jb4647

What sort of countertop material is good but not very expensive?

Never understood what the difference between L&T and Bed Bath & Beyond was/is. Both have the same layout and essentially sell the same overpriced stuff. Office Depot/Office Max/Staples are the same way.

Was considering glass shelves as the light would shine thru....some say that they are dust magnests however. Not much for the "exotic" materials. Just want a countertop that would withstand normal wear/tear. I'm guessing I would need a carpenter and a plumber? How would one go about finding these folks?

Fournace Pl @ 610 West loop

I've attached a photo below of a shelf/counter that I have just off of my living room in my condo. I'd like to have it turned it into a wetbar. The plumbing would not be a problem because the guest bathroom sink is directly behind the wall so the pipes are right there. At a minimum I'd like to have installed a small bar sink on one side, replace the countertop, install a mirror along the back, replace the shelves and put in recessed lighting. Who would I contact to do a job like this? Would I go to someplace like Loews/Home Depot? What's a reasonable price for a job like this? About how long would it take? Thanks for any advice!

They are also going to be charging a monthly rental fee for the unit of $5+. Just another way for them to create a revenue stream...just like the cable companies with their set-top boxes.

That's the diffence between the generations I guess, they get stuck using the old things and believing that sense without data is knowledge. The typewriter was a great product in its day but then the word processor and computer came along and our productivity grew by leaps and bounds. I think that if each one of us knew how much energy we were consuming on a daily basis, we would adjust downward. The power companies (who rammed thru de-regulation promising us to save us money via the "free market"...how is that working out by the way?) don't want is to keep tabs because then we would start to conserve and the $$ we send them would decrease. I would hope a product like this would help us become a more informed consumer and asked the question if anyone knew if it did what it claims to do....monitor energy in real-time. I was also curious as to how easy it would be to install. Whenever I see analog products being used, my first question is why the hell is that old relic still in use? Time to turn the page and let the future march forward. Those that don't will be lost in the dustbin of history.

I'd like to monitor my energy usage in real time so I won't be surprised by the electric bill every month. Have you tried going down and reading your electric meter? You have to be a math major to understand the damn thing. The Kill-A-Watt thing is nice but it only works with items you plug into it...not things like central air. I think more information is always best so that we can make better and smarter decisions. This is something I don't the the electric companies want us to know. It would behove us to match consumption with generation so that we know when its used and we can do something about it at the time rather than measurement every 30 days or so. They have been doing this in Europe: http://www.edn-europe.com/europeswitchesto...713+Europe.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter

This looks like a pretty good way to monitor my energy usage in real-time: http://www.theenergydetective.com/index.html What do y'all think? The fact that it hooks up to the fuse box would work for me as I live in a condo and my electric meter is four floors below in the garage. I've seen similar devices but they hook to the meter. Anyone seen and or used some like this?

Yeah, took the bike around the zoo on Saturday....beautiful day.... They don't let you take photos in the Galleria? WTF?

Great Pics....looks like my typical weekend...surprised you didn't get a shot of me either at Brian O'Neals or jogging around Rice. I love my neighborhood!

The anti-gay marriage folks are alot more intelligent than we give them credit for. Just like the old segregationists of the past, they realize that once you let something like this occur, most people will realize that the world isn't gonna fall off of its axis and they will accept it. The segregations knew that if they allowed integration of the races, it would be that much harder for them to spread false lies about "those people." I was lucky enough to be born in 1972, thus my schooling was an integrated one. Many of "those people" were my friends so when older folks would spout their prejudiced viewpoints, I knew for a fact it was B.S. The same thing will occur with gay marriage. Once it is allowed and average folks get used to the idea and find that it leads to a stable and open society, then the stigma of being gay will go away and the anti-gay supporters will lose a key issue with which to divide people. I speak these words as a white straight man that learned long ago that homophobia, like racism before it, is based in ignorance. I don't want to be ignorant and I feel society progresses from stupidity to intelligence over the years. Gay marriage is going to be legal one of these days people, its just a matter of time. Those that fight against it are like trying to push the tides back in the ocean.

