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The idea is that you're indebted beyond your ability ever to escape that indebtedness, and you can't get out on your own.
~~~~~~~~ U. of Pennsylvania law professor Daniel Skeel

Mr. Skeel is the Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at UPenn's Carey School of Law. He is an expert in bankruptcy and debt restructuring. He is also a man of faith, and in recent years has written about what he sees as the New Testament's treatment of debt and debtors, and its similarities to bankruptcy. "There came a point," he writes (or I guess you could say he "penned"), "where I realized that the story of the Gospel, and the idea of the 'fresh start' with bankruptcy are very closely parallel."

We all have our own ideas about bankruptcy and the law that governs it, but Prof. Skeel's grander message is that when you're in over your head, you'll need to help to get out. The person in the grip of an addiction has lost, or stands to lose, everything, and those debts are not merely financial. By entering recovery, s/he finds a way out and gets that same "fresh start" through the saving Grace of his/her Higher Power. Debts are paid, lives are saved. All of us have that same opportunity; there's never a bad time for a new beginning.

Blessings to those who share their stories here at TG.

NT
1 John 1:9
In tribute to Allen Jones, who made the most of his fresh start.

Took a few days of SB to hit the wineries in Fredericksburg and do a little hiking at Enchanted Rock and Pedernales State Park with Gal-Pal and we are enjoying beautiful weather and climbing rocks and then this pack of young college individuals come past us and without even looking I say "aggies...no doubt" and sure enough...you can spot them miles away. Just a little awkward in many ways...the need to wear military-grade hiking boots when we are in basically flat rock and there are others in sandals and bball shoes...and yet the need to over-gear up...then of course t-shirts and hats that talk about sheep and red ass and whatnot...I think the greatest was one lumbering individual that instead of having a camel pak or modern day drinking container - dude had his Davy Crockett 1980's leather pouch that he bought on his first Disney Land trip at Frontier Land - not sure that's actually supposed to be used like that or as decor - just glad he wasn't wearing some giant plastic Bowie knife or any coonskin cap...although probably had one back in the car.

Would be the tallest building in the United States

OKC Fantasy Land

Long story short...plumber tunneled under our rent house foundation & fixed leaky waste water pipes, but now its been 3 months & he wont come back to backfill the holes (guy used subcontractors to dig under house). His office wont return our calls. They've promised several times that they were going to backfill but to no avail. The rent house is located near the coast so its a rural area.

We paid them 3/4 of the money, and all they need to do is backfill the holes & be done with it to collect the rest.

We contacted a lawyer & they said if we hire out another foundation company to backfill, the plumber could file a lien on the house.

We feel he's already in breach of contract.

Any advice is appreciated.

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Yeah, that judgment call on the catch went Texas' way thank goodness....

Hopefully this will take some guys out of the box for Bijan, and allow that offense to open up in a way they couldn't with Ridder and Art Smith's drek offense.

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Fill in the blank:


random dice roller dnd

This bill should have had 435 Yes Votes.

What a bunch of worthless pieces of shit.



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Over the past two years, my favorite Longhorn was Jordan Whittington. This year, it will be Michael Taeffe. Not bad for a walk on.

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I just wanted to warn everyone to be careful of people who raise money for charities and participate in marathons and half marathons.

They will just take your money and run…

My daughter will be graduating from SMU next spring (spring 2025). We are trying to create a timeline of when she needs to do what related to the LSAT and starting law school (hopefully) in Fall 2025. How far ahead of college graduation do you take the LSAT and how far before that do you start prepping in earnest.

Any thoughts on prep materials or classes that are worthwhile? TIA
(no this is not my daughter, you pervs)


y'all get a two-fer

Crazy true story. It is going to make your blood boil about how the crime was handled.

Check out “American Nightmare” on Netflix

Adam Loewy is one of the top personal injury lawyers in Austin. Adam is a proud graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and started his law firm in 2005. Adam helps people who have been injured in car crashes, slip and falls, dog bites, and other assorted ways. He is actively involved in every case he handles and is always available to talk or text. If you or a loved one has been injured, call the Loewy Law Firm today at (512) 280-0800.

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I'm your guest preacher, filling in for Anwar and today's sermon will come from the book of "Be Prepared," chapter 1, verse 1.

Psychologists tell us that to-do lists are very beneficial for people to accomplish tasks. They lessen stress about tasks, increase productivity and provide a sense of accomplishment when you cross one off.

