Even if you’re overpaying for repairs, you’ll save a lot of dough by self managing and it’s really not that much work. With 1-2 rental properties, the vast majority of months involve nothing more than depositing the rent check and even that task is disappearing with electronic payments. Bernard
  7. I never had the desire for kids. Now that I’m 53, I still don’t. There are pros and cons to everything; and everyone gets to do their own math. Parents like to say, “I can’t imagine my life without my kids”. I believe them, but it goes both ways, because I can’t imagine what my life would be like had I married one of the girls I loved in my 20’s or 30’s or 40’s and had kids. Trying to realistically imagine the nearly infinite number of alternative paths your life actually could have taken is impossible. Maybe we all just rationalize our choices since there’s no going back. I like my life. I like being single. I like being childless. I like that I was able to retire from real work at 39. I’m not rich, but it doesn’t take much to keep a one-person household going. I’m sure I’d still be grinding if I had a wife and kids depending on me. I prefer to sleep alone. I like waking up when I please. I like my independence. I like spending my days with whoever I want, doing whatever I want. I don’t like having to coordinate my daily schedule / life with anyone else. I like making decisions without the need for consensus. I like coming home to a peaceful, quiet space. I like my low-stress, carefree life. Lots of my friends have kids at this point. I can see the pros, but I wouldn’t switch places with any them. Of course I never really wanted a wife either, which may or may not be related to the issue at hand. Bernard
  8. While at my mom’s today overseeing some home maintenance tasks, I glanced at the Goodman 13 SEER, 5-ton system I arranged in 1993 and felt great that it’s still running like a top. 🙂 Bernard
  9. Now I want to do this just to fuck with the cops. I usually roll 45 to 35 to 135 to 70 just because it’s Interstates the whole way: no towns, stop lights, etc.; just high speed limits and cruise control. 🙂 Bernard
  10. This. Just get a weed guy in Houston. Houston and Harris County 5-0 aren’t busting anyone for under 4 ounces. It’s basically legal here. Bernard
  11. I never claimed my credit score doesn’t exist. I’m sure it does. I’m sure it’s excellent. It can be zero for all I care though. I have no debts and don’t envision ever needing to go into debt. We agree on “don’t be a deadbeat” and “honor your obligations” and “pay your bills’’. Bernard
  12. My ER doc buddy told me some guy used to show up regularly with priapism after taking a handful of Viagra. The treatment is to stick a needle/syringe in his dick to attract the blood. Bernard
  13. You seem to have missed my point. You can’t be a deadbeat if you owe nothing. Bernard
  14. Once you don’t need to borrow money you don’t care. 🙂 Bernard
  15. I’m into my 4th cycle of rolling 72 hour fasts. So far, so good. Next meal is on Friday. Saturday is Rodeo Houston BBQ cook off though. Bernard
  16. Ha. We must have the same YouTube algorithm. Just watched this a bit ago. It seems like it would be pretty easy and cheap to test radio signal tracker dude’s technique by sending another 777 on a test flight out over the Indian Ocean and tell him to, “Track this, bitch!!!”. Honestly, the fact that this obvious option wasn’t mentioned in the video is kinda suspect. Bernard
  17. Cal Gaspard is another well known Texas landscape artist. My sister had him paint a watercolor Bevo for my graduation gift. https://www.sherwoodsgallery.com/gaspardbio.html Bernard
  18. Some more info on A.D. Greer, since any art loving Texan should know about him: http://www.artnet.com/artists/ad-greer/ Bernard
  19. No. If you fast forever, you will die. If you fast for awhile, you’ll burn fat. As for gaining weight after fasting, we’ll, that depends on what (foods & quantity) you eat after ending your fast. I don’t blame the fast for what happens after. Bernard
  20. This. I’ve been running the same Honda generator 10 times a year at Texans tailgates since 2003. First offseason, I tried running for 10 minutes every month. Needed a carb cleaning after one year. Since then I just run it dry at season’s end. No issues since. Bernard
  21. Before his untimely death, my brother -in-law was an art dealer in Austin. He repped a number of Austin artists, including the well-known Austin landscape and still life artist A.D. Greer in the late 80’s and early 90’s. My UT graduation party in 1991 was at his art gallery. Bernard
  22. Howard Sherman is a friend of mine from UT. http://www.howardsherman.com/ Bernard
  23. This Houston artist is my next door neighbor. https://www.cynthialeighmiller.com/ Bernard
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