Jury duty is a pain. It's a monumental waste of time and mind-numbingly boring for every…read moreexcruciating hour. There's NO free parking, to add insult to injury. That said, no one in this building is to blame for our broken justice system. Everyone was unfailing kind, polite, and even apologetic. Even security was painless; much less stressful than getting through the airport, at least. For what they're working with here, they're doing a good job. And I hope I never have to return.

We went to our local post office around 8:05 am and they already had enough people in line to fill…read moretheir passport quota for the day. We decided to drive 30 min to the Travis County District Clerk because there were appointments available all morning. We were in and out within 20 minutes. The employees were helpful and nice and the waiting area was clean and spacious. Next time, I won't even bother going to the post office.

(1) Website gives no clue as to whether they offer notary service…read more (2) They don't. They ought to, but service is not their priority. (3) They insist you make appointments on the website, and the website is ridiculous. I wanted to record a deed, that option wasn't listed. There's an option called "OPR Recordings", would that be it? Who knows, because they weren't competent enough to explain what the hell "OPR" is. So I left, drove to a bank to get a notary, waited, then they said they don't notarize deeds. Drove to another notary service, got it, returned, and finally got my deed recorded, but: (4) There's an absurd $3 service charge for using a credit card. This process took me hours because they weren't competent enough to provide notary service, to say one way or the other on the website whether they do, or to use NORMAL ENGLISH on their website and not internal terminology that only the workers there understand.

When we arrived, a clerk asked what we needed, ensured we had the appropriate requirements before…read moreproceeding to the next step. We received a number and within 15 minutes, we had completed our task and received the requested documents. I was happy they were able to provide the document electronically, and it was less expensive that a singular printed version. No reservation was necessary for an appointment.

Wow, that was a mouthful. I never knew it was so hard to say '911'…read more This is the organization behind the magic of dispatching police, fire, and EMS to Austin and Travis County when you dial 911. In my opinion, they do a great job. Seldom a wait when you need them, and, depending on the agency you need, usually a swift response. Calm, professional, and caring. Just what you need when an urgent or emergency situation strikes. There are so many cities that can't say this about their 911 operations, we should count ourselves fortunate. Five stars? You bet!

Sometimes, you just have to wonder how long a new place will last. I'm first to appreciate what…read morethey've done here, but I'll be really surprised if they're around a month from now. At the Wednesday lunch when I was here, there were far more staff than customers. Perhaps it's just the newness of the place. Once inside, it's a huge space divided into three sections, like a giant "U." The host chose which side of the U to direct me to, and the other two sides seemed far away. The bad news is anyone next to you on your side will feel pretty darn close, but it's not that uncomfortable or prying. If you hate those hip & cool electronic menus, you're out of luck, because that's what they have here. You have the option of doing a quick one-click prix fixe entry, but c'mon - half the fun is perusing those odd entrées you've never heard of before. I will tell you if you're a longtime Austinite, much of the vast City Charcutèrie selections will seem pretty familiar. I don't know - I could argue the more things change, the more they're alike, and places like El Bistro de las Elecciones just come and go. But then again, what's the alternative? To not even give it a shot and then whine about it? Pffft, that's too easy. Sometimes, what we get is as good as it gets. ******************** (Editor's note: Errol M. did early voting today at Highland Mall, and then submitted this review. We're slightly concerned he may be off his meds.)

