Why not have both? Then you won't have to worry about the "festering pit; a pustule of a fistula set athwart the miasmic swamps of the armpit of the Gulf of Mexico - a Godforsaken wart upon a dark crevasse of the World. (IAH)" that we both call home, since you'll never be there. And BTW, based on this article in today's Chronicle, it looks like your description of H-Town is more accurate than ever.

To throw my hat into the game, only have 2k miles booked for January as of right now.

But that's fixin to be bumped up by about 12,000 (miles depend on whether or not I stop in IAH or take the direct from EWR) once my project dates get a little more closely defined.

Haven't had to do the cross-country commuting thing for a while. I predict I'll be sick of it by the end of January. :rolleyes:

I had not considered this, and it is an excellent suggestion.

As for the article...GROSS

Yeah, pretty gross indeed. And I live right off Brays Bayou. But are you really surprised by it? I mean, within a few miles of where I live there are two sewage treatment plants that are right on the bayou.

No. In my Houston Haters OMNI Thread, I noted that Buffalo Bayou downtown can smell especially septic in the summer at times...

Speaking of which, time to go revive an OMNI Thread :p

I have such a love/hate relationship with Houston. Hate the stinking, polluted waterways we call bayous, hate the traffic (although I don't deal with it that much between rarely being there on weekdays and living inside the Loop), hate the sprawl, hate the climate. On the other hand, I love the people I know there, the fact that it's hard to get bored since there's always so much going on, the reasonable cost of living for a city of its size is great, and there are some very nice parts of the inner city, especially near where I live. And of course having a major airline hub (really two if you count WN at HOU) makes travel pretty darn easy.

But it's looking more and more like 2008 will see me leave the city I've called home for almost 8 years now. The strange thing is I know I'll miss it, and I'm sure I'll still see it on a pretty regular basis, whether from the air connecting through IAH on CO, or for weekend visits to see friends and family.

Wow, you pretty much summed up my feelings exactly. The living expenses are little higher than certain parts of the Metroplex but they're manageable.

Some point in the next three years will see me leave as well. Where are you headed? Or can you not say?

Chicago is a very likely candidate, but that may not happen in 2008. There's a chance I may be in Atlanta for a year or two. But nothing is definite yet, as it's another 9 months before any move will happen.

Atlanta's a decent destination. I lived there for two years and was quite happy. However, that was my first two years of undergrad, so it was pretty-much a constant stream of keggers and sleeping in until noon. :D

Yeah Atlanta's not bad. It's grown on me, which is good, since I'm there just about every other weekend these days. Of course there's that little problem with water they're having. I could stand it for a few years.

But the long-term goal is someplace more northern.

Living in Atlanta right now makes Houston seem like a beacon of civilization. I'd much rather live in Houston then Atlanta. For one thing, there is nothing resembling urban planning in Atlanta. Second, the drivers in Atlanta are atrocious and have a tendency to hit and run. Finally with the exception of downtown Houston the cub scene is no where near as pretentious as Atlanta. I like a chill place.

It turns out I was underqualified at the time, but about two years ago I had a line on a job that was constantly 10 days out and 4 days home, with 3 locations within each 10-day set. I would have become the Crown Prince of Connections.

Yep, and that's exactly why neither one of us wants to be in Atlanta long-term.

CO's New Nut Specifications
 

Attention Aviation Enthusiasts, CO is now employing 1/2-13 Hot Dipped Galvanized Nuts (Part No. PHHHN1213HDG) as fasteners to anchor the ceiling panels to its fleet of 737NG aircraft. The casual observer will not be able to tell the difference...but the true enthusiast will gain that extra bit of pleasure on future CO flights, knowing that CO is the first to push the envelope a notch further, by moving away from those oh-so pedestrian Grade 2H 1/2-13 Slotted Nuts (Part No. PHHHN1213HDQ). I'm already adjusting my flying patterns in hopes that I'll be one of the first to fly on the newly equipped birds. :p

Remind me to never buy you a beer :p

I would like to know what aircraft will have these galvanized nuts so that I can point them out to the unsuspecting person sitting next to me in the middle seat, and then make some comment such as "I installed them but I did it by hand, man, I hope they hold!".