Arivechi

I 2nd that, Bryan.

Any former curiosity I may have had about the place just went bye-bye with those photos.

I can't even eat fish if it still looks like a fish.

[ Dammit, Why isn't there a puking emoticon ]

There are plenty of other dishes on the menu besides cow head and whole pig. You'll have an amazing meal whatver it is you order.

It makes me want to get a weather station in my backyard and start collecting data from now on.

You might want to get a weather station that "communicates" with 2 or 3 remote sensors. That way you can put one near your house, and one on the back fence or away from the house. Then you can see the difference. My weather station has 1 sensor that I have mounted at the back patio -- but I am pretty sure it registers temps that aren't as cold as if it were mounted 20 feet behind the house. The low temp recorded by it for last Friday night was 31.3° (Saturday morning). I'm sure it was colder than that.

HINES’ HEADQUARTERS AWARDED LEED® GOLD

Iconic Williams Tower Transformed into a Beacon of Green

(HOUSTON) – The Houston office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that its iconic headquarters building, Williams Tower, has received Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® for Existing Buildings Rating System.

I'm really excited to learn this. And to see that list of other LEED buildings - I didn't realize how many there were here.

Great news.

Awesome (sorta sarcastic), so if nothing messes with the North Loop construction project it will wrap-up just days before construction starts with the 290-610-10.

While I realize the outcome is going to be helpful and hopefully make traffic flow faster, I'm NOT looking forward the mess of construction.

*mumbling something about no pain, no gain*

Here's a view of Houston Ave/White Oak the afternoon after Ike came through so water level was down maybe 3 or 4 feet from peak.

They will certainly want to consider a these high water events at that location.

Uh, oh. To add to the mess of the North Loop now I-10 is also going to be ripped up and rebuilt between 45 and 59. For 18 months. Eastbound completely closed this weekend, only one eastbound lane of traffic starting Monday.

======

Stretch of I-10 closing tonight

(Nov. 5) By CAROLYN FEIBEL

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

No construction pain, no roadway gain.

A short stretch of eastbound I-10 near downtown will be completely closed all weekend. It will re-open Monday morning, but with only one through lane.

The good news is that the oldest, most-patched stretch of Houston's I-10 is finally getting a new roadbed. The bad news is that the 2.2 mile interstate stretch downtown, between I-45 and U.S. 59, is going to be under construction for the next 18 months.

The complete closure of the eastbound side starts at 9 p.m. tonight and ends at 5 a.m. Monday. Crews will be re-striping lanes and putting up barriers for the work to come.

On Monday, the road reopens but the eastbound capacity will drop by 50 percent, from the normal two through lanes to just one. That will last about three months, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

“Unfortunately it's going to be a challenging time for us in terms of mobility,” said TxDOT spokeswoman Raquelle Lewis.

Federal stimulus dollars are paying for the $18 million project.

“It certainly is time,” said Lewis. “We've just been patching and making sure we keep it functional and maintaining it to the best of our ability, but after a certain period of time you have to go in.”

128,200 vehicles per day

This is the last segment of I-10 inside the Loop that needs work. Reconstruction of the western portion, between I-45 and the West Loop, ended in 1999. The eastern portion, from the Eastex to the East Loop, was repaved and that work finished in 2007, Lewis said. Work continues on I-10 east of the East Loop.

The highway carries 128,200 vehicles every day, and almost 10 percent of that is truck traffic, which breaks down the road surface more quickly.

For this weekend, drivers are encouraged to avoid the area entirely. But detours will be available: eastbound motorists can take 45 South and loop around downtown, to rejoin I-10 on the East Side. Or they can take 45 North, exit at North Main and U-turn back to 45 South to access I-10 eastbound.

Lewis encouraged drivers to be patient and take the long view: “When the pavement is in good shape, that means it's a safer commute for all drivers and a more efficient commute,” Lewis said.

Looks like the program to bring "smart meters" to Houston won't take as long as previously planned now that CenterPoint received a bunch of stimulus money:

Stimulus powers up 'smart grid' from today's Houston Chronicle

"The funds will cut two years off CenterPoint's 5-year, $976 million rollout of the smart meters, said CenterPoint spokeswoman Leticia Lowe, and reduce the total amount assessed customers through their monthly electric bills to pay for the upgrade. Since early this year, customers have paid an extra $3.24 monthly charge. After two years, the payment will drop to $3.05 but will continue for several more years.

The funds will also go toward the installation of equipment to help automate the rerouting of power throughout the area's electricity distribution system during outages."

Looks like the wet first half of October has pulled us even more OUT of the worst stages of drought.

Only 31% of the state is in any stage of drought as opposed to 3 months ago when nearly 68% was in drought.

*hands in the air* ya! dew point is down in the lower 60s.

The house we've just moved into has a lot of overgrown landscaping, including an indeterminate number of bougainvillea bushes. One is blooming; the others just lurk, waiting to attack you with their horrible thorns. We keep cutting and cutting and they grow back overnight. Like evil alien spawn.

The funny thing is, I always wanted to have bougainvillea in my garden because I thought they were so pretty. Little did I know how evil they actually are!

If you eventually want to rip it out of the ground because it's out of control, you can always keep some if it around by planting cuttings in small pots. Then transplant to larger pots when they look healthy. I agree that it stays contained in the containers and that in a pot you can control the "stress" that it experiences. Lots of sun and only moderate water will trigger those bracts to turn colors. They do really well in Santa Barbara.

The Houston traffic website says that some lanes will be closed through April, 2011!! That stinks. Traffic at the interchange was bad enough already. Anybody know what they're doing?

