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mollusk

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Everything posted by mollusk

  1. mollusk
    Mercer wouldn't be quite so frugly if it actually had things like windows in it.
  2. mollusk
    Years ago, I was taking some friends to the airport in the SF bay area. They were somewhat concerned about running late, to the point that I was finally told "you're from Houston. Drive like it. I know you know how." Which in turn then startled the devil out of pretty much everybody else on the freeway.
  3. mollusk
    er, I think the two year closing may have been part of a digression into tunnel closures, and in particular the hub under the soon to be gone Houston Club building.
  4. mollusk
    Somehow seeing the words "Conroe" and "normal" so close to one another just ain't quite right.
  5. mollusk
    Interesting - the Great Plains in the US gets about as much love as Siberia.
  6. mollusk
    at least this didn't autocorrect to MOOOOOOOOOOOO.
  7. mollusk
    You are correct, Subdude. I've been a dedicated mole person for my entire adult life. Yesterday the tunnel heading into the soon to be JW Marriott at 806 Main (and from there to points east) got walled off, leaving only narrow passages to access 801 Travis's mailboxes and shuttle elevator.
  8. mollusk
    ^ @ IronT - Makes sense. Margins in the grocery business are very, very thin. Being able to gather some economies of scale when at the commodity end of the business helps make for a better business model. That's what the asset managers supposedly specialize in (as long as they're in the business of adding value to a company, as opposed to stripping and distributing it).
  9. mollusk
    They tried that in Berkeley. The flags kept getting stolen, and apparently went completely unnoticed by the drivers - in a city and state where the pedestrian is king, and cars are supposed to come to a complete halt even for jaywalkers.
  10. mollusk
    Over time, perhaps. I just moved my office into a nice, supposedly LEED triple gold pressed latinum all the stars of the Milky Way certified building. With zero bicycle accommodations that I can find. I think the remaining bike messengers use the loading dock.
  11. mollusk
    True. I have a development list that's stuck to my fridge, adjacent to the less than flattering photos. Just as an example: If the soil report comes back with a significantly different reality than what was projected, the foundation design will have to be evaluated and perhaps changed. That then invites some mission creep - "well, we're having to do X anyway, might as well go ahead and add Y while we're at it since the incremental cost will be less than two redesigns would be." All of which puts the starting schedule into the Dumpster.
  12. mollusk
    Luminare, I agree with you about the problem of political will - though that's not just a Houston problem, though we certainly have the whole "good for bidness" mantra. We've had thirty years plus of either outright tax cuts or erosion by failing to keep pace with inflation, a prime example of which is the gas tax which in constant terms collects about half of what it did the last time it was raised roughly twenty years ago, and infrastructure rotting left and right. You are also correct that this will have to be dealt with sooner or later, and that waiting is likely to be expensive. That is in effect a huge tax increase for our children, all because there are a bunch of people who can't seem to distinguish between spending and investment.
  13. mollusk
    At first I thought this discussion was about an access problem during Sunday streets. Perhaps I was misled by the title of the thread or something like that. Then, reading further, I realized it's a far older story, one that even involves a troll...The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
  14. mollusk
    Note - Another good way to get the mole people above ground is to close off their tunnel access, as will soon happen for two years +/- to people trying to get to/from Chase via their only link with the bulk of downtown through the hub under the expiring Houston Club Building. I can't help but wonder what the over/under will be on some sort of interim solution.
  15. mollusk
    An entrance that frequently has the steps roped off and the doors locked during business hours, for some Providence unknown reason.
  16. mollusk
    The 737 and 757 were both developed from the 727 and have similar, if not identical, fuselage circumferences. Similar speed, comfort, and performance parameters, as well. The 737 is still in production; the newest 757 was built in 2005. I, too, would take business class in a 73 vs coach in a 75 any day of the week.
  17. mollusk
    ^ And I think that the main point - that they accomplished it by granting an easement - was some pretty darned clever work on the part of whoever thunk it up, elegant in its simplicity.
  18. mollusk
    M e h. The sly parking deal preceded the tower's construction by a quarter century.
  19. mollusk
    That map shows how 801 Travis and the future JW Marriott are currently linked. The steps on the left lead to 801's lobby; the other set go up half a flight to reach the current basement level of the JW. The JW is putting a bunch of facilities in 801's basement. I got a memo earlier this week telling us that the tunnel east of the stairs and tunnel elevators will be closed beginning on the 15th for construction, and that people trying to get in from the Walker @ Main garage, etc. are going to be stuck with the street for a while. I strongly suspect that the stairs between 801 and JW are somehow going to get turned into something ADA compliant.
  20. mollusk
    That would be a part of the challenge, wouldn't it? I kinda like figuring out how to make the hoops work, personally (though I realize that ain't for everyone)> aye, Cap'n.
  21. mollusk
    You have a point in that JPMorgan Chase Tower (neè Texas Commerce Tower in United Energy Plaza) was built a few decades after the Houston Club building. Howsoever, when it was built the Houston Club building also housed operations for the National Bank of Commerce, the headquarters of which was across the street in the Gulf Building. I haven't chained out the title, but Jesse Jones was up to his eyebrows in the bank and in constructing both buildings, regardless of how many different entities were actually the nominal owners. National Bank of Commerce merged with Texas National Bank to become the Texas National Bank of Commerce (complete with really twangy radio jingle about "all the bank you'll ever need" - thanks for the earworm, Bud), later shortened to Texas Commerce Bank, subsequently assimilated by the Borg Chase singularity. The easement idea makes sense from a legal standpoint. It's creative, and it works. Ya gotta love the mano a mano involved in having a parking space that you simply won't sell at any price under a price where it makes sense to go ahead and literally blow up its previously attached building.
  22. mollusk
    Then someone will feel entitled to allow their dog to let loose. At one time someone was living in an unplumbed garage in the same general area and tossing their chamber pot contents into the gutter, a là medieval London.
  23. mollusk
    With a bit of the Powerz of the Googlez... http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/9318-alco-fireworks-plant-explosion/ 1208 Rosine. Egad.
  24. mollusk
    Oh, OK - I get it now. One silly narrow two lane underpass (kinda on a curve, too, IIRC) replaced with not one but two, four lane overpasses. Pretty uptown - far more so than Afton Oaks.
  25. mollusk
    The painted on beige, brick-esque substance looks like painted on, beige, brick-esque substance. Soylent beige, if you will. Surely there is some way to at least simulate texture. People will all be whisked in by cabs and rail. Seriously, it's prolly going to be valet - just like the Icon, Magnolia, Sam, etc... edit: And for that matter, the Hyatt, with its giant attached garage.
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