samagon

I think the only thing that would suck about going there would be the line for beer. Prior notification that over 150 cyclists are going to come in would probably be a good idea. They could ensure they have enough beer and set up beer tubs and whatnot, but then what happens if people decided to go somewhere else?

Horay for odds! I need to go grab a lotto ticket for tonight. Breakin number 2, Guy was caught this time, but who knows how long he'll be off the streets. Now I'm definitely getting a security system, as both breakins would have likely been deterred by the sign. And probably a loud dog too. This was not how I wanted to spend a vacation day... now that I'm not on my phone, I'll tell the story. I was in my backyard working with my garden on my day off, and heard some odd noises from the front of the house, so I grabbed my rubber mallet, and went to the front, as I was walking I heard the crack of something breaking, and as I round on my porch, the front door is shattered. So I yell with as close to an intimidating voice to GTFO my house.. and sure enough about 5 seconds later, some guy comes out looking like he pooped himself and jumps in his car. I got his tag numbers, and the description of the car (white 90s mitsubishi SUV), cops came by and looked it over, they found the guy about 45 minutes later and brought him by for me to ID. So he's at least spending the night in jail, and hopefully a longer amount of time. So my garden isn't finished to what I wanted to do today, but I have a new steel front door.

Guess it is easy to read things differently depending on whether you want a walmart close to your house or not. I read that the city wanted to ensure that things were done correctly so that when the inevitable few people who are against walmart wouldn't have much to argue against. It should be rather obvious to you that the city is not a fan of representing the general community, or they would not be pushing as hard for the historic districts as they are. I can't remember ever having a city government that hasn't been ruled by special interests, and not the community. It just so happens, that in this case, they city has been wise in their actions, but you disagree, so oh well? I also deleted your second paragraph as I didn't see anything to show that it was indeed the case, so it's kind of pointless to even write it, and it would be even more pointless to respond to it. I have no problem parking at that location. how do you feel about other developments they've developed? are you saying that everything this developer has made has small parking spaces? or are you just using one example that fits your fears and ignoring everything else that the developer has done? The only thing I can say about the development on kirby and w. alabama is that I was disappointed when the pub that was on that corner closed to make room for the bank. they had some damn good food and a great atmosphere. but that's life, some things happen that I don't like, hell, there were a fair number of people that didn't like it. ultimately though, someone owns that property, and assuming they meet the rules and regulations set in place by the city, there is nothing I can do about it, cause they own it, and no matter how unhappy I am, or how much I whine, it ain't gonna change.

Great ride tonight, and I'll be going back to that bar at the end.

cool! don't know if I'll make it, but still looks neat!

Very interesting indeed. It shows that the City was very proactive concerning issues that people used as their scapegoats for why they didn't want the Walmart. And the article itself makes it hard to tell, but it seems that Ms. Reed was more unhappy that the city knew the development was going to be a Walmart in June, than the fact that there were plans for a development at all. Maybe I misread it. Is there some kind of controversy that those emails bring to light?

they were talking about it on the radio last night, and I found this article... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/7236704.html best thing about it is the Astros are footing the bill.

they always had cheap summer passes. My parents would buy season passes for the family every year until I was about 13 or so, then I had to buy them myself and they were still less than $50 (early-mid 90s). My first ride in the park that I rode on was Excalibur, then called Dexter Freebish, and I always called it that until they ripped it out for that other ride. What's weird is, even though it didn't have a loop or anything else, it was still one of my favorite rides there. I remember waiting in line when the xlr8 first opened for hours, and I was so bummed out by how slow it was. they sped it up (for whoever said they slowed it down). I think the ceiling fan in my room at my parents house still has the XLR8 stickers on it that they gave away when it opened. I also remember the weird shack where they would screw with your mind and seeming roll billiard balls uphill. and they had peacocks, and the dolphin show, glad my parents took me there a lot, it was fun!

so much to do this weekend! greek festival, bayou city arts, arcade expo! I think my money's in the arcade expo though

I'd imagine a metal fan would hold up better to our local conditions, especially if it's painted and not directly exposed to the elements. that said, I have a fan on my front porch that isn't metal, it's been there for over 2 years and is holding up rather well.

790, they have a soccer talk show at 7pm. They said that on Monday, I think.

heard on the radio that construction is likely to begin in dec. along with a groundbreaking ceremony/party.

Those pesky Germans. I imagine it's only a matter of time before some activist group comes in to make people change the name of them. I've been seriously considering building a greenhouse cover for my mini garden so I can grow through our 'winter'. If I do, I'll post info about it in the landscaping forum. regarding the wiki link, wow: that is very impressive!

