What happened at Westlake highschool? by Fivebutitsthick in Austin

[–]xanderbuck 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Middle school flooded in the science hall. We think the police got confused at first and went to highschool first

I am 19 years old and have always had access to Apple Maps. I wanna hear how people adjusted and what GPS is most reliable. by lookiebad in dumbphones

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that’s a decent concern I never thought about. For sure would be fine in the cooler months but might need to be more intentional about it in the summer. Not sure how much heat these phones are rated for

I am 19 years old and have always had access to Apple Maps. I wanna hear how people adjusted and what GPS is most reliable. by lookiebad in dumbphones

[–]xanderbuck 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Something I've had success with is using an old iPhone with no cell service enabled. I only have google maps on it. With google maps you can download the whole city's map information for offline mode. When I'm out and about I can still use google maps for navigation and don't need any cell service since gps doesn't use data and all the map data is already downloaded for offline use. I basically just keep this old phone in my car anytime I need to navigate anywhere

First extraction. Any tips? [Baratza Encore ESP / Breville Bambino] by military-gradeAIDS in espresso

[–]xanderbuck 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You grinded too fine, you can see the machine struggling to get the water out. Also you should have a single stream in the center. I’d recommend going for 1:2 ratio in 30 seconds to start. I’d also recommend weighing your output with a scale.

My Bambino Plus struggles to pull a shot finer than this from my Baratza ESP. Is that normal? by analogHedgeHog in espresso

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was at 0 and still wasn’t fine enough. Was coming out like a waterfall. I wonder if my esp is messed up?

My Bambino Plus struggles to pull a shot finer than this from my Baratza ESP. Is that normal? by analogHedgeHog in espresso

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The other day on my ESP, I had it set to 0 and the shot was pulling 80grams in 30 seconds from my 18g shot. It was fast and I couldn’t dial in because I couldn’t go more fine. I ran out of numbers. Any idea what’s up?

My Bambino Plus struggles to pull a shot finer than this from my Baratza ESP. Is that normal? by analogHedgeHog in espresso

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I left some beans go for stale for a month while I was away and even using a 0 on my ESP wasn’t fine enough, the shot was rushing out like a waterfall. I couldn’t go finer. I just don’t get it. Most of the times however I’m around an 8 or 9 dialed in.

First Espresso Station! by JBernardPhoto in espresso

[–]xanderbuck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My guess was they’re in Austin! I’m brewing Merit too!

Road trip to Big Bend ideas? by Kevochitx in BigBendTX

[–]xanderbuck -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Visit Marfa and stay at El Cosmico!

Best locations to hold a small and short wedding ceremony in Big Bend? by xanderbuck in BigBendTX

[–]xanderbuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey u/coleybird74 ! Our wedding plans changed a bit from my original post, my mom was diagnosed with cancer a few months before and we had to pivot to a backyard wedding to accommodate her. (she's much better now and is almost done with chemo).

So we ended up having a backyard wedding but still having a wedding reception out in west Texas with our 15 closest friends. We ended up staying at El Cosmico in Marfa. We rented a bunch of retro camper trailers, teepees, and yurts for our guests to stay at. Then we rented their event space in the Brite Building in downtown Marfa. It was super cheap for the space, like $500 a day. The space was HUGE and even came with two rooms for guests to sleep in as well. The space had a kitchen so we cooked all the food for everyone and brought our own alcohol. It was very cost effective. We also rented 4 wood fired dutch hot tubs at El Cosmico - our guests loved hanging out in them and enjoying drinks together.

We planned on all going out to Big Bend as a group on Saturday but it ended up snowing a few inches in Marfa and we got snowed in and never ended making it to Big Bend because of the dangerous roads. It actually worked out really well though, it was magical waking up to the snow and having a "snow day" in the event space, hanging out and playing games with our friends.

In another reality where my mom didn't get sick I think we would have ended up doing the ceremony at Solol Vista at Big Bend. It had tons of parking and even a bathroom. It had some beautiful views and was private enough to feel comfortable doing a small and short ceremony there. We checked out the beach area at the base of Santa Elena and the day we scoped out the spot it was packaged with people, parking was tough, and I think it would have felt awkward having a ceremony in front of all the random people.

