If you’re looking for an online guide to San Antonio, I recommend you stop at SanAntonioInsider.com. I stumbled across his site and it is tremendous, free info for anyone visiting the Alamo City. He talks about hotels, attractions, restaurants, things to do, and everything else you might need. If it’s not on the website, just send him an email and he’ll be glad to answer it.
The site is actually quite different than this San Antonio Blog because it is more organized into advice whereas I give musings on different topics in South Texas when I come across them. If you’re a San Antonio tourist looking for advice, you won’t find a better guide. The reason why is Tom isn’t speaking with any bias besides his personal experiences.
I was searching Google for another San Antonio Blog like mine, but there really are no general San Antonio Blogs out there that just cover everything – maybe for the better. I’ve seen niche specific blogs. For example, a criminal lawyer blogger and housing market blogging, but nothing just about SA.
Wait I take that back. There is another San Antonio blog by Melissa at About.com. I think the Express-News may have dipped into the blogging seen, but a compilation of articles really isn’t a blog. True blogs are somewhat hard to define but you know one when you see one. To help show you what it is, I’ll show you what it is not. For example, a journal is more like a diary that has a collection of chronological thoughts. A news wire is a continually updated feed. A forum is a place where many people can post there thoughts on a number of issues.
Would you like to announce your San Antonio wedding online? Now you can with San Antonio wedding announcements. For just $49, you can have your couple photo published along with a caption of up to 500 words. This is very cheap in comparison to newspaper charges and all you have to do is forward the link to all your friends so they can read the official listing. Visit SanAntonioWeddingAnnouncements.com for more information on publishing your announcement online.
SXC.hu
If you would like to advertise your San Antonio website or company, you can click on the San Antonio advertising link on the top of this website to learn more.
Somewhat reluctantly I agreed to go to Freddy’s Frozen Custard off Highway 151 and Potranco. The prices were as bad as I feared. $2.09 for a scoop of vanilla custard and $4.59 (I think) for a concrete turtle or whatever they called it.
The custard was great. I enjoy commercial plain vanilla ice cream and similars such as yogurt and custard. The custard had a great texture. Again, the unfortunate part was the price but at least you won’t find it at HEB or Wal-Mart.
I got a taste of the concrete turtle and it was also really good. I’m not sure exactly what all was in it, but there was definitely a full cup.
My overall grades are A- for taste and D for price. I love a great dairy desert as much as the next person but $8 is almost as pricey as Marble Slab (though it would be better in quality). Marble Slab is notorious for its very high prices and pretty good ice cream. Custard was a nice change of pace.
SXC.hu
I’m in the market for a new cell phone so I headed to the AT&T store today to see what new phones were available. Of course this was after searching online for the best deals. I will say that Internet shopping is going to give you by far the better deal. I’d almost rather not go into the store at this point. As you might have guessed, the prices were at 100 to 110% of their peaks. I did not see one sale or special offer.
There was one cell phone called the Motorola MOTO(TM)Z9 that was $199.99 at the store but on the Internet, this mobile phone was only $9.99 after the online special. The rep actually said this was a very good price and let on that the Internet had very good prices on phone deals. It’s a shame the physical locations don’t have any promos or discounts. As I was driving back to the house, I noticed how many ATT stores there actually were in San Antonio. Huebner Oaks, 410 & Bandera, Highway 151, and there was another I can’t remember.
If your cell phone is about to end as well, definitely do your best sleuthing to see if you can’t find a superb online cell phone special. If you need any advice or tips on this, send me an email and I’ll let you know what I can come up with.
SXC.hu
We all know San Antonio has great Mexican food. We also know the Alamo City is home to a number of other succulent dishes. Still, lately I’ve been steering clear of everything but Chipotle and Whataburger once. Why? The Economy. I can’t afford to pay $9+ a plate and then on top of that give a 15% tip. If I’m dining with someone else, which I usually am this quickly adds up to $22 to $24 for two people for one meal.
And this is for most average San Antonio restaurants – Alamo Cafe, Mamacita’s, Golden Wok, Chilli’s, Texas RoadHouse, Macaroni Grill, Fudruckers, and so on. In other words, just about every where is pricey. The really expensive places or potentially expensive restaurants like P.F. Changs, San Francisco Steak House, and that sort are pretty much impossible to eat at, especially for dinner.
Instead, I’ve been eating less and buying less at the grocery store to conserve money. The great aspect about this is I’ve shed some weight just by avoiding pricey San Antonio cafes and any extra deserts that I used to get. For example, a flurry from McDonalds, a blizzard from Dairy Queen, or a milk shake from Sonic or Whataburger. If I do get ice cream, I buy it from H.E.B or Wal-Mart so I get a better value.
Ice cream from places like Amy’s Ice Cream, Marble Slab Creamery, Da Vinci’s, and Cold Stone Creamery (I think) cost about as much for a Gallon of Blue Bell Ice Cream.
Although the nationwide housing market has tumbled down, the South Texas landscape is faring better than most. Sales have dipped somewhat but prices are still hovering relatively close to what fair market value would have been 6 months ago. You can check prices on San Antonio Homes to see how they stacked up about a year ago.
If you are in the market for selling a home in South Texas, you may want to step up efforts to move it as real estate is expected to decline until the market equilibrium is reached. Unless you have time to wait until the economy improves, you’re better off taking a 10% loss now than being unable to sell the house within the next few years.
In a big time game in Boston this afternoon, the San Antonio Spurs pulled off a major win lead by Matt Bonner. Bonner, playing in front of a throng of personal fans from his home state of New Hampshire, put together a humungous first half performance before trailing off in the second half.
Roger Mason contributed a huge 3 with 20 seconds left and Tim Duncan played very good basketball. Duncan’s major flaw was in guarding the pick and roll. Because he wanted to secure the rebound, he wouldn’t step out on Kevin Garnett or present a hard double on the man with the ball – usually Paul Pierce or Ray Allen.
Other key contributors were rookie point guard George Hill and Argentine sensation Manu Ginobili. The Spurs continue their rodeo road trip this Tuesday at New Jersey.
If you live near or around San Antonio and make less than $40,000 a year (it may have been upped to 45), the St. Mary’s Law School Public Interest Law Program has joined efforts with VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) to provide free income tax preparation to those whose income falls below this range. The clinic is held at the one block down from the school at Hillcrest and Woodlawn.
The sooner you go, the less of a line there will be. If you wait until the last or second to last weekend before taxes are due, you will have to wait in a 1-2 hour line. Remember, this is a completely free program so please take advantage of it.
Looking for a job in San Antonio? Well the Census Bureau is hiring big time. The Census Bureau has released press announcements through the radio, newspaper, and Internet. 1000s of jobs are open and pay scale ranges based on your qualifications. Randstat is also currently hiring for the month of January. Randstat is a temp agency and is paying decently at $12/hr or more. Although the economy is downtrodden, it appears as if the San Antonio job market is still alive and well with these two entities offering loads of jobs.
What has frustrated a lot of online job seekers is most websites end up funnelling to Monster, Career Builder, and Yahoo Hot Jobs. These places usually rehash the same insurance and sales type of jobs that aren’t specific to anything most are looking for. Stated another way, rarely is anything fresh. I’m not sure about this, but my impression is they’re charging too much to post jobs their and its driving away potential posters.
