Dear All:
I just bought a HD TV and it is being delivered tomorrow. I have normal Comcast Cable, but I dislike Comcast (Value, Customer Service are my beefs), and would like to explore other possible HD sources.
My main concern is how well these work in West Seattle in terms of HD picture quality (PQ) and the local vendors. Secondly comes price. My sister pays $100 plus for her Comcast HD and that seems steeper than the real (not intro) costs of Dish or Direct. If Dish is $59, Direct is $49 (for instance, for similar lineups) then PQ and equipment/service would be the deciding factor. From my exploration on the web, I’ve seen that PQ is a local thing, and connected to quality of installation, and cable equipment, dish set-up.
If Comcast is really superior in PQ (Because, with HD, PQ is key) then maybe it is work sucking it up. But my experience has been less than Comcastic and I am willing to change.
Thanks for your advice – JayDee
eigenwijs,
I recently joined ASF in my quest for triathlon glory. :) The price of $50/month is accurate and is even cheaper if you pre-pay for the full year as they give you an extra three months free… thus 15 months for $600.
I’ve had the chance to try 24HF a couple of times and much prefer ASF. I’m a big fan of the pool, the spin classes (Ed and Stacy are great instructors) and the weights/strength equipment although I think the cardio equipment is old and mostly crap… my tennis club has better cardio equipment.
Other than for spin classes I rarely use the club during peak hours so I can’t tell you how busy all the equipment is. However, parking is limited during these times so you can expect to park on the street.
Hope this helps. :)
Julie, I’m on the”rapid” ride advisory board, as are 24 other West Seattleites. From what we’ve learned so far, the California routing would go at the same speed the 54/22/128 go now and would basically stop all traffic when the bus stops because they would build bulb-outs from the curb to meet the bus in the travel lane. This makes for easier and faster ingress/egress but definitely will stop traffic on California because it has only one travel lane. On Fauntleroy it wouldn’t stop through traffic since that arterial has two travel lanes per direction. The time savings would be on the order of a few minutes to as many as 10, depending on time-of-day and day-of-week. The safety factor is one we have only previewed and is clearly one thing folks should bring up at the scheduled “rapid” ride meetings.
Hi, Todd – before we moved RRRs here to the forums, we had a dentist discussion, with recommendations, here – if you haven’t seen it yet, maybe there are some ideas:
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=3657
I’d be interested in hearing more about All Star Fitness. I belong to 24 Hour Fitness and am considering a switch. I currently pay about $21/month at 24HF and was quoted $50/month by ASF. There are way more options at ASF, which makes the extra $$ almost worth it – pool, women’s only workout area, climbing wall, etc. The 24HF facility is small, and at peak times (5 PM – 7 PM) is VERY crowded – members are asked to limit their time on the cardio equipment to 20 minutes when it’s busy. I’m sorry – but if I am going through the effort to get to the gym, I want to work out for how long I want to work out and 20 minutes just isn’t worth it!
Some other things I am not satisfied with are the temperature – it’s very warm at 24HF. Often I am sweaty before I even get on a machine! They also don’t seem to have any cell phone policy, and I have had to listen to someone’s lengthy conversation about what they did last night a few too many times. With the demand on equipment, you can’t really just pick up and move to another machine, so you are held hostage listening to the phone call.
So any input on ASF and whether making the switch is worth it would be appreciated!
I just received this..thought maybe someone out there might be interested:
Greetings graduates and students!
I am hoping you can assist me in locating 20-22 women to be models for an upcoming Introduction to Pregnancy Massage class. Models will receive a one-hour full body massage from a current Cortiva Institute – Seattle student under supervision of an instructor. Massage will take place in a classroom setting. Clients will be draped at all times for modesty.
The massage will take place on Sunday, January 13, 2008 from 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM at the school – 425 Pontius Ave N., Seattle WA 98109.
All models must be at least 14 weeks pregnant and in good health. Women who are carrying multiple pregnancies, under 18 years of age, over 35 years of age or experiencing gestational diabetes may be considered with physician/midwife release.
If this description fits you or someone you know, please ask them to contact me at 206-282-1233, ext. 102 or khollowood@cortiva.com.
Thanks for your help!
Kelly Hollowood . Continuing Education Coordinator
Cortiva Institute – Seattle
425 Pontius Avenue North, Suite 100
Seattle , WA 98109
t 206-282-1233 x102 f 206-282-9183
khollowood@cortiva.com http://www.cortiva.com/locations/seattle/conted/
An all brown fox on steriods acting “stealth like?” Methinks you saw a coyote of which we have been reading about the sitings of in Lincoln Park. Urban foxes don’t get that big cuz there aint enough food for them to grow big.
Chas…being form the east coast, do you remember Tastykakes? just curious…there’s a palce where you can buy them in Seattle….and Scrapple, too – lol.