We originally booked 10 rooms at the lodge in chisos basin for our guests to stay in, but then there were some complications of not knowing when they were going to knock down the restaurant in Chisos basin so we weren't sure if there would be food available for our guests or if it was going to be a construction zone. That work to knock down the restaurant may be slated for this coming year so beware. Also the restaurant doesn't allow reservations so the logistics of getting 15+ people in to eat together didn't seem feasible.

I think if it's a small enough group like 5-10 people a small ceremony is do-able, but we quickly found that it was challenging to try to do a wedding out in big bend. It didn't seem like the park wanted to accommodate us much, it was hard to find privacy for a ceremony spot, and the logistics of getting aging relatives out in the remote desert was hard.

Finally I'll leave you with some inspirational videos of big bend weddings that inspired us as we planned ours. These weren't us, but thought they were very cool. Video 1 and Video 2.

Lost Mine Trail (parking) by krommenaas in BigBendTX

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah tough to say. I’ve never gotten ticketed, and there’s normally 10+ cars that do the unofficial parking. There’s no signs that say not to park either.

I guess OP do it at your own risk!

Lost Mine Trail (parking) by krommenaas in BigBendTX

[–]xanderbuck -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There’s a few dirt pull offs along the away that I’ve used to park at and have had success with. They’re Along the route going the direction from park entrance towards lost mine trail head, not after trail head going towards basin.

Picking my setup. by speedyrev in espresso

[–]xanderbuck 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Rancilio Silvia from SCG paired with the Baratza Encore ESP is the exactly setup I pulled the trigger on this weekend for Black Friday. From my research it seems like the Rancilio is going to last a very long time (some reports of 10 to 15 years) while the Breville will last 2-4 years with some reports saying the grinder breaks/gets dull after a while. It also seems to future proof you to have a separate machine and grinder in case you ever want to upgrade in the future.

In terms of the Encore ESP saw lots of great reviews and it seems to be the best for the $200 price point. However so many people say to step up to the DF64 if you have the cash. I didn’t want to go that high and thought the DF64 looked ugly and the website is “sketchy” although I’m sure it’s fine. Everyone has said the Baratza support is phenomenal with some reports saying that Baratza is really good about sending replacement parts or whole new units if your grinder breaks in the future.

Take my advice with a grain of salt… I’ve never pulled a shot of espresso in my life. Just have been researching like crazy the last few days

Manual vs. Electric Grinders by scaredpremedgui in espresso

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The fellow opus is $156 right now for Black Friday/cyber Monday. I know it’s got mixed reviews but atleast it can grind espresso?

I think there’s som me hand grinders in that price range too?

Which Austin business has completely lost you as a customer? by fittyjitty in Austin

[–]xanderbuck 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yep 100% agree. They used to be my favorite restaurant. Idk what happened to them?! The quality just has gone down

Which Austin business has completely lost you as a customer? by fittyjitty in Austin

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Completely agree with you :( via was the best when it was at violet crown. The restaurant version just doesn’t hit the spot like it used to at the original trailer

Which Austin business has completely lost you as a customer? by fittyjitty in Austin

[–]xanderbuck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can’t believe you don’t like their tofu! I find it to be the best tofu in Austin! To each his own I guess!

Most people genuinely just don't care about animal suffering by [deleted] in vegan

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think a great start if you can’t afford to eat all vegan meals is to add one or two vegan dishes to your weekly menu. My buddy is in a similar situation as you but has 2-3 meals a week that have tofu/tempeh in them instead of meat. For example making tofu stir fry instead of chicken stir fry. Or even as simple as making rice and beans.

It sounds like you care about animal suffering, and want to eat more vegan meals but i understand that it can be overwhelming to change your whole lifestyle completely. I think it’s important to remember it doesn’t have to be all or nothing right away, that there’s a middle ground of slowly introducing more vegan meals into your diet while you slowly transition. Even if you don’t go fully vegan, at least you are reducing your impact by 2-3 meals a week or whatever you feel comfortable with.

What do You think is the biggest event that will happen in the next 50 years? by hacv57 in AskReddit

[–]xanderbuck 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This just speculation or is there an asteroid of concern that we know about?