You never know when and where you may run into old friends! Thursday morning I get a comment on Facebook from my friend Stephanie (not the one I'm living with) that her and her fiancee Ryan aka "Hup" are flying into Houston! Her family lives here now, so she they were visiting them for her birthday. Hup and Steph actually live in California now, but we know them from Indianapolis. So how random is it that we all meet up in Houston?!
So last night we decided to meet downtown, since we are on the southeast corner of the city, and they were all the way up on the northwest corner! We went to a club called Venue, which for you Indy folks is kind of like a more sophisticated Vogue. We had seen pictures online, so when we walk in to see a small lounge, and nothing else, we were a bit confused. Turns out the back wall is like a large sliding door that they opened up to reveal the rest of the club. Pretty neat! To our surprise however the dance floor was rather small. So we spent most of our time there in the lounge just catching up, and drinking $5 beers, which I didn't find any more tasty than the $2 variety.
We did get a little relief on our bar tab when the club owner decided to buy us all a round! How did we pull that off? Well we had told the girl at the front that we were from Indiana, and apparently she then told the owner, who came over and asked us, "So how did this group from Indiana all end up meeting here in Houston?" We had a laugh, explained our circumstances, and he offered us a round on the house! Sweet!
After Venue we decided we wanted to walk down the street to see if we could find maybe a $4 beer somewhere. So by the advice of a couple police officers we ended up at a chill bar called The Flying Saucer. We sat in a cozy booth and shared some chips, salsa, queso, ketchup, and cheese fries. Oh, and ranch. And just like that, it was last call (2am at most bars around here). So we said our goodbyes and headed back to the apartment, not stopping by the place that advertised "Steaks, Shakes, & Pancakes". Although that sounds like an appetizing combo, we were full from all the chips, fries, and multitude of dipping sauces that we had recently consumed.
It was a great Saturday night in Houston with some old friends from Indy who now live in Cali!
*Pictures will be posted as soon as Andy loads them to his computer
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
How is Texas Different?
Well I've been down here 2 weeks now, and here are a few little quirks I've noticed about how Texas differs from Indiana. First of all, people here must really love donuts, because there are donut shops on every street! Yet the obesity rate is probably lower than Indiana. I guess everyone is just more active, because the weather is more conducive to outdoor sports year-round. While we're talking food, there is a fast food restaurant here called Whataburger, which is bigger than McDonald's in these parts. And of course little Mexican restaurants everywhere, but that was to be expected.
So what is it like to drive around down here you ask? Well I'll tell ya. People either seem to fly, or putt. Not really much in between. And if you get stopped at a red light, you might as well get out and wax your car, because that light ain't changing for a while! There is no such thing as yield on green for left hand turns either, you gotta wait for that damn arrow! But don't think about running that red light, because they have cameras on most intersections that will take a picture of your license plate and mail you a ticket! But wait, there's a catch! It takes a picture of your front license plate, which as you are well aware, we do not have in Indiana! So looks like I can get away with running as many red lights as I please! :)
Those are just a few things I've picked up on. I'm sure I'll notice more the longer I'm here!
So what is it like to drive around down here you ask? Well I'll tell ya. People either seem to fly, or putt. Not really much in between. And if you get stopped at a red light, you might as well get out and wax your car, because that light ain't changing for a while! There is no such thing as yield on green for left hand turns either, you gotta wait for that damn arrow! But don't think about running that red light, because they have cameras on most intersections that will take a picture of your license plate and mail you a ticket! But wait, there's a catch! It takes a picture of your front license plate, which as you are well aware, we do not have in Indiana! So looks like I can get away with running as many red lights as I please! :)
Those are just a few things I've picked up on. I'm sure I'll notice more the longer I'm here!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The First Week
Ok, so now that I have some time, I will tell you all about some of the things I have done in my first week down here in Texas!
Starting with business...
I've knocked on a lot of doors! Yet, I've only been on one roof to this point! To make a long story short, there is a lot of competition down here. Everywhere I turn I see a contractors truck. Pretty much everyone that I have talked to has already had on average 3 contractors out to their house, and they already have a check from insurance. However, today things started looking up right from the beginning, as I woke up to a phone call from a homeowner who got the flyer I left on their front door. Also got a lead from the office, and both of those are appointments for later this week!