West U to Bellaire (Weslayan to Fournace Place/610) 1.9 miles about 5 mins. I get up/eat breakfast/shower at 7:15a and I'm at work by 8:05. It's a beautiful thing. I do feel for you people with the long commutes when I hear the traffic reports "50 mins on 290 from Barker Cyprus"...."45 mins from Katy to the loop".... I fill up my gas tank about once every 2 weeks or so....

How come the Bob Bailey photos on the website are so damn small? Come to think of it, how come photos are always so small on websites? We certainly have come a long way since dial-up days.

Delivered the "Leader" newspaper once a week between '85 & 89. Made a whopping $20-30/month! Of course that bought a lot of comic books back then!

My dad, who took the LBJ and Nixon photos, always had told us of the time he met LBJ. You know how it is with stories your parents tell you: "yeah right dad, you met LBJ...." What a pleasant surprise it was when I was scanning these slides in 2002 when I came across these. It was like "OMG, dad was not blowing smoke up my tookus!" We've also got home movies of these events as well. One of these days I'm gonna put 'em up on youtube. Josh

It would help of the pedestrians would pick the right side of the pathway and stick to it, as well as keep aware of us bikers coming upon your left. Half the time people are stumbling around like a bunch of drunks and aways seem take up the whole-wide pathway when walking in couples. It's also good to keep a tight grip on your dog and have him heel rather than wonder around on some 15 ft leash.... I'm just say'in... Otherwise it's a great park!

Go see Dealy Plaza where JFK was shot. It's amazing how it still looks like it did in all the pictures you've seen of that day in '63. Perhaps one day Dallas will put up a sign outside the city limits saying "Welcome to Dallas, where we havn't had a President killed in 45 years."

That's perfect for me, I turn 40 the day before and it's probably downhill after that. I'd like to go out with a bang!

Back in the day (89-94) I'd take the 85 Antoine into downtown during the summer and just hang around. I'd also transfer from it at the NW Transfer station to the 33 Post Oak and go to the Galleria. Then of course there was the 30 Cullen between downtown and UH Central. I remember waiting quite a bit of time for the 30 at the corner of Lamar & Caroline across from the Four Seasons hotel. There was always a strange lady in horn-rimmed glasses that would give me the evil eye at that stop. I wonder if she is still there? I currently live inside the loop now off of 59/Weslayan and work just 2 miles from home so I don't need to take the bus anymore. I'm hoping that those plans for a rail stop at Westpark go thru then I could take the rail into downtown!

I don't particulrly mind the rental of the additional box, I expect that as it's a piece of equipment. What I do mind is the additonal charge for the DVR "service." There is no addional service! Once they flip a switch to give you DVR then you have it regardless of if you plug in a box! Greedy F**kers!

We've got Comcast cable in our condo complex and part of our maintenance fee pays for the basic service. I've got their digital package with HBO along with a DVR in the living room. A few months ago I got a second DVR and this month I notice an increase in my cable bill by $18! Apparently when I got the 2nd DVR, they gave me a free promotional period. Now that that period is done they are charging me $8.95/mo to rent the second box and $8.95/mo for the additional

Those that think this kind of language is "over the top" obviously hasn't had to depend of public transporation to get them to their jobs and/or school. I'm doing well for myself now careerwise but I can still vividly remember relying on Metro to get me back and forth between home-UH-work during the 90's. I had a car at the time but it was a clunker and I couldn't afford to repair it often enough to use it. Taking the bus was a pain but it was my only alternative. I always thought then as I do now that if the "powers that be" had to use the bus, they would design the system better. I also believe that the reason the "powers that be" have fought rail tooth and nail is because if the suburbanites had that option, they'd flock to it in droves and leave their gas-guzzling SUV's at home.

As someone who works for an Oil Co, I'm loving the high prices....good for Houston's economy and good for my economy!

I had tickets to see it but saw that the time was over three hours!! I'm gonna wait to see it on DVD....the only time I've been able to sit thru a film that long was when I saw a Godfather marathon...and even then I could't get thru all 3 films!