citizen4rmptown

I have not heard of it but it looks quite generic. Why is there a 6-story limit here? I didnt know there was a limit so low.

Well i like the curve of the building.

hmmmm..its not working for me

Yes, but the NHC has Ana entering the gulf as a depression, so the question is how much will Ana strengthen? My guess is it will just go back to being a TS.

With max. sustained winds at 35 mph TS Ana is a TD,again.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Computer models can change track, once every 4(?) hours they are updated. Some may have the same track while others can change. Less than 30% of depressions, TS, or Hurricanes move out of the 'Cone of uncertainy'.

Once a TS or Hurricane moves into the Gulf, they have a higher chance of strengthening. There are no land masses inside the Gulf and the water is pretty warm. If another Ike or Rita event happens, I will be devastated and we will move back to CA.

Yes, but the NHC has Ana entering the gulf as a depression, so the question is how much will Ana strengthen? My guess is it will just go back to being a TS.

From the SciGuy blog at chron.

TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOUR

Not much to say about this storm as it moves inland during the next day or so. The big question is whether it becomes a tropical storm before doing so, and at this point it's about a 50-50 proposition. It shouldn't matter a whole lot anyway.

Too bad it's not coming to Texas because this is the kind of tropical weather the state desperately needs to break its historic drought.

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2009/08/should_we_harden_the_texas_coast_or_retreat_from_i.html

well im hoping for this thing to develop, we need some catching up to do. Well now you know a little bit of my character....

The guy on The Weather Channel (I'm sure channeling someone else) said that Ana should become a minimal hurricane by Thursday.

He also said that the computers are going nuts for TD#3.

Yes and other say it will remain a TS, as it will pass through some mountainous terrain. Just one factor, i recall.

What i dislike, is how initial models pointed this towards Florida, yet now it seems to head to the Gulf. Oh well, you can't expect a prediction to be correct, or even accurate, nowadays.

if it heads to the Gulf, let it land in Texas, we need the rain, just as long as it stays a TS.

Construction on the park from yesterday

Wow, first picture i've seen with both construction projects.(MainPlace, and Hess/Disco Tower.)

This is an awesome picture.

also, i suppose someone should rename this thread?

Still no tropical storms/hurricanes yet and it's mid August now.

Shocking.

If this trend continue through the end of August, I will start believing in the tooth fairy again.

speak of the devil, Say Hello To Tropical Storm Ana.

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Ana has formed over the Atlantic and could strengthen as it heads toward the Leeward Islands, forecasters said Saturday.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ana could trigger a tropical storm watch for parts of the Leeward Islands later Saturday. It may pick up speed and approach the islands by Monday, the hurricane center said. It was 1,010 miles east of the islands early Saturday.

Ana, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, could slowly strengthen in the next couple of days as it moves to the west at 16 mph. Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6573785.html

And the Hurricane Center's website

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Nope, Niche, Red, and Musicman are the only 10000-post members. Source

I was just wondering because we noticed Niche, missed Red, and i posted Musicman late, as well.

I agree with this assessment 100%.... Instead of "Keep Austin Weird" we should be saying "Make Houston normal".

But again I don't believe that being unique and being isolated have to go hand-in-hand. Some people are just cut out for living in Houston... most people just aren't, and those are the ones that raise hell when they have to come here. I'm never sorry to see them leave.

There are others who just don't have enough information about the city, and base their opinions entirely on the BAD impressions of others. My education in Arkansas was actually quite good... it wasn't that I had never heard of Houston, it's just that the whole state of Arkansas is in the DALLAS sphere of influence. It's the only city that matters to them, and Texas south of Dallas (except for UT and the occasional vacation on the Riverwalk) may as well not exist. And if it does, people had a bad impression of it which they immediately conveyed to me. "Houston?? yuck it's too hot... I'd rather go to the big city like Dallas" (this quote is likely coming from someone who had never been to Houston anyway, b/c Houston would never be thought of as small in comparison to Dallas).