The 2024 Texas Longhorn football team can now cross one task off their list. Winter conditioning? Check.

The Longhorns have wrapped up the grueling winter conditioning and are heading home for spring break. When they get back, they’ll get back to work on the next phase of the 2024 season, spring practice, and that brings a whole new set of tasks on the to-do list.

SPRING PRACTICE TO-DO LIST:

STAY HEALTHY:



The number one priority for any team is to get through the spring without losing anyone to a major injury. Football is a violent game so you’re going to have some things pop up here and there, but as long as it’s nothing season-ending or worse, then you’ll consider it a win.

GET THE QUARTERBACKS & WIDE RECEIVERS ON THE SAME PAGE:



There is no quarterback competition. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has already declared Quinn Ewers the starter (as he should). That means Arch Manning will come into the spring as the most famous backup in all of college football. Heck, Manning doesn’t even need the soon-to-be-released EA Sports game to boost his clout rating.

But just because the competition is over, that doesn’t mean that there’s not a lot of work to be done.

For Ewers, spring practice will be all about working to develop a relationship and timing with his new receivers. All three starters from last season’s receiving corps are gone so he’ll need to learn the new class as soon as possible.

Isaiah Bond and Matthew Golden are the new faces in the receiver room having arrived in Austin via the portal. They have been working out with Ewers since arriving but there’s no way they will be completely in sync just yet. It takes time to know how receivers are going to respond to different coverages, truly learn their speed and their catch radius, etc….

Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore and Ryan Niblett have a year of experience in the program but they mostly received backup reps last year. They’ve probably caught more passes from Arch Manning and even Maalik Muphy than from Ewers.

Finally, there are the true freshmen such as Ryan Wingo who new to campus and are making a case to get playing time this fall.

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GET ARCH MANNING REPS:



For Arch Manning, the task is simple, get as many reps as possible.

Sarkisian told Keyshawn Johnson on the All Facts, No Brakes podcast, that Manning was “going to get some definite playing time, and we’re looking forward to him doing that, watching his maturation and growth.”

That means 2024 will be the first year of getting any kind of significant playing time for Manning. He got a couple of snaps last season, but that was just dipping his toes in the water. Manning spent the majority of last season watching and learning.

“In high school I never was a backup,” Manning said before the Sugar Bowl. “So this year being second or third string you get to kind of be behind and learn a lot from other guys and try to stay patient. I think I’ve learned a lot.

“You have to take a lot of mental reps and just try to prepare knowing that there’s a good chance you might not play but there’s also a chance you may play. So a lot of it is mental and it takes some time. But I think it’ll be worth it.”

The simple fact is, Ewers has yet to complete a season of college football without missing time due to injury. So the odds are, Manning will be needed at some point this season. He needs to be ready.

LET THE OFFENSIVE LINE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY:



Texas has had incredible stability along the offensive line these last two years. They’ve had largely the same starters and largely the same backups. But that stability is, in all likelihood, about to be gone.

The most obvious change is that Christian Jones is off to the NFL meaning the Horns will need to replace the starting right tackle from the past two seasons. Cam Williams is the clear choice to be the next starter at right tackle and that is exactly what I think will happen.

However, the real shakeup in stability will come when the transfer portal opens up this spring.

Texas has a LOT of talented players along the offensive line. The dirty truth is, they have too many good players.

Neto Umeozulu, Connor Robertson, Cole Hutson, Malik Agbo, Trevor Goosby, Payton Kirkland, Connor Stroh, Andre Cojoe and Jaydon Chatman are all battling to show they belong on this team and have a future.

One, or more, are going to need to move on if they want to earn playing time and develop into better players.

For every one of the backup linemen, this spring will be all about proving that they are ready to take over and play at a high level when the current starters move on. If they can’t prove that, then I’m sorry to say that they will probably need to move on.

Kyle Flood will need to mix and match all of the guys and see how they respond.

BUILD THE PASS RUSH:



Texas’ pass defense is set to take a big step up next year. The early reports on Trey Moore, Ethan Burke, and Colin Simmons are glowing. All three guys impressed during the winter workouts. Now, they need to continue their progression when the pads come on. If, as expected, they continue to develop, then the strength of the defensive line will definitely be on the edge this season.

REBUILD THE SECONDARY:



Andrew Mukuba, Derek Williams, Michael Taafe, Jahdae Barron, Malik Muhammad, Terrance Brooks, Gavin Holmes and the rest of the crew all have work to do.

