Trophy Property

Oh yes, I remember the races. During the push races, sometimes the one being pushed would lose their balance and fall over, and the other racers would trip and fall all over causing a pileup on the floor. I also remember doing the Hokey Pokey. If you shook your leg the wrong way, you'd lose your balance, fall, and bust your butt on that hard wooden floor. Someone else on this forum said that he remembers playing a game called Snap The Whip, but I don't recall ever seeing, much less participating in, that game.

Do any of you remember Ladies Choice couple's skating? It's where a girl would go and ask a guy to couple skate with her.

I hated the hokey pokey. They made us do the hokey pokey in PE class in elementary school and I hated it. I heard it a few years ago and had to leave the room. Weird how a song can do that someone.

I also did not like the ladies choice time because I was goofy looking and more goofy acting. Chicks never asked me to skate so I had to sit around and wait.

I moved into a house on a corner lot in the Heights last year. My first house on a corner. There is a stop sign at the intersection and it can be noisy when the cars stop and then take off.

The loud car stereos in the loud cars can be very annoying.

WE have this issue too. It is much more busy on a corner lot. Luckily we have double paned windows so the noise is not horribly disturbing. The bass pumping is annoying.

College is finally over; I'm on a graduate stipend and my girl is finishing up her masters and gearing up to start an internship and her professional life. Things are looking up, and we finally have concrete, certain ideas of exactly what our combined income will be in the next 5- or so years, and additionally, how much value our investments have accrued and what our savings will be. (Well, actually I've already been in grad school for a year now)

Of course, I have been addicted to HAR-porn for years now, but the thought of actually being able to purchase a property in the next year or so makes the excitement even more tangible.

So, what I want to know is, what are the maintenance costs for "Perry Style" 3-story condo blocks in midtown. Either in the Baldwin/Chenevert/McIlhenny area or over in "Post Oak Midtown" (what i unimaginatively refer to as 'townhouseland.')

Besides what the mortgage calculator spits out and the property tax, what non-utility costs will hit me each month?

http://search.har.com/engine/indexdetail.c...=0&backButton=Y

First of all congrats on finishing up. I commend you for wanting to purchase a townhouse. I was 30 before I got around to buying my first house.

At any rate. I owned a 3 story 3/3/2 Perry at Drew and Morgan. It was 2200 SF, had a fantastic master suite. The other two rooms / bathrooms were OK but small. The kitchen was a allright, It was too white for my taste, but I never made any changes in the 3 years I lived there. There were hardwoods throughout except for the bedrooms and third story. I ripped out the Bebar (sp) carpet and put down some nice Frize. It made a huge difference.

I bought the house in 2002 for $265k. The originaly owners had it for 3 years before me and had paid $245k for it, but also put plantation shutters and blinds throughout at a cost of $10k. This place was window city. I put down 5%, got a great interest rate - 4.875% on 80% and took a second note out for the remaining 15% at 7.75% interest rate. All in my monthly payments for $2,100. I was lucky to have the ability of putting $500 extra a month towards the principal. When I sold it late last year we got $280 for it. Because I of the extra principal I had been paying down and the 5% I already had in equity I was able to walk away with nearly $30k after paying closing costs. The extra principal is key if you can afford it and plan on moving within 3-5 years.

One thing is that you are pretty young. Things change, priorities change, jobs changes. Be prepared that there may come a time when you will need to sell or move or whatever. It sounds like you are putting quite a bit of equity into the house so that should not be much of a problem for you. I had a few friends who bought bigger houses than they could really manage. A few years later they showed up at closing with a check for $10k to get out of the house. Not a fun feeling.

Please keep in mind some other costs that will suprise the hell out of you. ENERGY Cost. These townhouses were solidily built (many will argue this point with me). At lease mine was. I still paid $300 a month in energy costs from May-September. The cielings are high and there is much more space to cool. Of course we kept our A/C at 72. And many find this to be tooooo Low. Not us, we like it chilly.

To answer your first question. The maintenance fees were $800 a year (one time payment). This included exterior work (roofs etc.) and water. I never paid a water bill which was nice. We had a professional management company manage the HOA for us and it seemed to work out allright. For me I chalked it up as a cost of living and never really thought about it much.

If detroit is dying, it only makes sense for the automobile industry to move down to houston.

-the weather is perfect

-the Port (2nd biggest in the US) is expanding

-Houston could provide man power for less

-Automobile Industry + Energy capital of the world -> with the gas prices as they are, what could be better then to have both industries in the same city coordinating with each other?

hoping against hope

I would disagree about the weather. It is damn hot and I just goy my May Energy Bill. $324.. OUCH.

Totally off topic.. Sorry.

Back to Detroit.

When I lived in Willow Meadows, as well as in Idylwood, it was the corner lots that seemed to be disproportionatly affected by burglaries, especially thefts out of side-load garages. Whether statistics will back me up or not I can't say, but that was my perception.

I have a corner lot in Walnut Bend. We love it as we have a huge lot and pretty nice size house. There is more lawn to mow, but I am getting the deal of the century with my lawnman (super cheap) and he does a great job. As for crime issue, luckily, we have not had any problems.

