pineda

Good article about protecting window & door openings before a hurricane hits. How to pick the best shutters for your home. We were just down in Galveston this past week, and one night the winds were gusting over 40 mph, and the whole house on stilts right on the beach was swaying like there was a storm in the Gulf. We started looking at the shutters on the house. They were the roll-down ones that you can roll down from inside the house, BUT they were pretty hard to roll down and it took about 15 minutes per window to do. Couple this with a TON of windows in the house, and it could be a really tough job for just one person or for older folks to handle. If I lived in Galveston, I think I'd spend the big bucks on automatic shutters, to leave me time to get the hell off the island. Favorite sign seen heading down towards Jamaica Beach: "This is not a Hurricane Evacuation Route" -DUH, now you tell me... Favorite dish eaten in Galveston: The most humongous oysters EVER at Fish Tales on the Seawall. I talked to people later about it, to find out why they were so big there, and nothing like it in Houston. I was told that every decent restaurant from League City to Galveston buys their oysters from Hillman's, and they are SOOO good, taste like they came right out of the water.

Thanks for bringing this up. I talked to my Allstate agent a month or so ago and he was crying the blues that he was going to probably lose his business because he was being forced to drop so many homeowners. I don't remember all the particulars, but he said the wood framing issue dealt with what percentage of the house was wood, and since ours was mostly all brick, we didn't have to worry. I'm going to pull out the paperwork and re-read it though, just to be sure. Yeah, there are a LOT of changes happening in the insurance business that will affect all of us in the Houston area. One report I haven't had time to sort through yet that you might find interesting: Wharton report Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were just the beginning of some of these changes.

Klein Collins plays in state championship in Round Rock June 6th-9th. Congratulations to Collins for the big win today!l

report from the DMN

Congrats, Montrose! I wish you well in Abilene. At which university will you be studying?

Hey, P.Wyngs- Did you find a new job yet? (You did leave Monterey's, didn't you?)

UMass protests Andrew Card's honorary degree. After seeing the coverage about this, I'm wondering if anyone knows of any website out there in cyberland that lists the political leanings of different universities, not just in Texas, but nationwide. a related website: Intellectual Take-out

Tried your queso recipe last night, E.E. Sue and everyone loved it! Man, it makes a huge bunch of queso too, plenty for any party. Thanks for that! And note to Musicman: I used a can of chopped green chilis, not pickled jalapenos.

YAY! Way to go, VicMan! What are your plans now?

Thanks for that recipe, E.E. Sue! We're going to make it and some ceviche for a party!

Has anyone tried Dickey's BBQ? I noticed that there's a new one at Flintridge and Kuykendahl in the Sterling Ridge area. Looked pretty busy.

HA! Exactly what I was thinking!

Darden Restaurants hasn't been part of the General Mills group since 1995. While Red Lobster and Olive Garden were once part of General Mills, Smokey Bones was not. Red Lobster and Olive Garden are actually doing really well, sales-wise. Smokey Bones did not apparently appeal to a wide enough market for them to be profitable, which is why they were experimenting with a change in concept, which also didn't seem to do the trick for them. I had heard that they were trying to get more women to eat in their restaurants, but for whatever reasons, they weren't attracted to the concept.

I heard it will be next to Splashtown. I believe the owners of Rudy's are former Chiliheads.

97 Greater Houston high schools are ranked.

Sounds like a nice idea, but it also sounds an awful lot like Klein "Spring High School". Can't be having that...

These are GREAT! Post more, please! p.s. I talked with someone who spent a few years in Singapore and they told me that there were a good number of Texas A&M Aggies in Singapore and that they have a club for them! Those Aggies sure get around!

and in a related story...

Your comments regarding charter schools faring worse aside, I don't agree with your constant call for consolidation and I think this report proves why. Bigger is not always better. Many tiny school districts I've never even heard of scored in the 90's, which I think shows that sometimes these smaller districts can focus more personal attention to each of these students, unlike the monster-size Houston ISD which earned its' 61, despite all the magnet programs it touts.

Clean Beaches Rockport beach was named as Texas' only "Blue Wave" beach. a report on seaweed in Corpus

How well did your kid's teachers do?

I'm with TJ on this one. A nice current photo of you, framed and matted in a nice frame. If you use a wide white mat, you can also use the mat to write something nice on it, like how much you love & appreciate her, etc. Also, flowers are great, get her favorite kind, maybe she loves tulips instead of roses. And, sharing a meal with her, catching her up on what's been going on in her life is also a great idea. As far as TJ's wife goes, on presents from the kids, I would recommend anything handmade by the kids. I still have stuff my kids made when they were little, even the simple cards on construction paper. If you want something a little nicer, places like The Potter's Wheel lets kids paint simple things like plates and coffee mugs.

I think you meant to write "the flap in Spring ISD", as Westfield is part of Spring ISD. The affluent area you refer to is Northgate, also part of Spring ISD.

It's pronounced as "Good Company".

Klein Klein Collins Klein Forest Klein Oak Klein Pine!