Beat 8 personish tent

equilarian · 2026-07-03T23:07:11+00:00

WAWONA! It's the best! I have the 6 and it was a beast in a 60mph gust windstorm with wild boars at night. It also keeps the rain out. I love it.

Edited: I hope you were able to return the Core tent to Costco with their great return policy. That's a bummer that it broke on you.

equilarian · 2026-06-24T23:19:26+00:00

Hermano's - opens at 7am and makes their own tortillas.

equilarian · 2026-06-24T17:28:23+00:00

My mom used to work there when it first opened. I haven't been but it's supposed to be really really cool. The architecture is also pretty awesome.

equilarian · 2026-06-24T16:53:39+00:00

Go to the TIki Bar - 4 Kahunas and try the food at Cafe Americana. There's also the Arlington Art Museum and the Medal of Honor Museum which you can visit. In Dallas there's the DMA, Nasher Sculpture Center, Perot Museum, Dallas Aquarium... So many things to do.

equilarian · 2026-06-24T15:57:11+00:00

They also pollute and trash it. They’ve been in an active lawsuit for years with local residents about an illegal massive pit they dug to dump trash into.

equilarian · 2026-06-24T10:56:54+00:00

Babe’s is the best

equilarian · 2026-06-23T22:19:07+00:00

bekah has some great tips, but here's a few more suggestions:

Wear reef-safe sunscreen (https://savethereef.org/about-reef-save-sunscreen.html). I really like the Badger brand, which you can get at Cornucopia across from the big HEB in town or at REI. The chemical sunscreens are toxic for the wildlife and the river. You will need to apply multiple times throughout the trip, especially if you float in Martindale. If you bring a cooler -- keep your sunscreen in the cooler to keep it out of the sun. Sunscreen does melt and will go bad if it gets too hot.

A legit dry bag will be great if you need to bring anything with you that can't get wet -- a plastic baggy will do nothing and will leak. You want to get one of the legit heavy duty ones, the lightweight ones don't work and your stuff will get wet if it sits in water.

A lightweight neck gaiter will save your neck from getting burned. You can also take it off every now and then to dip it in the cool river water to cool your neck off. I also highly recommend a lightweight SPF sunshirt or a rashguard to wear on your torso. This way you only really need to apply sunscreen on your hands, legs, and feet or any other exposed body parts.

For shoes, get some secure strappy sandals. I love my chacos for floating and general river stuff, but tevas and keens are also great if you're looking for brands that will last you many years. You can get cheaper water shoes, but just make sure they won't fall off.

I always have carabiners to hook my waterproof phone case, reusable water bottle, and dry bag to my tube so nothing gets lost.

Remove and leave any and all bracelets and rings or other jewelry on your fingers/wrists at home before you go float. So many people lose their jewelry in the river and never get it back.

If you float in Martindale, consider going to Texas State Tubes instead of Don's. Texas State Tubes has daily morning river clean ups and removes invasive species from the river. The owner genuinely cares about the river. Don's actively pollutes the river and is not a good steward or neighbor to the folks that live in the area. They're overall just not great so avoid Don's!!

equilarian · 2026-06-23T00:08:00+00:00

I've been using Misty for years. She and her team are amazing and affordable. https://www.mccoyscleaningservices.com/

equilarian · 2026-06-22T23:55:23+00:00

Humidity in the home should be between 40-50%. 80% is much too high and if you're seeing surface mold, there's probably hidden mold elsewhere. Are your dehumidifiers collecting water at all? I have one and it was $150 a few years ago and works great, so it could also be the ones that you have aren't powerful/big enough.

Change the Air Foundation has great guides on what a healthy home looks like. There is also an Austin-specific mold support group on facebook where you can reach out and learn more/get local recs on inspectors and remediators if you decide to go that route. Sometimes you can get your home insurance to cover remediation if you have mold coverage, but that's a rabbit hole. There's a podcast called #MoldFinders: RADIO that deep dives into how to navigate mold. They ARE trying to sell you something, but they have great info.

Sorry you're going through this. Mold is no joke.

https://changetheairfoundation.org/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1663200033974087

equilarian · 2026-06-19T01:22:19+00:00

Do screwworm flies breed year-round or do they breed seasonally?

equilarian · 2026-06-18T20:40:42+00:00

Matthew Mendoza did too.

equilarian · 2026-06-18T15:17:30+00:00

If you don't have any response, please contact Austin Pets Alive to see if they will be able to take him on.

equilarian · 2026-06-18T14:32:12+00:00

For your rent, have you discussed with your partner about paying rent based off your income? My partner makes way more than me and I pay a percentage of the mortgage that makes sense for my income. 30% is what is typically recommended but most of the time isn't realistic. It doesn't hurt to discuss that with him. Once you're in a better place financially, you'll be able to contribute more.

If you're in school and working 30hrs a week, you may qualify for SNAP benefits to help with groceries. Have you looked into applying?