And on to the fun...
There is a lot to do down here! We have been to the beach a few times down in Galveston. There is still a lot of damage down there, but with some restoration Galveston would be a really neat place. The houses along the main street are huge, old Victorian houses, and they are beautiful, even with some of them being in poor shape. It's a neat area, and you can even drive out on the beach!
But the coolest place we have been to so far is the Kemah (pronounced key-muh) Boardwalk. We ate at a restaurant called Landry's there which has a theater looking sign on the outside that said "Nice Try Ike" and then when we got to our table on the wall was a little measuring stick showing where the water line was for various hurricanes. Well Ike was just under the ceiling! In just a few months they had completely gutted and remodeled that whole place! That's pretty crazy! Another night we went to a place called The Burger House where they have a 1 lb burger called "The Heart Attack" as well as a 1.5 pound burger they call "Triple Bypass". Well Andy & Steph had been there a few days earlier, and Andy couldn't quite finish the 1 lb burger, so I decided I would take on the challenge. Psh, no problem at all for me! Next time I'll go for the 1.5 pounder! Along the boardwalk is a lot more to do, including a lot of little shops, restaurants, rides, and a great view of the bay. Steph and I rode the rollercoaster known as the "Boardwalk Bullet" which was actually a pretty good ride! Andy was too scared to ride a rollercoaster that had been through a hurricane, haha! Actually good logic, but obviously they have inspected and tested it before opening it back up. So anyway, also on Kemah Boardwalk was this guy doing juggling and other crazy tricks with fire and the whole nine yards. Some pretty crazy stuff he did, like balancing a burning chair on his chin while spinning rings around his arms! But yeah, that was a fun evening!
Well that's all I can think of for now, but I'll be back soon for some updates!
Starting with business...
I've knocked on a lot of doors! Yet, I've only been on one roof to this point! To make a long story short, there is a lot of competition down here. Everywhere I turn I see a contractors truck. Pretty much everyone that I have talked to has already had on average 3 contractors out to their house, and they already have a check from insurance. However, today things started looking up right from the beginning, as I woke up to a phone call from a homeowner who got the flyer I left on their front door. Also got a lead from the office, and both of those are appointments for later this week!
And on to the fun...
There is a lot to do down here! We have been to the beach a few times down in Galveston. There is still a lot of damage down there, but with some restoration Galveston would be a really neat place. The houses along the main street are huge, old Victorian houses, and they are beautiful, even with some of them being in poor shape. It's a neat area, and you can even drive out on the beach!
But the coolest place we have been to so far is the Kemah (pronounced key-muh) Boardwalk. We ate at a restaurant called Landry's there which has a theater looking sign on the outside that said "Nice Try Ike" and then when we got to our table on the wall was a little measuring stick showing where the water line was for various hurricanes. Well Ike was just under the ceiling! In just a few months they had completely gutted and remodeled that whole place! That's pretty crazy! Another night we went to a place called The Burger House where they have a 1 lb burger called "The Heart Attack" as well as a 1.5 pound burger they call "Triple Bypass". Well Andy & Steph had been there a few days earlier, and Andy couldn't quite finish the 1 lb burger, so I decided I would take on the challenge. Psh, no problem at all for me! Next time I'll go for the 1.5 pounder! Along the boardwalk is a lot more to do, including a lot of little shops, restaurants, rides, and a great view of the bay. Steph and I rode the rollercoaster known as the "Boardwalk Bullet" which was actually a pretty good ride! Andy was too scared to ride a rollercoaster that had been through a hurricane, haha! Actually good logic, but obviously they have inspected and tested it before opening it back up. So anyway, also on Kemah Boardwalk was this guy doing juggling and other crazy tricks with fire and the whole nine yards. Some pretty crazy stuff he did, like balancing a burning chair on his chin while spinning rings around his arms! But yeah, that was a fun evening!
Well that's all I can think of for now, but I'll be back soon for some updates!
I Have Internet!
I finally have internet for real now instead of the little bit I could do with my Blackberry, so now I can actually post some stuff up for you guys! Not right now though, I gotta get going! Peace!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)