We requested the lease be amended to give us 30 days after move-in to evaluate the A/C, the electricity, and see the upstairs bathroom for the first time. We had hoped that they wouldn’t think we were jerking them around, since we’d be unlikely to pay for moving expenses and then leave after 30 days just to be annoying, but 30 days would also give us time to make sure everything worked correctly. We thought this was a good solution for everyone.

Johleen sighed with annoyance and said she’d get her manager. The manager for Blue Sage Realty, Kathryn MacGeraghty, entered the room, already irritated, and asked what we wanted. I re-explained, politely, that it’d be nice to get 30 days to make sure that everything in the house worked. She curtly told us that was unheard of and “not going to happen.” “No,” she said.

I told her that she was being a bit rude, and she told me “Well, you’re free to leave.”

I asked her if this was how their company was going to be as landlords. If our roof was leaking and we called them, would they tell us we were being nitpicky? She told me, “I’m rejecting your application. Get out.”

You can read more about his experience at Blue Sage Realty of Westminster, CO at Yelp, and my blog also has an entry about Blue Sage Realty.

There are a few other listings for Blue Sage Realty on the interwebs– this is the one that he had the aforementioned bad experience at:

Blue Sage Realty, Inc
8471 Turnpike Dr, Suite 220
Westminster, CO 80031
(303) 432-9898 Office

http://www.bluesagerealtyinc.com

Do you remember those old couches your Grandma had? You know, the big fluffy ones with tacky floral prints? You can find the exact same version of those at AFW! Although they do have a few things here and there that look okay, you’ll regret buying any of it. Most of the store is filled with tacky junk that only the most tasteless of tasteless people would ever buy. For instance– the big sectional couch with a cooler and cheap radio built in? YEE-HAW, LETS GITS SUM BUDWIZERZ AND TURNS ON TEH NASCARS CLETUS!!!

When I was younger and buying my first new furniture, I unfortunately made the choice to shop at AFW because it was what I could afford at the time. I purchased a sleeper couch, and a dining set with 6 chairs. By year two, two of the chairs had broken, and the couch was starting to get a little frumpy looking.

By year three the springs started poking out of the backrest on the couch so I regulated it to only being for my dog. It was so uncomfortable that I bought some super cheap used furniture to replace it (until I recently replaced them).

By year four all of the chairs were broken, and the table literally fell into pieces as I was moving it out of the house to replace it with a new one. Each time I moved the couch it cut up my hands because of all of the nails and staples hanging-out of the bottom (even when it was new).

I didn’t buy the cheapest stuff in the store, nor am I someone who requires a crane to get me out of bed (maybe just a small truck), so there is really no reason the furniture should have deteriorated so quickly. Had I known then what I know now, I would have saved my money and looked for quality used furniture.

One thing that really bothers me is that their target market tends to be those who drive big SUV’s and trucks with “Support The Troops” ribbons all over them. However, it’s very interesting how said customers patriotism comes-up short when it comes to buying furniture. In fact, most of the time you can see the shipping containers from China sitting in the empty lot next to this store. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a racist or anything by any means (in fact I’m very liberal), I’m just a concerned US citizen who worries about our reliance on cheap foreign goods. The only thing that seems to be “American” in the American Furniture Warehouse are the customers– certainly not the merchandise.

If you’re looking for shoddily built, cheap, horrible looking furniture from China that will fall apart quickly, American Furniture Warehouse is the place for you! Otherwise, don’t be a sucker and try to save your money for something better or buy some quality used furniture off of craigslist.

Long ago, I learned a single sentence that sends obnoxious juniors away from me as fast as their little legs will carry them. Here it is:

Lean over to the child’s watcher and, as politely as you possibly can, just say, “According to the terms of my parole, I’m not really supposed to be this close to children”. Mom, Dad, or whoever they pawned off their hell-spawn onto will immediately grab the little devil and exit your presence!! I’ve done this about a dozen times and it always works. When you speak the magic words, say them as normally and friendly as you can muster and the resulting freak-out effect will be even greater.

Read more at thisisbyus.

s there a more maddening industry? They confuse us with silly product names (the Sealy Posturepedic Crown Jewel Fletcher Ultra Plush Pillowtop or the Sealy Posturepedic Crown Jewel Brookmere Plush?). They flummox us with bogus science (“pocketed coils”? “Microtek foundations”? “Fiberlux”?). And they weigh us down with useless features (silk damask ticking?). It’s like buying a used car, and almost as expensive—I’ve seen mattresses going for $7,000. What’s a consumer to do?

Link To Article

There is definately a lot of good information in here, including a few things I’ve adapted. For one I have a European style platform bed and have ditched the box springs. I also found myself nodding about the mattress being too thick, and eventually I’d like to replace mine with one that is much thinner. Lastly, I bought an inexpensive “memory foam” topper which really took the comfort level of my bed to the next level. I’ll elaborate on the topper in a future review (of which I already have a draft of).

A quality tutorial requires planning and hours of work… if you wrote a tutorial in 10 minutes, then I can guarantee you that it’s useless no matter what your buddies tell you. Now, let’s have a reality check shall we?

You can read more about it here.

• Airplane Tickets
• Appliances
• Cars
• Clothing
• .. and many more

Link to Article

As I wrote earlier, fried rice is more of a formula than a single recipe. So rather than list actual ingredients and give you a recipe, I’ll explain a few basic things you need to get right to make sure your fried rice comes out great. (But don’t worry, a recipe too shall follow.)

I tend to cook with the mind of a chemist– I know what ingredients do what for a given dish and can whip up quite a few things without recipes or measuring, and this will be another one to add to the list. Also during the quest for a good fried rice recipe, I also found one that looks to be a good base for Thai Fried Rice as well.

The one that worked for me was to put the peeled onion in the freezer for ten minutes. Also, keeping them refrigerated is a listed option as well.

Another option which I haven’t tried, is to wear swimming goggles while chopping onions. Granted you’ll look kind of silly, but you’ll be able to chop onions like any other vegetable.

Anyone over 50 can probably remember what “old” people were 30 or 40 years ago. Usually they were people over 50! Most boomers no longer consider themselves old, which is quite possible with life expectancy going up year after year. But we need our health to assure us of a quality of life into our sixties, seventies and beyond.

One thing which I think is missing from the list is getting married. Yes, this sounds strange coming from a youngish bachelor, but I’ve read many tidbits here and there about how being married is much better for your health. Although owning a pet is a good one (one of many reasons I adopted a dog), but you can’t replace a significant other with a pet.