Author Archives: Alan Ilagan

We spent the weekend in Boston celebrating our anniversary, so today, the actual date of our wedding ceremony, will be rather quiet. I’ll be back at work, and Andy has a doctor’s appointment, so everything’s as if we never said good-bye. Some anniversary years are like that. We’re gearing up for our tenth in 2020, so this year and next can be on the quieter side. But not even I am ready to start planning that far ahead, so let’s take a look at the last week instead.

It began, as it ends, in Albany, NY. Whether we like it or not. 

As of yet, there are no suggestions for a local Hunk of the Day. Are there no local Hunks in the Capital Region?

Shorts for a BroSox adventure later this summer. 

Gearing up for this year’s Broadway crop.

It begins with a stay at the Warwick Hotel. 

The night I robbed a Wal-Mart and felt no remorse whatsoever. 

The screech of the azaleas. 

There were just a pair of Hunks this week: Mike Thalassitis and Diego Barros.

In case you need some home renovations of your own, here’s who we used for our kitchen: Skylands Services, Inc. 

Jonquils. 

There are too few supportive posts on the internet, and on this website, so in an effort to spark some joy and support local businesses I’m going to try to do better in highlighting what’s good in this world, and in particular what’s good in the Capital Region. To that end, there’s Skylands Services, Inc., the guys who did our kitchen remodel a few years ago. We were thrilled with what they did with the space, transforming our divided dining room and kitchen area into an open-space concept, and turning a terribly outdated kitchen into a usable and enjoyable place of function and fun. The proper set-up works wonders for those of us still learning how to cook. (Our granite peninsula is also the ideal meeting place for every type of party one can throw.) A look at the before and after of the rooms can be seen fully here, and ever since then I’ve been meaning to write a post extolling the virtues of Skylands Services. When I received an e-mail alerting me to their revamped website, it seemed the perfect time for this belated post. 

While attending Ithaca College in the late 1990s, two friends Gregg Pidgeon and John Walston, shared a passion for home improvements.  They both spent summers during high school and college working on separate construction crews and in customer’s homes performing home improvements.  Together, they had a vision that home improvements were about experiences and relationships instead of mere projects.  They were driven to offer a customer experience unique to the home improvement industry.  In 2004, they established Skylands Services, Inc.

Gregg and John believed that the industry was flooded with bad reputations and known for such things as poor communication, poor or inadequate craftsmanship and sloppy work spaces.  They created Skylands Services, Inc. to pursue their passion in a way that would buck the negative industry trends.  They believed that a home improvement project should be a pleasurable experience for customers and not a nightmare.  Over a decade later, their vision remains the same and they have a strong reputation built on delivering customer satisfaction. 

​​Our Philosophy

Skylands Services, Inc. focuses on putting the customer first.  We believe you should always feel at home in your home, even during a home improvement project.  This philosophy drives our company and allows us to provide high quality services with lasting customer relationships.  We understand that your project may be a disruption in your home and lifestyle, so we go out of our way to work efficiently without intruding on adjacent spaces. 

We employ a skilled and presentable labor force with years of experience in the construction trades.  All of our employees are trained on the principles and beliefs that have built the foundation for customer satisfaction for over fourteen years.  We would love the opportunity to provide you with your next home improvement experience.   

In our personal experience, the employees were all wonderful, and either Gregg or John was usually on-site – a refreshing change of pace when certain companies are out of contact or touch once a project begins. Estimates were accurate, time-frames were kept, and communication was always open. While renovations can be stressful, painful events, Skylands made it almost enjoyable. If you have any sort of renovation project in mind, check them out.

First, a bit of background: I had just put up our backyard canopy and helped Andy uncover the pool. I was in sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt tattered with holes. In the midst of our endeavors, I noticed that the soaker house, on its last lack-of-legs for the past two years, was finally beyond repair or use. I jumped in the car to get the 250 feet of black rubber, dusting off the detritus of leaves and dead branches that clung to my outfit. I figured I’d run in and out of Wal-Mart without anyone being the wiser.

As I pulled into the parking lot and jumped out of the car, I immediately fell into walking behind a co-worker from my office. I hung back a bit, but I was ready to say, “I won’t tell what you’re wearing if you won’t tell what I’m wearing,” because this woman, normally not the savviest dresser anyway, was in an enormous hoodie that went down to her knees. Being in my own glass house, I kept the stones to myself and for the good fortune of both of us she never turned around.

I found the five soaker hoses (50 feet each) with relative ease. Cagey like a ninja, I piled them up and brought them to the line at the register without being seen by anyone I knew. Of course, there were no ‘10 items or less’ lines open, so I waited in what looked like the shortest line, with just two people in front of me. Then I saw her. I saw her hair first, then noticed the lethargic manner she was scanning the items and remembered her from the last time I was in Wal-Mart. I also felt the familiar impatience/rage creep up on me in what was supposed to be a quick and stealthy mission. It took a good ten minutes before she rang out the two people in front of me. And they didn’t have that much. But as a wise woman once said, you end it quicker when you’re nice.  I mustered a smile from the deepest and darkest depths of my soul. I said hello. And silently I prayed that it would go smoothly.

It didn’t.

The hoses – there were, as I mentioned, just five of them – were about eight dollars a piece. I had figured somewhere over $40 was where the bill should land, and I inserted my credit card. The total came to about $45 and I thought we were good.

“Now wait,” she said. “How many did you want?”

“Just the five,” I said, my forced smile quickly beginning to fade.

She scanned another hose for no reason and the total changed.

“How many did you have?” she asked again.

I spoke a little louder, “FIVE.”

Now, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that this person had the educational background that would encompass counting to five. Even if she hadn’t, there were five clearly discernible objects sitting right of her for guidance. And two functional hands with all their digits intact.

She tried another time and ended up with seven items somehow scanned in. She voided it out and scanned them yet again.

“Ok,” she said, “How many do we have?”

Me: “Still five.”

She counted them again. Scanned them in again. And somehow left one off. The total came down to about $34 now. She said that’s what I owed. I knew it was wrong, but I said nothing and paid it. All stringent morality aside, if you were in my shoes (sneakers, still stained with dirty winter pool water) you would have done the same thing, if only to get the hell out of the store where the growing line was up to seven or eight people wondering what on earth was going on with this rattily-dressed guy and all these hoses. 

I stuffed the receipt in my pocket and headed to the door, where I was met by a big cheery man who asked to see my receipt. Annoyed, and already forgetting that I hadn’t been charged for all the items I held, I awkwardly balanced the hoses in one hand while fishing the receipt out with the other. He looked (or didn’t look) at the receipt and told me to have a good night, smiling the entire time.

Perhaps they should eliminate all the difficulty and just install shoplifting guides in every aisle.