Ice maker saga continues...

[Note: This is a true story. Names have not been changed to protect anyone.]

I blogged about my horrible ice maker warranty experience a few months back. I'm sad to report that much like our failing economy, the situation has not improved. The glass is still half empty...with no ice.

Here's a rundown of my neverending quest for cubes.

1. Workmen visit my house 14 times within a 12 month period.
2. Can’t fix anything, they only order more and more parts.
3. Finally contact the "LEMON POLICY DEPT”. Wait 3 months. They finally replace my free standing ice maker. In the meantime, I schlepp to Publix 3 times a week for ice.
4. The installer comes... brings the "wrong" machine.

5. Wait another month for the "right" machine.
6. After the "right" machine is installed, my kitchen floods. Water runs into the dining room ruining my baseboards. I begin stress management courses.
7. I learn after the fact that the tech hooked up the tubing to a 15 year old water pump that should have been replaced (during the 14 previous trips), so a previous tech probably sold the unit on Ebay and pocketed the change.
8. After the flood, another tech arrives and tells me to get a plumber to connect the piping to the drainage under the kitchen sink. Then he wonders why the installer tried to hook up the tubing to the old water pump when there is a BUILT IN water pump in the new unit. All of this aggravation (from ruined baseboards to Noah's Ark sailing through my kitchen) could have been easily avoided if the first installer had only opened his eyes to notice the internal water pump.

What is that expression... "The cowboy finally broke the horse in?" Or is it something about beating a dead horse? Eating like a horse? You can lead a horse to water, but still get no ice?

I hired a private plumber at $95 bucks per hour. He arrives on my doorstep, the clouds part and angels begin to sing. The ice maker is finally fixed and properly installed. I had an extra 20 minutes on the clock with Joe the Plumber, so I said, "Hey Joe, could you try and get the faucet in the bathroom sink to stop dripping?" Joe said "No sweat". My eyes were bigger than my plumber's capabilities. A few minutes later I hear “Excuse me Ma'am, but I broke the faucet". I run to Home Depot, huffing and puffing all the way, and buy a replacement faucet. Joe removes the porcelain sink and just when I think things can't possibly get any worse, the entire sink cracks in half.

Such is my life.

I’m ready to move somewhere near a nice river stream so I can bathe and drink from fresh running water the way the Indians and the cast of Dances with Wolves once did.

It is now 2 weeks later, and Joe the Plummer still can’t find the replacement sink to fit in my existing vanity.

Help me folks. I'm sinking fast.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

You might remember a blog I wrote a few months back documenting the Rebirth of my dear friend Carolyn.

If you don't recall, allow me to refresh your memory...

Carolyn was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer in 2006. After numerous treatments of chemotherapy, a radical bilateral mastectomy, plus reconstruction and radiation to boot, Carolyn defeated her cancer diagnosis in true Warrior fashion. After avoiding one of the biggest health scares women face today and finally enjoying life in the clear, Carolyn suffered another slam. She was diagnosed with lymphedema in her right arm.

This condition effects the majority of women who've experienced breast surgery, have had lymph nodes removed and or have undergone radiation treatments. As a result, they are required by their doctors to purchase compression sleeves that they are destined to wear on their arms for the rest of their lives.

Carolyn hated hers.

Always the most fashion forward of all our friends, Carolyn simply abhorred the plain, ordinary skin tone colored sleeves that she herself described as "just plain ugly". So Carolyn gave herself another Warrior mission. She showed her cancer who was boss, now it was time to put her fashion prowess to the test. Her goal? To make this pitiful sleeve look better, knowing that if it looked better, she would consequently feel better, as would hundreds of other women dealing with lymphedema or cancer.

Always up for a challenge, Carolyn banded together a few of her best girls and created a company called Warrior Wear, Inc. Launching their newest line of "Arm Candy", Warrior Wear is taking women's fashion to a thrilling new level. Sorry gals, this arm candy may not consist of Brad Pitt escorting you by the arm to all of your social events, it's even better. Consider it protective fashion wear for compression sleeves that make them look fashionably sleek.

