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Data compares July 2020 to July 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
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.
Data compares June 2020 to June 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
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.
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| My 2007 VW Passat in New Mexico |
I was somewhat disappointed to read that Volkswagen will be ending Passat sedan sales in the U.S. after the 2022 model year (the car will continue to be sold in Europe). I probably would not have been surprised had I known sales had dropped to about 23,000 last year (down from 78,000 in 2015). Why do I care about this mid-sized sedan I once called "the German Ford Taurus"? I had a 2007 demo model I bought at a discount and proceeded to drive for the next 10 years. It road tripped from Taos to Savannah to Asheville, and I put thousands of miles on it for business trips in Texas and Oklahoma. It even drove down the long unpaved road from Hwy 550 to Chaco Canyon (though we thought it might become a permanent fixture) and survived a snowy mountain crossing driving it through the Carson National Forest. It was great on the highway and deceptively large in cargo space. To sum things up: it was a great car for 9 of the 10 years I owned it and the best value for my automotive dollar so far. Had I sold it in 2017 I'd probably have even fonder memories.
I've also driven the Passat's more exciting cousin, the Audi A4. My brother used to have an A4 R-line which was quite fun to drive. Assuming Audi doesn't kill the A4 to make way for more SUVs in the line-up, that's a car worth checking out.
Save the date: The Floyd Real Estate Trivia Series will return live and in-person on August 25th at Lavaca Street Bar (downtown). Stay tuned for more information.
Data compares May 2020 to May 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
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.
I've been enjoying watching Seinfeld on Hulu for a while. Apparently, Seinfeld will be leaving Hulu on the 23rd. It will start streaming on Netflix, but that will be sometime in the Fall.
[Update: If you have Sling, you can watch some episodes through the On Demand feature. Also, Seinfeld will be on Netflix starting 10/1/21.]
Maybe you have driven on the I-40 De Soto Bridge (aka M Bridge) over the Mississippi into Memphis and reveled in the glory of the giant pyramid that is a Bass Pro Shops (better or worse that the giant pyramid that is a casino? You be the judge.). Unfortunately, you won't be able to do this until at least July (but probably for a while after that). Why? Because on May 11th a contractor found a large crack in the bridge which resulted in it being closed down. Now the 40,000+ cars and trucks per day which usually cross the bridge are routed through West Memphis to the older I-55 bridge. Why did I take the time to write about this? Because on a recent road trip I was stuck in West Memphis for a few hours whilst on the detour to the I-55 bridge. It was not pleasant. I have another road trip (to Nashville) in the works and if the bridge isn't fixed I'll take an alternate route to avoid Memphis altogether. If you have road trip plans through Memphis, I recommend you take the possible 1-3 hour wait into consideration when planning your route.
You can visit the Wall Street Journal for more information about the bridge closure and its economic effects. Like many things in the past year, it hasn't been good for supply chains.
There are a couple of trivia nights in the works.
We're going to do one for The Creative Fund (which I co-host) in the next couple of months. Details are being worked out at this time.
Also, there is a Floyd Real Estate sponsored trivia night (which I host) in the works. Not many details yet, but it will be live and in person.
Stay tuned for more information.
Check out this recent post from The Points Guy about new routes American Airlines will be opening to Austin later in the year.
Data compares April 2020 to April 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
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.
The Wall Street Journal has written up a nice guide for a summer road trip in Colorado. I've been to Denver many times, as well as Salida (it's where I've stayed while skiing at Monarch). The road in between makes for a nice drive. Telluride and the surrounding areas also make for a good drive. One I'd suggest adding on to the list from the article is the "Million Dollar Highway" (aka US 550) from Silverton to Ouray. That one packs in some amazing views and goes by a few trailheads worth checking out (with the caveat that it should not be done towing a large trailer or in an RV).
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| New Travis Co. Courthouse, Under Construction |
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| UT Tower and Dobie Tower |
Check out our friend and financial advisor Adam Flagg being interviewed by KVUE vis a vis inflation concerns:
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| One Way to Spend Your $5 |
If you use Lyft, you may be interested in a couple of its current promotions:
This weekend there is a sales tax holiday on disaster supplies in Texas. Follow the link for more information.
Data compares March 2020 to March 2021. Visit abor.com/marketstatistics for more information and for charts on additional counties in Austin's MSA.
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.
The weather was great yesterday, so I pulled the hybrid bike and took it for a spin around central Austin. I have found that the next 2.5 months are typically good times for afternoon rides; after mid-June, I usually shift to nights and the occasional morning.
If you are new to bicycling in Austin or looking for some new street routes, check out the interactive bicycling map from the city. Routes are not only mapped out, but rated on levels of comfort/danger vis a vis traffic. This is a useful map. I used a previous version about 10 years ago when I started to ride again and wanted to find good routes for getting around town.
If you are curious about the bike: that's my Trek 7.3 hybrid/fitness bike from 2012. I use it for cruising around downtown and central neighborhoods. It's also good for errands and trips to bars/restaurants/etc. I don't know how the current iteration of this bike is holding up, but I've been happy with the 2012 vintage.
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| Dead Electronics, Headed for Recycling |
Last time I was in the Pine Springs campground in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, I thought this was going to happen while setting up my tent. It gets windy out there! As I said in the previous post, if you go to Pine Springs be ready to deal with the inability to stake down your tent. Also, you should probably weight it down before it gains lift.
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| Gus, Our Pyrador, and His Mr. Bill Toy. |
Gus is a Labrador Retriever/Great Pyrenees mix (aka a Pyrador) we adopted from Heart of Texas Lab Rescue in August. He was a stray for an undetermined amount of time; long enough for him to be skinny and lethargic by the time the HOTLR volunteers rescued him. Now he is the happy, furry, energetic 110lb beast you see above. As I mentioned in a previous post, he's my first rescue dog and we can't be happier with him.
Also, I think we hit a home run with the Mr. Bill toy. It screams "On No!" when your dog bites on it. Gus' was very entertained by the screaming while it lasted. Unfortunately, it lasted about 3 days before he removed the noise box (which I had to throw out b/c of it being a choking hazard). The (now silent) toy is still one of his favorites. He gets a kick out of throwing it in the air and catching it.
