Home Improvement Tool and Toy Reviews

Well I was able to drive the toll road home last night and then back to work this morning. Traffic was REALLY bad last night due to everyone wanting to get home early for Halloween. Even with all of that traffic I still got home in about 30 minutes when usually with that amount of traffic it would be over an hour.

This morning it took me exactly 25 minutes from the time I turned my car on in my driveway to when I turned it off in the parking structure at work. The traffic looked really bad going south on Mopac along the new section of the Toll Road. I think was due to the fact that they have not opened the on ramps there yet.

Anyway, the Toll Roads save me a lot of time coming and going to work. I am interested to see how traffic balances out once they start charging for them in January. I think it is going to cost me $1.50 + going one way on them so i may look to find an alternate route using both Toll Roads and regular.

Technorati: Austin TX, Round Rock TX, Toll Roads, Freeways, Commuting

Even as I type this the Toll Roads here in central Texas are being opened up. I am hoping that the Mopac section is opened by the time I get off work.

I have really been looking forward to these opening up for some time. I am expecting that it is going to cut my commute time down to 25 minutes.

Cool.

Technorati: Austin Tx, Round Rock TX, Central Texas, Toll Roads

It is so nice now that the 90-100 degree weather has finally blown out of Central Texas.

You can finally go to the park in the middle of the day to let the kids play. The sun is shining but there is a slight breeze that keeps the temperature in the mid 70’s. Also the electricity bill is a cool $100 less then it was last month. All these things together

make it really nice.

This will be our first winter here in Round Rock and I am hoping that it doesn’t get too cold.

Technorati: Round Rock TX, Fall, Seasons, Central Texas

So my wife and I finally cashed in our free Grand Opening tickets to the Round Rock Cinemark Movie theater that is located by the Round Rock Outlet Mall.

I was excited to go as I have been less then impressed by the movie theaters that we have gone to here in Texas so far. I was used to the AMC and Edwards theaters in California that where new, modern, and very big (the one that we frequented ofter had 40 theaters in it). Anyway I was hoping to get a nice new theater like that here and I did, kind of. (more…)

I have been in Texas 8 months now and am still amazed at how it can change from day-to-day.

Last week we had a cold front come down from Colorado which turned the temperature from the 90’s to the 70’s in one day. It not only changed the temperature outside but it brought the usual crazy thunderstorms (I am used to those now).

Today it is raining and is a more normal type of rain then what is usually here. Usually the rain will come down like someone is dumping a bucket over your head. Also the rain will last for about an hour until another “cell” comes and then you have the bucket affect again. Today’s rain is nice and steady even though the temperature is supposed to be in the mid 70’s and then be in the mid 80’s tomorrow.

The weather around here is definitely not boring!

Technorati: Weather, Texas, Round Rock TX, Thunder Storms

So I read this morning in the Statesman that the toll roads are now scheduled to open on October 31st instead of November 1st. I guess the reason for this is the is takes some time to open all of the exits in such a way that a person on the toll road will not get blocked by a closed exit.

I am planning on using the toll roads so that I can come to work almost 2 hours earlier. Right now I leave from 8:30 to 9am and get her in 25-45 minutes. I am expecting to get here in 25 minutes on the toll roads at 8am.

I have counted and there are exactly 3 signals from my house to my work while taking the toll roads. Right now 4 just to get to the I35.

Technorati: Austin, Toll Roads, Freeways, Texas

I grew up in Southern California where hunting was something that you did no Nintendo or saw on TV. I did go skeet hunting quite a few times - for clay targets - but I have never really been hunting.

Now that I am in Texas it seems that hunting is a pretty big sport here. The local grocery store sells blinds that you sit in in order to get a chance to shoot a deer. I really would not have a problem shooting a deer but cleaning it is another story. Enough said. (more…)

So the wife and I drove past the new movie theater by the Outlet Mall to see if it ever opened or not and sure enough - the parking lot was packed.

As mentioned previously we had grand opening passes for Thursday but when we showed up they said they had not gotten their certificate of occupancy. I guess they got.

The cool thing is that our grand opening tickets are now considered free tickets to any movie we want to see along with a free soda and popcorn. The hardest part now is deciding which movie to see.

Technorati: Cinemark, Movies, Movie Theater, Round Rock TX

The wife and got tickets to the grand opening of the Cinemark 14 Theater at the Round Rock Outlet mall today. We had scored a couple of free tickets that included a free Coke, popcorn, and video games. The official opening was supposed to be tomorrow.

Anyway, we were about to walk in when I lady came out and informed us that unfortunately then had not gotten their certificate of occupancy yet and therefore could not let anyone in the theater. We were told that our tickets would be good on any movie next week.

I guess that means that they theater will not be open this weekend.

Bummer.

Technorati: Cinemark Theater, Movies, Round Rock TX, Outlet Mall

As you may remember I was hit 2 times in my first 6 days of being in Texas by people that were not paying attention. I was not in another accident but the things I see around here tell me why insurance is just as expensive here as in California - Texans are terrible drivers.

These are my observations - (more…)