houstongal has left 4188 comments

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Help! Marriage Question.

Wow! Congrats Mitch on settling down. She must be a very special girl. Best wishes to you both!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Cusco

I stayed in Ollantaytambo in Sacred Valley at Hotel Pakaritampu. Really lovely place and the train station is right down the hill. Plus there are other ruins in the area to see in Ollantaytambo. Check Tripadvisor.com because I've posted photos on there in 2006. I admit that I splurged and stayed at the hotel at MP. Had a beautiful jr. suite and it cost a pretty penny ($600/night), but it included breakfast and an awesome dinner and I could get up and walk a few yards to the entrance of MP. At night it was great watching everyone leave the park as we sat on our balcony, read and watched the tourists leave. Quite a special splurge.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on "Secret" beaches etc...

I don't know about secret beaches, but I do know that the place I stayed at in Krabi had beaches that were near deserted. I stayed at Nakamanda Resort & Spa (expensive, but the service was top-notch), which is near the Sheraton. There are also other hotels in the same area. I spent a week there in February and felt like there were so few people staying that the beach was almost all mine! The best thing was a "Jamaican" bar on the beach near the hotel, which I spent every afternoon to watch the sunset. Perfect view. Great owner. I'll post photos.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on chock

sorry i missed seeing your comment to me chuck. what is it that you want to know about houston? lots of great things to do and places to eat. depends on where you live and what you like to do though.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Cusco

i agree sloop! and they would miss so much in their rush to see it and get out!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Hotels or apartment in Cusco

lodging in cusco can get expensive. have you considered looking for alternate accommodations in ollantaytambo in the sacred valley? the train ride from ollantaytambo to MP is shorter than cusco. it's a small town so places are more reasonable.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Cusco

you also have to take the fog or weather in cusco into consideration when you're planning your flights. any delay and it would screw up other legs of your trip (i.e., the train to MP which takes hours from cusco). there's no way to do this as a day trip from lima. plus you need to spend a couple of hours at a minimum walking around the ruins.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Staying at Villa River Cat in Mandrem, Goa, with a baby

That's still a pretty good price (to me anyway) Peter! That's a pretty funky bathroom too!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on never go by looks

I had read about this and am glad you posted it for use to see ujay. What a heart-warming performance.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Leaving Sturday!!!

Yea! I love Mumbai as well. I can't wait to return. Glad to hear you enjoyed Mumbai!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on easter egg dye?

I've dyed eggs with onion skins too Desi! One year I made pretty designs with leaves and flowers pressed against the egg then wrapped tightly with pantyhose. I would imagine tumeric would turn eggs a bright orange if paprika turns eggs a light orange.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Goodbye Scotty......

PBH community - For all the bickering that occurs on this site, you all have been very gracious in this thread. I'm proud to have you as friends. I received this email a few minutes ago. Please click on the link and send a message to his family. -------------------------- If any of you are not aware of it, the following is the obituary for John that appeared in the The Arizona Republic on 4/9/09. You will also note that there is a Guest Book on the site that allows friends to send a message to the family. John was a very special person and he will always have a special place in our hearts. Bill Walmach Succasunna, NJ http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=125912885

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Goodbye Scotty......

Just to let you all know, I posted a link to this thread on John's CarePage so that his family can read the messages his friends are leaving him. I don't know if his family knew that we were a part of his life.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Fonseca starting US tour

I saw him last year at MegaFest. He's so short! But he was a good performer. Great that he's returning to Houston! Too bad I won't be in town. :-(

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Great News: Scotty called me and he is Cancer free and in remission for 3 months now.

Yet another update..... John's PET scan results came back with cancer in his spine. He starts radiation treatment next Monday. His doctor sounds optimistic. Let's hope this next round is it. No mas!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on some good advice

uh oh.... i have a friend who is getting together a group to go sky diving next month. i guess i shouldn't have agreed? i need to face my fear of heights. i hear it can help.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Great News: Scotty called me and he is Cancer free and in remission for 3 months now.

