Tag Archives: Houston

Dirtiest cities in America

Posted on June 21, 2011 | Comments Off on Dirtiest cities in America

Thirteen made the list and two of them are in Texas.

(Drum roll, please.)

Houston. And Dallas-Fort Worth. (Cymbal crash.)

Why am I not surprised?

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Posted in Scribbles, Texana

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Houston after Ike

Posted on September 18, 2008 | Comments Off on Houston after Ike

The Texas Rainmaker, who did not evacuate, has a good post on the storm, the aftermath, and the continued deprivations in the old (1830s-40s) capital of Texas. His photographs tell the story of downed trees and signage, blocked roads and long lines at gas stations and groceries better than words. Our evacuated friends from Kingwood, on Houston’s northwest side, are still in Austin, but not staying at the rancho as they have two dogs. A wonder they found a hotel that would take the dogs, but they did.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Scribbles, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Evacuating Houston

Posted on September 15, 2008 | Comments Off on Evacuating Houston

Mom’s friends who live in Kingwood, on the northeast side of Houston, didn’t choose to evacuate before Hurricane Ike arrived. But, now, they’re thinking about moving to Austin temporarily, if they can find a motel. Many of them already are full with other evacuees. We may wind up taking them for a few days.

Like blogger Melissa Clouthier, a chiropractor who lives in the Woodlands, on the northwest side of the city, they’re tired of the squalor. The power is out, so there’re no lights, no air-conditioning, no water, and no refrigeration. The phones don’t work, and cell phone service is spotty. Their neighborhood grocery is open but they have to use what they buy pretty quickly or it will spoil. Even their employers are without power and therefore shut down. It’s like a return to the 19th century, without the ice deliveries.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Scribbles, Texana

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Mosquito repellant

Posted on September 14, 2008 | Comments Off on Mosquito repellant

It’s bad enough to have no air-conditioning on a sticky, hot September night in Houston and Galveston, where most neighborhoods have no power and aren’t likely to get any for some days yet.

But the mosquitoes. Yipes. Especially if you hadn’t stocked up on repellant beforehand. And, now, with all that standing water. Fortunately, a cold front is due through Texas this afternoon. These are the last days of summer. A few nights at sixty degrees should cut back on the mosquito population pretty thoroughly. But getting the electricity back on may take longer. Glad we haven’t lost it in Austin.

UPDATE:  We actually got some rain overnight. Well, a sprinkle or two. Probably due to the impending cold front more than whatever’s left of Ike, which is way far east of here.

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Posted in Weather/Climate

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Memo to Houston

Posted on February 20, 2008 | Comments Off on Memo to Houston

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In case Barry’s campaign workers in the Bayou City didn’t get the word. 

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Posted in Texana

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Sharp humor ahead

Posted on December 29, 2007 | Comments Off on Sharp humor ahead

Cobb vows to be funnier, skewier, in ’08. I can relate. Also to his dismissal of a certain overcrowded city to our north as Fart Worth. But while I agree that Houston is an armpit, I would disagree that it’s the one of the South. That label still goes to Atlanta, still the place everyone down South has to go through even on the way to hell.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Texana

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Tropical Depression Nine

Posted on September 12, 2007 | Comments Off on Tropical Depression Nine

That low that’s been churning off the Texas coast for several days has now been declared a tropical depression, south-southwest of Galveston and moving north at six mph. Tropical storm warnings have been issued from Port O’Conner, Texas, to Cameron, Louisiana. It’s forecast to be a tropical storm shortly before making landfall on the Texas coast tonight.

UPDATE: Whew. That didn’t long. It’s Tropical Storm Humberto now and it’s cooking and ready to go. An AF recon sent to measure it returned to base with mechanical problems. But another is on the way. It better be. This thing is moving as fast as Allison did six years ago. Hope it doesn’t have as much rain in it. The ground all along there is ripe for flooding as it is already saturated.

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Posted in Weather/Climate

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