Arivechi

hurray! I take I-10 west in the mornings and I got to work in half the time this week.

everytime we drive past the Tamale Factory we say "why don't they set-up more of a patio area to sit and eat? look at that big parking area". But I guess that while leasing they weren't interested in too much infrastructure changes. We'll look forward to a new location.

so can we get trees to replace the ones that Ike knocked over in our yards? I'll come pick it up and dig the hole if someone supplies it.

if it really seems to be just your house... and it's ~ half your house that isn't working then it might be your circuit breaker box. A transformer problem would affect more than just your house. Our friends (who let us stay with them while our power was out for 14 days!!!) had a similar problem last week. Half the outlets in the house would go off and on at irregular intervals at random times. The electrician came and messed a little in the circuit panel outside - voila! power. But they had to replace the old circuit panel on the bungalow to upgrade the Amps coming into the house to accommodate the modern electric items inside (or something like that, I am far far from being knowledgeable about electricity).

So, call an electrician to come check your circuit breaker box to look at the main and how the power is distributed to the panel of circuits. I'll tell you that there was a crackling, hissing sound coming from our friends' panel. scary.

From today's Houston Chronicle "White hopes new plan will lift Houston's recycling rate from bottom of the barrel"

Bring on the big green bins!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/5980404.html

is for sale. http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y

What would be more profitable and enjoyed by you all. Townhomes or a grocery store along the lines of Trader Joes....

Wish we could have a Trader Joe's but I don't think that this property is in the right sort of location.

If only there were more buyers like this woman. I live up the street from this place. When it went up for sale, we all sighed and waited for the inevitable lot line to lot line monstrosity that was going up in its place. After all, it was a run down old house (containing an obscene number of dogs) on a really nice corner lot. But it got renovated instead - and look at it! You can't tell me that a new McVic would have been an improvement on that. It's original to the neighborhood, too.

But also note how the new owner had to fight to get that place. Not many go to those lengths, and the Heights suffers as a result.

I've been in that house that was renovated. It's AMAZING. The bathroom (it's actually pretty big), the kitchen cabinets, the beams in the dining room. WOW. And mostly it really is inspiring to me and my husband as we search and search for a house in the Heights area to buy and love - a house that has a long history and a soul that we can add to.

In the end I agree with "sheeats" - I can say "I hate that house" from the outside. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to welcome people to the neighborhood or throw tomatoes at them or something. Clearly everyone should have a home that works for them - old OR new. But what I love about the Heights are the older homes. That's my opinion. Can't wait to buy one. And what I'd love most is to live on a block with lots of bungalows/cottages and original character.

Bay area readers want to help get recycle bins for more Houstonians! This is great! Still don't understand why Houston can't get this done on its own. Now if only we could get more local recycling plants so this stuff didn't have to get shipped to other states for processing.

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/sales-and-e...s-aug-16-059112

http://progressivereadingseries.blogspot.c...or-houston.html

This still freaks me out when I walk into a grocery store in California, btw. Don't know why, but my puritanical Texas streak just screams, "WRONG!" whenever I see hard liquor inside Safeway.

If you can buy cigarettes at a supermarket then why not beer and liquor?

... I think it is time for the "dry" deal to go away. And while I am on my rant, which is more dangerous? Not shutting down 19th street to car traffic, or keeping people from having a glass of wine.

Yes, please close auto traffic on 19th for these events. 18th and 20th Streets are plenty big to accommodate a few hours of additional traffic. Just open it to the shuttle buses. Especially if the result is a safer pedestrian zone. Some of the bands were set up on the street and the people surrounded them to dance and listen - which is great! But then traffic was sorta blocked anyway. The sidewalks aren't big enough for the walking crowds + band listening crowds + happy people chatting.

I raise my hand for the "Who was sad that the alcoholic drinks were banned on 19th?" question. how sad. Who's gonna walk around in mega crowds sweating on an August afternoon for free fruit punch? only if it has rum in it.

more comments

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/news/housto...-problem-058071

An NPR essay about recycling in other communities. Good info about why certain things are recyclable and how they are sorted.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=92913195

Gotta agree that there are plenty of things that could be done with the existing building. However, this is Houston and that is prime property (although there are empty blocks all around it). It is not seen as the "highest use" to save it so it will come down. It's the so-called free market at work.

I realize that not every building can be saved. But there are some that should and we are running out of those in Houston. This is one of them.

