houstongal has left 3754 comments

houstongal comments on Photos from Shanghai

Kalico - Not dangerous at all. Police can be seen at the subway stations, but overall they're not a particularly visible police presence in Shanghai. You'll see beggars at tourist areas such as the area around the boats in the photos above but they will pretty much leave you alone if you don't give them any money. I've been to Shanghai twice. Both times I would catch cabs, take the subway, and go shopping by myself. Never had a problem. But then I blend in pretty well, although I'm taller than the average Chinese woman.

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

Hey MT! Nice to see you back! How's the new location? You settling in OK?

houstongal comments on Are you ready for "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

Very good Monpirri! Any description to accompany that title?

houstongal comments on Are you ready for "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

Hmmmm....food for thought...could MuchoGringo be Medo? ;-)

houstongal comments on Hey TG!!!

Just a few more hours left of your special day TG! Hope it was a good one (and yes, I made it to Michigan)!

houstongal comments on Gifts?

Lila - Thanks...I'll remember to bring some for you! :-)

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

Guys...I just wanted to say thanks for a great discussion. Clearly we have a number of people with different expertise and knowledge to share on a pretty hot topic nowadays. :-)

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

CtgBound - I think the research dollars have been spent in geneticaly modified seeds to increase yield and make the plant resistant to heribicides rather than in farming techniques.

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

Thanks Tinto. You still know your Ag biz I see! ;-)

houstongal comments on New Japanese Law Requires Employers to Combat Obesity in the Workforce

To the top we go!

houstongal comments on Hey TG!!!

So...did you get her something special???? Good night guys....I have to finish packing and hit the sack. Again...TG have a great birthday! Be nice to your students!

houstongal comments on Hey TG!!!

You're supposed to say she's twenty-hrmmsjmn.

houstongal comments on Hey TG!!!

I knew it was late 20's, but I didn't know the exact age. Did you want Dan to publish it like that? ;-)

houstongal comments on Hey TG!!!

Happy birthday TG!!!! How old?! ;-)

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

Billy - That's interesting about the amount of corn that is used to produce ethanol. I assume the other parts of the kernel that is not used in ethanol is used as feed along with the cob and husk. You're right....the second generation processes will open up the options for feedstock. Very promising. Thanks Billy! (hi Monpirri...you're welcome!)

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

I don't know Tinto. We don't have snakes in Hawaii (thank you mongoose), but there probably were other vermin in the fields. As for the sharp leaves.....not sure about that either. I agree, mechanical equipment is bad news for unskilled laborers. But good news for heavy equipment operators and mechanics.

houstongal comments on

I don't understand why Fred Reed singles out the Americans. I was just in the Philippines and it's not only an American practice. Lots of guys from all countries seem to have Filipinas who were far younger than they were.

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

Ctg Bound - I think we were still ahead of our time (re: green materials) and there were also a lot of problems with the manufacturing process. At one point we even looked into buying a company that turned the wood into some really nice material for cabinetry and furniture (many of the Aveda spa and salons used it in their lobby area). I know that company was already in bankruptcy when we conducted the due diligence. I think at the time (early 2001 or 2002) people were not interested in paying a premium for green materials. Hopefully one day we'll see more alternative materials being used.

houstongal comments on bamacellist

I like that picture! Very cool!

houstongal comments on Scottys story

Elmo - I sent John your wishes and here's his reply. I think he's feeling a bit feisty. I had no idea he'd respond like this! ------------------- First off….im a Independent not a Republican. Second the slaughter wont be on the Republicans it will be on America. Third…well there is no 3rd, im just living day to day trying to survive a horrible cancer. Politics really don’t interest me much right now I have much bigger problems.

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

And they still do burn the fields in Louisiana. Burning sugar cane also smells pretty bad. Catfish...where did you experience burning sugar cane? CtgBound....my company used to sell fancy particle board (makes great floorboards) made with wheat stalks and polyurethane as the binder. Pretty impressive stuff. Imagine all those farmers that would normally till the stalks or throw it out would get paid to sell it to us. Unfortunately the market wasn't great and we ended up shutting down the business.

houstongal comments on Sorry seems to be the hardest word

jajaja.....GS. Why am I not suprised that you picked that? Now the question is ...... HOW?

houstongal comments on Scottys story

I just got the following from John personally. Y'all need to write or call him!!! ------------------------------------------- Yeah I just finished number 36 radiation treatment, now I will have 3 weeks off to recover, then I start chemo. Im more bored than anything, stuck in the house day and night. Please say hello to everyone on PBH for me. Take care, John/scotty

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

Really? I didn't know that Billy. That's excellent! I was concerned about that when I read this article. I always remembered the fires and thick black smoke after harvest (they no longer grow sugar cane in the islands). I'm glad to hear that they're able to use the entire plant in making ethanol.

houstongal comments on Colombia's Sugar Cane-to-Ethanol Industry

let's give this a sweet bump to the top

houstongal comments on Tribute to Rubito......

