mkultra25

Needs moar hipsters! http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Architectural-renderings-reveal-narrow-vision-of-6106932.php For anyone still pondering the relative level of civility in YouTube comments, this pretty much sums it up (seriously NSFW):

HCAD has it listed as 310 Glen Park, but North turns into Glen Park. Looks like ownership was transferred from the gentleman in the Texas Monthly article to who I'm assuming is his son in 2010, and then again to the Pegstar-affiliated group last year. I really hope they're able to preserve/repurpose the tower.

The Doerner family has a long history in Houston. The family patriarch and founder of the plastering company died in 2002, and his obituary has some additional background: His son, also named Karl, just recently passed away last November at the age of 85. He is the person who's listed as the owner of the property in question on HCAD's site (although I'd expect that to change, as the family residence is now listed as being owned by his estate).

Anyone that doubts that there are significant differences within "Hispanic" should try calling a native of any other Central American country besides Mexico a Mexican, and see how quickly said native gets really PO'd.

I like the Majestic Metro, but I'm not exactly a disinterested observer as that's where we had our wedding. Looks like the rental fees have increased significantly since then, but then again it was (mumble) years ago.

Considering the main product of the Chron's comments section, it's got to be the anus of Houston.

Likewise, in White Oak Bayou.

Tumblr in a nutshell: http://sweetiing.tumblr.com/post/112699039447/tumblr

The USPS has been planning to deactivate the downtown post office (Houston Processing & Distribution Center) and consolidate all of its operations into the North Houston Processing & Distribution Center on Aldine Bender for quite some time as part of their network rationalization plan. I wouldn't characterize this as "being in a hurry to vacate". They've already shifted processing of most originating mail (letters & flats) to the N. Houston P&DC, and will have completed shifting all originating & destinating mail there by May 31. While this may or may not be a convenient timetable for THSR, it's really being driven by the execution of the USPS' previously-existing plan. This is all laid out at https://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/welcome.htm - click on Network Rationalization Consolidations 2015 to download a spreadsheet listing all of the planned P&DC consolidations and the associated timetables.

"Socialism! Booga booga!"

Thanks, I appreciate the followup.

Yeah, I thought about Lexus but I likewise haven't kept up with how they're currently regarded. My former boss had an LS400 back in the late 90s and loved it. She used to rave about how wonderful the service was at the dealer, which I found noteworthy as she wasn't someone who was easily impressed. She'd also owned several M-Bs prior to the Lexus, and preferred the Lexus.

Back in the day, the correct answer would've most likely been "embittered post-docs passing for furniture at Valhalla".

Delivering superior customer service is probably the single biggest thing that can be done to engender fanatical customer loyalty. You'd think GM would recognize that their commendable efforts to build cars that can compete globally are significantly hindered by an often-crappy experience at the dealer. I understand that it takes time for a ship as large as GM to change course, but culture changes don't start until the helmsman gets the ball rolling. Honda used to be legendary for customer service, and the stark contrast this provided with domestic dealers in the 70s and 80s combined with their cars' well-earned reputation for economy and superior engineering built multi-generational customer loyalty. But they've lost their way over the past 10-15 years, and I'm not sure who would be considered the new paragon of customer service in the auto industry now.

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/heights-news/article/Rio-Posada-to-close-its-doors-mid-June-2129470.php

(spotted at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204762777087920&set=gm.845210595525888&type=1&theater)

That book is a great resource - it was featured in a blog post from the Woodson Research Center that I mentioned previously in a post that clearly wasn't too search-friendly (it took me a little while to find it): http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/31129-a-look-back-at-houston/ I've wondered where the "Brick & Tyle Works" was in the Heights - it was a fairly large industrial complex on a similarly-sized chunk of land. Lots more digitized Houston history stuff here, which you've probably already looked through: https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/20463/browse?type=title

And if it was, there are a few urologists who'd like to examine the soakers.

I assume ScooterSmith is the place you're talking about in the Heights? There's this one, not quite inside the loop but not very far outside it: http://www.globalmotorimports.com/ Depending on what's wrong with it, you also might be able to get a motorcycle shop or small engine repair place to work on it. I haven't had a scooter in many years, but they look like they've gotten a bit more complicated since a Vespa 125 was my daily transportation. You could pull the cylinder head to decarbonize the piston on that thing with a bare minimum of hand tools.

Judging from the available evidence, you wouldn't be the only one doing so.

Yeah, guess I should've provided more context when posting that. I don't necessarily expect NYC's experiences to carry over everywhere else, but I find it interesting when issues that are beaten to death here (such as rail vs. bus, or, God forbid, gentrification) surface in other parts in the country, often characterized by even more rancorous debates. The other day my wife, who works in the Galleria area, was without her car for the day, so she decided to do something she'd been talking about for a while: take the Red line rail downtown, then transfer to a bus for the remainder of the trip to her office. She was favorably impressed with the bus service, and noted that one advantage it had over rail was that buses don't stop at bus stops if there isn't anyone waiting to get on or signaling to get off. Total time door to door was just under an hour, so barring something worse than the usual awfulness on I-10 or the West Loop, driving is still significantly faster for her, but it's certainly a viable alternative.

A relevant piece from the NYT. The short version: rail is far more expensive than bus service yet no faster, but rail lines continue to be built because bus service is perceived as inferior. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/business/to-save-on-rail-lines-market-the-bus-line.html?referrer=&_r=0