Specwriter

That's an interesting question, Mark. Generally developers want a return on their investment in a reasonable amount of time but they also want to take advantage of opportunities and position themselves in a way they believe the market is headed. On thing the pandemic has proven is a lot of people can work from home or other remote locations and shop on-line with home delivery. Perhaps developers are asking what is next going to be in demand, commercial office buildings (not if more are working remotely), retail space (not if more are ordering on-line and having goods delivered to their doors),

And what a pleasant meeting it was. I hope we can do that again someday JLWM. I hope all is well with you. I don't believe I know Firebird 65 but he is very familiar with the Aldine area where I grew up. I would not be surprised to learn that we have mutual acquaintances.

I agree. Keep something us "chronologically enhanced" folks can identify. 🙂

I would have named it "The Knosh." 😁

I wonder what is going on at the Federal Reserve Bank with the brick being removed. Michael Graves, at that point in his career, was a design architect. Like Robert Venturi and Philip Johnson he came up with the concept and image. It was left to others to work out the details. This is why Philip Johnson, for example, teamed up with the office of John Burgee on many projects. Some designers understand enough about the "nuts and bolts" of actual construction to avoid working against the reality of what can be reasonably accomplished. Other times the technical architects a

When I travel from the company office in Houston to the one in Dallas I am allowed 250 miles each way for reimbursement purposes. If the current rate the IRS allows is $0.55/mile that comes to $275.00 for a round trip by personal automobile (fuel, wear and tear, insurance, etc.). That compares very favorably to round trip air fare + transportation to and from Love Field to the Dallas office + parking at Hobby. An added advantage is I can stop at any one of several Dairy Queens along the way for a DQ treat. ☺️ If I took HSR I would still need transportation to the rail station from the home off

"Back then" sedans were body-on-frame, mostly rear wheel drive vehicles with big V8 engines. In that regard they weren't too different from a pickup truck except they held more passengers and were better appointed. SUVs and the popularity of crew cab pickup trucks meant for families instead of oil field workers has pretty much made large sedans superfluous.

The car with the boat and trailer is definitely a different car. My guess it it a 1967 Buick Electra. If it was possible to focus on the badge near the bottom of the rear fender it would confirm. I know it is not a 1968 Buick because there would be a side marker light near where the name badge is on this car. Buicks must have been great cars for towing. A neighbor had a 1969 Buick Electra which was optioned for that purpose (heavy duty radiator, transmission fluid cooler, etc.) which he used to tow a 26 foot Airstream trailer. They went all over the western states including the Roc

Please consider donating them to the Houston Metropolitan Research Center housed in the Julia Ideson Building of the Houston Public Library. Here is a link to the HMRC web site: https://houstonlibrary.org/research/special-collections/houston-metropolitan-research-center . Thank you also for holding on to the pictures. They may have more significance than you might suspect.

Ah, Di Bella's; I thought the food was very good and I felt like I was in a scene from "The Godfather" when I ate there. It wasn't on Seawall Blvd. so there were few, if any, tourists.

Shoshugibon is supposed to make the wood more resistant to insect and fungal attack. Consider that there are Japanese temple structures that have been so treated and have been around for more than a century. I had to introduce shoshugibon to some architect interns who persistently referred to fire retardant-treated wood (chemically treated to resist burning) as "fire-treated wood." I explained to them that there is a such thing as fire-treated wood but it was not what they intended. Most all of them thought shoshugibon is a very cool and I agree.

12 IBC is the 2012 International Building Code (why "international" when it is a United States thing IDK). That is the code the City of Houston follows with its own amendments. Yes, there are more recent versions of the IBC but adoption by a governmental authority usually takes action by the legislative body. In this case that would be City Council. That does not necessarily mean the 2012 code is deficient nor that the more recent editions have introduced undesirable requirements. Other municipalities have adopted the 2015 IBC or the 2018 IBC. I'm sure SPK means sprinklered. For y

You are so right, Amlaham. Actually Buffalo Speedway between Holcombe and N. Braeswood is a fairly recent rebuild and in good shape though you can see (and feel) some subsidence of the pavement already. South of the bayou to S. Main is terrible though. I don't even drive the speed limit (35 mph) along that stretch for fear of hitting my head on the roof of the car. 😟

Even though Buffalo Speedway will remain "open" during construction I imaging a lot of through traffic will move over to Kirby between Holcombe and the Southwest Freeway. Won't that be fun. 😧

Much of it can be done on the ground or even off-site then it is craned into place like a big woven steel blanket but the "blankets" need to be tied or welded together. It is tedious but the pros make it look easy.