Houston doesn't have to change its attitude, but the city could stand to show people a little more of it... just like Niche said, no one would have ever believed that a place as "cool" or "weird" as Inversion would exist in a place like Houston, because Houston is supposed to be boring. The city is full of surprises.

Well thats Arkansas' fault for thinking the closest metropolis is the only one that matters(or the one that matters the most.)

It should learn to acknowledge all major cities. It would be ok for arkansans preferring Dallas, as long as they preferred if for the right reasons, and were exposed to all major cities.

(making this generalization according to your post)

Late reply just saw this thread and remember getting the same pm.

With over 10,000 posts Musicman become our third memberin the 10,000 posts club.

If we HAIF'ers have overlooked Musicman, is it possible we have overlooked other members?

Anyways heres my official congratulations!

and sorry if its been posted before.

Heres his stats since i last checked at about 8, today.

Active Posts:

10020 (6.21 per day)

Most Active In:

Trains (711 posts)

the dome/orb looks really cool.

All 3 who voted to not caring about NFL/Football also voted that they would have less than 7 games won and the other said they were not a Texans fan.

make that all 4....

Before you add up of those miles-and-miles of Houston bike lanes you need to subtract the ones that are unridable. Like this one on Morningside...

The sub-roadbed's actually collapsed in numerous spots between Main and Rice Village. Looks like the city got tired of doing maintenance on it, so they gave up and turned it into a bike lane. The bike lane on Weslyan also comes to mind as dangerously narrow and too rough to ride with any rapidity. That isn't to say that HOUTX doesnt' have some nicely constructed and executed bike lanes. The ones on 12th that link up to Post Oak then Memorial are excellent. Unforutnately it's illegal to ride on Memorial just a few miles west of the tie-in, so I'm not quite sure their purpose. To be fair, just about all of the goofiest lanes pre-date the current bikeways coordinator who's working very hard to secure improvements. This one actually *gasp* rides a bike.

What makes HOUTX so unbikable are the lack of complete routes. For example, there is no thru-route from Downtown to the Energy Corridor via bike lanes. That would be a reasonable commute, but there's no good way to do it without taking a very tortuous route, or being forced to navigate over-crowded streets. Again this isn't entirely the City of Houston's fault, as the Memorial Villages forbid bikes on the road.

Works great on Heights Blvd.

Really? OK, so its not smooth, but that doesn't make it unrideable...does it make for a nice stroll, no.

irritating...yes, but not unrideable. Come on,now!

Unrideable means there's a possibility your tires will pop, or having to stop every 10 seconds because of objects in your path.

It would be nice if it were paved smooth, but at least it provides a little excitement.

Nothing's gonna happen to a bike if your route is a little bumpy.

WAZ, while I agree with the spirit of your post, I have to say it’s a bit one-sided. You want to make the landlords and owners more responsible for the conditions of the residences. What about laws making the residents themselves more responsible?

Back in the 60s, my uncle used to own a small apartment grouping off Wirt Road near Long Point. I went there with him one evening to check on a vacant apartment, and I mentioned the condition of the place, and how he must hate having to make repairs all the time.

His reply was, “Hell, why fix them up when the new tenants will just tear them up again? If they want work done, then they can do it themselves.”

I thought that was a tacky, cynical way of looking at things, but there is a lot of truth to what he said. I know first hand how much damage tenants do to a place, and often the security deposit (if there is one to begin with) doesn’t come close to covering the damage.

I’d just like to see both sides become more responsible, and by force if necessary.

I live in an apartment, and i hate the neighbors who have a jungle outside near their apartment, or have all their children's toys outside as well as bikes. It just makes the apt. seem so cluttered and possibly drives away potential new tenants(both good and bad).

I'm all for taking care of our homes including the lawns, as we wouldn't have to wait for the "landscapers" to come.

The problem is

1. The management should be responsible for the purchase of machines needed for the responsibilities to maintain the property.

