Modernceo

You're not the only one to notice. It seemed to me that the traffic didn't increase around school restarting, but daylight savings time. My theory is that people are driving much slower, with bigger gaps between cars because it's darker outside now. Either way, I'm not happy to find my drive inbound at 630 being much longer, and slower. It used to be that I could sail along and not worry about traffic. Not anymore.

Thank you guys for posting that photo and for the bio on Myer!

My girlfriend and I ate at Fu's Chinese restaurant on University St in Kirby Village and on the way back to the car we walked past a beautiful Tile Mosaic entry with the wording "Myers White Store" in front of whats now Half Price Books. Does anyone know the history of Myers store ? Any photos ? I absolutely love seeing the tiled entry ways of stores from long past. Cory

Im used to using Comcast Cable modem, however Id like to know what else is out there that I can use. Ill be moving into a townhome in Rice Military in the next week or two and CANT have much internet downtime.. Btw, I looked and it seems as if ATT's Uverse isnt available in the neighborhood.

That is really cool !

If you do all that you say, decently sized car, recycle, ride bikes, then I commend you. Im just a little annoyed by so many americans driving massive trucks/suv's when theres little to no need for it. And, the numbers of people who feel they need a "large vehicle" just to keep their family safe.

Your mentality, is exactly what has caused the gas crisis/i need the largest vehicle possible type mentality. How can we improve our overall gas mileage when our average driver, is a paranoid, "get me the largest fortified box i can get" type of driver? Gas is only going to get more expensive, and our society is only going to continue to downsize for better gas mileage. Its the right thing to do, but sadly its because of gas prices people are adapting, not because they are concerned about our planet..

Heres what work the plumber is doing. Replacing gas shut off valve for fireplace Replacing gas shut off valve for furnace Replacing gas shut off valve for hot water heater Replacing two flexlines for furnace/hot water heater Installing hardpipe off furnace inlet line so that theres no flexline coming into the furnace Installing new 50 foot run of pipe for hot water heater drain pan that vents outside of the house Redoing hot water emergency release pipe from hot water heater Replacing twin insulated exhaust vent for hot water heater Replacing a few other various pipes/fittings that are leaking/improperly mixed between cpvc and pvc Pressure testing the entire natural gas piping system in the house Paying for two seperate permits from the city He'll be here all day, so I know its not a quick easy fix. This is a trusted plumber that Ive done business with before. They are doing everything neccesary to get this out of code house up to the code that I can get an inspector to sign off and get my gas meter installed and gas turned back on!

Cliffs notes : Girlfriend smells gas, reports it to gas company gas company comes out, shuts off gas and removes meter $2200 later, plumber will fix everything, but then i have to deal with permits, inspectors, etc bs. recommendation: call a good plumber and bypass all of the inspectors, gas company removing meter, etc and save yourself money and TIME!! So my girlfriend comes home yesterday and finds that the house smells like natural gas. She freaks out, calls Centerpoint energy, and calls me. I come home from work and check it out. Centerpoint guy comes out immediately (to my suprise) and he helps check around the house. Finds out that my fireplace gas valve is not closing completely and its leaking a tiny amount of gas. He then checks out the hot water heater and furnace in my attic and finds that theres a few older valves and flex lines for gas. Long story short, he pulls the entire gas meter off the gas line and caps the gas line and caps my house feed line. So, in order to get the gas turned back on, Ive got to fix every single minute code breaking problem (all of these code breaking problems were from previous homeowners shoddy installations), for example: replace older shutoff valves replace older flexlines replace faulty hot water heater exhaust vent install a new hardpipe entrance pipe for the natural gas going into the furnace instead of having flex pipe going directly into the furnace. pull the overflow line from hot water heater thats going into the ac drain pipe and run a new 30-50 foot section of pipe out of the house replace several improper lines that arent angled correctly for drain, and or leaking, etc. THEN, ive got to have the house pressure tested THEN, IVE GOT to get the lazy ass City of Houston inspectors to come out and inspect the house and give the seal of approval THEN IVE GOT TO GET THE GAS COMPANY TO COME OUT AND INSTALL A NEW METER Basically, about $2200 later, and several days without heat, and no hot water, ill be back up to code, and HOPEFULLY HAVE HOT WATER AND HEAT AGAIN. If I had just called the plumber, I could have had all this crap fixed, and not have to deal with gas "NAZIS", and city of houston inspectors, and probably could have saved myself at least $500 or more and lots of precious time. Note: Im ALL for safety, and will have everything done properly. HOWEVER, I just hate the ineffeciency of dealing with city of houston inspectors, and setting up appointments, etc for gas company people.

So, I decided to hang out on my back porch and enjoy this absolutely beautiful weather. I was reading my paper for a good 20-30 mins (around 545pm) until several Cicadas decided to make noise in a bush about 2 feet away from me. The noise was almost deafening! Now, normally I can put up with them because im indoors, but im wondering, is there anything that can be done, short of : 1) finding them, and crushing them with my foot 2) spraying them with gasoline and tossing a match into the bush That doesnt involve chemicals ? Anything natural that would make them move to a bush say 30 feet away ? Heh. I know this is wishful thinking, just wondering if you guys have ever had experience with anything to quieten these things.

Fascinating information. Thanks for sharing that !

I guess it isnt. Thank you for your reply though. I edge/mow my own lawn, so, getting a referral from my lawn guy wont work. Im still in need of a referral, need some drainage work done, and im looking for a professional, because it wont exactly be a super easy job in my application.

Anyone ? Common guys.

I asked for, and received a good recommendation for gutters to be installed previously on Haif. Now, I need some drainage pipes to be run/installed in my yard to take the water from the installed gutters out to the street. Can anyone recommend a good drainage company for this job ? Thanks for your input, Cory

I live near the Royal Oaks neighborhood on the west side of Houston. Its a high end home development, from 300's to millions. They have a 12 foot brick fence around the neighborhood, and a security guard at their two entrances. I love it! Ive never had any problems with my house, because I have a big security gate around my front entrance, lots of lighting, and big sturdy fences around the sides and back of my house, but nothing would beat the security of Royal Oaks compared to my place.