Rebuilding the roadway funded with the Stimulus money.

One lane will be closed on N Loop in each direction from Ella to I45 till the project is over. And they seem to be re-doing all the I45/610 interchange ramps and bridges.

TexDOT page for the project #027114223

I fear all power given to the government now a days...it does not seem that they pay any attention to the things that matter and pay all the attention to the things that dont. Its a good thing we have hearings over steroids in baseball while the economy is teetering, etc...They dont listen to the people anymore they tell us what they want us to believe, and then talk down to us, while they exempt themselves from their own rules.

I for one dont want to have to ration my electricity usage - I dont want to ration my health care, I dont want to ration anything I dont want to...this is the USA not some third world country - build the power plant, upgrade the grid, and if you want to opt out of more regulation you should be able to do so.

Who said electricity was going to be rationed?

And how does a "smart meter" installed by Center Point equate to the government monitoring each individual's electricity use?

Broadway may not be much to look at, but I think it tarnishes first impressions even more to have a rough ride through a deteriorating area.

I totally agree. There are plenty of other parts of town for visitors/newly relocated folks to witness rundown apartments and trashed streets. At least let folks get to and from HOU with a brushed-up image. It's a gateway. Sure, it's probably not going to get the detailed landscaping like in the Galleria area.

I would just double-check that your potential white reflective roof doesn't "shine" into your neighbor's eyes. If I look out the window at the house across the street I can imagine how much brighter my front yard (and windows in the front of the house) would be if that house had a white roof.

Article in today's Chronicle

Litterbugs beware: Other drivers watching you

Anyone reported messing with Texas will get a letter, and a bag for next time

By PEGGY FIKAC

AUSTIN BUREAU

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6537168.html

There's a new website where you can report people who are littering in Texas: http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/report-a-litterer.php

I like the sound of the system - they send a note and a trash bag to the reported folks.

They can't get to my house fast enough. I don't understand how they can go around to so many houses every day and yet still not know that they need to CLOSE THE GATE after they open it. Every month the gate is left open. The sooner they stop coming through the gate, the sooner I can stop worrying about my dog running off. But we aren't on the schedule till sometime in 2010.

And I am really looking forward to the additional data that we'll be able to get - as to WHEN we use the most energy (hours) or what days.

I'd actually appreciate a more precise water bill too. But that's a different topic.

I have no speculation to share. But I'll miss his little monologue at the beginning of my flight "Hi, I'm Larry Kellner"

Eh, with this being earth day "week" and with future development leaning towards LEED certified GREEN building, why doesn't Houston take the lead with NOT lighting up buildings?

We could make headlines for wanting to conserve energy in the energy capital of the world.

And, how nice would it be to eliminate some of the light pollution that has driven starry nights away?

I 2nd this one.

I already get upset when I see how many lights are on in those buildings at night. I know they can't be 100% dark so no one flies into them but I'd rather that there be as few lights on as possible.

I hate Las Vegas because of all the lights. It's distracting and overwhelming.

Turn off the lights folks, don't turn more on. And I don't really care if they're red or blue or in some sort of interesting pattern.

Sure, encourage more people to go downtown - open cool restaurants, clubs, have places to hangout, use the metro line. But I don't think that lighting up the skyline is going to make anyone go there. Install some safety street lights so people feel safe walking around.

Here's the link to neighborhood drop off sites. Looks like a number of HEBs also have recycling centers

Houston Neighborhood recycle centers

National Weather Service's report of our recent deficits.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/climate/review...1909drought.txt

I've spent a lot of time dragging the hose around the yard in the last couple weeks. Wish I knew raindances.

But thank you, high pressure zone, for keeping our air quality good. My lungs say thank you too.

Something needs to move into that site at Ella and the railroad tracks.

Or overhaul the site on NW corner of 43rd and Rosslyn - for a smaller non-mega supermarket. Possibly something like a Trader Joe's or a better version of the failed McCain's that used to be on Heights.

From an e-mail I received today:

"In continuing efforts to improve service and maximize taxpayer dollars, we have re-routed select areas in North Houston for Automated Garbage Collection and Yard Trimmings Collection. The purpose of the re-route is to balance routes for more efficient and speedy service. The new service days will become effective Monday, June 29th, 2009.

We thank you for your assistance in this transition. Please remind your neighbors if you don't see their garbage carts out on the new service day. Your Recycling as well as your Tree Waste/Junk Waste day will not be changing.

We have prepared and mailed information to homes in North Houston who will have a new service day. You may also view the "North Re-Route" page on our website and review the service days in your area. Only areas detailed on this map were affected by the change of schedule.

http://www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/northreroute.html

For additional information, visit our website at www.houstonsolidwaste.org, or call the City of Houston Customer Service line 3-1-1."

link to the map pdf

why wouldn't they keep with the B&W theme of the rest of the block? what's with the tan and browns?

Maybe they could get an awesome taco truck or ice cream truck to frequent the parking lot. We really want a nearby restaurant. Especially one that make breakfast. And/or dessert.

Unless you live in this area, you have no right to comment about where would be a "fine place" for "low income" housing. This is not a "vacant" area.

OK, you're upset. But this posting was put into a general "Houston real estate" thread. So we're all responding. If you only wanted responses from people that live within 2 miles of you then it could have been put into some other specific discussion forum. The original post sounded like a desperate plea for help, but I'm still not certain I understand what the real problems are. All I've seen are lots of postulations but no real facts or numbers.

I have a feeling any exposure of the objection to the project on the evening news is only going to make your area sound very prejudice and elitist.