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AuthorSearch Results
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December 30, 2007 at 3:36 am #613285
In reply to: Delivery options?
WSBKeymasterData point, even pizza places are diversifying. WSB sponsor Garlic Jim’s, for example, has decent salads, as well as wings. But overall, the dearth of delivery is indeed kind of surprising. In some other Western cities, even non-pizza franchises offer delivery – visiting family in Las Vegas some years back, we noticed delivery numbers on the windows of places such as El Pollo Loco (which we wish would come to this state).
December 30, 2007 at 1:58 am #613433In reply to: Termites anyone?
sanMemberThanks for the responses and advice. I found out today that it was/is termites :(
The inspector found a few spots and we are on the road to repair. I am so bummed, because we had a thorough inspection prior to purchase, and nothing was even noted. The termite company that was out today seems to think this was a problem long before we closed. It just put me in a terrible mood. I guess we ( my hubby and I ) should be grateful we were smart enough to ( or able to! ) start a “House Crisis” savings account before buying. These little turds aren’t cheap to remedy. Honestly, we didn’t even realize how prevalent they are in Washington state. So, homeowners— add this to your list of things to sweat over! Thanks for all your good words and thoughts.
December 29, 2007 at 6:07 pm #613335In reply to: Scissor sharpener
patriciaMemberThanks 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!
December 29, 2007 at 3:32 am #613454In reply to: Stopping For Pedestrians!
grrParticipantwhen Pedestrians start PAYING ATTENTION and learn that a Flashing Red Hand does NOT mean (run like hell across the street), maybe that will make a difference. I’m constantly STUNNED how many peds DO NOT LOOK at the CARS or THEIR traffic signals, as well as the walk/don’t walk signs.
and,yes..I have plenty of Rants against bicyclist that think they’re above traffic laws as well.
December 29, 2007 at 2:40 am #613314In reply to: Gyms and/or Personal Trainers
proudmaryMemberAs 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.
December 29, 2007 at 2:38 am #613356In reply to: Junk Removal?
GenHillOneParticipantWe really liked 1-800-JUNK. On time, on bid; they even moved some furniture when we still had room in the truck. Guys quietly (unofficially?) admitted that they did go through the load to find usable items before taking it to the dump. Not sure where those things ended up, so if that bothers you, maybe not a good fit. We had taken most of what we thought was usable to a charity, but if some of what we thought was “junk” stayed out of the landfill, more power to ’em.
December 29, 2007 at 2:29 am #613303In reply to: Forums – love ’em, hate ’em, or “meh”?
GenHillOneParticipantLike ’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.
December 29, 2007 at 12:08 am #613361In reply to: Not a Fan of Fastan
andreaParticipantI am not a fan of Fastan either. I went there a few times and the service was poor and the people behind the counter acted as if they had better things to do than wait on me. And regarding what CMP said above, the tanning salon north of Charleston is Island Tan, and they are great! The place is clean, breezy, and they have good package deals.
December 28, 2007 at 8:54 pm #613302In reply to: Forums – love ’em, hate ’em, or “meh”?
WSBKeymasterHi, nyx, thanks for constructive criticism. The monthly archives and categories actually do get clicked, believe it or not. The look/feel will change when the site design evolves before too long, hopefully with an additional sidebar so more of the site content is reachable from any page, not less. However, datapoint, it’s actually not something we built ourselves – it’s bbPress; a free hosted site is not feasible for us since, as a business, the pages, views, and ads need to stay on our domain. Re: the small symbols for replying – what browser and OS are you using? We’re on Firefox/Mac OSX at the moment and both the heading “reply” and the button “send post” beneath the reply box are pretty big. Let us know and we’ll check.
December 28, 2007 at 8:36 pm #613301In reply to: Forums – love ’em, hate ’em, or “meh”?
nyxParticipantI 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).
