Church Garage Sale

Come the weekend people are focused on relaxing, doing chores, and extra curricular activities such as rummage sales. People grab stuff they don't want anymore and rather than throw it away maybe someone will want it and buy it! A couple of hundred people show up repeating "one man's trash is another man's treasure." people scope decades old movies, paintings, furniture, appliances (I wonder what that 80s model television set with the turn knobs went for), bicycles, and who knows what else! By the end of the day old stuff changes hands and life goes on.

Dot's Coffee Shop & Diner

For years while driving south on the Gulf Frwy (that's I-45 south for those not familiar with Houston) I noticed this sign. This restaurant is located at 7006 Gulf Frwy in Houston. It's part of the Pappas restaurant chain.











I don't know when it was actually built but the decor is of a 1960s/1970s diner and this is what attracted me to the place.















I finally decided I was going to stop in and eat. It helped being hungry as I ordered my first chicken fried steak in years and couldn't finish the plate. I even had coffee with it. I enjoyed the simulated retro dining experience with my coffee and looking at old pictures of Houston on the walls. I wish this 24 hour diner was near my job giving me another cozy place to eat at 4 in the morning.

When the City Sleeps 4

IHOP at 4 in the morning.

When the City Sleeps 3

A police station manned by a skeleton crew.

When the City Sleeps 2

Had the sign on the right not been blaring you could read the "OPEN" sign and beneath that another sign reads "come on in!" I took this at roughly 2:30 in the morning. It has to be an errant employee who forgot to turn off the sign otherwise who needs their taxes done at this hour?

When The City Sleeps

Enjoying my coffee at 4 in the morning while the rest of the world sleeps!

Creepy Castles

Andre Govia via Flickr

Martijn van Schie via Flickr

Who wouldn't want to go visit a castle? Despite the romanticized view of castle life portrayed on TV castle life wasn't all that comfortable. All that floor space with no running water and electricity made castle life rather difficult and dreary. Perhaps that's why all ancient castles are filled with the ghosts of misery, treachery, deceit, murder, and every negative human act imagineable. Yahoo compiled a slide show of creepy, abandoned castles that make for a nice virtual trip back into time.

Dead In the Dead of Night

Driving down a major street in SW Houston at 2 in the morning. Normally traffic on this street is heavy. I look to the left and see this funeral home. I've driven this route hundreds of times and I've never noticed this place. The hearse reminded me of the Tall Man in the Phantasm movies. This place which is the center of many sad tales of death and grief sitting dead in the dead of night.

Sign of the Apocalypse

A man in Seattle, WA, shared this picture with Coast to Coast AM. A very ingenious way of advertising. Just for that I wish I could make it up to Seattle to eat at this cafe!

Dirty Restrooms

Working nights one has a limited amount of facilities available to them. Perhaps the most crucial are restrooms. When you gotta go you gotta go however most likely you want a clean restroom to use. Problem is at 2am most clerks could really care less how their facilities look. They are usually bored, sleepy, unmotivated yet the last thing they want to do is clean a restroom. I feel sorry for ladies on the night shift that require a clean restroom. We men don't have to touch anything!

Late Night Grocery Shopping

I don't know anyone that enjoys grocery shopping. You have to jump in the car, maybe fight traffic, and then fight the crowds depending on when you go. However ask these people why don't they do their grocery shopping later at night and more often than not they will look at you like you're crazy (and if you grocery shop late at night you just maybe). The least appealing aspect is you spend more money than you intended to. I found myself having to grocery shop later in the night. I really didn't want to but when faced with the choice of going at night or Saturday afternoon I rushed out the door. As expected there were only a handful of people in the store shopping as well. Aside from a couple of families everyone else was by themself, had a blank expression on their faces that seemed to say they live their lives contrary to the normal swing as well and are going through the motions. That's about how I felt running from aisle to aisle grabbing stuff I needed, and stuff I thought I needed thus running up my bill. Perhaps that's just how I view it. Who knows why the other sappy looking people were shopping with me.

Vacant Apartment

This apartment has been vacant for some time. However in this complex there is a problem with homeless people breaking into these empty apartments and illegally taking up residence. Some of the more creative ones manage to break into the breaker boxes and get free electricity. They live comfortably until someone catches them. Imagine living here rent free but wondering when someone will notice.

Life At 3am!

The 24 hour convenience store. The only people in here is the bored night clerk, the occasional police officer looking for coffee, the random customer with business that can't wait.
The night shift worker's best friend. People keep telling me that the energy drinks are helpful however being a traditional guy I love my coffee. This set up looks impressive, offering a variety of caffeinated choice. However at 3am there are at the most 2 filled with coffee that was brewed who knows when. The cop and the frequent customer usually get the fresh pots.
This business center is packed in the day/evening time. All the spots are packed and at least a dozen people waiting for someone to vacate their spots. This place is a traffic nightmare. There was also a security guard sleeping in his car.

I ended the night at 59 Diner.