20thStDad

Can buy? Is there a napkin vending machine in the bathroom? Forgive me if this is common, but never seen it. Public park bathrooms are the worst. Nothing like no air conditioning, 95 degrees, and no tp. I've never sweat more than that in my life.

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Sweet, I think I have enough saved where I can quit my job now and just ride it out. Thanks for letting me know!

I'm not sure it's any less creepy if he met her and 15 and then kindly waited until she was 18.

People need to give up their delusions of athletes being role models for everyone. Some are, most aren't. Given that much money and no real responsibility past staying in shape and showing up, it's not hard to live a wild life. 15 year olds is just wrong, reminds me of Mick Jagger stories I've heard.

Ok, now I'm interested. For this new AT&T (tv) service there is a need for new lines? Meaning if I'm in an old inner loop neighborhood that probably isn't already set up? I just assumed AT&T's version of TV was their partnership with dish network. As far as internet my Comcast is 39.95 plus whatever taxes apply. For tv, with the HD and DVR add-ons the price keeps creeping up. I'd love to pay less, but every time I've seriously looked at other option, the price is always within 5 bucks a month after you get over the 3-months-at-a-lower-rate hype.

If some of these homeowners don't get their due from lawsuits, which it seems has been the case, they need to get a good old fashioned lynch mob together for these crooks.

So how much is the 3M DSL? Last I looked into it to get the same speeds as cable it cost pretty much the same. Don't they make you do contracts to? That seems to be a phone company thing and I hate it. EDIT: BTW, I'm in 77008 with Comcast and I didn't have an outage. We've had a couple of tv blurps in the past year but nothing big.

Buying a home can be a great investment, and hopefully is in the long term, but there is more to it than that. I had done similar calculations about it being more profitable for me and my wife to continue renting. In the end we bought, and I love it because it's a place that is ours, a place we enjoy being in. Also I get a lot more out of putting those personal touches on it than I thought I would. And also I was gettin very tired of sharing walls, parking, and other general spaces with people. We lived in an apartment, duplex, and then garage apartment, and though that progressed to more and more privacy it still doesn't compare to having our own space. I expect we'll stay in this place for 5-7 years (been here a year), and I figure the value will go up a decent amount in that time, but not crazy (we're in the Heights). But in the end we feel that we've been getting great value and enjoyment for what we pay anyway, so if it's only a modest appreciation I can deal with it. Read: I am happy to pay to be here. We're getting savings/earnings from other things. Honestly I don't want the value to go up too much, because that means when we are ready to move we basically can't afford to stay in the same area and get something bigger. Of course the posters of this forum are working on convincing me we won't need something bigger even as our family grows, I'm starting to buy into that. Anyway, if we do decide to move I don't want the market to out-grow us. One final note - in doing the math definitely take into account the tax deductible interest. I didn't factor this in, but an extra $10-13k in deductions that first few years (30 yr note, ~$200k principle) is definitely nice.

What do you think about in Pearland? I think they are overbuilding down there, based on people I know who have tried to move out and suffered on the sale. They are building to the point that there is no market for homes 2-10 years old. This is my limited observation, I have not looked up any data on this.

I don't disagree with any of that, I was just pointing out that I was astounded by the sheer numbers. Certainly there are disadvantages to be overcome, but I've got to think China will make huge strides in the next 25 years regardless.

You can't get more bang for the buck than being able to pull over one after the other, which I see them do all day, both ways, on 288. Personally I'd feel safer if they did a damn thing about catching people who steal things, but according to them it's pretty much not possible.

I think Bronson Arroyo just sucks, he has thrown batting practice all year. EDIT: I was at tonight's game, on a business trip. Great park, but the fans were weak. I thought Houston fans were weak, showing up late and being pretty quiet, but there were only 11000 people there, and no noise except when Griffey came to bat. I expected more from a team with such history.

No, there isn't.

I second that, having grown up in LA, 22 years there. Don't know about the border towns here, but small town LA can be downright scary.

Water vapor is a much worse greenhouse gas than CO2. Then again it has a saturation point in air, so its effects are short term (from a greenhouse effect perspective).

If you go to their website http://www.waterlightsdistrict.com/polling/ they are still taking votes for which restaurants to put in. That tells me they aren't even close. Or they suck at updating their website.

Definitely not trying to start any wars. I'm happy all the catholics are excited that their leader is here, and he does represent one of the largest do-gooding (new term) organizations in the world. Honestly I'm just trying to graduate from strip mall to single family home. Success!

I saw a stat that based on typical percentage of who are gifted/talented, China has more gifted/talented students than the U.S. has total students right now. Equally scary.

In 2004 there were guidelines established in the Official Journal of the European Union, it is mostly high level. Industry groups such as OSPAR have taken it to more detail as well. I don't know who does the verification, but I am sure that it has to be done. The guidelines specify acceptable methodologies and all the extra info you have to submit along with your numbers. I haven't kept up with it though, it's been over 3 years since I did work over there. I think this established guidelines for those who wanted to report and participate in the emissions trading scheme, it didn't state that everyone had to.

No I get what they believe, I'm just saying they're focusing on the wrong guy. They view him as holy and pretty much above other people, that he is the direct link to God on earth. It's supposed to be about Jesus according to the same Bible they share with the rest of the Christians. I do understand why it is a big deal, to them, however. Whatever floats their boat.

Industry is a long way from even accurately reporting CO2. I do this for a living, and I've worked with 3 out of the 10 largest companies in the U.S., and only one of them is close to an accurate emissions inventory. Even then there are numerous assumptions and factors that go into it that in the end put the numbers at +/- 35 to 50 %. I'm not saying they aren't emitting things, but to start reporting rankings and comparisons is a waste of time until emissions, worldwide, are derived with common practices/methodologies and are required to be certified by some (as yet non-existant) entity. Companies have been reporting criteria pollutants (CO, NOx, SOx, VOC, PM) for 18+ years now, so some of those methods are in place. But not for the GHG gases.

Yeah, I think Catholics pretty much miss the point of Christianity when they make such a big deal out of this guy. Not that he's a bad guy or anything, but just a guy. My opinion, whatever.

Gotta be the ridiculous prices at MMP. I whined about this in the Astros thread. I'm over it now, I plan to sneak my own junk in.

Does selective breeding count as GM? Probably in a literal sense, but they would have to keep that in mind when developing some kind of label policy. If it's just a black and white GM or not, some people will see that label and refuse to buy, when there's no real "mad science" going on anyway. I personally will eat almost anything except green peas (they are the devil) artificial sweeteners. Besides all the cancer causing warnings, real sugar is just too awesome.