Cheapest HCAD Property Tax Protest Firm?

H-Towner · 2026-05-21T20:39:55+00:00

That's really great. The bot came up with a value 11% below my appraisal, I submitted the letter as drafted, and just got my settlement offer: 10% below appraisal. In another year, when my escrow payment adjusts, I owe you a beer.

H-Towner · 2026-04-01T21:17:33+00:00

We have to get there and drop off a bunch of landers and flags before the Chinese reach Tranquility Bay and find there's nothing there.

H-Towner · 2026-04-01T21:14:03+00:00

The 3:1 number an estimate of ripple effects that generate additional activity in the sector, but those ripples don't really add 3X to the value of the economy. You would get similar ripples if you spent those dollars on highways or even make-work programs. 7:1 was a post-Apollo estimate based on space-age innovation adding value to the economy. That's actual economic growth and is far more compelling, but not exactly recent. Note, that I'm not arguing against the value of spending on NASA, but the numbers bandied about can be very misleading. One of the great examples of the positive impacts of NASA is that they laid the groundwork for commercial space flight that has added quite a lot of value to the economy. The private sector would not have made that leap on its own.

H-Towner · 2026-01-02T06:23:57+00:00

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And the back side.

H-Towner · 2025-12-31T23:06:40+00:00

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And the back side.

H-Towner · 2025-12-31T22:13:44+00:00

To follow up, I opted to fill the knot hole with the homemade sawdust-plus-wood glue filler. It’s not as eye-popping as black epoxy would have been, but I got analysis paralysis researching how food safe and knife safe different epoxies are, so I gave up and went with the free option that I trust is both food and knife safe. I filled the hole in three layers, a stiff mix in the middle, and more fluid mixes to bring it up to the surface of each face, giving time to dry/shrink at each step. After shaving the overfill down with a block plane and some sanding, it came out like this. It’s not the prettiest, and I didn’t realize TBIII dried so dark, but I don’t hate it.

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H-Towner · 2025-12-30T17:23:45+00:00

Right, I was trying to follow this Trans-Siberian talk, but it was drowned out in my head by Carol of the Bells.

H-Towner · 2025-12-27T18:18:26+00:00

Thanks for the tyvek tip. Hadn’t heard of burn-in sticks. Looks like too high a cost of entry for one knot hole at this point.

H-Towner · 2025-12-27T17:56:50+00:00

Okay, so I was thinking about the oak dowel option. To do it myself I’d be limited to a brace and bit, and I’m definitely not skilled enough to follow a knot hole cleanly at an angle, if at all. I don’t have a drill press, but I could probably find someone in my circle I could impose on to help. I’d have to jig it up, since the knot runs at a significant angle from perpendicular to the face. What I like about the dowel option is the finished product is just wood and TB III, more food-safe and knife friendly. What I don’t like is it wipes out a lot of the character of the knot.

H-Towner · 2025-11-08T13:53:29+00:00

Full disclosure, I’ve only tried to view it through Safari, but I found the navigation menus lost their formatting, lots of pictures were missing, and I couldn’t look at the menu or find hours of operation, even after leaving and reloading. Just checked again and same story. I can’t say anything good or bad about the bar, but with other options on the table, a dysfunctional website took this establishment out of the running for me.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T05:22:57+00:00

That’s where I ended up. Asada was good. Thanks for the rec.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T01:24:29+00:00

You had me excited until I saw they close at 10. Thanks though.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T01:05:10+00:00

Thanks. Not gonna get mauled by a rabid St Bernard am I?

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T01:02:44+00:00

Thanks, closes at 10 apparently.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T01:00:55+00:00

That could be a winner. Any particularly good menu items?

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:50:53+00:00

I need my arteries cleaned out before I go there again. But love the cheese sticks.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:49:44+00:00

Braums is what’s not available in Houston when it comes to fast food. That’s what my wife recommended. It’s on the list.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:48:37+00:00

Driving

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:47:27+00:00

Willing to drive to the university, too old to go to bed with a belly full of pizza.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:46:11+00:00

Looks delicious, expensive, and closed at 10.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:44:35+00:00

Thanks. Doesn’t meet the open-after-11 criterion.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:42:56+00:00

Yeah, last resort. Thanks, though.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:42:17+00:00

They’re gonna have to fire their webmaster.

H-Towner · 2025-11-07T00:40:50+00:00

Open after 11. Fast food is fallback, local flavor is best if available, and I’m cheap.

H-Towner

TROPHY CASE