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Specwriter

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Everything posted by Specwriter

  1. Specwriter
    I'm afraid it is all about TV market with ESPN and the other networks. I've seen it before when the 'stros were kicking butt and the announcers treated it like a fluke.
  2. Specwriter
    Thanks, Urbannizer. I've been following the Astros through thick and thin since 1965. I don't remember the Colt .45s. The year they became the Astros is about where my awareness of things outside my own little world started. Like I said, thick and thin but they've been a joy to watch lately. Winning is great but like anything else in life you have to take pleasure in the small things: a great hit, a diving catch, a vicious pitch for a strike-out. Ah, baseball.
  3. Specwriter
    How could I have forgotten Avalon Drug. I had lunch there a few times when I worked in the Greenway Plaza area.
  4. Specwriter
    mkultra, your are correct but it was Farm-to-Market Road 149 instead of State Highway 249 in those days. 🙂 I don't want to reveal too much of my identity but my grandfather also had a drug store with a full lunch counter/soda fountain. I spent a fair amount of time there as well but Papa passed away when I was very young. The equipment and fixtures were sold and the building was rented for other purposes. A few other drug stores with lunch counters that lasted into my adulthood were Huston's on Washington Ave., Park Place Pharmacy on Park Place Blvd., Yale Pharmacy on Yale, and the Post Oak Pharmacy across the street from Four Leaf Towers in uptown. That was the last one to go I believe. I guess I'm just nostalgic but I really enjoy eating at drug store lunch counters. My last visit to a drug store lunch counter was the City Drug Store in Jacksboro, Texas about 20 years ago. I guess I'll go to the Frost Town Brewing Co. at first opportunity, grab a cold one, and reminisce.
  5. Specwriter
    I remember it well. A treat when I was young was a trip to Dugan Drug store, one of the last in town to have a "soda fountain" for a root beer float. IIRC, the Dugan Drug in my neighborhood became a Rexall, then an Eckerd's, then CVS.
  6. Specwriter
    I'm sure they will serve their brew in a "Frosty" mug - the way I like it.
  7. Specwriter
    I say put the money on the inside. This structure's days (years really) may be numbered. There is no point in gilding a lily that is intended to be demo'd for something else in the future. As we have seen with some churches and charter schools, former big box stores can make useful, if temporary, homes for such uses.
  8. Specwriter
    Great reply, mkultra. My seventh-grade English teacher was a classic. I'll never forget her walking into the classroom on the first day of class and saying "Analyze and criticize and I won't penalize." She was tough but we did learn 'reedin n riten.' 🙂
  9. Specwriter
    Let's have some punctuation fun on this St. Patrick's day (notice Patrick's is singular possessive - it's his day after all). Does the lettering retain the apostrophe between the r and s in farmer's (belongs to one farmer) or was it moved to the right of the s (belongs to more than one farmer)? 🙂 If there is no apostrophe it could be assumed it is the market of the farmers (created by them - was it?), by the farmers (run by them - which it may not be), and for the farmers (to sell their wares and make some money). Thank you for indulging my early morning whim. All silliness aside, I really enjoyed the original Canino's farmers market and I hope to visit the new facility as soon as I get my second vaccine. I've already received my first. Yay! 😁
  10. Specwriter
    It would be nice if the Church would incorporate some of the elements into a plaza in front of the present Co-Cathedral. IIRC The Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens traditionally took place outside the nave (sanctuary) so it would be appropriate to have an outdoor space for this purpose. What about the stained glass windows? I have seen other churches donate those to another, occasionally even one of a different denomination. In Europe, and maybe Central and South America too, it is not unusual to have a parish church next to the Cathedral. Maintaining two structures obviously costs money but it also makes sense to have weekday Mass in a smaller structure since attendance is almost always less.
  11. Specwriter
    Does anybody remember what was in the 'missing' sign between Lancia and TVR? Maybe it was Alfa Romeo. It is a pity the 1958 showroom piece did not survive. It was a great example of Mid-Century architecture. Even if became a phone store or check cashing place it could have preserved that wonderful roof.
  12. Specwriter
    You are talking about Chequer Imports. It was the TVR dealership and Lancia too IIRC. I'm really not sure who sold Yugos but I might guess De Montrond on the North Freeway. At one time De Montrond also sold Peugeots. Somebody high up in the organization must have had a thing for not very popular (at least in the U. S.) automobiles.
