musicman

Hot Wok off Nasa Road 1 is good. That's about the only decent place for Chinese food in Clear Lake anymore.

i will try it.

My husband will be thirlled. I don't care for 888 at all. Last time I was in there, the whole place smelled rancid, the food we got was rancid...I hate 888.

wow i've never had that experience there. for me their food makes most other chinese food taste bad. once you go there, you don't go anywhere else.

This page states: "All electrical work must be performed by a licensed electrical contractor."

I dug into it further, and that statement appeared to be correct.

good info. i would just hire the electrician and do the work without the permit. at least the county won't try and raise your appraisal because you got a permit.

interesting perspective. this is why the chron isn't highly regarded by most here. instead of just reporting they write many articles to benefit/hurt a certain cause which can be biased.

That's too bad.

Although what I think is even worse is that the city won't let homeowners pull permits. My grandfather is a retired electrician...he knows the code, and I'm more than capable of doing the work. Ohwell.

I'm probably going to have them install a big fat piece of conduit between the panel and the attic to facilitate easily adding more circuits in the future...problem with having them pull wire is that it may not have enough conductors or be of a large enough gauge....of course you could always use that extra wire to pull through the larger wire.

as far as i know they do allow homeowners to pull permits.

it could be a good deal IMO. once you figure out your monthly costs to own it, you have to determine whether you could get adequate rent from a tenant to pay your bills. and if there really are a lot of units, i'm sure that will probably keep rents down.

Well who'd you use? I still need to get my service upgraded...

he's retired now. he won't even work for people he knows now. a definite loss. when you do get it done, make sure and run a few extra wires from the box to your attic so that if you need a circuit in the future the wire will already be there..

I think what Trae was trying to say is, a lot of PV students stay in Cypress. It only takes 10-15 minutes to get to Prairie View from Fry Road.

At least that's the way I read it.

And there's never a time when sentence diagrams are interesting. That **** got me kicked out of Honors English in 6th grade. Well, that and the whole "reading books" thing.

lol. that is hilarious

What are you talking about?

i guess i'm old school if you don't know hat i'm talking about.

I got bids for new service a while back, by far the lowest bid I got was from HCB Electric...the variation in bids was amazing...the highest was $2400, and the lowest $900. I wasn't too worried about quality since the city inspector would most certainly be out checking over the work. Although that's not to say HCB seemed sub-par....I got the impression that HCB definetly had their ducks in a row, but that they had lower costs because they were a small operation.

HCB's web site is: http://www.hcbelectric.com/index.html

just floors me. i paid 300 plus materials.

great pics....but depressing pics. definitely what i expected.

Yeah, a lot of them stay in Cypress. It only takes ten-fifteen minutes to get from Prairie View to Fry Road.

a lot of them stay? a sentence diagram would sure be interesting.

Hah.

But it is depressing to hear the word "demographics" and know that it means black people.

we're in houston, blacks aren't the majority

quietly the administration is attempting to get the city's subsidized housing program back on track. they have lost so much money due to inactivity that they are attempting to get back on track in the event that hurricane katrina victims will need housing when federal funds go. i visited a site today and 5 or 6 people who work for the program were in attendance. the facility i visited was run by the new hope organization. i will have to commend their efforts. but i told them that the city is mixing their efforts with other programs such as rehab facilities which is confusing to the average joe citizen. by the time i left i must have had 10 business cards from people who were really interested in hearing what was going on. for the glenbrook residents, one of the persons in attendance was there and was spouting the same sh_t.

Puma, I feel for you because I fell into the same trap in the 70's. I bought two properties in Montrose: both on slabs; one with synthetic stucco and one with natural stucco. They both performed the same: cracked slabs because of our gumbo soil and deteriorating stucco because of our sub-tropic climate. I now live in a house built in 1918 on pier and beam that is as level as you could wish for; a slate roof that has withstood god knows how many hurricanes and has wood siding that has out lasted any stucco. You just may have to cut your losses; bite the bullet and try to move on. Houston is not the place for concrete foundations and stucco siding.

