dbigtex56

Can't help but laugh at the Boston Herald putting "RELEASE YOUR INNER VIXEN" above the Sox headline. Is that the trashiest paper in the US or what?

Back in the mid-80's, Texaco/Heritage Plaza was in much the same position as Shamrock Tower. They kept promising start days, then nothing would happen. Finally they put up a wooden construction fence, and people thought it was about to happen. It took more than a year after the fence went up until they actually broke ground. Fencing off the property is a relatively cheap way to give the impression that construction is about to begin. It makes investors feel better. Hate to sound skeptical, but after they've moved dirt and poured a foundation, I'll start celebrating.

'Tutes "R" Us

You can find a picture of it here.

Welcome to HAIF, danax. I heartily agree with you regarding the preservation of the older buildings in this neighborhood. Even in its current deteriorated state, you can see the potential. Unfortunately, there are harsh economic factors in place; the developers rule Houston with an iron hand, and have a blind spot for anything that doesn't include $ signs. Coupled with the nation's weakest preservation laws, this potentially charming neighborhood will probably end up looking like those horrors over on Studemont (Memorial Heights). Alas.

It wasn't Al Gore, was it?

There was an article in the paper a few days ago about an elderly woman who had been waiting in line for four hours to get a flu shot. She passed out and hit her head on the sidewalk, and later died in a hospital. For our younger viewers: the Michael Jackson/hair on fire incident was in 1984, while he was filming a commercial for Pepsi. The pyrotechnics got out of hand, and burning embers fell on his head, resulting in severe burns.

Perhaps developers (and the people who buy from them) want some assurance that this will remain a greenspace.Who in their right mind would develop and market housing based on its proximity to a amenity that could, at any moment, be converted to surface parking or some other gawd-awful form of development? The patterns of usage of parks will change dramatically as people move into downtown. With a scant 3,000 people living there today, it's little wonder that existing parks are underutilized. When we have 20,000 people living downtown, these parks will be an integral part of the cityscape.

Cinco, thanks for the update. I applaud that you have the guts to try something new, and I'm glad it's working out for you. Do you think you'll continue to take the bus? Any suggestions about how it could be better?

I hope you're right. I'd love to see us win the World Series, of course. It's just the senseless destruction that seems to have become more prevalent in the past few years that bothers me. As an example, Denver won some sports event a few years ago - I have no idea what - and celebrated by overturning cars, setting fires, breaking windows, etc. It certainly made a bigger impression on me than whatever it was they were celebrating. Not a good impression, either.

And that is exactly why I felt (feel) some trepidation about having sports stadia downtown. At The Summit (Compaq) or the Astrodome, there wasn't a lot to destroy to 'celebrate' a winning game. Perhaps that's why we haven't seen the disgraceful behavior in Houston that other cities have suffered. But now...now these thugs posing as fans have a focal point on which to vent their destructive urges. If winning the Series causes riots, I hope we lose.

It worked! The above post can be accessed by typing "midtown neighborhood association" houston in Google. Here's hoping people do so, and respond...

re: Netflix - do you ever have problems with movies that are unavailable for long periods of time? As I understand it, you make a list of movies you'd like to see, and they send whatever is in stock. I've mentioned this before (on the previous forum) but it bears repeating: Cactus Records on Shepherd at W. Alabama has a great selection, especially for gay/lesbian, foreign, art house and classic films.

well damn, you beat me to it too. First thing that came to mind is the new building scheduled on Pierce, near the old Boy Scout building - would that be doomed before it's even built? Perhaps NOW is the time to do land acquisition so TXDOT doesn't have to pay to demolish buildings that haven't been built yet.

Saw in the paper that Aurora is going to start showing movies at Dean's (the Home Of Easy Credit building) downtown on Main.

Asked my brother-in-law, who's some kind of engineer (electronics? he works a lot with radio) and received this reply: Interesting question! My first thought upon reading your message was that the nitrogen was used for pressurizing the telephone cables. I went on line and found this link to a picture: http://www.hollenback.net/index.php/NyOfficeNitrogenTanks Do they look like these? In days of yore, telephone signals were sent via coaxial cable over long distances. In order to prevent water from getting into the cable at connection points, the cable was typically pressurized by a dry inert gas to keep a positive pressure inside the cable. Nitrogen is used extensively for this, as is sulfur hexafluoride. If you follow the hose from the tank up the pole you should see it go into some type of fitting attached to a fat black or aluminum-colored cable. It may be that some areas of Houston still have coaxial cable in their local telephone systems, although I would have thought that everything would have been converted to fiber optic cable by now. It also might be the cable TV system as they also use coax cable. The tanks in the picture (link) are unfamiliar to me so I don't know what kind of pressure to expect. If the tanks are about 5 feet tall and look like welding tanks then it's possible to have as much as 2000 psi in them. As far as hazards go, the only real problem might occur if a tank is toppled over and the valve broken off. In this situation the tank becomes a rocket or torpedo with incredible results. Like going through concrete walls, etc. In reading the on-line resources it appears that some of the phone network still uses coaxial cable and that these are deteriorating over time. It may be that additional pressurization is required because of known leaks.

Mr. Science Guy, Any info about what pressure is maintained in these tanks? I know that oxygen tanks are up to 2000 psi, but assume that nitrogen is considerably less.

