5 Things about Texas that seem wrong yet work so well for some reason

[Taverner]

1 - AC and Baseball. This should not be good. This should make every real baseball fan scream in protest, and launch small pellet fire at the Minute Maid/Enron Stadium that hosts the Astros. That is, until you walk in from 95 degree gulf coast heat into 70 degree AC bliss. I think Kevin Smith summed it up best when he said (through his character Azrael) "Central Air...nothing more deadent!"

2 - Frontage road exits. Yes, in Texas they don't have the California Hairpin Exit. And at first this was maddening - to get to something you sometimes have to go over the freeway, and back around, then back down the same frontage you were on. But in hindsight, you can always avoid traffic by just taking the frontage. Plue the overpasses give great shady cover for the many sad luck stories of the Bush Governorship.

3 - Texas women. Yes theyre beautiful and have big hair. All are over 6 foot tall, and theyre ALL BLONDE. This is so terrible. So wrong. Yes...so wrong that I'm going to feel shameful the next time I'm at that strip club on Westheimer...

4 - W Stickers on the backs of cars. Yes, they have more of those than I have ever seen before, but the look of the Republicans feeling ashamed after Bush's piss poor performance after Katrina was PRICELESS. I even saw some taking theirs off, with a razor blade. You just had to be there.

5 - Gulf Coast Heat and Humidity. Normally, I like cool California evenings in my Prius, after a dinner with a Sonoma Pinot or Cab, followed by some reading of Darwin, Marx and/or Engels. But something about sitting around in 95+ heat with humidity, while drinking margaritas outside in a bar shaped like a boat (or was it a boat shaped like a bar) just worked.

[GOPisEvil]

1. As crazy as those frontage roads are, missing your exit is not as bad.

Most of the time, you can just go down to the next exit, take the turnaround (or make 2 lefts) and you're back to where you're going.

[Fenris]

3. I consider that a marvel of modern highway planning.

[GOPisEvil]

7. Brought to you by Aggies.

http://tti.tamu.edu/ :D

[yellowdogintexas]

30. I love living in a state where U turns are not only legal, but encouraged!

The loop de loop undercuts and or overcuts on our freeways are the bomb.

Only took me like 2 days to figure that one out.

I will say Fort Worth is extensively blessed with them, Dallas doesn't have them in quite the same abundance...but it is still pretty darn easy to self correct if you miss your exit.

I enjoy looping under the freeway with out of towners. The look on their faces is priceless. '

" No, not the left turn, the U turn...no not the middle left lane, the left left lane.." LOL

[alarimer]

38. What bugs me are the dumbasses that don't yield

The signs say "yield to ramp" but they don't always. I have had some very near misses here in Corpus where an exit ramp is way too close to an on ramp. Somebody getting on from the frontage did not even yield to me getting off and came within inches of hitting me. I hate the way the road is designed here; in some parts of the state it is okay. I think it is mostly bad planning/engineering by the city and bad driving by people who apparently don't know the first thing about the rules. Don't get me started on 4-way stops.

[VelmaD]

2. Uh...not all Texas women...

have big hair and we aren't all blonde. But we can all kick ass when necessary. :evilgrin:

[Taverner]

5. No they ALL do!

They all have big hair, all are over 6 feet tall and are all blonde.

Why? BECAUSEISAIDSO!!!!

That means you're really a blonde, your real name is Kimber and you have hair that adds an extra foot to your already tall stature of 6'3"....

AND YOU DRIVE A GMC JIMMY!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[VelmaD]

6. Nope. Ford F-150 BAYBEE!

I actually drove a 1982 F-150 when I was in college. I had to stand on a box to be able to check the oil. It was THE most macho car on campus...and that's saying a lot at Texas Tech.

[yellowdogintexas]

31. speaking up w/Velma for the short brunettes of the state...

and neither of us has big hair either, so THERE!!

[Texasgal]

13. Well..

they ain't all blonde.... some of 'em are red headed, I know... I am one!

:)

[Taverner]

16. No - You are blonde!

I said so thus it must be true!!!

;)

[Texasgal]

19. And my name is

Kimber too... :P

[Taverner]

21. yup!

Kimber to friends, Kimberlee (with a smiley at the end) to new acquaintences.

[Texasgal]

22. Annnnnd...

"she never mentions the words addiction... in certain company" :P

[AuntieM1957]

33. I may not be blonde or six feet tall

but as a Texas woman, I can kick ass.

So quit implying that 6ft tall and blonde is our uni-size.

Or you just might find out what kick a Texas red-head can deliver.

[Aristus]

9. Plus, you are all gorgeous and sexy!

Present company especially! ;-)

[VelmaD]

10. Aren't you just...

the sweetest thing. *smooch*

[Aristus]

12. Yes, I am. Thank you for noticing.

:7

[mwdem]

4. I just moved to Texas a couple of weeks ago...

& I love the frontage roads! It's so much easier to find your way on or off when you're constantly lost.

[Burma Jones]

8. I was nailed for speeding on a Frontage Road

I was dead drunk and had a 9mm Baretta in the Glove Box. The Officer gave me a warning and told me that if I wanted to do 90, I had to get off the Frontage Road and on the main highway.

Central Air is what shifted the balance of power to the South.......