Just wanted to give y'all an update. John sent me a couple of emails last week. He went for a PET scan last week and gets the results back on the 20th. This will let him know whether or not he's really cancer free. We all need to send positive thoughts and prayers next week. :-)

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on

What a fun little video and great to see Mary Ann looking wonderful after all these years! I'm trying to figure out what one would then do with the potato. Cooking it for 15 minutes isn't really long enough to mash it. And I doubt it's cooked enough to make potato salad with it.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Welcome

I agree Greg! The diesel fumes are awful in Manila. The pollution is pretty bad as well. Best to get out and head to the beach!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on The staring question

Thanks ankits. I ignore the autoricks and don't give them positive signals. But I still think the stares I get in India are vastly different than the looks I get in other countries (especially Latin American ones). I'll take a Latino stare to an Indian stare (sorry!). Next time I'm heading to Mumbai, I'll let you know and maybe we can grab a coffee when I'm in town?

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Leaving Sturday!!!

Have a great trip! I hope to get to Goa some day.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on whitewidow

Thanks for the welcome back Whitewidow. My travel schedule has been ridiculous the last 4 months that I lacked time to spend on PBH. Nice to see familiar faces in PBH....along with the new ones.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on A New trend

Well Darloup, in a professional environment, I would expect to see proper English being used. Writing like a teenager in a business setting makes one appear immature. If you're in a business setting writing properly is expected, especially if you're working for a large multinational company. I don't care if they write like a teenager in their IM communications, but in a business document they should write like professionals.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on A New trend

OK Darloup....who did you kidnap and how much to release him/her? ;-)

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Weird Man Puts Hyperactive Pussy In Bong And Smokes Away

Douglas dear...it's one thing to blow smoke in an animal's face, but another to put it in a box. That's pretty cruel.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on A New trend

The mixed capitalization makes it look like a ransom note with letters cut out from magazines or newspapers. I remember years ago it was cool to write handwritten notes in all lower case like e. e. cummings (I admit...I'm guilty of doing that). Similarly, I think the mixed capitalization will eventually disappear. But the use of slang and texting abbreviations is a growing problem. I was recently in India and had suffered through reading my colleagues' work. Indians text like crazy because sending and receiving SMS's are free. Unfortunately, they're so used to texting that they sometimes write as if they're texting. No punctuation, use of slang and abbreviations. I had to tell them to write proper English. And these guys are not teenagers.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on

Have a wonderful birthday Desi!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on

I did! Great news about Scotty! Yeah, I'm glad to not have to travel for a few weeks. But it starts back up again at the end of March. I have a short window to get some work done around the house.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Great News: Scotty called me and he is Cancer free and in remission for 3 months now.

didn't we say that we would gather in colombia once scotty recovered from his treatments? glad to hear he's recovering and doing well. thanks for the update!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on

Late coming into this post. Been too busy (productive?!) traveling to spend much time on PBH. But I'm home for the month of March so I'll try to pop in a bit more.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Father at 13!!!!!

Hmmmm....his father "fathered" 9 kids? And it sounds like they're not with the same Mom. No wonder this boy is a father himself at a young age. Dad himself doesn't know what protection is either!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on MitchAlvarez

Now who's that handsome man?! ;-) Like the photo Mitch!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Slumdog Millionaire

And the film won the Golden Globe award for Best Drama, Director, Screenplay, and Musical Score!!! Peter - They're releasing the film in India next week...hope you get a chance to catch it!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Slumdog Millionaire

I'm pleased to report that Slumdog Millionaire won 5 Critics' Choice awards yesterday, including Best Picture. It also got best director, writer, star and composer. ☺

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on an applause for the ladies of pbh.

