Useless Conversation

[MuffinMan]

I'm sure the water in the puddle was much nastier than what was coming from the sky. I can't imagine all the shit that's lacing the roads with what little rain we get.

[Morat20]

I'm sure the water in the puddle was much nastier than what was coming from the sky. I can't imagine all the shit that's lacing the roads with what little rain we get.

He was wearing a poncho. Surely that was sufficient. :)

Actually it'd been raining hard enough for long enough that the worst of it was probably gone. The first 15 or 20 minutes of rain is the worst, when the water on the road is mixed with oils and other crap.

[ghost]

Hey, you live in super clean and super cool Austin.  I'm sure there's nothing but gold dust on those streets.   

[Ingmar]

Good luck in Texas, don't get washed away.

I'm still trying to figure out if I should feel guilty about hitting a puddle as I passed a guy on a bike.

On the one hand, it was pouring down rain and he was already soaked. On the other hand, my car threw up a ton of water that had to piss him off when it hit. On the third hand, it was raining to fucking hard I was lucky to see him peddling away on the sidewalk. I didn't see the puddle until right as I hit it.

He was biking on the sidewalk? Don't feel bad at all then, bikes are vehicles and belong on the road. 

[Lantyssa]

Around here biking on the road will get you killed as they aren't sized for it.  I much prefer they're on the sidewalk.  It's not like we have pedestrians.  It's too hot, too humid, and too far to walk anywhere.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Good luck in Texas, don't get washed away.

It's nothing we haven't seen before.  We just haven't seen it in five months, which is really unusual for us.

Okay, 5 months without significant rainfall?  Time to scratch Texas off the list of "places to move to without telling the relatives where we went" if that's how things are.  Well, that and the whole humidity thing you got going on.

Power is restored, yay!  I didn't realize how much I'd miss my little cube until I had to sit somewhere else for a while.  Noisy building was noisy.  I'm happily used to the noises around my building, everywhere else sounds wrong when you're trying to work.

[MuffinMan]

Depends on where you're at in Texas, I think. Only once in a while do I complain about the humidity. I may just be used to it now, though.

[Johny Cee]

Last day of work is next Friday....   Nothing like having all of July off.

[ghost]

San Antonio and Austin are on the verge of the Hill Country, which is essentially desert.  San Antonio tends to get more humid than Austin though because we are closer to the plains leading up to the coast, which can get very humid.  It's been just plain hot this year though. 

[Morat20]

And Houston is, of course, like living in the world's hottest swamp.

[Minvaren]

Houston pretty much is a swamp, what with how you have to float a house's slab down here...

[Strazos]

I got splashed by a car going through a puddle last year, on foot on the sidewalk...it was not fun. 

Now, I'm paranoid every time it rains and I'm walking outside.

[Lantyssa]

Okay, 5 months without significant rainfall?  Time to scratch Texas off the list of "places to move to without telling the relatives where we went" if that's how things are.  Well, that and the whole humidity thing you got going on.

That's why it's a major drought.  Normally Houston has a good amount of rainfall.  It's still hot and humid during summer though.

There are desert areas in Texas, but then we have a lot of different biomes.

[ghost]

Yeah, Texas is really enormous.  West Texas is a true desert, but East Texas gets a lot of rain.  Then there's the plains in the northern part which also get a fair amount of rain (think Kansas and tornados). 

[Morat20]

Yeah, Texas is really enormous.  West Texas is a true desert, but East Texas gets a lot of rain.  Then there's the plains in the northern part which also get a fair amount of rain (think Kansas and tornados). 

I've driven to New Mexico a few times. Nothing really drives home how fucking LARGE Texas is like learning the drive from Houston to El Paso is  longer than the drive from Houston to the Florida panhandle.

[Murgos]

I've driven to New Mexico a few times. Nothing really drives home how fucking LARGE Texas is like learning the drive from Houston to El Paso is  longer than the drive from Houston to the Florida panhandle.

I drove across the US on I-10 once, from San Diego to where I-10 meets I-75 outside of Pensacola.  By time almost half the trip was spent in the state of Texas.

[ghost]

Yeah, Texas is really enormous.  West Texas is a true desert, but East Texas gets a lot of rain.  Then there's the plains in the northern part which also get a fair amount of rain (think Kansas and tornados). 

