The hubby and I decided that it was time to start adding our personal touch to our home by tackling some home improvement projects. I am a little lost without my partner in home improvement crime, my mom, but was hopeful that Jay would catch the home improvement bug. Jay’s philosophy when it comes to home improvement is that you can pay someone to do it for you so you don’t have to do the work. My philosophy is a little different which prompted a slight debate. I am all about getting my hands dirty and seeing the fruits of my labor. I will attempt to try something that I haven’t done before as long as I am not concerned that I might not do it right. At that point, I know I need to call a professional.
I have been very persistent about the projects that I would like to do but Jay was slow to come around. I decided to jump start the process by getting a quote on what it would cost to put a new shower in our main bathroom. He was not happy about having to allot an hour on a Saturday morning for a consultation. I knew without knowing the cost we wouldn’t know where to start. Wouldn’t you know it, I was right. After hearing what it would cost, I decided that we could get a bigger bag for our buck at the moment by tackling the smaller bathroom. However, I needed to get Jay’s buy in to start looking around. About two weeks ago, I was able to convince Jay to go to a couple home improvement stores to start pricing out what we would need. Wouldn’t you know that once he saw something he liked that I was able to get his buy in. Even though I have a vision of what I would like our bathroom to look like, I want to make sure that he has his say in it as well because I am not the only person who uses it. In addition, I want both of us to feel confident about our renovation so we can a) enjoy it while we live here and b) when it is time to sell, we don’t have to do anything to it because we keep that in mind when we were doing it.
Here is my advice on determing what home improvement project to tackle:
Budget, budget, budget
Make sure you and your significant other have discussed what your budget is. If you don’t have a set budget, your spending could spiral out of control so quickly you wouldn’t even realize it.
One of you should be accountable for keeping track of the spending to ensure that you stay on budget.
If there are a couple of projects on your to-do list make a comparision sheet of costs and time to help make the decision
Comparision shopping
Don’t just go to the closet home improvement store because it is convenient. Check all the options available within your area. Each store carries different products/vendors.
Most home improvement stores also have an online store. These stores offer you an opportunity to look at their selection and help you form your style asthetic for your project. They also give you the opportunity to create a list of the products you see on their store.
Check out discount or outlet stores that offer the product that you are looking for. You might be able to find something that was out of your price range in a regular home improvement store that they offer in a limited quantity.
HGTV and DIY Network shows and online websites. They not only offer ideas, advice and step-by-step instructions, they also have a forum for do-it-yourselfers to talk about their projects and share pictures of the outcome.
Talk with family and friends about what you are thinking about doing. You might be surprised the ideas they might have. You also might luck out in getting a helping hand.
The hubby and I had our very first experience with New York last week. It was one of my favorite vacations that we have taken. As much as I love Chicago, I think New York stole my heart. It has its own unique pulse that beats steadily throughout.
Wednesday
We flew United into LaGuardia which reminded us of Midway except dirtier. Fought through the insane New York traffic to get to our hotel which was located in Battery Park. Once we were settled in, we decided we had to brave the pouring rain to find ourselves something to eat. We wandered through the Financial District before we located an authentic New York deli. The selection of fresh meat was wonderful and tempting. We both decided on a hot corned beef sandwich. It was heaven on warm rye bread. After eating we were silly enough to walk by the river to catch a look at the Statue of Liberty. Not the smartest idea. We ended up getting soaked and decided to go back to the hotel.
That night we had dinner at Broadway Joe’s in the Theatre District before our show. We saw Burn The Floor. It is two hours of non-stop ballroom dancing. It features Anya and Pasha from So You Think You Can Dance. The dancers are amazing. It was a great show. After the show we headed over to Times Square. That area is very cool. The lights definitely draw you in.
Thursday
My feet hated me by the end of the day. We started our discovery tour around Central Park. The colors are amazing with all the trees in their various stages of the fall. We couldn’t muster the energy to walk through the park with everything else we wanted to see. Instead we headed over to 5th Avenue as we made our way to the Rockefeller Center. The ice skating rink was already up and packed with ice skaters. We really wanted to go up the Empire State building so decided not to go to the “Top of the Rock.”. With that, we started walking to the Empire State building. As we approached we saw a very long line around the building. It ended up being the line to go up. We decided not to wait and headed back to Times Square for a slice of New York style pizza. It was very tasty but nothing compares to a Chicago-style deep dish pizza.
Friday After seeing the extremely long line for the Statue of Liberty the day before, we decided to get an early start. We went through airport-like security to be able to see the statue and Ellis Island. Once they loaded us up like a can of sardines we were off. The view of Manhattan was even better in person. We went to the Statue of Liberty first. It is an amazing sight to see. After that we went to Ellis Island. They restored the buildings back to the way they where when immigrants were coming through. Jay’s great-grandfather’s name was listed on the wall of names in the courtyard of those who passed through. It was very cool.
