Original Timmy Chan's

You ask: I'm wondering if there are any similar areas in Houston: areas that really haven't been updated in years, and with a bit of imagination, you can place yourself back sometime in the 20th century without leaving the year 2012. I would imagine that most of the inner Loop east of I-45 and SH 288 would qualify. Also probably nearly everything in between the 610 Loop and the Beltway would qualify...you could place yourself back in the 1980's in a huge chunk of Houston. Not sure that's EXACTLY what you're looking for, but it was still the 20th century. I don't get out and drive through town as much as I used to, but get off in the 1st Ward, 2nd Ward, 3rd Ward, 5th Ward. Lots of those areas haven't been touched in decades. Parts of North Pasadena would qualify. Channelview? Baytown? When you think about it, there are lots of places in Houston that qualify.

You're thinking of Mimosa Lanes? It was on Mosely between Airport and Gulf Freeway. I believe there's a hotel there now. I ate more than my share of grilled cheese sandwiches in the snack bar there as a kid. First place I ever bowled. After that we spent a lot of Saturday mornings at Meadow Creek, and later Armadilla II off of Fuqua. Armadilla II had the fancy automated scoring on TV's!

My biggest fear about leveling during this drought is that it's just throwing money down the drain. I bought myself a bottle jack several years ago to jack up one corner of the house that keeps settling such that I can't lock the deadbolt on the french doors out back. In years past I've had to jack up that corner by about 1/4", and I'd have to do it once or twice a year. Several times this year my front and back doors have become either stuck or unlockable due to the house shifting. Tonight I'm going to jack and shim under the front door for the second time this year (also only the second time in the 8 years we've lived here), and the back door for about the 4th time already this year. This drought is a serious pain in my rear.

Dammit I'm in. I didn't want to, but it's something I felt I HAD to do.

My early 2013 prediction: Coogs will be Big 12 Champs!

It happens out in the country too. My family was hit by this burglary ring near North Zulch. Glad they made some arrests (more than a dozen arrests) and recovered some property. Our stuff (trailer, TV's, electronics, tools) was not recovered. If they recovered a quarter-million bucks worth of stuff, how much was *not* recovered? I wouldn't argue that North Zulch is a dangerous place...unless you're a deer or a can of beer. http://www.madisonvillemeteor.com/article_f3d3e528-91ed-11e0-a354-001cc4c03286.html It’s only June, but the Madison County Sheriff’s Department has already recovered more than $250,000 in stolen property. The majority of the stolen items have been returned to the owners. The owners of the stolen items were primarily from Madison County, however, there also were a good amount of victims from other parts of the state. Stolen items include diamond rings, power tools, recreational vehicles, farm equipment, generators, air compressors, four wheelers and horse saddles, to name a few. More than a dozen arrests have been made in cases involving stolen property

I opening this thread up with the intention of giving my idea for Metro to fire everybody and start fresh. I have very little experience working directly with Metro, but the sentiments expressed here are pretty pervasive around the engineering world. Metro tends to work with their blinders on sometimes. They don't communicate or cooperate very well. I think the mayor made a good choice in putting Greneias at the top, but it may be too little, too late. They need fresh blood there from top to bottom.

No electricity in the Ozarks yet?

Most of Texas is on its own grid (ERCOT) with interconnections to other regional grids:

"Greatfull Taco is best stereotyped as a tacqueria for non-Latin’s" So...it may or may not have food as good as a taqueria, certainly for a much higher price, and without any Mexican beers? I may not have to try it.

AMEN! Let's get a new crop of bungling politicos that can't do the job!!! OH wait, we've been doing that every 4 years in recent decades...

I would also check out Pasadena. Lots of established subdivisions between Genoa-Red Bluff and Fairmont Pkwy along Space Center Dr. It's just minutes from either Ellington AFB or NASA along either Old Galveston Rd or Space Center Blvd. Depending on which side of Space Center you're on, you're in either Deer Park or Pasadena schools.

That would be news to the other 14 locations of this national chain...

ABSOLUTELY! We NEED to get (some) of that KTRU crap off the air!!! I say this tongue in cheek as a loyal listener of Blues in Hi-Fi, and sometimes listener of Funk What You Heard and the Afro-Pop shows...some of that other stuff was just bad, though.

