travelguy_73

Y'all kknow Ancestry.com has these at good resolution through the mid-1950s, right? Well worth the borrowed membership credentials I use to access the site.

We bought one to replace a 3G, and soon will get another to replace a BB Bold. the screen is gorgeous, and it is very fast. The camera is good as well. I'm not a huge Apple fan, but the 4 is a high-quality design. and we nearly paid for it selling the 3G on Craigslist.

That is a spectacular mod, and dare I say a good price for it? I've probably been looking at Memorial area homes for too long to think over $500k is a decent deal.

Not sure if you guys remember the history of this CO service, but it was attempted a number of years ago, around the time of Virgin Nigeria's startup. IIRC, the US and Nigerian governments got into a squabble about Virgin Nigeria's ownership (they wanted to fly into the US) and Nigeria responded by taking away CO's ability to offer service into Lagos. CO had hired a few people and had rented office space already. That, along with the how business is conducted in Nigeria, left a very bad taste in peoples' mouths. I'm frankly surprised they are venturing back in, so there must be lots of money to be made.

Has anyone noticed the streetlights that give you a green light going the wrong way on a one way street.

I don't have photos but below is a streetview link to shepherd at 11th and you'll see two green lights going the wrong way. I know there is another at yale and I-10 and I am trying to remember the one that was placed right above a do not enter sign.

They have to cost something to maintain and power and they are at least an obnoxious waste of resources and at most a potential invitation to a head on collision.

http://maps.google.c...p=12,178.8,,0,5

My understanding is that the single lights facing the wrong direction are to keep cars (who are driving in that wrong direction) from running through intersections when their street doesn't have the right-of-way.

I can only think of one or two red lights that are pointless (59 Eastex NB feeder road at Greens comes to mind). Worse, im my mind, are the pointless left turn arrows when a siimple yielding green light would be more efficient, and work better. There are too many of those to mention (do they even put yielding green lights at intersections anymore?).

Since no racetrack exists in Austin, one will be built.

http://www.autoblog....+%28Autoblog%29

Not that Texas is as gaga over NASCAR as the rest of the south, but this does seem to be a peculiar decision as F1 isn't nearly as popular. And expensive way to make inroads.

I guess, strictly looking at the numbers, Austin can pull some major population numbers within driving distance, though.

I have been using the old city directories to do the same for my Eastwood home. I have a membership to Ancestry.com, and they have the directories through 1951, so I have been able to at least find out the original owner of my house (an accountant, just like me ), with the idea to trace that family to present day and see if they have pictures or memories related to the house. The original owners of mine lived in the house from 1936 (year it was built) to at least 1951, and maybe longer, but have both since passed away. It looks like they had a son, so that is where I am focusing now.

The city library will have more info, and more recent directories, but I'm sort of a lazy researcher and like to look from the comfort of home before tacking the library resources!

If you PM me your address, I can see what ancestry.com has as far as original owner.

Second the referral to Amica. They are picky about old houses, though, so they might not want to insure you. Their rates and service are usually among the best.

The Wallpaper Lady is the person I hear most often.

http://wallpaperladyhouston.com/

Resurrecting this thread again to add a couple more:

Electrician Mike Budno at 832-754-6081. I got his name from a fellow HAIFer, and he has done great work for us, including installation of recessed lighting and home theather wiring (all permitted). We are going to use him for our attic wiring and new powder room. Very professional, and will work weekends (he's an engineer during the day, this is his side job), which is great if you have a hard time being home during the week.

Painting/sheetrock: Jaime Pardo at 281-802-6563. Used him based on Mike's recommendation. Jaime and his guys ripped out our ceilings and installed and painted new sheetrock. As you know, ceilings have to be perfect or you notice every seam. They did a fantastic job and quickly too! Jaime works for a local builder, so does these side jobs while things are slow.

To a carpenter, it isn't challenging, but to a homeowner it can be. We have had doors hung onto existing frames, and the doors always require modification to get them to fit (door frames are rarely square, doors are too tall for existing thresholds, etc.). Plus lining up the holes for the existing latch and locks and notching out for hinges isn't that easy. For simplicity, a pre-hung is usually best, but that requires ripping out the current frame.

I would pay the extra to have it professionally installed...in a few years you won't even remember what it cost. But if you don't do a good job yourself, in a few years you will probably have to have it redone.