  13. Specwriter
    With Shepherd Drive scheduled to be under construction from Westhiemer to the Southwest Freeway it seems some of the tenants fronting that street would want to move to Shepherd Plaza that can be more easily accessed from Richmond and Greenbriar.
  14. Specwriter
    That is curious. Perhaps the structure is being saved to become the area where Porsches are delivered to their new owners (do people own Porsches or do Porsches own their people?) I could see it housing amenities like a gift shop and perhaps even a biergarten! Woo-hoo! "Congratulations on your purchase, Sir / Madame. Enjoy a mug and bratwurst as we perform a final detailing on your new car but remember to partake responsibly. Prost!" And in these days of the pandemic, "Zum Wohl." I do not think it would meet the contemporary needs of a service garage though.
  15. Specwriter
    I'm afraid you are looking at it.
  16. Specwriter
    Doesn't this make me feel old. Congratulations on a remarkable career and best wishes in the new phase of your life, Mr. Koch.
  17. Specwriter
    That's an interesting question, Mark. Generally developers want a return on their investment in a reasonable amount of time but they also want to take advantage of opportunities and position themselves in a way they believe the market is headed. On thing the pandemic has proven is a lot of people can work from home or other remote locations and shop on-line with home delivery. Perhaps developers are asking what is next going to be in demand, commercial office buildings (not if more are working remotely), retail space (not if more are ordering on-line and having goods delivered to their doors), hospitality and entertainment (who knows)? Besides, if I had to guess, I would think garden and podium apartments are less expensive to build than office buildings and retail centers.
  18. Specwriter
    And what a pleasant meeting it was. I hope we can do that again someday JLWM. I hope all is well with you. I don't believe I know Firebird 65 but he is very familiar with the Aldine area where I grew up. I would not be surprised to learn that we have mutual acquaintances.
  19. Specwriter
    I agree. Keep something us "chronologically enhanced" folks can identify. 🙂
  20. Specwriter
    I would have named it "The Knosh." 😁
  21. Specwriter
    I wonder what is going on at the Federal Reserve Bank with the brick being removed. Michael Graves, at that point in his career, was a design architect. Like Robert Venturi and Philip Johnson he came up with the concept and image. It was left to others to work out the details. This is why Philip Johnson, for example, teamed up with the office of John Burgee on many projects. Some designers understand enough about the "nuts and bolts" of actual construction to avoid working against the reality of what can be reasonably accomplished. Other times the technical architects and engineers are pushed into a very tight situation that manifest in latent problems.
  22. Specwriter
    When I travel from the company office in Houston to the one in Dallas I am allowed 250 miles each way for reimbursement purposes. If the current rate the IRS allows is $0.55/mile that comes to $275.00 for a round trip by personal automobile (fuel, wear and tear, insurance, etc.). That compares very favorably to round trip air fare + transportation to and from Love Field to the Dallas office + parking at Hobby. An added advantage is I can stop at any one of several Dairy Queens along the way for a DQ treat. ☺️ If I took HSR I would still need transportation to the rail station from the home office and to the other office or hotel.
  23. Specwriter
    Ah, Di Bella's; I thought the food was very good and I felt like I was in a scene from "The Godfather" when I ate there. It wasn't on Seawall Blvd. so there were few, if any, tourists.
  24. Specwriter
    Shoshugibon is supposed to make the wood more resistant to insect and fungal attack. Consider that there are Japanese temple structures that have been so treated and have been around for more than a century. I had to introduce shoshugibon to some architect interns who persistently referred to fire retardant-treated wood (chemically treated to resist burning) as "fire-treated wood." I explained to them that there is a such thing as fire-treated wood but it was not what they intended. Most all of them thought shoshugibon is a very cool and I agree.
  25. Specwriter
    12 IBC is the 2012 International Building Code (why "international" when it is a United States thing IDK). That is the code the City of Houston follows with its own amendments. Yes, there are more recent versions of the IBC but adoption by a governmental authority usually takes action by the legislative body. In this case that would be City Council. That does not necessarily mean the 2012 code is deficient nor that the more recent editions have introduced undesirable requirements. Other municipalities have adopted the 2015 IBC or the 2018 IBC. I'm sure SPK means sprinklered. For years codes have been written to encourage installing sprinklers in buildings. I sure want to see this building occupied. It is a great example of an early 20th Century commercial structure.
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