Texas finished embarrassingly low in the pass defense ranks last year. It is entirely fair to say that the pass defense played a big role in both of UT’s losses last season (to OU & Washington).

Just like how Ewers and the receivers need to get on the same page, the DB’s need to learn how each other plays, work on communication and get much, much stickier than last year’s team.

The good news is, they were so bad last year that even a little bit of improvement will go a long way.

CONTINUE TO BUILD THE CULTURE:



@Ketchum posted a note Saturday about Isaiah Bond talking about how he still has to learn the Texas way of doing things instead of the Alabama way of doing things. Part of that process includes buying into the knowledge that the Texas way does work. The staff expect Bond to be a playmaker this year but he is still learning the Longhorn culture. That’s ok. That should be somewhat expected when you’re bringing in portal players.

The coaches know that it will take longer to establish the culture with the 2024 team than it did the 2023 squad just because there is more changeover this year. It’s also not something that happens overnight, nor is it something that will end when the spring is over. It will continue throughout the summer, fall camp and even into the season.

“We take our time with it,” Sarkisian said last fall when he was asked about the Culture Wednesdays that the team participates in. “We literally do it every single week. We find different topics and different things to talk about. And I really appreciate our players and our staff for buying into that idea.”

Many of the players have talked about how the culture Wednesday’s helped the 2023 team grow and attributed it to one of the reasons they won the Big 12 and made the college football playoffs.

Obviously there are many more “to-do’s” that will be worked on this Spring, but I’m not J.K. Rowling and y’all aren’t a bunch of tweens soaking up every word of a new Harry Potter novel, so we’ll end it there. Needless to say, this is going to be a fun spring to follow.

TWEETS OF INTEREST:

No matter what happens to the Longhorn basketball team this March … they’ve got this going for them.

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Texas’ win over OU just helped solidify their place in the big dance later this month. It also caps a regular season in which there were plenty of Rodney Terry doubters (including me at times). But Terry got his team going and the Horns look like they’re playing their best basketball of the season right now. Isn’t this when you want them to peak?

Now I don’t expect the Horns to go on a deep run in the Big 12 tournament. They’ll play Kansas State in the first round Wednesday and can definitely win that game. Iowa State awaits the winner.

Still, they can get up to Kansas City, get a game or two and some barbecue and then come home to watch the NCAA tournament show to find out where they’ll go next week.

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This was easily the second most impressive site at Moody Saturday.

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Meanwhile, the women are set to take on Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament semifinal playing to get a likely #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Horns and Wildcats have played twice this season with each winning at home so Sunday’s game will be the rubber match.

In Madison Booker I trust.

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It is entirely possible that Vic Schaeffer and his girls have done enough already to get that #1 seed. In addition to a stellar 28-4 record, they saw Ohio State and UCLA lose in their conference tournaments this week so that helps.

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I have no idea what is going on with the Texas baseball program. After 12 seasons working alongside head coach David Pierce, Philip Miller decided he was done. I don’t know if it is a work issue or personal issue or something in between (nor will I speculate as to why he’s now gone). But it is yet another staff change for the Longhorns.

Texas snapped a four game losing streak Friday night in a big way, beating Texas Tech 22-8. The Horns bashed four homeruns, including two grand slams in the game.

The dark days returned on Saturday, losing 7-2.

No matter what happens Sunday, the Horns feel like they’re at an inflection point of the season. It feels (from the outside) as though this team is working to figure out who it is and Miller’s departure certainly won’t help.

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Quinn Ewers may be on Spring Break, but he’s still putting in the work. He stopped by his old Southlake Carroll stomping grounds to get a workout in, and he brought a friend with him.

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Holy crap! What an incredible finish for UT in the NCAA 4X400.

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I know if @Anwar Richardson (who is a huge boxing fan) were here he’d be talking about this so I can’t leave this out of the Pulpit.

I grew up watching Tyson destroy people. And the dude may be 57 now (he’ll be 58 when the fight happens), but he still looks like he’s in phenomenal shape.

Jake Paul is 27 and rivals Tyson as a self-promoter. And if you’ve got two guys who know how to fight and self-promote, where else would you stage the match other than JerryWorld?

This will be Netflix’s first live boxing match ever and it is sure to draw a TON of eyeballs.

