musicman

I guess mentioning Bush can make ppl scatter quickly.

yep that's why mccain has been attempting to distance himself from bush and the gop.

People need to stop focusing on national polls now.

kudos to you jason. i picked up the magazine last week and realized i liked your house even more! i know you've posted the after pics here before however the before pics really show just how much work you did.

It didn't look like a 100% Bush 3rd term until McBush added a fundie nutjob to the ticket. Have you folks seen the video of her 'Jesus Camp' church and her speech that Iraq is a task from God? This christian extremist certainly seals the impression that this is a Bush III ticket.

McCain’s resurgence in the polls comes as Nielsen Media Research reported that the Republican convention earned more television viewers than the Democratic convention. Republicans earned an average audience of 34.5 million, while Democrats earned an average viewership of 30.2 million.

Now, we can get back to concentrating on the 3rd Bush term that was working so well for McCain before this distraction came up.

LOL NBC can use a few more propaganda spinsters. they'll sit you right next to Andrea Mitchell.

just media bias...

this is just urban planner propaganda. nothing new is being presented.

Bush's approval ratings exceeded 80% for some time. And yet, today he is one of the most unpopular Presidents in history.

i agree ratings can change, however at this point, her seemingly outsider politicking appears to be a plus.

I can certainly understand annoyance with lawyers. However, my question is, what has she done AT ALL that shows an achievement level above a minimal level? Certainly nothing in her education history suggests anything. Her educational history actually suggests an achievement level BELOW most college grads. And, I've already gone into the city council stuff. I won't rehash that. And, I have no idea what she did for that period between college and city council. It is apparently pretty pedestrian stuff.

Winning the election for governor suggests SOME level of achievement. But, does her experience running a state that has so much oil revenue that it cuts a $2,900 check ($1200 oil rebate, $1700 gas tax rebate) to every citizen give one ANY experience in running the US economy? In fact, she only ran Alaska during a period of extremely high oil prices. She never even ran the state during, say, the mid 80s, or the late 90s, when oil was around 10 bucks. Couldn't the argument be made that ANYONE could run the state when they are drowning in cash? And, why are they demanding that the US taxpayers pay for their bridge to nowhere when they are giving $2,900 back to every citizen?

with an over 80% approval rating from alaska's citizens, she is doing something that they approve. any office holder would crave to have that kind of rating. an argument could be made that anyone could run the state when they are drowning in cash, however an approval rate such as her's suggests she is doing something right as well.

Quayle was never elevated to president. Not to mention that Dan Quayle, in spite his infamous spelling, had a law degree,

My mother and I once found a bag of crack in a parking space in front of Little Ceasar's!

that's called parmesian.

with the police response times in Houston, alarms are only a false sense of security. the HPD officers will confirm

Call me cynical, but I see the far more likely scenario being that Palin is largely shielded from the media.

Once I stop laughing I should come kick your elitist, big-city ass!

elistist? ok next drink on me!

It's very difficult to have a phone conversation (even with a headset) due to the road noise unless you have a really well insulated vehicle.

Does anyone think that Houston's freeways should use the asphault (darker color road) as opposed to concrete? I noticed driving in cities like DFW, Denver, Atlanta, Charlotte, they use the asphault roadtop which is a little bit more attractive. Using the concrete tends to appear dirty faster from exhaust, rain, and etc. For example, the road dividers in the HOV lanes look dirty, muddy, and just gives the overall appearance that this city is old and hasn't spent much money on beautification for the infrastructure.

concrete done properly is a better material long term. so look on the gulf freeway in the vicinity of south wayside and see if you think that asphalt is aesthetically pleasing.

People who only see me all type A and done up for work think it's weird that I can gut and clean fish.

wow like sarah palin.

talk about media bias backfire. LOL

If she wanted her family out of the public eye, especially given that she has an underage pregnant daughter, she shouldn't have gotten into this.

from her speech yesterday, seems she's a lot tougher than that.

How large is the roof area this will be serving? In any case, I would go for the larger capacity gutters (usually they are 4" or 6" so go with the 6") as well as larger capacity downspouts.

as for getting the water to the street, you may be able to use the tilt of your driveway. on one side of the house i put in an underground system which works fine. on the driveway side, i planned to do this as well, however having it run down the driveway has worked fine. if you ultimately do put in an underground system, if it goes under the sidewalk, the city will want a better grade pipe esp if you get a permit.

of course there are lots of IFs without seeing any pics.

Sounds like she disagrees a lot with her husband.

and? life is boring if everyone agrees.

I think I'll leave this topic to the shallow.

is refinishing considered an improvement? I mean paint, drywall work, floor refinishes, those aren't exactly improvements... I'm thinking i should have it reappraised before i do any "cosmetic" improvements???

renovations as you mentioned initially versus cosmetic improvements are different IMO.

Sounds like a plan! What should i do as far as avoiding my taxable value increasing after i finish restoration? I mean i know its technically worth more, and that is fine, but i don't want the rate to skyrocket like 30% or more.

Does the 10% cap thing work with restorations?

nope. any improvements will be reflected as best as possible, esp if you get a permit.

You should check out Obama's small business plan. It looks like the plan will help small business by eliminating capital gains, cutting taxes, and helping out with providing health care. So it may actually make your plans to start a small business easier than it is right now or under McCain.

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/SmallBusinessFINAL.pdf

so when the current tax breaks aren't extended capital gains taxes will go up for big businesses and anyone investing in these businesses, including retirees.