crunchtastic

My closest friend has dealt with this stuff for years in clinical practice, and is now chief of staff at a rehab hospital in Austin. The witness had a much harder time of it than the jumper. Philosophically, it's not a popular view, but taking one's life is the ultimate act of self-awareness. Free will was god's gift. Or not.

There are usually a couple of guys out front of Costco doing memberships for LA Fitness. Last week I overheard one of them say 'opening in June'.

Nope. No density. And even if it did, buses would still be best way to meet transit needs, given the seasonal nature of the population. Overbuilding an unnecesary system is not 'thinking ahead.' It's 'wasting money.' Don't let this rail fetish cloud your thinking, citykid.

I don't think it's a bad idea, but I do have a hard time believing it will be anywhere even close to $2 billion, and that it would get done in any sort of reasonable time frame (my original reference to the Army Corp and the levees). Storm surges suck, but if I had a choice of which damage to mitigate with limited dollars: storm surge or wind, I'd pick wind, and spend the $2 billion on burying power lines, upgrading the electrial grid and water pumping facilities, etc.

I wouldn't call it condescension, but reading the article, it appears this whole 'vision' thing is because TAMU students are too good to ride a bus. It is not their 'preferred mode of travel'. Well of course, then, it makes sense to build....... expensive light rail for a seasonal population. Add more buses on more routes. Campus accessibility issue solved. Do something nifty and use the expanded routes to test prototype bio fuel buses. Put some of those ag minds to work! Yes, light rail it is an appropriate solution in some cases. But I can't help it, every time I read another rail boosterism post, I think of that old Simpsons 'monorial' epsiode. The funny thing is, I'm ragging on Bryan /College Station, but someone's probably got a light rail vision for the greater Victoria/Goliad/Edna area.

Niche, that's quite the imagination! Since when does a giant dike stop the wind? Flood insurance premiums are based on flood maps, which are changed only after years of compiled data. And last time I checked, State Farm doesn't give a discount for living near civil flood projects. If that were the case then many Houston area residents would see their premiums go down with each new drainage project. I wasn't aware you cared about the people of Galveston County having their lives turned upside down. That's sweet, but why should taxpayers have to bankroll the security of someone who chooses to build a house on wooden stilts in the surf? What is the current cost of 'defeating storm surges'? The seawall was built and paid for long ago. Lowering building code standards in a coastal area is a great idea, provided the wind doesn't ever blow. Galveston Bay already is a safe harbor for commerical shipping and recreational boating. Just don't do it in the middle of a hurricane. I will admit that the port closing after the hurricane is a consequence that should be mitigated. But there are too many assumptions about both the cost and efficacy of the dike to make that determination, currently. Marine agriculture and marshes, etc. would be further destroyed by the surge in dredging and building, if a dike were to be built on the promise of consequence-free coastal development. Increased construction debris and plain ole' human garbage will fill more landfill space, perpetually, as a consequence of increased development and population growth than would the occasional storm surge. I left a few off, but you get the idea. OTOH, if Tillman and George Mitchell's people want to team up and build the dike themselves, I say go for it! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ It's possible I misread you. Were being sarcastic all along???

This would be an Army Corp job? New Orleans is still waiting to have all their levees and floodwalls repaired and restored to the levels they were pre-Katrina. They're barely even getting upgrades. Changing building codes, and/or stopping unwise development and further erosion on Galveston is doable now, and doesn't require the Feds.

The last bullet under 'Houston Economy' says : 'All real estate sectors experiencing very strong fundamentals. ' If that is a FACT, according to the poster, why has the project been delayed? Problems with non-fundamentals? Their financing fundamentally fell through? I went by the sales office today but it was closed. Hoping to go see some models on my lunch hour this week. The tower looks pretty cool.

Dimitri is supposed to be a pretty big cheese in the Montrose Blvd Association. I guess he knows how to throw his weight around, he he he.

You men and your bacon. If such a thing did exist, my BF would create a special Macgyver- ish carrying holster to clip onto his belt, so bacony goodness would always be at hand.

