Archive for October, 2008

List is ignored, painter profits

Published
by
Conor
on October 31, 2008
in Uncategorized and painting - interior
. 1 Comment

Back in August my roommate* [*name withheld to protect my rent from increasing], who happens to be my landlord, decided to have the house painted.

Learning of his plans, I quickly stepped in, volunteering my Angie’s List membership to help locate a good painter. I pulled three names from the List, all highly rated of course, and gave their contact information to my roommate. But he decided against using any of them. The result? The painter started in September and just finished last week.

I’m not knocking Billy** the painter [**name changed to protect his self-worth] as a person. I just think he should find another profession. My roommate is a commercial real estate agent, and Billy worked on some of his properties in the past. The main reason he rolled with Billy was the price. Billy came cheap.

But Billy completely underestimated the job. He didn’t know how to deal with dry rot, failed to scrape or control a power washer properly and was just physically unable to perform the job in a timely manner.

Warning: If you ever hire a painter and he shows up limping with a cane, find someone else.

Billy: I feel bad telling you this, but you need to find another profession. Physical labor isn’t for you. Plus you smoke, play loud music and my yard looks like you took a cheese grater to the outside. Not only does it look like you failed to clean up, it looks like your goal was to leave the exterior paint in bacon bits across my front and back yards. Plus, you should consider covering up some of those drug-related tattoos. Now that I’ve lambasted Billy, I have something for my roommate.

Roommate: Please listen to people! Now what’s the point of having the List as a resource if you don’t use it? It stinks that I don’t own this home. I would’ve used the List to get this job done in a three days rather than two months. And don’t ever go with the lowest estimate! Lowest estimate typically means the lowest quality. I’m sure he was the cheap choice, but I’m convinced Billy brought down the neighborhood property values at least $100,000.

Look for this report on Angie’s List Indianapolis.

Conor is an associate editor for Angie's List magazine. He has a cat named Kanye and a puppy named Sherman, his favorite movie is Back to the Future, he loves playing basketball and his favorite place is his couch.

Halloween at the List — and with the List

Published
by
Liz
on October 31, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Happy Halloween! Here at Angie’s List, we have plenty of tricks and treats. Quite a few Angie’s Lister’s dressed up for the occasion, and we even had a costume contest this morning. (At left is a picture of last year’s contestants.)

Among the costumes this year: Hermione, Cookie Monster, and the whole Scooby Doo gang.

Besides preparing for the holiday with things like costume rental and holiday decorating (who says that’s only for Christmas?), there are plenty of reasons for you to check the List after Halloween, too. If you ate too much candy, Angie’s List can help you find a dentist to take care of those cavities. If your kids ate too much candy, check the List for childcare — just until the sugar high wears off. And if the pumpkins you carved and put on your front porch have since been smashed across your front lawn … well, you get the idea.

And make sure hang on to the phone numbers for those service companies — in a few months, you might want the guy who turned your house into a haunted one to come back and string up some Christmas lights.

Liz is an associate editor at Angie's List magazine. She enjoys eating chocolate chip ice cream on the beach after swimming. She also likes colder, drearier places like London.

It all starts here

Published
by
Josh
on October 30, 2008
in Uncategorized, financial planning, homeownership, photography, reception halls, rentals - parties, saving money, travel, wedding planning and weddings
. 0 Comments

This Halloween marks the fourth week of my marriage to my beautiful bride (that’s a photo of me at the wedding when she gave me my precious ring — somehow I lost my tux before the ceremony). What have I learned in my first four weeks? 1) I’m always wrong. Period. And 2) A new life together takes a lot of work.

First up on the to-do list: new shared bank accounts and closing the old personal ones. We got that done this weekend and it was surprisingly easy (I’m of the belief that the List should rate banks, as I’d rate my new financial institution highly, but that’s for another post). Next up: filling out reports for all the service companies we hired for our wedding ceremony. I’ll be rating and reviewing the reception hall, the florist, the photographer and the DJ. I should have done this weeks ago, but hey, I just got married — I do what I want (if it’s OK with the wife).

What else? For the long term, we need to find a home to purchase in the next two years; figure out a shared financial investment strategy (with the economy, I’m thinking of buying stock in the manufacturers of Ramen and refrigerator boxes); determine how to reduce our now shared debt; and decide on whose medical insurance we’ll use. I’ve got the feeling my Angie’s List membership will definitely come in handy in the future.

