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Brett is an INCREDIBLE eye doctor -- he addressed all of my problems and explained to me everything that he was doing. He is very friendly (although geeky and very cute) and I would recommend him...
Brett is an INCREDIBLE eye doctor -- he addressed all of my problems and explained to me everything that he was doing. He is very friendly (although geeky and very cute) and I would recommend him to anyone. He has very high tech equipment and gave me a prescription that gave me much better vision than my former prescription, although I doubt that my eyesight changed. I was concerned about dry eyes and Brett gave me samples and a list of different products that might help me and explained why some products are better than others -- he obviously wasn't pushing one brand and only wanted to help.
I highly recommend Capitol Hill Vision to anyone for eye exams or contact lenses. I didn't get glasses, but the selection of frames looked very high quality and not very expensive.
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I didn't want to deal with Qwest anymore and wanted to use a feel-good local company, so I chose Speakeasy. Their OneLink DSL (no telephone line required) and VOIP service seemed ideal for us. ...
I didn't want to deal with Qwest anymore and wanted to use a feel-good local company, so I chose Speakeasy. Their OneLink DSL (no telephone line required) and VOIP service seemed ideal for us. Even with Qwest's insane promotions ($26.99 DSL service), Speakeasy ends up being about the same price if not cheaper, due to Speakeasy's own promotions and Qwest's myriad hidden fees.
The problem we had was with the installation -- I set up a street race and molasses in winter beat Speakeasy's installation process by a mile. Not only do two techs have to come out to your home during the day while you're there (one from Qwest for some reason, and one from Covad for some other reason), but they ship two separate pieces of equipment to you via UPS (one DSL modem and one VOIP adapter), so you have to take FOUR days off work, or have somebody at your home. Not only that, but they don't start any part of the installation process until the last part is complete. Here's a timeline:
1) Schedule Qwest visit -- you can't pick the date, and it's at least a week away. If you miss their visit, the reschedule is at least another week away.
2) Schedule Covad visit -- who knows why they couldn't have scheduled this beforehand, but now there's at least another week wait, and if you need to reschedule, it has to be at least 3 business days after the first scheduled visit.
3) NOW they'll set up your VOIP number. We wanted to transfer our existing Qwest number, but the Covad rep said they had to disconnect our Qwest line while installing our DSL -- which contradicted what the Speakeasy rep told us (he said that we could use our Qwest line until the moment our VOIP was ready to use). It takes one to two MONTHS for Speakeasy to transfer an existing number, so we would have been out a phone for that long if we transferred. So we decided to get a new phone number, which is a hassle, but still takes 5-10 business days.
4) They'll mail you your VOIP equipment AFTER the phone number is set up -- make sure somebody is home all day to catch the UPS driver!
This is such a laughably ridiculous process that takes well over a month to resolve. Compare this to Qwest, which installs your phone line and DSL in about a week, and Comcast, which only takes a couple of days.
Yes, Speakeasy's customer service representatives are very responsive -- they answered my online questions (or rants) in about 10 minutes. They aren't particularly knowledgable, though -- they gave me incorrect information at least a couple of times, including information that led me to be without a phone for over a week. After waiting on hold, they also transferred me to other departments that happened to be CLOSED, twice! There's nothing like waiting on hold for 15 minutes and then being transferred to a "sorry, we're closed" voice mail.
Please take my advice and just get your Internet through Comcast and VOIP through Vonage or another company. Even after all this trouble, my Speakeasy DSL is comparable to Qwest and much slower than my old Comcast service. Comcast's customer service isn't as responsive (although it's not much worse), and after using Comcast's service for 3 years the only reasons I needed to contact them was to install and to disconnect my service. PLUS, Comcast doesn't require a one year commitment -- after this stupid installation process with Speakeasy, I'm committed to my service almost two months past the end of my one-year apartment lease. Thanks Speakeasy!
PROS: Responsive customer service, company that will let you use your Internet however you want.
