State worker. New buildings, built and planned before Covid. Like an army prepared to fight the last war, not the next war. For now we go in 2x per week. Personally I enjoy the one day of face to face, but more than that isn't necessary.
State employment in TX no longer offers a pension to new hires. Salary bumps haven't really kept up with inflation, let alone student debt and central Texas home prices. Management appears to think 2-3 days remote is the way forward for now (begrudgingly). The thing is, they think they have control. They don't. Market forces will dictate the moves of C suite executives. They compete for talent. In public service the trade off for marginal salary is work/life balance and benefits. Pension is hamstrung for new folks (if it ever was truly good). They will simply have to let people remote work. Maybe in the office 1 or 2x per month. Then folks could afford to live in Temple or Lampasas or Luling. I bought in 2007, so I had minimal grad debt, ATX home lottery ticket winner, and grandfather pension (retire at 52 w/o inflation adjusted pension). Now we can only afford to hire trust fund kids and folks with tech job $ spouses. I'd never be able to make it if I started now.
Near Mullin, west of 183. Never saw pigs as roadkill on 183 until the last year or two. I know a neighbor just a mile or so west on 573 that has been fighting them for years, so it was always inevitable. We have a wet weather creek, but no tank. I think they've just missed us until now.
Don't really want em, but I don't like venison so I don't really pull a deer license most years. But as owner I can hunt em year round (right?).
My neighborhood land value has gone up ($100k to $400k) in the past few years. A little hard to swallow, but also homes have been bought and torn down for >$400k... so yeah. They might be throwing darts, but they ain't too wrong on that point either.
Did a little work at the hole and round this fella under the treehouse. Broad banded copperhead. Maybe 2.5ft long and as pretty stout.
Enhance!:
Figuring he liked the water trough that had a few inches of rain in it, I dumped the trough. The ruckus made him hide in the bucket, which with convenient nope rope handle and a long painter extension pole made it easy to relocate a ways yonder. In laws wanted me to kill it, but I stayed my hand. So i think we are cool now.
Probably just bad winds? Or are you suggesting the NWS and local media are in cahoots to suppress a tornado touchdown (I don't recall a tornado warning being issued, so I can sort of see it)?
183/Spicewood. I put on some cardboard and 6 ~30" 2x4 scraps to weight it down and that wind just done blew em right the fuck off. I think we dodged the hailz though.
I read through hiker websites that chronicle gear setups. Not sure if I'll ever do that kind of thing, but the gear head in us fascinated. So what does your load out look like?
I should have checked this board and thread sooner. I studied in Finland and traveled quite a bit. Too bad you can't take the train to St Petersburg - the Hermitage is one of the world's treasures.
Finland: we used to have reindeer stew every Wednesday. Lol. Olavinlinna is my fab European castle. Smack dav in the river. Finns and Swedes are big vacation cabin people. Sauna and cut a hole in the ice. Old winter war fortifications in Savonlinna. Watching Northern Games ski jump in Lahti. Ice hotel/bar in Rovaniemi + northern lights.
Ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki is a good way save a night if time is tight. Tallinn in amazing - old walled Hamseatic League town is gorgeous. Helsinki to Tallinn ferry is a trip: working class Finns getting FUCKED on all you can drink beer at buffet, duty free Saku, and trashy euro disco.
I loved Visby as a trip out of Stockholm. Another old Hanseatic League town. I think they have a hydrofoil ferry.
Estonia: had good times at the Maximatti (literally "black market"), basically a good old Texas/Mexican flea market).
One side (in part) down to 5 ft below first set of shoring. Aboyt 9 ft total. Now the ladder is on a ledge and I need to switch sides. I still have to widen things. That may be a trip by itself. Probably time to start gathering and cutting the timber for the next set.
Lately I've been moving the spoils to ruts in my internal ranch roads. One good gully washer will probably wash the fine stuff away, but maybe it'll help.
Second batch of 10 silver buffalos came today. So far I'm liking this putting $100 aside each month. Got a nice full tube thus far that I wouldn't have purchased otherwise.
I've got some sterling silverware. Trying to decide if I should just try to trade it for the equivalent weight in bullion (~82 oz per old assay). Kind of a hassle to put in a safe. Probably hasn't been used since Easter '85. at least coins are easy to store. I know survivalist types are convinced the sterling has useful health properties, but I can't imagine breaking out the good stuff in an emergency. Gotta clean that stuff all particular and such.
If some of these people are dead because the same person/persons have been drugging them to rob them... isn't that still a serial killer even if the motivation isn't total psycho shit?
Pully system! Worked pretty well. I could hook up a bucket, climb the ladder, and haul it up. Probably only got another 6" deep, but kiddo didn't want me to dig all day. Fair.
Entities don't set the tax rate until they know the tax base (when appraisals are done). Which is why everyone went insane at the 40% market value jumps last year, only to quietly shrug at the actual change in taxes. Except for those dudes about to reply to me....
I don't know. The deeper I get, the more complicated it gets logistically. The neighbors well is 40' last I heard, so at some point there I will find a hard cap. But I'm hoping to get like 20' or 24'. For now I am just motivated to do one 4' section at a time. And then when i get as deep as feels right, I'll go lateral (if I can figure out a good way to shore up).
BTW - anyone Surly in Austin have kitty litter buckets? I find they are a good size with sturdy handles. Mine are starting to wear out. And free is good. PM and I'll pick them up, if I can.
After Mass, hauled ass to move to mass. The plywood rested in top of the bolts, to I was afraid critters could slither in. Made a little 1x2 frame around, and screwed and glued it down.
Not sure how much rain it got, but the hole was very dry. Sides and pond liner seem to be working out.
Shallow side now about 3 ft deep. Nearly level with the other side although it has a little trench so the 8 ft ladder fits in the hole such that I can just plop the plywood on top.
Cut a little shelf about 36.5". Makes it handy to move stuff. Hole now pretty much too deep to life bucket over my head and push to the side. This is basically how I leave things before closing it up.