The Best of Austin

Once in a while everything just comes together which is what happened last night. I called up my cousin's significant other to check on him, and along with his brother we went to Shady Grove (very cool south Austin spot) to catch the free show. This alone would have been cool, but to make it even better the show was Bruce Robison. Yet it still got better.. his wife Kelly Willis also got up on stage and sang a couple of songs..

He did everything I could have wanted to hear, and then some. The company was great, the music perfect, and the food always good.

The only possible problem came as the evening came to a close when a gal who had spent the entire evening loudly talking to others and generally being obnoxious, turned around and told us to shut up when finally, for the first time during the entire show, I asked Greg how his brother was dealing with the death of my cousin. We were talking relatively quietly, but she went on a rampage which was accompanied by her homeless (?) beau also screaming at us. We quickly figured out that they were drunk and needed to be ignored while we continued to enjoy the last song. They saw it differently. They ran to the management who came on strong at us, until we calmly explained that this couple was drunk as could be, obnoxious, and was feeding the management a line of crap. A short while later the same manager came back apologized profusely, and then apologized later as we were leaving as well. Obviously the Shady Grove manager saw through their charade and recognized that we were just enjoying the show.

We did not let this sad but amusing incident mar the night. A great time was had by all of us.

Meeting and talking to both Kelly Willis and Bruce was a nice little bonus.. great people, even if Bruce is freakishly tall! (we need more folks like that!)

Austin update

I am making some progress in Austin, some of which is unexpected. I believe that I have found a contractor who I feel comfortable recommeding to my clients on the basis of the quality of his work, and the nature of his character. A person with a respect for doing the job right, and the integrity to make sure that the job is done right is all too rare. One who recognizes that such referrals are worth a great deal to him, even more so. With luck I hope that he and I will be developing an ongoing relationship where my customers are satisfied and I am even able to get a bit of income out of the deal.

I am also fortunate to have my truck back in the shop. Strange thing to utter, but when you have a mechanic as good as mine here, you are thankful when he can do the routine maintenance and even grateful when he finds other problems which must be addressed. I do not like spending money, but at least with Paul I can rest assured that the money is well spent and the work necessary without any hint of doubt.

With my Freebirds! fix currently sated, I am able to consider the other culinary opportunities in Austin such as Shady Grove, or perhaps other forgotten spots.

Though it is quite hot, I will likely try to visit some of the trails I used to know to enjoy the rugged beauty of the Texas Hill Country. Speaking of which I have been able to pick up a couple of bottles of Becker Vineyards' Claret, perhaps the best wine in Texas. I look forward to sharing these at some later time with some dear friends who have also moved away from this area, though in the meantime I hope to enjoy a bottle with friends who still live here.

The two jobs I have here are on hold until Saturday, when I do one of the jobs, and then next week for the other, which will make my further travels longer and more rushed. Still, it will be good to get a couple of paychecks even if they are small ones which do not even come close to covering the bill from the mechanic..

I will be looking into perhaps picking up a water storage tank while in Austin in hopes of saving a great deal on transportation costs for a 3000 gallon water tank.

However today is simply a day of rest as I am without the truck. So I am catching up on some reading (Nozick's Examined Life), contemplating various aspects of life including one recently discussed with a friend, and keeping the sausage dog company.