RedScare

TJ, you have gotten into details, when we don't even have a program. It is possible to have a bare bones, no frills health care program that does not pay for elective surgery that is not needed to prolong life, or to put non life threatening surgery on a waiting list. For those unable to afford insurance, this sure beats having nothing. Those that can afford, or have employers that will pay for insurance, can have better coverage without a wait. But, the safety net can be provided, and should be, because many of the benefits of being an American are provided by the working poor. As for illegals getting free medical, they do not. They are required to pay. Under a national health care program, there is no reason to let non-citizens be covered either. As for kids refusing to learn English, you should do some research. Children of immigrants learn English quickly, and further, WANT to learn. As for cutting back welfare (there is no such thing, but you probably mean AFDC), you should read up on what welfare reform, passed during the Clinton administration, has done. I'll give you a hint. It hasn't gone up.

Tough talk for a 22 year old with company provided insurance. As usual, you believe that everyone should just be like you, and then everything would be great. I don't mind youngsters like you thinking you are invincible. I DO mind when the government thinks that everyone should be that way. There is no possible way to explain to self-centered and selfish people why great countries provide for ALL of their citizens, not just those who can take for themselves. However, common decency dictates that we care for and assist those among us that are less fortunate...something that this country has lost along the way...and your comments exemplify that loss. BTW, I have gone without health insurance for 14 of the last 24 years. I am able to do it because I have never been sick or injured, other than colds and ankle sprains, in spite of my drinking and smoking. Not everyone can cheat the doctor as I have. But, in a country that apparently has an extra half trillion dollars laying around to blow on unneeded wars, I would think we could throw a few bucks toward providing a safety net for our own citizens. I realize that you see the tens of millions of ignorant or otherwise poor and middle class Americans as just so many people to be taken advantage of, but I do not. There is no debate to be had on this issue. You believe in "every man for himself". I believe that great societies are judged by how they treat their least fortunate members. The last 6 years, Congress has acted like your belief. I am hopeful that the next several years, Congress acts like mine.

NEW provider? I'd be happy with the OLD provider! Spoken like someone who lives off someone else's tit.

It's better than the healthcare I have had for the last 2 and a half years.

As opposed to oblivious, they may just be of the opinion that theirs will be a better product. If the old adage that "there is always room at the top" holds true, and they follow through on the plan, this, IMO, would be more attractive than some of the surrounding developments. Further, while BLVD, High Street and Westcreek would compete for Galleria area renters, I would suspect that this development would attract more of the downtown renters. But then, what do I know?

People, especially those on the fringes, tend to misunderstand what "Peak Oil" is. It is not the running out of oil. It is the halfway point in the world's supply of oil. What is critical is not the fear of running out of oil, but the diminishing supply of easily discoverable or produceable oil. As it becomes harder to produce, as in danax's deep-water Gulf example, the price escalates. As the price rises, so does the price of everything that relies on oil. When the effects of Peak Oil hit is anyone's guess. What is more of a concern near term is the political uncertainties of oil. Much of the world's discoverable oil is in area's that may make it hard to obtain, such as the Middle East, Russia and Venezuela. Oil that is unattainable for political reasons is just as unrecoverable as oil that is hard to drill for. The net effect is the same. The price escalates, and those with limited resources must adapt. As the price of gas rises, people will adjust to survive the increase. For some it will be easier than others. Certainly, those that live closer to work, and live in less energy intensive homes will be able to adjust better than those who don't.

Consider yourself corrected... http://www.espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/stadiumnames.html

Yes. Call me crazy, but I wanted BOTH forms of access. However, I got far more business from the surrounding office buildings and the rail and bus stations a block away, than from automobile traffic. That is not to say that I valued car-driven customers less, as many of them arrived in downtown by car. However, the bulk of my traffic came from walkers and transit riders. The 30 parking spaces on the street in front of my store more than adequately handled the auto traffic, except during baseball games. Outside of downtown, I would still want my business close to rail or a bus stop. Only an ignorant business owner would favor one over the other. We want BOTH. Rarely will a business be forced to choose one over the other. Bus and rail do not displace automobiles. The intelligent owner wants a rail stop on one side, and a parking lot on the other, with his cash register happily positioned in the middle.

Installing the countertops is pretty easy. Just apply globs of glue to the plywood counter and place the countertop on top of it. The hard part is making the countertop fit. The sawblades and grinding wheels required to cut granite are pretty expensive. You'll also need to polish the edges where you cut. I found granite to be cheaper to install than silestone, etc. Prices can run from $30 per sf to $50 per sf installed. The granite itself can be purchased for $8-15 per sf. The granite sellers often have precut slabs, if you have standard size countertops. Buying precut slabs lowers your cost substantially, and it is easier to install, since you do not need to cut and polish. Check out some of the granite suppliers. There are several around Hempstead Highway.

The new ceiling is nailed to the original shiplap. I had to reinforce the rafters a bit to make sure it would handle the extra load. The ceiling was a suggestion from my cabinet guy, who has put little details throughout the cabinetry. It is really impressive watching him work. flipper, the floor guy said he would cover everything, so I plan to hold him to it. Because it is quicker to do it all at once, I need to find a week that I can move out. Since the furniture is going into the garage, hopefully it will be better weather than this week.