I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in March…I’m a sugar-holic…and I now read every label I pick up. HFCS is poison for a diabetic, as is sugar. I succumb to Splenda on occasion, but mostly I use Agave Nectar from PCC (raw, organic) as a sweetner. I don’t eat sweetened cereal at all, and yes, it’s boring. Shredded Wheat tastes to me like the box it comes in…so I have adopted organic steel cut oats as my favorite breakfast. I’m happy to boycott those products along with you. Keep up the label reading..you’ll be surprised at where you find HFCS. And sugar? Remember that there are 4grams of sugar in a teaspoon of sugar…when looking at the carb content, it’ll say how many grams of sugar. If you have an 8 ounce glass of juice with 26 grams of sugar…you’ve got yourself 6.5 tsp. of sugar…killer for a sugar-holic – lol. It’s definitely an education :)
I started working out at Fitness Together in October and I really like it. You do your cardio on your own, whenever you want — it’s not part of your session with a trainer. I’ve worked out with all the trainers at FT and they’re all great, very focused, encouraging and knowledgeable.
The prices do indeed vary depending on what sort of package you purchase and I think the range Sue mentioned (60-80) is about right. I was expecting a hard sell approach when I went in but it wasn’t like that at all.
I used to work out at All Star. Loved the pool/spa/steam room and some of the classes were good, but I’m getting much better results with FT.
Heard about King Corn, but didn’t see it. This is a result of improving my skills at reading the NY Times science section and reading food labels. Think about it. Since I was a kid, in the ’60s, I’ve been eating Hostess cupcakes. Since that same time I’d been reading the label and two-thirds of the ingredients were things I didn’t recognize as real food. Over the years, as studies into these strange chemicals have come out, I’ve reduced my consumption of items containing them. Much as I loved that gooey white stuffing in the middle of a chemically-tasting chocolate cake covered with two different kinds of frosting which you could peel off, I just can no longer eat them. Many of us baby boomers grew up drinking Strontium-90-laced milk (Northeast US from atmospheric tests and rain on then farm fields used by cows), it’s no wonder our body systems are in such disarray.
An excuse to mention that the selection of soda is growing for people who don’t mind the empty calories but do want to avoid HFCS – for us, it’s the Mexico-manufactured Coca-Cola sweetened with sugar, available at Costco!
The Metro RapidRide group is having a series of public meetings here in WS for the WS RapidRide. Jan 24 at the Hall at Fauntleroy, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Jan 29 at the WS Senior Center (Oregon@California) also 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. And, on Jan 30 noon to 3:00 pm at the Senior Center.
Presently they want the route to come up from the ferry dock on Fauntleroy and turn north on California and then right at Alaska. The stations would be rather large (though nice) and would be on California basically right in the block with ArtsWest and Elliott Bay Brewery – sort of blocking the street view in both directions.
An alternative routing would be straight on Fauntleroy to Alaska and then right. Both routes would go down Alaska to 35th to Avalon and then onto the causeway ramp at Spokane.
The Fauntleroy routing would probably be faster, wouldn’t disrupt the landscape along California, and would take advantage of whatever new construction goes in at the corner of Fauntleroy and Alaska (old Huling/Gee lots). The disadvantage is that folks would have to walk a few blocks from the current 54 routing on California.
Any preferences? If you have them, by all means show up at these meetings. I’d also be interested in a poll (WSB?) which offered the two options. The service is supposed to begin either late 2010 or early 2011 – about the time the Viaduct is closed for work. It’s also supposed to run 18 hours a day on no less frequent headways than 15 minutes – maybe even 12 or 10.
Thoughts?
Thanks! It is actually a stubborn downspout that is clogged that we need help with so I’m hoping to find somebody who specializes (or focuses on) gutters. I initially thought it was the gutters but it’s the vertical gutter pieces that are the problem– they funnel the water directly into the ground so they are completely enclosed and under ground. Thanks again-
Jan, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a gym that posts its prices on a website, so for that particular service, I wouldn’t necessarily be suspect. But I do find it annoying. If I’ve got $X available for a membership, I don’t care what kind of glitz and song & dance you show me when I get in, I can still only afford $X, even if I think it’s worth more. So I do wish gyms would post a price and just not waste either of our time with the hard-sell nonsense.
The main reason I haven’t checked out Fitness Together is the fact that it’s up a flight of stairs. (It’s over near where the 8 Limbs Yoga is, with alley access.) With my knees, I just can’t walk up a flight of stairs easily (especially since my surgery), yet I can work out for an hour with no problem. I had to leave another gym downtown for the same reason. I guess they figure that if you work out, you won’t mind a flight of stairs, but it’s a purely structural issue that doesn’t keep me from working out, just from doing stairs.
I tried googling to see if anybody had prices listed. A FT in Miami charges $70/hr. Another site (location unknown) said it ranges $65-$85/session. Based on what I paid for personal training downtown, I would think those prices are probably similar to what it would be here, but that’s just my assumption. I would also assume that they have packages where you pay less if you buy more sessions.
I used to use a trainer downtown, but I made a deal with her to only see her 1/2 hour at a time, so I saved money that way. I don’t need a trainer to watch me on the bike or elliptical, so I did that before my 1/2 hour started. Somehow I doubt that FT would allow that, and you’d probably have to spend the whole hour with them.
