They look a little ridiculous but Oasis by Focus has some coming soon.

Is that Colin Robinson?

The Dumb Zone. I promise. I pay for an annual sub. Good fun with some sports mixed in.

Shared experiences help with longer term relationships. I regret I’m not focusing on the finding part but more of identifying how to hold onto it. I think the shared experiences matter more than how you find the people.

I’ve done this specifically by playing a video game, joining a clan, and joining the discord. I focused on who I clicked with most and spent time with them. I also think making some effort to meet IRL helps after a while. Having a game or a hobby in common isn’t really enough because it can be very thin. If you don’t care about any IRL things then force other shared experiences that are tangential to what brought you together. That helps me too.

Climb down off of your soapbox. Amazon is what it is because of early strategic decision making and long term shittiness. I’m talking about aggregation and exposure to semi-local partners.

I’m trying to use Ebay more often but the source is hard to verify.

I just wish there was an aggregator that isn’t Walmart or Amazon or Temu. I try really hard to spread my shopping around and actually buy local when I can. It just sucks Amazon is so easy.

I take full responsibility for myself. I try to shop independently when possible.

My only comment here is that I run a small business and decisions can occur that I don’t always see up front and with which they negatively impact employees or customers. I also know many large clients where the leadership delegates decisions down to sometimes stupid or misguided staff. The balance here comes to how a leader reacts when they learn of the hurtful actions and is there an opportunity for change.

Photosphere. Fuck you Google.

Pixel 8. Solid. No issues. Fuck AI.

I am jealous of the small iPhone or pixel 6 owners. I like small phones. Having a Google Pixel has been very good for me and the family. IOS is just too lazy to me.

I used to root phones all of the time. It got cumbersome and I caved. With a pixel I get regular updates and features. It’s not the best but it’s predictable.

Yes. There are no whales in Texas.

Holy shit people. It’s a fucking joke. Look at the photo… It’s a Google ad algorithm.

Pi hole FTW.

Konami was killing it back then.

It’s NEO GEO… Come on. Of course he’s playing it

What is that secondary script on the keyboard. I haven’t seen that before.

Cool idea BTW.

A long time.

No… Just travel there weekly for a long time for work. Still have work and employees there. All of the below should be reasonably close. Hospital is not far from your rental. …well not far for a Texan.

English food and beer: Red Lion British Pub

Chinese food: Pepper Twins

Persian Food: Kasra

Vietnamese food: Old Saigon (have not been but good reviews), my old haunt is under new mgmt so I can’t recommend it :(

Cajun food: Bobobs or Cajun Town. I’m sure this will be very contentious but good Cajun food isn’t dressy. If you need classy then go Pappadeauxs.

Tex Mex food: Guadalajara Mexican Grille. Pricey but reliable. Otherwise Ninfa’s or TJ Birria Y Mas

South American food (Peru): Saldivia’s South American Grill (have not been but good reviews)

My other fav’s…can vouch through many meals and drinks: North Italia, True Food Kitchen, Oporto Tapas, McElroy’s Pub, Poison girl, Agora, Brasil, Common Bond Bistro, Anvil, Harry’s Greek, Barnaby’s.

I’ve run out of steam. HMU for any specific questions.

San Jacinto museum. Hard to get to but important to Texas history.

Museums in H town are really good.

Walk around Memorial Park to get some headspace when needed.

NASA. Expensive but worth it.

I’ll add some restaurants. It’s a great melting pot of food and cultures.