Almost four years ago I was searching for a new apartment, and a friend suggested that I check out the near northside. You won't find them advertised in any newspaper; you have to scour the neighborhood and look for "For Rent" signs. Found a nice little duplex on a tiny street off N Main - the price was right, and it had room for a little garden in back. That I would be the only Anglo on the block didn't bother me in the least. We tracked down the landlord, and the first thing he asked me was if I was married. I'm not. "Well," he said, "I'm hoping to rent it to a family. We've had bad luck with single men around here." And I wasn't offended. Hell, he doesn't know me. I'm not a dope dealer or a troublemaker, but how would he know? I was impressed that his first concern was for the neighborhood, and a desire to help out young families who couldn't pay much rent. It's this sort of attitude that creates and preserves neighborhoods where poor but decent people can live with some sort of dignity. I'd hate to see this neighborhood gentrified out of existance.

I learned to drive on the hilly, twisting roads of the Finger Lakes in upstate NY, and absolutely understand and agree that Allen Parkway poses a real temptation to drive fast. But I think original intent when it was built - or converted from Buffalo Drive - was to be a parkway, a scenic route where one could drive leisurely, enjoy the scenery and not have the distractions of stop signs, driveways and intersections. According to my mother, who grew up in the 20's, 30 mph was considered pretty darn fast in those days. Personally, I'd prefer sharper turns, more trees and a 30 mph speed limit. It's a parkway, not a speedway. Return it to its intended purpose.

I remember when this building was going up, and how impatient everyone was for them to complete it. The external construction elevator remained for months after the rest of the building had been clad with its distinctive green glass. Finally, in early August of '83, the construction elevator was removed and the last glass panels were installed. So beautiful! Three weeks later, Hurricaine Alicia hit, and smashed out dozens and dozens of panes of glass. For nearly a year the exterior was a patchwork of glass and plywood. Fortunately they were able to match the glass so that the damage is now undetectable. I wonder if they'd be able to do the same if another hurricaine should hit - glass tends to change color over the years.

hehe! Apparently, so did Elyse Lanier - that Cee-Ment Pond turquoise lining was installed under her guidance. Maybe they should run with the theme, and hire some Esther Williams look-alikes to perform synchronized swimming routines. Mmmm....Classy!

Didn't some little kid get sucked into the Ft Worth Water Garden and drown a few months ago?

Posted by CincoRanch-HoustonResident in The Woodlands thread: "Damn who cares about sprawl. I don't. All I hear is sprawl this and that. Damn if you don't like it move away from houston. It's very simple." Jeez. What part don't you get? By moving away from Houston, you're creating sprawl - further to drive, more traffic - then complain about the very problem you helped to create. Someone once said (and this is not an exact quote) "You are not stuck in a traffic jam...you are the traffic jam."

I heartily concur, midtown. Ordinances, however well-meaning, are useless without enforcement. Is the city even trying? A prime example is that horrid cruddy little store at the southeast corner of Main and Rusk (?) - you know, across the street from the West Building. There's always a knot of panhandlers there, throwing trash on the sidewalk and harrassing passersby. I wouldn't even necessarily classify them as homeless; just bums. The store owner does nothing about it, nor do the police. Other than organizing a lynch mob, I'm stymied. Why is this allowed to continue? This is a terrible thing to say about fellow human beings, but these people literally are pollution. They litter and excrete, and someone has to pick up after them. Some combination of incentive (somewhere else to go) and discouragement (get the hell away from here) is called for. In some cases, the problem is that of mental illness, and until that's addressed it seems as heartless to ignore the problem as it would be to dump off an unwanted pet in a strange neighborhood. In other cases, I believe that there are those who simply are not trying. If we could enforce the laws we currently have on the books, that would be a start. I am not confident that we have the best police department for the money we're spending. There are many fine, hardworking police officers out there; there are also some lazy bastards, and they need to be weeded out.

On the subject of the homeless - late yesterday afternoon I decided to stroll around downtown, just to see the sights. Went to Allen's Landing and saw the ducks (the ducklings are nearly grown-ups!), and a beautiful white egret, regal and slim as a fashion model. It walked like a fashion model, too - away from me... Anyway, I was walking down Main Street, and at the corner of McKinney saw a man lying on the sidewalk. I've grown pretty blase' about seeing people sleeping on the sidewalk, but this one seemed different, somehow; the location was too open. I walked up to him and said "Sir? Sir, are you OK?". His eyes were open, but he gave no sign of recognition. Aside from the fact he was breathing, he could easily been mistaken for a corpse. Funny...people had been walking past him, but the moment I showed a bit of concern, they'd stop and ask "Is he all right?". I asked if anyone had seen a policeman in the area; not recently. I finally tracked one down on Fannin, and waved at him like a madman. He quickly responded by ducking around the corner. Fortunately, he was caught in traffic, so I told him about the man and his exact location. He said he'd send someone. Fifteen minutes later, no response. I tried to flag down two other police cars, but they ignored me. "Bet he woulda stopped if I'd flipped him the bird", I said to a woman standing next to me, and she giggled. Eventually, an officer showed up, and managed to rouse the man. I approached her and asked if he was OK. "Well" she said, "he's been drinking but I found this in his pocket." and waved a pill bottle. "He's diabetic. We're sending for an ambulance." As I caught the train home, I saw an ambulance pull up. I wonder how long he would have laid there if I hadn't stopped. I wonder if he would have died, and how long it would have taken someone to notice that there was a corpse on Main Street.