Wow...thanks for the update GL! No wonder none of the mods are saying anything. They just want this to die and be forgotten.

houstongal comments on The Great Colombia Investment Contest

Tejas - You're missing Dr. Pepper? I don't blame you one bit! I love that stuff and always miss it when I travel.

houstongal comments on Scottys story

The latest update about Scotty from his sister. Good news! I'm glad to hear that they separated the chemo from the radiation treatment. Doing it together was really hard for him. July 06, 2008 at 12:54 PM CDT Hi all, I just got a short email from John asking me to ..."say hi to everyone for me." He also reports that Monday is his last radiation treatment with chemo to begin in 3 weeks. Until then, he continues to rest. Debbie

houstongal comments on Ingrid can make a difference if she wants

Good commentary Roci. Let's hope she's smart and realizes the power she now has to keep the issue in the forefront. The war against FARC continues. The loss of their key hostages could make them want to seek revenge. Must keep the eye on the ball... The edit function still shows an hour for comments. I wonder if Peter didn't change that for posts?

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

I must have missed that comment. Too many posts lately.

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

Of course, trolls really aren't real so..... what were we talking about? ;-)

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

Yes GL...it is...go look at the New Features post. He's everywhere. He'll be deleted when Desi wakes up.

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

It was more for curiosity sake webmanco because Rubito has been around for a long time.

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

RJ....if you search on his name, it comes back as "no such user." That means he's been deleted. But sorry to hear of you're having personal problems. I hope all is well with you!

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

Of course, they could've asked him to stop using colorful language and he decided he'd rather leave than follow by the rules. I could see him doing that.

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

Exactly Raay! He was just posting the other day. I don't know why he would ask to leave. Although members do go missing periodically, there's a difference between dropping off and being deleted.

houstongal comments on Rubito is missing

bump to active

houstongal comments on New features

I admit...you have some decent posts thrown in there some times. Huskie - I think it's more psychotic roots. ;-)

houstongal comments on New features

Nah...don't you realize it's because we're always suspicious of newbies?

houstongal comments on New features

Give you up? You're so freaking obvious! No outrageous post tonight?

houstongal comments on New features

Ever changing Medo. Why can't that gf of yours keep you entertained?

houstongal comments on Tonight on CNN at 8 PM: 'The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt' Documentary

Oh come on huskie....you didn't figure out that it's 'desi can blow me'?

houstongal comments on New features

Is that you Medo? My guess is it is. The grey shading is to indicate that you've read all the comments in the post.

houstongal comments on kat1

I actually go to a spa and actually get microderms done professionally. But I must admit, that the best (and least expensive) was the microderm I got in the Philippines. Three of us spent 3 hours getting a facial with 3 or 4 treatments and came out with fresh shiny faces. The guy's face was so clean that even his wife noticed when he came home a week later (all of the blackheads on his nose were gone). My treatment got rid of over-pigmented spots (I love the sun a bit too much). It was the best money I've ever spent on myself!

houstongal comments on kat1

Kat....I think I just lucked out with good genes. But I do also go get facials, microderabrasions, and moisturize my face like crazy. Maybe it helps? I don't know. Thanks for your compliment! Coming from a beautiful lady like yourself, that's quite an honor!

houstongal comments on New features

Thanks a bunch Peter! Now I don't have to nag you to get them done!

houstongal comments on Dan

Don't you just feel loved?! Be safe!

houstongal comments on ***Colombian Peso 1733***

GS....if you look carefully in the years that Clinton was president the increases were smaller and the debt actually started to decline.

houstongal comments on Mona, Brazilianhottie, Lucas Freley and DodgerDogs

Gee Monpirri...what part of Texas do you live in!

houstongal comments on 'The Office'

One of my favorites MaFe! I thought they did a nice job this year by putting Earl in jail. Gave it a fresh perspective.