Ralo

They said they made a mistake with the pressure reading earlier(it's really 953)...turns out now that it could be a category 3 at landfall. They said Ike will be an Alicia, not a Rita.

don't worry if you wait long enough they will change it back to a 2, and then a 1, and then. . ., etc.

What is a fair gross hourly rate (before taxes) to pay for in-house child care? Let's assume nanny will get 4 weeks of paid vacation. In response to Ricco, she will not be a live-in but merely come to the house from 9am to 5pm, 5 days a week to provide child care.

Thank you.

I have a friend who is looking to hire a full-time in-house nanny. What is a fair rate to pay before taxes? Let's assume this will include 4 weeks of paid vacation.

Thank you in advance.

I love me some fireworks! What is everyone's plans?

Like every family holiday, I'm going to Number's...

Stay home, stay safe and maybe climb on my roof to catch a glimpse of the fireworks downtown. Heck, I might even drink a cold one in honor of the founding fathers.

My sister-in-law has been wanting to move to the Hill Country for years. On a semi-regular basis, she and my brother travel to different locales to survey the land, the prices and the lifestyle. Last month they went to stay the weekend with some friends who had moved not too far from Brenham, on about 10 acres of land. They spent the days working on the land, mowing, landscaping, etc. At night, they sat on the porch and stared at the land. After an hour or two of this, my brother asked his friend if this was it. The response? Yep, most days are spent working on things, and most nights are spent staring off into the sunset.

This sounds rather relaxing for a week or so, but my brother and I found ourselves wondering what in the hell you do once that wears off. As anti-social as many Americans THINK they are, most do need social contact. I know a few posters will chime in that isolation sounds great, and it may well be for them, but for the rest of us, at least a little bit of human life would be nice, as well as health care when you get old.

The reality of living on the prairie is much lonelier than the fantasy for most people. Your mileage may vary.

All are valid points . . . but what if there was a lake nearby and what about hunting (such as hog hunting with dogs)? A cold beer from time to time could serve as entertainment. Further, assuming one had internet access one could even get on HAIF and could meet as many HAIFers as one does now.

Just out of curiosity, how much is the price per acre in and around Brenham, TX?

This thread is worthless without pics.

"Hooters, dad, Hooters!" - Bud Bundy

Forgive me, I did a search and couldn't find anything on this topic and that surprises me so maybe I missed a discussion somewhere.

The City of Pasadena released the 911 tapes of the guy who observed two guys burglarizing his neighbors' house in broad daylight and went outside and shot and killed them when the cops didn't show up. There are more comments on the Chronicle story than just about any story I have ever seen.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5306638.html

Seems that the slight consensus is that the guy is more a hero than a murderer, but personally I'm torn. I do think he did the right thing and I think if someone is going to be so brazen and disregarding of their fellow citizens as to break into someone's house in broad daylight and rob them, they deserve whatever they get. It's just wrong and a general lack of consequences - in all areas, not just crime - is what I feel causes a lot of the problems we have in today's society.

That said, the guy was in his house next door and wasn't threatened at all (until he chose to go outiside and confront them), his property was not being taken, and he's recorded on the phone saying that he planned to go outside and "kill" them if the cops didn't show up, which is what happened. Techincally, that is a clear cut case of murder.

I don't know what to think. I'm inclined to say he should be convicted of a lesser charge and do some probation but probably shouldn't go to prison. He needs to be punished, but not treated like a common criminal, either.

He is probably neither a hero, nor a murderer but just a scared survivor. I don't own a gun but if I did and was in his shoes I would like to think I would have held the idiots at gunpoint until help arrived. If they did not comply with my request I would have shot them in the leg or in the buttocks. But in the heat of the moment, you can't blame the guy for taking action.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/business...nyt&emc=rss

I guess I am too lazy to find my own articles but I thought the above link posted by editor could take a different turn than the replies to his original post. Puma made good points, but she (or is it he?) does seem a bit on the self righteous war path.

I live inside the loop and I love it because of its central location and can access anything of interest to me quickly. But what I also love about where I live is the big lot, privacy, and there is sufficient wild life around me - all things we would not typically associate with living in the city.

In this internet world where it may not be necessary to "drive" to work, and if one is willing to home school his/her kid (s) is buying a giant house in the middle of nowhere, where one can live life closer to the bone, really that far out of the question? If folks are flocking back to the cities, is it possible there would be great deals in the middle of nowhere today? As long as you have a grocery store nearby, and can informally establish your own jogging trails and driving ranges in BFE, what are you really losing out on other than the hustle and bustle of strangers around you? Sure you won't be able to see the Rockets, Astros, and Texans but they suck anyway.

Let's be objective in your responses, kids.

thanks to TV and JM1 for the great comments and for humorous ones too.

