When one WalMart is bad, do not blame all of the stores. Period! I work at a WalMart store in Oklahoma and its currently the largest Supercenter store in the state. Yes, thats right, I work in the Pets department overnight. This is a really tough decision on my work hours. I like working at nights, because it pays more, but I want to work during the day, because I want to be around more customers to teach them more about fishes. I stock the Pets department, but I do assist customers with fishes. Its a real challenge, because of right now, I am basically deaf without the use of my hearing aid and all my life, I've been wearing my hearing aid and was able to hear great as other people can, but there is a problem right now in my ear, so its tough. I can speak to people very clearly and I try to read their lips and when neccessary, I have them to write down on paper. All stores that sells fish are bound to have a dead fish here and there... thats perfectly normal. One night, this customer was an idiot, actually very rude somewhat. He wanted the entire tank of a specific fish that cost 5, 10, or 15 cents each (cant remember at the moment), so I went ahead to net out all of the fishes, but let one fish in the tank, because it had some kind of fungus. I told him that the one fish is bad. I went ahead to prepare the fishes into the bag and while I was doing that, he went ahead and netted the sick fish out and I tried to tell him, but he wouldnt listen and he put the sick fish in the bag. I went ahead to tie up the bag and note the price and amount of fishes, but I did not add the sick fish to the total price. While I was doing that, he went ahead to net up 4 dollars worth of goldfishes that costs 15 cents each and I told him that I will do that. He wouldnt listen and by the time he was finished, I prepared the fishes into the bag and then he went and got some more and put it in the bag. I tried to count the fishes in total and estimated it to be 50 fishes, which came to about $7.50. He wouldnt listen to me and he wanted things his way. There was this one night, I spent nearly an hour educating a lady on fishes and tank care. She ended up on picking two fancy goldfish and the alage eater that sticks to the tank glass. After everything was done, about an hour or so later, when I walked by the fish tanks, I noticed two bags in the sink. I was shocked, she changed her mind at the checkout. Made me furious. Its alot of stress a fishes to net them out and bag them. Another night, this guy wanted several fishes, which was divided up into two bags. After all was done, he came back about 15 minutes later, saying the prices on the bags came off, so I wrote it on the bags again. Later that night, my coworker brought the two bags back and dumped the fishes back into the tank. What is wrong with these customers?! Anywayz, I still work there and I still enjoy educating people on fishes and tank care. Just because there is a lazy associate at a store, the entire company should not be blamed. Its very simple to talk with the store manager about whatever. PetsMart is a good place and they have much more selections. WalMart is good, but not enough selections. Petsmart is generally more expensive but there are some fishes here and there thats cheaper than WalMart. There are PetCo stores in this state, but I have no clue where they are. I've seen commericals, but they failed to show the locations of the stores. So, I have no clue about PetCo. Anywayz, all of these stores sell good and healthy fishes with top technology fish tanks. It all comes down to the services of each associates for each stores.

For the most part, the WalMart that came to our town has been good for the other small stores. With the distances people have to drive to do large scale shopping around here, often in excess of 50 to 100 miles, having a large store like WalMart offers an incentive for many people to come here instead of driving a little further to a much larger town. Without WalMart, many of our other small stores would probably already be out of business, even if some of them don't realize it. Also, before Canada enacted their protectionist taxes, up to as much as 14% I believe, on materials purchased in the USA and taken across the border, many Canadians also came here to shop because we had more variety here. Much lower prices on cigarettes and alcohol as well. Now they stay home rather than being punished for looking for a better price on things they want. However, I have also seen that much of their home town rhetoric is just that, rhetoric. We don't seem to get much cooperation from WalMart when looking for assistance in local charity activities. While those demonized oil companies and related industries, like Halliburton, freely donate thousands of dollars per year to local charity causes, WalMart seems hard pressed to offer a toaster as a donation.

