A Chuy's Retrospective

We don't know for sure how long we have been eating at Chuy's. More than 20 years we estimate. Nobody at the restaurant itself knows how long this particular location has been open - they've only been there a few months. Or sometimes only a few weeks. One indicator of the passing years is the annual Hatch Green Chili Festival; three weeks of chilies roasted in an open pit in the parking lot and added to old and new recipes alike. Everything is just a little hotter during Green Chili Festival - my kind of food.

Somewhere along the way I started picking up the theme buttons and sticking them on the bulletin board. I probably began the practice as a means to dog Rob after he went away to school. We were eating at Chuy's and he was not. That was hardly fair, I admit - he was the one who drug us in there the very first time and told us to order a ChuyChanga with Queso sauce. Still a family favorite.

I didn't put much effort into the buttons at first, so there are gaps in the collection and they don't start until 1996 - 11 years ago.

The 8th Chili Festival, and the oldest button in my collection

1997

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004 - a weird year; no buttons, just match boxes.

2005

2006

And tonight's reminder of another great culinary adventure. Sorry you weren't here, Rob.

Advice to those new to the Austin area.

I’ll start with some advice for those new to the Austin area; there are several places you want to avoid if at possible. Three of those that come to mind are:

• The Outlet Malls during Tax-Free Weekend
• The UT Campus area when the Freshmen arrive for the start of school
• The Memorial Stadium area any time there is a home game

Now on to current happenings: Last week we were going to meet Barbara’s sister and brother and their spouses for lunch at the Cracker Barrel in San Marcos. It probably would have been an enjoyable time, but unfortunately we never found a place to park so had to return to Austin without meeting them.

Yesterday Barbara needed to pick up a class syllabus from the Kwik Copy in Dobie Mall. We agreed it would be easier if I drove her down and dropped her off. I hope she gets home okay. I finally abandoned the car on the Drag and walked over to Lamar and caught the bus home. I’m hoping the gridlock will ease up after classes actually start so I can retrieve the car.

And I saw a really cute T-shirt that I wanted to get Barbara. It’s only available at the UT store. Can’t go next week end, since we’ve got other plans. Maybe the Saturday after that.

"In the end, it's not the Lions and Tigers that get you..."

It’s the gnats!

Don’t know where they came from (SLAP!) but we seem to have inherited a flock of gnats (WHAP!). Or should that be a bevy of gnats? A gniggle of gnats? (SMACK!). Really there only seem to be a few (SLAP!). Certainly nothing anywhere near the size of the colony of flying ants that caused the Pension owner in Prague to exclaim “Mein Gott!”

One never sees them until the evening hours when one (SPLAT!) sits down to read. Then, one or two obnoxious little gnats come around and stay in your face (WHAP!) while you try to read.

So our quiet evenings are punctuated (SMACK!) by the sound of slapping hands (SLAP!) or rapidly closing books (WHAP!). Or (BLAP!) in the case of a paperback book. It seldom does any good (SLAP!), they are exceedingly fast little critters, but every now and then there is the occasional (SPLAT!) followed by GOTCHA! and you know that there is one more good gnat.

Where was this when I was on the search team?

"Virtual Pastors please picky church-goers"

Serve Out

It took only two more trips to the Toyota Dealer to finally get the car repaired; once to let them listen to it and agree that it should not sound like a twelve-cylinder sports car, and again to get it actually repaired. Now it sounds normal and does not leak oil. Those are good qualities in an automobile and all I wanted when we first started this adventure.

They are still digging up the street in front of our house (and elsewhere in the neighborhood), but as yet we do not have a wastewater tap. Those guys must really like digging holes. They will dig one, stand around and look into it for a while, fill it and then go dig another one elsewhere. And no, you do not get used to the incessant “beep, beep, beep” when the machinery backs up.

One should not regularly read too many blogs. If you go away for a while and ignore them while you are gone, it takes a long time to get caught up when you return!

It is possible to go to Central Market for just one item. We wanted scones, so we vowed to go to CM, buy scones and nothing else. Wait! There are those wonderful heirloom cantaloupes – get one of those. Look, there are those little individually wrapped cheeses. No, we don’t need a basket. What did we come here for? Oh, yes, scones. I said it was possible to go for just one item - I didn't say you could only get one item.

And it appears that we were in West Virginia during the one week of summer weather here in Texas. Tropical storm Erin has returned the rain and cooler weather. Okay, that’s relative, I know.

And did you know that one’s spouse will not necessarily share your enthusiasm for the nifty new program you installed on her computer to handle all the passwords and login screens? Women are from Venus. Men are from Geek Squad.

Finally, I shamelessly stole this from a response to Keith Brenton’s blog:

“My preferences are God-ordained and yours are traditions of men.

Or, maybe this will do it - I am holding fast to the truth and you just want change for change sake.

Or, if neither of those will work, my preferences are a matter of conscience and you are commanded to give in to me.”

Isn't that how it goes?

Any questions about what I did in WV?

Overheard, muttering under her breath...

"Hmmm. That sign says they are hiring school crossing guards. Maybe that's something he can do on his days off."

Saga of an Oil Leak

In late June I took the Highlander to the Toyota Dealer for a scheduled oil change. No big deal. A week or so later, I noticed oil spots on the garage floor. “Aha!” I think to myself, “They did not tighten the drain plug securely.” So at the next opportunity I drove in to the dealer and asked them to check it. It turned out not to be the drain plug and three hours later I left with vague assurances that they had taken care of the leak. Not.

I made an appointment to have the leak truly found and fixed, stressing that they should keep the car for as long as it took. Little did I know. That was on Friday July 20. On July 31 I got my car back. Here are the gory details:

Friday afternoon, July 20 – “Okay, Mr. A. We found the leak. It is in the head gasket. I had to order a gasket kit, so come on by and pick up a free rental to drive until we get it fixed.”

The free rental turned out to be a nice 2007 Camry, so except for getting in and out of it (one of the primary reasons for getting the Highlander in the 1^st place) it was a sweet ride. It did have one distinguishing feature: every time you turned it on a message scrolled past on the large radio display screen proclaiming “Welcome to Camry.” We were pretty sure the car wasn’t going to become something else overnight, so after the 20^th or so time this got a little old.

Tuesday afternoon, July 24 – “Well, Mr. A, the plot thickens. When we replaced the head gasket we discovered that we couldn’t torque down a couple of bolts; they were stripped in the block, so Toyota is buying you a new engine. You just keep on driving that nice Camry and we’ll let you know.”

Wednesday, July 25 through Monday, July 30 – “Welcome to Camry.”

Tuesday Morning, July 31 – “Okay, Mr. A. Come get your car.”

So I did, and it’s nice to have it back. There’s just one problem (you are expecting me to say that there’s oil on the garage floor, right? Frankly, I’m too scared to look). No, now the car sounds like some 12-cylinder sports car. When you press on the gas you hear a deep, throaty roar, not a quiet 4-cylinder purr. I don’t know if this is good or bad. I just know that’s not what it sounded like before I changed the oil and started all this. I guess we’ll find out.