Fred "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.." F.'s Profile

I've had a home in the Phoenix area for over 13 years now and I'm guessing that I've had almost that many landscape maintenance companies.

At first I went with the "mow/blow/go" guys.  They were cheap and I figured how much damage can they do to rocks and bushes that grow in rocks?  Turns out, a lot. They're not dependable, trim things at the wrong time of the year, cut bushes and trees back too much and never bother to check the irrigation system.  Stressing the bushes causes them to either drop dead from the summer heat or die from the first frost.  

I've also tried the really expensive maintenance companies.  One guy actually told me that I couldn't plant anything in my yard without them giving the OK and they'd be the one to plant it, not me (for an additional charge I might add).  After a short  conversation of me explaining who owned the yard, I fired them.

Then I found Sonoran Foothills Landscaping.  They fall in between the mow/blow/go guys and the expensive dominatrix guy.  They've been doing my yard for about four years.

From time to time, we have an issue but I talk it out with the guy who leads the crew and all is good.  They are dependable and happy to do a little extra to make you happy.  

They also don't seem to mind if I plant something in my yard.

I'm a reasonably handy guy but I know what I don't know.

Ever look at all that plumbing on the side of your house?  You probably have a shut off valve, a pressure regulator, a vacuum breaker, another shut off or two, a line going to your irrigation system and, in some communities, a line going to your sprinkler system.

Somewhere along the line someone was able to piece together all of the above with a mix of copper, brass, pvc and, get this, galvanized steel.  A few weeks ago the galvanized steel sprung a leak.  I was going to replace it myself but after looking at the way it was all put together I backed off.

Yelp to the rescue!  I called Artie and he gave me a quote over the phone and we scheduled an appointment. He arrived on time, listened to my concerns and, more importantly, what I wanted and he got to work.

It took longer than he anticipated because water kept dripping out of a pipe for a long time and he couldn't solder it.  Rather than complaining we chatted for a bit.  LIke others have said, he's a really nice guy and a pleasure to talk to.
Artie is a true professional and he takes pride in his work.  When he was finished I told him that it looked terrific and he beamed.  

Artie is now my "go-to" plumber and I highly recommend him.

We've been back here a few times since my original review and thought I'd provide an update.  I'm tempted to write the entire review in Italian but since I don't know Italian that seemed like a bad idea so I'll just show off what I do know along the way.

The menu hasn't changed much and that's a good thing - benissimo!
The service is still fantastic - fantastico!

We were a party of six (sei) and we each had an appetizer (antipasto) and a main course (umm main-a course-a?).

The person least likely to stab me with a fork (my wife, aka sposa) let me try her insalata (that's salad to those of you who don't speak Italian as well as I do).  Red lettuce, arrugula, almonds and paramesan cheese with a red wine vinegarette - yummmm (deliciosimo). I started with the pasta e fasioi.  Good choice if you want to warm up a bit.

On to the main course.  I had the gnocchi which is served with a meat sauce. I always get the gnocchi here because it's really really good (molto buono!).  My wife had the liver and onions. No, I didn't try it - it was liver and onions! Ripugnante! I almost took a star off because this is on the menu.  But, it made my wife happy so the star remains.  

They have an extensive menu of beef, veal, pork, fish, chicken, pasta, etc. (manzo, vitello, maiale, pesce, pollo e pasta)  I don't see how you can go wrong with any of the dishes.

Six people - appetizers, main course, two (due) bottles of vino - $344 (265 EUR) plus tip ($57/person).  Not cheap, but worth every lira.

Will we be back? Si! Amo questo posto.

There are three ways to get in some target practice around here:

1.  Go out into the desert.  The advantage is that it's cheap.  The disadvantages are that you have to go pretty far out to do it safely/legally and there's the risk of getting caught in crossfire from a few drunks that had the same idea.
2.  Go to a private, indoor range.  The advantages are that you can go year round, you can rent guns and they're pretty safe.  The disadvantages are that it can be pricey and crowded.
3.  Go to Ben Avery.  

