Vendor Reviews

Quickie Around the House

Homeowner Help

Tagged as: , ,

Quickie Around the House an occasional series of helpful homeowner tips. The series name has changed over time but it’s always focused on making your life easier. This Quickie is courtesy of Moxie Girl, a personal concierge-type service that you really should check out. Frustrated when cleaning scorched food from your stainless steel cookware? Add [...]

1 October 2010 Read the full article →

Save money on your phone bill

Homeowner Help

Tagged as: , ,

I stumbled on this money saving tip by accident this morning. Do you have a land line telephone in your home? I do. Never use it. It exists only to keep my TiVo happy and full of programming data. I called the phone provider – who is also my internet provider – and asked them [...]

29 September 2010 Read the full article →

Furniture and appliance stores in North Phoenix area

Lifestyle

Tagged as:

(photo credit, kirobuch at StockExchange) Clients of ours need to furnish an entire home – their new vacation home.  They asked for local recommendations on retail sources for appliances and furniture. Thought I’d pass on the insider tips to our loyal readers. All four of them. For appliances, I recommend either B&B Appliances in Sunnyslope [...]

13 September 2010 Read the full article →

Fast Lane Motors – an Honest Mechanic in the Northwest Valley

Lifestyle

Tagged as:

Here’s the thing – when you drive a 13-year old truck with 260,000 miles, you’re going to need some help now & then.  So I was happy when someone referred me to Dave Dunch (owner of and mechanic at Fast Lane Motors).  And I’ve been even happier as time has passed. Since many of us [...]

7 April 2010 Read the full article →

Customer Service Reminder follow up

Op Ed

Tagged as: , ,

I wrote a couple weeks ago about how NOT to do customer service (special thanks to Howard & Blum for providing this fine example.) Today I want to follow up with the rest of the story… I was in between appointments one day and had a few minutes to kill, so I poked my head [...]

6 August 2009 Read the full article →

A Customer Service Reminder

Op Ed

Tagged as: , ,

Sometimes we get a reminder to show us what customer service is all about.  (or not about, as the case may be…)  Yesterday I had one of those reminders. I have a couple of watches where I wanted to switch the bands from one to the other.  Same size watches, same manufacturer – should be [...]

24 July 2009 Read the full article →

It’s a Grind in Peoria

Lifestyle

Tagged as:

I need to be in Old Town Peoria this morning at 8:00, so I leave the house at my usual way-to-early time in the morning and head that way.  I like to get where I’m going before traffic gets bad, and I can always find a coffee shop to work from, right? This morning I [...]

24 June 2009 Read the full article →

Help Around the House

Homeowner Help

Tagged as:

A couple of weeks ago I met with Amanda Thomas who is the head of Moxie Girl. I was really impressed with her and with Moxie Girl’s services. Moxie Girl provides all kinds of home and personal “helper” kind of services. They do the kind of stuff that fills up your days but doesn’t add any [...]

20 June 2009 Read the full article →

Local Fave Vendor, Scramble

Central Phoenix

Tagged as:

The North Phoenix area has a new breakfast joint and it’s in a neighborhood that sorely needed more & better breakfast food. I’m so excited! Partly over the food, partly over the wi-fi, and partly because I know someone who knows someone who’s a co-owner of the spot, so I got to go to a [...]

21 February 2009 Read the full article →

Eoconomic Downturn Hits Home in the Valley

Homeowner Help

Tagged as:

Have you ever heard a Realtor say, “I got a guy for that [insert household repair job here].”  I say it to my clients so often that I make a joke out of it, complete with a fake Brooklyn accent and sweeping hand gestures: Hey, no worries. I gottaguy! Most of my Guys are small [...]

10 January 2009 Read the full article →

Fresh and Easy in Phoenix

Lifestyle

Tagged as:

There’s been a mini-explosion of new construction in the metro Phoenix area, in the form of about 2 dozen new Fresh and Easy food markets. Think of them like a cross between Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s – quality food at discount prices. There are 3 new F&E markets within a 10 minute drive of [...]

17 December 2008 Read the full article →

← Previous Entries