[XNASA]

11. I'm sorry. I don't agree with 1, 2, or 5.

1. Baseball is meant to be played outdoors. Been to the old dome, been to Enron, excuse me.....Minute Maid. Neither compares favorably to Wrigley. Not even close.

2. The scheme, signage and traffic ettiquette in TX, especially in Houston is no fun. I think it has mostly to do with the fact that almost no public transportation exists and therefore, everyone must drive. I'll leave it at that.

5. You can have it. I lived it for 6 years. Never got accustomed to it.

But one thing I really did like was the food.

[Taverner]

14. Thing is a month ago I would have agreed with you on #1

I've been to Fenway, Wrigley, Yankee Stadium and yes there is nothing like seeing a game in these places.

HOWEVER, as oppressive as the heat was in Houston, the AC was a welcome sight.

[Bridget Burke]

25. A few comments on your comments...

1) I saw a game at Colt Stadium--the outdoor facility used before they were the Astros. Hot, humid & millions of mosquitos.

2) What do you think about frontage roads--subject of this comment? By the way, there IS public transportation for those who don't insist on living in far suburbia.

5) Don't care for the heat & humidity myself--but we don't get buried in snow.

I do agree about the food.

[Taverner]

26. The food is good in Texas...I didn't mention it because

I always thought Texan food being good was a no brainer.

However, I will challenge any Texan to a TexMex v CaliMex cookoff...Monterey Jack is THE ONLY cheese you should use on an enchilada :P

[Richardo]

15. #2: The frontage road turnarounds are the best highway design ever

Two lefts, no waiting. :thumbsup:

[redqueen]

17. I'm only 5'2.5" and brunette, so

:P

[JVS]

18. Can you direct me to some pictures to explain #1

I've never been to CA or TX

[Taverner]

20. Hmmmm not sure about pictures

But a little background info.

The Houston Astros play baseball in an air conditioned stadium. They were the first (I beleive) to do so, first with the Astrodome, then with Enron Field, which became Minute Maid field. It's bizarre - you're watching baseball, and you expect the sun shining on you, or to feel natural air, but its indoors and filled with AC.

As for the exits on highways, California highways have a habit of, 10 feet before the turn, suddenly veer right with "EXIT - THIS LANE ONLY!!!" and you have to suddenly cross 4 lanes and onto the offramp. You get used to this, and expect it - but the exits take you exactly where you want to go.

In Texas, however, all highways have a frontage road which follows the highway, and you exit and enter off these frontage roads. The roads are one way, so if you need a business on the Southbound frontage after travelling North, you have to do a U-turn and end up on the frontage going the other way.

[yellowdogintexas]

32. not ALL of the freeways have frontage roads but we are

working on it.

And there are still some two way access roads in some of the smaller cities and towns.

I like the access road because if I am not exactly sure of the exit I need, I can get off early and still get where I need to be. Or if I overshoot, I KNOW I can get back there on the loop under.

[huskerlaw]

23. I HATE frontage road exits!

HATE THEM. Mostly because, immediately prior to getting onto the freeway, you find yourself at a stop sign, needing to turn left. Which means when you get on the freeway, you're going about 20 mph. And the lane ends rather abruptly. STUPID, IMO.

[GOPisEvil]

24. Really? Our entrances are straight shots for the most part.

You go through the intersection, then speed up and enter the freeway. I think we need visual aids. :D

[southlandshari]

27. ROFL!

Number 5 - hahahahahahaha!

Maybe there is still hope for your elitist blue state ass, California!

:P

[Xipe Totec]

28. 6.- Vehicles moving to the shoulder to let you pass

I've only seen it in South Texas.

Darndest thing I ever saw. I'd be flying down a stretch of highway doing 80, come up to a pick-em-up doing 60, and by the time I'm ten car lengths behind, they've already moved to the shoulder to let me by.

Didn't even need to take my foot off the accelerator.

Now, that's Texas courtesy!

[AuntieM1957]

34. I think that was fear of being crushed by your speed. nt

[Xipe Totec]

35. You'd think so, but

in fact it is customary for slower traffic to move to the shoulder in South Texas. It comes from it being an agricultural area with narrow farm roads. Farmers driving tractors just get used to moving to the side to let faster traffic by, and the custom has caught on.

The road between Falfurrias and Edinburg Texas is one lonely stretch of road that goes on for hundreds of miles without a single curve.
80 mph is not fast enough to get through and back to civilization.

Besides, nobody driving a pick-em-up with a gun rack can be said to fear anything.

[battleknight24]

36. HOLY CRAP... were the only ones who do that?

By the way, I'm from Duval County... I thought EVERYONE across the US did that...

By the way, I'm not ignorant hick. I'm a young hispanic male who has been all over the US and to several foreign countries...

[khashka]

29. LOL!

Why didn't you let me know you were here? I woulda taken you to some great strip bars. (All the good ones are at the downtown end of Westheimer - big girls, big hair, big bosoms, we like things BIG in Texas!)

Khash.

[Skittles]

37. JAYSUS TAV YOU NAILED THE AC THING

I was visited my mum in Northern Illinois and they treated AC so GINGERLY - it was 95 degrees and I was screaming in the car TURN THE G.D. AC ON ALREADY! BLAST IT! And they asked me DO YOU ALWAYS RUN YOUR AC and I said YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disagree about the blonde thing though - I very rarely see a real blonde in Texas - all FAKE FAKE FAKE