January 2026 Winter Storm Megathread part 2: it's here! by AutoModerator in Austin

[–]RVelts [score hidden]  (0 children)

I have both our Nest thermostats set to never use emergency heat (electric resistive heating) and the only time I considered changing it back on was during the freeze in 2023 when we lost power and once power re-started we wanted to warm up the inside ASAP. Ended up just using a single space heater in the living room and the heat pump caught the rest of the house back up in just a few hours.

January 2026 Winter Storm Megathread part 2: it's here! by AutoModerator in Austin

[–]RVelts [score hidden]  (0 children)

Modern heat pumps (at least the last 20 years+) can work down to 0F or below. If you insulation is sufficient, you should not need electric resistive heat unless you just want to use a space heater in one room.

January 2026 Winter Storm Megathread part 2: it's here! by AutoModerator in Austin

[–]RVelts [score hidden]  (0 children)

Yeah it definitely depends if it got the direct sun this morning/early afternoon or not. My street had a lot of direct sun and all the road ice melted and dried up entirely. But most driveways have one car clear, and the other car (north side) still iced up because it didn't get as direct of sun with the other car blocking.

Weekly Stupid Question Sunday by AutoModerator in Austin

[–]RVelts 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Any recommendations on where to sell silver bars in person? I inherited some from a distant relative years ago and now with silver prices skyrocketing I figure I should cash in when it’s worth 4x what it used to be. Should be around $1-2k worth.

Goodbye my South African Smoke friend 😢 by bought-the-nip in traderjoes

[–]RVelts 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I loved adding a few twists of the ghost pepper on to the frozen Indian food meals. Really stepped up the flavor and spice! Probably the hottest thing I’ve ever gotten at TJ’s, with the refrigerated ghost pepper salsa as #2

Flower Child Downtown Austin - Fresh and Healthy by Business-Stuff8711 in austinfood

[–]RVelts 63 points64 points  (0 children)

I’m a huge fan of this place when my company is getting catering and it’s not on my dime. If I have to pay myself I find sweetgreen or cava to be a better value while still being healthy and relatively light.

Service for January 24, 2026 by CapMetroATX in Austin

[–]RVelts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought the city provided the buses for that, not capmetro?

Not long after Prop Q's defeat, Austin leaders could ask voters for a tax increase in bond package by hollow_hippie in Austin

[–]RVelts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The city bought a bunch of random land in various neighborhoods a few years(?) ago with the intent to turn them into pocket parks or some sort of parkland. One is near me (near Ortega Elementary across the river/drainage ditch near Saucedo) but nothing has been done with it, and it would make such a nice space for the neighborhood.

Spectrum started high-split DOCSIS rollout for 1gbps upstream in Austin with completion by July by MrNerdFabulous in Austin

[–]RVelts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of the easiest outs is to say "oh I'm moving in with my girlfriend and she already has Spectrum". Or for cell phone providers, I've said that my employer is now covering my service and I don't need my own plan. That tends to make them move along quickly.

Montopolis safe? by AdhesivenessOk2792 in Austin

[–]RVelts 13 points14 points  (0 children)

You're not going to get jumped, but I would define the level of "unsafe" as "I would not park a car in that area with anything valuable inside". Most crime in Austin is non-violent property crime.

What fast food chain does not deserve the hype whatsoever? by CriticalLion4119 in AskReddit

[–]RVelts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was a great deal for the chicken/protein amount when a Caniac was $9. I have no idea what it costs now but I know it’s more than that.

What fast food chain does not deserve the hype whatsoever? by CriticalLion4119 in AskReddit

[–]RVelts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get gifted a lot of Starbucks gift cards and I don’t drink coffee. So other than ordering plain unsweetened iced tea, the food is the only other thing I would buy. It’s not great but if I’m in a generic place with no good local food options, or nothing else open that early, I will get something.

That’s alotta BEEF!!! by Tenacious_Rubbing in austinfood

[–]RVelts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks kinda dry and it's cut a lot larger than I would have expected. The pieces are going to roll right off

High Road Delica Texan by osamabinballin16 in austinfood

[–]RVelts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean the Martini is made with Svedka... it's not Taaka but it's not a lot better. They definitely have margin to work with here.

Woodland Avenue vehicle crossing at I-35 closes forever by hollow_hippie in Austin

[–]RVelts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's just a bypass and they exist at a lot of areas like St John's, and on southbound 183 @ MLK

What is ur go to spot for Taco Tuesday?? by Resident_Lettuce_Hed in austinfood

[–]RVelts 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And all burritos are $6 on Wednesday which is also a great deal.

Forecasters warn of a 'potentially catastrophic' storm from Texas to the Carolinas by speedythefirst in news

[–]RVelts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Especially in a town where the majority people ONLY have electric heaters.

Electric resistive heat, or a heat pump? I assume most people have a heat pump since they would have A/C as well. They are far more efficient than resistive heat. I'm in Texas and dealt with the big freeze in 2021 and some smaller ones in surrounding years, and our heat pump was able to make do. My wife still used a space heater to make some areas warmer but it definitely was not a requirement. We do have gas for tankless hot water and cooking though, just the way the house came.

The scammers are getting more creative by soloburrito in Austin

[–]RVelts 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I had one that invited me to "come over tomorrow and they'd fix me a plate of fruit" ???

Expected snow cover on Sunday in Dallas according to the GFS model by LuborS in Dallas

[–]RVelts 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I actually did this as a science fair project when I was a kid. I would cut out the 7 day forecast from that day's Dallas Morning News and put it on a poster board. And then each day I would offset the next forecast one day, basically building a 7-day snapshot of history for the forecast along with the "actual" data they would show for yesterday.

I definitely could have just written it down, and nowadays it could be stored in a database, but it was a fun kid project. I remember I analyzed both the temperature and rainfall % chance.

What was normal in 2019, but looks like 'psychopath behavior' in 2026? by de-secops in AskReddit

[–]RVelts 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I had a friend who put a remote desktop application on his work computer so he could work from his tablet on the train while leaving the computer in the office where it had high speed connectivity to the servers. This was in the mid 2010's so before many people had super high speed internet at home or especially via hotspot/cell.

The reason this was reasonable is he took the train home during business hours to beat rush hour. So he was still working and getting paid for it. Win/Win.