whoa, for once i can't disagree. margaritas on me

Your all-or-nothing approach is the reason your arguments are oversimplified and thus faulty. You think the rail should never cross any intersection at grade, but if it has to, then it doesn't matter which intersection or intersections it crosses, nor does it matter how it crosses them. To you, the train turning onto a 3 block back street is no different than, say, proposing a rail yard at an intersection next to the Galleria - same difference. Oh but wait, those are two completely different things! Like it or not, there is a difference between the intersection of an artery and a side street and the intersection of two arteries. So yes, the choice of intersections where a turn is made does make a huge difference in the overall utility of a rail line.

i didn't say "the rail should never cross any intersection at grade." i did say that because it does it will affect vehicular traffic to the point of increasing travel times for vehicular traffic in the area which is the result of a bad design. Remember that the goal should be the optimize the number of stations to attract the most riders with the fastest travel times with negligible interference to vehicular traffic. i will say that overall a comparison between turning at montrose vs cummins is not easy. if you limit the boundaries to that intersection then yes i can see your point however you can't limit yourself to one intersection because the turn affects the remainder of the line which introduces more issues. i will say yes there are lots of issues but not having it turn at a certain intersection "because it affects you" isn't a defense.

Not only are you wrong about my argument, you're wrong about your own. The Main Street line runs at grade and it has zero effect on traffic in downtown and midtown. I travel through midtown several times a week and through downtown at least once a week, and I've never witnessed traffic being backed up due to the rail. I would assume that the rest of the line is similar, though I don't often travel to the Medical Center or Reliant Stadium. Do people hit the train? Sure they do. They also hit each other, hit trees, and drive the wrong way on the freeway sometimes, so don't tell me that an at grade rail is necessarily dangerous or otherwise traffic inducing.

so limiting access to main from hadley, mcilhenny, bremond, dennis, drew, tuam, anita, rosalie, stuart, francis, berry, windburn, turxillo, isabella, cleburn, eagle then as it transitions to fannin/sanjac you have wentworth, arbor, wichita, palm, oakdale, prospect and calumet has NO effect on traffic? Tell that to frankel's costume shop, new orleans po boys, the wheelchair place on sanjac. i think you'd hear some laughing. limiting access does affect traffic. close one end of your block down, it does affect traffic. As a result of the train many "no right turns on red" signs were installed. so that doesn't affect traffic either? After the downtown light synchronization was completed, i enjoy looking down downtown streets and seeing green except for the fairly frequent red light at main. doesn't affect traffic? how about closing main at the main street square? that doesn't affect it either?

as to whether people hit the train i made no mention.

You want to know what causes traffic jams in this city? The constant #$%*ing road construction to make way for an ever growing number of cars.

Now we know why you're furious

well...i won't comment anymore to keep on subj. i will say i'm definitely not the authority. the entire episode is only getting more interesting and more will come out.

I know they are saying that the grand opening is in October 2008... but does anyone think parts of the project will open before then?... or will everything open at once?

near that time otherwise a grand opening would be underwhelming.

welcome to the forum blake. i enjoyed perusing the links you provided. although the renderings are from november 2005, the update page let me know that things are moving along.

the new greenspace in front of SJMB will offer a "front" to HCC, something it severely lacks. for years, i've driven past HCC, through HCC, and never known where exactly HCC is.

if you were driving on caroline from downtown that lead you right to the front, the old SJHS. the area was surrounded by buildings. their renderings look like they want to open up that area more so they are demolishing the building that used to block the view to san jacinto street. maybe that'll allow at least a partial skyline view.

Come on! Are you being this simplistic just for the sake of fostering argument?

There is obviously a colossal difference between a train turning from Richmond onto Montrose versus a train turning from Richmond onto Cummins. Montrose is a major artery that is already heavy with traffic. Cummins is a small back street in a strictly commercial area with little traffic at all. I eat lunch at the shops behind Edwards about twice a week and I use Cummins to get back to the feeder every time, so I can tell you that even during the lunch rush, there is zero traffic on Cummins - it's more of a driveway for the Greenway Plaza area than anything else. That's exactly why Cummins is Metro's favorite option - the lack of impact from making a turn there. Again, you keep comparing apples and oranges if you see no difference between a turn onto Montrose and a turn on to Cummins. Are you so dense that you can't accept that not all streets are exactly the same? I don't mean to flame, but really.