The townhomes and apartment buildings already have off-street parking. The townhomes come with garages. How could there be any possible justification for street parking restrictions? I thought the idea behind street parking permits was for places like the French Quarter, for example, or similar neighborhoods where many residences have no parking on premises at all due to the age and nature of the buildings. Are there any neighborhoods in Houston which require a permit for street parking?

Compared to what I've paid to park at other major sporting venues around the country, relative to walking distance, Houston is a bargain. There is abundant close, cheap parking to MMP. If Dynamo fans need parks and space and fun stuff to distract them on the walk from the car to the game, then the Dynamo could buy and rehabilitate any number of old lots in the area. With their own money.

Lucky pax are getting an upgrade. I'd take Ocho Rios over Cancun any day.

I have a friend who works for a certain biomed firm in the bay area. He just sent me the latest corporate missive. All in know is, when it comes to pandemics, I'm in the wrong line of work! __________________________________________ We have taken the following proactive steps to ensure preparedness in the event that the situation escalates: * We have established a Pandemic Response Core Team, chaired by ______________ from Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S), that is responsible for communicating and coordinating with _______ and ________ sites, as well as key stakeholders as appropriate * Last Saturday we agreed with colleagues in _____ that they would supply Tamiflu for ______ employees. The packs of Tamiflu will be shipped to the appropriate sites as soon as they are ready. We will continue to provide updates when we have more information * The Core Team is compiling a Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ) document addressing common questions and concerns. The FAQ will be available shortly, as well as global information from _______ headquarters * We have activated our business continuity plans to ensure that critical business functions can still operate * We have completed an inventory assessment of masks, gloves and hand sanitizers in South San Francisco, and are working with our other sites to conduct a similar inventory * We have met with emergency response leadership in South San Francisco and Health Services personnel in South San Francisco, Oceanside and Vacaville to review infection control and clinic procedures for managing employees with flu-like symptoms. Other sites will also complete this process * We have met with custodial staff in South San Francisco to discuss cleaning procedures during this outbreak, and will have similar discussion with cleaning staff at other sites

I can't imagine anything short of nuclear holocaust stopping the OTC. Maybe they'll put some little hand sanitizers in the goodie bags, or something.

There are discussions going on today in my office about dealing with the expected absenteeism, or the possibility of people bringing their kids to work because of school closures. The only official corporate policy response is to stop non-essential travel to Mexico, and follow the WHO guidelines.

from our resident Master of Good Taste. Today, I heard snippets of a break room swine flu conversation about 'should I stop eating bacon?' I left without comment, but sweet baby jesus, it was hard.

Oy, you're killing me here! http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...kHrXwwD97QROAG0 Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive 1 day ago JERUSALEM (AP)

Maybe bubble tea will work. All those little chewy tapiocas. It's a consistency thing.

I am concerned there could a zombie component to this. What if the flu pandemic is just a symptom of another, more sinister, infection?

It appears as if The Chron's reader comments section on the story is disabled. I suspect it was just a long list of poorly spelled rants against Mexicans. Is it a pandemic? Let's wait 28 days and see.

A thread from over a year ago that had the 'Villa Muse' relocating to the eastern reaches of the county because the city wouldn't go for it? Astrodome Grow House!!

Could it be that Austin rejected it because they acted with some semblance of fiduciary duty, and decided against committing taxpayer money to a project that was judged a poor ROI?

Don't worry, kid! There's still time for the Astrodome to be used to a better end. Houston should showcase it's history of engineering and technical know-how while contributing to sustainability. The world doesn't need more actors or film crews. It needs solutions that meet the demands of growth and stressed resources. A movie studio is not thinking big. It's not fixing problems. It's very late 90s. Taking out the formica and replacing it with granite countertops. Yawn. No one is thinking big or originally here with the movie studio idea. (Nor can anyone show any credible numbers backing up claims that it would create jobs, or that they could even keep the building leased. ) It's time we kept the spirit of the space age alive. Astrodome Grows!...... Nothing a little asbestos abatement won't fix)

A well-expressed sentiment that many Rockets fans share. And while on the subject, a little bow of the head for Dikembe Motumbo. An old-school big man that didn't get a lot of play as he got older, but a class act and talent to the game all the way around.