Van Pooling From Midtown Houston To Work

Camaraderie, pizza parties, and friendships aren't what you would expect rush hour traffic to promote and surely, not the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about vanpools.

However, these extrinsic benefits are being extolled by long-time vanpool riders in the Houston area.

If you're ready to take the soaring gas price tiger by the tail and would love to read your way through traffic jams as you commute to and from work, then vanpooling from Midtown Houston to your job should be a welcome transportation alternative for if you travel 15 or more miles to work.

Commuter Bucks

There are other benefits of parking the family car and riding with a group of co-workers or neighbors that work close to your job. Topping the list is the lower maintenance cost of operating your personal vehicle.

Some employers offer subsidies if you share a ride to work. The latest Commuter Choice tax incentive makes up to $115 tax-free per month available for workers that travel to work via public transit and qualified "vanpools."

This growing range of incentives from employers can include parking fees, cash and commuter bucks, which are used toward the monthly vanpool service charge for riders of VPSI commuter vans. The Troy-based company manages 4,000 vanpool routes across the U.S. and Europe.

How To Get Hooked-up With A Ride

If you're game for some alternative ways to get to and from work check out these on-line places that can put you in touch with other like-minded Houstonians. A few have been added to the list since my last vanpool post, "Vanpooling In Houston" any of them are good starting points for your journey.

• eRideshare.com
  
• Vanride.com
  
• Rideshare,meetup.com
  
• PickupPal.com
• CommuteSolutions.org
• MetroVan
  

Public transportation can't meet all the demands of our growing city and with the economy reeling back and forth vanpooling from Midtown Houston to work is a smart and easy way to keep more of your hard earned cash in your pocket.


.

Link To this post!

Walking Dinosaurs and Local Art on Display in Houston

(image courtesy BBC.co.uk)

The $20-million-dollar production “Walking with the Dinosaurs- The Live Experience” comes to Toyota Center now thru April 6th 2008.

“At the dawn of the age of the dinosaurs, the world was very different, according to,” Dr Jo Wright, scientific advisor of the BBC program “Walking with Dinosaurs”. The continents of the “Triassic Earth” were configured differently than today‘s land arrangements.

All the land masses on the planet, including Midtown Houston believe it or not, were joined together into one huge continent called Pangaea. It stretched from pole to pole and its central region was a vast inhospitable desert.

At the top of the food chain were the walking dinosaurs. Based on a BBC television series, “Walking with the Dinosaurs” the life-sized reproduction will feature 15 artistically created life-like dinosaurs, interacting in a realistic prehistoric setting created on the Toyota Center arena floor. Come learn their stories and marvel at the creatures who dominated the earth for 200-million-years.

If you want to see more about these fascinating creatures visit BBC.co.uk Prehistoric Life on the web. There you will find other articles, games and information on the dinosaurs from the BBC TV program.

Call 1-866-4-HOUTIX for more info.
[Where: Toyota Center 1510 Polk Houston TX ]


Project Row House: Eclectic Installations
(image from PRH.org)

Located just a few blocks east of Midtown Houston, are ten of the twenty-two row houses in the 2500 block of Holman that are dedicated to art, photography, and literary projects, by Project Row Houses. PRH’s work is founded on the principle that art and the community that creates it, can revitalize even the most depressed of inner-city neighborhoods, for the mutual good of existing and future residents.

It's inspired from the work of African-American artist, Dr. John Biggers, who,

celebrated the social significance of the shotgun house community in his paintings.

The current exhibit runs through June 24, “Round 26” "People, Places, and Things of the Northern Third Ward": includes photographers, digital media, installation and multi-media artists.

* Barsamian - Painter by Discipline, Installation Artist
* Thurman "T" Brown - Digital Media Artist, Photographer, Writer
* Ray Carrington - Photographer
* Rita Duffy - Painter, Belfast, Ireland
* J. Hill - Sculptor, Installation Artist, Oral Historian
* Lynne McCabe - Interdisciplinary Artist, Great Brittain

Their works engages viewers, by capturing residents of the community as they reflect and/or tell the stories of this important Midtown Houston area.
PRH’s artist community is worthy of your support. After a decade of successfully generating programs that combine arts and cultural education, historic preservation, and community development.

Project Row Houses is free and open to the public, Wednesday through Sunday, 12:00 - 5:00PM. Group tours can be scheduled by calling 713.526.7662.
[Where:2505 Holman Street, Houston TX]

Commuting Solutions in Houston



If you carpool to work in the Texas Medical Center (TMC), Midtown Houston or even other participating cities, you can win a new car. But, you can’t win if you don’t enter the Challenge event.

This unique contest will reward you for carpooling. The rules for participating require that you simply register your carpool, and every ride sharing trip you record on the “NuRide” web site will give you one entry into the sweepstakes.
Whenever a million mile milestone has been reached, a winner will be randomly selected from all the entries recorded since the prior milestone. The winners of milestones 1-9 will receive a special reward provided by a sponsor plus a $500 Visa gift card. The winner at the 10 million mile milestone will win a hybrid car valued at up to $30,000!

If you live in Midtown Houston or work in the area and you would like to find a ride with a vanpool, carpool or NuRide, you can check the NuRide website to get the hook up with a group in your area.

Link To this post!

Tips for Moving into a Home or Apartment.

Flkr Photo

Weekends are known for having the shortest days of the week, so people try to squeeze 36 hours out of each of its 24 hour days.
We all have lots to do, nobody seems to have any spare time. I don’t know who came up with the term spare time and I surely don’t know anyone who has time to spare, do you?
Especially, if you’re one of the thousands of people that will spend this weekend moving into a new house or apartment. I’ve collected several resources for anyone planning to move into Midtown Houston, so that the rigors of moving don’t take all the fun out of such a happy occasion.
First let me give you some tips,

Tips for Planning Your Move.

Plan your move in advance.
When asking for an estimate give an accurate count of boxes, types and size of furniture.
Get any price quotes in writing.
Ask about forms of payment in advance.
Review details of the moving company's insurance claim procedures.
Check your homeowners or renter's insurance to see if it covers moving accidents.
Don’t turn of utilities until after you have finished moving.
Ask a friend or family member to help you supervise the move.
Never sign blank forms or document that you don’t understand.

How to Save Money on Your Next Move

Everybody can’t afford to hire a moving company, or if you’re like me, a reformed cheapskate who just prefers to do it yourself, here are few ways to save on your moving cost.

Pack and load your own stuff and pay just for the delivery truck.
Buy used boxes and packing material.
Have a yard sale to get rid of stuff you never use.
Donate gently used items to charity.
Keep all of the receipts.
Deduct your move and donations on your taxes.

My brother suggested that I mention his cost cutting measures too.
Borrow a truck from a friend or family member.
Throw away anything/everything you don’t need.
Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Kool-aid to keep the workers energized.
Throw a move my furniture party.
Never move anything you can’t put inside your car.
Invite your friends to help you move and pay them in IOU’s.


Resources for a Successful Move.

There are more things I’d like to recommend if you want to save a buck when moving out of your home or apartment. The good people at FrugalFun.com have six cost saving tips for moving, penny-pinching ideas and tip sheets on tons of stuff.

The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration did a good job with your tax dollars and put together a moving checklist with helpful websites and telephone numbers.

Martha Poage moved her family nine times in eleven years, so she organized her best practical advice into a book "The Moving Survival Guide" it’s a handy tool for those of us who move less frequently.

Link To this post!