Bill N.

We live in a rural area that isn't served by any broadband service except satellite. Of the folks I know who use the satellite services, only one is reasonably happy with that service. She uses it for business and is willing to pay its very high cost. We can't afford that, so we're stuck with dial-up for the foreseeable future. Over the years, we've tried four different services, but have settled on Toast.net for two reasons; they are among the cheapest services available and they have good (free) tech support. Our service isn't trouble free, but most of the problems are local and beyond their control. However, when we do have a problem, they've been more than willing to help. The only real downside for us is there are limits to usage time per month and it's difficult to stay within the limits with our slow service. With the need to constantly update software these days to keep up with security problems we often run out of time at the end of the month. Our phone line's quality varies from fair to poor. On a rainy day like today, even voice communication is difficult. If you have dialup, I would put them at the top of the list for service providers, They also offer options for broadband users and we look forward to the day when it will be possible to step up to that service.

I recently discovered it would cost nearly as much to rent a pressure washer for a couple of days as it would to buy one. I searched various stores in our area and came up with one that I sort of liked, but the store really couldn't provide a lot of information about it except what was printed on the box. I searched the internet for that model and found it at Pressure Washers Direct. They not only had that model, but they stock models at every quality level and size from several manufacturers. They provide a lot of information about each model and make recommendations, based on the intended usage. They ranked the top five for my usage. The one I planned to buy was 5th, so I looked at the models above it. The top model was only $20 more, and still cheaper and more convenient than buying locally. I checked BBB before ordering and they have an A+ rating. It's more convenient because they provided free shipping with delivery to our carport. The order was filled promptly and delivery took only 3 business days. The only problem was that the bottle of engine oil included by the manufacturer was punctured in shipping and made a mess of the double boxes it was shipped in. The washer works great. I'm pleased the site directed me to it because the quality of the hose and wand seem to be better than the other model and the pump is from a highly rated manufacturer instead of an unknown.
This company is part of a larger company, Power Equipment Direct, which also has subdivisions selling generators, pumps, log splitters, wood chippers, and snow blowers. I have not used any of those sites, but wouldn't hesitate to try them.

When I was a kid in the 50's, my dad bought a used Airstream travel trailer to replace our tents. It was quite a step up and several of his friends thought he was crazy, but we had a lot of fun with it over the years and it's still ready to go camping. Of course, that took some maintenance and rebuilding along the way. I bought it from him in the 70's and we also had lots of fun with it. The last few years we owned it, we didn't have time to put it on the road anymore. A nephew expressed interest and we sold it to him about 30-years after we bought it. With the help of vintageairstream.com, he was able to restore it so that it looks better and is stronger than it was the day Dad bought it. If this site had been around several years earlier, I might have tried restoring it myself. There are lots of links to others who can help with virtually any problem in that endeavor, but the initial help was great advice about how to move it safely to its new home. It's running gear needed work and they strongly urged us to put it on a trailer. When it was picked up, we took pictures of it and sent them to the site for their most popular feature, "The Model Archives." If you ever get the urge to restore a Vintage Airstream, you can go through hundreds of examples to see what's available. Why would you want to do that? In many ways, restoring a Vintage Airstream will yield the perfect trailer for your family. The great quantity of 50+ year old Airstreams still on the road attest to that. They hold their value better than any other make and, because they're still so popular, you can still get a surprising number of parts for them. There are businesses all over the country that will do the dirty work for you, if you'd rather not do it yourself. Even though we've parted with ours, we still visit it annually and are delighted it's in good hands. Their kids want to keep it when they grow up. We're sure their great-grandpa would be smiling widely knowing that. Even if you're not interested in restoration, check this site out for the fun of it.

When HDTV became the standard for American TV a few years ago, we discovered our tower-mounted antenna wasn't up to the task and I began researching new antennas on-line. We live in a very rural area where the only other option is a dish with a high monthly fee. Of all the sites I visited then, I found Denny's Antennas to be, by far, the most informative. It's not the slickest site on the web, but it's pretty easy to navigate and there's a LOT of very useful information. We wound up purchasing a new antenna with a preamp, a rotor, cables, and a distribution amplifier. There was a small manufacturing defect with the antenna. The fellow we'd hired to install it said it wouldn't hurt, but we called Denny's and they offered to replace it for free. We decided to use it as is and it worked pretty well. We decided a while later that we needed a more powerful distribution amp. They sent us a new one and asked that we return the first one when it was convenient, so as to not interrupt our viewing. Now, over three years later, we have a problem with a cable and a broken lightning arrestor. Denny and I have had an email discussion and he's offered to replace them. He's also offered to send along a new preamp, just in case we're wrong. The cost of each climb is more than the cost of the components and we'll have the preamp handy so it can be installed, if necessary. He hadn't mentioned costs, so I asked. He said we'll settle up later, once we know what's really needed. Based on previous experience, I'm sure we'll be satisfied with the results. The only downside is that they seem to get more business than they can handle at times and initial responses are then a bit slow. Once he responds, he's on it until the problem is resolved. That's a bigger plus for me than the initial lag. I'm very satisfied with the site and the service.