Seth Godin complained about Verizon’s customer service in his blog. The funny thing is that I can relate even though I have never used Verizon in my entire life. Just substitute the name of your local phone company; i.e., SBC, AT&T or whatever it’s called these days. I’m not sure why the telecom industry insists on delivering a subpar customer experience, but it happens regularly. The easy route would be to attribute it to their monopoly status, but not all monopolies act badly.

What irritates me most is when I have to navigate through multiple levels of menus. I just need to type in a couple words and Google can figure out what I’m looking for in less than a second. Why can’t the phone company route calls with similar efficiency?

Pixar transformed ants into an oppressed class of cute and cuddly bugs. However, in reality, ants are neither cute nor cuddly. And, from the human perspective, ants are the oppressors, not the oppressed. Just ask any homeowner currently experiencing an ant invasion. Although you may be tempted to use ant spray because it stops ants dead in their tracks, I would recommend using ant baits instead. The problem with ant spray is that it only kills the small minority of visible ants. The survivors then have to search for a different access point into your home. Next time, you may not be so lucky. The ant trail may not be detectable so all you will see is small battalions of ants inside without an obvious trail outside. The better solution then is to control the ants using ant baits. The promise behind ant baits is that the ants will take the poison back to the nest and wipe out the entire colony.

I was at the local hardware store this morning looking for some more ant control answers.
I had previously set out some Grant’s Ant Stakes, but the ants weren’t biting. I’m not sure why, but the ants just ignored it. After a week, I was ready to try something new. So, I picked up a package of Terro Liquid Ant Baits as well a pack of Raid Ant Baits. Yes, time to escalate. I wasn’t about to try out a new product for another week, only to return back to the hardware store in frustration. So, I opened up a buffet line. Terro in one corner and Raid in another. Within an hour, the ants were swarming all over the Terro ant bait, so much so that I opened another ant bait so that the hungry masses would not have to wait in line. And, after seeing both stations packed, I opened another. Then, it dawned on me. The key ingredient for ant baits isn’t the poison, it’s the lure. If ants walk past the bait without taking a nibble, then it doesn’t matter what active ingredient is contained within the product. So, short of polling the ants, the best bet is to buy a variety of products and let the ants decide. If they favor one product over another, give them all they want. Don’t put out ant bait sequentially or else you might be two to three weeks into an infestation before you figure out what works or not.

The main types of door knobs are the round knob, the oval or egg knob, and the lever. Each have their merits. Levers are the easiest to operate for both the elderly and young. If you have toddlers or young children running around the house, they can easily open doors operated by a lever once they can reach the handle. Oval knobs or egg knobs are not as easy to operate as a lever, but still easier than the round knob. While shopping around for door knobs, consider how you may be able to secure a door to prevent a child from accidently running out. The traditional plastic door knob covers designed for round knobs may not fit on an oval or egg knob. For levers, you may be able to find a child-safety lock at your local hardware store.

New York Times DealBook: G.E. Looks to Sell Its Appliances Unit. General Electric is planning to sell its appliances division, one of the longest-running businesses in the conglomerate’s 120-year history, a person briefed on the matter said Wednesday.

The DealBook lists the potential buyers as Haier, Bosch and LG. Any surprise that foreign companies are looking to purchase American assets while the dollar is low?

I have a large cedar that lives in the front yard. I needed some broken tree limbs removed and called three tree service contractors. The bids and recommendations were all over the place. The contractor I ended up hiring had sent out a certified arborist to evaluate the tree. The arborist recommended that I only remove the broken tree limbs. She said that the tree should not be trimmed back, especially at this time of the year. The other two companies offered to remove the broken limbs and trim back the tree.

Initially, I was hesitant to call an arborist. To me, “certified” means “more expensive.” However, in this case, the recommended course of action by the arborist ended up costing less than the full trim offered by the other contractors. Sometimes, following the advice of someone that you think will be the most expensive will actually cost you the least.

If you are remodeling a bathroom, your contractor may ask you how high you want your shower head. The first time I heard that question, I thought there must be a standard height, right? But, everything being “custom,” I had to come up with an answer.

Of course, the height of the persons that will be using the shower is one factor. Another factor is the type of shower head. A fixed shower head sprays at one angle and height. A hand-held shower head sprays at a different angle and height. If you do not account for that difference and mount the hand-held shower head at the same height as a fixed shower head, your hand-held shower head just might spray the water over your head.

I always find it hard to keep track of all the owner’s manuals. Sure, you might know where everything is at first. However, over time, all the manuals inevitably gets misplaced. One day, when you want to find a replacement part for an appliance or are troubleshooting, the manual is no where to be found. The solution? Visit the websites for all the manufacturers and download the PDF copy of all the manuals while you have the model numbers handy. Then, store them all in one folder on your computer.

If you wait a few months or years, a manufacturer may discontinue your model and remove the manual from their website. Having an electronic copy of the manual has saved me on more than one occasion.

If the occupant sensors you are using are not good at sensing occupants, then treat them as a timer. Behind the faceplate, the occupant sensor I am using has a dial that adjusts the shut-off time. Basically, the light will shut off a certain number of minutes after it last senses someone moving around. After I adjusted the shut-off time from 8 minutes to 15 minutes, no one gets left in the dark anymore.

Sure, this basically fixes my occupant sensor problem, but I still hate them. Before, I will tell people to turn off the light when they leave a room and there would be no problem. Now, I am told that I shouldn’t worry because the light turns itself off. There you have it. Title 24 training people not to turn off the lights.

Title 24 is absolutely the bane of homeowners. I’ve griped about Title 24 before. After a year of using occupant sensors in bathrooms, I’m ready to proclaim them a complete failure. When guests come over and stay the night, I have to train them on how to use the bathroom lights, as in if you only turn on the light controlled by the occupant sensor, it may turn off on you and leave you completely in the dark. So, everyone now turns on all the lights just in case. Not sure how this saves energy.

I’ve had the lights turn off on me when I was hidden from the sensor, to the side of the sensor, and directly in front of the sensor. Fortunately, in each instance, I had all the lights on. Install an occupant sensor in the bathroom and it will train you to turn on all the lights and use more energy than you would have otherwise used. The occupant sensor simply cannot detect someone taking a shower. It is completely useless in the bathroom.