Golden Hudson

I was shopping for a small desk for a couple of months. Most were way too large and the wrong style. I found a great small desk at Boston Interiors. The sales associate who helped me was fantastic. I learned while I was there admiring the end tables that they have a HUGE catalog of things they don't carry in their stores. I like Boston Interiors because they carry furniture that fits in smaller spaces. Furniture stores these days seem to cater to those looking to fill HUGE rooms. This catalog had even more! I will surely be back for another round.

I often do projects for home and school that need fabric and notions. I love Jo-Ann fabrics for it's great selection. They always have in stock what I am looking for. And most importantly, they have 50% coupons on a regular basis. You can sign up online or fill out a card at the store. They will also honor competitor coupons from ACMoore and Michael's.

We get our residential trash picked up by Waste Management. They are professional and quick. For the first couple of years, we got biweekly pickup which was sufficient for our waste output. When gas prices rose a year or so again, they decided that all trash had to be weekly. Grumble... It's a waste of money to have them come to empty a can with two bags in it. I wish they would return to biweekly service.

These guys were decent, professional and quick. Too quick, in my opinion. I hired them to clean the carpet in my finished basement and my three bedrooms, hallway and stairs. I was really surprised at how fast they completed a room. I hardly think it was enough time to thoroughly clean the carpets. One room was particularly more wet than the others. They assured me it was normal and would be dry appropriately. To me, it just looked like they wet the carpets. From this point on, I decided to just get the rentals from the grocery store so I can make sure the rugs are thoroughly cleaned and enough water removed.

Although Chaves did a fine job, were professional, came as scheduled, etc, I was frustrated with the estimate. They offered an estimate for the job (~300). When the job was completed, he handed me a bill for (~450). When I questioned him, he pointed to the itemized parts on the bill that came to about 300. Um, yeah, what about the other $150 you didn't mention??? He offered no explanation - just that this is how we do estimates. Very disappointed. Felt dishonest.

I called Bonnazoli because my plumber didn't do water pump/pressurizer work. I'm not sure if Bonnazzoli does general plumbing work, but he certainly works with water pumps. Peter scheduled quickly, worked professionally, and was priced fairly. The only complaint I have is that this work was done in my finished basement where my young children play and he left some solder pieces (does solder contain lead?) on the floor where he was working. My 2 year old found them. Other than that, I would definitely call him again if my pressurizer goes on the fritz again.

We hired Santos to install new wood floors in my living room and to refinish the exisiting floor in the hallway and dining room. Although the new installation and the refinishing was fine, they somehow managed to carve a deep gouge on EVERY piece of baseboard trim in every room - living room, dining room and hallway. And he sanded off edges the the ceramic tiles where it met the wood floors in all three rooms. Someone clearly doesn't know how to operate a sander without damaging everything it touches. I called him to come check out the damage. He told me the baseboards needed to be painted, although he never offered to paint them...and when I tried to paint them, the polyurethane that he used to seal the floors also got on the trim...and the paint wouldn't adhere to it! He came and used some ceramic touch up paint on my white tiles...which overtime discolored to an off white. It's awful. It's permanant damage to about 30 tiles that can not be repaired and all the wood trim will need to be sanded before I can paint them. Never again will I use Santos.

I love going to Robinson's Ace Hardware store. Although items cost a little more than the big-box stores, they are always very helpful with product information and advice on whatever project I am doing.