Dilemma: I mow my own lawn, I live on 1/3 of an acre, I have been through 3 lawnmowers in 6 years. They always seem to kick the bucket after the warranty expires. This does not even consider the number of times I have to replace my blade, or the time I got my transmission repaired (under warranty) on my Poulan, etc.

I want a riding lawn mower such as a John Deere from Home Depot but the customer reviews state that those residential grade riding lawn mowers are rather fragile and accessories are too pricey.

If I was willing to pay a good sum (up to $800 or $900) for a self propelled commercial grade lawn mower such as a Snapper - where would I go? Could I find this at Lowes? Home Depot? Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance.

Are you really working in the field of what you got your degree on? I'm not and I have a finance degree.

Yes. Associate's degree in Materials Mgmt, undergrad in MIS, and an MBA. My current job allows me to work closely with all three. Timing is everything though . . . I know many folks who got business degrees and ended up teaching. Go figure.

Has anyone had problems with sap falling from pine trees on to your parked car in the driveway? If so, how have you solved this problem? Did you find a new place for the car? Did you find a solvent to remove sap from car paint? Did you chop the pine tree down?

Any help you can give is appreciated.

Although this survey is interesting, it is not as informative as it might have been if the person designing it had constructed it so that it produced cross tabulation (cross tab) results and displayed two or more variables in a contigency table. That way, we would have been able to see what percentages of each category (e.g. male and female) fell into particular salary ranges, or what racial/ethnic groups fell into particular salary ranges). As currently constructed, we can only tell what percentage of all respondents fall into a certain salary range, instead of what percentage of women fall into a certain range, what percentage of men fall into a certain range, what percentage of Hispanic, or white or Black fall into a certain salary range. I don't know how to construct a survey using HAIF tools, so I don't know if it is possible to construct a survey that can produce contigency tables, but were it possible, the data produced would be far more revealing than what has been produced so far.

It was my first poll but it appears one can only include up to three separate questions/criteria and I doubt the tool allows any merging of that criteria so one can only draw very broad conclusions such as:

Most HAIFers who responded to this poll were white males and appear to make healthy salaries compared to the usual averages (at this time 25% claim they make more than $100k and 54% claim to make more than $60k).

This brings me back to one of my reasons for posting. In reading MSN articles, Liz Pulliam Weston, Dave Ramsey talk show, or internet based sources of salary information the numbers for family income are low compared to what individuals (and families) usually claim they make (to me - in person and now via this poll).

From that we can either conclude that folks who disseminate their salaries to me personally and via this poll either:

1) fudge the numbers or

2) that the information I obtain (via internet, radio, and acquaintances) is incorrect or

3) that the respondents really do make much more than the averages and perhaps this is tied to demographics, educational level, profession, age, etc. or

4) perhaps the comparison is not a valid one since HAIFers so far represent a specific segment of the population (primarily white males) that, in spite of living in Houston (low cost of living) - are high earners, and could be white-collar workers, highly educated, and perhaps are drawn to particular high paying industries and, therefore, should not be compared to a segment that might be considerably broader and one in which the masses of lower level income earners could bring down the overrall averages. This conclusion appears to be the most valid to me.

I agree that it would be more helpful and informative if we could tie in educational level, industry, age, and all the other relevant factors into the poll but I don't believe it is possible here although there may be a roundabout way of getting more specifics. I could create a survey and ask that only people who met certain criteria such as degreed individuals, belonging to a specific age bracket, and members of a particular race and gender respond. This survey would then have to be repeated for other races and the other gender so it could take multiple surveys and, after a given time limit, I could then consolidate the findings into one post. Nah . . . it's too much trouble and can you imagine all the flak I would get if went down that path?

Why is there never an option for hispanic/white?

For the same reason there is no option for English/white or German/white, etc.

How much do HAIFers make?

I have edited post. Please refer to poll: How much do HAIFers make?

did it ever occur to anyone that the son stole the money (or something), made up this story about the prizes.com van so he could help out paps? did some one say he was mentally retarded and schizo? you see, regardless of how he got the money he knows paps is in a bind so he did what he thought he had to do to help good ole dad but dad, in his infinite wisdom, has likely begun the process that will lead cops back to his son.

I used wet patch to cover the exposed nail heads on a new roof that a greenhorn put on for the realtor who sold the house that i live in. All the years that I roofed I still manage to get that stuff all over my hands.

Thanks for tip Marty and to everyone else. It is much appreciated.

lol, honestly if we weren't so rooted in heiracrhial societies and now capitalism, I think if we started out as socialist, and then moved towards communism it could possible work... but we are to embedded with personal gain, socioeconomic status etc... to even see a system liek that working.. To many it just doesn't even sound like it could possible make sense.

I think it is a hard sell but I will agree that socialism, on paper, can sometimes sounds appealing.

Well what I mean is basically does this help our country in any way.... not talking about ethics.. Because I think ethically we all know it is wrong, no?

Agreed.

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