Month: February 2005

Fun with fixtures

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We had some fun buying new fixtures for our place at Lowes this weekend. We got new lights for our loft, a faucet for our kitchen sink, and a faucet for our master bathroom too. I like how the new kitchen faucet spout is curved higher than our old faucet. The old one was cracked at the base and generally dingy, so it needed replacing. I suspect most, if not all, of the fixtures in our place are the originals from 15 years ago. While that isn’t all that old, replacing them gives the place a more updated look.

I really want to get a new vanity light for the master bathroom in the near future too. Lowes has this cool silver one where you buy the base and you can pick out different styles of “shades” for each light-bulb. Plus you can turn the bulbs to face in any direction you want.

I don’t get why people don’t make little changes around their homes. You don’t have to spend thousands to make it look a little nicer. Once we get a house we’ll probably splurge more, but for now we view our place as a temporary 5-year stop on our way to our dream home (or whatever we can afford that is close enough). That’s not to say we don’t like our place, we just don’t want to dump a ton of money into it, get it just how we like it, then sell it. That doesn’t make any sense. I’ll tell you this, though – the people who buy this place from us are going to be very lucky, because we take very good care of our things and even though the newest appliances will be five years old by that point, they will still be in top condition.

Speaking of appliances, we decided that when Joe gets his bonus at the end of the month, we’re going to buy a new stove. Our current one is dated and ugly, not to mention the oven doesn’t heat evenly, so anything I bake comes out half burnt and half under-cooked. The new one isn’t very fancy, but like I said before, I don’t want to go all-out in this place. Plus as long as it works and looks nice (I like the white w/gray combo), I’m happy. In fact, I’m just happy that there won’t be a ledge where the controls are located like on our old stove, because that’s where all the crumbs and drips seem to congregate. Also, the burner covers on the new stove will make clean-up a snap.

Walmart vs Target

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I used to be a die-hard Walmart shopper because they have the best prices and a huge selection. But now that there’s a Super Target across the street from the local Walmart, we shop there a lot more.

My biggest complaint about Walmart is that they cannot handle the amount of shoppers that typically frequent their store. The aisles are super narrow and it just feels overwhelmingly crowded inside unless you go shopping before 9 am. Not only that, but there’s never enough registers open and the lines seem endless. The entire Walmart shopping experience is very stressful.

Shopping at Target is always an enjoyable experience. They have very wide aisles, their store is brightly lit, and there are always enough registers open that the wait is minimal, if at all.

I wish Walmart would learn a thing or three from Target and redesign their stores because I’d hate them a lot less. But as it stands now, I’d rather pay the (slightly) higher price to enjoy my shopping experience. If I go to Walmart only twice a month these days, it’s two times too many. I can’t tell you how many times I attempted to shop there (like this afternoon) only to drive by without stopping after seeing how full the parking lot was. It’s just not worth the aggravation.

Which store do you prefer and why?

Burnout 3 for the PS2 – A mini review

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I have this thing for racing games. Before PS2, there was just Playstation, and there was Ridge Racer. I loved that game, and I was good at it. I also became addicted to all the incarnations of Wipeout, not just because the tracks were fun, but also because it has the best music.

Well, Joe has that Game Pass from Blockbuster, so we got Burnout 3 today. I just spent the last two hours crashing into as many vehicles as I could. Now that’s the kind of road rage I enjoy! My hand is so sore though!!! I recommend this game, even if I still can’t figure out how to unlock the 99 other crash scenes. Oh and the music is pretty good too (44 tracks in all).

Lowes – Improving Home Improvement Rebates (please!)

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My first experience with Lowes Home Improvement rebates was rather frustrating, although all ended well yesterday when I got my check for $35 from them. Of course, it begs the question – did I get ripped off initially, or did they make a mistake in my favor? But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In November, we bought some paint that offered a rebate of $5 per can. I can’t remember how many cans we bought, but I thought it was seven. On January 13th, I checked the rebate status on Lowe’s website, and it said the check was mailed on Dec 27th. I thought it a bit odd that the check hadn’t yet arrived, so I emailed them the following day, hoping they could track the check’s status:

“Hi, I see on your site that my rebate check was issued on 12/27/04, but at this time I still have not received it. The rebate number is ### and the submission number is R2#####. Is there any way to confirm with the post office where the check is? I find it hard to believe that it hasn’t made it to me in two weeks. I appreciate your help!”

Two days later, I received the check, so I cashed it. I didn’t bother to email Lowes back because I was certain that a) they read and responded to emails in the order they were received, meaning my “nevermind” would be useless and b) they could see in their records that the check was indeed received and cashed by myself. Do you see where I went wrong there?
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