Trivia Fun for 2021

 

Virtual trivia is coming back in 2021.  Here's what's on the calendar so far:

• Creative Fund Trivia Night
• Tentatively scheduled for 2/25.   

• Austin Young Lawyers Trivia Night
• Scheduled for 3/25.
• For AYLA members and sustaining members.  

A Floyd Real Estate Trivia Series event is in the works as well.   Stay tuned for more information.

December 2020 Austin Real Estate Statistics

 

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare December 2019 to December 2020.

Note that the median sales price is up 18% from last December.  You can expect this trend to continue until 2021.  Inventory is low, and lots of people are moving here.  

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.   We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

Entertainment Recommendations

Desktop Rocinante

TV:

I'm still enjoying The Expanse season 5.  Who knows?  Maybe tonight's episode will be terrible and I'll have to change my mind, but so far the season has been great.   So, watch it if you are caught up with Season 4.  The Expanse is on Amazon Prime streaming.   

Movies:

Last year I rewatched Collateral, the 2004 Michael Mann movie which stars Tom Cruise as a hitman and Jamie Foxx as the cab driver forced to drive him around (not spoiling this: it's in the trailer and the movie is 16 years old).  I was recently reading about movie when I came across review of Collateral in Esquire, which I think reiterates why you should watch this movie.  

Watch Collateral, and if you enjoy it then watch/rewatch Micheal Mann's finest movie: Heat.    

Podcasts:

I listened to many episodes of the Night Owl Podcast in December.  It's a podcast about ghost stories/the paranormal in Austin.  Whether you are into the paranormal part or not, the local history stories should be quite interesting to anyone with curiosity about Austin's past.  

My favorite stories in the series have been about The Tavern (where I used to host my trivia nights) and The Clay Pit.   Once you are going out again, both of these places are worth a visit (The Tavern is a fun bar, and the food at Clay Pit is great).  Moreover, both of these restaurants are in cool old buildings which are worth checking out.  

Expanse Season 5

I did a little Christmas binging of the new season of The Expanse (one of my favorite shows currently in production, along with Better Call Saul).  I'm enjoying it a lot so far, and as usually I strongly recommend this show.  I would say more, but this review already did the work: Ars Technica on Expanse Season 5

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I highly recommend reading The Expanse book series in addition to watching the show.  I've read seven of the books, and I'll be starting book 8 soon.  

While I only recommend the books to people who enjoy sci-fi, the show is one which I think people who don't normally like sci-fi will also enjoy (not unlike the 2000's reboot of Battlestar Galactica).

Gus

The Gus of August

The last part of this year has been quite busy and exciting.  You may have noticed a distinct lack of posting.  This is in part related to having adopted Gus back in August, an exceptionally busy real estate practice (on the brokerage and law firm/fee attorney fronts), and the intensification of some of my creative projects.  

About the dog:  Gus is a fantastic Labrador Retriever/Great Pyrenees mix (aka, a Pyrador) we adopted from Heart of Texas Lab Rescue back in August.  Gus has been great and (I think) he enjoys living with us.   I know we love him.  If you are in the Austin area and thinking about a Lab (or Lab mix), visit the HOT Lab site to see many cool dogs looking for good homes.  

Stay tuned.  I plan to be posting more in 2021.  Also, I've been considering moving over to a Wordpress site.  Blogger is great, but from time to time I think I need more customization options.  We'll see, but obviously I'll post instructions on how to find any new blogging project.  

And, of course: Happy Festivus!

In My Car (For Scale)

 

November 2020 Austin Real Estate Statistics

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare November 2019 to November 2020.

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.   We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

The Expanse – Season 5 Official Trailer

This seems like important information: Season 5 of The Expanse will be available on 12/15.  

Speaker Series | Rental Issues in a COVID 19 World

Trivia Night on August 8/26

I have another online Floyd Real Estate Trivia Night coming up on 8/26.   Form teams of 1-6.   There will be 5 spoken rounds comprised of my typical choices for categories.  The Zoom room opens at 6:30, with the game lasting from 7-9.

Register at Eventbrite.  As with previous online trivia nights: tickets are free but we ask that you quantify your fun and donate to the Central Texas Food Bank accordingly.

Can Wild Parrots Solve Puzzles?

