u/greytgreyatx

Growing up, in the days before the widespread ubiquity of the internet (1970s and 1980s), I was told by my maternal grandmother (born in 1923) that Meriwether Lewis was her great great great great uncle. Her maiden name had been Lewis, and she said she remembered her grandfather telling her stories about him. I always took this as the truth because my grandmother was not a liar.

I did not learn until I was an adult that it used to be a normal thing to pick someone notable with your same last name and claim them as family whether that was reality or not. And when I saw that Lewis's only brother (it would have to be a brother, since allegedly the Lewis name was passed down through the generations) did not have children... Well, it just doesn't seem likely that was the case.

So... it isn't like I'm trying to get back to the Scottish Highlands in 1400 or anything, but is there nowhere I can go just to prove to myself that this was only family legend and absolutely not true without traveling to genealogy libraries or paying online for a subscription? One of my mom's uncles had put together a lot of family history, but I cannot understand how it all fits together and he can no longer explain what it all means.

Thanks for any readily available resources. It feels like 4 generations shouldn't be too difficult to track down, but obviously I'm not having any luck.

My kid's friend and he have been meeting up every Sunday for about 5 years. We used to just go to McDonald's and the mom and I would chat while the kids played. But now they're nearly teenagers and have outgrown "playing" at McD's. We've taken them to the mall to let them walk around, and we've met at places like Lakeline for the splash pad.

Is there anywhere in Cedar Park/Leander where a couple of older kids could hang out and a couple of moms could visit while the kids were doing their own thing?? Specifically, I'm looking for something indoors for those many days that it's too hot to be outside if not in the water.

My partner has worked for HD for under a year but more than half a year. During the time he's worked there, a brand new store has opened very close by; it's much larger and has poached a lot of employees and it has reduced their business by A LOT.

He's not getting enough hours. He's talked to the scheduling manager and she's said that they just don't have the hours to spare and can't schedule him (or anyone else) any more (though he has gotten permission to cross-train to other departments but I'm not sure when that's supposed to start as his department can't seem to spare him), but he also sees that they're really short-handed and that they are hiring MORE people as well.

There is another store nearby that is hiring for his position, and my question is this: Can he call that store and ask approximately how many hours that position usually gets per week? Can he do that without risking the good relationships he has built as his store? He loves the store where he works, but we can't live on sometimes 12 hours per week.

So... if he finds out that they have more hours, is a transfer possible after having worked there less than a year?

This is probably a dumb question since we're in Texas and also even people who work outside don't get any mandated relief, but... An acquaintance of mine works in an office in a customer-facing role and is the only employee there most of the time. For the second time in a month, the a/c has gone out. Last time, it took a week and 3 days to get someone out to fix it. My friend cannot handle the stuffiness and heat, and customers are walking in and turning around and leaving so the business isn't doing much by way of making money. Are there any protections for workers in this situation, or will my friend just have to be very direct to the owner and tell them that if they want to stay open, they'll have to man the office themself?

Has anyone ever seen a woman do the belly flop contest?

I've been tempted and I wonder if the absolute body-shaming rhetoric would be the same. I get that it's all in fun so I would hope so.

I've just never seen it and I wonder if any of you guys have.

(Anyone else seen the blue wig guy deliver the ultimate punch line at the belly flop contest?)

EDIT: I'm getting hyped up by all of these stories! Thanks, guys!

My kid LOVES kayaking and I'm super excited about the opportunity to do this somewhere that isn't the murky lake we live near. Right now, though, when I open the planner it ONLY has 8 AM slots available. Our cruise isn't for months, so that might be the issue. But I wanted to ask you guys: Will more slots be available later? I want to reserve one in case it's popular, but I do NOT want to have to rush to get my kid there.

My parents are building an accessory dwelling unit behind my sister's house, and we're trying to help them pick out the most functional kitchen they can have. My dad has become legally blind over the past few years due to advanced macular degeneration, and is using raised tactile dots on things like his dishwasher, oven/stove, and coffee maker.

For this move, we're trying to avoid full-sized appliances and have decided on a countertop oven (I've had one for years and love it, and I bake daily), and a couple of induction burners (my mom has mild cognitive decline, so we're trying to keep things as safe as possible in case she walks off and forgets something is on the cooktop).

My first question is this: Does anyone have any experience with the talking induction hob? It is about twice as expensive as a traditional cooktop, so my sister and I are trying to get a feel for whether that price is justified. At this point, my dad could memorize the settings (like 1-6 and listen for the beeps) BUT if anyone here is like, "I couldn't live without this thing!" then we'd love to hear about it.

Also, do you have other gadgets or design features of your kitchen you absolutely live by? My dad cooks a lot so since we're able to start from scratch, we'd love to make this a space that works with him.

Thanks for any input!

I brought my adult kid some cafè soluble from our visit to Mexico City and they LOVED it. It's out now, and the only thing I'm seeing locally is Nescafe, which apparently tastes chemical-y and over-sweet (and I read the same thing about HEB's version, Tejas). So does anyone know whether I can find Legal brand around here?