I'm also glad that you found a job that you love and that is close to where you live. I don't shop at Walmart either, partly because I do not like big box stores, although I do shop at Home Depot. Another reason is that there is not a Walmart close to me, as the real estate in Western Los Angeles (where I live) is too expensive for Walmart. I never saw a Walmart in San Francisco either, and I think WM avoids the areas where I like to live and shop. I don't like shopping at Target either, but there are a couple of Targets close to me, and so I will go there on occasion. The Target stores smell like cheap plastic or formaldehyde and that is another reason I do not like to shop there. When I do shop, I like to go the trendy streets like Melrose in Hollywood, Third Street Promendate in Santa Monica, or Santa Monica Blvd in WeHo, but I tend to avoid Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills because that's still above my budget and the clerks there are irritating to deal with. I don't like closed shopping malls, but Century City is nice because it is open air. Still, I am thrilled that you are happy, and I do not think you should feel any stigma attached to working at Walmart. In this economy, it is great to have a job where you can be happy. Lars

We're almost a year into a full-house renovation, which will probably end up about 90% DIY. We'd DIY-ed smaller reno projects on our previous home, plus a full refit on a 40-foot sailboat, and all those previous projects had gone quite well, so we felt competent to take this BIG project on. I have to say there have been many times we've regretted it!! To be fair, there have been a lot of unexpected major surprises, though. We thought we'd be totally done (interior + exterior) by now, but I'd say we're about halfway. I think the WORST part is that we've had absolutely no time for our daughter.Every single weekend and after-work free time has been spent working on the house, often in dirty and stressful conditions. The house has been mostly piles of parts, materials and debris all year. Poor kid!!! I have been the project manager and GC and it's been nearly a full-time job at many stages. Researching, sourcing, and ordering parts and materials takes a long time! I've also been the designer for some pretty major changes, with input from architect friends and the talented folks on GW of course! I spent months and months at a drafting board last spring trying to figure out how to add another bedroom and make a workable kitchen, living, dining area. I concur with those above who say that even when you hire subcontractors, you have to be prepared to spend time and mental energy supervising. The times I did NOT do that were the times things had to be ripped out and redone later.... so even when you spend the $$ you still need to do some of the work. I guess that's why people hire General Contractors to do that for them. I'll add a tool that's indespensible for any major project: a compressed-air nailer!! We had access to both a framing gun and a finish nailer, and MAN did they make that work go so much faster!!!!! Tools, I agree, are so important. You just can't do a good job without the right tools. Or maybe you can but it takes a lot more time and frustration! In my Christmas stocking I got a pliers set and under the tree was a screwdriver-tip kit and a new screwdriver set from DH. Romantic, huh? But now he won't worry I'm borrowing his work tools (he works at a boat yard which is GREAT for us since he has access to the whole woodshop there with awesome woodworking tools.) Books: We find that the Taunton pro series is best for really useful info. Here's the scope of our project and what we've done so far: Landscape drainage- 25% DIY, 75% subcontractor Main living space (kitchen, mudroom, dining, living) reconfigured, including moving several bearing walls): -demo: DIY, including walls, tile flooring, subfloor, plumbing & electrical -rough framing: subcontractor -sheetrock: subcontractor -plumbing: DIY, major replace entire kitchen -electrical: DIY, major, rewire 4 new rooms to code -cabinet install: DIY -appliance install: DIY -counter install: subcontractor (marble) -hardwood flooring install and finish: DIY -slate tile flooring: DIY -window/door trim: DIY (ongoing) -backsplash tile: DIY (not done yet, she says sheepishly!) -paint: DIY -woodstove install: DIY -pantry cabinetry build and install: DIY -built in bookcases buiild and install : DIY -heating/radiators install throughout: DIY Master bedroom/master bath/new office-bedroom- -demo: 50% DIY, 50% subcontractor (it was a mold issue and the insurance paid for much of this work to be done in order to eradicate the mold) -framing: subcontractor with close DIY supervision! -sheetrock: ditto above, plus we had to DIY a bit of it. -electrical: DIY -plumbing: DIY except for basic DWV layout -heating: DIY -tile: Bill Vincent!! -radiant heat floor install: DIY -window/door/finish trim: DIY -tub, toilet, vanity, etc install: DIY -paint: DIY Exterior- remove all vinyl siding and re-side with cedar shakes; paint all exposed concrete areas; install 3 new windows; build 3 porches and one deck; paths and landscaping: all DIY Phew. Now I'm really tired. Ugh- back to painting trim and installing toilets and lights today!!!