Life Perspective: Reviews & More

My Miss Katy: still loved; still missed. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have mentioned Rodan + FIelds to someone who has replied, "Yes, but you have the personality for it. I don't have the Direct Selling Personality. "  These people don't KNOW me. They have no idea I was so shy in elementary school I hid in the bushes next to the playground during recess EVERY DAY in 4th and 5th grade so the more outgoing kids wouldn't bully me. They don't know that for FORTY YEARS, I was not invited to my own high school reunion because I was so shy and quiet in school, apparently no one remembered me. These are people who don't know that for over 20 years, I published  my own local magazine  from my home with only my sweet dog for company, because I was perfectly happy quietly working from home by myself. They don't know I wrote for several publications from home after my print publication closed, because I was introverted and preferred to be wi...

Today is my birthday, and I  just had a disappointing discussion with my dentist office, Bellevue Dental. What a way to celebrate! On Aug. 17, 2013, I went in to see Dr. Gross about a crown she said I needed due to a cracked tooth. She asked if I was having any pain in the tooth and I said no, but she said it needed a crown to save it. I suspected my days working at Sears were numbered at the time due to layoffs, so I opted to have the crown put on while I had a part-time insurance plan since I have been on such a tight budget following the Nashville flood with all the resulting home repairs. The tooth was X-rayed on Aug. 17 and filed way down. An impression was taken, then a second one when the first one did not turn out well, all of which was quite painful. I had to wear a temporary crown for a week or so while I waited for the permanent crown to come in.  Dr. Gross said it was one of the deepest crowns she had ever done, but in hindsight I wonder -- was it too deep??...

Tonight I jogged a mile for the 3rd time in my life. The first time I jogged a mile was around the beginning of August, and the 2nd time was last week, so I am only starting to be able to say "I can jog a mile." Growing up, I read, I climbed trees, and I played with dolls. I was outside a lot, and I did run through the woods near the lake where we lived, but these were short bursts of running followed by lots of walking and contemplating nature. As I child, I could sit still for long periods studying ants, or examining flowers, or looking for mica in the slate and shale rocks near the lake. In 6th grade, however, I flew around our little playground at Una Elementary and won a ribbon for running, so in 7th grade I tried out for track. It was a rude awakening to discover I was the slowest girl who tried out and the only one who couldn't run all the way around the track. I failed so miserably and was so deeply mortified, I never thought of myself as a runner again, but t...

My bathroom still has no wallpaper, no fixtures &  a hand mirror thumb-tacked to the wall - since June 2011 The situation with Eric Roper and Landmark Construction of Nashville, TN, just gets odder and odder. A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a woman whose older parents are pursuing legal action against Eric Roper and Landmark Construction because she says he performed the same kind of sloppy works with the same basic crew (Kenny and Frank) on her parents' house in 2010. I believe her parents suffered water damage during the Nashville flood as I did under my house. In my case it was followed by subsequent massive water damage when my washing machine hose burst in the night a few months later and pumped some 2500 gallons of water into my house. Like he did with me, Eric reportedly informed this family he was a licensed contractor. As he did with me, he allegedly told this family he would bring the documentation "another day" and never did. They were ...

This is where I lived for 9 months following a burst washing machine hose, then the discovery of damage under the house from the Nashville flood, and waiting for over a year for negligent repairmen to show up and do the jobs they were hired to do while dealing with an insurance company that canceled my policy in the middle of the repairs. Top Ten Things About the Bellevue Microtel Hotel From October 2010 to July 2011, I spent 9 months living in the Microtel motel in Bellevue, TN, following the Nashville flood and additional subsequent water damage from a burst washing machine hose. For this reason I feel uniquely qualified to talk about the pros and cons of the Bellevue Microtel hotel in Nashville, TN. More at: Top Ten Things About the Bellevue Microtel Hotel - Yahoo! Voices Related: Why the Lee Company Has Been in Business Since 1944 Where Is the Landmark Construction (Nashville) Tile Guy? Tile Update Dec. 23: More Problems with Tile Tile Update: Dec. 22 Decking the Hal...

I have been meaning to write this up for a while, but I kept waiting for Michelle Sadler or someone else at Harpeth Valley Utilities District to return the messages I left requesting an official amount and a quote. Since they have declined to do that, I am having to use my own estimate. The Nashville flood of 2010 turned streets into lakes near my house Harpeth Valley Utilities District Takes $200 out of Flood Victim's Pocket In May of 2010, Nashville experienced the worst flood in a century when the Cumberland River overflowed its banks and the Corps of Engineers opened at least one dam upriver to prevent more flooding. The Harpeth River flooded into Bellevue, and even on my hill, I watched water pour into my crawl space for 2 days during the continuous rains. However, FEMA and my insurance company would not go in the crawl space to check, and from the opening they said it didn't look like the flood line reached very high. Later I was to discover how wrong they were. ...