I may not be remembering rightly, but isn't the land being turned over to the dynamo this month? Should start seeing some work happening maybe soon?

there are lots of agencies that are not transparent enough, or aren't directly accountable, or that are even corrupt. I don't think anything would get done if we didn't move forward on projects until these institutes/programs were deemed satisfactory. It's important to push for transparency, and accountability, at the same time as we push for improvements.

it used to be very common in NYC (well, a friend told me this, so I'm going on his word) for people to put half empty softdrink cans, or cups on the hoods of cars that would pull into the crosswalk. In my car, I got tired of being worried about people being able to stop behind me, so I usually start stopping for a red light well ahead of where I could, it also saves my brakes. if people behind me don't like that I am stopping for a red light a couple hundred feet before where they would start slowing, they either go around me, or just sit behind me being pissed that I didn't wait until the last possible second to stop. doesn't do much to help if I am already stopped and someone waits till the last second to do their stopping, or if I have to slam my brakes after a light changes to yellow. right of way, and who should have priority is only as good as the other people on the street. that doesn't abdicate the person who didn't yield the appropriate right of way from being at fault in an altercation, but it does make good sense for people to assume everyone else on the street is an aloof idiot to be as alert as possible and give up some right of way to ensure their safety. keep in mind also that erratic behavior attracts attention, and people will be more likely to give you a wide berth. So as a pedestrian, flailing your arms about madly, and swerving as you walk may look silly, but it may also save your life because the drivers will steer well clear of your path

oh no doubt, peds that do not cross at crosswalks, do not wait to walk until the lights are in their favor, they should be 'at fault' for their own stupidity. the same goes for cyclists, or other non-motorized vehicles using the roads. I don't proclaim to be innocent, I'll walk across a street at random points, and I'll walk when the sign says don't walk, but I have enough sense of self preservation to wait for cars to pass, and to look before I even think about entering the street. The same goes for when I am on my bicycle. even if I have the green light, I still look, and I even do it in my car, cause I enjoy living. even still, when I drive I try to remember that I am in a 1.5 ton object traveling at speeds that physics dictate isn't going to lose momentum if I hit a ped or a cyclist, and I do keep an eye out for potential stupidity, cause whether it's my fault or not, I don't want to hit a ped or anyone else. and besides, I enjoy honking profusely at the douches who don't at least look before they walk, so I pay attention for any possible scenario when I can do it

Even when in a car it's a good idea to check the road to be sure no one's coming before you go. That was the mistake of the peds. I don't buy the "I didn't see them" If you can't see people walking across the street in time to stop (assuming said driver is going at or around the speed limit), you don't need to have a license, or you were distracted by whatever was more important than driving at the time. This guy got off easy with just a ticket for running a red light, he should have gotten attempted manslaughter, especially with kids involved. I don't see how the sun could have been a factor at 5pm, it's still not low enough on the horizon to interfere with the lights, let alone being able to see people in the middle of the street.

Nice, I'll have to watch when I get home, I got tired of riding with the group when everyone stopped in the middle of Westheimer at the Taft intersection. Well, that and riding down a street, then being told we were going the wrong way, and getting back and everyone was like, where are we going? And then almost getting ridden over by 2 or 3 or 4 different people who didn't check to see if anyone was beside them before darting across the lane to ride with their buddy, and if you say something they look at you like it's your fault (this has happened for the last 4 or 5 rides). At least they're on a bike and not in a car, they can do less damage. I think I'm going to skip the main mass until it gets cold. I enjoy riding in the groups when there's 100 or so people and they all have a good idea of how to operate a bicycle in a group of people. I'll still be out riding on Friday nights though

unfortunately, I still haven't seen the game, but from the game stats the game looks to have been won with turnovers, that and we couldn't convert in the redzone when we were there. but the numbers were evenly matched, we had 40 yards less through the air, and 20 more on the ground (and Foster rushed over 100 yards on the day, which no single RB has done to the Dallas defense in a long time). I'm still up on the Texans, and while our secondary still is a work in progress, I think they are getting better, as the Cowboys only threw for 280 yards, and while Romo may not be allstar, the Cowboys receivers are damn close.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/7220222.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Ftopheadlines+%28chron.com+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Have seen pretty much the same on scott. While I agree that things were bungled, work needs to continue. This is bad.

hopefully, it can be like cigarette adds, and they can say we don't want to advertise that kind of stuff to kids.

oh wow, that started out super awesome, then got super sucky I guess that explains things like the east end bike trail that goes from just east of mckee to a little east of jensen, with no real way to get on the trail, or off, and it is very short. on a less sad for cyclists subject: I often wondered why part of the ROW for trains (like the heavy rail going down hwy3) wasn't used for a bike path. I mean, I understand that it is for safety if a train derails it goes in that area (mostly). I think I'd take my chances of a train derailment over (really, what are the odds? and then what are the odds of a train derailment when a cyclist is going by at the same time). vs a car that drifts into a cyclist, or a wreck that takes out a cyclist, or any number of things that can happen because cars travel much more frequently than trains and aren't bound by the tracks they ride on (cause they don't). is this something that has been considered? Is this something that could be considered? With the volume and proliferation of railway tracks, the whole city would be well on its way to being completely interconnected with bicycle trails that are safe (unless derailment).

update for this, if anyone is interested.... on my commute home last night up 45... I saw a work crew on the northbound shoulder that were hacking dead palm leaves off of the trunks of some of the palms. it was between griggs and wayside on the NB side of the freeway. Not sure if it was a crew that was commissioned to do it, or just a crew that decided to do it to collect dead palm leaves for basket weaving or what. I'll keep an eye out to see if this continues. either way, the dead leaves can be a hazard if the catch fire..