December 28, 2007 at 8:34 pm #613450In reply to: Stopping For Pedestrians!
pabloa3MemberHere is the site for pedestrian laws:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/walk/Laws.htm
I know I’ve been guilty of not yielding to peds at unmarked intersections on 35th…quite honestly, I’m sure everyone has been guilty of this. Drive down 35th at almost anytime and there is always going to be someone waiting to cross at some intersection…most of the time cars don’t stop. Not exactly the safest street for a car to just stop on. However, it is not always obvious that the ped is there to cross – many times I’ve seen cars stop only to have the ped just stand there.
My big beef are peds that cross against their light or in the middle of the block…I see this issue much more frequently as a driver. As a ped, I’m not often bothered by crossing fauntleroy, California, or 35th…there are always breaks in the cars (even by the ferry dock – I’ve crossed there many times)…no use risking your life attempting to get traffic to stop both ways when you can just wait for a break in traffic.
December 28, 2007 at 7:44 pm #613134In reply to: Favorite West Seattle Coffee Shop?
swimcatMemberThe 35th/Avalon SBUX is the worst! I have complained numerous times to the staff and to corporate, and nothing improves, they just sending me free drink coupons. The new SBUX at Jefferson Square is great though- quick, friendly barristas and a fully stocked pastry case. And if you go in the morning you don’t have to deal with the bad parking since no one is there.
My favorite though is the coffee at Thriftway. Great prices, friendly baristas and grocery shopping all in one stop. I order Americano’s, and I’m always impressed there is a beautiful, thick crema on top. As Wes suggested above, if you want to tell the good from the bad or mediocre, just order a shot and drink it straight.
December 28, 2007 at 7:20 pm #613096In reply to: Restaurants
swimcatMemberYmm, Szechuan Chef in Bellevue off of 148th in the old KMart shopping center is the best Chinese food around and worth the drive to the eastside (I avoid the eastside at all possible costs too!). For local chinese, I love Lee’s. I don’t care if it’s Fusion, it’s tasty!
December 28, 2007 at 7:18 pm #613448In reply to: Stopping For Pedestrians!
BlairJohnsonParticipantRelated 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.
December 28, 2007 at 7:17 pm #613431In reply to: Termites anyone?
squareeyesParticipantI have firsthand experience!
According to an entomologist I spoke with in Puyallup about five years ago, WS is the northernmost area that has subterranean termites (let’s call them ST’s). They apparently have no interest in any areas east of here. ST’s need food and moisture, so if you have areas of standing water around your house try to fix that. Also remove any wood that may sit close to your house.
In my case, I discovered ST’s when they ate through a bit of caulk at the doorway of my mudroom. Mudroom has a cinderblock foundation (bad!), and the ST’s came up through the holes in the cinderblock and ate most of the mudsill and partway up the vertical supports. A handy friend removed the drywall inside and a few rows of siding outside to effect repairs and we tried to fill in as many cinderblock holes with quikcrete that we could access.
Cascade Pest Control was the only company I found in Seattle that deals with ST’s. He had to dig a shallow trench around the affected area, mix up several gallons of Termidor, and fill the trench with it. Termidor doesn’t repel ST’s, they go through the treated soil, and take it back to the nest where it kills everyone. It continues to work for five years. Next summer will be five years for me so I plan to have Cascade back for another treatment, just to be safe. It’s not cheap – cost around $400 just to treat around the mudroom, would be $1200-$1500 to treat around my 800 square foot house. If I remember correctly, Cascade will guarantee for five years if you treat around the entire structure, in my case I only did the one room so no guarantee.
I could go on for an hour about ST’s. I find them both horrifying ($$$) and fascinating.
If the inspector you used at time of purchase didn’t notice any damage to the mudsill in the crawlspace perhaps this is an early discovery. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
December 28, 2007 at 7:03 pm #613446In reply to: Stopping For Pedestrians!
