ricco67

At the Ebay store I work at, we put up the christmas tree on November first. I was disgusted. I had to push the turky out of the way to put the bloody thing up. Ricco

Empiro, If you're going to be critical, at least put some thought behind why you are critical? Personally, I don't like football, I only watch it when nothing else is on, but at least I can say "The running baks didn't do their job" and make a comment on a specific play, as opposed to just making a blanket statement. That's like saying a certain users' posts are stupid because they don't reflect what he is saying in a proper literary form. Did that make sense? Ricco

Well, I was VERY annoyed at one of the stations that started playing xmas music the DAY AFTER Halloween! I was ready to throw the radio out of the room. In regards to 101.1, my daughter happened to be listening to the station during class and she said, "WTF??" outloud, when she explained to her teacher, he forgave her. LOL Ricco

Great news for Houston, most definately! Excuse me if I sound ignorant... But what IS the difference between a consulate and an Embassy? I thought a consulate was simply another word for Embassy. Ricco

One of you actually made a statement that made a great deal of sense: The bar DOES only have a 3 year lease, it may be possible, at the end of that lease that he could be priced out. If the place is any indication of how the Venture N used to be like, the crowd will be fairly discrete. The ones that are out in public, aren't necessarily the ones going to the club. Ricco

LOL. believe me, I used to go to the Men's club and just about every topless bar in this city, and I've known a few guys that went to the bathhouses.... The only difference between the two is two people have the same dangling features. Ricco

you know, it would make a nice space for a museum, but it would be rather difficult to get to, but it would redevelop that particular area. Ricco

The Men's club, and Rick's has Vice raids from time to time. What's your point? Ricco

I've always thought that adult businesses should have SOME zoning, put them into a section where everyone go to to and do their one stop shopping (so to speak) and attract that particular element (Porn-Mart?). But of course, you would have a bunch of NIMBY's coming along saying, "NO! not in MY neighborhood!" so as long as you have that type of clientel, you're always going to have those kinds of businesses opening and around town. Ricco

Here is the article: Nov. 11, 2004, 9:04PM Blockbuster makes bid for Hollywood chain Biggest players in rental market could be a match By DAVID KOENIG Associated Press DALLAS - Blockbuster, facing new attacks from big retailers and online operators, has offered $700 million for rival Hollywood Entertainment in a bid to combine the two biggest players in the movie-rental industry. Blockbuster, the biggest in movie rentals, said Thursday that it had communicated its interest to No. 2 Hollywood Entertainment but that there have been no substantive talks on terms of a deal. Blockbuster was spun off by Viacom last month. There are 115 Blockbuster locations and 61 Hollywood stores in the Houston area. Hollywood Entertainment is already in a deal to let its chairman and chief executive and a buyout firm take the company private. The agreement, however, allowed Hollywood to solicit other bids, and the CEO said he welcomed Blockbuster's offer. The deal would give Blockbuster, which already has 9,000 outlets worldwide, more than 1,920 Hollywood Video stores and 600 Game Crazy specialty stores. But it could also raise antitrust questions. In 1999, a plan by the two companies to rename Hollywood stores under the Blockbuster banner was stopped by the Federal Trade Commission, but analysts say a merger of the two largest movie-rental firms stands a better chance now. Stacey Widlitz, an analyst for Fulcrum Global Partners, said regulators would probably block Blockbuster's plans if they considered the movie-rental business as a distinct industry, but not if they lumped rentals with retail sales of DVDs and games. Widlitz said the combined company would control about half the U.S. rental business but only about 20 percent of rentals plus retail sales. Dallas-based Blockbuster said it offered $11.50 per share, a 17 percent premium over Wilsonville, Ore.-based Hollywood Entertainment's closing price Wednesday of $9.80 per share, and would assume about $350 million in Hollywood Entertainment debt. The deal would trump the pending bid of $10.25 per share for Hollywood Entertainment by a Los Angeles buyout firm. Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores sell DVDs so cheaply that they tempt movie renters. In addition, Blockbuster now faces competition from subscription online rental operators such as Netflix. John Antioco, Blockbuster's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that the proposed deal "better positions Blockbuster to compete in the rapidly changing home entertainment marketplace, while simultaneously benefiting consumers as well as Blockbuster and Hollywood Entertainment shareholders."

excellent example, midtown guy. Excellent post jtmbin. while, I would LOVE to own my place, I also don't want to deal with upkeep, and the ability to move away if I find a better place or a better price/location. The flexibility to be able to pick and choose where one lives is a great advantage verses a regular property owner. arguments can be made for both sides as far as the plusses and minuses of each option. Ricco

Midtowncoog: ANY property can be a risk, and ANY area can be subject to the "element" moving in. it was just recently that a new community out in Cinco ranch (i might be mistaken) was the site of a immigration raid where several dozen illegals were held against their will. I personally know of some drug dealers that lived in a VERY nice area of pearland. just because someone has a nice address doesn't mean they're nice. Ricco

