Michelle Oh My Hose
(1) The roof of our dormer was leaking. Repair estimates ranged from $1200 to $12,000 (full-roof redo). A neighbor gave us his leftover roofing tar and my 17yo son went up and spread it all around. Total cost: under $20 for tools & cleanup supplies. Roof did not leak in yesterday's storm.(2) DIshwasher wasn't draining, even though the pump was working. Internet research said there was probably a blockage in the drain hose. I pulled the drain hose, cleaned it out (gross!), and reattached it. Done! Total cost $0, a couple of hours on the floor with towels and pliers.Power comes not just from the right knowledge, but also from the right attitude--that you can get the knowledge you need and put it to use.
michelle oh my hose
"I received a lot of comments from people arguing that wait staff or food delivery folks or hotel housekeepers just need to get a better job. "But *somebody* has to do these jobs. For those of us who can afford to eat out, have food delivered, or stay in hotels, we have to pay fairly the people who are doing these difficult jobs. Let's face it, most of us wouldn't want these jobs at all.
Agreed. But to be fair to those who hate tipping, they argue that it's the business owners who are responsible to provide a fair wage and then reflect that in the cost charges to customers. But -- since they don't let's be financially kind to people who do jobs many of us would not want to do.
What I tell folks is to have a list of financial goals. And when you get extra money put the funds toward those goals. When my husband and I got raises, bonuses or money from my books, etc. we knew the funds would go straight to the college funds for our kids. And now that they will graduate without debt, we are saving more for retirement. Let your financial goals dictate where a windfall will go.
Another point of view, are we also saying those less fortunate shouldn't order out or go to restaurants? Tipping 20% may be out of their budget, and we shouldn't shame them because of their circumstances, just like we shouldn't shame those who work for tipped wages.
I have 2 in the back and 1 in the front. I've had my trees trimmed a couple of times and they did that for me but the most recent was the fertilizer. They have a big truck with a long hose on it. I don't think I was even here. They come up and they force the fertilizer into the ground under pressure. It leaves little holes in the yard here and there and then you get a bill. No muss no fuss. It's not a lot to pay if you can keep your trees for a while. They do a good job. They come and take care of business. There's no critical time, they'll tell you in the spring. They don't tell you we'll be here at this date and this time. They just say they'll be there in the spring and that's the way that works. They did it in the spring. For my tree trimming they come and do a good job. They have people who are trained arborists and they know the correct way to trim a tree. Not everybody does. You can kill a tree if you don't trim it correctly. My trees are doing fine and I am confident they know the correct way to do it and they are giving me good advice on how to keep them going and to keep my trees alive and healthy. I do the limb cleanup myself.
This is a follow-up of my 4-14-2012 review. I've had mixed results with this company. For transplanting some trees, they were great, but based upon my experience, I want to pass on a word of caution to those who are contemplating treating their ash trees for the emerald ash borer. We paid close to $1000 to treat 3 ash trees twice, once in 2012, and once in 2014. They wanted to treat them again this year, but only 2 of them, because one of the ash trees is on its way out, and they wanted to remove it for a lot of money. We can't see paying for another expensive treatment when we're not sure how effective the treatments are. One of the other ash trees doesn't look as good as it used to. Jon is a very pleasant person to work with, and I've had good conversations with people in their office too.
Richard Butcher came promptly after I called, in mid September, to give estimate to trim 25 yr old Aristocrat pear tree. There were no cracked forks, and I wanted to keep the tree, if possible. He said it has some good years left, but pointed out a limb that could use cabling, to prevent future cracking. I signed agreement on 9/24/14. I was expecting them to come soon thereafter, as I had pointed out to Mr. Butcher that there were branches close to house that I was afraid of damage in high winds. I contacted them in late November to see what the holdup was; they then scheduled service for 12/4/14, and indeed did all the trimming that day. Mark did the trimming and his cleanup guy Jeremy both did fantastic jobs that I am very pleased with; Mark drastically trimmed my ugly tree into one I can't wait for spring to see the blooms and the new general shaping. It looks like he took 1/2 the tree, including taking abt 8-10 ft off top, which I didn't think was possible (Mr Butcher says it's OK to "top" pear trees; they can take it.) I'd used Madison once before, removing a hard Maple tree, in a previous home in Oakley; I remembered how great a job they did on that, so they were the 1st company I called for this job, and despite cheaper estimates, I wanted a true pro to evaluate, and put my pear tree in best possible health/shape for future enjoyment. My only complaint is why did it take so long; I ended up having minor shingle damage, due to aforementioned branches hitting house. I can understand waiting to trim when leaves gone; maybe it gave them better idea on how to shape it, but then why didn't they tell me that in the 1st place? I could have had someone at least trim those branches away from house before I forgot about it...and...damage done...my bad. I also just can't bring myself to give them an A in pricing, because they are rather expensive (700 for trim; 150 for cabling), but I'm still glad I had such good and professional people.
They were very attentive to our needs including avoidance of part of the lawn as we had requested. The trees were taken down in an order that had been determined to do as little damage to adjacent trees as possible. Watching them take down a huge tree near our woods precisely where they wanted it to go was fascinating. And they helped us greatly by sectioning the larger trees and taking these huge sections down into the woods for us. We are quite pleased that we chose Madison Tree Service.
It went incredibly well. These guys impressed me when I watched them work in my neighbors' yard, and their work habits there prompted me to get an estimate for the work that I needed done. They had to use a crane to remove the two trees in precarious positions, dealing with allot of traffic, and close quarters. While in the crane, the arborist then removed some dead branches in an adjacent oak. They worked quickly, efficiently, and were very friendly. They were extremely considerate of my needs, as well as those of my neighbors during the process. The whole job was completed in about 4 hours. All the wood was ground in the chipper on site, and a huge flatbed truck came to take the giant logs and trunks away. All gone! :))
Yeah, that used to be the kind of thing that they would actually charge extra for, to be able to play those sections back online somewhere or get a CD. A lot of conferences were still doing exactly that, like they were putting it on a tape or a CD. So having that ability to just kind of tune in and sort of customize your own conference experience, I think is very appealing to the authors. So it democratizes the whole thing,
As Rachel's father manoeuvred their Lincoln Continental up to Becca's house, Becca's parents waited with her on the front stoop, bent over her like gnarled trees. Becca's mother had spidery hands and wore knee-high support hose with the tops showing, and rested her weight on a cane. She gave Becca some money. Mr. Cohen said something to Becca, probably in Polish, and kissed the top of her head.