Category Archives: Austin

01/28/22

Broken Windows and Barbecue — A Tale of Austin By God Texas

Austin by God Texas is woke. It is my hometown and by osmosis, I am woke as a joke.

Recently, the Austin Police Department — under the pressure of a lack of support and a lack of funding via “defund the police” sentiment emanating from the City Council — announced they would not respond to burglaries via 9-1-1 calls. A burglary is now a “non-emergency” even if an alarm goes off and will be investigated when the APD gets around to it.

Hmmm, that sounded bad from the beginning.

So, what happened, Big Red Car?

What happened, dear reader, was the burglary of La Barbecue in East Austin, a chapel of barbecue (not quite a cathedral, but certainly a chapel). This was the third time in three months.

La Barbecue was not alone. Recent restaurant burglaries include: Chez Zee Bistro, food truck R & B’s Steak and Fries, five other food trucks in the same food court as R & B’s, and El Dorado restaurant. Continue reading →

01/11/22

Austin By God Texas — Chips, Dips, Tesla, and Tech

One of the things we learned during the Pandemic’s early days before we became obsessed by lockdowns and mandates was that the United States had a great number of strategic industries in which our supply lines started in China, thereby making us vulnerable to the whims of an enemy.

Yes, I said an ENEMY.

Chief amongst these issues was CHIPS — meaning advanced logic semiconductors.

Couple of semiconductor chips waiting for the guacamole.

The issue was simple — in the event of an emergency, China could control the flow of chips to the United States and a chip shortage could have a devastating impact on the nation. Continue reading →

10/30/21

Tech City Rent As A Measure Of Inflation

I am a little fixated on inflation these days. I look at modestly obscure sources of data to try to track the old bitch so when I read an article on average apartment rents in tech city markets, I had to bring it to your attention.

Let me cut to the chase.

 1. Rents went down a little during the pandemic. The general sense is that rents went down about 5% nationwide.

 2. With the advent of the vaccine, rents began to turn around and climb upward as folks began to return to offices and the migration to tech meccas resurged, and folks began to quit jobs to get better jobs (and better apartments).

Rents are up 25% in Austin By God Texas. Hello, America, can you say INFLATION?

Austin By God Texas

Continue reading →

10/8/21

Tesla Makes It Official — HQ Is Moving To Austin By God Texas

Yawn! You knew it was going to happen. It was always in the cards and now the hand is dealt. Cards are face up.

First, the Gigafactory for the new Tesla pickup and now this. A couple of other Musk companies along the way.

Austin By God Texas is to be the new home of the Tesla headquarters according to the man himself, Elon Musk — who also moved to Austin earlier last year.

Austin By God Texas, where the world is moving. No income tax, y’all.

But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.

The_Kiss

Austin and Elon Musk, a match made in Texas. Thanks, California.

07/4/21

Garbo’s Inadequate Lobster Roll — An Austin Travesty

I love a lobster roll. Who doesn’t? Sure, they can be pricey, but you, amigo, are worth it.

There are only a handful of places you can get a good one in Austin By God Texas.

One of those places is Barton Creek Country Club. They used to call theirs a “lobster club.” Here is one in the wild. You get them at Crenshaw’s bar. Very nice. Very, very, very nice on the way home from church.

I had one the other day and it was inspiring in its deliciousness. Truly inspiring. [Pro tip: it puts your loved ones in a very expansive and happy mood. Happy wife, happy life. No?]

Barton Creek Country Club — lots of lobster for $19. No roll is a little off-putting, but the magnitude and freshness of the lobster makes up for it. We are flexible.

Continue reading →

06/16/21

Faught Service Company

Yesterday I had important folks over to the house. The prior night, the AC went out.

Faught Service Company, in the person of Mrs. Bonnie Faught, was booked, but found a tech to come fix my problem.

It wasn’t cheap, but damn it was quick. That is customer service. Same day AC customer service. Four hours from call to cold air. Most impressive.

Faught Service Company, Austin By God Texas: – 512-402-8886, Bonnie Faught. Tell them a Big Red Car sent you.

06/11/21

Yes, We Have No Bananas

COVID got me eating way more produce — fruits and vegetables — and cooking a lot more with fresh ingredients — both good things.

I am quite the guacamole chef these days — as evidenced by direct testimony from a native who has been involved with my family (raised my children?) for decades. She said, “Oh, BRC, this is very good guac. You are part Mexican?”

Guacamole is healthy as Hell. I like mine spicy so there are jalapenos, red pepper flakes, and Sirachi plus cumin and cilantro.

I asked her not to spare me her criticism and she says it is “good” which is like winning the bloody Medal of Freedom. Thank you.

But what I really have learned is how damn extraordinary the supply of fruits and vegetables is in America (or is it just Austin By God Texas?).

Here is the banana display at Central Market, 1.2 miles from the domicile of the Big Red Car.

Image

You will note that the Central Market bananas are presented — like an art gallery, really — from least ripe to most ripe — green on the right to more yellow/brown on the left. In this manner when I am instructed to pick up “some” bananas I also get explicit instructions as to their degree of ripeness.

Continue reading →