Zippy

We just moved from Sunset Heights to Lazybrook and went from being zoned from Helms to Sinclair. The reviews on Sinclair on greatschools.net are just ok.

We were thinking of using Trinity Lutheran for private but I don't know how good they really are. Any ideas on really good rated private schools? I work downtown so anywhere from the loop to downtown works.

Awty international school is fantastic.. It's grown the last couple of years.. but it goes from 1st through high school. My bro in law graduated from there a some years back. There is a French program as well as "American" program, and all students are required to graduate with an IB diploma.

Not cheap, but definitely one of the best ones if you're not looking for a religious affiliated school..

They're on Post Oak, just north of I-10..

I think St Johns (?) is good too if you are looking for a religious school.. All boys, but St Agnes, all girls, across the street supposedly have some social interaction.. I don't really know that much about it first-hand tho.

We're zoned to fields.. ugh.. my son will not be going to Fields.

We're going to try for the Harvard magnet program, or River Oaks magnet.. if he doesn't get in either.. we'll suck it up and send him private and pay twice.

Down 7th st and Harvard/Columbia were some signs warning of a construction zone.. No construction as of yet.. but at least the signs are there! I would like to hope it's related to the hike/bike trail..

Cheers!

My wish list involves sushi or gelato. more trees in the parking lot and a large outdoor seating area, completely fenced so the kids can go feral while i enjoy whatever it is i am there to enjoy. (and before you non-breeders get mad, having it be kid friendly is the *best* way to make anything instantly successful in the area right now. if something good goes in, the kid-o-ness of it will help it stick)

mmmm.. sushi.. Osaka on Westhimer is far..

i agree on the outdoor-place-for-the-kids-to-go-nuts type of place.. that's why we like the berryhill on 11th so much.. it's not too upscale for us not to be yelling at the kid to sit down all the time, plus the outdoor area gives them some place to crawl around on which would be more undesirable inside.

Flemming's would be my choice.. Ruth Chris in Houston needs some sort of renovation.. seems like it was nice back in the 80's.. but now.. not as much.. The steak I had there a few months ago was.. "..."

I've been wanting to try Morton's..

Construction signs went up along Nicholson yesterday at 9th, 10th and 12th. They could be in other locations but those are the only ones I checked. I assume they are for the trail.

Cool.. Will need to look further down the line toward downtown and see if anything's up around 6th West of Heights..

so what is going to happen to the RAIL ROAD? Do you know that ALL THE SUPPORTERS for this bike n trail will be delaying Houston's future commuter/light rail!! Stop this bike and trail NOW!

Well.. since it's taken about 10 years to get to this point.. let's hope it does get completed.. And I don't know where you live, but I certainly don't want a freight train going through the center of my 'hood..

Thanks

Well.. FINALLY after what.. 21 days? They came by and plugged a couple of wires in.. took a whole HOUR?!

no, no need to thank me for waiting patiently while everyone else's power was restored..

ugh..

Called back today.. the response this time was: "Really? You don't have power?"

Who the F runs this company anyway?!

i would agree that it's between the tranformer and your house and not a transformer problem since the others have no problems.

call centerpoint again and make sure and describe what is happening when the workers arrive. this should be something that can be handled quickly.

from the prior calls that you've made have you gotten an automated response saying something like "press 1 if your power has been restored" or "press 2 if you are still having problems?"

If they would tell me when they are coming, I would be home to explain it.. that would be a luxury at this point..

My wife got an automated call, but it went to voice mail.. We immediately called their supposed "support" line, and told them that nothing had changed.. That was the Monday evening call..

Zip.. Zero.. Nada..

usually the electricians won't touch the transformers....so are your neighbors (who are on the same transformer as you) also only receiving 110? if so then i'd say there is a transformer problem, if not it something in your specific circuit.

i was talking to someone this morning who still doesn't have power.....

The neighbors are fine.. there are two others sharing the same transformer, but it seems just the feed to our house is broke..

The electrician I was working with would dig into a transformer, but it would of course cost more than I'd like to spend..

Okay.. So I don't want to be a complainer.. but when you see the city light up around you and you're still the only one with open windows all the time, it makes you wonder, wtf?

