Kevin Ludlow is a 45-year-old accomplished software developer, business manager, writer, musician, photographer, world traveler, and serial entrepreneur from Austin, Texas. He is also a former candidate for the Texas House of Representatives.
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This is definitely something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time now. It wasn’t cheap, but Fig & Co. Builders hired a company to come out to the property, install a silt-fence (as the city requires), and finally level the ground as it was intended to be. There were several dumptruck loads of trash that needed to be removed. Also included was brush, some construction debris, a few knocked down trees, and a bunch of rock.
We also went ahead and had them install a construction entrance at the northwest corner of the property (right where the existing gate is). A construction entrance is what future contractor trucks and heavy machinery will use to enter and exit the property. I’m told it’s not really about traction or anything like that, but rather serves as somewhat of a front-door ‘wipe your feet off’ mat. Basically it helps to remove all of the mud and dirt from the tires of vehicles exiting the property before it gets tracked all over the public street.
One of the many issues I’ve long since known we’d have to deal with is with respect to water and sewage taps. Unfortunately the City of Austin does not permit commercial sites to utilize septic systems, so that is already ruled out. We had Rick Selin from the City of Austin run the specs on the property just to get an idea of where the hookups are and how difficult they would be to access.
He was pretty nice and promptly wrote us back with the following:
There is an 8” DI water main infront of the property, however there does not appear to be an existing water service to the property. There is no wastewater main infront of the property. The nearest service points appear to be roughly 185’ north of the north property line near the intersection of Axel & Jackie Robinson or roughly 252’ south of the south property line near the intersection of Axel and Wilcab. To get water service, an engineered tap plan will need to be submitted for review and approval by AWU. To get wastewater service, an engineered plan to extend the wastewater main to the property will need to be submitted for review and approval by AWU. You can speak with Seyed Miri @ 972-0202 to explore the option of an SER for the wastewater portion.
He also provided us with this image of the water lines for the area:
Since we've been sitting around my parent's house in Corpus for the Thanksgiving holiday, my sister and I have been experimenting with her new camera. I downloaded the software that lets us hook it up to my Apple and so we can control the camera with much more granularity than the camera otherwise allows for.
She and I setup my computer and her camera on the front porch while we had dinner and let it take a picture every 20 seconds for an hour or so. Once the sun had completely set, I took all of the images and stitched them together in iMovieHD.
The result was a really nice high-definition sunset.
I was at Dreux's house earlier today and saw the most amazing thing: his Boston Terrier, Hank, actually enjoys walking on their treadmill. It was one of the funnier things I've seen.
Anyway, I shot some video of him doing it and stitched together a little movie.
I'm fucking exhausted of listening to all of the bullshit that's being spewed left and right about this whole mosque debate. On the right we have a bunch of bigoted assholes, with absolutely no respect for legal process or property rights and all of whom appear gravely confused as to what this war is allegedly for that we're fighting. But on the left, we've got a bunch of hipsters trying to advocate for the rights of a group that they couldn't disagree more with. And I'd be all for that if their view was at least consistent. But I guarantee next time some other close-minded conservative group needs help, they're not going to be there. This is fashionable protesting in my opinion and is just ludicrous.
I tried to make my writings on the matter a bit less opinionated.
Full text of the video clip below:
Over the past several weeks I have been quietly enjoying this debate over the "World Trade Center Mosque". To me personally, this is nothing more than a property rights issue and provided the organization legally owns the land and conforms to the local building codes, they're completely within their right and there are no certainly complaints from me.
While I'm in no way surprised at the reactions coming from the right, I wish I could say that I was surprised at the reactions coming from the left and wanted to explore this confusion.
I know that the poetic diction of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow is mentally invigorating, but they're both paid to appease an audience and you're not a "news commentator". In short, this mosque is a complete contradiction of the left's own guiding principles.
Let me very quickly illustrate what I mean.