Ben Avery has the best of everything.  It's cheap ($7 all day and includes the firearms range, skeet and archery range).  It's safe - there are always enough monitors to make sure no one is doing something dangerous.  OK, it's outside so 3pm in August is probably going to be uncomfortable but it opens at 7am.

The people watching alone is worth $7.  I've found there are four categories:
1.  People with their kids.
2.  Couples on what seems like a date (I'll never figure out why a guy wants to teach his g/f how to shoot - it's something that may come back to haunt him someday).
3.  Guys in camo with $5,000 worth of weapons and you just know they have a rocket launcher hidden away in their survivalist cave somewhere.
4.  Me.

Eye and ear protection is required here and you'll be glad you brought them. There's a metal shade cover and a concrete floor - it's noisy!  There was a guy firing an AK-47 next to me and the spent cartridges kept hitting me. I asked him nicely if he could step back a bit and he did.  I've found it's always a good idea to be nice to anyone holding a loaded AK-47.

Overall - the best use of your tax dollars that I can think of.

This is the newest in the Oregano's chain.  If someone didn't tell you it was on Cactus at the PV Mall you'd swear you were in any of their other locations.
This place gets packed! A relatively early dinner (5:30) on a Friday night required a 20 minute wait for a table.  Not bad, but plan ahead.

The service is outstanding.  They have the happiest employees I've seen in a restaurant.  Seriously, these people could work at Disneyland.
Our party of six had thin crust pizza, a junior meatball sandwich, the baked zitti, rigatoni and angel hair pasta.  We also shared a fried calamari appetizer.
The calamari was very good.  It's battered, then baked, then pan fried in garlic butter.  Served with marinara sauce.

Two of us shared a pizza.  It was OK but a bit oily for my liking.  Maybe the deep dish or pan pizza would have been a better choice.
All of the pasta dishes were excellent. The junior meatball sandwich was pretty big and comes with fries.  You might want to think twice before you order the full sandwich.

They only have one dessert choice here - they only need one dessert choice here!  The Original Pizza Cookie is available in chocolate chip or white chocolate macadamia nut.  We ordered both and shared.  DAMN! Half cooked cookie dough and ice cream - who knew it was so good?

Did I mention the service?

Will we be back - yep!

I stayed away from Flo's for awhile after a, umm, well let's just call it a "GI disturbance" brought on by a pork dish and save you from the ugly details.

I missed Flo's. Flo's was like that girl you dated in high school that every so often you wonder about.  Did she become a success? Does she have a happy life? Should you have stayed in contact?  The mind wanders.

I'm happy to say that Flo's and I have re-united.  The food is as good as I remember it and the prices are OK.

Once again we went for take-out.  The restaurant is OK (but noisy) but I prefer to order three or four take-out dishes then have leftovers for lunch the next day. The menu has a number of choices (noodles, vegetables, chicken, beef, pork, and seafood).  The spicy dishes aren't terribly spicy but they will get your attention.  My favorites include Moo Shoo Pork, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Shrimp  Pan-fried Noodles and the Fried Rice with Chicken.

Will we be back? Of course and I'll be with my high school sweetheart.

it's 50 degrees outside (for non-locals that's roughly equal to minus 20 anywhere else).
So, where to go, where to go...
Frozen Yogurt! Yes, that's the ticket.

The first thing you notice when you walk through the door is how clean this place is. I mean it's "you can eat off the floor" clean.  

The second thing you notice is the nice young man who asks if you'd like to sample any of the flavors. Take him up on it, this is the time to experiment.  They easily had a dozen different yogurt flavors along with a few special flavors for the holidays.

After loading your cup up with your yogurt you advance to an area that has 1.2 billion toppings (ok, maybe it's 1.2 million but it's a lot!). Sweet stuff, sour stuff, you name it, you can top your creation off with it.
They also have some sauces and, of course, whipped cream.

What's odd is the only drink they serve is water. No soda.

Here's the good news - this is yogurt and yogurt is healthy, therefore there are zero calories if you go easy on the sprinkles and marshmallow.  I'm sure I read that somewhere.

You pay by the pound here - ours worked out to about $5 each.  Not bad.

Will we be back? Yep, but I'm waiting until the temp hits 60.