Sooo.. Let's start from the beginning.. As many know a hurricane came through Houston almost some 3 weeks ago. We were out of the country for the first week, so we returned about 2 weeks ago to a house which had partial lighting. We were at the end of where on one side everyone had full electricity, and on the other side, was all dark. So fine.. I'm a pretty patient guy.. so I wait for the repair guys to work down the street and surely they'll get to our house..

Last weekend our street had power restored, however our situation had not changed.. On Sunday Centerpoint posted that if you're still without power, then call.. Well, we had been calling since Saturday, so surely we were in the system "somewhere" already..

The initial call was that we had a tree limb on our drop line. Instead of waiting for Centerpoint, on Sunday we had a contractor's electrician come by, cut down the limb, and reconnect us to the grid. Still no go. It was determined that it was a transformer issue and needed to be either fixed by centerpoint, or 1200$ from our contractor.. We'd figggured, certainly with a call in last Saturday (Sept 27th), we'd get someone to assess the issue sooner than later. Well.. no.. Silly us..

Someone did stop by on Monday (9/29) and saw our ceiling fan working.. And determined that we did indeed have electricity.. When told no, we don't have full power.. He said he would send a "troubleshooter" that evening.. Nobody showed up.

Called Monday morning, the "call" was on the truck..

Called Monday evening, they'll be there that evening..

Called Tuesday morning, you have a branch on your drop line? They'll be out today.

Called Tuesday evening, we'll get to you..

Called Wednesday morning, they'll be out today.

Called Wednesday evening, they'll be out there by midnight... (wtf?! I wouldn't want to be working in a Texas backyard at midnight on anything!)

Did not call today because it is useless..

My frustration is more of "Don't f-ing BS me.." If you're not coming out today, tell me when.. Don't tell me you're coming out and then not show ALL WEEK.. If you tell me it's going to be Oct 10th at 11am, show up, and do your work, then fine.. I can accept that it will take that long. But don't tell me day after day that "we'll get to you.. " or "we're coming out today.. " or some variant..

Situation as it stands so far according to the last electrician who came out is that we only have 110 running into the house and we have a phase out. The culprit is assumed to be the transformer. So we have been unable to use: Stove, refrigerator, A/C, washer/dryer, dishwasher, and about half of the room lights and outlets in the house. Some lights work.. Some ceiling fans work.. great.. I'm better than none.. but when there's only (as of today) 4341 people left in centerpoint's area without lights.. and some 1000 workers.. could someone come by a small house close to downtown and take 30 minutes to fix something which is ready to go?

So: Anyone know an electrician who can fix a transformer for not too much money, and/or what other avenues I can take to get any attention from the bureaucracy of Centerpoint?

Thanks

/rant off

edit: time warp!

Do marathon runners really relieve themselves while running?

like.. during running in their pants? or along the course? There are porta-cans every-so-often.. and there's a line of trees along Houston which get a good watering.. but I don't think i've seen anyone ever wet themselves..

I'd be surprised if Red even knew he had electricity back!

You use the e-mail address and password you got when you signed up with AT&T. For example: f.flintstone@ameritech.net or barneyr@sbcglobal.net

For some people it's already activated. For me, I had to call customer service to have it activated on my account, but it only took a couple of minutes

Good to know.. I've not had problems using other establishments' internet access.. It just sours me that even for $3 a month seems odd since I would not be using it every day.. of course.. $6 coffee is expensive too..

but I do have a sbcglobal account.. so maybe I could check that route if I were in a bind..

Cheers!

Berryhill on 11th has wifi.

Really? Wow.. We practically live there and I didn't know that.. Cheap fish taco and a margarita might win out over the Burger and beer.. hmmm

The Starbucks options are kind of in transition these days. But it boils down to these options:

• T-Mobile pay-as-you-go is $6.00 for the first hour or portion thereof, plus 10 cents per minute after the first hour.
  
• T-Mobile day pass is $9.99 for 24 hours.
  
• T-Mobile will tack on unlimited wifi to an existing T-Mobile phone account for $19.99/month.
  
• T-Mobile unlimited monthly plan is $29.99/month with a one-year contract.
  
• T-Mobile unlimited monthly plan is $39.99/month with no contract.
  
