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What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?


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1 hour ago, Steel Shank said:

Walked around the big lawn at Zilker this morning with my dog. Around 10am. If you've never done this, do it. Walking on grass at a great park before noon on a weekday is good for the soul.

You are damn lucky you didn't get macheted.

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I can’t drive in this town anymore. There’s too many god damn people, there’s construction everywhere, people forgot how to drive after Covid and can’t stay in their lanes, and there are wrecks on every major highway at all times of the day. 

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1 minute ago, Biff Tannen said:

I can’t drive in this town anymore. There’s too many god damn people, there’s construction everywhere, people forgot how to drive after Covid and can’t stay in their lanes, and there are wrecks on every major highway at all times of the day. 

I can't tell if you are talking about Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, or Alvin.

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12 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Back in the 1970s or early 80s there used to be a little drive up/walk up taco joint sitting on a small triangular lot at the northwest corner of 1st (Caesar Chavez) & Congress. 
We were amazed when the local media reported that the taco joint owner sold his little plot for $750,000.

It was reportedly way more than that.  The 100 Congress tower is there now.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/22/A-60-year-old-tamale-stand-operator-struck-it-rich-not/8130456724800/

UPI Archives  June 11, 1984

AUSTIN, Texas -- A 60-year-old tamale stand operator struck it rich, not by selling tamales but by selling the stand he sold them from for 23 years.

Moses Vasquez said Thursday that Lincoln Property Co. paid him nearly $1.6 million, more than $200 a square foot, for his tiny restaurant and an adjoining building.

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And on a somewhat related note -- Matt's El Rancho's sale (I think that it was actually a Section 1031 exchange for the South Lamar property and another property, but I digress) of the original location on First Street to make way for the Four Seasons hotel.

 

"Selling out to the Four Seasons, then keeping it real

While Matt's is known as a steady-as-she-goes restaurant, it does have a far-off history of being altered and exported across town.

When spouses Matt and Janie Martinez opened Matt’s El Rancho in 1952 in downtown Austin, the two served a rotation of homemade southern meals such as meatloaf, mashed potatoes, collard greens and more. Their life savings went into opening the 40-seat restaurant. On Thursdays, they offered a Tex-Mex plate and guests kept asking for more. In a nutshell, the Tex-Mex restaurant coveted by Austinites today was born from those requests — though Matt’s continues to offer some originals such as steak, seafood and chicken fried steak.

The couple started by renting a space downtown and slowly purchased a few properties on the lake. The Martinezes sold that property to Southerland Financial Corp. to make way for The Four Seasons Hotel. Janie Martinez did not accept the first “lowball offer,” according to Cathy Kreitz, daughter to the Martinezes and co-owner of Matt’s.

“Mom quadrupled it. And they accepted the offer. Both of my parents were quite intelligent and savvy,” Kreitz said.

The Four Seasons offered the couple a restaurant space at the hotel, but they were too independent for that kind of business deal, Kreitz added.

The Martinezes instead bought another property and opened the restaurant at 2613 S. Lamar Blvd. in 1986. It's pretty much Central Austin today, but at the time the street was considered far South Austin. The Broken Spoke dance hall was the end of the road, Kreitz said.

“Mom and Dad’s banker friends, business friends and attorney, they said don’t do it, you’re not going to make it, you’re going to lose your shirt. And they just went on ahead and did it,” Kreitz laughed.

The family certainly did not lose any cloth. Matt's current 5 acres are appraised at $20.5 million, according to the Travis Central Appraisal District.

But, unlike most Austin restaurants nowadays, the business may be worth more than the prime land under it."

https://news.yahoo.com/matt-el-rancho-one-america-150241728.html

 

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10 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

I can’t drive in this town anymore. There’s too many god damn people, there’s construction everywhere, people forgot how to drive after Covid and can’t stay in their lanes, and there are wrecks on every major highway at all times of the day. 

Let me suggest you go spend a long weekend in Houston like I just did... you will come back to the land of milk and honey (assuming you don't get T-boned by a red light runner)

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11 hours ago, Steel Shank said:

Walked around the big lawn at Zilker this morning with my dog. Around 10am. If you've never done this, do it. Walking on grass at a great park before noon on a weekday is good for the soul.

Do this 3-4x a week.  It's the best part of my day, almost every day.

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You have no place to stay, but you can afford to buy a tiny home to live in and have it delivered to someone else's property? 

The homeless are getting creative. 

Quote

An east Austin property owner was shocked when he found a random shed on his property.

“When we look out of this window we see what appears to be a tiny home or storage unit,” said Nima Amini, who manages the property. “That was delivered and we didn’t order it.”

Amini said the actual home is usually rented to Airbnb guests, but he realized someone else was living inside the shed when his cameras picked up someone going in and out during the night.

https://www.kxan.com/news/east-austin-airbnb-owner-finds-tiny-home-on-property-with-a-man-living-inside/

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11 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

I can’t drive in this town anymore. There’s too many god damn people, there’s construction everywhere, people forgot how to drive after Covid and can’t stay in their lanes, and there are wrecks on every major highway at all times of the day. 