I never went to a dance at WB gym. I don't have many memories inside the building there. We LIVED at the pools when we were kids though and I remember a snack bar on the back side of the gym building that you could access from the outside. Do they still have 3 pools (Olympic lane pool w/ diving boards and slide, medium pool w/ deep area, and kiddie pool)? Are the tennis courts and park still there? I have many memories of days spent there.

We just moved into the neighborhood 7 months ago. I have not actually been to the pool (no kids so no real reason). My mother has a pool at her house in Briarbrove Park which works better for us. I have heard that the pool set up is very fun and family friendly. I see people there all the times and yes the tennis courts are still there.

I came across this site while going a google image search for Astroworld. Basically this is a case study on Dome Stadiums and in particular our beloved Astrodome. Pretty interesting stuff.

ASTRODOME

From 1971:

If your heart is set on Germany, I hear good things about Munich. Most of the other cities have become very Americanized.

(I was married in Vienna, and honeymooned in Prague.)

I agree. I loved Austria much more than Germany (with the exception of Munich). Salzberg and Vienna were beautiful cities.

Skip Germany and head to Prague.

If you must do Germany, hit Dresden or Leipzig.

Berlin and Frankfurt are worse than Dallas.

I agree that prague is a fantastic city. I spent a week there back in 95. I heard it has changed a lot since then, but when I was there it was dirt cheap and the nightlife was out of this world.

I traveled through Germany as well. By far my favorite city was Munich. The Beer Gardens are so much fun. I agree that Frankfurt and Berlin were over rated and seemed like any other big city.

If you hit Munich and are interested in the horrible history of the holocaust I would strongly reccomend taking a day trip to Daccau (sp). It is where one of the biggest concentration camps was located. I was with 3 other people and we all split up and walked the grounds alone. I got a real sense of the horrible attrocities that occured. Very somber day, but one I will never forget.

There is also an hour film that shows the history of the site. Very enlightening.

Have a great tip and send us some pics. The cities you mentioned are great, Barcelone is a wonderful place.

I used to stop in that Blockbuster at Westheimer and Gessner reguarly when I worked just down the street from it and lived in Westchase. Around 2000-2002 it did a booming business on weekends, even with other Blockbuster locations just a few miles to the east and west on Westheimer.

I joined Netflix in early 2003. I think I've been in a video store maybe three or four times since then, usually when I wanted to get something immediately because I wanted to watch it that night. On the other hand, I've rented hundreds of DVDs from Netflix in the last three and a half years.

I am the same way. I have been a netflix member since 2003 and have been to a video store about the same amount of times. Almost everyone I know is a member of Netflix. I found some great movies and documentaries that I would have never found at a brick and mortar store. I think we are starting to be a majority and the brick n mortars can not compete. Although I have heard that netflix is still unprofitable. They lose money on a customer if they rent more than 4-5 movies a month. I probably go through 15.

Champs on the katy freeway just before gessner and memorial city mall or rotessori (spelling?) for beef and bird on wilcrest after briar forest

Beef n Bird has been gone for a few years not. Then the owner of Chianti opened Morgan's steakhouse. It died pretty quickly and he put in a Chianti. Drove by yesterday and it looked closed for good.

Kudos to Subdude for the link! Speaking of Mexican--are any of the Los Tios restraunts still around? I used to work as a busboy at the one off Fondren & Bissonnet back in '75

Yes, there are 4 that I know of. One is Westhiemer, another at Memorial and Kirkwood, another in Meyerland and the 4th is in Sugarland. I have been to 4 within the past 18 months. I love that place.

I like the #8 = Two Puff Shells and a Cheese Enchiladas.

If you do a search on the person's name associated with the midwest business noted above, and add the word "sheep" to the search attributes, you will find that you will get 10 hits. In fact, searches which include Mr. Krueger with other farm animals - such as chickens, camels, and yaks - also produce similar results. Coincidence? I think not.

Pictures please !!

You are correct in the government pays for the disruption. This is the reason you NEVER hear the airlines complain, either here at home or abroad, about the flight delays.

Well I never !! >

Some noise was made back in the 1990's when President Clinton flew to LAX to have his hair cut by Jose Eber. It shut LAX down for a little over an hour and got lots of complaints. I wouldnt wish to be inconvenienced by something like that, but i still think its important for the president to have that sort of right/privilage

as much as I love Clinton (and I love him). I heard he was one of the worst presidents about disrupting regular places. the story I heard was the had a hankering for some Cheesecake Factory and they had to close up shop to feed him, Hillary, and Chelsea. I could be wrong, but I think the government has to pay for their meal (duh) as well as lost revenue from the distruption. That was probably a $100,000 + meal. Tax payers money well spent.

I am cool with it since W is the biggest jag off alive (MY OPINION).

>

Is it bad form to participate in a thread about yourself?

Oh, and 77017, Coog told me to tell you to kiss off.

Genius. I was wondering which of you two would respond first. You win, but your post is awesome.