• AT&T wifi is free if you have AT&T DSL service
  
• AT&T wifi is free for one session of up to 2 hours each day if you have a Starbucks card that you use once a month. If you're just an occasional surfer, this is the best deal because you can spend $3.00 once a month and get 2 hours of wifi each day all month, plus you get a coffee.
  
• AT&T has a wifi-only monthly plan that is $19.99/month.
  
• AT&T has a wifi-only day pass, but I can't find the price online. I think it's something like $3.99.
  
• Both AT&T and T-Mobile have wifi roaming partners.
  

So it's more expensive than I thought.. why use starbuck's when there are so many other options which are free? And it's almost scary you know all that..

Just barely past the Heights proper, but the St*rb*cks at I-10 and Durham has wifi.

Thanks for the references.. Maybe I'll hit Antidote since it's the most convenient for me.. Does Onion Creek wireless reach outside on the patio? Burger, beer & wifi... mmmmm...

I hadn't been to a starbucks in a number of years.. they used to make you sign up with T-mobile and you had to pay like 10$/mo or something ridiculous like that..

As one who has "partial" electricity, I was wondering if some of the local coffee shops are open which have wireless internet.. BW3's in midtown is too far to drive just to check a few emails..

I know Waldo's had wireless, but I don't know if they are open..

I know Antidote is open, but I don't know if they have wireless..

Any other Heights haunts?

Cheers!

I might suspect being ON a boat might be safer than being on land surround by a lot of flying projectiles.. a boat just has to worry about taking on water/capsizing.. at least there won't be any trees falling on it..

Just got back from Europe and we have partial electricity.. which means lights and ceiling fans going sloooow.. but no big stuff like a refrigerator or computer or A/C.. the only thing is it is difficult to feed a kid and a baby charcoal-warmed food.. so we are staying with family who do have electricity..

House fared better than I expected.. actually.. other than getting some water blown through the door seals.. all seems well.. I just need my internet!! grr.. is Waldo's open?

Yeah, I heard tha as well. If Galveston/Houston gets a direct hit, SciGuy anticipated 100 mph winds in Cypress! I feel like we're too far to evacuate but still close enough to be scared.

I was out in Katy during Alicia and we had a tree come down in our yard.. but otherwise, the houses around there held up well.. maybe a fence or sign or two was down.. but no biggie..

Like reading Red in another thread, I agree when he said that many of these houses have been here for some 90 years.. I don't expect too much.. I only worry about the trees around me..

A kind of interesting analysis on 3-day models and where the storms actually hit has been posted by the Eric guy on the chron site:

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/200...uch_should.html

Katrina was projected to hit W.Florida.. instead went 190 miles out of it's way..

I'll make sure the cat has enough food before I leave.. Glad this thing is coming in late.. I'd have to reschedule my vacation!

Well.. if all goes well I'll be on a plane to Europe Friday afternoon..

I'll have to check in when I get back on the ground.. Whee!

Have fun while I'm gone!

Let's end for-profit trial lawyers! Maybe the rest will fall into place...

Correct. In a pod system, the jailers are in a secure room in the middle of the "day room", a central common area where inmates congregate to play cards or watch TV. The day room is surrounded by the cells where the inmates sleep. Many of these pods are set up as a dayroom with two floors of cells. There are numerous windows, though if I remember correctly, they are not at floor level and not in the cells.

Indeed, the windows are not floor to ceiling.. I guess I should have been more explicit.. they're more like.. "If you stand on a chair you might be able to see through them.. " From what I recall they were in the actual group cells.. but it has been a while since I was there so I may be a little hazy ..

Interesting - I went on the same tour last year and was told the same thing about the windows. Recently I was in the area and told a friend about it, and he seemed skeptical. It was daytime though, and hard to tell...

Maybe someone around here has more insider information

Yes.. some of the windows are indeed real.. and some are not.. the ones which are real do have bars in the inside of the window to keep obvious break-outs/ins.. I'd say about 50% of the windows are open.

The cells there are primarily group style with a "pod" in the middle overlooking 2 or 3 large rooms (as I recall).. I couldn't guess how many groups of rooms are on each floor, but they each have at least 1 real window..

Cheers!