We visited El Bistro de Las Elecciones, located within Highland Mall, on a Friday evening. I…read morecalled ahead to try and get a reservation for the five of us, but yeah, it's one of those new-fangled trendy places that thinks it's a privilege for you to go to. So you just have to check in at the door and wait your turn. Parking is plentiful, on the southwest side of the mall, facing Airport Blvd. Look for the door with cars near it. I came in on the MetroRail train, and it was a short walk across Airport and the mall parking lot. When I arrived, I looked nearby to see if I could find a place that serves Lone Star, or perhaps organic bluebonnet-infused berry ice cream to kill time, but alas all I saw was an Avon Store. Wait... An Avon store? What the...? Check-in was relatively easy. The bulk of us just used our driver's licences. One used a utility bill and her honest face. And really, there wasn't a wait. Which is why to come here instead of waiting for General Election day on November 6th. Like a previous reviewer, I'm not a big fan of long/shared community tables, and the voting machines were all in a row along the wall. The glory days of the curtained booths are long gone. If it had been crowded, it would have been a little uncomfortable with how close things are. I even left a gap between me and my wife when I chose my machine. And where's my touch screen? C'mon! You've lost a star. Extended hours until they close. 7am-9pm now through November 2 for all your Travis County voting needs. Then you'll have to fight the lines on Tuesday, after you figure out where your real voting precinct is. Anyway, we did our civic duty, and it was mostly painless. And I got a free sticker! El Bistro, you are A-OK with me!

Austin Travis County Office of Emergency Management (A/TC Emergency Mgmt.) is excellent regarding…read morealerting Austin metroplex citizens of impending severe weather. We were warned of upcoming inclement weather on Friday, January 23rd. This is when folks ensure they have the Styrofoam coverings on their outside faucets and their outdoor plants are covered and potted plants are brought inside. We were planning book club at our home on Saturday that had to be postponed to another date. Basically, any plans for Saturday were thwarted. So we laid low on Saturday and did not leave our home. The really severe weather happened between Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Saturday night we could hear the sleeting and on Sunday morning we woke to a yard filled with snow. On Sunday, most churches promoted virtual services including our own. So again on Sunday we did not venture out. By Monday temperatures were predicted to warm up, but did not as planned. Thus. Monday was another day indoors. The Austin Travis County Emergency Management throughout the duration of the inclement weather has repeatedly sent texts asking folks to "avoid non-essential travel." They also suggested protecting "people, pets, pipes and plants," 4 P's It is looking like Tuesday maybe another day inside. We are so thankful for no disconnection of electricity or water. These alerts provide great value as they help you adequately prepare for inclement weather.

I have been trying to communicate with the Judge Secretary since Wednesday with no response. I was…read moretold how to handle something now neither party is answering. At 1340 I called the Precinct again today to ask what was the price to file a Motion, they told me I would get a returned call because they did not have the answer. Now 1900 I have yet to get a call. Now I'm thinking just because the position they hold, they think they can do whatever. I warned them I would be posting everything public because Elgin is known for their ways of whiteness.

This is where we got married. Overall, our experience was good…read more Our wedding date was July 3rd (2009), so I called way in advance to make sure that would work out since it was a Friday before a major holiday and we wanted to get married in the early afternoon. This ended up working out fine for Judge Benton Eskew's schedule, so I went ahead and set things up with his secretary. I called back a couple of weeks before the wedding to confirm the date/time just to check, and I nearly passed out (really, at the time I had a heart condition that is now surgically corrected) when the secretary at first said she didn't have it down in her book. But then she checked the Judge's calendar, and our appointment was written down there. So everything was actually okay, it was just a bad scare (yep, that's why 4 stars and not 5). A few days before the wedding my now-husband and I went to get our marriage license. The employee we interacted with was very nice, she made friendly conversation with us while getting everything ready. We were given a funny little book about marriage, which was much more gender-equal than I expected. Our actual wedding went great. The Judge and the other employees were very friendly, and accommodating of the fact that we brought a small group with us. We were surprised that the Judge had a page of bible verses to read out before marrying us ... I realize that might bother others of course, and that's why I'm mentioning it, but it wasn't a big deal to us and probably made our families happy. He also spoke about the rings' symbolic function, etc. From what I'd previously heard about courthouse weddings, I had just been expecting something much more sterile/perfunctory/impersonal than what we got, so I was very happy. We have many great pictures from our ceremony (friends and family took them), when we were only expecting to have a few. When we later got our marriage certificate in the mail we received another happy surprise: it was actually nice to look at! We were planning on displaying it in our home anyway, but we expedited the process since the certificate was so pretty.