CoolBuddy06

The most rude drivers I have seen are in DC.

You need to visit New York.

So how do you get downtown to pick it up?

bus, taxi, metro rail, friends

Why will a friend that will take you to and from DTC not take you to and from IAH? And will I pack my bag and suitcase to hop on 2/3 buses to DTC just because paying 30 bucks round trip to IAH excites me? That service just wont fly in Houston. Even out of town business people will prefer taxi, because they will probably end up taking taxi after they got DTC.

I always get a kick out of non-smokers giving me expert advice. And, while smoking can cause some pretty severe diseases in a certain percentage of the population, I wonder what the non-smokers are doing that causes them so much disease. Even though the percentage of those who smoke is continuing to drop (down to roughly 20-21%), the number of cancer cases is rising. Wonder what it is that is causing that?

There's one thing in medical research that others, especially lawyers, often forget. When a factor, or a variable, is identified as contributing to your chance of getting a disease, it does not mean that you have to get that disease just because you're in the group. The probability of getting lung cancer for smokers is not 1. The probability of a non-smoker getting lung cancer is not zero. Other factors come into play. Even if somking is the only factor, those probabilities are still not absolute. What we're just saying is that there is a significant difference between the number of smokers who have lung cancer, COPD, emphysema, and other serious repiratory problems. The difference is so significant that you reduce your chances of getting those disease a lot by quitting.

And no matter how much you're propped to quit, remember it is an advice, meaning you can stick it in your pocket and use it, or flush it down the toilet on your next smoke. Good luck.

Not completely true. I don't smoke, however for all those people I know who do, it's a stress and anxiety reliever for them. Pretty beneficial in that light. It keeps them calm. Take someone who smokes a pack a day and take that away and watch them fall to pieces at the normal everyday hustle and bustle of life.

That's addiction. Still not a good thing.

Technically buying cigarettes is already funding lung cancer. Or wait, maybe you meant research to cure/treat lung cancer...

Exactly what I mean, thanks.

There was a time when cutting in fron of traffic was the only way I get home before my wife leaves for work in the morning (someone has to be with the baby all the time). So I cut in front on I-10 EB ramp to 45 SB, but my heart cringe a little bit. I don't do that anymore because I don't need to, and I readily give way to people doing that now. Not all of them deserve sympathy e.g. highway 6, but what the heck. I am busy dozing off in the queue anyway.

If it's going to fund CHIP, good. But shouldn't some of it go to funding lung cancer?

I don't smoke, never did. If you smoke, keep trying to quit until you actually do. It's one of the few things people do that has no benefits.

The most remarkable to me is San Antonio and Indianapolis where the rise is as a result of the middle class buying homes.

As for River Oaks I don't expect home prices to be affected so much by the mortgage mess. You don't just saunter around and decide to buy a home in River Oaks anyway.

Two Texas cities in top five shows this is prolly the best state to live at this time.

Sure to check it out April 10 when they present Beauty and the Beast.

He punched a hooked? I bet he thinks he's using the slap chop.

An e-mail from Texas Children's did say that Baylor and Rice signed MOU on the merger, meaning that talks are still going on.

The group can consider itself successful because they got more publicity from being denied entrance. If everything went as planned, how would this "suburban homophobe" know that gay people have communities and associations in Houston? And I leaned a few new words, or old words with new meanings: bear, queen, etc. Don't really know the new meaning, but will find out.

Some people have to worry about this more than others...I have never had ear issues, but my sister always did (narrow ear canals i think). Those are the folks that need to put the chemicals in the ears.

And yeah, q-tips (yay for proprietary eponyms - what's a generic name for them?) just push stuff into the ear - should only be used on the exterior.

and ps - very lovely topic

Cotton buds. Both are "FDA-approved".

Is there a sticker that says "Honk if you're a HAIFer"?

I hope they redo the lanes just after Kirby, right now the middle lane ends up as the left lane (two lane road) after Kirby and left lane still needs to merge as it ends?!? The middle lane should be the right lane and left lane but the left lane on the 2 lane stretch (right lane is right turn only before Kirby)

Thanks for pointing that out. It nearly got me into a fender-bender last Sunday. Worse my wife was in the car.

Has anybody else noticed how the 35 mph speed limit on this new stretch is routinely ignored?

Considering the area is still a construction zone, with traffic fines doubled, you'd think people would slow down from the 50 mph+ speeds I am seeing all the time. I'm sure the Pearland PD will soon find this stretch of road a favorite place to rack up the revenue.

