travelguy_73

A really, really ugly Porsche - the new Panamera:

You aren't kidding! Now I love the whole coupe-as-sedan thing as much as anyone (the Volkswagen CC does it best), but wow that is ugly. I admit that the Cayenne's ugliness has grown on me (like a wart), but the only nice thing about the Panamera is the name. It even makes the gap-tooth TL look like a supermodel.

For our back fence (6' cedar with rot board), we used Fernando Sanchez [monsalve02@yahoo.com]. We are happy with the job they did and would recommend them again.

All the signs I have seen say February 16th.

The presentation signs in Williams have a little white piece of paper over the original date, with 23rd on it, so I guess the date slipped a bit. But whatever, since it will happen this month regardless.

Sorry if this has already been posted, but we (people working in Williams Tower) received word a few weeks ago that Hidalgo Street from Post Oak to Mccue (two blocks) is to become two-way in mid-February. This morning there were signs in the lobby with a February 23 date. For people who work in Williams and Lakes on Post Oak, this will provide another much-needed option to Post Oak and 610.

I'm not sure why they don't just make the entire stretch two-way, as it would be another alternative from Sage to Post Oak, but I'm sure the city has its reasons. I have no idea how they are going to sign the street, and I haven't seen any signal light changes, but I guess those will come pretty quickly now. There is also the issue of how the Hidalgo exit and southbound 610 feeder road come together at Hidalgo/Post Oak, as it is already a horribly-planned intersection.

We purchased a sofa from Chic Warehouse that was the same as the one we coveted from Crate and Barrel, but had a lot more fabric options, and cost less. They are on Yale in the Heights. We have also had good luck with Z Gallerie and Eurway (very contemporary, but good for accent pieces and knock-off classics).

Wow, not just Washingotn, Ave. That's a lot of proposed quiet zone in the east end! Sweet! It also includes the line one block away from me.

Not to hijack this thread to focus on the East End, but I wonder how realistic these proposed zones really are? I haven't heard the Eastwood civic association mention them (in a long time), and so I wonder if this is sort of like the capital improvement process, where you get on a list and in about 10 years you might get your street repaved .

Fantastic! I noticed that the map linked from your link shows that the track nearest me is on the list as well. Guess that means we actuallly do have a chance to get a quiet zone as well.

I have a question!!

My home is very old wood frame, post and beam. (1911). Had it leveled and some piers repaired/rebuilt about 18 months ago, and had some expected settling and drywall cracks that I never bothered fixing.

In the next couple of weeks I will get a new roof (and deck) put on. Will the roof construction make my house move around again? Can I expect fresh sheetrock cracks?

Hey crunch, while I cannot answer your question like an expert, we didn't have any sort of issues when we had our old asbestos tile roof and decking replaced a couple of months ago. All we got was a beautiful new roof .

OK, I have a question of my own: 1930's two-story pier and beam, with a noticeable sag in the middle of the house. We had a guy crawl under there and said that a number of piers in the middle aren't touching the house. Who knows how long it has been like this as we have only had the house a year. We haven't been aggressive about getting it corrected, mainly because of the sheetrock damage that we will then need to fix.

Questions:

-Are we actually causing major harm to the house right now?

-How much sheetrock damage is to be expected from leveling?

-I don't have any experience with pier and beam repair...how can we tell if the contractor giving the bid is any good?

There but for the grace of God go any of us.

I used to be very NIMBY about low income housing, but having had firsthand experience with it, I have softened. My partner's mom spent two years in this type of housing near downtown due to a disability. Years before we met, she suffered a fall, and through no fault of her own, has serious mobility problems. Before the fall, she had a good civil service job, but like many people, didn't make a lot and didn't have a good nest egg (divorce, yet another societal ill). It didn't take much time being out of work, and dependent on "the system" before she started to fall through the cracks. This isn't some Reagan-era welfare queen, this is an upstanding member of the community, who worked for the state for many years. This is a woman who has mothered two terrific sons, who at the time weren't able to help her financially. There was no choice involved, just like with many of the people who live in these housing complexes.

We (represented by our government) have made the decision that we will give people some basic standard of living, but just enough so that they don't enjoy it and have an incentive to get out, and while we are at it, let's put them all clustered in another part of town so that they aren't close to meaningful employment. Yet how do people pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they don't have boots? "Take a longer bus ride." And what about the kids they are leaving at home or on the streets because they are spending hours a day in transport? Then these kids have absentee parents, which breeds yet another societal issue. It all begins at home in those apartments. It's all related.

I'm not trying to be all liberal holier-than-thou about this (because I still have a lot of NIMBY in me), and I'm not some volunteer do-gooder policy wonk by any means, but we are only as good as how we treat our least fortunate. I literally cried after the first time I met her and saw the place, and after a couple of years of good career advancement we are able to fully support her so she can have her own nice place to live. But unless we provide the rest a decent place to live in the parts of town where they get jobs to get on with their lives, we really cannot complain about the other crap in society.

