Original Timmy Chan's

I was thinking the same thing. They need to erase the Tierwester Station, and move it up to a share station with the Southeast Line. We'll see what they do.

Don't scrap the Tierwester Station, it would do a good job of serving both TSU and Yates. I would think the "TSU Station" could be moved west a couple blocks over to Ennis, but maybe it's a land-availability issue.

Just make sure there's at least one station on Scott at either Alabama or Elgin.

Low rent prices are great for providing low-income people a place to live, but -- unfortunately -- they also attract people who'd rather spend what little income they get (legitimately or otherwise) on drugs, weapons, alcohol, etc. And those aren't the kind of people I want as neighbors.

C'mon, that's American culture you're talking about!

What suburban All-American dad doesn't spend all his money on his deer lease (guns and booze), his boat (which can be a deadly weapon when he's out of Lake Conroe full of booze), and big-screen TV's (the worst drug known to mankind)?!?!

I'd be more worried about those creepy neighbors that don't spend money on drugs, guns and booze. Just what are they up to in their spare time?!?! It scares the bejeezus out of me just to think about it!!!

When driving, the northbound ramp from the west Loop (eastbound) to SH 288 allows an impressive view of the expanse of the city's various skylines.

Even better in my opinion is the eastbound Westpark Tollway connector to 59. It gives a great panorama encompassing Reliant/Astrodome, Med Center, Downtown, Greenway Plaza, Uptown/Galleria, and even into Memorial (you can see the big church towers on San Fillipe). I haven't seen a better view of Houston.

Second best in my opinion is the view of downtown/Med Center/Reliant/Astrodome from 288 northbound...can't remember where, maybe around the 610 exits?

I often wonder what or if this tastes as good as a real beer?

Its sold in a kit right? Can you cop a buzz on it?

I was glad to see the article in the Chronicle this weekend. It helped clarify some of the questions I've had about recyclables.

For one, I didn't realize that they didn't want to take the plastic shopping bags, even though many of them are type "2" plastics (HDPE?)

Also, apparently COH takes Type 1,2,3,5 & 7 plastics now. I thought it was only 1 & 2.

They also clarified that paperboard is acceptable in addition to corrugated cardboard. I'm still a bit unclear on other paper, but I'm starting to give them every bit of junk mail I get, in addition to newspaper.

Looks like I better hurry up if I want to try one of these Starbucks Coffees that everyone's been talking about...

We have free coffee at work, and I make my own at home, so I haven't had a need to try a Starbucks yet. I can make weeks worth of coffee at home with a $7.00 pound of coffee beans.

Here's something I find hilarious when I compute my "Walk Score." Of the places listed to walk to (only one per category!), almost none of them are quite what they seem. Examples:

Bookstore: the 24-hour adult bookstore and head shop down by the freeway.

School: the Comedy Defensive Driving place next door.

Grocery Store: Sunny's nasty, rundown convenience store that primarily stocks Miller High Life and Swisher Sweets.

Hardware Store: a Home Depot that someone on foot would have absolutely NO WAY of getting to without being hit by a car, since you have to cross both I-10 and Beltway 8 to get there.

Movie Theatre: the SAME adult bookstore from above.

Clothing & Music: Public Storage. ?!?!?!?!?

Give me a break.

Not all inner-city Houston is "walkable" apparently...we get a score of 38 at our house.

I get humorous listings similar to sheeats:

Grocery: Grocers Supply Co.

Restaurants: Kitchen Equipment Fabricating, Inc.

Bookstore: the Half Price Books warehouse on the South Loop

Drugstore: Sigma Pharmacy Services (a pharmaceuticals company)

Hardware: Underground Auto Storage & Paint

Funny thing about our walkability score is that I see more pedestrians in my neighborhood than I do anywhere else in Houston but downtown!

My first thought is, MAKE SURE SHE LIKES HEARTS!!!

Some women, my wife being a perfect example, can't stand anything with a heart on it.

My wife also would kill me if I ever brought home a rose or a carnation. She has a strong dislike for both types of flowers.

Personally, I like to give my wife simple, elegant jewelry that she can wear for decades.

Best name of a Vietnamese store in Midtown:

BICH NGA!