Sounds fine to me as long as its clearly disclosed. Some people might want to save a little money on the front when they're new homeowners are be willing to take the hit down the line when they're better off.

But in reality, do you think they are going to adjust the price at all? Any savings, when you work it into a standard mortgage, is going to be immaterial.

They didn't take our bins, so now I have one I will keep in the pantry, and then one I will now use for yard duty.

We are having new lighting/wiring installed in part of our house. We know we need to permit the electrical, but the electrician says we also need to permit the sheetrock as well (we are having the ceiling ripped out and redone as part of the process). That makes sense, but I have a 1930's house, and honestly I don't know what is up there, nor what the current ceiling is comprised of (it's a crazy textured mess right now, hence the redo).

Does anyone know how the inspection process works? Do they inspect before the current ceiling is ripped out, or jssut after it is gone (electrical inspection), and then after the new ceiling is up (sheetrock inspection)? Like many with old homes, I'm sure there is a can of worms waiting to be opened up, and I'm not ready to find that can just yet.

Thanks!

Did you all see the bs about efficient cars getting preffered parking? I can see that going well...especially when the primary tenant or manager has some say.

We have reserved spots on each floor that are for small (I mean small) cars only. AFAIK, Minis, Miatas, New Beetles, and Smarts are the only cars in the pool for those spots. They are crammed in corners and other places that used to be wasted space.

The Optima's rear tailights are very nice, but not as wild about the trunk/bumper transition. And what changed on the xB? I can't tell!

Why not? By the time a large project is completed, the economy will potentially be in a completely different place. If you can obtain the financing, this could be a great time to start a project.

If you can obtain financing, which is the problem these days. Developers have lists of projects down to the floor, but insurance companies, sovereign funds, pensions, etc., aren't forking much of anything over to pay for them, and developers rarely pay cash.

2012 Ford Police Interceptor - The Taurus police vehicle is back, ready to replace the Crown Victoria in late 2011.

I'm excited about seeing the new police cars. I assume the city will consider the new Impala police cruiser as well, but whatever, because I'm OVER the Crown Vic. Even the Dodgle would be fine, but it does look tiny inside with those slit windows.

This is not the right time to be starting another large project downtown, that's for sure.

You will probably find that the amount of stuff to be recycled expands to fill the available space. We used to have two of the small bins, and were constantly having to stack cardboard and other recyclables out by the bins after we'd filled them to overflowing. We've had one of the big wheeled bins for quite some time now, and by the end of two weeks it's full more often than not. We don't really have much glass to recycle, so that can't account for the increased volume.

I got on the RecycleBank's website last night to learn more about the rebate program. And then we theorized on the heaviest types of recycled material that would garner the largest rebate. Glass, of course! so I guess our red wine intake will exponentially increase. Hey, red wine is good for you!

Yeah, I do that some. I think that I will do that with everything. Or else cut down all the damn trees or just let the woods grow back. I would rather let the woods grow back since it kind of chaps my ass when folks buy homes in the woods and expect the yards to be kept like a golf course.

We have too many leaves to just mulch them and let them stay on the lawn. So I used my mulching mower this year to pick up the leaves...much easier than raking like I did in the past. Just blew them from the beds to the lawn and ran them over with the mulching mower, grinding them into small bits. Then I ran them over again with the mower, but with the bag attachment. I was able to compress the leaves, cutting down my lawn bag usage in half (and not having to spend hours raking). Better on my back as well! Not as quaint or green as picking them up with a rake, but it works for me. The only downside is that the mulched leaves that remain in the lawn are easily picked up by my dog, and are impossible to remove from her long coat. Small price to pay, though, for quick and efficient collection.

My part of Eastwood got the letter today...starts April 5. We are SO excited. We currently put out three of the 18-gallon bins every two weeks, and can't wait to get that big ol' 96-gallon baby. The only downside IMO will be dealing with those neighbors who aren't good about taking their cans back in. Guess I will have to add that to my list of block duties!

There seems to be some kind of pipe coming from the floor up to the front axle of the RAV4. Is that a brace to keep it from accidentally accelerating away?

LOL...wiring for the green undercarriage lights?

truth is difficult for some.

Truth is difficult for whom??? Do you read any of your little one-line replies after you post them? I swear, half the time they make little sense.