Thanks for the referral to the previous discussion on this topic! I see the the Junction True Value does scissors, I love that place! Definitely going there!
We did discuss contractors in this thread a few months ago – maybe there’s something helpful here if you haven’t combed it already:
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=3280
good luck!
We discussed this a few months back, before the RRRs got their own Forum here …
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=2698
check for scissors advice in there!
If you are on foot, you tend to feel cars are a menace. If you are on bike, you are annoyed with pedestrians and terrified by cars. If you are in a car everyone is simply in your way.
Stupid peds don’t excuse bad drivers. Most of us drive too fast, with too many distractions–stereo, cellphone, kids, etc. to really pay attention. The difference is that we are piloting a huge metal container around at high speeds.
We need to have better sidewalks, crosswalks, signage and sightlines for pedestrians. As Seattle becomes denser in the future there will be relatively more peds and bikes and relatively less cars. The time to plan is now.
As far as I know there are 3 gyms: Allstar, YMCA and 24 hour fitness. Where you are located may influence which one is best for you: Allstar and the Y are further north, while 24Hr is in the south part of west Seattle.
I researched this a year ago, and I think that the Y and Allstar are both great. I went with Allstar, just felt better there and it cost less. I love it, particularly all the classes.
Like ’em! Took me a few to figure out that I can separate RRR and Open Discussion topics but that makes it easier to navigate. The big combined list is overwhelming to me otherwise so I like that option.
I hate to be a party pooper, but given the reality of this situation this just sounds like a lot of whining. As someone who frequently is bus riding pedestrian (using crosswalks marked and not) as well as a bicycle commuter this whole discussion sounds *exactly* like when people complain about bicycles dart around and don’t obey traffic laws and adhere to all traffic laws. Except somehow its from the point of view of the pedestrian/bicycle. Stay with me for a second. 99% of the road using public are car drivers. Anything that is as restriction to people driving is a frustration and a source of aggravation, they don’t care why, all they know is your slowing them down the 15 seconds that might make a difference. Usually the people behind the wheel blame everyone but themselves, and insist on laws to keep peds and bicycles from slowing them down. Read the hate and vitriol that drivers have for bicyclists. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/soundoff/comment.asp?articleID=344924
now remember for a second, that if a ped or a bicyclist makes a mistake they fall down. If a car blows a crosswalk, someone dies.
Sorry to get in you face about it, but if you want people to care that your in a crosswalk, start treating it like its your life. Make a bigger deal about it, cause a scene, call the cops. because right now your just that 1% of people using the road that are easily dismissed. did we all forget that a rabbi on his cellphone hit his SECOND pedestrian in a crosswalk last summer? The gentlemen that was killed was a assistant to the city council. What did the driver get? NOTHING. You think emailing the council is going to do something?
The way I understand the law, drivers must stop for pedestrians if they step off the curb in a crosswalk (marked OR unmarked). If the pedestrian is standing up on the curb or sidewalk, drivers can legally drive in front of them.
So I wish more pedestrians understood that if they intend to wait for all the traffic to clear, they would stay up on the sidewalk, back from the curb. Sometimes I see a pedestrian up ahead standing off the curb in the crosswalk, so I come to a stop, only to have them just stand there. Finally, I have to gesture “oh well” with my hands and drive in front of them, risking a ticket.
When I am a pedestrian (and I walk frequently) I make sure I communicate my intentions clearly to motorists.
I don’t like the current forums at all, although I am glad you’re adding this feature. The layout and typography isn’t particularly nice compared to other forums, and the user interface is sort of clumsy. You should improve that tiny little >> you have to click on to reply, for example! That’s just making it unnecessarily hard for us. Also, remove the line at the bottom of every page “Put code in between backticks“. We aren’t posting formatted code here and “backtick” isn’t a word any real person uses anyway.
You don’t need to use the regular WSB sidebar on this part of the site, either, it’s just wasting space. Ditch the links to the monthly archives (no one’s clicking on those anyway, folks…) and category links. Those things point to content that’s separate from the forums, so it’s irrelevant here. Once that’s gone, use the full width of the content area for the forums.
Given the homespun feel of this thing, I suspect you don’t have the admin tools necessary to handle these forums if they see any real growth. I expect it will get out of hand quickly if there are lots of people posting often on lots of threads. I would encourage you not to try to build your own here, just go with a free hosted site like Proboards (http://www.proboards.com/index.html).
We use Harrahs on California Ave. in the Admiral District, by Blockbuster and in back of Click!. Ron and his partner are reliable and good, always keeping the cost to the customer in mind. They also maintain a service record on your vehicle(s)so they get to know them. They are all about cars.
Related to this topic is pedestrian right-of-way on sidewalks. Some people seem to think the sidewalks are their property. Maybe back before the area was platted and subdivided and annexed to the city it was. Now it is city property. Cars parked across the sidewalk can be ticketed. And property owners who fail to keep vegetation from growing over the sidewalk can be assessed a charge if the city has to cut it back. I suspect the people who block the sidewalk in front of their house are the same ones driving in front of pedestrians in the crosswalk.