I'm tired of being stuck behind dumbasses on their phones, riding their brakes and doing 40 in a 65

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15 minutes ago, TXLNGHRN10 said:

I'm tired of being stuck behind dumbasses on their phones, riding their brakes and doing 40 in a 65

I can't decide if that is better or worse than the guy unable to stay in his lane going 70 on his phone.

BTW, on an icy road day such as we had on Monday morning, how many car lengths should you give the Kia driving 75 in the "wet" lane on 183?

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12 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

I can’t drive in this town anymore. There’s too many god damn people, there’s construction everywhere, people forgot how to drive after Covid and can’t stay in their lanes, and there are wrecks on every major highway at all times of the day. 

DFW says hold my beer.  635 has been under construction since the time of the dinosaurs.

 

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6 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

It was reportedly way more than that.  The 100 Congress tower is there now.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/22/A-60-year-old-tamale-stand-operator-struck-it-rich-not/8130456724800/

UPI Archives  June 11, 1984

AUSTIN, Texas -- A 60-year-old tamale stand operator struck it rich, not by selling tamales but by selling the stand he sold them from for 23 years.

Moses Vasquez said Thursday that Lincoln Property Co. paid him nearly $1.6 million, more than $200 a square foot, for his tiny restaurant and an adjoining building.

Big Tamale strikes again, gobbling up all the competition

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1 hour ago, TXLNGHRN10 said:

I'm tired of being stuck behind dumbasses on their phones, riding their brakes and doing 40 in a 65

 

54 minutes ago, Bevo said:

I can't decide if that is better or worse than the guy unable to stay in his lane going 70 on his phone.

BTW, on an icy road day such as we had on Monday morning, how many car lengths should you give the Kia driving 75 in the "wet" lane on 183?

ANY asshat on their phone driving, PERIOD.  Your conversation is not more important than the lives around you.  It's against the law, and you drive a modern vehicle that has hands-free bluetooth from the factory, so why do you insist on holding your damn phone?!  

 

The +1 rage factor this week, going south down 360 through the construction zone, one lady texting and driving, swerving, break tapping, while a construction truck is driving near by (cell phone use prohibited in construction zone, even more so than in normal roads).  Pull up at the light next to the construction truck, driver's sitting there with his orange vest on buried in his phone, too.  

Say what you want about Houston, but they know how to drive down there.  Austin drivers are so self-centered and think they own the left lane.

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4 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

 

ANY asshat on their phone driving, PERIOD.  Your conversation is not more important than the lives around you.  It's against the law, and you drive a modern vehicle that has hands-free bluetooth from the factory, so why do you insist on holding your damn phone?!  

 

The +1 rage factor this week, going south down 360 through the construction zone, one lady texting and driving, swerving, break tapping, while a construction truck is driving near by (cell phone use prohibited in construction zone, even more so than in normal roads).  Pull up at the light next to the construction truck, driver's sitting there with his orange vest on buried in his phone, too.  

Say what you want about Houston, but they know how to drive down there.  Austin drivers are so self-centered and think they own the left lane.

Austin just gets everyone else's shitty drivers. Nobody is from here. 

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19 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Back in the 1970s or early 80s there used to be a little drive up/walk up taco joint sitting on a small triangular lot at the northwest corner of 1st (Caesar Chavez) & Congress. 
We were amazed when the local media reported that the taco joint owner sold his little plot for $750,000.

I thought Harry Akins owned the land where his first Nighthawk restaurant was located at South Congress & Riverside (NW corner)?

I believe he did own it.  Kerbow was talking recent times.  Back in the day many more owned the dirt.

My great uncle owned Fritz's Cafe.

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1 hour ago, PvilleStang said:

Say what you want about Houston, but they know how to drive down there.  Austin drivers are so self-centered and think they own the left lane

I always say, this, too.  I credit the fact that Houston gets 250 days of rain a year so drivers have to learn what precipitation looks like.  
 

Austin drivers seem surprised.  “What’s this?!? Oh shit, the roads are slick!”

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Austin drivers are worse because they are clueless unaware idiots. And “idiot” is wildly unpredictable - every driver is a risk to pull some sort of “crazy Ivan” maneuver at any second.

Houston drivers are homicidal, every one of them is actively trying to kill you. But…”homicidal” is predictable. I KNOW that guy is going to accelerate and cut me off, so I can plan accordingly. Whereas an Austin driver may turn left from the middle lane at any, unpredictable moment. Give me insane, homicidal, and predictable Houston drivers any day.
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11 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


Austin drivers are worse because they are clueless unaware idiots. And “idiot” is wildly unpredictable - every driver is a risk to pull some sort of “crazy Ivan” maneuver at any second.

Houston drivers are homicidal, every one of them is actively trying to kill you. But…”homicidal” is predictable. I KNOW that guy is going to accelerate and cut me off, so I can plan accordingly. Whereas an Austin driver may turn left from the middle lane at any, unpredictable moment. Give me insane, homicidal, and predictable Houston drivers any day.