Apparently, it is being lumped together with some other parcels, to be flipped to another buyer. HBJ article

The granite was finished today. The only things left are to hook up the sink, add drawer pulls and refinish the floor. The floor will take a week if I do the whole house at once, 2 weeks if I do it half at a time. I think I'll move out and do it in one week, probably in February. Today marks 6 weeks and 1 day since I started the demolition. Not too bad, I'd say. Here's the finished product, plus some before shots for comparison. Before After

Apparently, the courthouse in Brenham closed today, though they never bothered to tell anyone.

I never saw trendy people in 12 Spot (myself included). Actually, I rarely saw a crowd of any kind. As for bars and clubs closing, it is simply part of the life cycle. They close everywhere, only to be replaced by something else. If rents are too high (and I agree they are), a few empty storefronts will bring them back down. I think downtown will evolve into more casual bars and restaurants as the niteclubs move on to cheaper and trendier locales. The crowds will follow them, replaced by more downtowners and midtowners and sports fans.

Interesting comments. I was a little surprised that some of the strongest feelings are about the backsplash. However, I recognize that a bad backsplash can ruin everything else. I am still debating things. I agree with nmainguy that the subway tile is safe versus stainless being a cool tie-in between old and new. The question is whether I want the bold look or warm comfortable one. I'm still thinking about that. BTW, here is the island pendant light I am considering. Does this change any minds?

The garage will likely be surrounded by the apartments, so hopefully we will not be looking at it. I cannot find the sketch that suggested that, and it is entirely possible that they have redesigned the apartments, but that is how I remember it.

Subway tile in a light color (say, almond) is my other choice. Keep those cards and letters coming!

And, today we have granite! Unfortunately, the island slab was cut wrong. It will be recut and installed on Wednesday. I still need my drawer pulls, but it is getting close. I am leaning very hard toward installing stainless steel on the backsplash to match the fridge. What do y'all think?

This was the scene at lunchtime yesterday outside my Main Street office.

Look closely in the back corner of the kitchen. You are right about the xenon lights. Previously, there were fluorescents under the old cabinets. These cost more, but are dimmable and put off a much better color of light. Frankly, when blowing that much money on a remodel, an extra $100 for the better lights seemed to be a no-brainer. Same with the $25 dimmer versus a $10 paddle switch or a $3 regular switch. The dimmers rock!

Thanks for the remarks, everyone. As the stainless steel appliances go in, the green is less and less dominating. Once the granite goes in on Monday, I believe it will put it in the right perspective. In fact, some have suggested painting the trim in the dining and living room that same sage green, with different wall colors. Also, I am going to reinstall my white venetian blinds to see how they look. I think wood blinds would match the ceiling, but these are free, so we'll see. On another note, I finished installing all of my lights on Thursday. I took a picture, but the flash washed out the lights. There are 4 can lights in the ceiling, plus one over the sink. I put Xenon lights under the cabinets, and over the bar. Rope light is in the bar cabinet. I also put halogen spotlights on the driveway and deck out back, since I was already in the attic. Everything is on dimmers. I cannot tell you what a fan I have become of lighting and dimmers! They changed the entire look of the place. For a few hundred bucks, if you are comfortable around electricity, it will make a house look like a pro did it. EDIT: I put my finger over the flash to get the lighting in the picture. Here is a sample.

Finally! The paint is dry. The refrigerator was pulled out 5 weeks ago today, and it went back in at 5 pm. It looks a bit too green right now, since the countertops, blinds and appliances are not yet in. Hopefully, it softens up, but it is getting there. Tomorrow, undercounter lights and drawer/cabinet pulls go in. Granite comes Monday. Appliances go in later this week. Yippee!

In the old days they would use one of these...

Yeah, I've been stoned for 3 days. Actually, I have an industrial strength fan that sucks the air out of the house in minutes. After that thing runs for an hour or so, the smell is negligible. I don't recommend it for non-smokers, though. My lungs are used to it. The drawers were painted and stored in the garage, but the cabinet doors stayed on. The hinges DO snap off easily, but they wanted to paint them, so I suppose that is why they left them up. The finish is eg-shell. The color is Sherwin-Williams' Martha Stewart line, No. 8117, "Sachet". As a criminal defense lawyer, I thought I would help out Martha by using her paint scheme. I think it gives my kitchen good kharma.

The cabinets are now painted! Here are the cabinets with the primer coat. And, here is the color going on. They finished at 6:30 pm Saturday, and it is still tacky this morning, so it will be later today before I get a full picture. Also, the plastic is on every window, so the paint looks darker than it will be in real life, but it is a taste of what's to come. Monday the walls will be painted, and my 5 days of painting hell will have ended. Granite was ordered yesterday as well. It should go in by the end of the week. Appliances start going in this week, too. The end is in sight. BTW, for those who care, the official reason for placing water heaters on stands is to keep the pilot light away from stored volatile vapors, such as gasoline. It is required in garages, or in other storage areas. Since nothing volatile is stored in my kitchen, a stand is not required. The ventilation should be sufficient. However, if the pilot goes out frequently, suggesting a lack of fresh air, a ventilation pipe may be needed from the attic to the heater closet for better circulation. I'll be checking on that to make sure it is OK. Now, back to cleanup.