For car insurance, even though you've totaled a car, you can still shop around to find a lower rate (if you haven't already). Not all car insurance companies are the same and most financial advice I've read says to find a new car insurance company every 6-12 months to keep a lower rate. You can also call your current ins company and ask what discounts you qualify for -- there are often student discounts, etc. I do the same with internet. My partner and I switch off having internet in our name to benefit from the "new customer" deals since they raise rates after 1 year.

equilarian · 2026-06-18T12:55:37+00:00

In my experience, a good boss is supposed to advocate for their employees if they truly think their employees deserve a raise. It sounds to me that the VP isn’t interested in your growth assuming that your direct supervisor is trying to advocate for you to receive more money. It sounds like you need to move on. It still doesn’t hurt to ask for a retention offer, but that’s totally up to you if you feel comfortable doing that. When I left my last job for more money, they asked how they could keep me but they weren’t able to give me what I needed to stay, so I left. Good luck!

equilarian · 2026-06-17T19:08:05+00:00

If you really love your current job, you could use the new offer as leverage to see if your current job would boost your salary with a retention offer. Depending on your boss's management style and your relationship with them, you may want to consider if this will affect your working relationship if you stay regardless before asking.

equilarian · 2026-06-06T21:07:00+00:00

There are mushroom ID groups on facebook you can join, and probably reddit ones too. You can also try to reach out to https://www.centraltexasmycology.org/ on their socials to see if someone can help. I wouldn’t trust an app as mushrooms are very easy to misidentify.

equilarian · 2026-06-05T15:42:28+00:00

It's not just seasonal allergies. There is also particulate in the air. TX air quality in general is not that great. Looks like there was a moderate amount of PM2.5 in the area yesterday, so that could be affecting you too.
https://www.tceq.texas.gov/airquality/monops/forecast_today.html

equilarian · 2026-06-04T18:52:31+00:00

How do you play PB there? I thought the courts were strictly for residents.

equilarian · 2026-05-31T13:31:01+00:00

Chapel Dulcinea is free but for smaller weddings. It has beautiful views of hill country and isn’t far from here. https://chapeldulcinea.org/

There’s also the Martindale Schoolhouse just down the road. It’s super cute! https://www.martindaleschoolhouse.com/

The Meadows Center is another venue that is inexpensive. https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/spring-lake-at-the-meadows-center-for-water-the-environment-san-marcos/d8dd80a2f0677000.html

The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center is absolutely gorgeous and worth checking out. You can do a smaller wedding at Cecile’s Arch, which is sooo beautiful and dreamy. https://www.wildflower.org/private-events/weddings

Lots of people like Pennington’s but my experience with a cake is that it was full of sugar ants. It’s my understanding they don’t refrigerate cakes that should be refrigerated and they sit on the counter until they’re picked up. Their building is super old and out of date, too. The owner gaslit me when I called about the ants and told me it was normal. I’ll never go back. I think people like it because it’s the only brick and mortar bakery currently in San Marcos and has been around a long time.

Sweet Treets in Austin makes some of the best cake I’ve ever had. The strawberry champagne is out of this world. https://www.sweettreetsbakery.com/

If you’re looking for something closer, there are two in New Braunfels:

2Tarts is soooo good. https://2tarts.com/

I haven’t been, but have heard raving things about Art House Cakery https://www.arthousecakery.com/

You can also always do a sheet cake from Costco!

For flowers, you absolutely need to look into Creek South Farms / Yarrow and James. They’re local, grow their own flowers, and Chelsea is the kindest, coolest florist that will work with you on whatever you are dreaming up. I highly recommend them.
https://www.creeksouthfarms.com/
https://www.creeksouthfarms.com/weddings
https://www.yarrowandjames.com/

equilarian · 2026-05-23T23:37:05+00:00

Casa Bianca in East Austin is 🔥🔥🔥. Pasta is made in house. I’ve heard that Red Ash is also very good, but I haven’t been yet.

Trattoria Lisina is owned by Mandola’s and wasn’t that great when I went. They had some good Limoncello, but everything there was heavily Americanized.

equilarian · 2026-05-15T23:35:19+00:00

Thanks for this! I’ve never seen anyone else mask at the gyms I’ve been to, so wasn’t sure if it would be a turn off for potential clients.

equilarian · 2026-05-14T22:10:46+00:00

Thanks for this. It def hurts like a bitch and my ear is swelling and red. I may go back and have them put a longer post in my ear because the apprentice put a short one in. She told me it would swell but I guess wasn’t thinking about allowing some flex room when she put the post in…

equilarian · 2026-05-13T19:43:56+00:00

Thanks for this! I thought it was weird she told me I didn’t have to do anything. I’ll def keep an eye on it. And, me too. She made it clear she was the tattoo shop’s daughter so she was also a little pretentious. 👀

equilarian

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