"Mike Tyson is one of the biggest icons in boxing history and Jake Paul is one of the biggest disruptors in boxing history," Netflix vice president for nonfiction sports Gabe Spitzer said in a statement. "Saturday, July 20 will be pure drama in the ring in Texas. We are thrilled to partner with Most Valuable Promotions for this historic event and we can't wait for these two to face off for fans all across the world on Netflix."

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Thank God for wives. What would we do without them?

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This kid has a bright future as a baseball enforcer.

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Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!

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Whatever you do today … make sure you check your six.

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Happy birthday to Coach Sark who turned the big 5-0 this week!

Fifty is one of those big numbers and it feels like an important milestone in someone’s life. It’s also a little intimidating for me because I turn 50 in just over a week.

For me, that has come into focus recently as I’ve worked on things like going over my retirement plans with a financial advisor (I’m not there yet, but it really isn’t that far away).

But more importantly, hitting a half-century of living kind of forces you to contemplate where you are in life and assess what really matters and what doesn’t.

I have been blessed with a wonderful family, good friends, and a fulfilling career. I’ve gone through health scares with my loved ones, had a tragedy or two along the way as well as some beautiful moments.

The one thing I have concluded after all of this self-reflection is that it is all worth it and it is all precious. All of it. The good and the bad. It’s easy and fun to live through the good times, but you can’t have the highs without the lows. What’s more, every time in my life when I’ve been challenged with adversity, I have come out on the other side a better man for it.

So if you will allow an indulgence here, let me leave you with this bit of old-man advice. No matter where you are in your own journey right now, take time to be thankful for the life we’ve been given. It may be hard, it may feel overwhelming, it may feel like the dark days will never end. But, as someone who has been through some of those days himself, I assure you it will get better.

So, like Job, I will be thankful for it all, the good and the bad.

It’s that time again. Good luck to all those waiting on the decisions coming out this afternoon. Anyone sweating these last few hours out?

Man, a lot of what ifs here. Yao and Rose without the injuries would be interesting. Same with Brandon Roy and Oden.
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sharing this for a friend, just in case. See application instructions at the link

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Cliffs Notes: No.5 Texas held off a frisky No.16 Kansas State 71-64 in the final minute to advance to the Big 12 Tournament title game, where the Longhorns will face an Iowa State team that destroyed Oklahoma on Monday in the other semi-final in Kansas City.

The Participants: No.3 Texas (29-4, 14-4 Big 12) and No.16 Kansas State (25-7, 13-5 Big 12)

Pre-Game NET Rankings: Texas (No.3) and Kansas State (No. 15)
Pre-Game RPI Rankings: Texas (No.7) and Kansas State (No.18)

Game MVP: There wasn't a true star performance over four quarters, but Shay Holle was a star in the final 75 seconds, making a three-pointer with 1:13 left to break a 61-61 tie and then following that up with a lay-up with 36 left to give the Longhorns a 66-61 lead that it never relinquished. Holle finished with 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
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Hot Start: The Longhorns went on a 7-0 run to close at the first quarter that allowed them to take a double-digit lead (24-14) into the second quarter. The Wildcats were able to close the gap to 5 or 6 at various points throughout the next two quarters, but the Longhorns were able to keep them at arm's reach with a lead throughout until the middle of the fourth quarter.

Madison Booker Watch: The star freshman led the Longhorns with 17 points and 3 assists, while navigating the final moments of the game with four fouls.

Tough Day at the Office: Taylor Jones finished with more fouls (3) than she did rebounds (0), shots attempted (2), blocks (0) or steals (0). She only scored her 3rd and 4th points of the game on free throws in the final seconds of the game.

Worth Mentioning: Five players finished in double-figures scoring: Booker (17), Aaliyah Moore (14), Holle (11), Shayleee Gonzales (10 and Deyona Gaston (10).

ESPN Bracketology: The Longhorns probably lost its chance to be a No.1 seed this weekend when USC beat likely No.1 seed Stanford in the final of the Pac-12 Tournament Championship. It means that there's a very, very good chance that Texas and USC will be the No.1 and No.2 seeds in the same region, no matter what happens in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game.

Sorry for the long title but felt all the info was necessary. But what I am looking for is in the title.
Would love to pay for a session to learn my next steps as quickly as possible. A little background is that I registered this through Legal zoom (apologies for skipping an attorney to talk to the first time). Don’t want to make that mistake again. And I need to make this happen pretty quickly.
I am in Houston if that is necessary.