Holly Hall between Almeda and Fannin Cambridge between Holly Hall and OST Peerless between OST and Corder Del Rio between OST and Yellowstone Alice Street between Tierwester and Scott Those are some rough ones that I travel regularly. The ones that are asphalt w/ open ditch (Peerless, Del Rio, Alice) are limited to one lane of travel in many areas for all practical purposes. 4" wide longitudinal cracks in the asphalt are not uncommon. Enough to bite a bike tire.

To make matters worse, on top of not being awarded a shuttle, Houston's JSC is losing all its shuttle trainers and simulators. They'll be shipped off to places like Seattle; Dayton, OH; and College Station. In exchange Houston gets two space shuttle seats. That's not a "snub". That's an unamibiguous slap across the face, plus a middle finger...and I think Obama even said something about our mama.

Great link there... Just looking around at the 1947 Houston map, check out the "De Loroc" subdivision at A7 on the map.

Problem with federally subsidizing flood insurance is that the true costs of paying out the insurance aren't met...which is why the NFIP is almost $18 Billion in debt, with only $3 Billion in premiums collected each year. I guess if we could just get a nice 6 or 7 year stretch with no federal flood disasters, the NFIP could get back to break-even. Apparently it keeps raining across the country (despite all recent observations here in Texas). The federal government, by subsidizing flood insurance, is promoting development (or re-development) in high-risk areas. Why not make flood insurance premiums reflect the true costs?

I drove down Kirby Drive on Saturday morning to get to Babies R Us, and there was an insane number of UK fans everywhere...9 hours before tipoff! In fact, I saw a fair number of VCU and Butler fans, but don't recall seeing a single UConn fan on Saturday morning. I also noticed on Sunday morning that Stubhub had taken over an old car lot on the South Loop. It was pretty funny seeing all the fans of the Final Four teams wandering around the South Loop, Kirby, OST, S Main. I helped a couple folks who were walking down OST looking for a place to eat...It's not exactly the most tourist-friendly area.

Some lucky UH students (including Case Keenum) were given free tickets to the Championship Game to help fill the UConn student section. When I was at UH I got free t-shirts in exchange for signing up for credit cards...I don't recall being handed tix to national championship games!

3rd Ward reminds me of 7th Ward in New Orleans.

Might help keep the neighborhood from being just another "fad" club scene...but unfortunately, if you started today, I bet you're 10 years or more from seeing rail built there. And that's if you could find the money. METRO's having trouble finding the money to build the rails that we voted on nearly 10 years ago. If we picked light rail routes by the "hot" bar scene, we'd have light rail down Richmond Ave right now...running past a defunct Billy Blues and Yucatan Liquor Stand.

I had a mouse infestation several years ago...we used a dozen glue traps to catch more than a dozen mice. As was said above, the biggest issue is not getting rid of the mice, but keeping them out. For me, first thing was to kennel one of my dogs during the day. When loose, we couldn't keep the damn dog out of the trash. And unbeknownst to us, he was stashing food in between cushions of the couch...major draw for mice. You should check to see if you've had food nibbled on, boxes chewed through, bags eaten through. Secondly, I found (and filled) lots of holes in my house that I didn't realize existed, gaps around pipes, at the base of cabinets, gaps under baseboards (which meant clear path to the outdoors in a pier and beam house.) Used lots of cans of spray foam insulation. But yeah, the glue traps were best for catching the mice. The spring-loaded traps didn't always work, and with poison I was afraid of where the mice would die. The glue was fool-proof...but definitely not the most humane way of disposing of animals, if you're squeamish about that sort of thing. I did have a few twinges of guilt as I threw living, squirming animals into the trash...but then I remembered it was a frickin mouse and I'd rather it be in the trash than in my kitchen. Best of luck Red. That was not a fun time at my house. I had hallucinations of mice scurrying through the kitchen for months afterwards.

I can tell you this...the house was broken into once in the last 65 years. That happened nearly 30 years ago. I haven't locked my car doors in the last 5 years, never had a problem. I stopped locking them after the car was broken into -- in the HEIGHTS. I've never worried about coming home to a ransacked house...but I wouldn't feel like it's any less likely out in the burbs. Break-ins occur everywhere, no neighborhood is immune. In that manner, I don't consider any neighborhood to be "safe".

So, does the absence of burglar bars make the neighborhood safe? Tell that to the victims of all the driveway robberies in Sugar Land! We have burglar bars in my neighborhood, but we don't have driveway robberies!