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/2893363 Finally found the article. Can someone change the title in the first post? It was SUPPOSED to read, "...'fire station'" thanks. now back to my annoyingly flurry of posts. Nov. 10, 2004, 1:06AM City to buy land for planned fire 'super station' By RON NISSIMOV Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle The city took a major step Tuesday toward constructing a downtown "super fire station" to replace two stations that were closed in 2001 to make room for the Downtown Aquarium and the Toyota Center. New station The Houston City Council unanimously agreed to pay $4.77 million to buy a one-block area under the Pierce Elevated section of Interstate 45 where the super station will be built. Mayor Bill White's spokesman, Frank Michel, said it would take at least one year to bid the project and begin construction. He said the station likely would be opened one year after construction starts. The station will contain eight firetruck bays to serve the downtown and Midtown areas. The space is a 62,500-square-foot vacant lot bounded by Milam, St. Joseph Parkway, Louisiana and Pierce. The property is adjacent to a temporary fire station the city has been leasing for $20,000 a month to serve downtown and Midtown after the other two stations closed. The property will require an estimated $400,000 in environmental clean up because it appears that debris from the old Borden building has fallen into its 8-foot basement, and there is some hydrogen contamination that is common in the downtown area, a city document says. Former Mayor Lee P. Brown closed Fire Station 1 so the city could lease the land to the Downtown Aquarium, and closed Fire Station 8 for the Toyota Center. Brown originally proposed a fire station and Houston Fire Department administrative building at an estimated cost of $30 million to $40 million. Some council members criticized the administration for allegedly circumventing open bidding procedures. Brown scrapped the idea in March 2002. Michel said the city no longer plans to house HFD's administration in the new fire station. He said the site that was chosen was one of 13 locations that was given serious consideration. He said this year's capital improvement plan calls for spending as much as $13 million on the project, including lease costs for the temporary station. ron.nissimov@chron.com

I wasn't able to find it on a link anywhere...but here is the news... The new fire station to replace firestation 1 is to be built under the pierce elevated between Louisianna and Milam! Firefighter officials were concerned because of having a building located under a major freeway. The Mayor argued the the location was the best and the land was the cheapest they could find. I was unable to find when ground breaking would take place. But this would bring together fire firstations into a "super station". Any thoughts on this? Ricco

But traffic going towards points Northeast will eventually have to go through the Houston Corridor. Then again, they can always go west o Houston for less congested areas, which make better sense. Ricco

there are only two minor issues that I'm rather concerned about: One: Have we just about reached capacity as far as the Houston Ship channel? two: The same question also applies to rail capacity. Perhaps it is time for some rail to build new ROWs that go around the city for destinations up north. Ricco

Okay guys, I had nothing better to do and was bored. So I was running around downtown and med center while taking care of other stuff. Here are the pics of the construction of the new towers. Enjoy! Ricco

You have to consider the logistics and the realities of putting an all out attack on a chemical plant or storage facility for such things to happen. Granted, OKC proved that a single man can do alot of damage, but that's only against a single building. Let me see if I can type this out into a coherrent thought that won't be TOTALLY be torn apart: First off, we've had quite a number of accidents over the years and several major calamities have been averted because of safety valves and appropriate warnings when things DID go wrong. Second, a plant is huge. Period. we're talking ACRES if not TENS (HUNDREDS?) of ACRES. The ability to be able to bypass the security with enough people/explosives to make it all the way to a critical area without SOME resistence is quite remote. Third, if a plant was breached, it would take no less than taking over a control room AND setting off explosives in a critical area to do serious damage. Both objectives of which would raise serious alarms from any surviving workers that would at least call 911. Industrial accidents happen quite a bit, we've had some fairly spectacular fires/explosions in Houstons past (anyone remember texas City or the explosion at Englewood yards?) and would cause nothing more than a major hiccup economically and relatively small numbers of loss of life (sorry, just a statement of fact). In regards to the Houston Ship Channel, we're more than likely have a major incident of the channel being clogged while the mess is cleaned out of the way than for a major catastrophic even that would cause massive loss of life. The economic impact of that would be more detrimental to Houstons ability to recover than the loss of life. You can only see the number of ships leaving and entering the channel to see that. Ricco

I have been forced to take the bus system lately while I replace my car (anyone got one for sale?) and it's not that big of a deal. I get to work in about 20 minutes once I catch the bus (plus a 20 minute wait) and a brief walk to work. You're right Danax, you quickly adjust and get used to the routine. As far as congestion in 20 years, you also have to realize that traffic congestion will increase to the point that a rail system will be the only thing that will move unimpeded (crashes notwithstanding, of course. ) while the streets are clogged. Sorta the way the rail operates in the med center during rushhour. Ricco

Just went by the construction site yesterday and they seem to have made some major headway. For some reason I can't fathom it being constructed in only two years. Ricco

I walked the area where the proposed park is supposed to be at, and I'm not entirely sure it's big enough to hold a small festival and/or be able to handle enough trees/variety of terrain to make it interesting. This is going to sound a bit nerdy, but I would LOVE to have a place where chess players can just setup a board and wait for competition. It can either be in the form of tables/benches or semi-life-sized pieces. (think Mel brooks...I'll leave it at that) Ricco

Makes it for a tough read, don't you think? Ricco

This person simply does has no appreciatation for a body of work when it comes to construction. if you're going to use that logic, then by all means, disassemble that tower in Paris that was supposed to only last for the duration of the world's fair! Ricco

Well, it would be rather interesting to see what the rates would go for considering the rooms aren't (I would assume) all that larger than a typical Red Roof in. The issue about it not being that close to area buildings could actually be a good selling point. If they don't make the rooms (condos) larger, I would be a bit taken aback if the prices go for more than $100k. Ricco

I think that condos are very feasible. But there has to be enough variety of the condos/apartment homes to suit every lifestyle and an acceptable income range as well. You can have a building that aims for the high end market which could house singles and small families, but you could also incorporate the same thing for a medium income single/couple as well. Ricco