No special couple skating memories that I can remember except maybe when we had a skate night with classmates in jr. high. Oh, I also think my friends and I went a few times in early high school for kicks, so most likely couples skating with some of them but no one else. I remember those games too. I didn't have your racing abilities though -lol. Did you also limbo? I think I attended a lock-in there once too. We skated there quite a bit, but we also skated in our church gym for free when we were younger -esp. on Wednesday night while my mom was at choir practice.

Friday nights with wine and internet sound like a parent thing to me. We spend many Friday nights at home too these days. We are thinking about hitting the new drive-in so we can see new movies on the big screen w/o getting a sitter for our son. I think he's old enough that he'll like it. We can watch the first movie and then hope he drifts off to sleep so we can stay for the 2nd. I've only been to a drive-in once - to see Pretty Woman with a boyfriend in high school (have no idea where in this city it was, but it was far from us), but thought it was a lot of fun and would love to go again. Maybe soon...

You are too funny.

I do not remember the limbo at Dairy Ashford Roller Rink.

Did you ever skate/ have a school dance at the Walnut Bend Gym. I remember that place being a palace. Fast Forward 20 years and my attending a HOA meeting there. It is not a palace, except for the palace of dirt.

As for my Friday nights. We are a partying couple that is lazy. We used to go out all the time, but lately things are a little different. My wife usually hits the gym on Sat. Mornings which means she goes to bed early and I hit the CPU for a little HAIF, online poker, or whatever floats my boat. We are sans children but seriously thinking about it. We both love kids, but don't love resposibility.

As for the drive in. My father took my sister and I to see Jaws at a drive in when I was maybe 4. I remember watching about 10 minutes and then blacking out (sleep). What is amazing is that I actually remember the experience. My pops passed away when I was 7 so I do not have too many memories, but that one sticks out. My mother was pissed off, because I was afraid of the ocean for a few years after. Like I said, I probably made it through the previews and was out, but the thought of a big shark was all I needed.

So, you've been chasing Gold Diggers since you were 14? Is that what you're trying to say?

I am manic. I run away from the rich only to be dragged back in. It is a tough life.

We are looking at some homes in the Oak Forest area, one specifically just east of Rosslyn. What are your thoughts on the neighborhood? Any words of wisdom or encouragment? We are first time home buyers.

jgusto, welcome to HAIF. You might want to seach for "Oak Forest" on this site. The neighborhood is a very popular topic here on HAIF. I did a quick search and found 3 pages that mentioned Oak Forest. Give it a shot.

Good Luck. There are many Oak Forest residents on this board.

I heard W is building a landing stip at Dude Ranch One for easy access to vacation !!!!

I definitely remember Yamin's--great pizza bread! I used to work @Film N Photos right across from it!

I had dinner with my mother last night and she told me the restuarant I was thinking was yamin's on Hillcroft was maybe not Yamin's. We are having dinner with my aunt on Sunday who will know for sure.

There is still one in Katy off Mason Rd near Kingsland (on Applewhite Rd, I think) that still does a good business. I think it's called Mason Road Skate Center. My nephew had a birthday party there a few years back.

I think there may also be one still off Highway 6 north (near Copperfield).

Yes, the Dairy Ashford one is still open (or it was last week when I drove by -lol).

There are several new drive-ins in the Houston area that have opened recently. We drove by the one in this link a few months ago and plan on going one evening soon - a great way to see movies with a toddler -lol.

http://www.theshowboatdrivein.com/

I have ask since we lived parrallel lives. Did you ever couple skate at the Dairy Ashford Rink. I was usually too busy gearing up for the races they had. My buddy and I always won the derby race (one person crouches and another pushes)- I was the pusher !!! . I was pretty good at the all around speed skate, but there was some apartment kid who always won. I wonder what happened to him. Probably drank himself to death after all that early success.

My Friday's at the Rink were great. Now my friday's usually mean I am drinking a few glasses of wine and posting on this site. LOSER ALERT.

Photographs have been removed from a thread about Detroit in another section of HAIF because of a legal threat received from the owner of the images and filed with Pair Networks, the HAIF hosting company.

The specific complaint follows:

For those of you wondering what "W223 N4994" means in an address, it is "fire coordinates" used to denote an address for someone living in extreme rural Wisconsin. You wouldn't know this from the complaint filed by Mr. Krueger because he did not send Pair Networks his complete address. Possibly because he's ashamed of where he lives. The phone number he lists is a Verizon Wireless cell phone he bought in a suburb of Milwaukee, but the address he lists doesn't match up to anything in that area, so one could theorize that he's some college kid who bought a phone while at school, and is now at home working on his business.

Anyway, just a reminder -- it is a violation of our terms of service to post copyrighted information on HAIF. Link away, but posting is a legal problem for us.

OUCH. What a bummer. I think we try to link as much as possible, but sometimes it is too easy to cut n paste. I will make more of an effort. If you lose we all lose !!! Thanks for the heads up.

Carters private limo

Great pic. My uncle used to have a limo like that. When he died my step dad took the car and used to drive carpool in that thing. For some reason it was embarrasing as hell. I mean I was 14 and trying to get to first base. The other kids were getting dropped off in real cars.