I'd done 50 mph a couple times already, before realising it and slowing down. Perhaps I'm one of those you saw.

The ads I saw on TV for the Circuit City sale didn't seem like they were really all that interested in liquidating the inventory. When Bed, Bath & Beyond went out of business toward the end you could get EVERYTHING for at least 50% off, and most things for 80+% off. Circuit City always had restrictions and limitations. Most notably, Apple products were never discounted more than 10%, and cameras never more than 30% and that was only for select models.

When the first Circuit City closings happened a couple of years ago I was able to score some Apple products at 50% off. I wonder why CC decided to hold back this time. My only guess is that it's hoping to get better prices from liquidators than the public.

You mean Linens N Things right?

As for Circuit City I guess the liquidators know that they could sell most of the mechandise with low price cuts, and they did, at least in Houston stores.

1.) The United States will officially enter into its lost decade, just like Japan.

2.) Come hell or high water, GM, Ford, and Chrysler will all remain in business, with substantial government backing.

3.) The DOW will make another dip down, below 8000, before June. It will not close above 10,000 at any point during the year.

4.) Gay marriage will be legal, in New Jersey, by legislative action.

5.) At some point, oil will touch $25/barrel. Gas will flirt with $1.00/gallon.

6.) The dollar will crash.

7.) People will die in a major airline accident.

8.) Obama will not catch Osama, despite extra attention to Afghanistan.

9.) Select, inflated inner loop property values will plummet.

10.) Interest in the Green Party will surge to historic levels.

Two already came to pass...

1) Thanks to Obama's lame CIA pick(Leon Pinetta), America WILL be attacked.

2) The truth about Goldman Sachs will finally hit the mass media. From their total control and manipulation of oil commodity prices to their takeover of our government; Niederauer, Zoellick, Paulson, Bolten, Rubin, Thain, Jeffery, & Gensler. The 'Banksters' run America.

3) The crime rate will skyrocket in the Southeastern cities: Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, & Miami.

4) Attendance at sporting events will plummet. Record low numbers for latter half of year.

5) DOW will dip below 6,500. (It's 9,015 today)

6) When oil was $33.00 three weeks ago, I predicted it would go above $50 in 2009.

Only $1.40 to go already!($48.60 today) Yeah, I'm already taking credit for this one.

7) Our summer was mild because we had a 'La Nina' in the Pacific in 2008.

I'm wishing, begging, and pleading for another one in 2009.

That also partially came true at Super Bowl.

When I first saw this thread, I thought you guys had moved to another planet; how can you be concerned about Rush Limbaugh with the way the economy is? But seeing the way this thread got around to economy so quickly, I'm reassured hat y'all are people I run to in the malls and coffee shops everyday.

My rate for the four months is 15.3 cents average. I called TXU to ask for a lower rate and their 'better rate' will be 15.4 locked for a year.

If you know any Champion sales associate send their link to me so they can get referral bonus.

As of today.

50% off games

30% off game accessories

30% off game consoles Xbox 360 GB systems were still in stock.

30% off televisions

50% off movie/tv shows and music

10% off Apple merchandise

Time to make a trip to the Pearland store.

By the way are the salespeople nicer now? I went by T-Mobile store the other day and saw a new guy in there. I know I'd seen him somewhere ...then I remebered it was Circuit City. He said he quit when they announced the 20% store closure. Good move.

You see anything Houston on TV or internet and you run to you laptop to post it in 'Houston sightings' thread.

Editor already got my comment.

But how much would it cost? The train from DC to NY is $200 one way, it that's about the same distance as it is from Houston to Dallas.

For real? I still fly one-way to Dallas for 60-80 buck if I purchase tickets well in advance. With 2-3 days in advance i still get 100 bucks ticket. If HSR is that expensive then I'll pass.

Look into nabes in east Pearland and Friendswood. Rent may be higher than 1k, or you might get lucky with desperate landlords. Drive timewise, Friendswood is about the best compromise for all of you.

Some antiwar guy interviewed by Rachel Maddow tonight was standing with Houston skyline behind him. Shell Plaza and Wells Fargo Plaza were obvious.

They were painting the top area last Sunday..... I will try to snap some pictures and try to get that Pearland Haifer simbol that we lack.

A few cities are using city logos already. Why not those presidents head at Waterlights district? They are more iconic IMO. Just look at the cover of the new phone directory.

Someone in real estate told me that HOA dues are calculated based on number of occupied units in a subdivision. So I guess the fees are going up due to people losing their homes.