2. An appropriate storage area would be needed. (I hate the clutter)

3. Should the tenants get paid?

I hope they do buy it. Only 2 hospitals serving the un-insured in Houston is not enough. Ben Taub and LBJ arent enough.

(Besides the health centers and clinics.)

How about instead of complaining about the citizens of Houston and its MSA not knowing the city they live in and its hot-spots, you actually do something about it.

Instead of telling us about your co-workers lack of Houston knowledge, tell us about how you took him/her to Montrose or the Museum District.

Do something about it, because you think people are not aware of what the 4th Largest City in the US can offer.

Stating your opinion, accomplishes nothing, except,maybe irritate a couple HAIF'ers.

Now that you've pointed out the "alleged" problem, the next step would be to fix it. Tell all your friends about Houston.

Their will always be people who truly think their city has nothing to offer, that LA is a sprawling mess, that NYC is just a concrete jungle, that Houston is a mosquito-infested, hot swamp.

And i think this is just an issue, im sure at least half of Houston knows the world-class city it is. Why else would it still be growing, and people relocating here.

I know they sell some stuff already in the park building like tee shirts and bags, but how about a gift shop with a section geared towards children.

Either a Discovery Green or City of Houston theme.

Don't they have the visitors center in City Hall, and one in the Convention Center.

They should make one like that.

Cool shots.

If anyone remembers Cynthia Hunt from channel 2 news and later from the Chris Baker radio show, she's a contestant tonight on some reality show on SoapNet called "Holidate" in which two women switch cities and dating scenes with each other. I'd never heard of it until yesterday and it looks like garbage, but here's the promo if you're interested:

http://sn.soapnet.go.com/video/week-holidate

Behind the scenes video of the Houston episode:

http://www.39online.com/news/local/kiah-holidate-story,0,1854719.story

Oh yeah, i saw that. Interesting that they go to the Houston Zoo. Any major city has one, so at least do something that only Houston can offer.

From Swamplot:

FRESH FROM A first visit to the new butterfly-roofed, design-pedigreed H-E-B Market on Buffalo Speedway at Bissonnet — which opened to the public bright and early at 6 o’clock this morning — a reader writes in with a report:

There were uniformed traffic directing cops with loud whistles herding eager shoppers into the parking lot. In the entry way, I was greeted by HEB Buddy, some kind of a brown bag cartoon character. The store was packed and had a carnival-like atmosphere. HEB was well-prepared with quadruple staff greeting and answering questions. The buffalo speedway side seems to be more of the Central Market stuff, like Cafe On the Run, bakery, fish market, etc. And the rest of the store feels more like an HEB with Central Market products integrated throughout. As a regular shopper at Central Market, I think having some cheaper alternatives nearby will save me money.

The downside:

What about that giant Kroger just across Buffalo Speedway? Fox 26 reporter Isiah Carey says it’s gone nightclub:

As soon as I walked through the door I heard r&b music blasting. I thought to myself this Kroger is off the chain. Then I heard people applauding. I looked up on the second floor of the ‘grocery store’ and saw a live band. . . . The lead singer who happens to be a woman then went into her rendition of Bobby Brown’s My [Prerogative] . . .

On this day at the Kroger you could virtually get your lunch for free because there were so many samples being handed out to everyone. This is becoming a grocery store war. But I have to hand it to Kroger, the live band won me over. It made me want to go to the wine section, grab a bottle, pop it open and say screw my job. I’m chillin at Kroger all day long!

http://swamplot.com/opening-day-h-e-b-buffalo-market-stampede-begins/2009-08-05/

I have my doubts about commuter rail in this region coming so soon. Less than 10 years ago they said we'd have high speed rail along US 90A into Sugar Land by now, but it's not here.

True, but with the construction of the Light Rail lines, this will speed up the progress of the commuter rail.

I have faith this will be built, but im sure it will be built/start construction in less than 5 years from now.