Josh is an associate editor at Angie's List magazine. He has two dogs, Simon and Clem, and likes Thai food, Portland, Ore., and riding his motorcycle. For the low price of $1.00 US, he will give you his sincere and succinct opinion about anything.

Warming up to my new life at the List

Published
by
twinklev
on October 28, 2008
in air duct cleaning, alarms, heating & A/C, home improvement, home inspection and safety
. 1 Comment

I’m new here at Angie’s List as the new podcast producer. I’ve got lots of things to sort out, and getting used to a drastic weather change is one. I’m from the Deep South and the balmy winters of Mississippi have not prepared me for big city cold weather. My jackets are wimpy; my amount of sweaters equals almost zero and gloves? Pshaw! This is not apparel for sitting on the veranda sipping ice tea! I scoff at such apparel — well I did until now.

This brings me to the point where, as a 30s-something adult, I had to turn on a furnace for the first time. I rented an older home in a historic district of Indy and I love it, but this heating system is enormous, and dealing with natural gas has always freaked me out. It should be easy right? WHATEVER! With years of Southern fear and guilt bred into me, the dramatic “Lighting of the Pilot Light” was a big deal. A ritual, if you will, leaning over a prehistoric space heater, letting the gas run through the line and waiting to spontaneously combust. I can hear my mammaw saying right now, “ You’re gonna burn yoursef’.” or “Oh, lawsee, you’re all gonna die of carbon monoxide poisoning!”

The thing is, I was terrified of this monstrous furnace and lighting the pilot until a little research working on one of the November Angie’s List podcasts featuring heating and cooling service providers. We interviewed a local HVAC guy about furnace maintenance and his info on yearly check-up tips eased my mind about fiddling with the flame on my furnace. After a cold night, I got over that fear quick, successfully getting my new found giant warm fuzzy friend lit with a little help from the List.

Twinkle VanWinkle is a Southern punk-rock belle transplanted to Indianapolis, and is List-en up! producer for Angie's List. She enjoys thrift store treasure hunting, dusty old records and is a connoisseur of hot sauces.

Marking time

Published
by
Matthew
on October 28, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Music is a wonderful thing.

It seems like I’ve played an instrument of one sort or another all my life, mostly the piano and brass instruments like the trumpet and baritone. But as I got older and started living in apartments, I realized 1) The piano is not very portable and 2) Neighbors hate the trumpet.

So I bought an acoustic guitar. It’s relatively quiet and very portable. In fact, when I moved to Idaho I just handed the post office clerk my guitar case, she stamped it and away it went.

I write all this to say that lately I’ve been more diligent about practicing my guitar, and diligent practice inevitably involves a metronome. What is a metronome? No, it’s not a gnome who lives in the city. It’s a device, mechanical or electronic, that precisely marks the beats per measure.

When I fired up a metronome this week for the first time in 20 years, its rhythmic ticktock took me back in memory to my old piano teacher, Mrs. Burris, and her stick.

Yes, she carried a stick. She’d tap the back of your hands if she didn’t like their position, she’d turn pages with it, she’d keep time with it. She liked that stick.

Mrs. Burris retired before Angie’s List made it to my hometown of Oklahoma City, but I’d like to think she would have earned an A, stick and all.

Matthew is the senior editor for local affairs at Angie’s List magazine. When he’s not at the Blue House, he enjoys reading and writing fiction, playing guitar and riding his bicycle.

Sweater weather

Published
by
Kristy
on October 24, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

I battle every fall to wait until the very last moment possible to drive up the gas bill. I’ll put on a sweater, my slippers and wrap myself in blanket until I just can’t take it any more. That moment came two nights ago as the temperature outside dropped to 38 degrees. I finally broke down and flipped the switch to HEAT.
As a native of western Pennsylvania, I should be used to the cold and the snow that towered over me as a kid. We had so many snow days every year, they just built them into our school calendar. And, no, I didn’t have to walk to school in 4 feet of snow, although my parents will tease that they did.
My fiance and I like to joke about the “Saturday Night Live” skit — it’s definitely “sweater weather.” And while my bones just can’t seem to get used to the chill, it’s inevitable the snow will be coming. In fact, the local weather channel says flurries for Monday! My theory is there shouldn’t be snow in October. But who am I to argue with Mother Nature.
I’ll just stay inside as much as possible and enjoy my heat, and in the meantime, I plan to call a service technician to make sure my furnace is ready for this winter — it’s going to be a long one.