Tips for Contractors: Top 10 Ways Not to Install Tile While I am not an expert on tile, I just watched the Laurel & Hardy of contractors try to install tile in my kitchen following the dual whammy of the Nashville flood in May 2010 and a flood in my house in Oct. 2010, and I learned a thing or two about how NOT to install tile compliments of the subcontractors at Landmark Construction in Nashville, TN. Places where the tile was too close for the grout The company owner came out and helped oversee the removal and replacement of the poorly laid tile, but the results were still not professional. I am still waiting to see how the situation will resolve and will certainly blog the results, good or bad. In the meantime, this article should help contractors and homeowners avoid some of the problems I experienced. After the first corrections were made there were still a lot of problems Read more at:  Tips for for Contractors: Top 10 Ways Not to...

Top Five Falsehoods Told by My Insurance Company Although these crucial bits of misinformation and falsehoods were given to me by my insurance company, anyone can fall victim to being misdirected, misinformed and perhaps even lied to by insurance companies and their agents, adjusters and other representatives. Continue reading at: Top Five Falsehoods Told by My Insurance Company - Associated Content from Yahoo!   

After my recent ordeal with a flood in my home and the terrible job ServiceMaster did on pack out, storage and pack in, I used Tarn-X to clean some antique silver that had been put in storage wet. This is my story: What's the Best Thing about Tarn-X Silver Glaze Silver Polish? Everything! If you have wondered how effective Tarn-X Silver Glaze Silver Polish is, the following is a consumer review of the effects of using a 20-year-old bottle of Tarn-X Silver Glaze Silver Polish on very badly tarnished antique silver and silver-plated items.

Top Ten Tips for Dealing with a Flood in Your Home Here are the ten most important things I learned about surviving a flood from surviving the Nashville flood and a 2nd flood experience in 2010. Read more at: Top Ten Tips for Dealing with a Flood in Your Home - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

 Because I have been dealing with mold remediation following a flood in my house on October 17, I am writing two articles on mold. Here is the first one: Health issues associated with mold and black mold - Nashville Skin Care Examiner Mold and Skin Rashes Many Nashvillians became intimately acquainted with mold following the Nashville Flood . Molds are a common type of fungus and can be found in many thousands of known species and have been known to cause rashes and skin irritations.

I had two Nashville-area electricians at my house most of the day on Tuesday and again for 1/2 hour on Friday, going over my electrical system. I had electric problems in 3 parts of the house, some as a result of the Nashville flood . I showed them the three specific areas where I was having issues with the power, but after they left, I discovered I still could not turn on the lights/ ceiling fan in one of the rooms. I had to reschedule an appointment for Thursday, and after waiting all day, they called and said it would be "sometime" Friday before they could get there. They finally came back around 5:00 PM on Friday. The electric company originally charged me a $25 trip charge on Tuesday to drive 1 mile from a business in Bellevue to my house, and then added the drive time which somehow ended up being around 15 minutes for a 3-minute drive. Today I called to discuss an adjustment with the owner due to the fact his guys never looked at a room I walked them to and specif...

I posted a link to my article about the Nashville flood a couple of days ago. Today I added a slidshow of 29 photos taken in Bellevue after the flood. 'The Flood of the Century' - the Nashville Flood of 2010 Slideshow Photos from Bellevue, Tennessee showing the destruction caused by the Nashville flood of 2010. Read the accompanying article for my first-hand account of the flood. By Kathryn E. Darden  |  Published 5/14/2010   'The Flood of the Century' - the Nashville Flood of 2010 Devastates Bellevue, Tennessee A first-hand account of living through the devastating flooding of the Harpeth River in Bellevue, TN, during the great Nashville flood of 2010 (with photos) By Kathryn E. Darden  |  Published 5/12/2010

'The Flood of the Century' - the Nashville Flood of 2010 Devastates Bellevue, Tennessee A first-hand account of living through the devastating flooding of the Harpeth River in Bellevue, TN, during the great Nashville flood of 2010 (with photos) By Kathryn E. Darden  |  Published 5/12/2010 Bellevue, Tennessee, is a quiet little town on the edge of Metroplitan Nashville/Davidson County which sits on the scenic Harpeth River. Normally the Harpeth River is a very small river that winds gracefully through the Bellevue hills and meadows. I live on a hillside off of Highway 70 which runs alongside the Harpeth River as it winds into Bellevue. Usually local take the stream for granted and barely notice the picturesque river running serenely below the highway. That all changed on May 1 and 2, 2010. Click here to read my personal account.