It wasn't nearly as fun to say after I heard the REAL pronunciation.

MAAAARVIIIN ZINDLERRRRRRRRRRR!

OK, now that the emotion has passed, I'm changing my answer.

My favorite Houstonians (although they've never actually lived in Houston) are my Mom and my Dad. Let's call them my favorite South Houstonians/Pasadentites.

Yes, I really am that sweet.

Here is an interesting website:

http://www.ericcarlson.net/crimestats/murder2007.html

It shows the city map location of all the murders in 2007.

It seems most of the murders happen in downtown, SW Sharpstown/Westwood area, E Bellfort area

That's only because the inner loop neighborhoods are too poor to afford bullets.

This economy is really hitting home. I saw rival gangs throwing pine cones at each other in my neighborhood last week.

Has there been any fallout in these public agencies over every employee's salary getting published?

I imagine it started a ****storm between some employees.

Spanish moss gets its sustenance from the air, rainfall and natural mineral leaching from leaves. That it can grow on the Tallow is no saving grace for that troublesome species.

Please do not re-think your position.

I wish you could have told me that BEFORE I went and planted 3 Tallows in my front yard yesterday...

i'm looking for a two bedroom two bath townhouse for under 110,000 dollars inside 610 loop. I work near minute maid park so I want to be within 15 miiles of that location. This place isnt exactly off of mykawa it might be an exit or two east of mykawa.

For under $110k you can find some new single-family homes (not townhomes) in South Union. I don't know if you are that attached to the townhome idea, but for $110k or less you can have a yard and all the joys that come with it. From South Union, entering 288 at Holly Hall, you're 5 minutes from downtown, even in traffic.

$99k, 3BR/2BA, on Goodhope. Kind of odd set-up, and they're definitely proud of the garage...:

Here's a little nicer one for $125k, on Seabrook. 3BR/2.5BA:

I've seen the subdivision you originally posted about. In fact, my wife and I toured some of the homes a couple years back out of curiousity. We liked some of the layouts of the houses, some we didn't like. I always thought it was an odd location for a subdivision, tucked between a couple of industrial/business park areas.

That being said, I don't think there's anything unsafe about the area...take all the normal precautions you would whether you're in River Oaks or Sunnyside. Be aware there aren't many retail amenities in the immediate area, but you're less than 5 minutes from Gulfgate, 10 minutes from Meyerland, and 15 minutes from Pearland.

I had previously thought that the Chinese Tallow was completely useless and/or destructive to all other forms of plant and animal life, but I found out I was wrong.

A few weeks ago I was out paddling around on Armand Bayou, enjoying the shade of the Spanish moss-covered branches overhanging the bayou, when I realized that the Spanish moss was growing on Chinese Tallow!!!

I may have to re-think my position on the tallow tree now.

Anyone else ever seen Spanish moss on a tallow tree?

If we were really good and didn't act up during back-to-school clothes shopping, we got to eat at the Burger King behind the mall.

I remember that eating at that Burger King was quite a treat as a kid. That was before the Dairy Queen closed and C&D Burger Shoppe opened. After that, there was no reason to eat at the Burger King.

All I really remember of Almeda Mall is getting photos with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. We spent a lot more time shopping at the Sears Surplus down the street than at Almeda Mall. I hated the Sears Surplus...not much for a kid to enjoy there.

Amen to that.

Sorry bro, I got off the prayer years ago. I don't need to get strung out on THAT!!!

The body's immune system is amazing. But I would rather not ingest germs and other unnecessary (and probably not too tasty) microbes.

On the other hand, I've found that occasionally ingesting such germs and microbes helps prepare your body for the occasional ingestion of food that's three months past its expiration date. Whatever doesn't kill me only makes me more likely to survive the coming apocalypse.

Yes.

LOLZ @ memebag :doh:

On second thought, maybe this censorship thing isn't such a bad idea. If it helps get rid of all the idiots and morons around here, I'm all for it.

My initial post is not for censorship, it's to collectively minimize fluff and silly replies that are not relevant. Again, you too missed the point as it is not permanent change, only a alternative option to those that want to use it.

If you minimize fluff and silly replies, then I have no reason to post anymore!!!