Islam is a western religion just like Christianity. It uses arbitrary rules to control its congregation and promises a bountiful afterlife if these rules are adhered to. Meanwhile, it basks in its own wealth and just like other churches, has virtually no regulatory oversight, and pays absolutely no taxes in our country.
So let's consider some basic social issues. Much like its common Christian counterpart, Islam is openly against any freedom of abortion, condemns any form of promiscuity, and strongly opposes homosexuality - in some cases even to the penalty of death in other countries.
You may have recently read how a Saudi Arabian court, under non-secular Sunni Islam law, sought to medically sever a man's spine in retribution for him paralyzing another man two years earlier with a knife. This is the same non-secular system of government that justifies the stoning of raped women in the name of honor. And mind you, this is not mob rule. This is religion, affecting government, attempting to carry out unspeakable acts against other human beings, all in the good name of God.
Let's consider some financial issues. Think about all the poor starving children, diseased nations, and uneducated African villages that could benefit from a 100 million dollars worth of charity. I know you believe they should be helped, but I guess it's better that a few thousand people practice religion in comfort than a few hundred thousand get the chance at basic survival. Of course, this is very consistent with the thinking of western religion, for example: the Vatican.
Also, do you have any idea what the tax revenue on a $100 million dollar building in the financial district of Manhattan is worth? Since this is a Mosque, presumably it’s nothing. Which is unfortunate considering social services such as food banks, homeless shelters, and public HEAHTLCARE centers are in dire need of funding.
Let me be clear. I have absolutely no prejudice for Muslims at all. Rather, I have contempt for anyone - Christian, Jew, Muslim, or otherwise - that would use their faith to interfere with the lives of others while wasting money on divine opulence.
So, my argument is not suggesting you should or should not give your support to this building. Rather it is suggesting that the only reason you ARE giving your support is because of the age-old proverb that "the enemy of your enemy is your friend". Basically that just because the political-right is opposed to this Mosque, you naturally support it.
Where is your compassion for the Christian right lobbying against gay marriage? ...or condemning abortion? ...or wanting to ban contraceptives? ...or, the list goes on. The simple reality is that like it or not, you do not agree with one SINGLE philosophy that this organization has to offer.
Imagine the wonderful irony that would exist if Christians and Muslims ever figured out that they opposed the same social ideologies that liberals fight so hard for. My guess is that you'd be far less willing to support them then.
That's not to suggest you should be out there denouncing their plight, but it sure seems strikingly hypocritical to openly support it.
To conclude, you simply can't have it both ways. You can't openly condemn one religion spreading their ideas against social norms, but then turn right around and speak in favor of an otherwise identically conservative religious ideology attempting to do the same thing, just because it happens to be in the minority.
Although I've never attended a Fellowship of the Bun meeting, I have been keeping close tabs on the group and would like to share my experience of an absolutely fantastic burger I found in Los Angeles.
The name of the restaurant is Umami and, although I believe the original is somewhere on La Brea, I dined at the newer location on Hollywood Blvd. in the southeast part of Los Feliz (near Silverlake).
Hands down, this is perhaps one of the most delectable burgers I have ever tasted. Starting with the bun, the bread is lightly toasted and has just the right amount of "fluff" to it. Best I can guess, it is a semi-sweet type of bread and maintains its consistency throughout the entire meal.
All burgers in the restaurant are prepared medium-rare and, in light of this, I can only assume part of their perfect taste is an extremely high grade of beef. The burger is incredibly juicy but somehow not at all greasy. It is topped with cheese, sun-dried tomato, caramelized onions and a light homemade sauce.
From start to finish, this burger is perfect. Although side items are sold a la carte, the sweet potato fries only add to this all-around perfect meal. They are lightly salted and, from what I can tell, also have a hint of brown sugar and/or cinnamon added.
I'm not a huge fan of the restaurant itself. It has a very LA-ish vibe, and by that it is trendy, overly pretentious and a bit pricey. But if you can set that aside, the burger will not disappoint.
Expect to pay about $16.00 - $18.00 for the burger, fries, drink, tax and tip.