I've driven to New Mexico a few times. Nothing really drives home how fucking LARGE Texas is like learning the drive from Houston to El Paso is  longer than the drive from Houston to the Florida panhandle.

Oh god, that trip from SA to El Paso is fucking miserable.  Don't let your gas get below half full if it's dark or you may not find a station open, lol. 

From SA, I can drive 7 hours in any direction and I'm either in the ocean, Mexico or Texas. 

[Chimpy]

A friend of mine in college was from Texas and had moved from Dallas to L.A. and said he realized just how big Texas was when he passed the halfway point from Dallas to L.A. and still had not crossed into New Mexico.

[MuffinMan]

Speaking of our bigass state, I've got four days off for the 4th of July and was thinking of taking a trip to either Dallas or Houston. Would there be enough to keep me entertained? Might take the train to Dallas, drive to Houston.

[Ingmar]

Work drama (not directly involving me) escalating to the point where I am updating my resume for the first time in 11 years. 

[Rasix]

Heh, I'll be having my skip level next Friday.  At that point I won't have had a day off in 3 weeks.  SHOULD BE FUN.

[ghost]

Speaking of our bigass state, I've got four days off for the 4th of July and was thinking of taking a trip to either Dallas or Houston. Would there be enough to keep me entertained? Might take the train to Dallas, drive to Houston.

Go see the Rangers play the Orioles on the 4th.  It's a fun park and you could see the fireworks.  I personally like Dallas better than Houston, but they both have pretty good night life. 

[Lantyssa]

Speaking of our bigass state, I've got four days off for the 4th of July and was thinking of taking a trip to either Dallas or Houston. Would there be enough to keep me entertained? Might take the train to Dallas, drive to Houston.

Probably, but I live here so I have no clue what any of that might be.

What are you in to?  There's enough of us in Houston that I'm sure we can think of things if we know what you like.

[MuffinMan]

My main interest while on vacation is food. I feel we don't really have any regional cuisine here in Austin unless you consider food trailers local faire. I've probably eaten my weight in BBQ since I moved to here. I love looking at interesting architecture as well, don't know if Houston or Dallas would as good for that as NE cities would be. Probably visit an art musuem, maybe a zoo, usual touristy stuffs.

I've been thinking also about just buying the cheapest flight I can find to any destination. Not having a car that way would be a hamstring, though.

[Minvaren]

Dunno about Dallas, but Houston has (or used to have) one of the highest number of restaurants per capita.  It's not really regional cuisine, though, it's more along the lines of "we have some excellent restaurants of virtually every fare."

For nearby regional cuisine, maybe New Braunfels?

[Morat20]

Depends on whereabouts in Houston you stay, too. Houston's very sprawled.

[Engels]

oh sure, Texans HAVE to talk about Texas in the biggest page count thread of the forum. Figures!

[MuffinMan]

Well, I'm sure we'll be back to talking about apples in a page or so.

[Trippy]

Morat20's post moved to:

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=20950.0

[ghost]

I love looking at interesting architecture as well, don't know if Houston or Dallas would as good for that as NE cities would be.

This isn't really architecture, but the JFK book repository museum is pretty cool to see.  You can look out the window from which Oswald fired the shot.  It's pretty creepy,  because I can't imagine a better spot for shooting someone like that.  Also there are a lot of good restaurants in Dallas, but I don't think I would call them "regional" (unless you count steak as regional ). 

[MuffinMan]

I might just take five days off and drive west, see if I can make it to the Grand Canyon.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Time to get ready for the Jimmy Buffett concert at Alpine Valley.  We've got VIP parking and are leaving early to avoid construction and just hang out until the show begins.

[Merusk]

Time to get ready for the Jimmy Buffett concert at Alpine Valley.  We've got VIP parking and are leaving early to avoid construction and just hang out until the show begins.

That always appears to be the best part of a Buffett concert.  He hasn't done it in a few years, but in the late 90's/ early 00's he'd sell out 3-4 shows in Cincinnati and it was always a huge party.  Many a friend came in to class/ studio very green the day after.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Oh yeah, nothing beats people watching at a Buffett concert.  It's amazing what people (especially guys) will dress up in, lol!

[Minvaren]

People-watching at a Weird Al concert has to be a close second.   

...thought I couldn't figure out if it was the punkers or the nuns I was more surprised to see...