Man alive, am I ever enjoying the musical stylings of The Go! Team! I’ve got their track Ladyflash on the Sirius right now and it is pretty darn awesome. I highly recommend a look (iTunes link).
Just thought I’d share.
It’s still “move central” and “work central” (can there be two centrals?) here in electric get donkey! land. There is much afoot. We are set to leave H-Town during the last week in April. Saying “goodbye” to all of our friends has been tough, and the beautiful weather here has made going to winterland seem less attractive (I think it is still in the 40’s in Beacon). I’m also coming to the realization that I am really going to miss my neighborhood, but not so much my house anymore. Let’s just say it’s amazing how you can go from loving a house and hoping to spend the rest of your days in it, to just wishing it would go away and leave you a check for a few-hundred grand. That’s the beauty of trying to sell in what seems to be a (picky) buyer’s market here in the Heights.
That’s it for now. Whenever there is a break in the considerable action, I’ll try to post something. If you are “lucky” I may even post something from the road as we make the 1600 mile trek. I get to look forward to stops in Jackson, MS and Knoxville,TN, so if you live in either of these towns brace yourselves for the Bailey and Buddy Explosion.
March 30th, 2005
Posted by
Rob |
General comments, Leaving H-Town |
no comments
I posted earlier on something I would miss about Houston, and now I will post about the two main things I definitely will not miss. Warning: whiny venting ahead…
First, aside from Houston I have lived in, near, or driven extensively in the vicinity of the following major US cities:
Chicago
New York
Philadelphia
Washington DC
Baltimore, MD
Dallas, TX
Houston has, by far, the worst drivers of any of them. It’s not that the drivers are mean, overly aggressive (DC), or impatient (NYC), rather they are completely self-absorbed and/or oblivious to what is going on around them. One phenomenon I encounter nearly every time I drive on the highways here is what I have termed “clumping”. It occurs when several drivers line up next to each other across all available lanes of traffic and drive at the same exact speed. That speed is usually under the posted limit. No one passes anyone. Instead, they just line up next to each other and form a large clot of traffic behind them. TX really needs a law that prohibits people from driving in the left lane unless they are passing.
Things are no better on the side streets either. Among many other violations, red-light-running is far worse than anywhere else I have ever lived. In fact, I have heard rumors that in Houston’s Downtown, running red lights is an organized sport. Additionally, drivers here seem to find the use of turning signals a violation of their spirit of creativity or something. Almost every day when driving to and from the office on Houston Avenue, some driver pulls a maneuver I call the “Stop and Guess”. When completed at its most inconsiderate, the exercise involves a driver coming to a dead stop in a lane of traffic and, without signaling of course, waiting until they can turn left (doesn’t matter if they are in the right or left lane) and/or merge into the other lane of traffic. There are bonus points awarded when the drier waits several minutes and then gives up and continues on down the road.
Aside from the constant adventures in driving, the other thing I will miss least about H-Town is the lack of care and concern for our canine friends that some people here seem to exhibit. If you haven’t noticed by the layout of this site, Mrs. gd! and I have a soft spot for animals, so this issue really gets to me. I can’t think of one other place I have lived where I have seen so many dogs just roaming along the sides or middles of roads. They are sometimes tagged and rarely “fixed”, and when coupled with the way people drive around here, the result is often not pretty. In fact, there are certain roads I refuse to take at certain times of the day because I am sure that I will see a dog killed by a driver who is not paying attention. I’m not talking highways here, either, rather roads where the posted limit is 35 mph or under. It’s also not a matter of a couple of dogs getting loose once and a while. There are “regulars” on my routes around town and I often get anxious that one of them will be dead the next time I drive past their “spots”. I guess I’ll never understand why people get dogs if they do not wish to take even the minimal amount of care of them. I won’t even get into the issue of people who leave their dogs outside and unattended 24×7 in the Houston summer.
Okay, I’m done venting for now. The next post will be about something I will miss, namely the awesome restaurants in Houston.
February 21st, 2005
Posted by
Rob |
General comments, Leaving H-Town |
6 comments
This week will be my last one working in downtown Houston, so it probably marks the last time I will ever go spelunking in the Houston Tunnel System.
I get sentimental about the weirdest things, and the tunnels are definitely one of them. For all their dreary, dank stretches of water-stained, carpeted walls and worn out tile floors, navigating the tunnels is one of the coolest things about working downtown. On Houston’s hottest days, it is very convenient to be able to walk in air-conditioned comfort to just about any downtown building without having to step outside. It took me about a year to go down there and not get hopelessly lost, but once one masters the system, one becomes something of a happy tunnel Sherpa, guiding the lost to their destinations. One of my happiest tunnel memories was leading a family from the South Louisiana Tunnel (or “Ole Musty” as I call it), to the Tunnel Loop so they could go see the MLK parade. The kids couldn’t believe that there were so many cool things down there like Mc Donald’s.
The tunnels are steeped in lore. There are legends of the Houston Mole People who ventured down into the tunnels at the end of the eighties oil boom, but never found their way out again. There are also popular campfire stories about corporate bogeymen that haunt the old Enron tunnel entrance and try to trick unsuspecting little kids into adopting off the books accounting schemes. Well, not really, but it would be cool if there were such legends.
Houston Tunnels, get donkey! will surely miss ye.
February 21st, 2005
Posted by
Rob |
General comments, Leaving H-Town |
no comments