Trick question.

What's harder?
A.  Granite
B.  John Holmes
C.  Arizona water
D.  Trying to get the President and Congress to agree on something.

Your answer says a lot about you.  Not my job to analyze you but if you picked B - get help OK?

My answer is C - Arizona water.  My solution is Dutch's.
Dutch (who is actually a lovely woman named Pat) and I go way back.  I used to buy bottled water from Dutch's when they had a retail store.  I also had them install a water softener at my previous home and I recommended them to my daughter last year when she was looking for a water softener.

My current water softener was 20 years old.  It started doing strange things and, after talking to Pat, the cost of rebuilding it simply didn't make any sense.
I chose to replace the water softener with the same model that was there before - the Ultima from B&R.  Why? Because the last one was still working after 20 years! Pat actually talked me out of a more expensive unit with digital displays, flashing lights and buttons (aka, "the guy model") because the electronics don't hold up long term in our 200 degree garage in the summer.

Pat and I agreed on the details and her plumber showed up two days later to install it and haul the old one away.
All is well and working just fine.

I'm going to relax in a hot tub with a glass of wine and draft a letter to the President and my Congressman.

The decor is what you'd expect for a place named Sandbar.  Close your eyes and you'll think you're at a beach restaurant/bar.  It's well done but I'm not sure all of the TVs help hold that fantasy.  FYI, they have a large patio area but it sits right on Tatum Blvd.; if the sound of traffic is part of your ideal beach image - go for it.

There is a HUGE bar area.  I can understand why some of my fellow reviewers came here to drink and mingle.  Warning for people coming here to eat during the normal drinking hours - the bar is in the middle of the restaurant and I'm sure you won't be able to hold a conversation at your table during dinner although watching the action should prove entertaining.  

The food.  You'd think that a place that served mostly Mexican food would offer pretty good Mexican food wouldn't you?  Well, you'd be wrong.  I had the chicken burrito and saying it was so-so would be an understatement.  The shell was cold (not room temperature - cold), the chicken was watery and the whole thing was blah.  The rice and black beans were good.  I almost sent it back but my server disappeared. My wife had the chicken chimi - pretty much the same experience as the burrito.

The service.  About five seconds before our meal showed up the server brought over a bucket of chips and some salsa.  It would have been nice if he brought that over sooner; a refill on the drinks would have been nice too.  Overall service was slow.  I gave up waiting for the server to pick up the check and resorted to paying cash.

While Sandbar may be a great place to go for happy hour and late night drinking you can do better in the Desert Ridge area for a meal.

Will we be back? I doubt it.

For the price, this is one of the better deals in the Worthington/Dublin area.  The hotel is bright and light with a nice lobby and friendly desk staff. It's also in a great location. There's a mall across the street and there are a lot of restaurants nearby.  It's also close to I-270.

The rooms are OK - about what you'd get at a Holiday Inn or a Marriott Courtyard.  Our room had a king size bed, a desk, dresser, reclining chair, smallish bathroom with a tub and it came with an iron, coffee maker, microwave, small fridge and a HD television.  The hotel not only has free wi-fi, they have really fast free wi-fi; the room also had an ethernet cable if you need to be hard wired.

They also have an exercise room (very small with two treadmills and an exercise bike).  There's an indoor/outdoor pool and a large whirlpool.
   
The Drury likes to advertise its free food and drinks.  We got in around 5:30 and went down to have a drink.  As advertised, we were each able to get three free drinks.  Rather than going out to dinner we went for the free food.  This is one of those "you get what you pay for" experiences.  They had chicken fingers (meh), mac and cheese (Kraft?), hot dogs and soup.  The next morning we went down for the free hot breakfast.  Watery powdered eggs, sausage patties, biscuits and gravy, cereal, store bought bagels, fruit, rolls and donuts.  Try the make-your-own Belgian waffle - not bad.  

Really only one negative.  They didn't make our room up one day because we had the do not disturb sign on the door until 11am. On the plus side, the desk clerk apologized when I went down to get fresh towels and coffee when we returned at 9pm.

Would we return? Yep!