These?

http://www.portlandonline.com/TRANSPORTATI...dex.cfm?c=46717

What is a bike box?

The bike box is an intersection safety design to prevent bicycle/car collisions, especially those between drivers turning right and bicyclists going straight. It is a green box on the road with a white bicycle symbol inside. It includes green bicycle lanes approaching and leading from the box.

http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/how-to-use-a-bike-box/

eta: Now that I think about it, I think what you are seeing are concrete pads installed where Metro buses tend to sit. The concrete can better handle the weight of the bus and so the street is less likely to rut or sag over time.

New to me, so thanks! There are a ton of areas already marked, but Eastwood wasn't, so I added it for approval.

Travelguy, isn't 1604 a two laner for each side with a median in the middle ?

Yes...it adds entrance and exits lanes here and there, but is mostly two lanes with a very large median. It has overpasses, so it feels more freeway than road. Growing up, I remember it was a single lane in each direction, and was called the "death loop." Rather ironic now that TXDoT would like us to keep Texas moving. In fact, just after I got my license, I had my first accident on 1604 when a pizza delivery driver's foot slipped off the clutch and he bounded out into the intersection from a cross street (in a VW Thing no less!). I hit him going about 40mph...totalled my rad Doge Daytona Tubo Z!

Houston has these signs, but they are few and far between. What we REALLY need are the signs used in Bexar County (San Antonio). They are typical "Slower Traffic Keep Right," but have a yellow band at the top that says either "Don't slow Texas down" or "Check your mirror." I don't know if they are TXDoT experiments or what, but they get my attention every time I drive along 1604.

Got this today in TAMU'S Real Estate News:

ANOTHER FINGERS FACILITY SOLD

HOUSTON (globest.com)

Are these examples from your home? Where did you get the kitchen green tiles?

Thanks,

Jorge

I just googled "glass subway tile" and this is one of the better pictures that came back. Any decent tile store can get glass subway tiles in these smaller sizes.

Stainless steel as a backsplash is very interesting, but I just love the new glass tiles, and think they will have some staying power as far as design goes. I wouldn't set them in a standard running bond, though, but either all squared up or in a vertical running bond. You might check out some of flipper's posts as his backsplashes look like they would go with your kitchen.

I'm a CPA, so I do them myself. It's sort of fun, but then again, I'm the guy who keeps my sales tax receipts on a spreadsheet so I don't have to use the sales tax deduction table .

Those are beautiful! In the blog comments, the Oak Park guy noted he paid just over $300 for each one. For me, that translates into about $10k, which is steep. However, custom replacement windows that are styled to fit the house (custom colors and all that) are likely at least twice as much.

One concern I would have is how these are to look out of from the inside. Will they fog up or get dirtier than the standard windows? At least the glass will be new and so (in theory) should be easier to clean than the old, wavy glass.

I think this has been asked on HAIF before, and my answer is always the same: The original 3-Men Movers is great. I have used them for multiple moves, and they do a great job each time. I wouldn't use anyone else. I think they charge per hour with an xx hour minimum. We helped by boxing everything up and having it ready to go.

Word to the wise: be the first on their day's schedule, so that the crew is fresh and not tired from previous moves. And give them soda/water, there is nothing worse than seeing these guys lift all that heavy furniture without some sort of refreshment.

You might also post on the Credit Board's Mortgage forum. They have a number of helpful people, including some mortgage brokers (this is where we found ours!).

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showforum=9

Dry Creek on Yale, with both indoor and outdoor seating on one level. It's BYOB, fyi.

Those are very cool, I love them. I have seen many variations of this from the usual places (West Elm, Crate and Barrel, BoConcept, Room and Board, 2Modern), but nothing exactly like these. I have two suggestions:

(1) post your question in the "good questions" section of Apartment Therapy. They helped me find chairs I had seen in a magazine ad .

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/categor.../good-questions

(2) depending on your budget, have them custom-made. I used a guy in Clear Lake to build a fantastic walnut media cabinet a couple of years ago. The price was less than what I would have paid at Crate and Barrel, Room and Board, etc., but it was totally to my specifications, and will last a lifetime.

I assume this is looking south at the Wayside exit, with Sunnyland on the left. I wonder what ever happened to all of those trees?

I would have thought that this picture was looking north, and that the Forest Park sign was actually on their property. It would be about where those halfway town down motel buildings are.

While we're on the topic, can anyone confirm/deny the urban legend that the wall is part of the Williams Tower's HVAC system? My suspicions are that it's not, but every once in a while I hear someone say this.

It is not part of the utility system of Williams. It was only built there after plans for the second tower were scrapped.

Costco sells them as well, though I have no idea about their prices (mattresses are such a rip-off in general). Check out their website:

http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx...=BC&topnav=