Kristy is deputy managing editor at Angie's List magazine. She has two rottweilers, Bud and Moto, and enjoys playing mom to her rott-en, lovable pups. Taking the plunge into homeownership last year was a huge wake up call for Kristy. Thankfully, she says, she not only has a handy fiancé, but a handy tool called Angie’s List as well.

Trying to teach an old dog new tricks

Published
by
John
on October 23, 2008
in animal training
. 1 Comment

Despite being a dog owner for the past 20 years, I’ll never claim to be the Dog Whisperer. Just when I think I’ve trained my dogs to be well-behaved, I come home from work to find one of my shoes chewed beyond recognition by my 5-month-old puppy, Ernie, or trash from last night’s dinner scattered throughout the living room while my 4-year-old golden retriever, Dixie, looks up at me with her big, brown, guilt-ridden eyes.
Then there’s Bear. I adopted this German shepherd mix in 2006. Although he was only about 6 months old at the time, two different owners previously gave up on him and brought him back to the shelter. But the moment I saw him seemingly smiling at me as he wiggled his entire rear end while wagging his tail, I knew I had to have him.
To this day, I still sometimes stop and try to think of what reasons there possibly could’ve been for someone to get rid of Bear. Although he may not be as smart as Dixie and Ernie, when we had family visiting a few days ago, Bear was the only one of the three not to incessantly bark, lick, jump or otherwise annoy our guests. Of course, there are times when Bear is just as mischievous as the others. So for one day at least, I was proud of his exemplary behavior.
Now, if I get home tonight and find him eating something he’s not supposed to, maybe I’ll finally give up my futile dog training efforts and turn to the List for a professional.

John is an associate editor for Angie's List magazine. He is the proud owner of three dogs — Dixie, Bear and Ernie — two leopard geckos and a cat. He's obsessed with the Chicago Cubs, and enjoys buying and selling random stuff on eBay.

It all adds up

Published
by
YaShekia
on October 21, 2008
in financial planning
. 3 Comments

I’ve always been good at math. And, contrary to popular belief that journalism is a refuge for the mathematically challenged, I’ve actually always liked learning everything from the basics of decimals to the more complicated formulas of calculus derivatives.
My husband? Not so much.
So in our home, I’m the controller of the checkbook. Before my husband and I got married a few months ago, we had already decided that I’d record all expenses and that we’d both make joint decisions about purchases. The thing is, we never really narrowed down how much we’d actually be willing to spend, or what we’d agree to buy, or how often we’d dip into our wallets.
So then the idea we often talked about but never got around to seriously developing — the word everyone dreads but everyone knows they need to survive in this world — it became a reality for us a little more than a month ago.
A BUDGET. That’s right. We’re finally on a budget.
I can’t say it’s been smooth sailing just yet. Fortunately, we’re using a Microsoft Excel sheet to keep track of our monthly expenses in a variety of categories, including rent, renter’s insurance, utilities, cable and Internet, gas, groceries and tithes. And I’m proud to say that we’re scraping up the extra money we have every month to go toward savings for retirement (God knows we’ll need that!), emergencies and even vacations. But we’ve hit a few bumps along the way, which have only shown us that we can never really plan a month’s worth of spending exactly.
Take, for instance, the weekend we had to spend about $200 on my husband’s black suit for a church choir program. Or the time my husband decided to buy a backup hard drive after getting repeated error messages on his computer for the past year. Or the time we had to shell out a few hundred dollars to get my husband’s front car bumper fixed and get my own car’s worn serpentine belt replaced. Hey, that’s no chump change for us.
But while shuffling between being “dead in the red” and then “back in the black,” we’ve felt the self-actualizing victories of successfully pinching every penny to stay within budget, or having a triumphant week where we actually didn’t go over our food/entertainment budget (thank you Jimmy John’s!)
At least now we know where our money is going and how much more we’ll need to save to meet our larger goals for a house/family in the next few years. Who knows, maybe we’ll even start our own business? (My husband can cook some pretty good Chicken Francese!) As our finances continue to get more complex, maybe a financial planner on Angie’s List could actually help us, too. The good thing about my current math work is I don’t have to worry about taking a test in 60 minutes. I just have to make sure we don’t go bankrupt.

YaShekia is an associate editor for Angie’s List magazine. Her favorite movie is The Temptations, and she loves riding roller coasters, singing and dancing.

Halloween Costumes: Oh, the possibilities!

Published
by
Jackie
on October 17, 2008
in costume rental
. 0 Comments

I really love dressing up, so Halloween is my kind of holiday. Even though I love the ghouls, candy, fun, and chilly weather my favorite thing is still dressing up. I’ll use any excuse to put on something silly and unflattering or change my hair color, length or texture.

The only problem is that I always have to out-do myself from previous years. Recently I’ve gone as a party-crashing Kamikaze … literally, with a cardboard-box airplane (which, I realized after being booed, is not PC); a Poo Burglar with toilet paper stuck to my shoe, a robber’s mask, a bag of Tootsie Rolls and a pooper-scooper (I used said pooper-scooper – it was clean – to grab people by the seat of their pants); and an elderly woman decked out in Frosty the Snowman earrings, Christmas wreath socks, Christmas tree-sequined suspenders and a candy-cane turtleneck (I was pretending to be senile and thought I was invited to a Christmas party…get it?).

Okay, maybe I’m not as funny as I think I am, but I really love thinking of costume ideas and making it work. Plus, it’s fun and cheap!  This year I’m stressing out about what to be. I keep trying to convince my husband that we should go as Billy Mays (the OxyClean guy) and the Shamwow! guy. That way we can be just as loud and annoying as we are normally, but maybe make a few bucks hawking cleaning products.

So what are you going to be for Halloween?

Jackie is editor of Quality + Design, the Angie's List newsletter. She's currently owned by three Great Danes named Silas, Eppie and Augustus Merriweather as well as two angry tabby cats, Bob and Polly. Her favorite album is anything by Radiohead.

Adventure’s waiting just ahead

Published
by
Paul
on October 17, 2008
in Uncategorized and auto service
. 0 Comments

My little boy loves cars. LOOOOVES cars. Pretty much anything with wheels, actually. If a Barbie doll had wheels, he’d play with that. He’ll grab a toy car, any size, and roll it around the room and be the happiest kid ever. Nothing hypnotizes him more than the animated “Cars” movie on the DVD player.

Speed Racer Mach 6Meanwhile, this little nerd-in-training’s father is borderline obsessed with “Speed Racer.” (See where this is going?) So I have to confess a tremendous burst of pride when Armand was sitting on his little Lightning McQueen couch while the live-action “Speed Racer” DVD was on and he got excited during the racing scenes, picked up his toy Mach 6 and Racer-X cars and started banging them together while he made crashing sounds. I swear, it puts a tear in my eye. (He’s got the whole collection of Speed Racer toy cars. Except the Mach 4 – I have to claim at least one for me, right? But I let him play with it all the time anyway.)

In real life, however, it does not pay to crank the “Speed Racer” soundtrack too loud on the highway. A few days ago, I was driving home on the highway and heard a weird flapping sound, which quickly ceased. I stopped to check my tires, because it sounded like I’d gotten a flat, but found nothing wrong. My driving wasn’t affected, so I kept on going. I heard the sound again, louder this time, just as I was pulling off the highway two blocks from home. I figured it was probably a mudflap coming apart.

Not so lucky. A closer examination of the tires revealed that the tread on my passenger side tire had come completely apart – and since it was on the inner area, it was hard to find on my cursory roadside check. In fact, a short time after I stopped, the tire went completely flat, as if whatever force holding it together had breathed its last just as I pulled in.

My mechanic told me it was nothing short of a miracle that this thing made it home. (My mechanic’s great, by the way – he makes house calls, usually does the work right in the driveway, and is probably the most honest contractor I’ve ever had. Check him out on the List if you live in Indianapolis – the highly rated “My Car Doc.”)

Anyway, he diagnosed alignment problems and brought it in for realignment. “You must have some guardian angel, all right!” he remarked in the process. He’s more right than he knows.

I seem to have a knack for surviving tough scrapes; I usually just BARELY make it, giving new meaning to “skin of my teeth,” but I always make it home at the end of the day. So I put a lot of stock in my guardian angel. I’ve given it a name and everything. (Incidentally, it turns out I’m not alone – 55 percent of Americans in a recent survey, including one-fifth of those who claim no religion at all, say they believe they’ve been literally aided by a guardian angel in tough times.) But the scrapes are close enough to remind me that one’s luck only goes so far.

So in the meantime, I’m driving a lot more carefully and keeping a closer eye on the alignment, and when Armand and I watch “Speed Racer” together, I take a bit of comfort in at least one fantasy world where cars bang into each other all the time and never seem to take damage — at least, not until they’ve safely crossed the finish line.

Paul is senior staff writer at Angie's List magazine. His favorite album is Blondie's "Parallel Lines," he's more obsessed with Doctor Who than any American has a right to be, and his desk at Angie's List is guarded by (toy) robots.

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