In the afternoon we headed over to the World Trade Center site. There are no words to describe what we saw. When we think about all that we saw on TV and on documentaries, it was almost surreal. After walking around I dragged Jay into a department store called Century 21. It is like Woodfield Mall on Christmas Eve. There were some really great deals to be had but it was so packed that we had to leave. After that we headed back to the hotel before dinner. That evening we found ourselves drawn back to Times Square. We went to ESPN Zone which overlooked a portion of Times Square. We had a great dinner of steak and sports.
Saturday
We slept in before having to head back to Chicago. It was unusually warm but very windy. We walked around and grabbed some lunch. It was sad to leave because there was so much more to see. I can’t wait for the next time we can go back to NYC. It truly is a one-of-a-kind place.
Not that I don’t like my HTC G1 but my heart belongs to Apple. If AT&T’s plans weren’t so horrible, I would have signed up long time ago to get my iPhone. I guess I will have to settle on gettting the iPod Touch. Anyways, there are others that would argue that the Blackberry is a better phone. If you had a choice, would you rather have the Apple iPhone or RIM Blackberry? Maybe it wouldn’t be either one. Is there a phone better than those two?
For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to talk to a live person at Bally Total Fitness. Most of their toll-free systems are automated and do not allow you to hit zero to speak to a representative. You have to determine which of their prompts best fits your needs. If there isn’t one, then you need to find one that might get you through to a representative.
Let me explain why I have to contact them. I have been a Bally’s member for over 20 years. I have never had a problem with my membership until now. Back in July I went to pay my renewal fee online and paid what the computer told me was the renewal amount. Then a couple weeks later, I went in the club ready to start back up on my fitness routine. Much to my surprise, they said I still owed them another $XXX. I showed the desk attendant my receipt and was told that their system does show the payment but I still owed them money. I asked if there was anything they could do to rectify this and he said no, call corporate.
I have been calling and calling and calling but no luck. There is no prompt for my problem. I have tried all the different prompts to see if maybe one would get me through. Nope, no go. I have decided to try their website member comment section to see if I can get someone to call me. They only allow for 500 characters in that section, so this is all I could get in:
I have been trying to talk to a live person for the last two weeks with no success. Every time I call it says the wait time is over 30 minutes. I renewed my membership back on 7/6 because it stated that it was only $XX on your website. When I went to go workout a couple of weeks ago the desk attendant told me I owed another $XXX. He couldn’t help me and stated I had to contact Corporate. I am pretty peeved about this whole situation especially since I cannot get through your member’s line to speak with someone. If your website told me $XX than why do I owe more. I have been a Premier member for 9 years and an overall Bally member since you opened the North Shore club back in ‘88 I believe. I would like to speak to someone to resolve this matter otherwise I would like a refund and will take my business elsewhere.
After I submitted my response, I was notified that I would get a response in 3-5 business days. Not a good turnaround time in my opinion. Since I work for a company that prides itself on providing great customer service, it is disappointing to deal with companies who don’t value their customers especially their long-term customers. My hopes are not very high at the moment for a positive response or a response at all, but we shall see. I will update my post when I hear from them.
UPDATE:
Friday I had a missed call from an unknown number. They did not leave a message. Then a couple hours later my phone rang again with the same name and I happened to hear the phone. I picked it up and it was Marvin from Bally’s. He said that my information was placed on his desk. He went on to say that they valued me as their customer and wanted to get my situation straightened out. I was surprised at the quick turnaround especially since their website said it would be three – five days for contact. I am not sure if this post, my tweet and/or website form had anything to do with the expediting of their contact.
The long/short of this all is that they cannot honor my renewal price of $XX because it “supposedly” does not exist as an offer for me. I can say that Marvin during our 45-minute phone call, listened to everything that I had to say and offered me two different options. The first option was the ability to visit any club in the Chicagoland area for three days per week based upon the amount I paid back in July. The second option would be to pay an additional $65 with the ability to use my membership seven days a week. He also offered me an extension on my renewal date. Instead of my membership expiring in April, 2010, it would expire in July, 2010 (that is the month I made my renewal payment). I told him that I needed to think about my fitness needs. He understand and told me that he would go ahead and activate my membership for the three days a week in the meantime. I asked him for a number to call him back at because I refuse to call their toll-free number. He at first was slightly hesitant. I reminded him how he came about to contacting me and he understood.
After thinking about my current fitness routine, I have decided to try out the three days per week. If my fitness needs change, I will adjust it. I am glad that I went ahead and found an alternative method for getting in touch with Bally’s. If I did not, I would be sitting here still pissed off. Thanks Marvin for restoring some of my faith in Bally’s.