Food: Grilling Steaks and Scallops

Grass-Fed Ribeyes and Scallops on the Grill

I'm sitting in my home office with a couple of prime T-bones (which I just picked up from Central Market) in the fridge.  Tonight I'm keeping it simple with just the steaks; however, last month I grilled up a 1/2 pound of scallops to go with my grass-fed ribeyes (also from Central Market) and the results were excellent.  

• For the steaks, I used a pretty basic Montreal seasoning with a little extra kosher salt and pepper.  If you haven't tried grass-fed yet, I highly recommend it.  It provides a different texture than grain-fed beef, but the flavor is rich and delicious.   While they rested, I melted some of the Lewis Road Creamery garlic and chive butter over them.  I highly recommend the seasoned butter as a finishing move for your beef.   

• For the scallops, I used a recipe from the grill manufacturer.    

• I served the steak and scallops with roasted asparagus.   

Separately and in the aggregate, all of the above were a hit.  

The Backstory: North vs. South Austin tug of war 1987 | KVUE

This seems like material for a good Austin trivia question.

Here's a 2001 Austin Chronicle article which provides more details:  https://www.austinchronicle.com/features/2001-04-13/south-austin-secede/

Online Events: Trivia Tonight

Are you looking for some socially distant excitement tonight? Great, because there is an event for you. I'm hosting Floyd Real Estate Trivia Series event from 6:30-9 tomorrow evening. Come solo or in a team from 2-6. It's free to play, though I ask that you quantify your fun and donate to the Central Texas Food Bank accordingly. Here's the link for tickets (which will result in Zoom log-in info):  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/floyd-real-estate-trivia-series-tickets-114360671848

Moons Size Comparison

With trivia coming up tomorrow night, this seems appropriate to share.  I have been known to ask moon related questions.

Podcast Recommendations

I have been listening to a couple of good podcasts lately.  I figured I'd share, in case you were looking to be informed and entertained regarding science and/or Austin history:

• Star Talk:  Neil DeGrasse Tyson and rotating co-hosts discuss scientific concepts in a humorous  way.  I've already learned a lot about volcanoes and black holes.  If you are coming to my next trivia night, it's possible I've pulled some questions from this podcast.  
• Austin Found: If you want to know more about Austin history and culture, then tune in to this one.  Long time Austin American-Statesman journalist Micheal Barnes and Austin radio personality J.B. Hegar are the hosts.   I think of myself as reasonably knowledgable about Austin history, but I've found out lots of interesting and hitherto unknown to me information from these podcasts.  

And here's a fun fact:  Neil deGrasse Tyson has an M.A. in astronomy from U.T.-Austin.  Hook 'em!  

Food: Butter. Wonderful, Delicious Butter

I don't usually get excited about buying butter, but I'll make an exception in this case.  The Lewis Road Creamery's garlic and chives butter is excellent (it's grass-fed and traditionally churned too, if you care about such things).  I ran across it last month while shopping for prime ribeyes on the Central Market website.   I thought it might be good tp melt some thick garlic and chive butter over the steaks while they were resting post-grilling.   My intuition was very correct and flavor expectations were exceeded.  Also, this stuff tastes great on bread, potatoes, and just about anything else which goes well with garlic butter.

I bought another unit of this butter in my most recent Central Market order.  It's in the the fridge waiting on a pair of grass-fed ribeyes slated to hit the grill soon.

[speaking of Central Market: grab some of their Hatch chile tortillas while they are in stock.  They taste great, especially wrapped around a sausage fresh off the grill.]

Floyd Real Estate on Social Media

A Few Photos From Our Listing on Cat Mountain in Austin

Are you in Austin?  Are you interested in buying investment property or moving here?  Are you a small business owner interested in commercial real estate in Austin?  If so, you should follow Floyd Real Estate, LLC, on these social media channels:

• Floyd Real Estate on Facebook
• Floyd Real Estate on Instagram  

And stay tuned, I have some information coming soon about the Floyd Real Estate Trivia Series... 

June 2020 Austin and Austin-Round Rock MSA Real Estate Statistics

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare June 2019 to June 2020.

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.   We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

Seinfeld Law Blog

Do you (1) like the TV show Seinfeld a lot, and (2) enjoy reading about the law?  That's a yes and yes for me, and if it is for you as well then check out the Seinfeld Law blog.  

You can catch all 9 seasons of Seinfeld reruns on Hulu right now.   The show will move to Netflix in 2021.  