I'll order it online if I have to but it's $$$$$, which is crazy for cheap instant coffee.

If I can't find it, I'll make some cafe de olla syrup and get regular instant coffee, and I know it will likely taste better, but then I'm setting myself up to do it the rest of my kid's life.

There is a house in my neighborhood that has a room available for rent on AirBnB. A few things about it:

1. The host is not and was never the owner of the house; she was renting it and sublet a room on AirBnB.
2. The host got evicted after overstaying the lease.
3. The house sold to a new owner.
4. The host was arrested and is in jail for an unrelated situation.
5. The room is still reservable and at least one person has shown up to stay there, surprising the new owner, who had no idea the home was on AirBnB.
6. There is at least one more booking because I can see the date blocked off.

The new owner tried to contact AirBnB and was told to "work it out with the host," who is incarcerated until October.

I tried to do some leg work for them and was told that I'd need to make a reservation for them to see the property and for me to have a stake in it before they could really do anything. BUT WHY?

In the support chat, before I got on the phone with them, I sent them the listing, the host's page, the address of the property, the inmate record showing the jail term, the tax records showing the old and new owner, AND the eviction order for the host.

In the end, the support team told me to have the owner contact them AGAIN, and she's working on it but... why wouldn't they take down a listing that is very obviously not valid? What else can be done?

My mom has medium-long silver hair and really wants to get a "soft perm." But because she has so little hair, we really need someone experienced with gentle hair care like this! And I know grey hair can be more stubborn about taking curl. Does anyone know of a stylist or salon that could help her? Even if it's just to be realistic and say that won't work or it might damage her hair?

I'm pricing auto/homeowners insurance and first, it would not let me pick that my child is my "child" like every other insurance provider. I had to pick "son" or "daughter," neither of which works. Later, it asked, "As what gender does XYZ identify?" and the choices were "male" and "female." Why even ask what they IDENTIFY as if you're not going to give "other" or "nonbinary" as an option? I get that insurance often uses sex assigned at birth to assess risk, so why not just ask what you're asking?? I'm going no further because I won't misgender my kid just to get a lower insurance rate.

Every few days, they add another charge to this lineup. I think she had a purge amount of $10k but they lowered it to $5k, in addition to the $50k bond and whatever else they're tacking on at this stage.

https://preview.redd.it/m5n7t9m68yzg1.png?width=840&format=png&auto=webp&s=f3833de5cd27e5d0fabfd2d7675ab3e511e85c0b

EDITING TO ADD: I know that neither of us will get 100% what we want; I'm looking for a happy medium, if that exists.

Original post: My partner and I are in our early 50s. We have an adult kid who is in the process of moving out (like probably a year-long process), and an 11-year-old who will be starting middle school next year.

We live in Texas and plan to leave when my younger kid is out of school and, in all likelihood, my parents have passed away.

Here's the thing: My ideal place to live is an urban area where I never have to get into a car, and my husband's ideal place is on a farm in the middle of 5 acres where you can't even see your neighbors.

Is there some magical place that has a walkable central area for me (and I can walk a mile or so "into town," and further by bike if that means not owning/maintaining a car, so it can't only be accessible by a highway) where I could do shopping, socializing, visit the library, etc. but that has kind of a semi-rural feel? I know it's a unicorn, but we have to figure out something in the near-ish future!

Also, one of my kids is queer and one of my kids can become pregnant, so we would like to live somewhere that they will feel welcomed rather than tolerated.

Thanks!

Mission San José

My mom was born in Texas but lived most of her adult life elsewhere until about 20 years ago, when she and my dad moved to McKinney from Nevada. Since then, they've moved to Temple and are preparing to move to the Austin area to be closer to me and my sister.

They have traveled a lot since becoming empty nesters, internationally as well as around the US, and have what my dad said is probably their final big trip happening in a few weeks.

They're both in their early 80s, and my mom has chronic hip pain so can't walk a whole lot. My dad is a little physically frail but about 18 months ago started rapidly losing his sight due to macular degeneration. He thinks this train ride from Salt Lake City to somewhere in Colorado is the proverbial end of the line for their travels.

All of that to say... I think I'm going to propose quarterly weekends away where I plan a relaxed two days of being somewhere we can drive to in Texas so they can still enjoy getting away a bit.

This past weekend, we went to San Antonio and my dad's two things he wanted to do were to ride the river boat and go to one of the missions, which we did. I think they'd like to go back to Fredericksburg, and maybe I'd take them to Lost Maples during the fall... and I wanted to ask here: Does anyone have any ideas about what would be cool to do that will allow for wheelchairs (my mom needs one to tour much at all; for now my dad's able to walk, but his reduced vision means we need mostly flat terrain since he can't make out elevation changes well), be reachable from the Austin area in a maximum of 4ish hours, and that might have historical significance or even just oddity that's amusing?

I'd love your ideas! Thanks, fellow Texans.

Because I have large type set up for accessibility, the notice that our trial is about to expire is taking up almost half of the window that shows my channels. It's been up for more than 2 weeks and I'm wondering... will it go away on its own? WHEN?

Thanks.