august948

I remember years ago, we got a call from a building manager (in the Galleria area). He stated that a sewer line must be broken and that we should come take a look around and fix it. Tenants were complaining, he said. We assumed it to be a plumbing vent that someone had apparently forgot to cap, so up into the building we went. We traced the smell to an asian consulate's office (I won't tell you the country). The stench was so bad that my apprentice almost hurled. It appeared that the consulate was harboring some family and the members were cooking up dinner at night and heating it up again for breakfast. When the building air handlers kicked on each morning it would take the smell to all floors. What these people were cooking was eye watering to say the least.

If it smelled like a broken sewer line then they might have been eating a popular southeast asian fruit called durian. My wife and her family love the stuff, but to me it smells like roadkill in mid-July.

completely different era, and I don't consider it historic, yet, but I remember the dos pesos/taco cabana law suits. totally pissed me off cause dos pesos had much better food and cheaper margaritas! (and at the time they didn't card as much, which was good for me).

We had a Dos Pesos in Atlanta in the 90's before they were taken over by Taco Cabana. Sadly, even after the takeover it was by far the best Mexican food in Atlanta. Next best was Taco Bell (ugh).

The metro tracks in this part of town are split between Fannin and San Jacinto. On the west side of the building, the tracks are right next to it. On the east side, the tracks are separated by a couple lanes of roadway.

My bad. I didn't realize it spanned the whole block.

? The rail is right next to the building, and the ugly low building is part of a church or something I think...

I mean right next to the building. In the picture a few posts up the rail is separated from the building by a couple of lanes of roadway. The rendering shows the rail next to the sidewalk and the building.

That rendering conveniently omits the low, ugly building next door along Fannin.

It also puts the rail right next to the building instead of across the street.

You can bet there will be protests wherever they put this consulate. Most, if not all, Vietnamese in Houston fled from the current government of Vietnam. I suspect, though, that the reason this is coming here isn't the large Vietnamese population but to establish closer ties with oil firms exploring in the South China Sea off Vietnam's coast.

I’m all for the grow house idea. For medicinal purposes only of course.

Maybe it could be a grow house AND a movie studio. We would get tax dollars and it would likely attract more Hollywood people. They would in fact probably be some of our best customers. What better place for a sequel to Harold and Kumar or the Pineapple Express?

...and Willie would be in town more often.

Like you can predict the future. You don't know what you are talking about. On the other hand, it wouldn't take a lot of modifications to the Astrodome to make it look like a giant boob. The Astrodome would be a great capitol for the porn industry. They could rename it the Assholedome.

Or the Astroglidedome?

An interesting tidbit from Wikipedia....

"In 1987, the Orange Julius chain was bought by International Dairy Queen. IDQ, and by inclusion since 1999, Berkshire Hathaway..."

How about when coffee was something you made at home or got for 25 cents at the local diner and nobody knew what a triple caramel mocha latte was and at any rate wouldn't pay $4 for one.

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.)

Just out of curiosity, if you are uninsured does the county give you free or discounted care?

Turns out that they're making the theater move out and replacing it with a combination Gap/Starbucks.

Noooooooooooooooo..........

The new store brings more books, music and DVD sections, an expanded children's area and a full-service Barnes & Noble Café

They are bringing a coffeeshop. To the notorious West Gray and Shepherd corner with a Starbucks across from the Starbucks. What is wrong with these people??

Lol...it's the end of the universe times three...

http://comedians.com...of-the-universe

Of course, the real end of the universe must exist on the corner of Post Oak and Westheimer where, if we count the Starbucks in the Galleria (at least 2 that I can think of), you have FOUR on one corner.

As a note, this is exactly what happened in Vickery Meadow, the Dallas version of Gulfton. A few complexes had been bulldozed to make way for schools.

So, how did that work out for Dallas? Did the area improve?

I take the train or ride my bike, depending on the weather. One of the perks of living in midtown.

I don't even have a car to park there if I wanted -- my girl drives it to her office.

Anyway, everyone, here is a secret, used by every student in the TMC. Park at the zoo. It's free, and most likely the same distance you'd have to walk from a garage to your destination anyway.

No wonder I can't ever find a parking spot when I try to take the kids to the zoo. Thanks TMC students!

Romanos!

Sbarro? That's airport concourse pie, not pizza, lol!

We tried Romano's and didn't think it was as good as New York Pizzaria, which is itself just middle of the road. Brothers is pretty good. I've never been to Dolce Vita...where is that?

Why don't they just tax all things with high fructose corn syrup?

Two words...corn lobby.

I've never been to Greenspoint, just passed it by on 45 north. Is the mall and the surrounding area similar to Sharpstown? Do these two areas share a similar story?

I think the whole round trip, getting back home and all, took about four hours. And I was by no means in a hurry.

Walking down that part of Studemont where there's next to nowhere to walk was exciting.

Everything from Main Street Square to the Bomar@Montrose bus stop was done on foot.

Fantastic! I recognize some of the places in the pictures but am having a hard time figuring out the exact route you took. Can you elaborate on the bus/rail/walking route you took?

I live in the Museum District and would love to find a place where I could go sip on a beer with my laptop. Does anyboddy know any neighborhood joints nearby? Or is the closest option somewhere in Rice Village?

If you're hard-up, try the cafe in the basement of the MFAH. The have a limted selection of wine and beer and claim to have wi-fi.

Here is a weird comment:

Then our topic went to the homeless population. They commented that Philadelphia is a haven for homeless. I tried to refute their point but I couldn't find a homeless person to show them. We went to Discovery Green and Main Street/Texas Avenue and City Hall/Library/Theater District/Shell area. Where do the homeless congregate in Houston now or are they banned from Downtown? I know we have some tough panhandling and quality of life laws that restrict their movement. Do we just ship them to Austin or San Francisco?

Just drive down Westheimer all the way to Highway 6. Keep in the left hand lane and keep your window down. You'll have to beat them off with a stick. Stop at any large shopping center along the way and sooner or later you'll be approached. I think I've seen way more in the near suburbs than I have in downtown.