It's nice to be appreciated by you guys. Thanks for remembering that we exist.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on

Oh come on CG....I hate it when you guys put all of us NA women in the same bucket. I hate shopping at the Galleria! I love T J Maxx (and Loehmann's, Nordstrom Rack and Off-Fifth). I'm just as dumbfounded as you guys as to how some women can spend $300 on a pair of shoes. There are still a lot of us who are a whole lot more practical than that. Please give us a bit more credit.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Update on Scotty

Bad news today from John's sister: "Hi all, I heard from my sister today after John's doctors appointments. He has been experiencing extreme intestinal distress slowing his weight gain and stalling further progress . As earlier reported, he had been doing well on real food again but this new problem has interfered with that progress and the doctor decided to keep him on the feeding tube until the intestinal problem is resolved and he gains more weight. We're happy for the OVERALL progress to get to this point, but are disheartened at this set back. Keep John in your thoughts and prayers as he battles to get over this final hurdle. Debbie"

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Update on Scotty

Let's hope he returns to PBH soon!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Happy 2009!

Frank - You should've stayed in Honolulu for New Year's. My neighbors went all out. About 10 minutes of firecrackers popping (they had a LONG line of firecrackers on the street ending on a pole in the middle of the road) and 3 rounds of aerial fireworks. Truly amazing.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Happy 2009!

Happy New Year boys! I step away for dinner and I come back to y'all chatting away. It's not the new year in Hawaii yet - 3.5 hours left. Frank - The trade winds are down today so the smoke is gonna linger tonight. The firecrackers I can handle, it's the illegal aerials that are gonna make me deaf. And sorry, but I return to Houston on the 2nd (I only have a couple more days to perfect my tan!). One day we'll be on the rock at the same time. Maybe next Christmas!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Happy 2009!

I'll be home with my parents going deaf with the firecrackers being set of by the neighbors. As Frank Rizzo knows, New Year's eve gets crazy in Hawaii. Happy 2009 everyone!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on The staring question

OK....the staring by the autorickshaw drivers was quite intense. I deliberately wore long skirts and clothes that didn't reveal much skin, but the stares were unlike any I have ever experienced. The men stare without expression. No smiles. Just a blank face. I can handle it if they would smile, but the expressionless look can be disturbing. The autorickshaw drivers would turn their head and stare while driving or stop right in front of me and stare. According to a native Mumbai resident, "Indian men....are like that...they stare with no intention at times, but mostly it is if they see something more than what is normally seen. Like, cleavage, a lot of your legs etc....its a real turn on for most low class men like the rickshaw drivers and men on the roads."

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Old Childhood Photos

very cool that someone commented on this to bring this up to the top of the board. c'mon newer pbhers....post your childhood photos!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Slumdog Millionaire

Go see the movie! Post your thoughts!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Bienvenitos! Houstongal!

And in '64 I was 4.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on New features

Peter - Why change the wording from "Latest" to "Start"? I'm not sure "Start" makes sense. I'm not crazy about "Active" requiring 2 clicks either. Everytime you hide the Active, we complain. Too many of us like being able to click once and get the list of active posts.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Bienvenitos! Houstongal!

Wow.....thanks for the welcome guys! I got back Friday morning (I missed the snow CG!). Although I slept on the plane, it was about 24 hours of traveling (thanks to the time difference) and I was tired. I'm back on a normal schedule now. But I leave on Wednesday morning to fly to Hawaii to spend the holidays and my b-day with my family. I can't seem stay away from flying! At some point my body will catch up to whatever time zone I'm in I hope!

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on Hot of the presses: now 6 months!

Wow....6 months in India? Are you going to be in one city the entire time? I'd love to do 6-months in India, even if it was just to work the entire time.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on houstongal

Not yet Lila...in about 24 hours I'll be home! Yeah...it's a long trip.

houstongal (Trustee board) comments on houstongal

You boys are sweet to think of me! I leave tonight (Thursday) and will be home Friday morning. I am looking forward to being back, although I'll surely miss being in India.