Do you really want to hurt me?

It was crack, but now I'm on to meth. More bang for the buck.

I didn't think about it being used here, but in areas where runoff is a major contributor of flooding.

Never thought about our soil in that way, but it is a good point.

Runoff is definitely a major contributor to flooding here. Runoff = Rainfall - Losses

Losses are mainly infiltration into the soil, plus some minor storage loss in depressions and water that sticks to vegetation and buildings. For an example, the 24-hr 100-yr storm in Houston is 13.5 inches of rain (in 24 hrs). Out of that rainfall, 11.7 inches (or 87%) will become runoff, and 1.8 inches are "lost" as infiltration/storage (for a typical single-family subdivision). So when we get a heavy rain, 87% of that rain ends up as runoff and goes into our ditches, storm sewers, and ultimately into our bayous. Runoff is a major contributor to flooding...I guess you could say lack of capacity would be another major contributor. If you don't have the capacity to carry off the runoff, it's going to become a flood.

In other parts of the country with sandier soils, they get much more infiltration into the ground, and therefore less runoff from a given amount of rain.

The fact that we get very heavy rains, and very little infiltration into the ground, leads directly to high rates and volumes of runoff. Those massive amounts of runoff in turn can lead to flooding when there is inadequate infrastructure...which is the case in most parts of Houston built before the mid-1980's.

Another reason a friend was thinking would be to use it for underwater storage tanks which seem to starting to get popular in several areas, but wouldn't a regular drain be just as effective?

If you're referring to underground detention storage, we have the same problems with infiltration into the ground...heavy gumbo clay just doesn't allow much to soak in...at least not very fast. I've seen several products that offer underground detention storage, with an unlined bottom to allow infiltration into the ground. While it's popular in other parts of the country where they have more porous soils, and don't get the intense rains we do, it just won't help with our major rains here. It will allow some infiltration, but not enough to get a benefit, storage-wise.

Low Impact Development is definitely having a hard time getting off the ground here...we have a lot of issues they don't deal with in other parts of the country. There are plenty of folks interested in finding solutions, but there are no easy answers here.

I saw this on CNN a few days ago, while I appreciate what they are trying to do, and it makes a certain amount of sense with rainwater, but I just can't help but wonder if this is a good idea given the climate.

Wouldn't this be better served in some of the warmer climates in parking lots or at least sidewalks? What about durability?

A big problem with permeable pavement here in Houston is that the native soil (gumbo clays) that exist under the pavement are nearly as impermeable as regular concrete. That means that rainfall will run off the the pavement just as quick as if it was regular concrete pavement. The permeable pavement really doesn't help unless you replace the clay soil down to several feet deep with imported stone gravel that can provide some storage under the permeable pavement.

In addition, long-term maintenance is an issue. The voids in the permeable pavement will fill in with silt, so you have to have it vacuumed out on a regular basis. Not sure what kind of period (annually?), but it's something that has to be done, or else the pavement becomes impermeable. That's fine, as long as you have an agency (City of Houston or Harris County PID) that will assume the maintenance responsibility and get it done. If it's used for driveways and sidewalks in a neighborhood, are you ready to take the responsibility and expense of getting a special vacuum truck out on a regular basis to vacuum your driveway?

It's not a bad idea, but it definitely has some issues that come along with it.

The only time that the Galvez Bay appeared blue to me was when we were way up about 10 floors in the new hotel (forgot name) and looked out over the balcony.

Yes, for that moment it seemed blue. I was certain they had tinted the windows so visitors would believe the bay was always an aqua blue. Ja!

Maybe they can artificially color the sand a white shade to make us think we are in Cabo or Cozumel? Hee hee.

It would also be nice if they could build some giant cliffs out of concrete and chicken wire to make it look like California.

In fact, I wish Houston would build some fake mountains...I can't stand going outside and seeing an absolutely flat terrain. Makes me stay inside most of the time...I don't know how anybody enjoys spending time outdoors here.

LESS THAN ZERO

"Going Back to Cali" by LL Cool J

"Hazy Shade of Winter" by Bangles

You left out one of the greatest rap songs of all time: Public Enemy's "BRING THE NOISE!"