Heat: Be Careful

At least it's a dry heat and cool at night, unlike summer in Austin.

It's July in Texas, and while heat's an issue it's still nice to get outside for some socially distance fun and exercise.   Unfortunately, there is the danger of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.   Check out these articles to learn more:

• KVUE post, with chart.
• My May 21st post, also with chart.

Have fun, wear light clothes, and stay hydrated.   If you are feeling adventurous, you can do what I do and enjoy summertime night biking.  It's cooler than during the day, plus you don't have the sun beating down on you.  

COVID-19 Risk Chart

Find out more by visiting the Texas Medical Association's COVID-19 resource page.

May 2020 Austin and Austin-Round Rock MSA Real Estate Statistics

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare May 2019 to May 2020.

The numbers here are low compared to a good year in the Austin area, but we are of the opinion that our optimism (considering the COVID-19 situation) has been correct.   Furthermore, inventory is still quite low and tilted in favor of sellers.  People who are in a position to buy (and are well qualified) are finding great interest rates.  Thus if you are casually thinking of selling property, it would be worthwhile to take deeper consideration.   

The Austin residential market has been slowed, but not stopped, by COVID-19. The above data represents a snapshot of activity in May 2020.   As for June, what I can say is only anecdotal: we have seen in our brokerage and title practices any increase in activity over May.   Of course, please take my anecdotal observations with the appropriate caveats and grains of salt.  

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.   We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

80's TV Homage: Knight Rider for 8 Cellos

I was recently playing team trivia (via Zoom) with some friends and after a TV theme song round the group's conversation turned to our favorites from the 80's.  I voted for the themes songs to Miami Vice (by Jan Hammer) and The Equalizer (by Stewart Copeland of The Police) as tied for my favorite (though I could give Magnum PI honorable mention among a few others).  The theme to Knight Rider, of course, came up during our group's discussion.  Thus, shortly thereafter I was delighted to run across a Mashable article about a cellist who covered the Knight Rider song by playing the eight cello parts herself.  After listening, I like the cello cover better than the original.

Here you go:

Sci-Fi: Star Wars Ships to Scale; 1980's Flash Gordon

I was on Facebook earlier, and I noticed a friend had posted that The Empire Strikes Back premiered 40 years ago today.  And damn, that is correct information.  I remember Empire well, as it's one of the first live-action movies I saw in a theater.  It was (to me, at that age) and unbelievably amazing spectacle (and to me at my current age, it remains my favorite of the Star Wars movies).  It also helpfully put into context all of the Star Wars toys we were playing with (having mostly learned about the plot of the original Star Wars from older kids).

With the above in mind, it seemed appropriate to share this video I ran across (via Nerdist) on Twitter:





The scale of the Star Wars franchise spacecraft is pretty impressive.  It was fun to see them next to various real-life objects for scaling purposes.

Thinking back to the days when I was a kid and we played with Star Wars toys a lot:  later on, after having seen Empire Strikes Back, I recall going to a Star Wars themed birthday party.  When it was over, the moms in charge piled us into station wagons and took us to see another sci-fi movie.  In this case, it was the 1980 cult classic Flash Gordon (the one with the excellent theme song and score by Queen).   If you haven't seen this movie, it is hard to emphasize how confusing Flash Gordon is for small children.  I know.  I was one of them.  We all walked out of the movie, highly confused, and promptly went back to Star Wars as our sci-fi outlet of choice (we certainly didn't appreciate the performance by Max von Sydow or the whip fight with future 007 Timothy Dalton).   I watched Flash Gordon again about 25 years later whereupon it (a) was immensely more enjoyable and (b) made a lot more sense.

If you are an adult, you halfway like the sci-fi genre, and you have a good sense of humor about campy things: then by all means have a couple of drinks and watch Flash Gordon.  It is awesomely and hilariously campy (or incredibly, delightfully weird... however you want to define it).  I started to describe it, but then deleted all of the sentences I wrote because I (a) did not want to set your expectations and (b) could not describe it in a way which does it justice.  Just see it for yourself and enjoy.