CONS: Not very knowledgable customer service, incredibly asinine installation process, one year commitment required.
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the selection is huge. the prices are either outstanding or at least very good (half price). i can't walk into the store without buying at least one or two books i didn't know i wanted. there are...
the selection is huge. the prices are either outstanding or at least very good (half price). i can't walk into the store without buying at least one or two books i didn't know i wanted. there are new used books all the time, and they have even have a decent selection of newer books. you can find a specific book you want a surprisingly good portion of the time (if it's at least a couple years old).
the above only applies to the capitol hill incarnation. for some reason, the other versions aren't nearly as good. maybe it's the size, maybe it's the tastes of the neighborhoods, but i'm always disappointed when i try out a different half price books. five stars to capitol hill version, two stars to all others.
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there are a handful of shops i go to when i want to buy a birthday or christmas present but i don't want to think too hard. urban outfitters is near the top of my list. they have a huge selection...
there are a handful of shops i go to when i want to buy a birthday or christmas present but i don't want to think too hard. urban outfitters is near the top of my list. they have a huge selection of funny t-shirts (that i'd probably never buy for myself) and random cool or funny knick knacks that make great generic-yet-somewhat-thoughtful gifts. their books and housewares make especially good and well-received gifts.
urban outfitters' clothes are a different story. the best phrase i can use to describe them is "pretty good." there's always something that makes me not buy their clothes: weird fit, little too expensive, strange color, etc. their sale section is one of the worst i've seen; it's pretty large, but most of the clothes are abysmal. this is not to say you can't score a great find at urban outfitters, but you're more likely to score many many pretty good finds.
the accessories (shoes, socks, hats, scarves, etc) are probably the best part of UO's clothing.
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american apparel is the best brand for the basics of your wardrobe: shirts of all kinds, hoodies, underwear, sweats, etc. the sweatshop-free and vertical integration of the company makes you feel...
american apparel is the best brand for the basics of your wardrobe: shirts of all kinds, hoodies, underwear, sweats, etc. the sweatshop-free and vertical integration of the company makes you feel good, but the fit and quality of the clothing is what wins me over.
people say american apparel "runs small," but i think the gap and macy's run small. if you buy a "small" size shirt at one of those stores, it will fit like it was made for a midget version of santa claus: the sleeves aren't long enough but there's still room for a giant beer belly. american apparel clothing fits RIGHT if you have a decent weight (you don't have to be anorexic).
american apparel makes almost of their clothes out of the same few fabrics in a nice variety of colors, so there is definitely a different feel to the store. they don't have bargain prices, so be prepared to spend $15 for a basic t-shirt or $45 for a sweatshirt. well worth it, in my opinion.
the employees are annoyed that you're there. i've started to buy aa clothing online, since they sell their clothing much cheaper wholesale and ebayers and such pass the savings on to you. the physical stores have many great items and colors that they don't wholesale, though, so i stop in once in a while.
i'm upset that american apparel is getting so popular because the clothes definitely have their own look and i'm bound to run into someone with my same hoodie one of these days.
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crossroads is my #1 fav used clothing store of all time. unlike a lot of used clothes stores, they don't set up funny mannequins out front or write funny sayings on their signs outside. they just...
crossroads is my #1 fav used clothing store of all time. unlike a lot of used clothes stores, they don't set up funny mannequins out front or write funny sayings on their signs outside. they just buy and sell the best used clothes.
their prices are very reasonable. don't expect goodwill or value village pricing, but $15 for some great jeans or $8 for a wonderful shirt can be commonly found. their selection (as in clothing quantity) isn't the biggest but there is a very high turnover of clothing, and the percentage of quality clothing is high. unlike most used clothing stores, they also have a pretty good selection of accessories, like hats, shoes, scarves, and even socks. they buy and sell clothing for slightly smaller people so there will be as many smalls as xl's, which is very rare in this world we live on.
they also have a lot of dressing rooms in the back and the clothing isn't cramped together. nice design. i want to go there right now.
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