About WDFloyd

Dave Floyd is an attorney, real estate broker, and trivia host in Austin, Texas. He works with the Foskitt Law Office and is an owner of Floyd Real Estate. He was a candidate for Austin City Council in 2014 and lives in the Zilker Neighborhood.

Monday, November 28, 2022

Maps: Texas and the British Isles


I went to London last month and I just completed a drive from Austin to Moab and back (which includes going from Austin to the Texas border just east of Clovis).  Ergo, when this map appeared sua sponte in a UK based WhatsApp chat I'm on I decided to share it.  Texans and residents of the British Isles: now you can judge the scale of a drive when contemplating visiting each other's respective homelands.  

Speaking of London and Moab, I do have a few travel observations/tips/etc I'll attempt to share by the end of the year.  Who knows... maybe I'll get around to my tips for backpacking in the Grand Canyon as well.  

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Marriott Eat Around Town Bonus

 If you have one of your credit cards linked to the Marriott Eat Around Town program, you can get 8x points through the end of November (normally it's 4-6x points per dollar depending on Bonvoy status level).  Visit the website to search for restaurants in the program (and any special terms or restrictions).  

Thursday, November 10, 2022

REI Gear Sale

Modeling a Nano-Puff Vest on the HMS Belfast

REI gear sale is November 11th-21st.  If you are an REI member, you'll get a coupon for 20% one regular item and one from the REI Outlet.  

If you are new to REI: they typically have three of these 20% coupon deals (one for the regular store and one for the outlet) per year.  The next one will come out in March when the dividends are issued.   Also, if you get the REI Mastercard you can get an additional 5% back on all REI purchases.

Why do I mention all of this?  I like hiking, camping, backpacking, bicycling, kayaking, traveling, going to the gym, the occasional ski trip, and good winter gear (for those couple of months it's chilly here in Austin).  If you like any of the aforementioned: REI sells good equipment for all of these activities.  Many things they sell are not cheap, but the membership + Mastercard setup means you can get up to 15% back in store credit to subsidize gear for your hobbies.  For example: with accumulated store credit from the Mastercard* defraying the retail cost, I recently picked up a Patagonia Nano-Puff vest for $17 (as opposed to paying the full $179).  

[note: the above photo is from the HMS Belfast in London.  I toured it last month and recommend a visit to anyone interested in naval history.]

*now that Capital One runs the REI Mastercard, you can use your card rewards at any time throughout the year.  When U.S. Bank ran the rewards program, you had to wait until March at which point your rewards were issued all at once in conjunction with the annual dividend.  I appreciate the anytime access Capital One provides (plus the much improved website and phone app experience), though I do miss U.S. Bank's 2% rewards from any non-REI purchase made with Apple Pay.  


Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Formula 1 Las Vegas Update

 


Per The Drive on Instagram, the cheapest tickets at the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be $500.  These are standing room only tickets.  In my experience with such tickets at Circuit of the Americas, you have to show up quite early to get a decent viewing spot.  I can only assume it will be like this in Las Vegas.  If you want an assigned seat in a grandstand, minimum cost is $2,000.  For reference to the USGP in Austin: our Turn 9 grandstand seats at COTA cost around $400 and came with a fantastic vantage point.  Of course, watching race cars blast down The Strip (at night!) may be worth the extra $$$ for a lot of people.

For fun I checked out race weekend hotel prices at Caesar's properties.   Here's an example: Planet Hollywood rooms are starting at $1,229/night (which I hear isn't far off from some of the better Austin hotels during F1 weekend), but a suite which comes with a guarantee of a Strip view is currently going for $4,439/night.  Planet Hollywood is at one of the turns, so the view should be great.  Follow the link above to peruse more expensive hotel options.  

American Express Card Members: early access tickets are on sale now

[Note: Amex for the win on this.  Capital One just announced early access to Taylor Swift concert tickets, but I'm more of an auto racing fan.  Ironically, the only time I've seen Taylor Swift live was at her COTA show after the USGP a few years ago.

South Lamar Corridor Project

If you are wondering what is going on with the South Lamar Improvements promised as part of the 2016 mobility bond, KXAN has an update.  The city says construction will start in 2023.  

There are links in the article to more information about the project.  You can also find out more here: