Dispatches from the home of Angie’s List magazine.
Along my route to work, there’s a house with a yard full of holiday cheer — of the inflatable variety. I’ve got to say: I gawk at it every morning. Personally, I’m no fan of these inflatable giants as lawn decor. I guess I’m just more of a traditionalist — wire your house with an abundance of twinkly lights so it can be seen from the moon — Clark Griswold style, as Twinkle has mentioned.
What do you think?
I use my Angie’s List membership to find great service companies. That’s a no-brainer. I also use it to see how much my home-improvement dreams will cost.
For example, we need a fence to keep our puppy Boo Radley in and nosy neighbors out. Approximate cost? If we go with chainlink (which we won’t), it could start around $1,000. Fancy ornamental steel fencing? Roughly, a whopping $5,000. (Not going with that either.) A wooden privacy fence can cost around $2,400. (That’s more like it.)
Those are figures from one local company on the List who built fences for members. Continue reading ‘Cold, hard facts from the List about fencing’
When I was growing up, our family doctor was Dr. Patel. I could never understand a word he said, but my mom could — and that’s all that mattered.
If anyone in our family was really sick, Mom would call Dr. Patel’s office. Beverly, who was both the receptionist and the nurse, would answer the phone and schedule an appointment for us that same day. Continue reading ‘Searching for quality health care’
The area I live in is what most would call “borderline” — it’s safe, but has a definite element of sketchiness. I would characterize my neighbors in much the same way.
For example, when we bought new furniture, Neighbor Tom knew, even though we didn’t tell him. He asked us if our paver patio was put in, even though supplies for it were well out of view and in our backyard.
His knowledge of the goings-on at our house is a little creepy, but on the other hand, it’s kind of reassuring. Continue reading ‘Nosy neighbor: Friend and foe’
Maybe you know the story of the Tower of Babel. These old-timey peoples began building a tower to reach the heavens, but God deemed it an homage to man’s glory, not his. So he smote their society — which was united by a common language — by creating multiple languages and distancing the people.
I think those forces are still somewhat at work. Ever notice the members-only speak of certain professions? I’ve worked in the journalism field for more than 10 years and I know we’ve got some unique lingo and notations of our own.
“The paper’s been put to bed.” = “The paper’s gone to print.” “Adjust the kerning.” = “Take in the spacing between letters.” “SIC” = “Spelling is correct.”
And so it goes with other professions, as well. To me, a budding handyman(dy), it happens most frequently with construction specialists and home improvement gurus. Continue reading ‘Home improvement Babylon’
Ever since I was hit by a car while delivering newspapers when I was 10 years old, I’ve been very mindful of my teeth. The car struck the back wheel of my Daisy Dirtbike, which launched me into the air. I ended up landing on my left knee and chin, breaking two of my newly formed front teeth. Countless dentist visits later, I had shiny new porcelain chompers (that I’ve broken out a few more times since, but those are stories for another time … ) Continue reading ‘I have a what?’
My partner, Eliese, has wanted a dog for years. I did my best to dodge this request because I’ve had little experience with dogs, I think dogs are high maintenance and I’m quite accustomed to my footloose and fancy-free ways. I was hesitant to the thought of being responsible for something that would change my life so dramatically. Continue reading ‘Puppy Mama’
After several years of braving wooded trails and busy city streets, I’ve put my mountain bike into semi-retirement. I’ll still take her out for rugged riding, but as of a few months ago, I have a new two-wheeled mainstay — my Giant Tran Send.
Giant Tran Send? Isn’t that what Matthew was glowing about in a previous blog post? Yes. Same bike. We both have a sleek, urban-utility commuter bike with fenders and a rack on back, except mine is gray and Matt’s is blue. “Hello, inner 8-year-old” is right. It glides on the paved trails of Indianapolis and helps make my 13-mile roundtrip to work a breeze. Continue reading ‘Hey! That’s my bike!’
Reading through the Blue House Blog has given me comfort — I, too, have landscaping and lawn woes. However, unlike Tristan, I want to cultivate grass, not destroy it.
Last spring, my partner and I hired a contractor from the List to install a new sidewalk leading from the back door of our house. The goal was to get a walk that sloped away from, not toward, our house. To that end, we got what we wanted and were pleased with the result.
However, we were not pleased with this contractor’s liberal use of his Bobcat. While “grading” the ground around the walk, he seemed to have held some sort of Bobcat Demolition Derby in our yard. That result: A dirty gray-brown lawn devoid of any grass. Continue reading ‘Oh, how I know now …’
I wouldn’t call my sister Teresa an activist, but I’m starting to change my thinking. She believes and supports many causes, but I don’t usually hear of her doing something about it (I think most of us are like that). So, when I got an e-mail from her earlier this week about her mission to implement two of the three R’s in the eco-friendly creed “reduce, reuse, recycle,” I was pleasantly surprised.
Teresa has been taking canvas bags to carry home her groceries in so that she doesn’t have to use the plastic ones (reduce, reuse — see?) On a recent trip, the cashier was obviously irritated by this, which in turn irritated Teresa. “I don’t think she liked messing with my bags. Pfft!” she wrote.
Irritable cashiers aside, I definitely believe it IS a good thing, and it was a small anecdote that jibed with my mental state here in the magazine department. My head was filled with thoughts of green this and that as I had just finished the update of Angie’s List magazine’s website, magazine.angieslist.com. Continue reading ‘Actually, green is my favorite color’