This. In Houston I know to take a beat when I'm the first car at a red light turning green. On the highway, I know and expect aggressive driving. In Austin, the drivers are clueless and driving in their own bubble. Traffic patterns are also a lot more predictable in Houston. I know exactly when and where to avoid traffic whereas Austin traffic piles-up at random ass times and places. Give me Houston everyday.

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The wonderful exit from MoPac at The Domain says hello. Holy shit what a cluster. People exit and then slow down immediately -- often to a near stop -- to veer across three lanes to pull into Whole Foods.

Once that's over, you have to deal with people leaving the Whole Foods exit and cutting across three lanes to make the MoPac ramp. Who gives a damn if there are cars coming?

It is infuriating.

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2 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

The wonderful exit from MoPac at The Domain says hello. Holy shit what a cluster. People exit and then slow down immediately -- often to a near stop -- to veer across three lanes to pull into Whole Foods.

Once that's over, you have to deal with people leaving the Whole Foods exit and cutting across three lanes to make the MoPac ramp. Who gives a damn if there are cars coming?

It is infuriating.

Sooooo many near misses; Milfs dive bombing 3 lanes in 100 ft to turn into the Whole Foods/Domain entrance instead of using the one farther down

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2 hours ago, landman said:

I believe he did own it.  Kerbow was talking recent times.  Back in the day many more owned the dirt.

My great uncle owned Fritz's Cafe.

I remember Franklin Savings had foreclosed on 807 Congress Avenue around 1986.  They offered it to me for $100,000.  That was a lot of money in those days and it did not have any dedicated parking.  So, I passed.   Eddie Safady bought it and renovated the place.  I also looked at the ranch Michael Dell ended up with.  When I looked at it, it was less than $10,000 acre.  Way out in the middle of nowhere and no utilities.  The Rob Roys were in various stages of foreclosure, Circle C was imploding on itself and Willie lost Briarcliff.   It was a tough time from about 1984 to mid 1990s.  

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1 hour ago, PvilleStang said:

If you think Austin drivers are that great, you'd better put on your right turn signal and get out of that left lane, cause it sounds like you might be part of the problem.  And put your damn phone down!

Saying Houston drivers suck does not mean Austin drivers are great.  They're just different kind of suck.

But, yes, as someone else said... Houston drivers ARE trying to kill you.  Was in Houston for three days... saw a dozen red light runners in three days at ONE intersection by my parents' house.  Every time I was at that intersection, at least one car blew through.  Three years ago friends were totally tagged by a red light runner.  Houston driving is a death wish.  THUS... yeah, Austin has dummies... they'll piss you off but they probably won't kill you.  Houston is at the top of the Crazy/Hot scale with hot meaning sweaty, not pretty.

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13 minutes ago, Gladeite said:

I also looked at the ranch Michael Dell ended up with.  When I looked at it, it was less than $10,000 acre.  Way out in the middle of nowhere and no utilities.

Is that the land adjacent to Senna  Hills, across Lake Austin from Steiner Ranch?

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19 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

@TexasEd would appreciate this, my daily driver at that time was a ‘66 mustang. Red with a black hard top. The gas gauge was crap and once I  ran out of gas turning onto Mountain Ridge, managed to coast downhill all the way to our house.  

Yep, and my project car is a 69 Mustang,  This is page 69 so there you go.

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54 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Saying Houston drivers suck does not mean Austin drivers are great.  They're just different kind of suck.

But, yes, as someone else said... Houston drivers ARE trying to kill you.  Was in Houston for three days... saw a dozen red light runners in three days at ONE intersection by my parents' house.  Every time I was at that intersection, at least one car blew through.  Three years ago friends were totally tagged by a red light runner.  Houston driving is a death wish.  THUS... yeah, Austin has dummies... they'll piss you off but they probably won't kill you.  Houston is at the top of the Crazy/Hot scale with hot meaning sweaty, not pretty.

And oddly enough, just walked over to my neighbor's house, and he had some hideously newish car in his garage.  Asked him what that piece of crap was doing in his garage, and he told me they just got back from a trip the other day, and while driving through Houston, his truck was sideswiped by some clown trying to thread the needle from the left lane to their exit.  So he's stuck with a rental while his truck is in the shop.

Oddly enough, I drove Houston for a year and a half daily in 2009 and 2010, no accidents or incidents.

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2 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

And oddly enough, just walked over to my neighbor's house, and he had some hideously newish car in his garage.  Asked him what that piece of crap was doing in his garage, and he told me they just got back from a trip the other day, and while driving through Houston, his truck was sideswiped by some clown trying to thread the needle from the left lane to their exit.  So he's stuck with a rental while his truck is in the shop.

Oddly enough, I drove Houston for a year and a half daily in 2009 and 2010, no accidents or incidents.

Yeah, its a disaster there... not to mention you take that idiocy and then ramp it up to scale to fit on I-10.  Hard pass.  I dealt with it for decades.  At the same time, the only time my car was stolen was in Austin... a long ass time ago.  Even back then, insurance company told me Austin had a bigger car theft problem than Houston.  

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