Leaderboard

I live in Houston because I like living here. It's that simple. While some people only see the ugly of this town, I tend to stick to the prettier parts - even then, the ugly tends to still have some decadent beauty. BTW, I didn't even realize this site existed till now. I like this idea far better than City-Data, and what I've seen so far, the discussion is quite a bit more intelligent.

There are no mirco-climate conditions in Houston. Regarding the weatherman and I-10... and cold fronts... they say this sometimes because that is where the cold front stalls from time to time. Micro-climates tend to be constant pockets of weather/environmental conditions that are unlike the constant weather/environmental conditions they are contained within. A stalled cold front is a transient condition. For example, along the coast of CA - with the Pacific ocean - your nightime lows could be in the 60's - in August. But go inland just 5 miles... and inferno. San Francisco has microclimates...

Considering the great job done with preserving Houston's Carnegie Library, I think we have nothing to fear. Oh, wait...

Oh, you mean Jolly Science! Didn't know it was gone.

I know we have a lot of scary termonology in the plumbing industry, like nipples and elbows, some even scarier like ball cocks, hootie rings and cock hole covers, but what the heck is a "toe tester". I'm guessing it's one of those "residential" things. I'm thinking $200.00 is about tops for cutting a hole in the drywall, securing what's loose and then patch and piant. Installing an access door is a good idea, but that only reduces your costs for the next visit. Look for an estimate that's not much more than this. Use your judgement. Hire someone that has an office, trucks, real employees and all that stuff. Stay away from the guys that hang out in front of Lowes or Home Depot. Labor 2hrs. minimum $80.00 Materials $25.00 Truck Charge (Tools) $45.00 Taxes $12.50

The damage has been done...but now I can claim that I was the lowest-ranking HAIFer ever, at a grand total of -204... ...and I wasn't even a troll!

Now to talk about some of the more controversial elements of Critical Mass. To keep a group this big together, stopping for every light is an impossibility. If a light is already red and cross traffic is already moving when the front of the group reaches the intersection, we will stop and wait for the traffic to clear or for the light to change. Once we're moving through the intersection we're going to do everything we can to keep the whole group together. This means that if the light starts to change that a couple cyclists will stand in the crosswalk to prevent motorists from acting on their green light until our group has cleared. This procedure is known colloquially as "corking". Motorists are inconvenienced for no more than 2 minutes and we clear the area and life goes back to normal. This is better than clumps of 20 cyclists stopping at every light and locking up the whole grid. But obviously its controversial. 98% of motorists are patient and understanding, moreso than you might expect. We did have one angry guy in an H2 yelling at us when he was corked on Lockwood near Rusk. I expect some of the angry motorist opinions will come to this thread.