I'm just wondering if any of you have actually been IN the building. I have been going there to work-out for the last year and there are soooo many times when parts of the basement (weights and cardio area) are cordoned off because pipes are leaking, buckets or trashcans catch other drips, this last week the whole office area flooded and they had industrial fans down there. Light panels spark when water drips in them. The squash courts and basketball courts have crumbling paint and walls. We just always think that something will fall on us while we're there. But yes, at the same time it'd be ideal if some millionaire could throw $$$ at it for preservation. It's so nice to see a non-giant glass covered sky-rise that preserves some of the character of early Houston. But it would need to be completely gutted. The whole infrastructure would need updating or replacing. Down to the foundation probably.

I think the YMCA deserves a new building. The new building would have spaces really built for their programs instead of trying to adapt an old building to new purposes.

In the last couple weeks there has been a lot of activity at the Big Mamou... the wood picnic benches were sanded and washed and it looks like the ENTIRE inside of the building was gutted. I saw a group painting the outside. Anyone hear when they hope to open up?

Interesting note, a Pay to Throw plan. The more you toss out instead of recycling, the more fees you pay. I'd support that if Houston adopts that plan.

I would LOVE to see the pay to throw program here. When I arrived to town and saw that everyone had a giant black bin and a teeny green crate that is collected every 2 weeks I wondered "huh? how is this encouraging people to recycle? once that bin is filled most people are going to throw everything in the black garbage bin". In CA we had a big blue bin for recycling the size of the black ones here. And a small size black garbage bin - and yeah, the goal was to put as much as possible in the recycle bin so you wouldn't have to pay for another black garbage can. And recycling was collected every week the same as garbage.

Teeny green crates = no incentive to recycle very much.

Easy there memebag, I think you are missing my point entirely. I am referring to urban design characteristics, what they sell or how the structures "looks" (in the sense you are talking about) isn't important to my point. How the structure itself fits into the fabric of the neighborhood is what I'm talking about even if it's the same exact tenants selling the same things.

I agree with this guy. It does matter what the store looks like. That's the impression that the place gives to everyone, especially those who haven't entered the store. Just like a house's curb appeal affects the appearance of the neighborhood no matter how fancy or polished the inside is or isn't.

We rode our bikes past this yesterday before I had read this posting... we thought it might be an art gallery or something. The landscaping is nice but the house looks so cold and white. I agree that except for the windows it looks like a Mormon temple of some sort. Because it's not immediate neighbors with other houses it doesn't look as out-of-place as it would on a different part of Harvard St.

The house on Studewood near the carwash is going to be a salon/day spa.

There's a sign posted outside now... I think it's called "S12" or something (Salon on 12th?). I'll have to drive slower next time to read it better.

How was the decor? It seems like they put a lot of money/time/effort into building out that space...

Actually the decor was pretty nice. Uplit flagstone walls as you walk to the front door, dimly lit interior, drop pendants for the sushi chefs' task lighting. There is a lounge area and bar to the left as you walk in that looked cool and big enough to hang with a group. But sitting at the sushi bar our view was more of the fish. They didn't have printed menus yet... our menu was a stapled 3-page xerox document. Not a big deal but obviously a few things are still being pulled together for the restaurant.

Oh, and something to note... most of the parking spots in that lot are reserved for "the crew" which I guess is the gym next door (on the N side of the complex). So you have to do the valet thing, which I think is ridiculous.

Growing up in LA we used L-A-X all the time so it seems natural to just say I-A-H. "Big airport" makes it sound like you just can't remember its name. But yes, I have heard plenty of news anchors and traffic and weather reporters refer to IAH as "the big airport". Like it's superior to Hobby? dunno.

Went to Soma on Thursday (between Shepherd and Durham)... sat at the sushi bar. It took over half an hour for our 2 rolls and 3 nigiri orders to arrive. The place wasn't busy when we arrived (maybe 6:45). There were at least 3 or 4 sushi chefs behind the bar. The sushi was good but we were grumbling because it took so long. Don't know what the trouble was.

I was also a little disturbed that someone came with a wet rag to wipe up the counter top in front of me while I was still sitting there before the bill was paid. Sure, I dropped a few crumbs and those should be wiped up before the next party sat down but I didn't feel that it was appropriate while I was still right there.

If we go back we'll probably grab a table and order non-sushi items to see if the main kitchen is faster.

Here's one... at 1003 Studewood they're working on the foundation of the new project. Just across from The Glass Wall. Do the links to the building sketches still exist?

call a truce or take it outside. this is silly. we're all waiting for more Studewood related posts.

I am betting on a full redo, including repositioning the new building on the lot.

Holy cow! Sure enough, the beginnings of the new McDonald's are in a whole new configuration on the property. Hopefully it's more user-friendly for traffic patterns.

I can't wait for Panda Express to open. Everytime we drive over to the Target area my mouth starts watering just thinking of eggplant and tofu!