With a promise to help women feel better about their condition while feeling proud to display their arm candy for all the world to see. Most may assume it's just the hottest new fashion trend. I bet my daughters would want to snag a few to wear to school, especially when they come in four delicious candy coated colors: licorice and lace, cotton candy, chocolate and black jellybean.

I invite all of my blog reading Warriors to visit the new website and bling yourself with armcandy before they're all sold out. It makes the perfect gift for any woman who wants to put their sickness aside, and get on with their lives in the most stylish way possible.

Carolyn should be an inspiration to everyone, taking lemons and making arm candy out of them. Her positive spin on life touches everyone she's ever met, filling them with her eternal spirit, passion, healing and light.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those of you who didn't already know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, going over two decades strong by building breast cancer awareness across the nation while giving hope to future generations of breast cancer victims, survivors and loved ones touched by the disease.

How proud was I to see that several of our merchants feature pink ribbon gifts and items with a portion of proceeds going to raise money for breast cancer research!

With a selection of super chic Pink Office Chairs for female office employees (or male employees whose manhood isn't threatened by sitting in a pink desk chair), National Business Furniture is donating 15% of all sales to breast cancer research not only during the month of October, but until the end of 2008. Well done NBF. What a great way to get consumers and fellow businesses to sit back and take notice.

Besides the gracious folks at NBF, Catalogs.com's online retailers AT-A-GLANCE®, bebeautiful and Corporate Snobs are also taking a stand and donating money to this monumental cause.

To keep your work life and home life organized, AT-A-GLANCE® has a selection of Breast Cancer Awareness planners, calendars, notebooks and more to keep your lives in fine running order.

If you'd like to think pink outside of the office, take a look at bebeautiful's selection of ceramic straightening irons for your hair and Corporate Snobs' extensive collection of lovely Pink Ribbon Gifts that give back in more ways than one.

In the midst of the current economic climate, it is easy for merchants and consumers to turn a blind eye to charitable organizations while placing focus only on their own financial endeavors and interests.

We are infinitely proud to have these merchants on board and part of the Catalogs.com family.

It is my pleasure to honor these online retailers and urge you to shop with them for a cause and for a cure.

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Art of Commerce: American Mail-Order and Trade Catalogs, 1874-1956 is a recent exhibition of 145 mail-order catalogs dating back from the year 1874 through 1956. Unfortunately, the exhibition ended last week at the Enterprise Center of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana.

I wasn't able to make it to Louisianna due to Rosh Hashanah festivities, but had a chance to view some of the featured catalogs on display and it got me to thinking...what makes a great catalog cover?

I talked to one of my esteemed colleagues who has seen over 3,000 to 5,000 catalog covers in his lifetime here at Catalogs.com, and asked him to share some knowledge on what indeed makes an exceptional catalog cover. Here are his do's and don'ts, catalog merchants and designers, take heed:

1. Highlight what you're selling.

Advertising 101. If you sell clothes, show pretty people wearing the clothes. If you sell shoes, show a nice pair of gams or feet wearing the shoes. Don't put an aardvark on the cover and expect people to know that you sell ashtrays.

2. Make sure it's a good looking product.

This is rather obvious. If you have an ugly product, don't feature it on the cover. You'll never get the consumer to open it up to page 2. Unless you hire Cindy Crawford to hold it.

3. Don't cram too much information on the cover.

People have short attention spans, and if you make a cover that's too busy, you'll lose them. Stick to simple designs, yet striking designs that won't give customers a headache.

4. Stick to color catalog covers, no black and white.

Of course there's an exception to every rule. If you're selling old fashioned merchandise from the 1920's let's say, a black and white motif may be thematically correct and add an air of nostalgia. If your merchandise is contemporary, it just looks like you're being cheap.

5. Don't put anything on your cover that's unidentifiable.

It took me a week to figure out that a flesh colored item on the cover of a catalog was really a piece of fruit. Save the abstract stuff for art school, if you want to sell your stuff, make sure people can tell what it is.

Hope these tips help, and we look forward to seeing some hot catalog covers in the near future!

Posted by Leslie Linevsky at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)