It sounds like to me that you want rail, regardless of its impact on any particular neighborhood and regardless of its overall utility. But, as with anything, you have to weigh the pros and cons. Even though the Cummins option will affect traffic in a number of neighborhoods, it won't gridlock any of them as the 59 option would - that's a huge pro for Cummins and a large con for 59. And of course, the Cummins option will have much higher ridership than 59 and plus be cheaper to build - that's another huge pro for Cummins and a large con for 59. At some point, a route has so many cons and so few pros that it becomes a bad idea and so is worthy of opposition - that's 59 in a nutshell. I am not going to support rail just to have rail somewhere, regardless of the pros and cons. If you can't come up with something that makes sense, then you just shouldn't do it.

no i was attempting to make it obvious that your comment was simplistic. and it appears to have worked.

yes there is a colassal difference between the rail turning on montrose vs. cummins. but you can't compare the two either. turning at cummins now introduces many other major intersections along richmond (kirby, shepherd, etc) that are busier than montrose and affect more traffic, but it is your preference because now it won't affect you as much.. the design of ONE intersection shouldn't be THE make or break issue for you.

since you're a new poster and probably haven't read the entire thread (neither have i) you would realize that your statements about me are not true. i am totally against METRO's design because it is at grade (in a roadway) and as a result affects too much vehicular traffic. Traffic is bad in the area already and this will only make travel times increase for commuters and for local residents. closing cross streets will also result in worse traffic. Their design doesn't optimize ridership and travel times IMO. it is only a bus replacement not something that will make a real difference. i am for spending more if a better system will result (for example elevated portions on key intersections would help)

ironically your statement "I am not going to support rail just to have rail somewhere, regardless of the pros and cons. If you can't come up with something that makes sense, then you just shouldn't do it" is describing what METRO is doing.

when you speak of "neighborhood gridlock" on 59, what are you talking about exactly?

Culberson even got to talk about how border patrol agents who are currently on trial for shooting at an unarmed border-crosser running away from them should---instead of being prosecuted---be required to take target-practice so they will be sure not to miss next time.

the agents are in jail. evidently homeland security prosecuted these agents and they were sentenced to prison as a result of a call from the mexican consulate to the us govt. and they were prosecuted blindly. when the story came out, it caught the eye of several reps. the person they shot is a drugrunner. when the us reps asked the homeland security for the story, turns out homeland agents lied to reps so they would stop asking questions.

now the drugrunner is suing the us govt for 5 million. the us really is a country of opportunity!

my dad said that the mgr of the almeda store told him that that store is considered a minority store because different merchandise is carried there than at the nearest store. so i guess they do go into areas they consider minorities.

I recieved word-on-the-street that another location outside East End may be in consideration for the soccer complex. I'm going to hold off until I know the info's legitimate, but I think the whole city would like it...

the mayor said that a few days ago on the news.

The only "gay" issue I'm still at odds with though, is a "non-traditional" (traditional being 1 mother, 1 father) family adopting. But I feel like my hands are tied on the subject as I know any gay couple would give their child a better home than even the best foster home could.

i don't think a gay couple would give a child a better home than a foster family. i think at most you can say they would give equal care.

i went to jury duty once and the attorney was asking the final 15 if they thought a police officer was more likely to tell the truth than the average citizen. i was number 12. i couldn't believe that everyone was answering yes.

when they asked me i responded that the police officer was just as likely to tell the truth as the average citizen. several jurors that had already answered raised their hands and asked to changed their answers. at that point i was struck from the jury and labelled too influential.

Initially, I thought the same thing, but from what I have heard, there has been a case of overcrowding for quite some time and the space was sorely needed and in fact, purchased the old Fed Building across the street which will be turned into additional space.

Makes me wonder if perhaps they might have their own walkway or tunnel for that complex.

Hmm...I might start a new thread...

i guess i consider the church itself and and the facilities related to the diocese separate. but i do understand your comments.

Red Cat is supposed to open a location in HP while keeping their original open, though. We'll see how well that works out.

red cat is surprising b/c several of their employees come into warren's to complain about the mgmt there. evidently things don't go smoothly.