Also,  the original Flash Gordon comics, movie serials, and TV series were major influences on George Lucas as he came up with the initial concepts for Star Wars.  Lucas first wanted to revive the Flash Gordon character but Dino DeLaurentiis (producer of Dune, Three Days of the Condor, and Blue Velvet, among other movies) already had the rights.  Thus, Lucas decided to craft his own space opera.  The more I've learned about Star Wars over the years, the more interesting it is to look at the some of the material which inspired Lucas.  Furthermore, it's interesting to learn more about the role his wife (at the time) Maria had in shaping the original Star Wars movie.  

I'm cutting myself off before I go down any more sci-fi movie rabbit holes.  Now you have a few ideas for your next movie night.

Summertime Fun: Heat-Related Illnesses

While reading about a national park's plans to re-open, I found this handy chart from the CDC:

Spoiler Alert: All of these Heat-Related Illnesses Are Unpleasant

Summer is just around the corner, but it's already getting hot in Austin (it's 92°F as I type this post).  Some of you can handle the heat better than others.  I'm not here to judge, just to remind you that it is entirely possible to overexert yourself in the heat of the Texas summer.   I have never experienced heat stroke, but I have ventured into mild heat exhaustion territory and it is no fun.

For beating the heat, I try to wear fishing shirts or dry-fit shirts if I'm outside and active.  That along with hydration and staying in the shade seems to work for me.  Also, during the summer, I shift most of my bicycling activities to the night (or occasionally early in the morning) and move cardio into the gym (which presents a challenge this summer, thanks to COVID-19).   Kayaking also becomes an early morning or evening activity.

An extra note on sunburns:  if you are up in the cool, delightful mountain air remember that mountain air gets a lot thinner as you go up.   That means less shielding from UV rays, and thus the potential for some nasty sunburns.  Speaking of the mountains, I really want to get up into the mountains of New Mexico this summer.

An extra note on bicycling: check your helmet.  A little ventilation goes a long way.  I have two helmets, and my lighter (more ventilated) Specialized Echelon makes quite the difference when it's warm out.

April 2020 Austin and Austin-Round Rock MSA Real Estate Statistics

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare April 2019 to April 2020.

At our office we looked at the numbers and concluded that while COVID-19 is obviously affecting the local residential market, the numbers were not as bad as we expected and they indicate that there was still plenty of activity in the market.  Based on what I've seen on social media, observed in our office, and heard anecdotally (from Realtors and title professionals) there has been an uptick in activity for May.   I'm throwing a huge caveat on that last sentence as it is not based on objective or data-based reporting; however, what I've perceived is more action and optimism in the real estate community.  

We'll see if the optimism is correctly placed or grossly misguided as Texas continues to open back up from COVID-19 restrictions and as the local/state/national macroeconomic effects are more fully realized.  

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

COVID-19

The City of Austin has release a chart explaining Stages 1-5 in its COVID-19 Risk Based Guidelines:

Visit AustinTexas.gov/COVID19 for more information and to check on the city's stage status.

Also, the Texas A&M Real Estate Center has just release updated economic projections based on COVID-19.

If Rockets were Transparent

Flashback to New Mexico

On Top of Wheeler Peak, the Highest Point in NM

I'm currently sitting in my home office in Austin; however, Facebook has been gleefully reminding me that two years ago I was camping and hiking in the Taos area.   That trip was a lot of fun.  After a quick flight to Albuquerque, we drove up to Taos and made a campsite along the road to Taos Ski Valley.   It was a nice site right along the Rio Hondo (too bad I can't packed fly fishing gear).   Our group had a great time hiking on Wheeler Peak, hiking to hot springs in the Rio Grande Gorge, and eating in Taos.   If possible, I'm road tripping back to the Taos area in the summer (this time, with fly fishing gear and possibly my mountain bike).

A note on the gorge:  I don't know what COVID-19 has done to the river rafting industry in northern New Mexico.  However, when you can, you should try out rafting the Rio Grange through the gorge on what is called the "Taos Box" run.  I did this a while back and it was fantastic.  I'd like to do this again, along with a trip down the Arkansas through the Royal Gorge and (of course) the eventual Grand Canyon rafting trip.

Austin REALTORS: Guide for Showing Properties

Austin REALTORS, our friends at ABOR have published this infographic with advice on how to handle a showing during the COVID-19 crisis:

I'll reiterate the disclaimer:  agents, talk to your broker about these recommendations; brokers, talk to your attorneys about these recommendations; everyone, talk to your clients about what they are comfortable with.