BobLoblawParticipantBTW, the above post was by Mrs. Loblaw. Mr Loblaw does not have a husband (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
December 28, 2007 at 7:00 pm #613360In reply to: Not a Fan of Fastan
CMPParticipantI’ve only been to Fastan in West Seattle, but I do recall seeing tanning beds at All Star Fitness. If you choose that option, I’d bring my own spray bottle since their lazy employees probably don’t clean the beds often. There’s a tanning place on California between the Alaska and Admiral Junction (north of Charleston, I think) that looks reputable, but I’ve never been. I went to a great place in Bellevue growing up that would keep my pre-purchased tans on record for years. In fact, I bet I still have some over there, which is pretty cool and what you would expect from all tanning salons.
December 28, 2007 at 6:53 pm #613443In reply to: Stopping For Pedestrians!
BobLoblawParticipantDrivers don’t stop at ANY crosswalks in West Seattle, or downtown. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I catch the bus at the park and ride below the West Seattle bridge and I always have a difficult time getting drivers to stop. The crosswalk I use was faded away and I called the city and metro. Within DAYS the crosswalk was repainted. However, drivers still do not stop unless I step into the crosswalk and force them to. Sometimes they just swerve around me into the other lane. Last spring my husband bought two buckets, put gravel in them, and made bright orange flags for me to use in that crosswalk. They’re gone now! The flags were taken and somebody dumped out the gravel and took the buckets. I have e.mailed the mayor about how to make our crosswalks safer, but got no response, other than my name was added to his monthly newsletter. His campaign to improve crosswalk safety needs to start with the drivers, not the pedestrians. Pedestrians in a marked, and unmarked, crosswalk at an intersection have the legal right of way, not the driver. What we need is drivers blowing through occupied crosswalks to be ticketed!
December 28, 2007 at 6:32 pm #613442In reply to: Stopping For Pedestrians!
WSBKeymasterWorst thing that ever happened to us on this front didn’t exactly happen to us – but to the person who stopped for us – We (child included) were at the bus stop across from the Fauntleroy ferry, waiting for cars to stop so we could use the crosswalk to get over to the dock. Someone heading southbound on Fauntleroy finally stopped. Just as we were about to step into the crosswalk, another car roaring up from behind them rear-ended the first car, pushing it right to where we would have been in the crosswalk. We called 911, of course, and others rushed over to help, but boy, that was too close for comfort. For some reason people are not interested in stopping at that crosswalk – we stood there just the other day, waiting for a chance to cross, and no one ever bothered to stop; we just had to wait till there was no one coming at all.
December 28, 2007 at 4:54 pm #613394In reply to: WS Rentals
SueParticipantCorrection to the above – the duplex on Fauntleroy between Hudson & Dawson has apparently been rented.
December 28, 2007 at 4:15 pm #586181LauraLouMemberHello! We need a contractor for a small remodel job in our home, which includes removing a wall and sealing off a door. Anyone have any recommendations? I’d appreciate hearing from people who have personally hired the contractor you recommend, as opposed to contractors themselves or real estate agents racking up referrals. Thanks!!
December 28, 2007 at 6:11 am #613391In reply to: Dr. King retiring
WSBKeymasterWe just heard about this and will definitely be dropping by to cover the event – will add it to the events calendar too – TR
December 28, 2007 at 5:47 am #613300In reply to: Forums – love ’em, hate ’em, or “meh”?
SueParticipantKatherine, you can change the passwords. click on “member” below your name and it brings you to your profile. click on the “edit this information” link and you can change it there.
bethMemberI am glad someone brought up this issue. I moved to WS 3 months ago and I am seriously missing the great burgers from Red Mill, Burgermaster, Dicks, and Kidd Valley. Not one of them resides in West Seattle, yet there are multiples of each in North Seattle. We need to take action and demand a good take out burger joint in West Seattle!!!!!!
December 28, 2007 at 5:36 am #586180Topic: Termites anyone?
in forum WSB Reader RecommendationssanMemberHello West Seattle! I am a new home owner and am a little horrified about a new, likely termite discovery. :( I have scheduled an inspection, and have become increasingly nauseated at the prospect of infestation, damage, costs to exterminate or repair. . . Has anyone had any experience with this? Could really use some advice. ( or just a stiff drink!) thanks!!
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AuthorSearch Results
West Seattle, Washington
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