dbigtex56

Wonder where in Canada they'll film it?

What!? No pissoir?

pineda, sorry you and your daughter had such an unpleasant introduction to downtown Houston. There's so much to see there. May I suggest a walking tour? You seem like someone who has a healthy appreciation for architecture, and these structured tours are safe, pleasant and informative.

You mean, like the way Jews "hide out" in Meyerland?

When I moved to Houston in late '81, there was a Futuro in a vacant lot just south of downtown (west of Main St.) It was being used as a realtor's office.

I think Droubi's has more than one location. According to switchboard.com there's listings on Hillcroft and S. Voss, as well as Kirby. Haven't been to the other locations, however. Did you know that Marlo Thomas is a Lebanese thesbian?

Have plans been released regarding placement (frequency) of stations? One of the complaints about the Red Line has been the frequent stops, which slow the average speed of the train. While more stations mean more neighborhoods are being served, it could hardly be called rapid transit. Metro will have to arrive at some compromise - rapid service to the Galleria, or serving the neighborhoods through which it passes.

Not strictly on topic, but... I used to work in one of those 19th century brick factory buildings. The brick walls and concrete floors were painted light green and gray, respectively - except in the corners, where about a foot up and a foot out, the walls and floor were painted white. It was explained to me that the workers used to spit their tobacco in the corners, and it would build up, and someone would have to scrape it out (ick!). By painting the corners white, it served as a reminder not to spit there.

Absolutely correct. Ma Bell leased phones and forbade people from buying their own. Their contention was that non-Bell phones might be of inferior quality and would interfere with the phone system. If someone was to damage their phone, Ma Bell made the repairs. The charges were pretty steep. Of course, if you wanted to pay a little extra and get a 'designer' color or Princess model, Bell was all too happy to help. I think it took a court ruling, but people were finally allowed to purchase - not lease - their phones about 25 years ago.

What's ironic is that these apartments were designed to appeal to people who are concerned about security. Yet the gates and walls are as much an asset as a hinderance to criminals. I'm more comfortable walking in 'worse' neighborhoods than along that stretch of Studemont between I-10 and Washington Ave. There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no one to call for help.

I think chewing tobacco is a baseball tradition, which would account for the spitting. Awfully hard to smoke and pitch at the same time.

Here's an explaination of the Safeway-Randall's connection: Safeway and Randall's Announce Merger Pleasanton, CA and Houston, TX, July 23, 1999 – Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) and Randall's Food Markets, Inc. jointly announced today they have signed a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Safeway will acquire Randall's for total consideration of approximately $1.8 billion. Safeway will pay approximately $1.425 billion for the equity of Randall's, using approximately $855 million in cash and approximately 10.9 million shares of Safeway common stock, and will assume or repay approximately $375 million of Randall's debt. The combined company will operate more than 1,645 stores in 19 states in the U.S. and in Western Canada, with pro forma 1999 estimated annual sales of approximately $30 billion. It will employ more than 183,000 people. Link to full article

Probably everyone over age 40 remembers rotary dial phones. The first touch-tone phone I recall seeing was in the late 60's. We were mystified as to the purpose of the '*' and '#' symbols; it was explained that they were "reserved for future use". There were few optional services on phones (private lines and unlisted numbers are the only ones I can think of), and the hell that is voice mail and automated customer service wasn't even on the horizon.

I was thinking that there was a U-Totum in the 200 block of Westheimer in the early 80's. Can't remember if it was at the corner of Helena St. (still a convenience store) or Mason St. (now a adult DVD store). Anyone remember?

The tenants might have some recourse against the management if the apartments were advertised as having security (i.e., the off-duty policeman). There was a case in Houston a few years ago, in which a young woman successfully sued her apartment complex after a break-in and rape. The apartments had advertised that they had 'security gates'. You'll notice that now many apartments instead advertise that they have 'access gates'.

Much of that undeveloped land is a state park, some of which is leased out as pasture.

The reason for my comment was that another Forum member has expressed concerns (see Common Courtsy on this Board thread). Moderators must consider the opinions of all Forum members. And bear in mind, Casual Observer, that you requested us to close down another thread - which was done. This is not censorship - we're responding to the wishes of those who use this board. If you still think I'm out of line, I strongly advise you to contact the editor, who oversees moderators.

Given Houston's pattern of tearing down old buildings, I'll bet the real estate market is getting pretty tight for ghosts.

Wet blanket alert! Please consider the sensibilities of our female Forum members. Some find 'guy talk' a bit off-putting. Thanks.

In other words, this setup will best serve people who live in the middle of Hwy 59?

Isn't that where that charlatan Dr. Steven Hotze had his offices?

What an interesting observation/theory. I imagine HISD has compiled statistics on demographic trends (and what fun it would be to pore over them). I assume (hope) that they would consider birth rates, income, and transient populations before pouring money into building new schools. Still, I'd hesitate to use them as a bellwether, given Houston's mercurial real estate trends. An exception which springs to mind is the new HSPVA campus, to be located between W. Dallas - W. Gray, east of Taft (Fourth Ward). The surrounding neighborhoods seem solidly on the upswing. Then too, this is a designated magnet school, not one meant to serve a particular region.

Promptly at 4 AM. Four times. Oh wait...that's cuckoos. Speaking of chickadees, anyone remember this lyric? Hey, I'm Kate and I am a Taurus I love tomatoes and black-capped Chickadees

It means "We at Forbes are desperately trying to attract a younger demographic, and some nitwit convinced us that using the word 'coolness' in a bogus survey might do the trick."

Valid point. On a related topic, I used to work in the R&D building of an instrument/system control manufacturer in Rochester, NY. This was circa 1980, just after the second energy crisis, and the building had been retrofitted for maximum energy conservation. It was their boast that the lighting, electronic gear, and body heat of the employees were sufficient to keep the building warm without additional heating costs, even on the coldest winter days. Unfortunately, this was before the term 'sick building' had been coined, nor the concept understood. The exterior had been covered with about four feet of urethane foam; perhaps some of the solvents found their way into the interior. Perhaps they hadn't allowed for sufficient air exchange. At any rate, within a week the engineers were complaining of watering eyes, running noses, blinding headaches and general malaise. It took months for the management to address the problem, and months more to correct it. I assume that the types of problems which plagued that building are now addressed in the planning stages of new construction or rennovation. As with ergonomics, it's better to avoid a problem than deal with the consequences.